Harry Learns to Play Quidditch

In the "Sorcerer's Stone", Harry is chosen to be Seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. For those of you who STILL haven't read Harry Potter, Quidditch is the preferred sport of the Wizarding World. Below, in the movie, Harry meets with Oliver Wood at the Quidditch Pitch to learn the rules, and how to play the game. 

 

For this scene, Harry wears a Navy sweater and dark gray or putty colored corduroy trousers. Well, naturally, my Harry felt he needed a similar outfit, and fortunately, he had something similar ready to hand. 

At the the Portland, Maine Festival in 2007, we received a pair of cords, along with a hand knitted sweater, as part of our souvenirs. Mine were more tan than putty, but Harry didn't seem to mind. I purchased a navy sweater with cables in the sales room that year, which Harry confiscated after he joined my Sasha family in 2009. He says he can make do with the tan cords until I can find some gray or putty colored corduroy to make him a proper pair. Decent of him. 

Back in 2016, Running Press issued a collectible Quidditch trunk set, a must have for any die-hard Harry Potter fan. Naturally, I ordered one. It contains a removable quaffle, and two bludgers, plus a non-removable golden snitch, affixed to the inside of the lid. I was disappointed to find that there were no bats for the beaters included, but fortunately, I was able to make them, using instructions from The American Girl Ideas Blogspot. There are a lot of great ideas, instructions, and printable on this website that work well for Sasha and Gregor, as well as the American Girl dolls. But I digress...

 

Below is a photo of Harry, having a look into the Quidditch trunk, and wondering where the beater's bats could have disappeared to. Undoubtedly the work of those pranksters, Fred and George Weasley!

Knitting for Sasha

I've loved and collected dolls nearly from the time I was big enough to hold one. One of my all time favorite dolls is the Sasha doll, designed by Sasha Morganthaler, and manufactured at various times by Gotz, in Germany, and Frido or Trendon, in England. Sadly, these dolls are not in production at this time, but they are still widely available on the secondary market, and have an enthusiastic following on the web.

A large part of my enjoyment of the dolls I collect is derived from clothing them and collecting or making accessories for them. Sewing and knitting for Sasha and her brother, Gregor, is particularly satisfying, as the dolls are both well proportioned and easy to pose. They do not require a stand and are so well balanced, they can even stand on their heads!

Recently, I have been participating in a KAL with the Sasha group on Ravelry, and have just finished this sweater for my latest Gregor, a brunette boy from the 1970 Trendon production. He has had a rough life up until now, and has the scars to prove it. His hands and feet have slight chew marks, there is a dent on his upper right shoulder, and when he arrived, he had several ink and marker "bruises", which have finally faded with repeated applications of Oxy 10. He's apparently been the client of a young barber-in-training at some time or another, and still has a spot of shorter hair at the back of his head as a souvenir of that adventure. He also has a few spots where the hair just wants to stick up, no matter how long I keep his nylon stocking cap on, in an effort to convince it to lay flat. He is still a very handsome boy, though, and I'm happy to have him. He tells me that his name is Harry.

Anyway, getting back to Harry's new sweater, it is made of Telemark wool, from Knit Picks, in a nice shade of blue green, called Fjord Heather. The pattern I used is "Guernsey Fest" from Sirikind.com. I really love this pattern, and think I will be using it a lot. It is fun to knit, has lots of style options, sizes to fit both the Sasha dolls and American Girl dolls, and at the time of this writing, at least, the $5.95 purchase price is being donated to "Room To Read."

I started my sweater on October 5th, and finished it on October 12th. I primarily knit on it during my lunch hours at work, and for the occasional hour or so on the few evenings that I had something I wanted to watch on television. I knit the turtlenecked version. The only thing I wasn't crazy about was the crocheted cast off that was used to finish the turtleneck collar. It does give a nice stretchy edge, but I just don't like the way it looks. In all fairness, it's the first time I've ever done a crocheted cast off, so maybe I'm just not doing it correctly. I'll have to do a search and see if I can find video instructions. In the meantime, Harry thinks it's lovely and warm, and is not as picky about the finishing details as I am!

Originally published on Monday, October 12, 2009