Harry Potter Knitting

Growing up with a librarian mother, I have always been a book-lover.  I fondly recall the hours spent in the basement-children’s section of her library with my good friends Bilbo and Frodo, Charlie, Peter Pan, Alice, Bastian and of course Peter, Edmund, Susan and Lucy.  Unsurprisingly, my favorite birthday presents were books and bookstore gift cards.  It was just after my eleventh birthday, that I convinced my parents to take me to the local Borders where I first picked up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.  I remember reading the cover and being interested (having read, quite indiscriminately, any fantasy or science fiction book I could get my hands on) so much that I had read the first chapter before leaving the store.  After tearing through the story at super-human speed, I discovered (to my great delight) that there was more!

Now, of course, both Harry and I are grown, he defeating the evil Lord Voldemort, and I… well… I read about him defeating Voldemort, does that count?  And, with the final installment of the Deathly Hallows due in theaters this July, we are finally at the end of a rather magical era; no more waiting in line for midnight movie showings, no more Harry Potter costume parties, and sadly, no more books!  I therefore offer up this knitting experience to you as one last Harry Potter hurrah.  Raise your goblets (filled with pumpkin juice and butterbeer, no doubt!) and join with me in a toast to the Boy Who Lived, and the Woman Who Brought Him to Life!

Harry’s Christmas Socks

As most Harry Potter fans who are also knitters will tell you, Rowling includes characters who knit in almost every book in the series.    Mrs. Weasley sends Harry and Ron lovely knitted sweaters every year for Christmas, Hermione learns how to knit wooly hats and scarves for the Hogwarts House-Elves and even Hagrid knits some sort of yellow circus tent (in the Sorcerer’s Stone if you were wondering).  It should come as no surprise, then, that house-elves, those creatures most gifted in cleaning up after humans and practicing the domestic arts, are accomplished knitters!

Dobby now handed Harry a small package, which turned out to be --- socks. 

“Dobby is making them himself, sir!” the elf said happily.  “He is buying the wool out of his wages, sir!”

The left sock was bright red and had a pattern of broomsticks upon it; the right sock was green with a pattern of Snitches.

“They’re … they’re really … well, thanks, Dobby,” said Harry, and he pulled them on, causing Dobby’s eyes to leak with happiness again.

(Excerpt from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter Twenty-Three: The Yule Ball, by J.K. Rowling)

I get the feeling that Harry might have found those socks a bit strange (can’t imagine why) but they sounded delightful to me, so I was thrilled to discover a pattern for them in Alison Hansel’s book of knits based on those described in the Harry Potter books and films, Charmed Knits (pg. 104-108).   Her pattern features two repeats of a Fair Isle snitch and broomstick patterns on each cuff with identically worked short row toes and heels.  Her instructions were easy to follow (although, the explanation for the short row toe/heel was not with the snitch/broomstick sock pattern, so you do need to skip around in the book a bit) and the short row toe/heel knit up quickly.  I am not a big short row toe/heel fan because the heel does not end up being particularly reinforced (and we all know that socks are the only knitted clothing items that wear out) and because you end up using the Kitchener Stitch to graft together 32 stitches to finish the toe, which takes a lot longer than grafting 8 stitches for a conventional toe.  However, if you are an apprehensive first time sock knitter, the short row heel would probably be the easiest heel to work.

For the second pair of Harry's Socks that I knitted, I decided to knit them my way,  with a longer cuff on each sock featuring only one repeat of the broomstick motif, and two repeats of a shortened snitch motif (for this I skipped working rows 10, 11 and 12 of the snitch chart on pg 108).  (I think the snitches look more “snitch-ly” with a more round golden ball).  I also worked the heels and toes in gold for both socks (because they look pretty!) knitting a heel flap, turn and gusset, as well as a more conventional toe (scroll down for directions).

When knitting Fair Isle motifs, I usually like to use only one kind of yarn for a uniform look.  However, for these socks I ended up using Aussi Sock by Oasis Yarn (an Aussi Merino/Nylon blend in Oak Moss, Natural and Cherry Tomato that is super soft) with either Trekking XXL or Opal (both are wool/nylon blends as well, in gold and variegated brown).  (I actually don’t know which brand of yarn I used for the gold and brown colors because I started these socks a long time ago, and either lost or ate the ball bands, but I have a suspicion that both yarns are Trekking XXL because they look/feel like it).  The Aussi is a little bit fluffier than the Trekking, but I think that for the Fair Isle pattern, the combination of yarns looks really good.

For more Harry Potter-inspired knitting check out Hansel’s book or click here for a great (free!) listing of patterns and links.  Also, Opal created a line of variegated sock yarns based on Harry Potter characters (which is out of production, but you might find is floating around at your yls!).  Happy Knitting!

My Heel and Toe Directions:

Heel Flap:

Work sock until it is the desired length to the heel.  Then knit 16 stitches past beginning of round and turn work (knitting flat) knitting the heel flap on the next 32 stitches (starting with a WS row) with alternating rows of RS: sl 1 k 1, WS: sl 1, P to end. 

Turn Heel: 

When heel flap is desired length (14 or 15 slipped stitches at the side of the flap), on RS, K 17, ssk and K1, turn work, Sl 1, p3, p2tog, p1 and turn, continue to work as follows, knitting to 1 stitch before gap and ssk k1 on the RS rows and purling to 1 stitch before gap and p2tog p1 on WS rows until all stitches of the heel flap have been worked.

Gusset:

Needle 1: Knit across all heel flap stitches and then pick up and knit 15 stitches on the side of the heel flap.  Needle 2: Knit across the stitches for the top of the foot.  Needle 3: Pick up and knit 15 stitches from the other side of the heel flap, then knit 9 stitches of the heel flap. This is where each round now begins.  Row 1: Knit on needle 1 to the last 3 stitches, k2tog k1, knit all stitches on needle 2, k1 ssk then knit remaining stitches on needle 3.  Row 2: knit.  Repeat these two rows until 64 stitches remain total.

Toe Decrease:

Row 1: On needle 1, knit to last three stitches, k2tog, k1, on 2^nd needle k1, ssk knit to last 3 stitches k2tog k1 and on needle 3 k1, ssk knit to end of needle.  Row 2: knit.  Repeat rows 1 and 2 until 16 (or desired amount of) stitches remain.   Then, using the Kitchener Stitch, graft the toe together.   (My favorite explanation of the Kitchener Stitch is from Knit Christmas Stockings edited by Gwen Steege, page 93, because of the easy to follow illustrations!  That book is how I learned to knit socks.)