Things Treasured

Badge for my challenge 3 participants.

Crochet Thestral! If you don’t know what a Thestral is, get thee self to a library and read the Harry Potter Books… seriously.

Tiny Barbie Bloomers! I got them from a pattern for an 1866 Atlanta Bell. It’s an outfit based on the one Scarlett O’Hara made from her curtains in Gone with the Wind. I’m looking forward to tackling the dress. That is so massive that even though I am looking forward to the dress, I will likely start with the hat next.

Octopus Jar Cozy! I’m thinking I’ll use this as a weight loss tool. It was originally meant to be a savings jar to go to GG’s big 2015 gala event, but I need the motivation right now for my health. So I will put colored glass and plastic stones in this jar for all of the weight I want to lose. Then I shall get another clear jar. When I lose a pound, I will fish a stone out of the cozied jar and drop it in the clear one. I don’t need to constantly see how much I have to lose, but always seeing how far I’ve come has got to boost moral.

And this is my in progress Haruni Shawl. It’s coming out so beautifully, and I really like working with this yarn. It’s Blue Heron Metallic Rayon. It’s giving such a lovely drape to the material. I’m afraid of running out of yarn before it’s complete though. I need to finish chart A so I can weight it again and see how it’s going.

I want to be really excellent at Sewing. I’m not though. I think most of this is afraid of doing poorly and wasting materials, and a lack of practice. So I began to remedy this. I have made my first drawstring bag. It’s blue and silver stripy material that my mom had in a big trunk. So I have no idea what kind of fabric it is. It is a little bit weighty and had good body to it though.  I designed it with a round bottom. To make sure that it stays round when objects are inside it, I’ve sandwiched some plastic canvas in there to give it structure.

 

I did almost the entire project by myself. Mom helped me sew one part that I couldn’t figure out how to get into the sewing machine, and she gave me general instructions on when to flip it inside out and if I should be stitching right sides or wrong sides together. The final sewing around the bottom had to be all hand sewn, so I also asked her to show me how to do that. But I did all of that sewing. I’m really happy with how it all came out. I hope my swap partner enjoys it! 

I’m looking forward to trying more projects now. There is a little box shaped bag I am eager to try!

 

This new set of stitch markers was made for the Ravenclaw Postal fundraiser yardsale. I’m about to go put it up now. However, I’ll have sets just like these in a multitude of colors very shortly when I get my etsy shop open. It’s very exciting. I love these little stitch markers.

 

 

I’m not 100% sure this counts as a refashion. Who writes the rules on what does and does not count though. I’ve certainly taken a plain purple t-shirt and turned it into something special however. 

Note the stained t-shirt

Note the purple butterfly.

Note AWESOME NEW BUTTERFLY SHIRT!!!

I am supposed to be working exclusively on WIPS right now. However, a new madness has struck the tower. This is a bit like when Ysolda fever hit the tower hard. I was never struck with the Ysolda fever even though I admired her designs. At the time, I could only afford to knit free patterns. Though I just picked up Whimsical Little Knits 2. So I may succumb to that fever yet.
But back to Hexipuffs. Hexipuffs are these hexagon shaped little puffy things. (We use all the technical terms here) They are knit in the round and then lightly stuffed with batting. Once you have about a bajillion of them, you connect them together to form a quilt. It is the top, batting and bottom of the quilt all in one. I have to say, they are quite addictive. There is something soothing about knitting them, and something delightful in holding them. I like watching them gather together as I finish them. Some of the colors compliment each other, and some clash, but they all work well together. I’m really very pleased. I’m in no hurry to ‘finish’ this project. I will just happily knit puffs when the mood strikes me until I have somewhere near a bajillion of them. 

Interested? Check out Tiny Owl Knits - Home of the Hexipuffs This is the creator of the “Bee Keepers Quilt” which is comprised of hexipuffs. 



 


 

Tell me that doesn’t fill you with delight even a little? To egg each other on in this epic hexipuff project, the Tower is participating in a mini skein swap. Here are my contributions.

 


 


 


I just want to hold them and squish them about for a while. Seriously. Remember, Hexipuffs equal love. If someone infects you with the hexipuff lust, don’t hold any ill will toward them. After you make your first one, you will understand the love!

Today starts a brand new term over at HPKCHC. Over time I’ll be adding past projects to my blog here. I just really need to inventory what I have shown already. Silly me.

There are a couple of things going on over at the tower. I am no longer running monthly challenges over there. We as a staff have decided there is so much going on that at least for the time being, we should let group projects creep up organically. It’s working so far. There is a Steam Punk along in progress. Everyone seems really excited about it.

As it happens, the History of Magic prompt is perfect for getting my steam punk inspired project into a class. I printed out the pattern today and checked how much yarn was needed. about 213 yards. Perfect! I ran to the closet, dug through the sock yarn and pulled out some lovely dusty purple – 221 yards! However, as I held the yarn in my hand and looked at the pattern, I just couldn’t believe this one skein would make the item.

Reread the pattern…. WORSTED WEIGHT.

Well shoot. I really didn’t have what I wanted in WW. But since I can’t just be running out to buy yarn, I’m making the pattern in a worsted weight acrylic I have on hand. It’s beautiful yarn, just not the texture I was going for as it does have a bit of a halo effect. But it should be lovely.

I’m going to be making these

In this yarn

I found the most amazing buttons, but I really can’t afford them right now. I also think they might be a little to large, but as far as steam punk buttons go… how perfect are these ones from Twin Rose Designs? Gear buttons? How grand.

So I am off to cast on my project. I have a lot I want to accomplish this month.

My proposed Quidditch robes!

My wonderful house of Ravenclaw has done it again in the HPKCHC. So I’ve done another badge to celebrate!

These are badges I've been working on for the Harry Potter Knit and Crochet House Cup. My most noble house of Ravenclaw has won again this term, and we had the pleasure and honor of sharing that win with the lordly house of Gryffindor!! It was a Tie!

I haven't been updating too much. This is largely in part because I haven't been knitting very much. The hubby and I are dealing with some issues with the house and being unemployed at home right now. So I've been distracted and focusing my energy lately. I'm still getting things done, just at a much slower rate. Right now in progress...


Sylvi. I've also got both sleeves and one front panel finished. I want to get this finished so badly. Other things just keep jumping in my way. I have the other front panel, hood, seeming, and the flower petals to do. Really, it isn't THAT much.


Swallowtail. Now this is an inprogress picture of the one that is already finished. But imagine this in black and it's a near acurate view of the one I ma working on now. Yes... I said BLACK.. hence why it is taking so long. Well that and the fact that for some strange reason, this is a challenging pattern for me. It is, thankfully, easier than the first time though.


Balmoral. This one is in hybernation, but I thought I would show it to you anyway. I love the yarn, and I am in love with the shawl. I just got overwhelmed during the crafting process as that is when everything started going nuts here at home. I'm a good deal further than this, but I don't have a current project picture. It's probably 2-3x's the size in the picture. But I'm only 10% into it or so. This will likely go on hold until the weather warms up again. It's just not high on the priority list right now.
And then of course I am working on NaNoWriMo. I am behind at the moment, but not desperately so. I still think I have a good shot at completing on time.

Here are a few things I haven't shown you yet. I REALLY must get better about updating this a bit more regularly. I do love showing you what I have been up to recently.


This is my Halloween Travels shawl. the yarn was an absolute joy to work with. It's Kroy sock yarn and I think I am in love. I am also thankful to have some knitting friends with the same taste in yarn that I have. I ran out at the end and two people from over at HPKCHC sent me their leftovers so I could finish!

I've also been working on a series of tea wallets. I really like them. They are quick, cute and allow you take tea with you anywhere. They can also be change purses or really carry anything you like. I'm still working on perfecting my owl design one. But I do like how this came out.


The two pictures above are of the wallet I did for my sister's birthday.


This one is mine. I keep it in my purse.

This one I made for my swap partner in reducio!

So there are a few more things. But I will save them for another post.

Hurray! My most awesome house of Ravenclaw won the house cup in the HPKCHC!!!! I made this to celebrate. :D

That stands for Work In Progress for those not in the know. I am in love with this scarf. I hope i have time to finish it soon! I am currently working on two other WIPs that I will take pictures of to show. This is a recent picture though so I thought you might like to see it!

How cute are these little guys? They are push pins for my cork board! I mean obviously, they are owls but they are push pin owls. The flas whashed them out a little bit, the stitch definition is better than is showing. I just think they are adorable, and from start to finish take maybe 10 minutes. AWESOME! They are kind of big though. They worked up to be about 3 inches tall. I think I want to try making some smaller ones the for board too.

My friend Robby volunteers at the Washington Animal Rescue League in Washington DC. She talks about it often and naturally when it came out we would be crafting for our own chosen charities this term, I thought of her immediately. So for my quidditch contributions to HPKCHC, I crafted lots of catnip toys for the kitties at WARL! I've been trying to explain to my kitties, these toys are not for them. They are for the Shelter Kitties waiting for their forever homes. You can just see Orion's face in the picture with the cat nip elephants.

My turtles are even being featured on the pattern page now! To keep them safe I have them in a shoe box with two rubber bands around it! Boots actually managed to steal a purple mouse before it had ears! So I had to craft a new one of the shelter kitties so there would be three. I hope they are enjoyed!