Library of the Week: Meriden Library, Plainfield, New Hampshire

I didn't want to skip the last library of this term, because by request, we feature GazeboGal's local library.
The township of Plainfield has two public libraries: one located in Plainfield Village and one in Meriden Village. The New Hampshire legislature approved a petition from Daniel Kimball and other villagers to incorporate a library in Meriden Village on December 11, 1797. The library was housed in various buildings over the years. The current library was built on a parcel of land located next to the Meriden Grange and was dedicated on November 20, 1965.

Common Room Recap March 25-27

This Weekend In The Ravenclaw Common Room:

• The final weekend of this term has seen the Common Room fairly quiet as many made a last push on OWL’s and classes, but the Potion’s classroom was fairly busy :)
• Stars of Isis here and here and here and also here
• Ohhhh the cute!
• Things are busy in Isis’ office.
• Our Head-Girl sums up our feelings in the Tower as Isis’ term comes to an end.
• Teeny Tiny CUTE!

The Fall and Rise of Ravenclaw Tower, Part 2

Republished from the Potions thread.  I submitted this Illusion Candle in honor of our beloved Head of House.

I, Soprano1, tell this tale as it was told to me by the people who were a part of it all. Although I was active in the beginning of the tale, Part 1, I fell down a Rabbit Hole and was transported to Madam Pomfrey’s care for most of the events described here. I dedicate this story to the wonderful Isisonearth, who was Ravenclaw’s Head of House when the Tower fell and planted the seed from which it sprouted anew, and who leaves us for Calm Peaceful Retirement and Lab Antics on Thursday next.

Silverwing26 and MightyGoodYarn decided to wait until morning, for reinforcements, before exploring the big hole in the Lab floor, and Silverwing locked the lab door to keep innocent First Years from falling in and meeting my fate. SFCorgi arrived on the scene and realized that she might just have left some blue yarn on the Mutation Table. As we all know, leaving things on the Mutation Table almost always causes some kind of fiasco. Fortunately for me, SFCorgi was on top of things and borrowed Foxy’s Flying Beddy-Bye to bring me to Madam Pomfrey. Yakira, whom I’d revived briefly to stupefy, awoke and went for coffee, and TriGirlJ, who had bumped her head in the fracas, also went to the infirmary, with Terrence and Oscar, faithful Merry Beasts, steering..

And out in the Common Room, innocent Ravenclaws were serving up s’mores.

BrineyDeep and RChrispy made plans to save George the Knitting Gillyweed’s portrait--the one with the scientists in which he was trapped--and GazeboGal realized that the blue yarn on the Mutation Table was from the Infinite Cone of Gifted Blue Brushed Mystery Yarn, which yarn has a Deep History among Ravenclaws and lives with many (I have Alot of it myself, actually), and has the mysterious ability to regenerate and spread everywhere. The idea that it might have Mutated… well. IsisonEarth was horrified.

The Tower continued to be rocked by faint booms throughout the night, and I had horrible nightmares in the infirmary. What does Swedish furniture have to do with anything? Some mysteries will never be made plain in conscious thought. And Isisonearth discovered that the cracks were getting worse, and retreated to her office. Merry Beasts, like Ielith’s Ember, were becoming worried, but could be distracted by marshmallow creme.

The intervals between booms became shorter and shorter, and upset the marshmallow creme, which dripped on the floor and into the cracks. Brave students, including Danemum, gathered outside the lab to form an exploratory party.

Isisonearth called Ember over and tied a blue ribbon with a small pendant on it around Ember’s neck, and told her that if trouble arose, Ember should fly glide with it to the grounds and meet Isisonearth there.

The Tower continued to grumble and the Mallet of Sanity thought to go at the cracks again--but fortunately was fascinated by the Marshmallow Creme and distracted. Yakira was quite upset that her coffee kept being, er, upset. And then, the Mallet began to strike at the cracks, and wise Ember climbed to the window seat in Isis’s office so she could, if necessary, glide to safety with her pendant.

The students outside the lab prepared to go in, and then Isisonearth declared the need to evacuate the Merry Beasts and move the books off the lab-side bookshelves. Ravenclaws everywhere rose to the call:Save the books! Students and Merry Beasts begin running to find their treasured possessions, and SFCorgi tied a rope around her waist and headed into the lab. TriGirlJ returned from the infirmary to report that I was still being kept there for observation, but I had told her to go through the Rabbit Hole! I don’t blame them at all for thinking I was mad. After all, I was still barely conscious, and mumbling about seeing Rowena Ravenclaw.

BrineyDeep, TriGirlJ, and Silverwing26 followed SFCorgi into the Lab, and Isis rallied the other students for evacuation. They discovered that the Infinite WIP on the Mutation Table was a part of an Exploding Snap project: a Perpetually Exploding Knitting Machine, which caused the explosions. And I am afraid I have to commemorate this statement by BrineyDeep… posterity needs to know.

Yakira and Ielith began casting Reducio on the books to make the packing go faster, and Eightlegeddj contemplated transferring to Beauxbatons for the rest of the year. Silverwing and TriGirlJ organized a rescue of the Squidlings named William, and it was discovered that it would not do to simply allow the Machine to run out of yarn, because the yarn it was using was Isis’s Infinite Cone experiment. It might have been something like this, but even if not, how cool, right?.

And through the mayhem of students running everywhere, Isis calling out orders in her inimitable style, and the incessant booming coming from the lab, Ember watched from her perch--and then, Brave Little Wyvern, she Jumped.

The Machine began mutating, the Mallet went on whacking at the cracks, somehow the students and Merry Beasts were all being led to safety, and IsisonEarth called for upperclassmen to retreat. The Rising Seventh Years formed a last defense with Isis, and Ielith grabbed the last of the books and fled down the stairs. The students’ stories went on for pages, glimpses of what each experienced through the last moments of the Tower’s existence. Toppington von Monacle performed his heroic rescue of MightyGoodYarn (but she has told that tale elsewhere!) and, just as she touched down safely to the ground, the Tower exploded! It fell to the ground, leaving all Good Claws unharmed.

Unharmed, perhaps, but still--their world was at their feet in rubble. BrineyDeep and MightyGoodYarn both looked as if they would lose hope. But Isis spoke calmly to the Brave Little Wyvern, and GazeboGal began to sing the Ballad of Rowena Ravenclaw.

Isis took the pendant--a tiny replica of Ravenclaw Tower--from around Ember’s neck, and all the Ravenclaws joined in a circle, holding hands together and lighting the tips of their wand, singing their Ballad in eight-part a cappella harmony. SadieLou joined hands with a first year and took Toppington’s proffered tail, and told them all to concentrate and Trust in Isis!

TheRealKarity and AWellKnitLife joined them, trailing Merry Beasts behind, and as their magic combined, a blue slate roof rose from the ground, the top of a brand-new Tower. As it flew upward, they spotted their dormitories and favorite bits inside, and FricknFrack came running up just in time to join the Claws readying themselves to head back inside. I proudly defied Madam Pomfrey and shook off visions of POANG furniture, and brought up the rear of the group.

Common Room Recap March 21-24

This Week In The Ravenclaw Common Room:

• One of the reasons SarahTheEntwife loves her job.
• There was strange weather all across Claw-Land (and sky) but there’s some Spring out there, snow or no snow! We have photographic evidence!
• Some Stars of Isis here and here
• Auntie fricknfrack left a note for WeeCorgi
• Sometimes the Lab gets outta the Lab.
• Ahhhhhh childhood memories :)
• One of the many reasons we love the Tower, we’ll quote anything :)

Common Room Recap March 18-20

This Weekend In The Ravenclaw Common Room:

• There was rather alot of Dr Who in the CR this weekend, with a little BSG and Stargate thrown in for our OWLing background
• A little Whovian fix from the BBC.
• Some very snazzy garden pictures...and a feral peacock!
• Eeeep TriGirlJ let one of these into the common room! Luckily Ali123 had a solution!
• We discussed the seasons in the various parts of the world that Claws come from. A few of us have the normal 4 seasons...but many have just 2 or 3, a standard and then one like Construction, Mud or Allergy

Library of the Week: Suzzallo Library, University of Washington, Seattle

Suzzallo Library is the central library of the University of Washington in Seattle, and it is perhaps the most recognizable building on campus. It is named for Henry Suzzallo, who was president of the University of Washington until he stepped down in 1926, the same year the first phase of the library’s construction was completed. The library was renamed for him after his death in 1933.

Ever since it opened, the second floor reading room has inspired comparisons with the great library reading rooms of the world and is often compared to the nave of great cathedrals. Measuring 65 feet high, 52 feet wide, and 250 feet long, the reading room features a vaulted ceiling elaborately decorated with rich colored and gilded stenciling; oak bookcases topped with a hand-carved frieze representing native plants of Washington State; and tall windows with leaded glass incorporating 28 Renaissance watermark medallions. At each end of the reading room, a paneled alcove features a hanging lighted globe bearing the names of world explorers. Throughout the room, carved sandstone, wood paneling, and ironwork grills represent the craftsmanship employed in creating this space.

Common Room Recap March 14-17

This Week In The Ravenclaw Common Room:

• GG recaps the Common Room for me :)
• Pi Day celebration song
• Adorable twin photo
• Ielith will be going back to school in August! Congrats!
• We are all Mad Scientists here.
• Sources say Toppington may be positioning himself to be the next  Dark Lord, but at any rate mere HoH has been deemed a path not suited to one so mightily tailed.

Common Room Recap March 11-13

This Weekend In The Ravenclaw Common Room:

• WeeCorgi pictures
• Ielith posted some interesting links about tsunami.
• School Nurse (and Ravenclaw) Boppingbeth explained all about fevers.
• Toppington offered some breastfeeding advice, I.am.not.kidding
• Meryton Fest
• Ahhhhh Ravenclaw households :)
• BrineyDeep linked an interesting article about nuclear reactors, and a follow-up.
• OneNeedleKnitting shared a “this is what it’s like where I work” today story.
• Stars of Isis here
• Our HeadGirl checked in.

Library of the Week: Trinity College Library, Dublin, Ireland

The library at Trinity College, Dublin, is the largest research library in Ireland. Its history dates back to the establishment of the College in 1592. As a result of its historic standing, Trinity College Library Dublin is a legal deposit library for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and has a similar standing in Irish law. This means that the College is legally entitled to a copy of every book published in Great Britain and Ireland and, consequently, receives more than 100,000 new items every year. Today the library contains around five million books, including 30,000 current serials and significant collections of manuscripts, maps, and printed music, reflecting over 400 years of academic development.

The most famous of its manuscripts, the Book of Kells and the Book of Durrow, were presented by Henry Jones, Bishop of Meath and former vice-chancellor of the University, in the 1660s. Also incorporating the Long Room, the Old Library is one of Ireland's biggest tourist attractions and holds thousands of rare, and in many cases very early, volumes.

In the 18th century, the college received the Brian Boru harp, one of the three surviving medieval Gaelic harps and a national symbol of Ireland, notably used on the Irish Euro coins.

Common Room Recap March 7-10

This Week In The Ravenclaw Common Room:

• NoNeinNyet shares a perfect Ravenclaw image.
• eightlegeddj starts a new job!
• WeeCorgi made her appearance in the world. Welcome! And pics too. An update.
• Staceymarie needs naming help with her adorable new edition.
• Skrewcat and Jayanell are having an interesting discussion about Zen in their lives.
• Luna’s theme song.
• The GazeboGal we know and love!
• KnittingLinguist is going somewhere in the world! We knew she would!
• cre8vladyb got a promotion! Congrats!
• Gratuitous twin picture.

Roaming the Castle Pt 3.

Hey Mauri!

Thanks ever so much for taking some time to show me round the Gryffindor Common Room! I’m super excited!

Now can you explain to me a little bit about how Gryffindor works? In Ravenclaw we have Big Eagles, Slytherin have Nests and Hufflepuff their Badger cetes. How does it work here?

In Gryffindor we have our Lion Prides - students volunteer to be Pride Leaders and two each are put in charge of a small, mixed group of other students. There’s also a Pride of Pride Leaders that my fellow prefect, NaturallyKnitty, and I look in on - Pride Puking Pastilles.

What does the common room look like, any fun features? We have a lab, Slytherin has a bar….

Well, no lab or bar here. Most of us just enjoy the armchairs in front of the fire (especially during the winter terms!) and there’s a steady supply of lion cookies and birthday cake. Butterbeer, fire whiskey, and bottled water (for those who are concerned that the common room water might have baby-encouraging properties) is also available.

And are you part of the house staff at all?

Yep! I’m prefect and Chocolate Frog Cards Mistress. Thankfully, that just means deciding what goes where, not actually making them. PennyIA handles that beautifully.

Now a long time ago, when you were a NQFY, what made Gryffindor so appealing to you?

Well, back in the old days we had to walk upstairs both ways to get to class and there were no NQFYs. Actually, there probably were, but I found the Cup in January 2009, having missed the Sorting for the second term. I noted that the next Sorting was in April, marked it on my calendar, and forgot about it until then. Good thing they didn’t have priority levels like back then!

Do you remember your first term at all?

I remember Quidditch really well, since we had to make all those wristbands. I was a bit of a ghost in the common room back then. I read everything, but couldn’t bring myself to comment much. I was mostly concerned with getting all six classes done and finishing my Transfiguration OWL.

And have you always been a Gryffindor?

Yep! A friend and I signed up at the same time, we were going to be in Ravenclaw together but I changed my mind at the last minute. I’ve looked back at Ravenclaw a few times with regret (you guys have some shiny toys!) and even considered Hufflepuff a couple of terms ago, but I couldn’t face playing against my Gryffies.

I may switch it up a bit after my seventh term, but who knows?

You’ve already completed a NEWT! What projects did you do and how did you find it?

I knit seven pairs of colorwork mittens for my NEWT. I had a whole whack of patterns in my queue and when the NEWT possibility came up, I knew I needed to be one of the first people to complete one.



It was fairly strenuous - I chose those particular patterns because I was only moderately comfortable with my colorwork and wanted to improve. Getting them done on time meant committing to ten rows a day (twenty in August, before term started), which meant about 1-2 hours of work. Plus, I really hate doing mitten thumbs and have a hard time making them look good. Now ten rows takes me about 40 minutes and, while I still hate them, mitten thumbs no longer mean instant project abandonment.

And are you taking any OWL’s or NEWT’s this term? You got any pictures! We Ravenclaw’s love pictures! :)

I’m doing two OWLs this term, Muggle Studies and Ancient Runes. I shouldn’t have left Muggle Studies so late - I knit long-sleeved, hooded adult sweater last September, which meant proposing two adult sweaters for the OWL. I finished the February Lady Sweater in January, but I left the Yosemite sweater until this month and have been putting the burn on it this week. I’ll be a lot happier when I’ve divided for the armholes.



Thankfully they’ve been pretty easygoing projects, because my Ancient Runes OWL almost became a bite too big to chew. I’ve been knitting a shawl for each of my female friends as they get engaged and this one was the first I’ve done for a knitter so 1) she had some good input and 2) it needed to be pretty cool.

Cool meant a stockinette body Aeolian, i.e. a month of stockinette in laceweight on size zeros. Slow and steady wins the race in this case though and I’ve timed it to be finished in the third week of this month. My only concern now is that I now own the longest size 0 circular Knit Picks makes and I might still run out of space!



Here I am at the middle of the first part of the edge.

How have your Gryffindor 1st years settled in this term?

I think they’ve been keeping up pretty well - we had some sort of crazy low Vanishing Cabinet statistic for January, which was really encouraging. A couple of them are super enthusiastic and I look forward to their work in future terms.

In between terms I know that we all like to get up to lots of fun and games. Can you remember anything particularly exciting happening in-between term times in the Gryffindor common rooms?

Well, the last few off-months we’ve made Frog Cards available for those who participate in off-month activities, including a special card that’s usually pretty silly. Last August was Peeves, and December’s was Snape in a dress from the third movie.

There’s usually at least one Gryffindor specific activity as well - we had a Yule Ball in December and our own Triwizard Tournament back in August. The off-month is also usually a big time for figuring out OWL proposals and LupinGirl usually offers a prize drawing for posted test-proposals.

What do you like most about being a Gryffindor?

I like that there’s always a conversation going at top speed in the common room, seeing what my fellow crazies have come up with to top themselves, and that you can go at a relaxed pace if you want.

And the House Cup itself, has it helped you to develop your skills in anyway? Encouraged you to try new things?

Well, it’s certainly encouraged me to increase the amount of knitting I do! My finishing skills have improved, because if you’re knitting five sweaters a year you don’t want to waste all the knitting time to end up with a sloppy sweater because you fail seaming.

As for new things, that’s a little more difficult. I had knitting ADD before the House Cup and had tried almost everything. The Cup made me improve through the volume of knitting I have done - if you’re knitting a pair of socks a month, you can’t help but eventually realize that there has to be a better way to pick up stitches from the heel flap.

However, the House Cup is directly responsible for my learning crochet, intarsia in the round, toe-up sock construction, and double-knitting. I’m still holding out on steeks and enterlac however!

Which project are you most proud of completing, since joining the HPKCHC?

The Exhibition Socks I knit for the Quidditch Sock Challenge Winter 2010. It was a huge physical and emotional challenge to keep knitting, especially after I realized that I was being trailed very closely. I still go back to that thread sometimes to read through it, it was so much fun.



Any advice for NQFY’s?

Use your NQFY time to determine what your level of involvement will be. How much time are you comfortable spending on the House Cup? Use that to help figure what House will jive best with your activity level and interests. If you go in with a plan, you feel better about having a path to guide you.

And how about us novice knitters? (I can’t knit to save my life!)

Keep trying new stuff and come back to stuff that you didn’t like because the projects didn’t turn out well. My first pair of socks are wretchedly uncomfortable because I knit them with 100% cotton because I thought wool was too itchy for my feet. The first fair isle mitten I knit has no mate because I never blocked the colorwork and thought it was awful (plus I messed up the thumb). Practice means improvement and while the first few terrible projects will seem discouraging, stick with it!

Any secrets about what you Gryffindor’s get up to in quidditch that you’d like to share? You always seem to do amazingly in the challenges!

My lips are sealed.

As for the challenges, I’m pretty sure what happened is that we did super well in the first few challenges, which set up a sort of ‘Challenge Culture’. We do well in challenges, so we will do well in challenges. Challenge participants know what they have to live up to and they prepare accordingly, which means we do even better. It’s a vicious cycle with a great outcome. XD

If you had to describe Gryffindor House in 20 words or less, what would you say?

The House Cup Gryffindors live up to the hype - we’re fiercely loyal and aren’t afraid to show it!

And lastly! 5 Fun things about being a Gryffindor! :)

1 - Chocolate Frog Cards (I might be biased)
2 - LupinGirl as our Head of House
3 - Always someone to talk to in the common room or in chat
4 - Challenge excitement, be it Headmistress or Quidditch
5 - Gryffies have your back!


You heard it here first guys! GO GO GRYFFINDOR!

Huge Thanks to Mauri for inviting me into the common room and letting me have a look around! :)




This concludes the Roaming the Castle series, and I really hope you've all enjoyed it! Hugs, love and thanks to everyone whose participated, I couldn't have done it without you all! :)

This is Ali123 reporting Mischief Managed! :)

Common Room Recap March 4-6

This Weekend In The Ravenclaw Common Room:

• LNS visited us and brought coolness to share.
• An interesting conversation about dogs, and value.
• TangledTeam robotics results.
• The schemes...errr wiless....ummm skills! of MightyGoodYarn in the Charms classroom are not to be underestimated!
• Stars of Isis here.
• Good luck to SFCorgi, WeeCorgi and MrCorgi today!

Library of the Week: Rosemary Garfoot Public Library, Cross Plains, Wisconsin, USA

This week I thought I’d feature the wonderful library in my small town, Cross Plains, which is about 14 miles west of Madison. The Rosemary Garfoot Public Library is the first “green” library in Wisconsin.

In order to ensure the highest quality of sustainability, the library was designed using the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. This system recognizes performance in five key areas: sustainable site development, energy efficiency, water savings, indoor environmental quality, and materials selection. Here’s a LEED tour of our library.

I especially like the beautifully crafted circulation desk, which was created using silver maple wood from trees that were reused from the building site. The architects chose to use a Prairie style of architecture influenced by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, a Wisconsin native. Rain gardens all around the building and a garden of prairie flowers and grasses near the entrance walk are visual reminders of the library’s commitment to living sustainably in the community.