Wednesday, October 07, 2009

A Couple of Finishes

I'm still not sure about this wreath. I saw a fabulous scrap wreath sometime last summer and raced right out and bought a wire wreath frame. I finally decided to try it. After two rounds--orange and beige--I thought I'd really fucked up. But that was around 11:00 on Saturday. (I know, lots of swinging evenings 'round these parts.) It looks a lot better during the day than it does at night. How many people are going to be looking at my door at night? It's a pretty quiet neighborhood...after all, we're all at home in the evenings knitting and crafting and baking bread. (Actually, I don't know what my neighbors are doing.)

In the daytime, I think you can see the rusts and oranges and browns and it does give a feeling of fall. I am pleased that I was able to use up some really hideous beige fabric that I moved across the country. But I did need to fill in the browns and rusts. Fortunately, I only had to get six quarter yards. Yup, this took a ton of fabric. Maybe next time, I'll really do it with scraps...

I also managed to finish the Sorting Hat for my nephew. I'm trying to figure out what to do next. Should I stitch the first verse of the sorting hat song (You might belong in Gryffindor...) or his name (Last, First--like the book) and Gyffindor underneath it? I'm leaning toward the latter but if I do that, should I do the same for both of them? This took me longer than I thought it might but the Gryffindor crest will take much longer, definitely. Man, it's hard to make decisions about gifts for boys you see every other year for, like, a day. And well, boys, we don't really have many of them in the family. A little help*?



* The boys in question are 8 and almost 6. The younger is on the Asperger's spectrum and has fantasies that he is Harry Potter. Both totally dig the Hogwarts business.

21 comments:

Silverlotus said...

I really like the wreath. I think the colours look great.

No help for the hat, I'm afriad. I've never read the HP books. (Can you believe that?)

Cole said...

I think they'd love the personalization and really feeling like they're a part of Gyffindor & Harry Potter... and then you can get them scarves knitted in the colors & they'd really belong!

imnverted said...

I agree with Cole. The scarves also sound fun.

Anna van Schurman said...

The Harry Potter scarves (bought because I ran out of time to make them) made the trip last time. One of these years I'll make the HP sweater (Weasley Sweater) out of Charmed Knits.

Kathy said...

IMO and from the photo the wreath looks great! I would hang it on my door except then I would have to take the "Welcome to the Nuthouse" stitched piece down. :)

As for the boys gift. I agree with the personalization. I think they would get a kick out of it.

Chocolates4Breakfast (Terri ~ Boog) said...

I like the idea of personalizing the hat gift! Your wreathe is really cute - but I love the color of your door!

Carolyn NC said...

Great job on the wreath and the stitching!

mainely stitching said...

Gifts for boys, large or small, is just something that I truly stink at. Once they outgrow Lego, I'm sunk. Sorry. Your Sorting Hat looks super, though!

Coni said...

I'm still trying to figure out what the hell a sorting hat is. (Note to self: READ THE BOOKS ALREADY, BO BO!)

The wreath is lovely and does indeed look autumnal. Very nice.

Kristen said...

The wreath looks great. The colors really pop against the green.

Sorry, I have no idea what kids like, but I think that hat is very cool. The detail is pretty impressive given the small size of the design.

BronnyB said...

1: The wreath looks great - and the bonus is that it can last for years, I made a christmas wreath nearly 25 years ago - I still think it looks tacky, but it hangs on the door every december!
2: The sorting hat looks really great - as Kristen said, the detail is marvellous and again, worth the effort. I would stitch the lad's name and 'Griffindor' AND bite the bullet and stitch the crest for the other lad, with his name under it. The hat for the youngest and the crest for the older?? That way it would look like the younger would be joining his brother in Hogwarts...
Great Stitching!

doris said...

I think the wreath colors look great, but I love that you made it so full. I've seen some pretty scrawny wreaths, and they kind of suck. (Gee, Doris, tell us how you really feel!)

I'm on the side with everyone else about the sorting hat. Kids love to see their names in print.

As far as fantasies go, I fantasize that I'm Sheryl Crow or Meryl Streep, and I haven't even been diagnosed with Asperger's ... yet.

corinna said...

make it personal
they will be delighted

nice wreath
love that green paint on the door

Jinger said...

I think the wreath looks nice. Plus, like you said, who's going to see it at night?!

As for the hat...really like it. How about... "So where to put you?" It is from the hat's last sentence to Harry when Harry first puts on the hat. Pg. 121 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. Just a thought.

Susan said...

I think the wreath looks great.

How are you going to finish the hat and the crest? I could see a small pillow/door hanging finish for the hat with either personalization or "So where to put you?" I would personalize the crest.

BTW, the Warner Brothers studio tour we took in Burbank in August included a stop at the nuseum. The top floor was devoted to Harry Potter. The sorting hat put me in Gryffindor. . .

Alice said...

I think that personalizing the hat with their name and Gryffindor! would be really cute.
I agree that buying for boys is tough, especially ones you don't often see. I always feel like I am behind the times with their current obsessions, buying trucks when they have moved onto spacemen....
I am a bit boring, I love to buy books.

Unknown said...

RE: gifts for boys

I've had success with magazine subscriptions for the older ones.

Anonymous said...

I think I might put "name, house" under the Sorting Hat and "name,year" under the crest. Because since it's a Gryffindor crest, the house name under it would be redundant. And then you could make the boy a "prefect" or "first year" or whatever. At any rate, the hat looks cool ;)

Miriam said...

I'll just echo everyone else and say the wreath looks quite nice.

I've never had the guts to make anything Potter-related. I'm afraid if I started people wouldn't ever let me make other stuff. "Oh please, can you make me a scarf?" "No."

Michelle said...

I love the wreath - and it looks fabulous against your door.

Anne Sans Tete said...

i knew that was the sorting hat the second i saw it! it looks perfect! did you create the pattern or buy it? i would love to have it. i would recommend the sorting hat verse, but that would be my preference. Can't say I know what 6 & 8 year old boys would want!