themed yarn & projects

A few other lovely bloggers have posted lately about getting color inspiration for their yarn colorways/combos from books and movies.  There have been a few projects of mine that have patterns based on books/movies (check out my Hermione hat from Harry Potter, my Harry Potter scarves, and my Luna Lovegood scarf, also from Harry Potter; can you tell I love Harry Potter?), but I don’t think I’ve ever bought yarn in a book/movie inspired colorway before.  Until now, that is.  Check out these beautiful Hunger Games themed yarns from Etsy:

District 12 2-Ply Sock Yarn from BrazenStitchery

District 12 2-Ply Sock Yarn from BrazenStitchery

Effie Trinket Nymph Sock Yarn from supernaturalyarns

Effie Trinket Nymph Sock Yarn from supernaturalyarns

I bought both of these very different colorways and am planning on making a reversible hat with them (probably with this knitting pattern from Purl Soho).  It will represent two very different characters in the Hunger Games trilogy (Katniss and Effie) that come from opposing worlds but who are both good people in the end.  To me it symbolizes cooperation, peace, and the triumph of good, etc., etc…

If you haven’t read the Hunger Games books, I highly recommend them.  They get a little bit teenage-girl-y occasionally but definitely NOT in a Twilight saga kind of way.  The story in the Hunger Games books is about a young girl who is strong in the face of overwhelming danger and misery, and about the horrors of war and fighting for what’s right.  It’s dark and horrifying and moving and inspiring all at the same time.  I also really like the movies based on the first two books (the third one comes out next year, I believe), although they seem to downplay the horror/violence and over-stress the romance parts a bit, sort of diluting the general message a bit in my opinion; if you really want the full message, go for the books!  These would probably be good books/movies to allow your teenage kids to read and then discuss with them afterwards.  I say teenage kids because the third book is super-extra twisted (as if the first two aren’t twisted enough), and I’m not sure I’d want my young kids to read that one, if I had any kids.

So anyway, what do you think of the yarn combo above?  Have you ever made projects inspired by books/movies or bought/dyed yarn that has been inspired by them?  If so, what?  I think it’s a really cool concept and makes projects just a little more meaningful when they are attached to stories you enjoy.

I also bought these beautiful stitch markers on Etsy from the writer of the blog ruth plus two:

Glass/bead stitch markers

Glass/bead stitch markers

Well, that’s all for now, I guess.  I’m making some fingerless mitts for a coworker but I’ll share them when I’m finished — it shouldn’t be long.  Thank you so much for stopping by, and happy holidays to you all!  If you are traveling, please stay safe!

finally, something’s done!

I finally finished my Hermione Hat #2!  You probably don’t remember #1 because it was so long ago, probably before I separated my blogs.  #1 was too short by about 10 rows, because I read the chart wrong throughout and just skipped them.  This one was done properly (although it’s still a little short/snug for my taste, but I’m sure I can block it).

#1 is on the left, #2 on the right. You can tell #2 looks much bigger.

The eyelets were fun, but I’m not sure I like making cables… my stitches get so tight.

I’m so excited to have this done!  I did all of the decreasing top part tonight because I wanted to get it finished.  This will definitely be going on my Christmas trip to England with me.  It might not even get cold enough here in South Carolina this winter for me to wear hats (it didn’t this past winter), so I’m excited for the opportunity to show off my hard work!  I know it’s not the most complicated hat pattern, but for a beginner I’m really proud of how it turned out!

Oh and if you want the pattern for this hat, it’s here.

Thanks for stopping by, that’s all for today!

finished Hermione’s HBP hat

I finished my knitted Hermione HBP hat, the pattern for which is on Ravelry here.  I’m honestly a little disappointed, which is really sad since I spent SO MUCH TIME on this!  I took so much care with the cables and learned new stitches to make the holes and everything, and the hat is short.  I wanted it to come down longer — I wish I could go back and add 10 more rows of the chart pattern.  I guess one drawback of knitting hats bottom up is that you can’t try it on as you go.  Maybe it will stretch?  I hope so — It’s so pretty and I’d so wear it if it was a little longer!
          

 

Edit: It’s my fault the hat was short — I was stupidly skipping 2 rows every so often and I skipped a total of 10 rows.  I’m going to have to make this hat again sometime and do it right!

I’ve been busy!

So the semester is coming to a close, and I have one more paper to finish up before I’m done with my second semester of grad school!  I’m so excited for Christmas break, during which I plan to both knit and crochet like mad.  Hopefully that means more posts coming your way!

I’m hoping it actually gets cold here — today it was around 45 but I’d like it to be colder so that I can model more of my creations in public!  I love showing off what I’ve made not because they’re exceptionally good (because they’re really not), but because I made them and they make me happy.  I’ve already given a bunch of simple crocheted hats to my school friends for Christmas — it’s really gratifying to see others wearing things I made!

I’ve actually got some new things to share today.  First off, my sweet baby pitbull, Zero, models her scarf/bow and her granny square sweater.  The sweater was a spur-of-the-moment creation, and it’s meant more to keep her warm than to be stylish, but I figured I’d share anyway.

I was making her sweater instead of doing the homework on the floor beside her:

And finally, I’ve been working on knitting the HBP Hermione hat (pattern available in the ‘knitting corner’ section), so this is where I am, with the real pic to compare:

 

Harry Potter madness!

So you guys already know that I love Harry Potter from the HP scarf patterns I put up a long time ago (here).  There’s new HP material up now, but the new stuff is knitted!  Click here to see 3 different hats Hermione wore during the movies, 1 scarf (pictured above), Neville’s sweater from the last movie, and even a large plushie Hedwig!  These are the most true-to-the-movies patterns out there that I could find that actually look good.

For my crocheting followers, I’m working on another baby blanket and should be done in a couple of weeks, so look out for that!  I also may try to find some crochet versions of the HP knitting patterns.

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