Harry Potter Unity Scarf on Flexible Loom

************* UPDATE October 2009 *******************
Scarf is finally finished! Check it out here.
*************UPDATE February 21, 2009*******************

I'm finally to the last four bands for color! It's been slow going on this, lately. I've been so busy with other things I just haven't had the time to work on it. I really want to get it finished, though. It's going to be a very thick and warm scarf.

*************UPDATE January 16, 2009*******************

I've just reached the halfway point! Yay! BUT, I've decided to scrap the crest on the neck for this time around. I've had to put it on the back burner for a few days and need to get it done before winter is over! :) I'm planning on making a second scarf when finished with this one, so I may try the intarsia stuff on it instead. Wish me luck!

*************UPDATE January 05, 2009*******************

I've now got the bottom four stripes and the thin red, gold, and green stripes are finished. I'm going to be experimenting with the crest on the back of the neck before I continue. The scarf seems to be knitting well. I'm really liking the gauge the loom is producing at 4 stitches per inch. The knit pattern is much more subtle and sturdier feeling than the green Knifty Knitter extra large gauge I used on the Slytherin House Scarf. But, it's not too small that it takes forever to knit.

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Just started a new scarf for my mom. I'm making the Unity Scarf that Neville wears in the Harry Potter movie Goblet of Fire.

I changed a few things like adding a Hogwarts "H" crest on the ends and I think another one at the neck. The crests aren't turning out as hoped, but someone on craftster has suggested a fix, so hopefully that will make it better.

Progress so far:




Here is my pattern idea:



And, the crest:



I'm using my new "pick-up stick" loom. It seems to be working wonderfully so far. Here's a link to make the loom (http://knitty-witty.blogspot.com/2008/12/making-easy-knitting-loom.html).

Puffskein with box

Next, for the Harry Potter Swap I knitted a puffskein on the blue KK round loom. I started with the inside color which is pink and switched to the furry tan halfway through. Then, inserted an elastic hairban and knitted it closed like the band on a beanie hat. After binding off and drawing the hole closed, I added a pink tail, some bead eyes, and a hairclip inside to make it perch on your shoulder.

More pics of the puffskein I forgot that I took:







The box was made from an oatmeal container that was cut down to size and painted. I added some raisins in the box to look like...(well you know)...and made a label from the Magical Menagery.





Before the Puffskein, I also made Pygmy Puffs for my daughter and her cousin. It was basically the same construction as the Puffskein.

How to Make an Easy Knitting Loom (Tutorial)

This tutorial is now available in PDF format.

Download Tutorial

The Most Versatile Portable and Easy to Use Knitting Loom Ever

NOTE: I have put together a starter kit with 16-64 pegs, rubberbands and spacer beads. Just email me at the address is in my profile for details. If you want to try making a knitting board, I can throw in some wooden dowels and more rubberbands.

You'll need the following to create your own flexible loom:

- Pegs Any of the following will work:

• Pick-up Sticks (fine - small gauge)
• Swizzel/cocktail stirring sticks (medium - large)
• Pencils or Ball-point Pen barrels (large - extra large)

- Small Rubberbands

- Spacers - optional.

- Knitting Tool - optional.

- Wooden dowels or pen barrels - optional for Double-Knit.

Here is what I used for my current loom:




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Here is my current loom being used as a knitting board to knit a scarf in a mix of e-wrap and double-knit.

To read/see more of it's progress, click here.

I've been experimenting with different materials to make a finer gauge knitting loom for socks. And, I've come up with a decent idea. I tried bamboo BBQ skewers, but they splinter and are pointy at the end. So, I found some of those cheap plastic "pick-up sticks" from the old game with the knobbed ends at an online party supply store. My daughter needed trinkets for her holiday party, so we bought a huge lot of them.

I used small hair rubberbands (real rubber, NOT the new plastic kind that break) and plastic beads with large enough holes for the rubberband to go through. The beads aren't necessary. Twisting the rubberbands inbetween the sticks will produce smaller spacing. I joined one row of rubberband near the top and one near the bottom to keep the loom stable. This is all that is required for knitting in-the-round or flat panel.

To double-knit, I added ball point pen barrels taped together to stiffen the sides and two rubberbands to each end of the loom with spacers to change the distance between the two rake sides. Since the scarf is fairly wide, I also added some paint sticks I had to help stiffen the center even more to prevent it from bowing under stress. NOTE: This loom should not be wrapped too tightly, or bowing will increase.

Earlier attempt at "pick-up stick" loom showing decreasing:

Read/See more about this loom experiment, click here.

Click here to see my other attempts at creating this loom.

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The last thing I really need to experiment with is how wide I can make the loom before it starts falling apart. So far, when the rubberbands are tight, it holds together really well for hat/scarf sized projects. The largest I have attempted so far is an 8" scarf with 64 pegs, which makes the loom about 13" long.

Slytherin Scarf

The first item I attempted for the Harry Potter swap was a Slytherin Scarf made on a green KK round loom. I tried to do an intarsia snake just to see what would happen, but like I suspected, the gauge was too large and you can't tell what it is very well.



Here is a closeup of the tag from Quality Quidditch Supplies: