Firstie (and Transfer!) Friday

We're changing it up for this edition of Firstie Friday, and are presenting a showcase of our Firstie and Transfer turn-ins for this month! We asked the Big Eagles to pick one of their favorite hand-ins for September, and now we get to show them off! 

AFeskimo, ahanson08, BarnOwl, christinahwest

cn32, cubejelly, CymraesCrochet, delana75

Extraterrestrial, frithuswith, gardenmama, KhenaSanskula

Laura909, Lettisia, Mumblemee, PinkLemons

scrappingrobyn, siouxieshoe, TShaya, yarnfreak75

Haven't our newest Eagles been doing some fantastic work?

Thursday Stats -- September Advanced Studies Recap!

Whew! All of the proposals for advanced studies are finally in and, of course, Ravenclaw continues to be fascinated by the idea of extreme crafting. 75% of the House is attempting at least one form of advanced study – that’s 130 individual students turning in a total of 199 proposals!

This term, we have 105 OWLs, 86 Agents and, of course, our 8 NEWTlings! (Two of whom have already turned in their 50% at the time of this post!) Sixty-five ‘Claws are hunting the elusive PhOWL, and four of our NEWT students are attempting to lure in a Flaming Salamander. Here’s how this compares to the number of proposals from last term:

We learned a few terms ago that Ravenclaws rally up whenever something happens to the Library, and that seems to be ringing true again. The most popular Mission choice by far was Library Liberation, which has eighteen ‘Claws out searching for the missing book.

Last term, we were still focused on the harder sciences (or Hogwarts equivalent thereof), but this term, we seem to be more into sociology, as Muggle Studies and translating Ancient Runes seem to be the most popular subjects. We also have a respectable ten students testing out the new Alchemy OWL!

We also have two ‘Claws to cheer on as they attempt to qualify for the very prestigious OWL Mistress certification! Go fricknfrack and SarahAlderSign!

Soar Ravenclaw!

Upcoming Important Dates:

30 September – Last day to turn in NEWT 50%

Thank you kadiddly for that update on Advanced Studies!

Weekly Showcase Wednesday: First Month of Term is Nearly Over!

The time is just flying by and September is almost over!  And it's time for another round of spectacular Ravenclaw projects!

There were lots of impressive projects turned in by 'Claws over the past two weeks, and the following have each earned the Golden Pickodile, awarded for just being awesome!

omeletsmom knit a fabulous shawl for Feeding of Magical Creatures:

knittingvortex designed and knit a classy shawl for Feeding of Magical Creatures:

Topfrog knit a beautiful lacy shrug for Grooming of Magical Creatures:

Sonnenblumenimp knit a pretty lacy shawl for Grooming of Magical Creatures:

snippybits made some very cool octopus stitch markers for Grooming of Magical Creatures:

allysonpickles knit a wonderful brioche cowl for Habitats of Magical Creatures:

fricknfrack made an awesome Star Trek tote bag for Safe Handling of Magical Creatures:

BarnOwl knit a charming vest for Safe Handling of Magical Creatures:

gardenmama knit a gorgeous pair of cabled and beaded socks for Safe Handling of Magical Creatures:

kvaustin knit a stunning shawl (1125 yards!) for History of Magic:

roocmc knit a delightful shawl for Potions:

S2five crocheted an elegant lacy cowl for Quidditch:

ahanson08 knit a magnificent lacy shawl for Quidditch:

LeahandtheDragon made a fantastic woven market basket for the Headmistress Challenge:

caranam painted a spectacular picture of the harvest moon for the Headmistress Challenge:

Three 'Claws dared the Mallet of Sanity to chase them down but successfully avoided capture, thus earning the Pickle of Sanity Badge!

cn32 spun an unbelievable 4737 yards of singles, plied them, and crocheted 1881 yards into a blanket for Healing:

jinxsa knit an amazing 1140 yards (44,416 stitches!) to make a Doctor Who scarf for Potions:

coukkii used an incredible 1014 yards to crochet a baby blanket for Potions:

Impressive achievements all around, and everyone should be proud of their work!  Congratulations to all!

Just a few more days left to turn in your September classes!  And watch for the next showcase of Ravenclaw work in two weeks!

Fantastic Beasts -- And We Live With Them!

This week's beast has been found in the household of kaypendragon!

Name: Lady Catherine the Grey, neighborhood watch; and her consort, Tail, Lord of the Underbed.

Species: Domestic Short hair Cat
Lives at Pendragon House with Kay, Kith and Squid.

Skills: Monitoring the area.  (It's 'neighborhood watch', not 'neighborhood do anything about it'.)  Yelling at Birds.  (Mourning Doves are the WORST.)  Defeeting Bugs. (She has a history of removing the feet from bugs.)  

Likes: Food.  Especially Ice Cream, donuts and fig newtons.  Long Naps.  Boxes.

Dislikes: The Baby.  Crowds.  Outside.

We are so glad we got to meet Lady Catherine this week!

Would you like to see YOUR Fantastic Beast(s) profiled here?

PM Omeletsmom or s2five and tell us about him. Or her.  Or them!

What's Happening this Week -- September 26 - October 2

September Classes -- All September classes due by midnight POT 9/30!  PM PickleMommy if you need to be excused.

Detention Badge -- due by midnight POT 9/27

InterHouse Unity Event - 9/28 - 10/2

Headmistress Challenge 1 -- Care of Magical Crafters!

Headmistress Challenge 2 -- Arithmancy/Muggle Studies

Quidditch Round 2: Hinkypunks -- Through 10/10

Convocation sign up -- Through 10/10

Order of the Phoenix -- Missions in progress through 11/19

OWLs  -- Proposals closed; OWLs in progress through 11/30

NEWTs -- 50% due by midnight POT 9/30

October Classes -- Begin 10/1


Ongoing:

Fantastic Beasts BINGO

Great Hall Badges

Remembrall Sign ups

Is there anything House Cup related coming up that you think belongs in this column?  PM Omeletsmom with the info!

Last Week in the Common Room: Where is the chocolate fairy?

Welsh!

3 Tower residents Beat the Blerch and more are planning to do so again next year!

We are not throwing away our shot. 

Has the chocolate fairy visited you?

The first day of work is hard when you aren't told which of 2 locations to go to!

There's a neighborhood with HP-themed streets. We should live there. 

What's your patronus?

Lego!

Geek of the Week -- Georgina Sweet

This week's Geek, Georgina Sweet was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1875. Encouraged by her parents to follow a career in science, she attended the University of Melbourne, studying biology and doing research in the zoology of native Australian animals and veterinary medicine. She became the first woman to earn a doctoral degree at the University of Melbourne; her doctoral work was done on the Australian marsupial mole, Notoryctes. She won a research prize for her work in parasitology and became Australia's foremost parasitologist, publishing extensively on the subject.

After earning her doctorate, Sweet worked as a lecturer and demonstrator at Queen's College, and eventually went on the become the first female acting professor and the first female associate professor at an Australian university.

Known for her energy, organization, and teaching skills, Sweet was a member of the science, veterinary, and agricultural faculties. While she never considered herself discriminated against, she vigorously supported women's rights and served on a number of national and international committees and professional bodies. She was devoted to education and loved to travel, trekking from the Cape of Good Hope to Cairo in Africa and throughout Asia.  

Georgina Sweet's love of science, devotion to education, talent for organization, and lifelong curiosity make her a fitting Geek of the Week!

Learn more about Georgina Sweet:
http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/sweet-georgina-8728
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgina_Sweet

Got a geek you'd like us to feature?  Tell us about them here. This term, we are concentrating on Geeks who work with Fabulous Beasts.

Firstie (and Transfer!) Friday

Welcome back to Firstie Fridays! This week, we’ll be featuring three more of our First Year students. Aren’t they are a great bunch?

cymraescrochet

How did you find the Cup and what motivated you to give the Cup a try? I’ve looked into HPKCHC many times before, but could never get my head around the how, what and why … I was perusing mystery projects back earlier this year and found the Headmistress’ Challenge for last term. It brought me into the cup at the start of last term, which gave me the perfect opportunity to observe and take part as NQFY for a whole term. I looked, lurked and learned, completed 1 class a month for sorting priority, then asked to be sorted into Ravenclaw (I have many other Rav friends who are involved in the Cup - and the closest of them all seem to be Ravenclaw residents.)

What, in your own estimation, is your wackiest/most awesome project and why? The wackiest things (and also pretty awesome) I’ve ever made were the teaching aids I made when I and some friends set up a breastfeeding peer support group in my town. I made some individual boobs which we use to teach expressing and latching techniques - I also made some to help out my health visitor in her work: one with an inverted nipple, one with mastitis, one with thrush, etc - I wish I had taken photos at the time, but didn’t :-(  I did however take photos of my The Clue’s in the Poo teaching nappy - which shows new mothers what their breastfed baby’s nappies should look like at 1, 5 and 10 days after the baby is born. I’m also pretty chuffed with GorgeousGeorge a little elephant - when I get around to it, I’ll be launching the pattern and all of the proceeds will go to the bereavement charity 2 Wish Upon a Star  for whom I run the bereavement blankets project Cwtch of Comfort.

What characteristics do you love most about the Tower? How do these things impact and change or encourage you? I love the organization of it: I’ve been assigned a buddy, who is lovely (Hi, snippybits); I can get help to organize my projects; I love the fact that I can ask for a candle: overall the Tower has a warm, inviting and supportive atmosphere, where my own particular brand of geeky nerdery is welcomed!

What is on your crafting bucket list? I’d love to be able to knit well enough to make myself some Skew socks - my knitting is … ok, but it’s still very slow.

What is currently on your needles? On my hook, I’m currently making a shawl to send to a swap partner (I mod a worldwide shawl exchange group). I also have a temperature blanket which I have to get back to soon, as I’m doing a row for each day of the year, based on the mean temperature, and I’ve fallen quite a long way behind. I have a slouchy hat on my needles (I always have a hat on my needles as I knit during choir practice and on trips) - I’m just about to decrease for the top, then I’m going to challenge myself to make some plain vanilla socks for myself - I’ve never owned hand-knitted socks: I’ve crocheted some for myself, but the always feel a bit bumpy. On my wheel, I have some lovely purple and white bamboo which I’m slowing spinning into singles.

Thank you to everybody in Ravenclaw for making this newbie so welcome!

Siouxsieshoe (Sue)

How did you find the Cup and what motivated you to give the Cup a try? I did a crochet course at the local wool shop, I learnt to knit as a kid, but never really went anywhere with it, so I thought I’d give crochet a go, and i was hooked :-) A friend of mine is already in Ravenclaw - Tiggerishjen, and she introduced me to the Cup.

What, in your own estimation, is your wackiest/most awesome project and why? I haven’t really been crocheting long enough to do anything wacky, although I’m sure I’ll think of something. But currently my most awesome project I think has been the Death Star I made, I was so pleased with myself for managing to make a sphere, it really improved my confidence in my ability.

What characteristics do you love most about the Tower? How do these things impact and change or encourage you? I’ve heard lots of stories about Ravenclaw Tower from Jenni and it seems like a lot of fun. And I could do with a bit of encouragement and challenge.

What is on your crafting bucket list? My bucket list at the moment includes a mermaid blanket - my niece is desperate for one, and now she knows Auntie Sue can make stuff, she’s putting her orders in.

What is currently on your needles? Currently on my hooks are a dolly for my niece, and another Cutethulu for a friend - honestly, soon I’ll be able to make one of these without even looking at the pattern! I’m on my 4th one so far.

Laura909 (Laura)

How did you find the Cup and what motivated you to give the Cup a try? I was looking at projects from some pattern and saw something to do with Harry Potter. I had to find out more, so it only took a few clicks and I was reading through the FAQs and all that good stuff. It sounded awesome, but also overwhelming. I wasn’t really sure I was allowed to post, but I introduced myself in the NQFY lounge and I found out that I had like 10 hours left in May to turn in an assignment for sorting priority, so I tore myself away from all the pretty things and made a simple little coaster. I’m glad I did, because now I’m sorted to Ravenclaw and can start earning points!

What, in your own estimation, is your wackiest/most awesome project and why? I don’t know about wackiest or most awesome, but I am quite proud of my Dragon Wing Cowl. It was my first knitting project larger than a dish cloth, and I managed to get it done without too many mishaps. I was super paranoid about counting because if anything was off it would mess up the dropped stitches. Now that its finished, I’d like to actually wear it if the temperature would cooperate.

What characteristics do you love most about the Tower? How do these things impact and change or encourage you? So far I haven’t had a chance to explore everything, I would love to read everything, but don’t have the time. I quite like having a Big Eagle to ask questions, and bchapman1017 has already promised to help me figure out this spinning business. Before I forget, I really like the class summaries in Class Tetris. I can never remember which criteria are for which class. I also plan on using some of those cool spreadsheets to keep track of things. Overall I really like how we can share projects and ideas in a supportive and helpful environment, and this applies to the whole of HPKCHC as well.

What is on your crafting bucket list? Well I do have some things on the list but they are more general. First off, I want to knit a sweater. I have knitted a tiny sweater ornament before, but now I want to make one that I can wear. I’ve been looking at patterns but haven’t decided on anything yet. Next is something with colorwork. I have tried a little, but am not very good at it. Although not quite the same, I include double sided knitting here as well. I’ve been trying not too, but I really want to start a beekeeper’s quilt too, or something similar. For a more specific item, I want to eventually knit a Celestarium. They are just amazing. Finally I want to figure out dyeing and spinning, then I can add some more to the list.

What is currently on your needles? I’ve got a pair of Blackrose Socks started for my OWL and other than that I am working on more crochet blanket squares.

Wednesday Showcase -- Quidditch Round 1

One of the most fun aspects of the Quidditch Puffskein Match was the pickles!!!  Our creative 'Claw brains came up with quite a few variations.  Therefore, we now bring you:

Pickles on Parade!

CathyCake posed her pickle on a cake plate:

greenheron pickled some lemons.  Pucker up, everybody:

tigrisdea's pickled cauliflower proved to be very alluring for the puffskeins:

Only a true Ravenclaw devotee such as secrettrail, would pickle a cupcake:

Yummy eggs pickled with beets from snippybits:

Delightful pickle-y goodness from bribot:

Team Captain gipcsoul is also a master of the art of pickled eggs:

DJackson highlights the elegant simplicity of a pickled olive:

 

That puffskein will have to be pretty fast to beat me to frithuswith's yummy piccalilli sandwich:  

Omeletsmom's pickle captured a puffskein in 22 seconds flat:

A perfect pickle indeed from lostmoonofpoosh:

SaskiaBr's pickled garlic is a gourmet treat - way too good for the puffskeins:

Gwenschweitzer pickled a fish and captured an adorable baby instead of a puffskein:

 

Leahandthedragon may have made a mess of the Quidditch pitch, but she's cleaning it up with the help of a pickled tomato:

Yummy pickle cake from PickleMommy:

 

More delicious pickle cake from cyprienne:

Topfrog pickled a pepper.  Yummmmm:

 

Oh, 3trees!  Don't pickle that poor little wormy:

Thanks for all the pickles!!  Looking forward to the awesome projects we make for the Hinkypunk Match.

Ravenclaw Chasers SOAR!!!!!

Thanks for that look back at Round 1, greenheron!  Let's storm the pitch in Round 2!