knitting neels

I have acquired a set of the new Addi Lace needles.

Can knitting get any more bling?

I have been hankering after a nice summer shawl for a long time and finally decided to take the plunge. The yarn? Paton’s Fairytale 2-ply which mysteriously only comes in white. The pattern? Icarus from Interweave Knits Summer 2006. When I was looking for a suitable pattern, I discovered that IK has provided a really good selection over the last 18 months. I really like the idea of a shawl: a snuggly wrap for the summer and a useful scarf that will go with every winter coat.

Progress has been swift on the V-neck raglan. The joy of 6.5mm needles! … and I am past the tedium that is back-and-forth knitting for the V-neck bit.

This is a really straight-forward pattern and I look forward to having this useful, cozy jumper in my wardrobe.

In other news, I went to see The Order of the Phoenix today. Listen: even if you detest Harry Potter, I urge you to overcome your feelings and go for the knitting. Every one of the Harry Potter films yields fantastic knitwear which, in turn, yields a strange cross-breed of fan – the Harry Potter fans that knit. Have a look at here and here for an idea of what I’m on about. This latest film has really outdone itself in terms of knitwear. All of Hermione’s sweaters are fantastic – there’s a white ski sweater with lovely cuff and hem detail, a grey sweater with coloured stripes, and the greatest ribbed Gryffindor sweater with tiny little cable details throughout the ribs. Fantastic. She also sports a plain oatmeal coloured stockinette scarf and beanie during the winter term, and a zip-up cardigan with busy colourwork and stripes along the cuffs and hem. Fred and George have matching grey raglan sweaters with orange and brown zig-zags and a zip on one raglan seam. The necks are ribbed but have a rolled brim.

Neville has a great zip-up cardigan in blue, navy and dark green. The criss-cross colourwork detail is all over, but the raglan seams are done in just green, making the seams a prominent detail and alleviating the colourwork at the same time. Umbridge wore, to my amusement, a cropped pink version of the Grannie Smith cardigan. Ginny unfortunately didn’t feature much in this movie; her costumes are always much more bohemian than Hermione’s. She did however appear in a really cool top – cotton or linen, with crocheted granny squares along the neckline. Very effective! The last knit I can remember is a very fine herringbone-stitch cloak that McGonagle wore when Trelawney was being sacked. It really brought home to me how effective this stitch can be when finely knit and reminded me of a sweater I’d seen before. This also got me to thinking of how I keep seeing houndstooth print in unexpected places (womens’ handbags on the street, neck scarves and a woman’s coat last week… unexpected because I always associate houndstooth with winter), and that it would make a great pattern for a small handbag. The dense colourwork would make it very durable, especially if lined.

Anyway. The rest of the film was pretty good!

PS: Check out here for a free Bellatrix Lestrange sock pattern! (opens pdf) The first of three they say!