Hey,What Ever Happened To ...

Wondering what ever happened to the finished pictures of the Wee Wizard Wrobe?
It's completely finished, but I still don't have anyone to try it on. I thought of asking the neighbors, but they are not HP people in the least. And without context the sweater just doesn't make sense.

Anyone out there in blog land know someone who would appreciate a middle sized Harry Potter themed baby sweater? Oh well, it was worth a try.

The pictures aren't so good. They came from my iPhone camera and I maybe used too much extra lighting too. Black yarn is proving quite difficult to photograph.

[Side Note: This is my 100th blog post! Yay me! And here's to the next 100! *clink*]

Tomorrow, I seam

I (finally) finished the second sleeve of the Wee Wizard robe. Tomorrow I'm going to seam everything up and have myself a finished object, yay! A little 'blocking' and weaving of ends and I'll add some much needed final measurements to the pattern.

I wonder if it bothers people when I update the pattern, just for aesthetics reasons. There aren't dire changes like "oops, I forgot to tell you to do something vitally important" but when I noticed that the indents were wrong, I fixed it. And when I had some finished measurements, I added them. I hope I'm not aggravating people. I'll just do one final update with all of the pictures, pretty text boxes, and other fancy inclusions and call it the Rich Format, and re-name the original "Plain Text". That way people can look at the fancy one, but print the simple one and save ink. There, justification :-D

Test knitting on a wee scale

The prototype Wee Wizard Wrobe is zipping along. All I have left to knit is about half of the second sleeve. I'll probably finish it tonight during Trueblood. [Edit: Nope, did not finish it.]
[Side Note: I had no intention of adding another show to my TV viewing schedule. I'm two weeks behind on my DVR. But it reminds me of some of my best college friends. I'm sentimental about a sexually violent vampire show? Great.]
I did all of the seaming on Saturday in the daylight (see The Great Seam-As-I-Go Edict) because it is very difficult to see anything on black yarn. I guess that's a blessing too because I can't see any mistakes either :-) The neck area seems like it might be a little tight, based on the head of a Brand Name Patch doll (whose name is Charlie, very creative of those Patch people huh). I'll have to give it a little stretching when I "block" it. I know it's acrylic, but the preliminary blocking I did on the hood helped the stitches even themselves out and made everything lie flatter.

Speaking of the college friends, I'm eagerly anticipating homecoming in a few weeks here! Let's hope that all of this stomach virus plague nonsense dies down at USC before I get there. The hazmat suit just takes up too much room in my suitcase.

[Side Rant: USC did NOT run up the score against Washington. Mark Sanchez left at the half. There weren't ANY forward passes thrown after the half. We ran the ball using only 2 plays the rest of the game (left and right). Every Tom, Dick, and RUDY made it into the game. And yet, if the end-zone had been moved up to the 50 yard line, Washington still wouldn't have scored.
What more could we do? Play blindfolded? Take a knee? I think that would have been insulting. I'm finished now.]

Also, I'm still looking for an interesting pattern that will allow me to combine the Tonks and Lupin skeins of HP Opal in an 'individual and autonomous, yet matchy-matchy' sort of way. I'm open to suggestions!

It's a Pullover Sweater for the Wee Wizard

(and the Potter-fan parent who will be amused to no end, probably more so than the recipient)!!!
Wee Wizard Wrobe
(You can click on the title to DOWNLOAD a PDF of the pattern.)
SIZES: [Small/Knut] {Medium/Sickle} Large/Galleon
NEEDLES: US 6 / 4.0 mm (plus an extra for three needle bind-off)
YARN: [2]{3}|3| 85g / 3 oz. balls of Bernat Satin Sport in Black. This yarn is a slippery sport weight acrylic, making it easy to care for and not scratchy at all. Also, any little ones with wool issues will appreciate it.

HOOD:
Cast on [52] {60} 72 sts using the long tail cast-on method. The leftover tail will be used to sew the hood onto the body of the sweater.
Row 1: Purl all sts.
Row 2: Knit all sts.
Row 3: Purl all sts.
Row 4: Knit all sts.
Row 5: Purl all sts.
Row 6: K7,
[K3, M1, K3, M1, K3, M1, K3, M1, K3, M1, K3, M1, K2, M1, K3, M1, K3, M1, K3, M1, K3, M1, K3, M1, K3] ending with K7. [64] sts.
{K4, M1, K4, M1, K4, M1, K4, M1, K4, M1, K2, M1, K2, M1, K2, M1, K4, M1, K4, M1, K4, M1, K4, M1, K4} ending with K7. {72} sts.
K5, M1, K5, M1, K5, M1, K5, M1, K5, M1, K5 M1, K8, M1, K5, M1, K5, M1, K5, M1, K5, M1, K5, M1, K5 ending with K7. 84 sts
Row 7: Purl across. PM in the center of the row.
Row 8: K7, M1, Knit to 1 stitch before center marker M1, K1, Slip Marker, K1, M1, Knit to last 7 stitches, M1, K7.
Row 9: Purl all sts, and be sure to slip center marker.
Repeat rows 8 and 9 three additional times [80] {88} 100 sts.
Row 16: K to 1 stitch before center marker, M1, K1, Slip Marker, K1, M1, K to end. [82] {90} 102 sts.
Row 17: Purl all sts, and be sure to slip center marker.
Repeat rows 16 and 17 until there are [108] {116} 128 sts.
Divide evenly between 2 needles with right sides facing and perform 3 needle bind off.

BACK:
Cast on [54] {64} 74 sts and work in stockinette stitch for [6”] {8”} 10” ending with a WS row. When measuring, be sure to flatten out the rolled edge created by stockinette stitch.
Shaping Armholes: Bind off 6 stitches at the beginning of the next two rows [42] {52} 62 sts. ***
Continue without shaping until the armhole measures [4.5”] {5.5”} 6.5”, ending with a WS row.
Shoulder Shaping: Bind off 7 sts at the beginning of the next 2 rows, [28] {38} 48 sts.
Bind off 8 sts at the beginning of the next 2 rows, [12] {22} 32 sts.
Bind off the remaining [12] {22} 32 sts.

FRONT: (If you’re adding something fancy, like an intarsia House crest, this is the place to do it.)
Work as given for back to ***
Continue without shaping armholes for [2.5”] {3”} 4” ending with a WS row.
Neck Shaping: K [20] {25} 30 sts, turn and leave remaining [34] {39} 34 sts on a stitch holder.
Working on these [20] {25} 30 sts only, continue as follows:
Next Row: Purl all sts.
Work 2 rows, decreasing one stitch at the neck edge in every row. [18] {23} 28 sts.
Work 5 rows, decreasing one stitch at the neck edge in rows 1, 3, 5. [15] {20} 26 sts.
Continue without shaping until armhole measures [4.5”] {5.5”} 6.5”, ending with a WS row.
Shoulder Shaping: Bind off 7 sts, knit to the end. [8] {13} 17 sts.
Next Row: Purl all sts.
Bind off 8 sts, knit to end. [0] {5} 9 sts.
Bind off remaining [0] {5} 9 sts.
Neck Shaping: With RS facing, join yarn and work remaining [34] {39} 34 sts.
Bind off 2 sts and continue to the end of the row [20] {25} 30 sts.
Reverse all shaping and complete to match the other side of the neck.

SLEEVES:
Cast on [35] {40} 45 sts and work in stockinette stitch for 2”.
Increase 1 stitch at each end of every following [4th] {5th} |5th| row to [55] {60} 65 sts.
Continue in stockinette stitch until sleeve measures [8”] {11”} 14", ending with a WS row.
Bind off.

TO FINISH:
Block and press as directed on the yarn label, but don’t block out the natural stockinette curl on the bottom of the sleeves, bottom of the sweater, or on the hood.
Join shoulder seams. Seam up the sides of the body and the sleeves. Sew in the sleeves, being sure to match up the seam with the bound-off stitches at the bottom of the armhole. Join the hood to the body, beginning by pinning the hood at the center of the center of the back and seaming from one side of the front to the other. Weave in ends.
Just like magic*, a sweater has appeared!



* magic ... and a bunch of knitting, seaming, and weaving of ends ;-)