Headmistress Challenge

I'm sad to say that this will be the final term for our beloved Headmistress Anisa.  Always one with her own style, she has put together a fun and unconventional Challenge for us.

To embrace her final term, she has challenged us to finish something. It should be a craft by our definition, either a ravelry craft or a non-ravelry craft, and you should finish it between May 10th and July 24th. It doesn’t matter when it was started, as long as you did the final amount of crafting work on it during that period.

That's right, non-ravelry crafts count.  WIPs count.   Non-ravelry WIPs count.  New projects still count.  So many options!

Projects will receive 10 base points plus bonus points for two reasons: her estimation of how much work you did on the project since May 10th and general awesomeness. In order to be considered for the “how much work” bonus points, you will need to write a description of the work that you did since May 10th on the project.  Provide a detailed description of work completed to maximize bonus points.

To be clear, we are not to submit a project that has been  submitted as finished anywhere else in the Cup.  And while bonus points will be awarded in a mysterious way, she recommends you do not skip Detention in lieu of HMC.

What's Happening This Week: May 28 - June 3

May deadlines:

NEWT 50% until 5/31
ongoing OWLs
Quidditch - Match 3 - 5/26 - 6/4
May Classes until 5/31

June deadlines:

Flight of the First until 6/7
Quidditch - Match 3 - 5/26 - 6/4
Detention badge until 6/25
NEWT 75% until 6/30
OWLs 50% until 6/30
June Classes until 6/30

Ongoing:
Prefect's Challenge - June blitz - 6/24
Headmistress Challenge - until July 24
Order of the Phoenix - first missions accepted back 7/1 - 7/22
Great Hall Class and Detention Badges
Great Hall Advanced Studies, Quidditch and HMC badges
Remembrall Sign ups

Last Week in the Common Room: Prachett

Last minute scores
Pollen substitutes
Hanging garden sofa
Cleaning kitchen sinks/bathtub drains
70's styles
Crime fraiche
Airport precheck/global entry
Guessing someone's nationality
Sweaters/top-down raglan
Inheriting crafting supplies
Coffee/caffeine/people who are or are not affected by caffeine/peppermint
Feeling bad about not cleaning for people
Various body issues
Various veggies substitutes for pasta and veggie tots
Differences in the way tater tots are made
Cross stitch floss prices
Elaborate cross stitch patterns
Different mascots for ravenclaw and some people like ravens more
Making sense of the HP house names
Linen vs aida cloth for cross stitch
Falling in the gaps of sizing while sewing
Felted spinning fiber
Fear of animals
Different kinds of crafted Christmas stockings for the whole family
Cool bugs
Study group reorganization
Crafted dishcloths
Cheap, sturdy, machine washable yarn
Rhubarb
Reproductive organ issues/supportive doctors
Transporting animals to other countries
Using multicolored yarn with a contrasting solid color yarn
Find That Pattern game
The wearability of shawls vs socks
Terry Prachett books
Loving some colors and some colors not loving you back
Needle keepers/grime guards

Firstie Friday!

Everyone ready to meet the next firstie? Next up, meet Stitcherina!

How did you find the Cup and what motivated you to give the Cup a try?
I found out about the cup from my friend from the Eat Sleep Knit forum group, Kimberly AKA MissJaneJetson. I don’t post a lot on the forums due to anxiety and so was motivated to push myself a little by joining. So far I find I am short on time to read the forums but will always respond to a PM! :). I am also motivated to learn new techniques as I am a fairly new knitter. Time is short as I have three busy boys, but I am trying to fit this in as my “self care” as I find knitting so relaxing.

What, in your own estimation, is your wackiest/most awesome project and why?
I don’t have any projects that are wacky…I just think it is awesome when I manage to finish a project without having to frog because of a mistake I am not skilled enough to fix! :)

What characteristics do you love most about the Tower so far?
The Tower is so welcoming, friendly, chatty and willing to help! Great team atmosphere! It is making it easier for me to overcome my social media forum posting anxiety. Still a struggle, but easier.

What is on your crafting bucket list?
Crafting bucket list….hmmmm….well I am a Cross Stitcher, a Quilter, Knitter and Embroiderer, as well as loving hand sewing like EPP…I have A LOT on my to do list!

What is currently on your needles/hook?
I just cast on my first square for my Hue Shift Afghan after seeing a friend’s yesterday. I will submit it for a class if I can get the gauge right!

Editors Note: This is a picture of Stitcherina's yarn that she's planning on using for her Hue Shift Afghan:

I want to cast on a hundred things but I am a OOAT knitter so will keep my cool for now and see if I still want to knit blanket squares after the first one, or maybe move on to socks, trying Magic Loop for the first time? So many options!

What's Happening This Week: May 21 - 27

NEWT 50% until 5/31
OWL proposals accepted until 5/22
Prefect's Challenge 
Quidditch - Match 3 - 5/26 - 6/4
May Classes until 5/31
Detention badge until 5/25

Ongoing:
Prjónfesta
Headmistress Challenge - until July 24
Order of the Phoenix - missions launch 5/27
Great Hall Class and Detention Badges
Great Hall Advanced Studies, Quidditch and HMC badges
Remembrall Sign ups

Last Week in the Common Room: Kitten Sized Sorting Hats

Mother's Day
Baths as bribes
Royal Wedding/fascinators
Tense muscles vs pulled muscles
Mathematical equations on macs
Harry Potter fabric
Camp Loopy
Combining honey with ... everything?
Rogue birds in houses, their splats and diseases they may carry
A question about blanket squares
Anything goes with weddings as long as you marry your perfect mate
York in the UK or US/about Pennsylvania/Jimmy Stewart/Amish
Staying up late playing video games
Being named after someone
Tall box piles even after living in one place for years
Swatch gauges
Price of different bobbins
Yarn crawls/LYS tours/Places without a lot of LYSs
Shipping woes
Games as new interface training
Math counts/Quiz bowls
Favorite fiber to spin
Schedule dodging
Shoes for walking/toms/bobs
Kitten sorting/Kitten sized clothing/sorting hats
Keeping dogs out of kitty litter
Clotted cream and substitutes

Eagles Soar in Match 1!

Team Ravenclaw certainly made the first round of the Quidditch World Cup a spectacular one! With all of the flashes of blue and bronze on the field, it was difficult to keep up with the 111 chasers who scored during that match.

The referees asked Chasers to create food or drink inspired by the initial countries participating in the World Cup. The Tower rose to the challenge, and turned in everything from simple drinks such as teas and coffees to things like hummus, stir fry, taquitos, and beef stew. Quite the range of tastes from quite a range of people! Gotta love the diversity of the Tower! (And now this reporter is hungry from looking at all of the pictures again!)

At any rate, the majority of the Tower participated in this very fun match, earning Ravenclaw a whopping 660 points and the House's first victory of the season!

(Image credit to oOAlyssaOo - DeviantArt)

Round two is certainly looking to be a nailbiter, as all four houses are extremely close right now! Which one will come out on top?? Stay tuned and craft away!

Firstie Friday!

Let's get to know our next Firstie! Next up is zornslemon!
 
How did you find the Cup and what motivated you to give the Cup a try?
I found the cup through a close friend of mine (current second year Ravenclaw SierraSkiing). I’m a fast knitter by casual crafter standards (though not by Cup standards), so I figured if I was going to be knitting plenty anyways, it would be fun to get points for it.
What, in your own estimation, is your wackiest/most awesome project and why?

My most awesome project is definitely my double knit Yarnia scarf. I had never done any sort of double knitting when I started it, and it took months (over a year once you figure in the fact that I started a scarf and then lost it), but the end result was gorgeous.

What characteristics do you love most about the Tower so far? 
I really love the dorm communities. Everyone in the first year dorm has been really supportive and encouraging, and it’s a good way to have a smaller group of people to get to know.

What is on your crafting bucket list? 
I’m hoping to someday reach the point where I can make super complex socks. There’s a lot of really gorgeous patterns out there, and I’m still a relatively inexperienced sock knitter, so I’m trying to work my way up to them. 

What is currently on your needles/hook?
I’m currently working on the Hamilknit hat for my OWL as well as a pair of slip stitch colorwork socks.

I know we have a lot of sock knitters out there so be sure to welcome a new member to your ranks! I'm sure you can learn a lot from each other!

Your Mission, Should You Choose To Accept It...

Ravenclaws, it's time to bust out your BROOMs!!

Remember, in order to complete a Mission for the respected Order of the Phoenix, you MUST have a Mission Chief approve your Basic Request for an Official Order Mission (BROOM). Check out the Order's Codex and thread in the main castle to get the format and catch up on new changes to Mission criteria this term.

There are lots of ways a crafty 'Claw can contribute to the Order, since we're (shh!!) breaking into Gringotts! Here is a breakdown of the available Mission areas:

Recruitment
Goblins - craft goblin-sized garments (aka toddler sizes 2T through child size 12) to entice the goblins to talk to you
NOTE: the chiefs have determined that baby-sized items do NOT count for this Mission
Lookouts - craft one item that will help a witch or wizard be inconspicuous among the shops nearest to the bank

Security
Thief's Downfall - craft item(s) that represent magical water that washes away concealment efforts by using natural water colors, water-esque stitch patterns, or sparkly/shiny crafting materials
Locks - craft something you consider delicate and fiddly, much like trying to pick a lock

Undercover Ops
Dragons - lull the bank's dragon into complacency by crafting something with a minimum of 800 yards
Maps - craft something with 25% cables to mimic the underground tunnels of the bank

Central Command
Courier  - create an item that will allow you to remain inconspicuous among both Muggles and Magical folk
Ice Cream Trolley - craft multiple objects, pastel objects, or cotton/linen objects that will allow you to pass objects and notes hidden among ice creams back and forth to other agents

A Mission should take about 6-8 weeks to complete, but you MUST wait to begin your projects until the Chiefs give the GO signal on 27 May POT!

What's Happening This Week: May 14 - 20

Prjónfesta
NEWT 50% - 5/1 - 5/31
OWL proposals accepted from 5/1 - 5/22
Prefect's Challenge - Blitz – 5/20 – Muggle Studies
Quidditch - Match 2 - 5/13 - 5/19
Order of the Phoenix BROOMs accepted 5/10 - 5/20 
Headmistress Challenge - May 10 - July 24
May Classes until 5/31
Detention badge until 5/25 
Great Hall Class and Detention Badges
Great Hall Advanced Studies, Quidditch and HMC badges
Remembrall Sign ups

Prefects Challenge: May Blitz

No Prefects Challenge would be complete without a monthly blitz.  For May, we are blitzing Muggle Studies on May 20th. 

For your Muggle Studies this month, craft something to help keep you or an object warm OR craft something brown to represent tea, coffee, and hot cocoa.

Last Week in the Common Room: Water, water, everywhere

Pickle cakes
Stress knitting
Nurse's Day
Esquire/master/German form of miss
Yarn barf/center pull yarn
JAYG
Plays and all the costuming
Color point cats
Open door visiting policy
Documentary recommendations
Gender bending (on purpose or not)
Argyle pooling
Sharing clothes
Things are different in Wales
Tortoise CASPN
Foreign drivers driving in the US/police overstepping their bounds
Super powers
Naked gardening and the perils of naked gardening
Going through many shades of color before finding the correct one
Floofy cats
Gluten free/reduced gluten diet
Cutting long hair short
Wanting to learn another language
Water saving/water sharing/water sources
Hailstones
Cold/hot/water allergies/definitions of cold
Best and worst parts of embroidery
Annual report questions

Prefects Challenge: Ravenclaw A-B-C's

The Prefects have come up with a challenge for Spring that is as easy as A-B-C!  Work your way through the alphabet by turning in projects that fit a letter theme.  After turning in your project, mark off your letters on this handy spreadsheet.  A project can count for more than one letter.  Can you get all 26? 

Here’s the list of letters:
A: Advanced Studies: turn in a NEWT, OWL or Mission! Any points-earning activity counts - including partial Missions!
B: Blitz: participate in a Ravenclaw BLITZ!
C: Charity: turn in an item that was crafted for Charity.
D: Detention: turn in an item to detention.
E: Explanation: turn in a project to a class that includes a detailed explanation. What made this project difficult? Was this project inspired by anything personal?
F: FotF: Participate in Ravenclaw FofF.
G: Goals: Write down and check off your goals!
H: Headmistress Challenge: Participate in the Headmistress Challenge
I: Inspiration: Make something inspired by another cupper’s project (does not have to be another Ravenclaw!)
J: Join: join something together! This can be a seamed item, something that requires joining in the round, or a JAYG blanket square!
K: Keep it up: Post your progress on a project, or cheer on someone else!
L: Lace: turn in a project that has lace.
M: Mini! Turn in any miniature version of an item or any project under 50 yards.
N: Non-Rav: turn in a non-rav project to a class, Quidditch or HMC.
O: Octopodes: Sell it to us. If you can relate it to Octopodes, we’ll take it!
P: Pictures: take awesome pictures! Pose with a tree, lay out a big shawl, make it look nice!
Q: Quidditch: participate in a Quidditch match.
R: Rectangle: turn in a project that’s a rectangle. Since squares are also rectangles, blanket squares would work here!
S: SOAR!: turn in a project that is more than 150 yards.
T: Tell a tale: include a story with a turn in. This doesn’t have to be a role-playing story. It could be a story of how you were inspired to create your project or a story about the creation of your project.
U: Unplanned: turn in a project that wasn’t planned, but happened anyway.
V: Venture into new Territory: turn in a project with a new skill, or try a new type of project.
W: WIP: Share a WIP photo on WIP Wednesday in the Prefects’ thread.
X: Cables: turn in a project with cables - twisted stitches count here, too!
Y: Yardage: report your yardage on your turn-ins. Make it a habit!
Z: Zero yardage: turn in a project that has zero cup yards. This could be a dyeing project or a non-Rav project!

Each letter you participate in will earn you a badge when total house participation reaches 30%, 42% and 55%, so make sure to mark off your projects as you go!

There will also be badges for those special ‘Claws that fulfill the requirements of 10 letters, 15 letters, 20 letters and a really special badge for those who complete all 26!

Firstie Friday!

Ready to meet our first firstie? Our first firstie is knitterswild! She did such a great job answering questions that I'm going to let her introduce herself!

How did you find the Cup and what motivated you to give the Cup a try?
My good friend kmcnelly introduced our little local knitting group to the cup and I played along as a NQFY last term. I really enjoyed it and needed to hop on the broom for this term!

What, in your own estimation, is your wackiest/most awesome project and why? 
I will say I do not have wacky projects per say but I will have to say my crocheted Groot that I made for Father’s Day a few years back. I had a pattern but really didn’t know how to read crochet terms and just winged it. I was so excited that it turned out! My Dad actually dresses it up for different holidays and football season. I always like to see what Groot is wearing when I go to visit.

What characteristics do you love most about the Tower so far?
I don’t think I have been in here long enough to know for sure but I am amazed as to how quickly everyone welcomed me and got down to business. I love it!

How do these things impact and change or encourage you?
It is so great to have a group of people all working towards the same goal. It is rare to find a Ravelry group or swap partner that is so welcoming and encouraging and this group has it in spades. It makes me excited to cast on some projects and I am looking forward to the added boost it will give me to finish those same projects come the end of this month!

What is on your crafting bucket list?
Ravelry wise, I would love to knit a blanket at some point.
Non- Ravelry wise, I would totally love to try quilting one as well!
The challenge there is to keep up the excitement until I finish. I get bored easily.

What is currently on your needles/hook?
I cast on so many projects this month and I have been able to get each one to meet class prompts so I am super excited to just jump right in. My main ones for this month are:
1) Guardians of the Hollow shawl, knit up in some super special yarn from my local yarn crawl last month.
2) Reposado Tee, something I am super excited to finally make. It should be a fun, easy knit and then I’ll have a brand new shirt for the summer!
Of course I’ve got some socks and a few detention projects to work on as well because why not?

Thanks for the great introduction, knitterswild! I can't wait to see you around the castle and see what you create!

What's Happening This Week: May 7 - 13

Prjónfesta
NEWT 50% - 5/1 - 5/31
OWL proposals accepted from 5/1 - 5/22
Prefect's Challenge - Blitz – 5/20 – Muggle Studies
Quidditch - Match 2 starts 5/13
Order of the Phoenix BROOMs accepted 5/10 - 5/20 
Headmistress Challenge - May 10 - July 24
May Classes until 5/31
Flight of the First 5/1 - 5/7
Detention badge until 5/25 
Great Hall Class and Detention Badges
Great Hall Advanced Studies, Quidditch and HMC badges
Remembrall Sign ups