Thursday 26 June 2008

Luna Lovegood Scarf

I'm a bit obsessed with crochet scarves right now. Here's the latest one:




Luna Lovegood Scarf
by Pinkleo. She doesn't seem to have a website that I could find, but she's on ravelry, and the pattern's on craftster.

Again, I love this scarf! I haven't even seen the film it's from yet (I know, what kind of Harry Potter fan am I!), but the pattern came up in a ravelry search. It's made side to side, starting in the middle then working outwards, one side at a time. The scarf just seems sooo Luna Lovegood though, KWIM? I had to make it, she's one of my favorite characters.

I used some yarn I found in a charity shop - this time it's not random! It's Hayfield Memories - 50% viscose, 30% acrylic, 20% nylon. I knew when I bought it that it would become a scarf, but this pattern just seemed perfect for it. I need to take better photos though :)

Acacia Galore!

I tested out this great scarf pattern recently, and loved it so much I made two! (the link takes you to the ravelry page where you can download it for free). It was designed by Moggle, and her blog post about it is here. I'd loved the pattern since I saw a pic on her website. I'd been waiting for it to come out anyway so I jumped at the chance to test it. Here's my pics:





The purple one is made from Sirdar Country Style DK using a 4.5mm hook. I had a little bit left from one ball:



The white scarf is made of 2 strands of 4ply mystery yarn (probably acrylic) from the stash, held together, and using a 4.5mm hook again. I want to dye it with some burgundy dye I've got - I say I'll do it soon, but it seems whenever I say here that I'll do something soon, it gets left to the side for like, a year. So, my intentions are to dye it, I'll say that much, then it might get done :)

Yeah, so in case you couldn't tell, I really liked this pattern. Now go make one yourself, although I warn you, you'll be addicted too :)

Friday 6 June 2008

Storm socks




Storm by Diane Mulholland, from The Inside Loop.

I saw these and had to make them. And I did it in four days. I didn't even realise it was so quick till it was pointed out to me that I was the first to complete something from issue 2. And I got referenced on the inside loop blog! Whee!

These were my first socks doing a short row toe and heel. I had tried to do the Express Lane socks, but I think I was thinking too hard about the instructions and just couldn't wrap my head around it. With these socks, I just stopped thinking and followed what the pattern said, and it came out right! Yay! So now I can go back and do the Express Lane socks too! I know I could have exchanged the method of doing the toe (I've done the figure 8 cast on before and know how to do that) but I wanted to try it the way it is in the pattern.

I don't know if I'm such a fan of short row heels. For no reason at all though. I think I'm just used to the heel flap kind. I mean, the ones on the socks I made are good, they fit fine, and they worked out perfectly. But maybe with express lane I'll substitute the heel for the one from widdershins. At least I can say I've done a short row heel now though! By the second heel, I had memorised what to do and everything!

And I can also say that I love these socks! They're very comfy, perfect for sitting about the house and knitting. I had the grey wool already, so when I saw the pattern on the site, they jumped out at me. One of those must-make projects!