Sunday, August 26, 2018

Last Week in the Common Room -- Who are you calling chatty?


There are so many different ways of knitting socks to try!

How do you prep your fabric for cross-stitching?

Where was llim when all the NEWTs were pouring in?

You can make lasagne in a crock pot!

Ravenclaws are full of recipe advice.

A Ravenclaw has done academic research on disappearing ink on old quilts.  Of course.

Which is your most/least liked Harry Potter book?

Some dorms can he very chatty, but they all are very welcoming.

Does chattiness correlate with pointsiness? More that one ravenclaw has researched that one.  Of course!

There are a variety of strategies for dealing with very busy threads.

Pizza crusts of alternative ingredients can be tasty (as long as the kids don’t know!)

Ravenclaws certainly love their spreadsheets!

Different fairs have different ways of displaying/disposing of baked goods entries.

It’s easy (and rather common!) to mistake yarn or thread bits for household pests.

Earburns are love!  You have been warned!

Tower pen pals could be A Thing!

We shared useful tips on dressing while traveling to foreign lands.

Flip-flops = thongs = … jandals?

Anybody got a spare £ 200,000 for some islands in Scotland?

MB personality types in the Tower may not be representative of the general public.

Many of us are experiencing cast-onitis.

We are welcoming a new batch of NQFYs!

The details of sorting are a bit of a mystery, but we must just trust the Hat!

It’s fair season!  Ravenclaws and allies are representing!

We’re showing off our yarn acquisitions. Is your stash a source of stress or a relief from it?

Tower residents are always there for each other.

Sunday, August 19, 2018

Last Week in the Common Room -- Break Month Ravenclaws are Chatty!


Sorting has opened!  Some students from all Houses are going on tour. Who will end up in Ravenclaw Fall term?

We're getting our ducks in a row!

So many Tower denizens are cross-stitchers, too!

Some of us are not only SABLE, but SABER beyond 2 or 3 expected reincarnations!

There is a nascent spinning event for the Vuelta a España, La Vuelta a Lana.

Water woes seems to be everywhere this month, both inside and outside of our houses.

Donating blood is good, but make sure to take care of yourself afterwards.

Ravenclaws and friends enjoy RPGs!

Smartphones are useful for all kinds of things, not just games.

What keeps you occupied in the waiting room?

Gripes about young people haven’t changed; just the devices.

Which generation do you identify with?

Learning to tame the crazypants is a difficult but essential skill.

Break month chattiness and silliness has settled in!

Invasive critters have a lot of different (and misleading) names.

Do you have stash acquisition rules?

Prjónfesta is in full swing.

Lego castles have arrived!


Monday, August 13, 2018

Sunday, August 12, 2018

Last Week in the Common Room: Dumpster Fires

Weaving history
Badgers/raccoons
Stone paper
Car wash/specific programs for what kind of wash you want
Errors in patterns
Harry Potter themed LEGOs
Kids growing up too fast
Baby color schemes
African flower animals
Sweeping classes
Master knitter program
Craftsy sale
Moving to other countries/pet quarantine/cost of living
Variegated yarn with patterned lace work?
Magnifying lamps for cross stitch
“what can I make with this” search function
DCI/Marching Band competitions
Cross stitch grids/sulky
Fire/dumpster fire idioms
Pointsy 'Claws
Lack of rain and consequences
Stackable stools/baggy seat covers
Special bags
Magic the Gathering

Monday, August 6, 2018

Sunday, August 5, 2018

Last Week in the Common Room: Notebooks


Improving in new crafts
Notebooks/BuJo/notebook suppliers
Favorite baby/toddler sweater patterns
Most kids like having things made for them
Tips on purging stash
Harry Potter theme launch party for a special beer
Crochet halter tops
Spear-o-mint lifesavers are discontinued/discontinued items causing sadness
Cakes
Wint-o-green lifesavers spark
Not wearing handmade sweaters for various reasons
Least favorite parts of knitting
Best term ever/what part of the year is your best term usually?
Getting all our ducks in a row for next term
Animals at work
SADD might occur at different times for people in the same country?
Prjónfesta
Obsessively tracking packages/errors in delivering packages
Missing interchangeable cables/tips/keys/stand in "keys"
Shawl love
Car woes

Sunday, July 29, 2018

Last Week in the Common Room: All about cats

Bird feeder robbers/raccoons
Cat introductions
Project tips/lifelines
Getting to the end of the day without meltdowns/productivity
Dyers/MKALS/MCALs/KALs/CALs
Strategies for points
Swimming adventures
Rain/flooding
Planning OWLs/aspiring OWL mistresses
Disabling ravelry suggesting emoticons
Paypal
Coming home to a clean house
Cat revenge vs cats that are happy to see their owners when they return
Completing all the OWLs vs NEWTing ASAP
How many NEWTs makes an NEWT mistress?
Tiny houses/schoolies/dealing with stash
Mochimochiland
Staycations
Craft everything from library term
Attempts to recreate food from a book
Sleeping outside/with the windows
Leaving windows/doors open for pets
Picot bindoffs
Sweater addiction
Beta fish/aquariums
Spreadsheets for cross stitch
WoW/breaks/playtime
subscription services (yarn, makeup/toiletries, food, toys)

Tuesday, July 24, 2018

Stats Update: June Classes!

June Stats
 
 It's time for June stats! Ravenclaw soared in with 13,977 points! Excellent work! The most popular class was Charms with 91 projects! In second place was History of Magic with 89 submissions. Astronomy and Potions were tied with 82 entries, Magical Law received 66 items, 64 Detention WIPs were turned in, Muggle Studies had 54 crafted articles, and DADA accepted 49 crafted objects. Lastly, Arithmancy obtained 23 creations!
 

  The class bonuses were about the same as last month at about 11 points. The class with the most bonus points was Magical Law with 15.15 points. The next closest classes were Charms at 13.12 points and History of Magic was close behind with 13.04 points. 


  This month most Ravenclaws turned in one class to keep their sorting priority. The next biggest group maximized their points by turning in 6 classes. The backbone of Ravenclaws who turned in 2-5 classes was the next strongest group and a few bold Ravenclaws turned in 7 or 8 classes.

Sunday, July 22, 2018

Last Week in the Common Room: Electronics

Cats/Cat allergies/hypoallergenic cats
Adoption stories
Not so smart pets
Dream/bucket list pets
Dream crafting job
Cheapest isn't always better/living on a low or fixed budget
Internet connectivity issues
Michigan/Dallas
Forgetting to turn on cooking devices
Organizing stash
Measuring stash by miles between places/marathons of yarn
Mischievous 'Claws hiding non dragons from the new HoH
Partners/friends who disagree on favorite things
Stargazing/Astronomy
Squash (drink)/cordial/different meanings in Europe and the US
House cup tours to all 4 houses
Stress relievers
Lack of USBs/CD players/external drives
Lack of headphone jacks/bluetooth headphones
Too many chargers/not enough chargers of the correct type
New appliances
Hot weather/dust/smoke
Exercise for people with injuries (cleaning, swimming)
One doesn't want to do something but when you do it you don't want to stop
Scrapbooking/other uses for scrapbook pages
Job searching
Excel/spreadsheets
BROOM woes/there's more than one way to measure yarn
Pain that happens hours after the injury
Medical insurance

Sunday, July 15, 2018

Last Week in the Common Room: Introversion/Extroversion Spectrum

Dyeing
Differences in spinning wheels
The comedy wildlife photo competition and amusing captions
Flamingos
How long does it take to feel like a grown up?
Ravenclaws are overachievers but they're organized about it
Ravelry changes
Tits Out Collective charity
Myers-Briggs Intuitive Preference
Introversion/extroversion spectrum
Oversimplifying disorders as extreme cases (like OCD is extreme neatness)
The military and injuries/return to civilian life
Judgemental families
Visitation Weekend
Seattle Claw Meetup (Claw Fest 2019)
Yarn chicken solution
Poutine
Pokémon
Tips on buying health aids
Tips for sweater edging
Cold sheeping
Gift ideas

Sunday, July 8, 2018

Last Week in the Common Room: Mini Parade


Time turners
People who can't/don't craft as much in the spring
Crafting race
Air conditioning wars
Changing your pronouns on facebook
Typos/Autocorrect/places you can/cannot correct your posts
Common law marriages have time expiration? 
Pickle of Fear/Vive la patisserievolution
Watermelon/salted fruit/sugared fruit
What size population makes a town big or small?
Days before holidays in the middle of the week have a Friday feel
Birthdays near holidays get lost
Calamondin (Calamansi) fruit
Participating in the Fair and wondering about the judging
Feeling bad (or not) about people who have to scan many items
Retail horror stories/customers who come in at the last minute
Credit card woes/Car woes
Mini parade
A cross stitch floss purchase of epic proportions
The Mallet of Sanity has its work cut out for it
Online scheduling
Taking pictures of food/cooking by taste or recipe
Buttons/button holes
Disney food/cognitive dissonance over dumplings that taste like cheeseburgers
Fireworks/new firework laws/people who buy fireworks elsewhere
Knitworthy family members/dealing with difficult family
The hardest part of making software is naming things?
Composers's names as curses
Spoons/spoon theory for those without disability or chronic condition
People who get worn out from using their intellectual and social sides
Humidity/dry heat
Refurbishing old houses
MacGuyver knitting story
Software that names files by date in a odd format/Julian date

Saturday, July 7, 2018

Quidditch World Cup Semifinals!

Man, oh man, the World Cup is anybody's guess this year! (Muggle and Quidditch!) Our semifinal matches finalized the field by demonstrating cultures native to Canada, Japan, the US, and the UK, and once again, the competition was fierce! Just five goals separated the top three teams this round, and first and second places were decided by a mere 130 points - not much at all when bonuses are in play! Congrats to a very solid second place Tower! 42% of you contributed to the finish!

Ravenclaw's early wins in the World Cup have helped us stay alive the overall competition, but the recent victories of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff have shaken things up. The Cup itself is completely up for grabs based on this final match! The whistle blows for the last time this term on 28 July!

Monday, July 2, 2018

What's Happening This Week: July 2 - 8

 
Flight of the First - 7/1 - 7/7
Quidditch Match 5 - 7/2 - 7/28

Order of the Phoenix - missions accepted until 7/22
Prefect's Challenge - July blitz - Astronomy - 7/22
Headmistress Challenge - until July 24
Detention badge until 7/25

NEWT 100% until 7/31
OWLs 100% until 7/31

Ongoing:

Great Hall Class and Detention Badges
Great Hall Advanced Studies, Quidditch and HMC badges
Remembrall Sign ups