Firstie Friday: W18 Transfer Tuesday Edition

We’ve already introduced this term’s fabulous new Firsties and now it's time to meet our terrific Transfers!

We have a huge group of 18 Transfers to the Tower this term, including three ‘Claws who are returning after studies abroad:

avocadosheep

Lainey is a B5 transfer from Slytherin. She crochets and has been knitting for the last 4 years.

bastling
Darcey is a third year joining us from Hufflepuff. She knits and crochets in Beijing.

catmarie

Catherine is an M7 returning to the Tower after touring the Castle. She has many years as an equal opportunity knitter/crocheter.

Celesalk
A fifth year who transferred from Gryffindor, Tiffany knits with plenty of supervision from her black kitty, Tabitha.

darmstrong18
Dani comes to us from Hufflepuff as a third year student. She crochets and enjoys knitting socks and fingering weight projects in Florida.

Dmiley15
A third year from Hufflepuff, Dlaine knits and crochets in New York with her pup, Orion.

eviltwinn2
Rebecca is a B5 who has made her way to the Tower after many terms in Gryffindor and some time in Slytherin. She taught herself to knit and crochet, and spins beautifully.

hnick
Heidi is a returning 'Claw who has come back for her fourth year after some time in Hufflepuff. She is an accomplished crocheter and knitter who designs spectacular sock patterns.

Jennalyn
A third year transfer from Hufflepuff, Jennalyn is a newbie knitter who knits with help from her floofy white kitty, Sophie.

KristiRose
Joining us from Gryffindor, Kristi is an M6 who crochets and learned to knit to make a Harry Potter scarf (and says she never stopped.)

LadyMerewen
Sofia is a fourth year transfer from Hufflepuff. She originally started to crochet to make amigurumis, and later learned to knit, though she says she knits more know than she crochets.

Lepida
A B7 transfer from Hufflepuff, this Quidditch fan enjoys both knitting and crochet in the Netherlands.

MomoKC
Monica is a sixth year transfer from Gryffindor. She enjoys all the yarny arts including knitting, crochet, dyeing, spinning and sewing.

Phoenixgreen14
A B3 transfer from Hufflepuff, Amy knits in Kentucky with her husband and two dogs, Sirius Black and Frankie.

pollynext
Rie is a sixth year Slytherin transfer and Quidditch enthusiast from Germany who has been knitting for 20+ years. 

Robotballerina
The knitter formerly known as Carrie-Daway, Carrie is an amazing knitter and D4 returning to the Tower after an extended Castle tour.

SheilaOKeefe
A fourth year transfer from Gryffindor, Sheila knits beautifully and is a designer of some gorgeous knit patterns including some darling bear sweaters.

yarnyentrechat
Rebecca joins us as a fifth year transfer from Slytherin. She enjoys knitting, spinning and quilting, and enjoys incorporating math into her knitting and quilts.


A huge welcome to Ravenclaw. We're thrilled to have you and look forward to seeing you SOAR!

Firstie Friday: Transfer Tuesday Edition

We introduced you to our fabulous new Firsties last week, and now it's time to meet our terrific Transfers!

We have 6 new Transfers in the Tower this term:

kolson111322 (Kelly)

A 5th Year who comes to us from Slytherin where she spent the last 3 terms after her firstie term in Gryffindor. She knits beautifully, dabbles in crochet, and is owned by two cats, Smokey Joe and Barbara Anne.

tatsrus

This 5th Year is checking out the Tower as the last of her rounds on a tour of the Houses following a recent stint in Slytherin. She learned to crochet to make things for her two girls, and has now brought her beautiful crochet work to us.

ShanBonan (Shannon)

After spending the past few terms in Hufflepuff post time in Gryffindor, we are fortunate to have this 6th Year join the Tower. She crochets, knits and recently started dabbling in spinning when she has spare time from caring for her menagerie of a dog, 2 cats, 10 chickens and 2 rabbits.

psycheandcalypso (Sommer)
This B1 student (and mermaid lover)  is joining us after spending time in Gryffindor and most recently, Hufflepuff. When not creating spectacular knitting projects, she spends time caring for her young son, dog and 3 cats. 

ciri (Cait)
Most recently from Hufflepuff after playing several terms in Slytherin, this B7 has chosen to climb the stairs to the Tower. A crocheter and knitter who makes gorgeous projects with both, she is also mom to 2 wee ones and a kitty named Evie.

LindseyLuz (Lindsey)
This M2 student comes to us most recently from Slytherin and is finishing up her tour of all the Houses with this term in the Tower. A dual-crafting knitter and crocheter, she is a self-professed lover of all the colors who is a kitty mommy to Hobbes and Kisa.

A great big welcome to each of you. We're happy you decided to join us, and look forward to seeing you SOAR!

Firstie (and Transfer!) Friday

Welcome back to Firstie Fridays! This week, we’ll be featuring another of our awesome Firsties, plus one of our fabulous Transfers! 

Mumblemee (Do)

How did you find the Cup and what motivated you to give the Cup a try? I must have found the Cup roughly a year ago when I was browsing through groups. I grew up reading and loving HP, so it’s really the first thing I type in the search field when I’m looking for like minded people… And so I stumbled over the Cup.

What, in your own estimation, is your wackiest/most awesome project and why? Oh, that’s a difficult one. I don’t really feel like any of my projects are particularly wacky and most of them are also quite simple, so also not a lot of awesomeness going on there. I do love my Serena Shadow Shawl though. I made it for my Oma when she was ill and always feeling cold. The pattern is simple, but it looks and feels good and since I gave it to her, my Oma is rarely seen without it. I also enjoyed making the SWS-Sweater. It was a present for a dear friend, and even though I didn’t manage to finish it in time for the occassion I made it for, she was very happy when I gave it to her. It was probably also the project where I learnt the most and picked up the most new skills.

What characteristics do you love most about the Tower? I like how welcoming and helpful everyone is. I played one term as a NQFY before being sorted and felt like I knew my way around the castle by the end of it, but as it turns out sometimes I still have questions and there’s always somebody willing to answer them, even though they might have been asked and answered before. I also love the Big-and-Little-Eagle program! It feels good to have somebody to turn to, who knows how things work and has an open ear.

How do these things impact and change or encourage you? It definitely encourages me to try new things. When it comes to knitting there’s a lot that I still want to learn and to try and I feel like there’s somebody I can turn to when I run into problems with any of those things and I also have an incentive to try them now instad of putting them off.

What is on your crafting bucket list? One thing that I’ve been dreaming about ever since I read the first HP 14 years ago was owning my own Weasley Jumper. It’s also the reason why I decided to learn how to knit and so I really want to get that one off my list. This year one of my New Years Resolutions was to learn how to knit socks… So I see myself making a very wonky and misshapen pair in the near future. And I really want to learn how to do cables. They look so pretty and there are so many great patterns that include them, so it’s definitely something that I feel like I need to learn.

What is currently on your needles? I just bound off my Lyra-sweater two days ago and am currently looking for a new project (maybe a pair of socks? ;) ). Until I find something suitable I’ll try to finish my DropEverything and maybe get some work on the Frost & Fir Christmas Pullover done.

Ahanson08 (Angela)

How did you find the Cup and what motivated you to give the Cup a try? I had a good friend that was in the cup and lured me in. I needed some motivation to get projects done and the courage to try larger ones so I decided what a better way than this. 

What house(s) have you previously been in? I’ve been in Hufflepuff and Gryffindor. 

What convinced you to come to Ravenclaw this term? My NQFY class is super close and lot of them are in the Tower so I decided I should give my points to the house I spent the most time in!

What, in your own estimation, is your wackiest/most awesome project and why? My most awesome project recently has been my Solaris. I’m clearly in the Melanie Berg fan club.

What characteristics do you love most about the Tower? Everyone is so encouraging and knowledgeable.

How do these things impact and change or encourage you? It drives me to try things that I would have never in a million years tried before because I know there is always someone to help and encourage.

What is on your crafting bucket list? Briochealicious. It so amazing but I’ve never done brioche. It’ll be next terms OWL for sure.

What is currently on your needles? Sunwalker, which is my OWL.

Firstie* Friday: Meet Lookout and RavenLuna!

*And Transfer!

It's that time of the week again!  First off, we have morningwynd's introduction of her Little Eagle, Lookout.

Hi Tower! Meet my Little Eagle Lookout! She lives in Hope, British Columbia in Canada! As some of your might already know, she is the mother of our wonderful prefect, gwenschweitzer! Of course her daughter has had a lot of influence in her interest in the House Cup. She says:

“My daughter gwenschweitzer told me about the House Cup and the incentives and camaraderie sounded like fun. I was in Starfleet Fiber Arts Corp for a few tours of duty then made the switch to the Cup.”

Lookout is a transfer from Gryffindor, but she is no stranger to the wacky spirit of Ravenclaw. Look at the Cthulu mask she made for her youngest son!

She loves how the Tower is very friendly and supportive. Lookout enjoys everyone’s encouragement to complete everything. She loves learning about other people’s interests.

My Little Eagle and I share the love of the outdoors and going on long distance hikes! She says she has too many hobbies, but one of them is playing bass ukulele. Lookout is a self-employed nurse practitioner and also is a health care trainer/coach/quality adviser. When she’s not working hard, she loves crafting. She says:

“I mostly make things for my grandchildren. I am beyond happy to have 4 granddaughters! I enjoy knitting and sewing for them. I want to make sure each of them receive a special quilt from me when they are grown and I am already thinking about that even though the oldest one is 3 and the youngest is 2 weeks old. I currently have both fabric and yarn that meet SABLE criteria. I guess also on my bucket list is not to leave a mess of crafting supplies behind. I’d like to use them all up myself!”

Lookout has delighted me and the rest of the Tower by showing off mostly her sewing so far this term. Most of the time she uses a 1924 Singer treadle sewing machine to do her sewing on!

She says she loves the durability of the older machines. I think my favorite project so far is the green apple apron she just made a few days ago.

She said her eldest granddaughter helped pick out the fabric and she already has plans to make another apron with different bias straps.

She also made doll clothes for her granddaughters. Gwen likes saying that her daughter always has the best dressed dolls!

But Lookout doesn’t just sew! She also knits and crochets. She was taught when she was young and returned to it when she was older. She has made almost every accessory you can think of, hats, mitts (both big and small!), socks, scarves, slippers, cowls and shawls. She has even made a few toys! As you can imagine most of this is practical wear to keep warm but she isn’t a stranger to beautiful lace cowls, sweaters and shawls.

Lookout is also working on an OWL this term in spite of having a newly born granddaughter and working! She’s making two sweaters for her granddaughters.

I hope you enjoyed getting to know my Little Eagle as much as I did! Stop on by and look at her projects or stop by the First Year dorm and say hi!

Next, Big Eagle Isilsartari tells us a bit about her Little Eagle, Transfer RavenLuna.

RavenLuna (Karen from Dorset), who is celebrating her M3 term, is a SAHM to a 4 year old son. She is also a tarot reader, so must have paid some attention in divination classes. Her hometown is Weymouth, but she now lives in one of the small villages.

Her home town is a picturesque seaside town very popular for holidays. A mix of white Georgian and Victorian B&B’s and hotels and smaller older buildings, some of which may have links to the arrival of the Black Death in the UK, as it is believed the plague first landed in Melcombe Regis, one of the two boroughs which now make up Weymouth. The area is of geological significance with it being a Jurassic coastline and is also linked to many English writers, including Thomas Hardy who described the excitement of Weymouth as ‘out of every ten folk you meet nine of ’em in love’. A perfect location for a studious Ravenclaw to spend her formative years.

RavenLuna found the Cup sometime in 2010, when she saw something about HPKCHC on a Harry Potter themed project. She didn’t understand what was going at first so walked away. When she came back to the group some months later, it was right at the beginning of September and she’d just missed sorting. She was inspired by the OWL projects that were being proposed, so took the leap and decided to play along as a NQFY.

Some of her favourite cup moments have been the first time that Hufflepuff won the House Cup, which was “AMAZING! I was on staff at the time and there were lots of tears that night.” Also, “when the Missions started was a pretty exciting time, as well as when NEWTs began. I have a serious soft spot for Advanced Studies, so the more options for larger projects, the better! :) ”

Talking of projects, her favourite, most wacky project to date is her Rainbow Quidditch robes.

“The photo is a bit boring, but it looks incredible (if I say so myself) in real life. Whenever I wear it, I get asked about it.” It does look something magical.

On the other front, her most hated naughty bin project is her DADA? Curse of the Boyfriend Sweater. She started it before she married her husband, about 5 years ago. No one else had made it before (only one person has managed it since), there were errors in the magazine “I had to keep buying more yarn, and when I finished the front and back, I realised it was never going to fit him. He still keeps bringing it up :D. I’m not going to finish it. I hate it; it’s boucle, and black! What was I thinking? I might turn it into a cushion cover :) ”

As a life long student with a BSc in Life Sciences and plans for studying Aromatherapy, RavenLuna must have felt some call to Ravenclaw, so what does she think about the Tower?

“I’ve always felt like a Ravenclaw. I’ve been impressed by the Tower in the short time I’ve been here. I like how inclusive it is, yet there’s also encouragement to strive to be the best we can be. I also really like the Class Tetris with the at a glance graphics, and the candle requests.”

Since joining the tower RavenLuna has changed her approach to crafting; originally planning to make what she wanted, she has now started yet another granny square blanket, for the points!

“I’m really happy about this, because my pointsiness and knitting mojo had been waning over the last year. I hope my productivity will now increase again.” RAVENCLAW SOAR!!!!

What other things are there for this life long student/claw to try out ? “I would love to try my hand at weaving. I’ve never tried it, but it looks so interesting!” A visit to the weaving threads is in order to see if weaving with her favourite yarn, Manos Del Uruguay, looks heavenly. Just not pinks, as that is the one colour she would not miss if it walked out of her stash on it’s own.

“If all pink disappeared from my stash I would be delighted. I don’t even know where it comes from! On the other hand, I would be gutted if pink’s cousin purple disappeared forever. My very favourite colour for yarn is rainbow.”

Maybe a nice woven colour study is in the future!

RavenLuna also loves some black yarn, though it does not always love her “I seem to buy loads of black. My “uniform” is jeans with a black top (usually with something to do with Harry Potter on the front) and something hand knit. I love black, but my eyes don’t love knitting with it! XD I’m excited to start my Mission though! That’s a black shawl with an off-white trim.”

Her mission sounds drool worthy. At least to her Big Eagle!

Some more of RavenLuna's projects:

These fantastic Owl mittens made for her Ancient Runes OWL.

A Hufflepuff-colored hat featuring Daleks!

Thank you morningwynd and Isilsartari for letting us know about your fascinating Little Eagles! We are very happy to have you here in Ravenclaw, Lookout and RavenLuna!

Firstie Friday: Meet the Firsties!

On behalf of Mama Eagle MissJane Jetson and Auntie Eagle LASH, I am delighted to announce this term's First Year class and welcome them to the Tower:

BegoniaPope 
fabysdolls 
hrvdmnky 
KateKnitsScarfs 
Krskiles 
nerdyinplaid 
s2five 
SallyinStC 
suzannemm 
thesejoys

Some of you have been around the Tower so much, we thought you were Ravenclaws already!  So glad you are officially here!

We would also like to welcome our Transfer students:

bchapman1017 
Lookout 
NikkiFB 
Snippybits 
bookwoman04 
FuzzyPumpkin 
Momtoaaandm 
Priscillasewmad 
dontpokeme311 
softnshiny 
TheEvilPretty1 
Jinxsa 
RavenLuna

We are so delighted you decided to spend some time with us in the Tower.

And last, but most certainly not least, our returning students:

GirlyWithATwist 
Intallcotton 
knittingvortex 
Tigrisdea

We are very glad to have you back.  Welcome home!

Make sure to stop by the First Year dorm to say hi and give everyone a warm Ravenclaw welcome!