Harry Potter Knit Swap

Happy Wednesday! Today I am sharing another handful of finished knits! Back in 2011, Amanda and I did a Harry Potter craft swap to celebrate the release of the final Deathly Hallows movie. (Read more about that swap here.) We had so much fun making and collecting things for the swap, we decided to do it again! So, in the Summer of 2014, Amanda, Jacey and I decided to do a Harry Potter swap based on the first book. We each agreed to knit something related in some way to the first book. I was supposed to knit something for Amanda, and I'd receive from Jacey.


At the time, I had really just started to become more adventurous in my knitting, and was nervous about trying to make something for an accomplished knitter! I knew Amanda loved to wear hats, but didn't keep many of the ones she's knitted for herself. Since I knew I was attempting a bit of a simpler knit, I also wanted to knit a pair of arm warmers to go with it.


I knew I needed to choose a yarn color that would tie in directly with the book, since my pattern choices weren't. I was thinking about how all the students wear scarves or sweaters that match their house colors. I think Amanda would be a Gryffindor, so I wanted to knit her something with a nod to that. There are tons of versions of the Gryffindor scarf online (the classic red and yellow stripe), but wanted to knit something a bit more sophisticated. I chose this beautiful deep red Madelinetosh color (Tart), that has undertones of black, which seemed perfect.



For the hat, I chose the Greyhaven Hat pattern by Robin Ulrich, and knit it in Tosh Vintage. I knit this hat for myself in gray, and this time I around I used markers to separate each lace repeat. This really helped keep me on track and allowed me to knit it with less concentration. I blocked it on a balloon to get the lace nice and even. (See more on my Ravelry.)



For the arm warmers, I chose the Women's Hand/Wrist Warmers pattern by Joelle Hoverson, and knit them in Tosh Chunky. They knit up quickly, and I was able to use my 9" circulars to knit them, so no magic loop! I did knit an extra pattern repeat before the thumb hole to make them a bit longer. (See more on my Ravelry.)



Jacey knit me a pair of amazing colorwork mittens from the The Unofficial Harry Potter Knits, Special Issue 2013. The pattern is O.W.L. Mittens by Celeste Young. On one side of the mittens there are owls on tree branches and a moon. On the other side, are spells from the books. She knit them in my favorite color, purple! I mentioned back when the issue came out that I would love to knit them, and she remembered and knit them for me. They are an absolute treasure, I am still in disbelief that she knit them for me! (See more on Jacey's Ravelry.)

Happy Knitting!