Condensed: Common Room Chatter

Hi again one and all. I’m all refreshed and ready to rock after my week off from blog updates – thanks again to the brilliant inkslinger1121 who covered for me last week, she did an ace job!

On Monday many Claws checked in with progress updates and despite a mild bit of panicking everyone seemed to be quite positive and productive. Bobbilicious linked us to a free audiobook of Alice in Wonderland in post 19527. Jayannell opened discussion on planning ahead for OWLs (post 19531) and crankyangel won a Star of Isis for her first pair of socks! 13moonsago showed off her pirate tattoo and awesome socks in post 1956. Kitchener was really the topic of the day in the common room as discussions ranged from page 782 onwards on uses and techniques. Beyby and CMelvin commiserated on exam stress and minsue and tangledskein discussed stressful mommy moments. Isis showed off her huge/beautiful sock in 19593, while others discussed the merits of toe socks on page 785. Then Isis linked us to Ravenclaw Barbie in post 19615. Brineydeep discussed the merits of handknit socks versus storebought socks, many agreed that storebought aren’t necessarily worse. Greenegirl shared her technique of doing all the cooking at once which seems pretty smart to me, and Brineydeep offered advice on cycling as exercise.

OWLs and NEWTs were the topics of choice on Tuesday with many claws considering their chances for completion and badge-earning potential. Zanahoria12 popped by to add to the conversation too, making us realize there’s more to life than OWL points! Also many people consider Ravelympics to have affected their knitting output this term. In contrast to Monday’s upbeat attitude lots of us were feeling the drag on Tuesday. Luckily Gazebogal calmed us all down with some deep breathing and a video of wrist stretching (post 19682). xoxoMargot announced that she got into Wagner College – yay Margot! DevonC was looking for webdesigners, GG bemoaned the character of Umbridge in book 5, TriGirlJ managed to douse all her precious belongings in coffee and inkslinger1121 published last week’s update to the blog. SarahJoKnits (Sadielou’s evil twin) has published an awesome House Tie pattern and popped by to ask for test knitters (post 19743). Several people volunteered and she mentioned that it might be nice to wait till next term to do it so we can earn some points. Insanknitty told us about the RL knitting club she’s planning on starting, check post 19762 for more details. Sadielou introduced the work ‘internetually’ into our vocabulary in post 19782. Isisonearth showed off the little presents she’d sent out to our much loved and highly valued House Staff this term (post 19796). MightyGoodYarn got herself all worked up in the midst of her fever and started planning her next devilishly difficult OWL (post 19819 for evidence of her madness!) SFCorgi showed us a pic of her husband spinning, and we all ooohed and ahhhed at her clever deviousness… and then admitted to feeling a bit creepy for oogling her man. MightyGoodYarn made us all laugh by nagging soprano1 to get off the internet when she should have been knitting (post 19861).

Wednesday brought more updates and sock plans, with batfink popping in to ask about afterthought heels (post 19887) to which CMelvin posted a wonderful reply which is well worth a look for an easy sock recipe (post 19890). SFCorgi and Jayannell discussed unreasonably companies behaving badly when dealing with redundancies. It was St Patrick’s Day so we all had a Guinness and wished MightyGoodYarn a happy birthday even though she was horribly sick. Gazebogal had a day of discussing whether or not foodstuffs left on the table were for puppies. The puppy tended to disagree with GG on this matter (page 797). SFCorgi posted a list of Things That Are For Puppies so that GG would remember in post 19931. Pertela stepped in as a substitute for one of our Square Chasers as she’d gotten all her squares done already (post 19927 for a pic). LadyDamiens popped by to say hi and ask a question about silk content for CoMC. We discussed ungrateful gift recipients and how they should be handled (ie, never gifted to again!) in page 800, and dixiehellcat got the 20,000^th post in the Tower!

TriGirlJ started off Thursday with a picture of her feet in her brand new (Ravenclaw blue!) five-finger running shoes (post 20003). Bandbabe was feeling a bit down about how slowly her square chasing was going but GG reassured her that she really didn’t expect for people to be fast! Tangledskein announced that it was robot time again this weekend, yay! Poor soprano1 told us about the hard time she was having at work with a co-worker AND at home with her son so she got lots of replies offering advice and support from her Housemates. Theflyinggoat announced that she’s considering returning to school pre-vet (post 20032) and asked for other people’s experience of career changes like this. Gazebogal posted a Puppy-in-the-bath pic (post 20045) to cheer us all up and boppingbeth championed the 15-minute timer plan to Get Things Done. Isisonearth showed us her very impressive CoMC assignment in post 20069. Bandbabe told us about her student teacher who refuses to be helped and InsanKnitty asked for some opinions about her Harry Potter Camp that she’ll be holding during the summer (post 20101 for details). CMelvin, um, brightened our day (read: thwarted our innocence in literature) on page 805 as she was going crazy from reading too much criticism Soprano1 came back and told us the result of her various meetings (post 20159) and reassured us that she’ll be ok. MightyGoodYarn posted a lovely message about how she sees the Tower in post 20169.

Friday was the day that Jayannell’s daughter was having a complete rhinoplasty and skin graft after an accident she sustained years ago so we all wished them well and eagerly awaited updates. DevonC managed to wake up the family she was staying with by setting off all the house alarms at 4am… oops! Gazebogal showed us a Foxy-shaped scarf square she’d made for a Travelling scarf (post 20200). SFCorgi’s dogs requested that all other Ravenclaw dogs receive a treat in honour of their day at the agility trials over the weekend. Gazebogal showed us the lolcat bible (post 20237) and rncrowthers stopped in to say hi and to give us an update on her living situation which you can catch up on in post 20267. Ielith, Sadielou and inkslinger1121 compared dying computer stories. Boppingbeth told us about the horrible week she has to come, so she’s going to need some House love. Wildlilly came in for a bit to reassure us her absence wasn’t anything to be worried about, and Beyby brought a huge box of goodies from Honeydukes when she came in (post 20316), YUM!

On Saturday Isisonearth discovered that BPAL were going to be making a limited edition Giant Squid perfume oil and decided she must have some! Ravelry’s new login page appeared today, it looks lovely. Gusgus showed us the cakes she’s been decorating (post 20340) and Jayannell took a census of all the Merry Beasts (completed list is in post 20672) to keep us right and so we knew who each of them belong to. Gazebogal offered an easy approach to kitchener in post 20359. Lupingirl told us that official midterm OWL points are up in the OWL thread, yay! (A Ravenclaw OWL update will follow on the blog shortly.) Bandbabe posted a lovely picture of the DevonC necklace she received (post 20376) and then… someone tried to break into eightlegeddj’s apartment! She was totally calm and rational and did all the right things but we were so worried for her! Post 20377 has the details. QallieQ told us about her baby shower gifts from her Big Snakes, and DevonC thought we should do something like that for all our pregnant Eagles! GG announced that she’s finished the Argyle portion of the Socks of Doooooom, well done! InsanKnitty stepped in at a moment’s notice to rescue poor MGY from her Quidditch duties as seeker as she’s in bad health just now so a big thank you to insanKnitty! Her seeker post is 20528, it’s brilliant! Brineydeep posted pictures of her OWL design sample in post 20443. Then a new Merry Beast came to stay in post 20482, his name is Oscar and he’s a Fennec Fox cub. He’s so cute! Plans continued for Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. Dixiehellcat posted a pic of her beautiful Charms socks (post 20549) in another entry for the March of Socks! Pretty the teacup pig joined the ranks of the Merry Beasts in post 20581. Sadielou’s laptop caught a Trojan virus on Saturday night, and Akasha111182 offered some advice for fixing it in post 20604.

Sunday was quite a quiet day in the Tower. Potions grades went up, CMel appealed for Farmville neighbours and Isis was looking for Fishville friends. For some reason emus continued to feature in the conversations but I think it was decided that they wouldn’t make very good Merry Beasts after all. GG asked for some Ravenclaw Tower spirit for a Ravenclaw anonymous person who needs a little love just now. A few last-week plans appeared, a few OWL moans and cheers popped up. InsanKnitty’s Merry Beast made an appearance in the form of Flitter, a teeny hummingbird (post 20715). Old friend Hotrodhc came by to say hi, she hopes to be joining us again next term.

It’s now Monday and the new Knitty is here. CMel’s application for funding was rejected at Newcastle, so keep your fingers crossed she gets it from Durham instead! Beyby sang to us on her lunch break (post 20741) and Isis showed us her Charms homework in honour of Prof Flitwick. This is the chatter upto page 830.

That’s all for this week. Next week’s update will either take the form of two smaller updates (midweek and then after term finishes) or one major update after term ends, depending on how much time I have and how panicky I am about my OWLs. Good luck everyone, let’s rock this last week of term! See y’all on the other side. x

New week, new catch up, new writer

Hello fellow claws! Inkslinger1121 bringing you your weekly common room catch-up this week, a little later than usual. Starting on Sunday evening (page 720) several claws wished insanknitty's very muggle husband a happy birthday and one of our NQFYs felicitycot asked for some help with dropped stitches and was able to rescue her project. Many claws discussed the various places they keep cable needles and crochet hooks when not using them, including in your hair and in your bra. We also discussed the various kinds of stitch markers and making your own stitch markers. Greenheron, fricknfrack, insanKnitty, rambunctiousky, ShaanaBanaana, HJake, and MightyGoodYarn were all nominated for prizes over in the prize thread, congrats! Sporadically throughout many pages more people mentioned getting some imps from BPAL. Minsue, xamonster, GG, and others are doing the math and counting down to the completion of their OWLS. The day wrapped up with a discussion of swaps and SadieLou announcing that the wrap up for the previous week was published.

Monday morning saw the usual clink of various morning beverages. Soprano1, HJake, minsue, and GG posted plans and cmelvin posted a rundown of her to-do-list/random thoughts. DevonC finally got her new pattern, Love Socks to magic link and just a few posts after her rundown, we learned that cmelvin received an offer from Newcastle university! XAmonster shared a picture of the Celsus Library at Ephesus, Turkey in post 18178, if you wish to check it out. Mightygoodyarn did a shout-out to all the superstars in Convocation and from Quidditch (see post 18194 for the list). Noneinnyet gave us an update on where she was with her socks; all she has left is the duplicate stitch. Yakira posted something from Larry that can be found at post 18211, which sparked more Shakespeare from various other Claws. LadyDamiens got a major deal when she and her husband picked up a spinning wheel and some other spinning supplies from a Craig's List transaction. Ashleytree lamented on the fact that blunt needles were probably the cause for losing the love on her project. Isis asked if everyone would rather see the new Convocation badge now or later, and the consensus was sooner rather than later. Alethea produced some nice free lace patterns, which rounded out Monday!

RChrispy started Tuesday off with a picture of her husband's cousin's daughter playing on her loom, and then produced some adorable puppy pictures (go to post 18308 to see them. You will be sorry if you don't!) Everyone got their round of clinks in and insanknitty posted a picture of the volcanoes her class was going to erupt later that day. Isis posted the lovely new Convocation badge (post 18328) and BrineyDeep posted a poem from Eve Ensler the post following that. There was a discussion of progress on OWLS and the countdown from GG to keep herself and the rest of us motivated. Greenegirl, a NQFY that's been hanging with us a little while, asked about how far ahead people plan projects, if they do at all, and that started a small discussion (it starts at post 18358 if you're interested). DevonC told us all that she would not be moving back to England and she broke up with her boyfriend, but that she felt it was the right thing to do. Send her a little message and let her know you're thinking of her! This also brought up the scheduling of an impending WEBS trip. Xoxomargot and GG posted their progress on their respective projects and GG posted a renewed plan (and linked DevonC, because who doesn't when they post a plan?) The teachers (and former teachers) of the group discussed good and bad schedules and xamonster started a discussion about grammar (which actually spans most of the rest of the week) after sharing that she explained the interrobang to a coworker. Insanknitty posted a picture of the errupted volcanoes and then a discussion about different grammar guides stemmed from the punctuation discussion (We're Ravenclaws. It was to be expected) and this carried us through Tuesday night.

Wednesday was graced by an appearance from RNsallyanne, who has been very busy in RL but was able to pop in for a bit. There were more row countdowns and the discussion turned to exercise and running 5ks. Theflyinggoat informed us that the goat she had been taking care of looked like she would pull through. More discussion about grammar guides abounded, which was only rivaled by the talk of running and exercise in general. Theflyinggoat taunted us all with a picture of some very Ravenclaw yarn from Shaylamyst and TrigirlJ shared her knowledge and experience of races and running. Mightygoodyarn issued a non-formal challenge of knitting or crocheting an interpretation of one of the grammar guides, which turned into a postponed challenge for the month of April. Poodleparade shared the rules of her condo, which state that you cannot have more than 35lbs worth of dog, and we all shared in the ridiculousness of this. GG shared the pic of her amazing argyle socks which will feature a double knit sole. SFCorgi gave us an update of what she did on her trip to Belize. A discussion about the uses of the semi-colon came about from the ever growing monster-discussion about grammar and Soprano1 shared a story about a friend who was told to break the laws of grammar for consistency. BrineyDeep shared that she rode her bike for the first time this year. Isis handed out three Star of Isis badges to TheQuiltedLion, GreenHeron, and Schmutzerella, which effectively wrapped up the evening. (Just want you all to know, I almost tried to find a different way to say that sentence so I wouldn't have to use "effective" and risk using it incorrectly ;)

Onto Thursday! GazeboGal posted a picture of the House Unity Lapghan and the c25k (couch to 5k) plan was tossed around for discussion. We chatted about the upcoming Square Chaser race and how we wanted to present our squares, and the consensus was to post them as we got them finished to spur one another on. MightyGoodYarn blew us all away with her barefoot running technique, but it actually makes a lot of sense. Go to post 18813 if you want to read up on it yourself. Isis mandated that all the squidlings living in the aquariums needed to be registered, which caused quite the panic in GG and the other 5th years, as all their squids are named William (or Wilhelmina) and they have...erm... multiplied. MightyGoodYarn also protested, saying that the second year squidlings didn't want to be registered. TheFlyingGoat and HJake introduced many of us to the Vibram Five Finger running shoes (kind of a cross between toe socks and water shoes, sorta. See post 18831 for the pic). Greenegirl revived the grammar discussion by asking a specific question about an article she was editing. Cmelvin was looking for a musically minded claw for the Sock Song, and SFcorgi volunteered. There was a bit of a panic as the third years collected their aquarium and squidlings, which apparently were misplaced by the last tower lab incident. WildLilly gave us an update on her fast and GG posted a picture of her lit candle. Insanknitty shared about an incident at school with a student and BrineyDeep shared a picture of name tags for a shower she is helping put on. MightyGoodYarn shared some good info on breathing while running in post 18975, and that rolled into...

Friday! Coleva popped in and asked about the c25k program we'd been talking about, and the discussion about running continued. TrigirlJ made a good point about running shoe size compared to regular shoe size. GazeboGal was walking around with the squidlings in her hair and on her shoulders, until BrineyDeep pointed out that she reminded her of someone else, and wouldn't be looking her in the eyes anytime soon, and GG quickly sent the squidlings on their way. Cmelvin posted the Marching Song for the squidlets, and suggested we all make them socks so they wont get cold. DevonC, MightyGoodYarn, and Pertela revisited their plans for the month, and there was a discussion about what you think of when running (for most it was math. Go figure). Some of the Ravenclaws have lost the love for their OWLS but BrineyDeep was excited that she got her tax return and she plans to buy a new bike! NoNeinNyet has lost the love for the duplicate stitch on her socks, but has already planned her OWL for next term. Pertela was having issues with the pattern on the leg of her socks and MariainCT is geared up for the square challenge. Minsue shared a picture of the stitch markers she received from Carrie-daway from the crochet sock challenge. They were on her OWL, which is looking quite lovely.

Saturday started the square challenge and Silverwing26 lamented about not being able to find a song she heard in a documentary. GG put a cap on the number of squares that could be turned in for the challenge (7) so as not to push the new knitters too far. BoppingBeth shared what a frustrating week she had at school and lots of us posted plans or progress for our projects (or other things like chores). QallieQ posted an adorable picture of her son (post 19209. You know you wanna go see) GG had her town meeting and it went well. HJake finished her OWL and was able to wear it to her birthday dinner. GG reminded us all about daylight savings and TrigirlJ and MightyGoodYarn plan to buy the vibrams shoes we discussed for a few days. BrineyDeep posted a pic of the cupcakes she decorated for the baby shower and Silverwing26 shared a cute story that happened at the gym. DevonC put out an open invite to shower her with ideas for shows and movies she could download via Netflix or Hulu. TriGirlJ shared the standard tri workout for your birthday (post 19305 to figure yours out).

Sunday, after receiving lots of suggestions for shows and movies, DevonC shared the greatness that is phonezoo.com for ringtones and the like. More discussion of favorite shows and movies continued. GG shared her potions project and Soprano1's basement has water in it :/ QallieQ hopes to join our house next term, and wondered if she would be considered a 1st year or 3rd year (she gets to keep her status). Insanknitty came to the horrible realization that she will run out of yarn for her OWL, but TriGirlJ finished her OWL. Isis handed out more of her lovely Star of Isis badges to Nelago and Joeykittenface. BrineyDeep got her new bike and posted a picture of it (post 19463). DixieHellCat also finished her OWL. Yakira popped her head in to say we were all crazy for talking so much when we should be knitting and posted a lovely picture of what she had been up to. We also discussed future OWLs and how we pick them, and that wrapped up the week on page 781.

There is your wrap up for this week! Again, sorry it's a little late. Hope you enjoy it and keep knitting!

Condensed: Common Room Chatter

Hello again one and all. Welcome to your handy dandy catchup to the week's chatter in the Common Room. Get a cup of tea and settle into a sky-chair, ready to read a fast forward of the week's hot topics direct from Ravenclaw Tower. Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin.

I left off last week on page 650. Sunday brought the last day of the month and therefore a mad dash to finish up and hand in projects. Lots of updated plans were posted and lots of beautiful pics of FOs admired. Theflyinggoat was worried she wouldn't get her power back in time for posting pics but all came good in the end and she won a Star of Isis for making such a huge effort to get it done. We had quite a few computer malfunctions all round actually. (Don't leave your posting to the last minute, folks! Make sure you have pics uploaded to your project page in advance at least and then others can post on your behalf if they need to!) Isisonearth awarded a Star of Isis to the wonderful Katestamps who, despite everything that's happened to her recently still managed to hand in a project. Check it out in post 16345.

At exactly midnight (PrincessOnicaTime) on Monday the first Ravenclaw's Sock Chaser NoNeinNyet began the race with the other houses to complete the beautiful 'Root for Ravenclaw' socks. So began the Ravenclaw March of Socks! Isis posted a plea for patience from the students in post 16399. Classes were posted in the wee small hours and most students found this month's assignments much more to their liking than last time. Mommyknitz posted a list of original Order members for History of Magic (post16441). Insanknitty asked if multiple pairs of socks could be entered into Isis's Ravenclaw Pride competition (the challenge this month is to make some socks) to which the answer was yes. Discombobbled posted another list of original Order members (post 16499) but for the definitive answer in whether or not a character counts for the HOM assignment check the class thread. -Knit-Chick- followed up with even more information on the same page. MGY sent out Quidditch follow-up PMs to check which projects people handed in for Ravelympics. More tea chat was had on page 661. Some Convocation queries were brought up with regards to what was expected of its members. For the link to the original post please see the common room header. Jayannell offered some advice for allergy sufferers drinking chamomile tea (post 16547) and boppingbeth posted her Spreadsheet for classes (also linked in the header). Ielith rejoined us after her stint as a Ravelympics reporter - welcome back! She commented that she values 'love clicks' and commentary on her work just as much as earning bonus points in classes. Many seem to agree! Isisonearth told us about a House Cup Travelling Scarf, details in post 16585. DevonC announced the last Planning Challenge of term.

Tuesday brought lots of lists and plans as a result. Sadielou made a huge announcement about the March of Socks in post 16659 which included a helpful list of beginner to intermediate socks in case you need some inspiration, and following which lots of other Claws made recommendations too. Insanknitty suggested we all go over to the Quidditch thread and cheer on NoNeinNyet who has to fit Sock Chasing into her regular busy busy life! Isis announced the winner of Feb's Ravenclaw Pride drawing - it was Soprano1, well done! Mightygoodyarn was confused by DevonC and CMelvin so asked for clarification in post 16709. Silverwing announced it was time for a new Library in post 16714. The new Library of HoweverLongWeFeelLike is from the Glasgow School of Art, right here in my home town! Poor NoNeinNyet was feeling the pressure for Quidditch and requested that anyone else who had time could substitute themselves in. Inkslinger1121 requested a list of people along with which year they were in just so we'd know who our classmates are, which Isis hinted would be how we'd organise things next term (post16796). Soprano1 admitted to having a knitting problem (knitcaholism?) on page 672. A few people had been mentioning plans for OWLs next term, until fricknfrack reminded us we should be focusing on this term first (post 16806). -Knit-Chick- wrote a lovely little description of how she sees the tower (post 16822), and this inspired a few claws to 'decorate' their dormitories over the next few pages (675 onwards). -Knit-Chick- also mentioned that she'd found out that Gilderoy Lockheart was supposed to be a Ravenclaw! Weird!

Some Slytherin Snakies popped by on Wednesday, and we all got to chatting about the disproportionate number of Slytherclaws in the House Cup - if the composite house existed they'd probably kick some serious Gryffinpuff butt! Therealkarity asked about converting cuff-down to toe-up socks, check out post 16925 to see the responses. Isisonearth posted the dorm assignments (post 16944) which just goes to show how much the Cup has grown in the last few terms. She's confirmed that we will not be breaking up the common room in any way, though. Inkslinger1121 reminded us all of the Square Chasers' job and checked up on those that volunteered so that they are all ready for their challenge which will be taking place this month. DevonC gave us a great rundown of a simple schedule that she uses to teach people to knit, you can read about it in post 17016. Some of the 'old timers' (ie, those in fourth year and above) started worrying about what to do after they've completed their seventh term. Somehow I don't think they'll be chucked out so no need to panic. (Wildlilly freaked out a little about the chipmunks. Yeah, chipmunks. Post 17157) The structure of the House Cup was debated over the next few pages (683-686ish), about term length, houses, administrative nightmares, multiple OWLs... LNS of Slytherin house popped by to talk to us about trying to become a pirate in post 17130. We also chatted about what houses our family members might be Sorted into on page 687.

Thursday brought some OWL-related math for Gazebogal and soprano1, who was still trying to work out how much OWL yarn she'd used and therefore how much she had left to do! Appropriately soprano1 reminded us of the Book List (linked here on the blog) on Thursday as it was in fact World Book Day! Mommyknitz told us about the incredible 3-day breast cancer walk in Atlanta that she's planning to do in October, you can find out more and sponsor her with details in post 17242. Lots of books were discussed on Thursday including those by Jodi Picoult, Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes), Laurie King (based on Sherlock Holmes) and later Alan Moore for his graphic novels. PrincessOnica popped by to say hi which was lovely. Inkslinger1121 confessed to freaking out a little about the anniversary surprise trip her DH was taking her on. Poor TriGirlJ is having trouble sleeping, but got some advice and recommendations from her Housemates, hopefully she'll get some relief soon. Wildlilly announced she's hoping to do a fast soon and asked to be put on the candle list so we can root for her if she finds it tough. Gazebogal wrote her a lovely little prayer to keep her spirits up (post 17320). Seakame got earburned about a million times for her birthday and came by to say hi. We also heard the news that our Gryffie friend Sparksearcher needs to be added to the candle list. Foxy got covered in green paint (post 17353) but got it all off before bedtime. MGY posted one last reminder about what to do with Ravelympics/Quidditch projects (post 17369) and soprano1 cleared up some issues Sadielou was having with adding books to the booklist (post 17396 in case you have similar spreadsheet fail). Cake pictures were posted for Seakame, then sailor moon plushies were linked, then other ker-azy little sailor moon dolls were linked... it all got a bit link-happy. That's on pages 697 and 8.

On Friday MariainCT posted a link to the cutest 'pi guy' ever who costs $3.14 (post 17457) and it was the Start of Nerdigras!!! (post 17561 for those that do not know what nerdigras is.) Insanknitty was the winner of DevonC's last planning challenge of the term, well done that lady! In other Tower business there were OWL mini-crises which sorted themselves out, there were KnitPicks issues which hopefully the company will sort out for theflyinggoat and a faux pas was made by insanKnitty when she made some kind of 'Claws will win' comment in the Snakey dungeon! Oops! A new Ravenclawish NQFY Felicitycot asked for some advice on a lupin-related project and as usual, the Claws were more than willing to share their wit beyond measure and offer some ideas. Therealkarity showed us her Foxy necklace (post 17548), Sadielou showed off her 'Bearly Any Effort' hat (post 17577), and BrineyDeep showed off her blocking pics of her gorgeous OWL sweater (post 17611)! In the lead up to the release of the Crochet Chaser sock pattern (midnight PrincessOnicaTime) many Claws were debating faster ways to crochet. Chatter on techniques, speed and hooks began on page 705 for those looking to get some tips. Everyone went to visit Gazebogal in the Little Straw House for morning teas and coffees and their usual mug-and-cup *clink*. Plans began for a Richmond-area meetup of Ravenclaw classmates (page 707) and eightlegeddj posted a link to a website which gives details of local Knit In Public days (post 17674). Isis posted a link for a Science Cookie Roundup, which shows pretty pics of plenty of lab-worthy treats (post 17712). DevonC admitted to knitting while driving... THIS IS A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: DO NOT KNIT WHILE DRIVING. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. DEVONC IS A HIGHLY TRAINED PROFESSIONAL AND ALL THE STUNTS SHE PERFORMS ARE AT HER OWN RISK. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RECREATE ANY OF THE ACTIVITIES YOU SEE DESCRIBED ONSCREEN: And now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Saturday brought a beautiful picture of a cowl knitted by our new NQFY Felicitycot. She asked for advice with regards to blocking it in the round in post 17731. Then the Crochet Exhibition Team performed a lap of honour courtesy of insanKnitty before dashing over to the Quidditch Pitch to begin crafting in earnest on their crochet socks (post 17735). Magic Loop tips were meanwhile passed out like Girl Scout cookies around the Tower (page 710/711), and -Knit-Chick- found a library book shaped like a sock. Sock chatter once again reigned in the Tower for a few pages and also chat about how meeting a House Cupper in RL is not like meeting strangers, which is a nice thought. Wildlilly gave some crochet hook advice (post 17849), though it seems to be a matter of personal preference as just as many people agreed as differed in their opinions. GusGus told us about an awesome new job she's got lined up (post 17855) and Cmelvin used her Shakespeare know how to play with logic and literature together (post 17857). BrineyDeep became the first Claw on the Honor Roll for finishing her OWL sweater completely (post17864). Jayannell correctly identified our Library of the Whenever as Charles Rennie Macintosh design, well done to her with her Mad Architecture Recognition Skillz, and then she shared a poem that makes her think of the Tower (post 17887). Eightlegeddj is Smurftastic again because her knitpicks yarn is dyeing her fingers, but she loves it anyway. Yakira confessed to very smart organisation to help her combat ADD and explained how it makes her life so much easier on page 717. The unofficial Ravenclaw Favourite Scent Providers 'Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs' perfume oils were championed once again by the ladies of the Tower.

On Sunday OWL help was willingly lavished onto FishRockette when she accidentally missed out the thumbhole for her mittens. (post 17954) and then Gazebogal mentioned that according to the Master Spreadsheet of Doom it's still anyone's race! Woooo! Go competition! Sadielou announced she was off to a yarn party - an afternoon of tea, cakes and lots of hand-dyed yarn to buy - and PoodleParade popped in to say hi and to let us know she's ok as she's been away for a bit. Felicitycot managed to stop a dropped stitch in it's tracks thanks to the help of a few Ravenclaw witches, go teamwork!

I'm upto page 720 - haven't we been chatty this week - so I'll leave it here for now.

Tune in next time for more adventures from Ravenclaw Tower. Same bat time, same bat channel. :Sadielou turns with a swish of her cloak and runs off into the distance, leaving nothing but an eagle symbol projected from the roof of Gotham City's Police Station/Hagrid's hut clearly cutting through the swirling mist. Cue title music: