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Knitting charm

A pair of needles knitting by themselves

Needlework is a broad term for the handicrafts of decorative sewing and textile arts. Any craft made with the assistance of a needle for construction can be called needlework. Knitting is a kind of needlework, by which thread or yarn may be turned into cloth or other fine crafts.

Needlework was a popular pastime in the wizarding world. There was a charm that could perform this task and a book written on the subject.

Known needleworkers[]

Rubeus Hagrid[]

Harry Potter and Hagrid at Muggles Train

Harry Potter and Rubeus Hagrid on the Muggle train to London

"Hagrid took up two seats [on the train] and sat knitting what looked like a canary-yellow circus tent."
— Description[src]

In the summer of 1991, Rubeus Hagrid took Harry Potter to Diagon Alley, in London, via Muggle train. Once they climbed aboard, Hagrid started knitting something that looked like a yellow circus tent, counting his stitches.[1]

Molly Weasley[]

Molly 3

Molly Weasley

Ronald Weasley: "I think I know who that one's from. My mum. I told her you didn't expect any presents and — oh, no she's made you a Weasley jumper. Every year she makes us a jumper and mine's always maroon."
Harry Potter: "That's really nice of her."
Ronald Weasley and Harry Potter unwrapping their Christmas presents in 1991[src]

Molly Weasley usually knitted her family jumpers at Christmas. She tended to knit pictures relating to something that the receiver liked or the initial of their first name. She also sent Harry Potter a Weasley jumper each Christmas, as he was a close friend of the family.[2][3][4][5][6][7]

Sybill Trelawney[]

Trelawney in despair

Sybill Trelawney

Sybill Trelawney: "I would think that some of us might be a little less frivolous had they seen what I have seen during my crystal gazing last night. As I sat here, absorbed in my needlework, the urge to consult the orb overpowered me. I arose, I settled myself before it, and I gazed into its crystalline depths… and what do you think I saw gazing back at me?"
Ronald Weasley: "An ugly old bat in outsize specs?"
Sybill Trelawney: "Death, my dears."
Sybill Trelawney making one of her characteristic and dramatic predictions of death[src]

In the evening of 6 December 1994, Sybill Trelawney sat in her office in the North Tower doing needlework when, according to her, she she had an unsettling urge to orb-gaze and while doing so she saw an aura of death over the Castle.[8]

Dobby[]

Dobbythehusdeelf

Dobby

Bartemius Crouch Jnr (as Alastor Moody): "Nice socks Potter."
Harry Potter: "Oh — yeah, Dobby the house-elf knitted them for me."
Bartemius Crouch Jnr (while impersonating Alastor Moody) and Harry Potter during the Yule Ball[src]

For Christmas 1994, Dobby knitted a pair of socks to offer Harry Potter: the left sock was bright red and had a pattern of broomsticks upon it; the right sock was green with a pattern of Snitches. In exchange, Harry gave the elf a pair of old socks that once belonged to Vernon Dursley. Dobby bought the wool out of his wages from working at the Hogwarts kitchens.[4]

Hermione Granger[]

Hermione Prophecy

Hermione Granger

Ronald Weasley: "What in the name of Merlin are you doing?"
Hermione Granger: "They're hats for house-elves. I did them over the summer. I'm a really slow knitter without magic but now I'm back at school I should be able to make lots more."
Ronald Weasley: "You're leaving out hats for the house-elves? And you're covering them up with rubbish first?"
Hermione Granger: "Yes."
Ronald Weasley: "That's not on. You're trying to trick them into picking up the hats. You're setting them free when they might not want to be free."
Hermione Granger: "Of course they want to be free! Don't you dare touch those hats, Ron!"
Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger arguing about the latter knitting hats in an attempt to free the Hogwarts house-elves[src]

Hermione Granger knitted hats and socks for house-elves in her Hogwarts years. She was obsessed with her Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare.[9] Her early efforts were thought by Harry and Ron to be rather poor, but it was said that she later improved as she had more practise. She was a slow knitter without magic, but was able to work with speed once she was able to use magic in her knitting.

Albus Dumbledore[]

Albus Dumbledore (HBP promo) 1

Albus Dumbledore

Horace Slughorn: "Oh, there you are, Albus. You've been a very long time [in the loo]. Upset stomach?"
Albus Dumbledore: "No, I was merely reading the Muggle magazines. I do love knitting patterns."
Horace Slughorn and Albus Dumbledore[src]

Albus Dumbledore might have been a knitter in his spare time, as he was self-admittedly a lover of knitting patterns and enjoyed reading knitting magazines such as Knitter's Own.[10]

Minerva McGonagall[]

Minerva Mcgonagall answer 8 xlarge

Minerva McGonagall

Needlework was one of Minerva McGonagall's hobbies later in her life.[11]

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

  1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 5 (Diagon Alley)
  2. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Chapter 12 (The Mirror of Erised)
  3. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Chapter 12 (The Polyjuice Potion)
  4. 4.0 4.1 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 23 (The Yule Ball)
  5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 23 (Christmas on the Closed Ward)
  6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 12 (Silver and Opals)
  7. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 16 (A Very Frosty Christmas)
  8. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 21 (The House-Elf Liberation Front)
  9. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 13 (Detention with Dolores)
  10. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 4 (Horace Slughorn)
  11. Pottermore information on Minerva McGonagall (transcription here)
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