House Scarves

I didn't manage to complete the duelling house scarves in time for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, as that was almost 2 months ago ... but at least I can credit the movie with giving me the urge to finally make some house scarves, so now I have a pair. Gryffindor and Slytherin. I like them both, but perhaps the Slytherin one a tad more. What can I say, I've always secretly identified with Slytherin house.

As far as I've seen, there are two main versions of the house scarves (and lots of variations in each). There's what I call the junior scarf (1st and 2nd movie) and senior scarf (3rd movie and beyond).

I've always preferred the senior version, though. It has a more mature and subtle feel to it, so that's what I decided to make. I started the Gryffindor scarf by knitting it in a tube using this pattern, but quickly realized it was too wide and too bulky, even for Chicago winters. I then used a different pattern which is done in ribbing. Of all the knitting skills I decided to learn over my short knitting career, switching from English (carry yarn in right hand) to the Continental style (carry yarn in left hand) of knitting is probably one of my best decisions. It's just so much faster. Especially for a stitch like ribbing, which I would hate doing in English style, but in Continental, it's positively fun.

These are probably the closest I will get to proper house scarves. I made these in worsted weight yarn. I think in order to make them look more like the movie versions, I needed to use a smaller yarn, such as a sports weight or even a fingering. But I don't have that much patience. I'm very happy with them as is.