As a librarian and crafter, I have quite the crop of DIY-loving and bookish friends, and my pal Marissa at Rae Gun Ramblings is at the intersection of both worlds. She blogs about books and crafts, and often her crafts are inspired by books. In honor of Harry Potter’s birthday on July 31, she’s hosting a fun blog tour/party thing where she, I and a bunch of other excellent bloggers share our best Harry Potter crafts. About a year ago, I shared a mini Weasley sweater pattern, and this year, I’m taking that idea up a notch by tweaking the pattern and adding a golden snitch to the front.
The finished sweater is about 4.5 inches tall, and this time, I designed it in a cotton yarn for added stitch (or should I say snitch!) definition. Just like last year’s mini sweater, I used a simple bottom-up raglan sweater construction. If you’ve never knit a sweater, but are comfortable on DPNs, this is a great first sweater project for you. If you need help doing any step of this pattern, check out last fall’s bottom-up raglan sweater knit along tutorials for how to work through each step of the sweater knitting process in detail. And hey! If colorwork (or even just tiny colorwork) freaks you out, you can always just knit a plain sweater following this pattern – just skip the color part. Easy!
(Free!) Mini Golden Snitch Sweater Pattern
Supplies
2 packs Lion Brand’s bonbons in Beach, which come with 8 mini skeins.
size 3 double pointed knitting needles
second set of double pointed needles or a stitch holder
two safety pins
scissors
yarn needle
Abbreviations
CO – cast on
sts – stitches
rnd – round
DPNs – double pointed needles
k2tog – knit 2 sts together
ssk – slip one as if to k, slip one as if to p, k both sts together
BO – bind off
Clr A – color A, black
Clr B – color B, yellow
Clr C – color C, white
Pattern
Knit the body
CO 32 sts in clr A
rnds 1-4. k1, p1
5 – 24. k around, following chart pictured and using clr A, clr B and clr C (20 rnds).
Transfer sweater body to a holder or another set of DPNs.Knit the sleeves
CO 10 sts
1-4. k1, p1.
5-20. k around. (16 rnds)
After each sleeve is knitted, place next to sweater body on holder or DPNs.Join the sleeves & shape the top
Place 2 sts from each sleeve and 2 sts per side on safety pins or scrap yarn (4 sts per armpit, 8 sts total will be on holders). You will now be working with 44 sts. Distribute 11 sts on 4 DPNs before beginning. For the following, each rnd begins at outside edge of the right sleeve.1. k around. (44 sts)
2. k3, k2tog, k12, ssk, k6, k2tog, k12, ssk, k3. (40 sts)
3. k3, k2tog, k10, ssk, k6, k2tog, k10, ssk, k3. (36 sts)
4. k3, k2tog, k8, ssk, k6, k2tog, k8, ssk, k3. (32 sts)
5. k3, k2tog, k6, ssk, k6, k2tog, k6, ssk, k3. (28 sts)
6. k3, k2tog, k4, ssk, k6, k2tog, k4, ssk, k3. (24 sts)
7. k3, k2tog, k2, ssk, k6, k2tog, k2, ssk, k3. (20 sts)
8-9. k1, p1 around.
10. BO in pattern.Use the kitchener stitch or a three needle bindoff to close the underarm holes. Weave in all ends and block to finish. Here’s a tutorial on how to block a knitting project if you need it. :)
Looks like my technique has improved a bit since last year! Plus, the yarn used for this year’s sweater doesn’t have an artificial fiber running through it, so errors in technique blocked out beautifully compared to last year. Funny how much your fiber content makes a difference. :)
Giveaway info!
It’s not a good birthday without any presents, right? Marissa is hosting a humongous Harry Potter giveaway along with the blog tour. If you’re a Harry Potter fan (or even were in a past life!), you should check out the great project ideas from the crew of awesome bloggers Marissa has assembled. Then, you can enter to win this amazing prize pack!
- The September Bookish Box from Appraising Pages (includes a shirt by Appraising Pages Shop and 3-5 feminine home, beauty, and fashion items)
- I Solemnly Swear That I Am Up To No Good Necklace from Bookish Sphere
- Marauders Map Stacking Mugs from A Bird in the Hand Crafts
- 25$ Shop Credit (for in stock items) from Tiny Book Town (super cute bookish jewelry pictured Narnia book necklace and Mystery and Adventure necklace)
- Deathly Hallows Necklace, Personalized Hogwarts Acceptance Letter, and Golden Snitch Ornament (any house colors) from Pieces by Polly
- 40$ Shop Credit from Rae Gun (pictured above House Elf Apron, Hogwart’s House Tie Necklace, Make Love Not Horcruxes Bag but anything in the shop is available)
- 20$ Amazon.com gift card!
- The August Owl Crate from Owl Crate (this will include an upbeat mystery novel, as well as a bunch of items paying homage to literature’s most-loved detectives)
Enter the giveaway with the rafflecopter widget below. Just reload if you don’t see it or click here.
Julie
such a super cute mini sweater!! I love the design. Would make a pretty badass grown up sweater, too.
Gretchen
Perfect for my Care of the Magical Creatures class at the Harry Potter forum on Ravelry! I can’t wait to share with everyone! Thank you Heidi!!
Heidi
Awesome! Thanks, Gretchen! I just added a pic of mine to the thread too. Ravelry is the beeeeest. :)
Edna
I love Hermione. She is spunk and knits!
Diana Salmon
Interesting website. Found it thanks to a notification on fb from lionbrand.