Hogwartian Magic

Hello knit fiends... I thought I would pop in and share my little experiment with the technique of Double Knitting.

For anyone not already aware, this is a two-colour technique that produces a reversible item, where each side is a negative image of the other. I'd been wanting to try my hand at this for ages, having seen some truly outstanding examples on Ravelry.

So after christmas I decided to do a little training project, using Anne Kingstone's excellent free pattern for Hogwarts 'bookscarves'. Somehow the Hogwartian theme seemed fitting for something as fiendish as double knitting.

Here are the results...











































A few things to note...

About colours - I've discovered that King Cole yarns make a good UK source for Hogwarts colours. The 4ply Merino Blend yarns certainly include shades that closely match up for Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.

About Double Knitting... suffice to say this is not instantly easy! At first I just couldn't get my head around it. My brain was having trouble understanding why there were so many stitches on the needle. I also ended up frogging my first few rows because my cast-on was too loose. (Apparently looseness is a bit of a 'thing' with double knitting - hence it tends to be done on much smaller needles than usual.)

So at first I was unimpressed and decided that whoever invented this technique was sent from hell to try us... but then it suddenly clicked and became great fun! There is a real sense of magic when you first start to see your reversible pattern emerging.

I think it would be a challenge to knit an entire scarf in double knitting, but could definitely see me making this bookscarf again... perhaps in the other house colours.

My full project details, including a link to the pattern, can be found here:
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/flockhartsl/hogwarts-double-knitted-bookscarves