Firstie (and Transfer!) Friday

Welcome back to Firstie Fridays! This week, we’re featuring another amazing Tower Transfer!

Tshaya

How did you find the Cup and what motivated you to give the Cup a try? What house(s) have you previously been in? What convinced you to come to Ravenclaw this term? I somehow found a KAL in December 2014 and then stumbled over the Cup. I was a NYFQ for the Winter 15 Term and then was sorted inter Slytherin. After four terms there I finally got the chance to get together with the crafters from my NQFY groups. A lot of us are Ravenclaws by now.

What, in your own estimation, is your wackiest/most awesome project and why? One big failure was my owl cup cozy. I used it exactly once, spilled coffee on it and after washing (without getting the stains out!) it was way too big for the cup I wanted to use it with.  My most awesome project… perhaps my Amethysts in the Water. Or my best-loved shawl Water Dragon. If I only could figure out how to make it bigger.

What characteristics do you love most about the Tower? How do these things impact and change or encourage you? For me the cup is about finishing things. I still start more than I have time for but I finish more crafting than ever. The Tower feels like a comfortable place because I already know a lot of people here. My dorm is very great and enabling me to try things like spinning.

What is on your crafting bucket list? All the lace, all the cables. I’d love to learn spinning and I hear a call for weaving. I want to experiment with dyes and just to have my day 24h for living and 24h for crafting.

What is currently on your needles? I’m knitting Tavie as a Herbology OWL. And I’m working on one of the famous Sock yarn blankets.

Weekly Showcase Wednesday: Awesome End of October Projects!

The last few days of October had Ravenclaws turning in scores of projects all over the House Cup.  And there were so many badge worthy ones!

I found so many awesome projects as I was going through class threads this week!  Awarded for just standing out above the rest, the Golden Pickodile goes to all the following projects!

Chrissyteenychan made not one, but two (!!) beautiful quilts for Feeding of Magical Creatures and History of Magic:

GothKnitty crocheted a wonderful dragon scarf (but there are no dragons in the Tower!) for Feeding of Magical Creatures:

caranam really stunned with two needle-felted "paintings" and a gorgeous lace shawl, turned in for Feeding of Magical Creatures, Habitats of Magical Creatures, and History of Magic:

FeoragRuadh sewed a cool bag with multiple zippered pockets for Feeding of Magical Creatures:

SadieLou made awesome roller derby helmet covers for Feeding of Magical Creatures:

volkat knit another fabulous colorwork Christmas stocking for Feeding of Magical Creatures:

tigrisdea made a pretty little cross-stitch for Feeding of Magical Creatures:

kalkette knit a fantastic pair of skew socks (that look like they actually fit!) for Grooming of Magical Creatures:

matematichica knit an excellent sock of very unique construction (with a mini partner, of course) for Grooming of Magical Creatures:

gardenmama knit a spectacular pair of lacy cabled socks for Grooming of Magical Creatures:

LateClematis made a marvelous woven table runner for Grooming of Magical Creatures:

Sonnenblumenimp knit an exquisite lace shawl for Grooming of Magical Creatures:

SarahAlderSign knit a splendid pair of socks for Grooming of Magical Creatures:

Laura909 made a lace doily and attached it to a ring with some fringe to make a cool "dreamcatcherish thing" for Habitats of Magical Creatures:

Bijou3owl knit a magnificent cardigan (which looks fantastic on her!) for Habitats of Magical Creatures:

specialKknits made a pretty beaded bracelet for Habitats of Magical Creatures:

Alethea made some awesome beaded spiders for Habitats of Magical Creatures:

balletisthebest crocheted a lovely blanket for Safe Handling of Magical Creatures:

Auora made a beautiful beaded lace wall hanging for Healing:

DrusillaWormwood knit a fabulous hat for History of Magic:

marruknits knit a wonderful shawl for History of Magic:

Sumiregusa made an adorable needle-felted gnome, I mean dryad, for History of Magic:

PorcupineSnuggles knit a delightful two-headed monster for Muggle Studies:

nerdyinplaid knit an awesome pair of shark mittens for Muggle Studies:

soprano1 knit and felted a super cute weasel for Muggle Studies:

KnitWit685 made four charming little men on horseback for Potions:

s2five knit a fantastic shawl (and she only just learned to knit!) for Potions:

rondaletts made five wonderful little marching band members for Potions:

BarnOwl crocheted a delightful bee for Quidditch:

freply made a marvelous decoupaged bowl for the Headmistress Challenge:

DonaQuixote made a lovely little clay house and painted it for the Headmistress Challenge:

Lettisia made a beautiful beaded bracelet for the Headmistress Challenge:

omeletsmom made a bunch of pretty snowflake ornaments for the Headmistress Challenge:

I don't really ever want to have to give out the Tragic Pickle Badge, but sometimes there is indeed tragedy associated with people's projects, so hopefully this badge will bring some cheer to a sad situation.  This week, washing machines the world over seemed to be out to get people.  I hope you all have better luck in future endeavors!


Astegal painted a delightful bag for Feeding of Magical Creatures, and then the washing machine ate it, tearing it apart at the seams:

wendebular made some lovely thrummed slippers for Grooming of Magical Creatures, only to have the cleaner toss them in the washing machine and felt them:

Luckily, to counteract the sadness, there were also a bunch of projects that made me laugh this week and have thus earned the Darth Pickle Badge!

Tikabelle brought on the giggles with this picture of her as a fox, turned in to Feeding of Magical Creatures:

christinahwest made a pair of hilarious hats for Grooming of Magical Creatures:

freply's made me laugh with her grumpy octopus, turned in to Muggle Studies:

llim had me rolling on the floor with her amusing crab costume for a tortoise, turned in to Muggle Studies:

Then of course, we have the people who really outdo themselves, attempting the impossible and succeeding.  For outrunning the Mallet of Sanity, we have the Pickle of Sanity Badge!

roocmc knit an entire blanket, using an incredible 2158 yards, for Muggle Studies:

There was one other person who seemed to have earned a Pickle of Sanity Badge again this week, but then I started to do some math and realized that this person really went well beyond the Pickle of Sanity.  This badge has only been awarded one other time in the history of Pickle Badges, but it's most definitely time to bring it out again.

The Pickle of Pickles Badge!  Awarded only for the most stunning and spectacular, unbelievably impossible achievements!

cn32 has managed to turn in an absolutely unimaginable total of 31,212 yards of crafting (both spinning and knitting) for eight classes and Quidditch in the month of October.  All in ONE month!  With only six of eight classes having posted grades yet, she has already earned 533 points for classes alone in October.  That's 443 bonus points!  I can't be positive about this, but I really don't think this has ever been seen before.  Way to go, cn32!!!

Congratulations on all the spectacular achievements!!!  I am so looking forward to see what November's classes bring!!!

Fantastic Beasts -- And We Live WithThem!

This week's Fantastic Beasts have been discovered in the home of Caranam! They live with Caranam, her husband and Gizmo (a bunny that Conall is not allowed to play with)

Names: Dylan aka Sir Wigglebutt, and Conall, aka Squire Fluffyface; collectively known as the Boys.

Species: Dylan: Long haired dachshund plus several other dogs that happened to be in the area at the right time.

              Conall: Siberian Husky

Skills: Dylan: Vigilantly defending territory, announcing the presence of strangers, taking up large amounts of couch cushions, catching and killing rats, and leaping high into the air!

          Conall: Standing in the middle of your path for pets, playing chase in the backyard, adding a layer of white fur to every available surface, chasing birds that he can’t possibly catch, and adding excitement to an otherwise boring day with epileptic seizures

Likes: Dylan: Food. All food. Especially that food you were going to eat there. That looks good. Snuggles. Blankets. The couch. Being on the couch, on blankets, on a person. Playing with Conall or Caranam.

          Conall: Food. Laying in the middle of a room. Baby kongs that he can chew apart. The super cheap squeakers that last about two minutes in his possession. Watching birds. Playing chase with Dylan.

Dislikes: Dylan: Strangers. People near his territory. Small children. Large children. Loud things. Things in places they aren’t supposed to be. The cat that likes to tease him from the other side of the fence.

              Conall: Seizures. Daylight Savings time. Steps. The cat that likes to tease him from the other side of the fence.

We often call them Pinky and the Brain, because they have a lot of similarities. Dylan is small, smart and spends his free time trying to take over the world. Conall is large, fluffy and would say “narf” a lot if speaking was possible. Dylan frequently gets Conall to do things for him, like chase after bigger dogs or pick the hibiscus flowers from the top of the bush (they both love hibiscus flowers). Conall is on a lot of medication for his epilepsy, but for right now it seems to be under control and he’s a pretty happy dog. Dylan… wants to rule the world someday.

Thanks for telling us about your Fantastic Beasts, Caranam!

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

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