Ilvermorny House Soap Sacks Complete

by Nyssareen

Craft
Knitting: Pattern
Various Soap Sacks: Tools
US 7 (4.5mm) needles, US 6 (4mm) needles, 37" cable for magic-loop, US 4 (3.5mm) double-point needles: Notes
I came up with this project to fulfill the History of Magic class at the Fiber Kind Ilvermrony campus. Each soap sack is designed to represent the colors of the four Ilvermorny Houses, Horned Serpent, Thunderbird, Wampus, and Pukwudgie, and the last to represent the Ilvermorny School colors. Horned Serpent - Lily Sugar 'n Cream Bright Navy and Swimming Pool yarn, worked in the round, adapted from Woven Windows knitting stitch located at https://www.nichknit.com/post/soap-sack-knitting-pattern-woven-windows Thunderbird - Lily Sugar 'n Cream Ecru and Black Currant yarn, worked in the round, adapted from Two-color honeycomb slip stitch located at https://www.knittingunlimited.com/2014/04/learn-to-knit-honeycomb-stitch.html Wampus - Lily Sugar 'n Cream Renegade and Warm Brown, worked in the round, adapted from Celtic Cable knitting pattern located at https://www.knitting-bee.com/knitting-stitch-library/cable-knitting-patterns/celtic-cable-knitting-pattern-free Pukwudgie - Lily Sugar ‘n Cream Overcast and Red worked in the round, adapted from Maltese Cross Mosaic Stitch located at https://www.mosaicknitting.com/2017/04/maltese-cross-mosaic-knit-stitch.html Ilvermorny School - Premier Home Cotton in Cranberry and Cornflower, adapted from Two Color Plaited Basketweave Stitch located at https://newstitchaday.com/how-to-knit-the-two-color-plaited-basketweave-stitch/

Project journal

2021-05-19 07:23:00 UTC

All five sacks are done, so I can now turn in this project! My total used on this project was 152 grams and 260 yards. I now have 5 shiny, new soap sacks to put into use!

2021-05-19 07:02:38 UTC

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The Ilvermorny sack is done, Hallelujah! I thought I hated the cable pattern I used for the Wampus sack, but that was nothing compared to my hatred of the two-color plaited basketweave I used for this sack! Not only was it a pain in the hands, but I didn't anticipate how tight the stitch was, so, even though this sack has the same number of stitches as the Wampus sack, it is only 2" across while the Wampus sack is 2.75" across! Anyway, as much as I hated working this stitch, I love how it came out! It is meant to represent the Gordian Knot that Ilvermorny students wear on their robes, and I think it does a good job at representing that. I used Premier Home Cotton yarn in Cranberry (17 gr/30 yds) and Cornflower (12 gr/21 yds). The total finished size is 6"x2" and the total yarn used was 29 grams/51 yards

2021-05-17 22:55:21 UTC

I finally got the yarn for the Ilvermorny School soap sack and got started working on it Saturday night. After working for about 4 hours on Saturday to adapt the pattern from flat to round, I put in over 4 hours on it yesterday and I'm not even quite half done with it yet. I am LOVING the stitch pattern, it's a modified two-color plaited basketweave stitch to represent the Gordian Knot that Ilvermorny students wear on their uniforms, but it is not only a pain to actually work, it came out a LOT tighter than I anticipated! It has the same number of stitches as my cabled Wampus tail sack, but where that one came out at 3" wide this one is only 2" across! I've tested to make sure a bar of soap will actually fit in it and it does...BARELY! I considered pulling it out and making it a bit bigger, but I don't want to start over on it again. While testing how to transfer the stitch from flat to in the round, I had to start over about 10 times, and I really just don't want to start over again. Hopefully, I'll be done with it tonight or tomorrow and can finally turn in this assignment!

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2021-05-06 02:05:30 UTC

I completely forgot to do the update for the Pukwudgie sack! I chose the Maltese Cross Mosaic stitch for this sack because Pukwudgie is the House favored by magical healers, and the cross reminded me of the Red Cross symbol favored by healers in the Muggle world. It was a fun pattern, and I really like the way it came out. I used Lily Sugar n' Cream yarn in Red (16 gr/27 yds) and Overcast (12 grams/20 yards). The finished size is 6.25" x 3.25" 28 grams/47 yards.

2021-05-04 01:26:23 UTC

The Wampus sack is done, Hallelujah! I don't know what possessed me to do a Celtic knot cable design using dishcloth cotton, but I told my son that if I ever consider anything like that again, he is to stab me in the hand with my knitting needles because it will probably hurt less! I've done this Celtic knot cable design before, but not on cotton, so I just didn't consider how rigid cotton is when I started on it. Having said that, I am quite pleased with the results. The yarn is a camo-like combo of green and brown, with a brown I-cord for the drawstring, in honor of the Wampus House colors, and I chose the Celtic knot design is to represent the intricately knotted tail of the Wampus in all the images I found. I'm considering doing a fifth sack in the Ilvermony school colors, and am leaning toward doing something to represent the Gordian Knit on that one, but hopefully, I can find another way to do it than more cables on cotton because my hands are killing me after doing this one!
Lily Sugar n’ Cream Renegade (30 gr/50 yds) Warm Brown (4 gr/8 yds) 34 gr/58 yds total.
Finished Size 6.5”x3”

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The Wampus sack is done, Hallelujah! I don't know what possessed me to do a Celtic knot cable design using dishcloth cotton, but I told my son that if I ever consider anything like that again, he is to stab me in the hand with my knitting needles because it will probably hurt less! I've done this Celtic knot cable design before, but not on cotton, so I just didn't consider how rigid cotton is when I started on it. Having said that, I am quite pleased with the results. The yarn is a camo-like combo of green and brown, with a brown I-cord for the drawstring, in honor of the Wampus House colors, and I chose the Celtic knot design is to represent the intricately knotted tail of the Wampus in all the images I found. I'm considering doing a fifth sack in the Ilvermony school colors, and am leaning toward doing something to represent the Gordian Knit on that one, but hopefully, I can find another way to do it than more cables on cotton because my hands are killing me after doing this one! Lily Sugar n’ Cream Renegade (30 gr/50 yds) Warm Brown (4 gr/8 yds) 34 gr/58 yds total. Finished Size 6.5”x3”

2021-05-01 08:20:15 UTC

I finished the Thunderbird sack second. The History of Magic assignment states that the Thunderbird is represented by "Purple and White" and they are "bringers of storms and lighting." I chose this honeycomb pattern, as it reminded me of the interlaced lightning that will arc across the dark sky during the fabulous thunderstorms we get here in the desert. The background is purple, representing the lurid sky during a storm, and the white reprents the lightning criss-crossing it's way across the sky. Lily Sugar ‘n Cream Ecru (13 gr/23 yds) & Black Currant (18 gr/31 yds) Total 31 gr/54 yds. Finished size 6.25”x3.5”

2021-04-30 09:02:15 UTC

The Horned Serpent sack was finished first. The House colors are listed as "Ice-Blue and Black (depicted as underwater/deep dwelling)" in the History of Magic assignment but I thought this medium/light blue variegated yarn and dark navy blue was a great representation of the colors for this deep water-dwelling creature. All the images I found of the Horned Serpent had dots or dashes along its length, so I chose this "woven windows" pattern for the Horned Serpent sack. Lily Sugar ‘n Cream Bright Navy (13 gr/22 yds), Swimming Pool (17 gr/28 yds) Total 30 gr/50 yds. Finished sixe 6.25”x3”