When my blog buddy Marissa from Rae Gun Ramblings emailed her bookish crafty friends asking if we’d be interested in sharing a Harry Potter-themed project in July (in honor of Mr. Potter’s July 31 birthday & Daniel Radcliffe July 23), I was totally on board. Renewing my personal fandom for one of my favorite middle school book series is always something I’m down for. I immediately knew this was the perfect excuse to try my hand at the most famous knitting in all of the Harry Potter universe, the Weasley Christmas sweater.
Since I’ve seen a bunch of different takes on human sized Weasley sweaters, I thought, let’s think small here. These tiny sweaters can be used as a doll sweater, of course, but I’m thinking they’d make amazing cake or gift toppers (think tiny clothesline) and Christmas ornaments. It’s Harry Potter Christmas in July, dudes!
And ps: Rae Gun Ramblings is hosting a humongous Harry Potter giveaway and two weeks of all Harry Potter projects and ideas from tons of great bloggers, so if you’re now or ever were into Harry Potter and can appreciate a good horcrux reference or two, you should check that out.
Supplies
1 pack Lion Brand’s bonbons in Party, which comes with 8 mini skeins.
size 3 double pointed knitting needles
second set of double pointed needles or a stitch holder
scissors
yarn needle
Directions
While not crazy hard, this pattern isn’t the best if your a brand new knitter. It involves working with small stitches, and includes working in the round on double pointed needles. If you could handle the spring sock knit along, you’ll be fine. But if you’ve never knit a raglan sleeve sweater before, you should watch this series of YouTube videos on how the construction works. It’s really helpful if this is your first sweater in this style.
Abbreviations
CO – cast on
sts – stitches
rnd – round
DPNs – double pointed needles
k2tog – knit 2 sts together
skpsso – slip one, knit one, pass slipped stitch over the knit stitch
BO – bind off
For lefties
To make reductions that lay the correct way, use skpsso where the pattern calls for k2tog, and use k2togtbl (knit 2 together through back loops) where it calls for skpsso.
The Pattern
Knit the body
CO 36 sts
rnds 1-4. k1, p1
5 – 24. k around (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
1-2. k around (56 sts)
3. k7, k2tog, k10, skpsso, k14, k2tog, k10, skpsso, k7 (52 sts)
4. k6, k2tog, k10, skpsso, k12, k2tog, k10, skpsso, k6 (48 sts)
5. k5, k2tog, k10, skpsso, k10, k2tog, k10, skpsso, k5 (44 sts)
6. k4, k2tog, k10, skpsso, k8, k2tog, k10, skpsso, k4 (40 sts)
7. k3, k2tog, k10, skpsso, k6, k2tog, k10, skpsso, k3 (36 sts)
8. k2, k2tog, k10, skpsso, k4, k2tog, k10, skpsso, k2 (32 sts)
9. k1, k2tog, k10, skpsso, k2, k2tog, k10, skpsso, k1 (28 sts)
10. k2tog, k10, skpsso, k2tog, k10, skpsso (24 sts)
11 – 13. k around
14. k6, BO all remaining sts and weave in ends
(If there are holes in the armpits where you joined the sleeves, feel free to use yarn scraps to sew them shut.)Optional: Block your mini sweater
See here for a tutorial on how to block a knitting project (though with the yarn I used I don’t think blocking made a ton of difference). See below for a look at my funny little sweater mid-blocking at 3 a.m.Optional: Add Weasley initial
Using the coordinating color of your choice, add a letter to your sweater using either a duplicate stitch or a chain stitch.
To give you an idea of scale…
Here’s how big these little sweaters are in relation to a penny and to my size 8 flip flop (below). They’re both about 4 inches tall. I knit the blue sweater first and started running out of yarn, which is why it’s got less of a collar on it. I made sure to knit the red one a little tighter to make sure I’d get the perfect Weasley sweater look – the classic raglan with a stockinette collar. Also! Each sweater uses precisely one skein of the Lion Brand Yarn Bonbons, but I wanted to make sure that the right look could be accomplished with one skein and one alone, hence my making two of these that look a bit different using the same pattern. Patterns tend to come out best the second try in my experience!
I mean, the charm of a Weasley sweater is that it’s homemade, right? So it’s ok if it’s a little lumpy like my blue sweater. That reminds me – I think the spiraling I’m getting in the sleeves is due to my knitting such a small tube on long double pointed needles. They see-sawed around a bit as I knit, which I think led to some stretching, followed by the effect you see here.
I’m not perfect, and neither is a Weasley sweater! Happy Birthday, Harry Potter!
Aaaah! This is so great!!!!