So, I’m a bit of a gamer. Well, I like to game a lot, really, but I find that my free time is more often dedicated to crafting than gaming, and that way I can watch my fiancé game, so it’s all good.

Anyway, I jumped on to IGN to check out what’s new in the world of gaming. I noticed that a preview was up for the video game of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and quickly went to check it out. I’ve not actually played any of the HP games in the past, though that upcoming LEGO one does have a certain appeal, hehehe.

I was shocked to find that the game played much like a first person shooter – FPS – which is fine as EA are trying to match the more serious nature of the final book, but then I read that the different curses you use with Harry’s wand don’t actually do what the curses are supposed to do – and as they have done in previous games, apparently – no, basically, what they do is shoot out different coloured sparks that correspond to different gun types in regular FPS games.

Well that’s crap, in my opinion. It’s just… it’s just wrong. Sure, I think the game deserves to be more serious, but at the same time, why does that mean the game has to diverge from the lore, so to speak. I mean, if all the other games kept in line with the books, that Petrificus Totalus made the enemy completely unable to move, and Stupefy knocked them unconscious, then why couldn’t this game, even if they did want to be a little darker? And what the hell is Harry doing using the Crucio curse!? He is only ever able to use that curse twice in the book, and yet here he is firing it off at random bad guys in this game? Ugh.

Now for a knitting pattern. Well it’s got to be Potter related, so… How about the most basic of the basic. The Harry Potter Scarf! I’ve actually got a fantastic Gryffindor badge that inspires me to make one of these scarves… I must get around to that and then put that badge on it!

Okay so I like to make and wear little capelettes. So far I’ve made three, one in red gabardine with black faux fur trim, one grey flannel with white embroidery, and one in blue velvet with blue satin lining and a hood. This last one I don’t wear for two reasons. The lining is heavier than the outer fabric – bad choice on my part, and the hood is too heavy and chokes me when I try to wear it…

I’m a bit of a geeky person, and part of that comes out in my love of fantasy novels. I’m currently reading Toll the Hounds by Steven Erikson – I’ve cried a lot during this book, so many sad parts – but this geek-out is actually based on the Harry Potter novels… can you see where I’m going with this? That’s right, I’m making a Harry Potter capelette! I’ve always thought I’d be in Gryffindor because of my loyalty and protectiveness towards my fiancé and I’m actually quite brave too. So I’m making a Gryffindor capelette!

I’ve even got my own wand… yeah, total geek. I bought it from a great online store that sells a whole bunch of HP stuff called Alivans. They make the loveliest wands, mine is a Rosewood, and they sell the better of the HP embroidered patches range. My HP capelette is going to have this Gryffindor patch on the front! So I’m totally excited because I picked up the fabric today. Goodness me I love craft shopping!

Okay now for a pattern, it’s actually going to be two because I’m working on a new knitting project that includes them both. My fiancé needs a new bookmark, and so of course this makes me happy because this is something I can make for him, so I was perusing Ravelry for the right one and found this one. I showed it to him and he likes it, so I’m going to make the Strawberry and Leaf bookmark for him, from the Knit Strawberries pattern, and the L e a v e s pattern. I picked up the red yarn I’d need, along with more fibre fill today, too!

You see, this next cape, well, next after I finish the faux fur one, will be my Hogwarts cape. I’ve thought about the idea of making a Harry Potter themed one of these for a while now, so this is what I’m doing. The capes have a full back panel, and two front panels that are half of the back. What I’m going to do is, in my case I’m listing the Gryffindor colours because that’s the House I think I’d be sorted into.

Crimson red fabric – either wool flannel or gabardine, or possibly velvet if I couldn’t get any of that – for the front right panel and the cape, and the back panel, as well as the collar. The front left panel would be in a golden colour of the same fabric. On this panel I’m going to be placing a Hogwarts Gryffindor Patch, you know, one of those iron on ones? Well, one of those.

I’m super excited, though this is an ‘inside’ garment, not for out of the house. I think I would have to admit I was totally socially inept should I wear this cape outside on any occasion, save maybe, just maybe, for the final movie premier. As this is an inside one, I’m not going to line it, and will just use a bias hemming tape for the bottom, because hemming these you loose a lot of length because it’s cut on the bias.

So what do I have to do? On Monday I’ve got to go print out the pattern, again, – thanks boy-cat for peeing on this pattern twice! – and shop for the fabric. I’m hoping I will be able to do this for very cheap! Once I have all of it, I will make up the faux fur cape and the Hogwarts cape at the same time. I’m so very excited about making these two items, now I’ve just got to find the time!

Today’s pattern has to be something Potter related, so here’s a rather nice Gryffindor House scarf! I’ve seen many patterns for the Hogwarts scarves, but I like the extra fullness in this one.

First off, I loved it! I thought it was thrilling, that the important parts of the storyline were included, that the acting is getting better and better, that the special effects, sound, and cinematography were all great, and that overall, it was a fantastic way to spend two and a half hours. I had expected less, to be honest, mainly because of those out there pooh-poohing the film.

Let me say this, you do not have to have read the book to appreciate the movie. My fiancé has not read past the first book, and he understood and really enjoyed the film. If you have, however, read the books, there are a few extra treats for you. Mainly in-jokes, as with Dumbledore telling Slughorn that the give away to his being being in the room (as an armchair, no less!) was his use of Dragon’s Blood to drip from a puddle through the ceiling. For those of use who’ve read the books, we know that Dumbledore first became famous for being the first person to figure out the twelve uses for Dragon’s Blood. There are other things like that, but that is just one.

I liked that the film used humour and relationship escapades as a means of lightening what was a rather dark book, that they kept the movie palatable by not constantly focusing on the darker aspects of book six. I also thought that Dumbledore’s death (whilst gut-wrenching) was handled very well, and that the wand vigil was a beautiful replacement for Dumbledore’s funeral. I am so glad I didn’t have to see that on film, that I didn’t have to see Hagrid pick up Dumbledore’s broken body and carry it away while he howled with tears. I think that would have been too much to witness, so I thank the film makers for pulling back from the grief, just enough, to still give us a sense of the devastating loss they all felt, but not inflict it on us overly. I was, however, frustrated with the confusing iconography in the end of the movie, when Fawkes was flying off. Because Dumbledore said ‘Trust me, Harry. Trust me’ and because of the use of a bird that symbolises rebirth, the film didn’t make it too clear that Dumbledore was really gone… but that may have been deliberate so it is something they can address in the first part of the seventh movie.

I actually liked that they replaced the attack on Hogwarts with an attack on the Burrow, I think it worked better for film and will leave the attack on Hogwarts in the final movie more shocking, as it was in the book. I don’t think that it would have worked out right, given quite the same feeling, if Hogwarts had been attacked twice on film.

I do, however, find myself vaguely irritated with all the negative reviews of this film. It frustrates me because I think these reviewers in question aren’t being fair. Sure, this isn’t a masterpiece of cinema, but it is a good, solid, film. Sometimes I think people need to take cinema as an experience, not something to academically tear into itty-bitty pieces to stare at under a microscope. Yes, I think that kind of analysis has it’s place, that it is useful, interesting, and meaningful, but I think that a review shouldn’t be based on this, well not unless they clearly state that is their angle, I think a review should be based on whether or not a film was entertaining, and that is something this film most assuredly was!

Today’s knitting pattern has to be something Harry Potterish… Hmmm… Because there was one in the film, and because it was ridiculously cute, today’s pattern will be a Pygmy Puff.