Last week in the Tower...Vol 2

Wow! Last week sure was an interesting one in the Tower! It had a Halloween theme to it!

For the week of October 18th-24th!

• Bandbabe and her mother are working on a new Angora Fiber endeavor! Check them out at Adventures in Angora!
• OneNeedleKnitting has finished a "Fornicating Deer" hat for her beloved. It was quite the hot topic for a bit in the Tower.
• GazeboGal and others discussed "How to Dress Wild Game" this week. I think it is best if we don't name our food after relatives. After all, I do have an Aunt Alice! (Boy wouldn't that make dinner ackward.)
• Andryl told us her story of a "Grouse Encounter of the 4th Kind..."
• Skrewkat amused me with her telling of the lost hikers on the tiny mountain.
• Blood. Blood. Blood. This was a huge topic at the beginning of the week. What type do you have? I wonder if Vampires have a preference...I know they do in True Blood.
• $500 for a pair of CROCHETED SOCKS!?!?! Ridiculous. But I guess if someone is going to buy them, maybe I should make a couple designer pairs. I think that could help my yarn budget out....
• Ali123 gave us all wonderful tips on how to stay warm in a really cold bedroom! I would also like to add, have a dog lay on your feet, that works in our house! Bandbabe also added her thoughts on staying warm!
• Several of our Tower members are participating in a Wolly Wormhead's KAL for November! Join here!
• Jayannell helped writing this quick little blurb of a couple days worth of posts that just made me LOL!
• Ali123 would like to thank everyone that has helped her out in the recent weeks!
• Later in the week we went on to discuss various spelling and pronounciations of words in various dialects. British vs. American.
• I about died laughing at this "bagel" story!
• WeeCorgi is going to be a girl! Congrats SFCorgi!
• Congrats to RRomera! She has a finished thesis!
• SFCorgi's Random Facts of the Day!
• DNATheory shares her Rhinebeck loot with us all. I'm jealous!
• GazeboGal's current WIP count....8

Birthdays!

Only one Ravenclaw had a birthday this week! Happy Birthday! Deth (October 21)

Until next week....

-Sparkeespud

Ask Foxy

Dear Foxy,

I just spent Way Too Long trolling through old Common Room threads researching things we’ve talked about and reminiscing about the great times I’ve had here.

Now I’m hungry, late to work, and smell odd. Help?

::Foxy wiggles into leather goggles::
::rolls self into white silk Flying Ace scarf::
::hops in flying beddy-bye-basket::
::noses Time Turner out of basket at you::

::wonders why you’re cruising Common Room posts when there are Adventures Beckoning!::

A Tour of the Tower: Candle Lighting

Soprano1 and her assistant, Peck, take a seat in the Common Room with a large, wonderfully old-smelling leather-bound book.  The title reads Ravenclaw Tower: A History.  Soprano1 opens the book and sets it on the table before her, and Peck, Intrepid Owl Reporter, carefully uses his beak to turn the pages.

Chapter 10: Candles in the Tower

Candles are  a long-standing Ravenclaw tradition.  It seems as if the custom of lighting a candle for a Claw (or any House Cupper) in need must have started before time, but indeed, there is a fixed point in our history when a gesture of kindness became a cherished tradition.

November 2009, very nearly one year ago at this point of writing, was a Very Bad Month.  On November 1, I woke up with a fever, a splitting headache, and was down for the rest of the week with what was almost certainly a fair-to-middling case of the H1N1 flu, which we were still all calling "Swine Flu" at the time. It's a week that will live forever in my memory, because it was flanked by two fabulous days: Halloween, when I went with my husband, Tenor1, and our son D1 (dressed as Ron Weasley) to the Museum of Science to see the Harry Potter exhibit; and the following Saturday, when I dragged myself out of bed, being at last 24-hours fever-free, to go again to the Museum of Science, this time for my very first House Cup meetup with GazeboGal, Vertigo1414, and ScarlettB.  But the week in between was miserable, and I was not alone.

That week in the tower, one of our members came in to say that her son had contracted the flu.  Her younger son had died the year before almost to the day.  GazeboGal made the very first candle reference in response to her post:  "Candle is lit for him, my friend."

Then Ielith, and her dear little wyvern Ember, lit another candle.  

/Ember marches across(!) the common room to GazeboGal and whispers in her ear. Selene produces a lovely candle from somewhere and sets it up on a table. Ember lights the candle and settles down to keep vigil on it./

On the same day, another member came in to tell us that she had suffered a miscarriage, and the next day GazeboGal left us with the following description of the candle on her window:

There is a huge three-wick’d pillar candle in my windowsill and I’m about to light it for all of us. May the Great Spirit hold each of you in love, my dear siblings.

Meanwhile, Heathen, who has since left the House Cup, but who still, I notice, crafts in Ravenclaw colors, created the Ravenclaw Hospitality Program, which endeavored to send cards and trinkets to those feeling stressed or unhappy.  I received a card from her that term myself, and some beautiful green stitch markers I still treasure.  Heathen and GazeboGal together conceived of and announced, in this post, the very first Ravenclaw Candle Light Vigil, which maybe didn't deserve the Capital Letters, except that it did. 

Throughout the rest of that weekend, and for many weeks after, and now all the way up to a year, we have lit candles that connect us, like a constellation of bright stars, all across the Universe.

Peace, friends.

OWLalong Weekend

OWLalong this coming weekend!

(from Fricknfrack)

October is more than half over and certain members of this Tower (coughlikemecough) have not yet reached 50% on our OWLs. Let’s use this weekend, the 23rd & 24th, to make some solid progress on our projects. Would a couple of days of steady work get you to those 50 midterm points? Or, is it time to put your project in the Vanishing Cabinet and work on some class assignments for the final week of the month?

Remember: We don’t want any OWL-related injuries! Be honest and remember that your health, your family and your RL come first.

Even if you aren’t working on an OWL, come and cheer us on. The thread will open Friday afternoon, around 4 pm EST. Tea and cookies will be served. Then we’ll move on to brownies and pizza. And who knows what strengthening treats the Merry Beasts will bring us over the weekend?

Last week in the Tower...

A little about me before I post the first part of the new Ravenclaw Blog Series "Last week in the Tower..."

Sparkeespud here reporting on the happenings in the Tower Common Room. This is a very active place for most of our members and many of us do the "I just skipped 300+ posts routine at least once a week" I thought it would be great to capture some of the bigger moments of the group here as well as some of the funnier parts.

This post will likely come out on Sunday's but it's coming out on Monday today because I spent my weekend at my knitting guild's retreat!

I'm a First Year to Ravenclaw and have LOVED every moment of it so far. I've turned in a project for September and am nearing the completion of my project for October. I even have an OWL on the needles, though I don't think I'm going to get to the 50% mark for points this month. I think it will be close, we'll see what happens.

For the week of October 11-17th, 2010:

• We welcomed some new tiny 'Claws this week! Both Rchrispy and Hypercycloid had little ones! Rchrispy welcomed a new baby boy after a LOOOOONG labor. Hypercycloid welcomed twins!
• This week's theme was Chicken Pox! Everyone was discussing if they had them or not, vaccines, etc.
• GirlyWithaTwist is going to be going back to school to finish her degree! Congrats!
• The Harry Potter Christmas Baubles were faved by most of the group!
• Soprano1 informed us all that you can now buy gift cards for pretty much anything, including flu shots!
• SadieLou finished the Dratted Baby Blanket she had been scrambling to get done! And I have to say it's quite lovely!
• We had a visitor to the Tower! Cre8vladyb from Gryffindor stopped into say "Hello"!
• Cat myths. Will your cat smell milk on your baby and eat the baby's lips off? Will cats use up all the oxygen next to you while you sleep?
• Ferret myths. Ferrets are known to nibble off children's ears and that explains why OneNeedleKnitting has no ears.
• A big Congratulations! To BrineyDeep who came in loaded down with several copies of her Thesis which is complete!
• Help abounded when questions about "What's the best bind off for toe up socks?" That help aided TheRealKarity to finish her first toe up sock! Congrats TheRealKarity!
• SadieLou competed in a 10k race for Cancer Research in the UK! Congrats on completing the run and raising funds!
• GazeboGal introduced us to building in Australia! I had always wondered how that was done!
• Alethea went to Rhinebeck! (I'm very jealous!)

Anniversaries and Birthdays (if you want your Anniversary posted, please let me know during the week it occured, or post it in the Common Room!)

• Congrats to Soprano1 for 15 years of marriage! (October 14)!
• RavelClaw (October 12)
• Bidibid (October 13)
• Benningsm (October 15)
• Linuxchic (October 15)
• Alethea (October 16)

Happy Birthday everyone!

Well that's all for this week's report! I shall see you next week!

-SparkeeSpud

October Monthly Challenge!!!

*I completely didn't realize I had forgotten to post the details here.*

October Monthly Challenge!

Silverwing26 raises her wand in the air and shoots off an array of Sparks in blue, bronze and silver.
Well ‘Claws, it is the first of October. You know what that means! It is time again for the monthly challenge. This month we will be having a feast of fun! To enter this month’s challenge you must create something inspired by the Halloween Feast! The Halloween feast is a wondrous celebration of food and frivolity! Use your imagination, pump up that creativity and show me something amazing inspired by the feast!!!

The knitty gritty…

1. Ravelry Sanctioned Crafts (Knit, Spin, Crochet, Dye, Weave) Did I miss any?
2. Project must be started on or after the 1st of October and finished on or before the 31th of October.
3. Post the picture of your item in this thread. If you want to earburn me (Silverwing26) for good measure that would be appreciated. But make sure you post a picture. That is how I am going to find the entries, by clicking the picture icon at the top.
4. Your project absolutely can be submitted for classes or Quidditch. You may not use part of your OWL. (Quidditch items must conform to the Quidditch rules.)
5. HAVE FUN! BE CREATIVE! Woo!

Please add the tag OctChallengeFeast to your project!

I will then use random.org to select a winner from all of the entrants to win a prize! Hurray!!!

Ask Foxy

Dear Foxy,
Where did I put my Herbology homework?

::munch snorfle scramble::
::guilty look complete with applesauce stains on snout::
::wagwagwag!::

ALOTS!

Thanks for being patient 'Claws! Here is the round up for the September Monthly Challenge! ALOTS!



I do apologize that some of the alots got cropped a little strange. I use an online program to make the mosaic and it doesn't let me choose where the picture gets cropped.

1. slightlyfoxed
2. ali123
3. andryl
4. beautyredefined
5. dixiehellcat
6. miniknitter
7. AnniePR87
8. abbyebee
9. 13moonsago
10. Casdena
11. Ielith
12. lavenderblueskies
13. isisonearth
14. TriGirlJ
15. Drake
16. MariaCrafts
17. nightrae
18. kjgon
19. dnatheory
20. Jayannell
21. dorathalia
22. Silverwing26
23. SFcorgi
24. Beyby
25. rambunctiousky
26. boppingbeth
27. xamonster
28. hippohero
29. greenegirl
30. eQuail
31. insanKnitty
32. Alethea

Our winners, generated by random.org are #5 and #30!!
Congratulations dixiehellcat and eQuail!