Winter Term Movie Weekend Schedule

January 7, 8, 9 Howl's Moving Castle
January 14, 15, 16 Hope Floats
January 21, 22, 23 P.S. I Love You
January 28, 29, 30 Pearl Harbor

February 4, 5, 6 The Dark Knight
February 11, 12, 13 The Little Mermaid
February 18, 19, 20 The Incredibles
February 25, 26, 27 The Bourne Identity

March 4, 5, 6 Spartacus
March 11, 12, 13 Star Wars, the original trilogy
March 18, 19, 20 Strictly Ballroom
March 25, 26, 27 Mrs. Doubtfire

Hufflepuff Favorite Movies

For everyone who wanted to see the entire list of movie favorites, here it is, with duplicates removed. I'd say our very favorite movie is "The Princess Bride", because it was listed 8 times!

10 things I hate about you
13 going on 30
A cinderella story
A Knight's Tale
About A Boy
Across the Universe
Akeela and the Bee
Alice in Wonderland
Australia
Avatar
Batman Begins
Bend It Like Beckham
Blind Side, The
Bourne Identity, The
breakfast at Tiffani's
Breakfast Club. The
Bride and Prejudice
Bringing Up Baby
Camelot
Castle in the Sky
Catch Me if you Can
Center Stage
Chicago
Chicken Run
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Chocolat
Cinderella (Disney version)
City Slickers
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Corporation. The
Dark Crystal, The
Dark Knight, The
Defending Your Life
Dirty Dancing
Duchess, The
Duets
Eight Below
Elizabethtown
Enchanted
Escape to Witch Mountain (1978)
ET
Ever After
Fantasia
Fantastic 4
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Ferris Beuller's Day Off
Fever Pitch
Fever Pitch (2005)
Fifth Element, The
Finding Nemo
Forrest Gump
Freaks
French Kiss
Funny Girl
Galaxy Quest
Gone With the Wind
Groundhog Day
Guess Who's Coming To Dinner
Guns, Germs, and Steel
Hairspray
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Hell House
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
Holiday Inn
Hope Floats
How To Steal A Million
Howl's Moving Castle
Incredibles, The
Iron Giant
Iron Man 1
Iron Man 2
It's a Wonderful Life
Jesus Camp
Julie & Julia
Juno
Just Like Heaven
Kiki's Delivery Service
Labyrinth
Ladies in Lavendar
Lake House, The
Lakehouse, The
League o fExtraordinary Gentlemen, The
Legally Blonde
Legend of Bagger Vance, The
Letters to Juliet
Life After Tomorrow
Lilo and Stitch
Little Mermaid
Little Mermaid, The
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Loser
Lost In Austen
Mamma Mia
Mean Girls
Men in Black
Milo and Otis
Mirrormask
Miss Congeniality
Miss Potter
Monsters Inc
Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Mother
Moulin Rouge
Mr and Mrs Smith
Mrs. Doubtfire
Much Ado About Nothing
Mulan
My Fair Lady
My Neighbor Totoro
Night at the Museum
Ocean's 11 (George Clooney version)
Ocean's 12 (George Clooney version)
Ocean's 13 (George Clooney version)
P.S. I Love You
Painted Veil, The
parent trap
Pearl Harbor
People Will Talk
Pirate Radio
pride and prejudice
Princess Bride, The
Producers, The (2002 Musical Version)
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Raising Arizona
Real Women Have Curves
Rent
Replacements, The
Robin Hood (Russell Crowe)
Robin Hood Prince of Thieves
Robots
Romeo + Juliet (Baz Luhrman version)
Rudy
Sandlot, The
Saved
Secret Garden, The (1993)
Secret of Roan Inish, The
Serenity
Seven Years in Tibet
Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Singing in the Rain
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, The
Some Like it Hot
Spartacus
Speed Racer
Spellbound
Spirited Away
Star Trek (2009)
Star Wars - Original Trilogy
Stardust
Stargate (the movie, obviously.not the show)
Strictly Ballroom
superman: the return
Sweet Home ALabama
sydney white
The Matrix - Trilogy
This Film Is Not Yet Rated
Three men and a baby
Time Machine, The
Timeline
Top Gun
Toy Story
Toy Story 2
Toy Story 3
Triplets of Belleville, The
Twilight
Unbreakable
Unconditional Love
Up
Victor Victoria
Walk the Line
Wall-E
War of the Buttons, The
Wedding Singer, The
What's Eating Gilbert Grape
While You Were Sleeping
Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (Gene Wilder)
Witches, The
Wizard of Oz, The
Word Wars
You've Got Mail
Zulu

Movie Weekend #13 Nov 26, 27, 28

The last movie weekend of the term! It will be Thanksgiving weekend in the US, which means a 4-day weekend for a lot of people! It can also be a very busy weekend between holiday festivities, family activities, travel, and the "official start" of the holiday shopping season - "Black Friday".

I've got two movies that take place on Thanksgiving, and two movies with food as their central theme - hopefully, something for everyone! As always, movies indicated *** are available for instant viewing from Netflix.

Julie & Julia ***

Ratatouille

Home for the Holidays

Miracle on 34th Street (1959 version) ***

Leave a comment with your choice, and I'll add them up and post the results on Wednesday. This is one day earlier than usual because of the holiday.

Movie Weekend #12 - November 19, 20, 21

Because November 20th is "Absurdity Day", the movie choices for this weekend are all musicals.
Why? Well, for one thing, a musical weekend has been requested. The main reason for it though is because to me sometimes musicals seem a little bit absurd. A character is asked a question, and suddenly bursts into song. In the middle of conversations, people suddenly burst into song. Of course, songs are essential in a musical, but to me, sometimes, it does seem a little bit absurd.

It was really difficult to choose only four titles this week, but the choices are:

The Muppets Take Manhattan***

Little Shop of Horrors***

Moonlight Serenade***

Mamma Mia

Movies indicated *** are available for instant viewing on Netflix. Leave a comment with your choice, and the results will be posted on the 18th.

November Group Projects

*waves* Hey guys! Sorry I'm late updating the Group Projects page, but I've finally done it. If you're looking for a little inspiration with your homework, we've got the project for you =)

• Astronomy Collaboration with Ravenclaw
• HECK: Dobby Socks
• Hufflepuff's Fallen Heroes: Celebrate Tonks!
  

Movie Weekend #11 November 12, 13, 14

No obscure holiday to celebrate this week, because...hey, who needs a holiday to celebrate Alan Rickman? Or could it be that any weekend with an Alan Rickman movie is a celebration?

This week's choices:

Robin Hood Prince of Thieves ***

Quigley Down Under ***

Bottle Shock ***

Galaxy Quest

Leave a comment with your favorite title - I'll post the results November 11th.

(I'm sure there will be comments about the fact that Sense and Sensibility didn't make this list. I didn't forget it -- how could I forget Colonel Brandon? It is simply being saved for something bigger - look for it by December 1st.)

And many thanks to KnitforBrains, who thought up this weekend's theme!

Projects of the Week!

It's time for some more gorgeous projects Puffs! You all have done such a wonderful job that I have the hardest time deciding which ones to post. I think you will like the ones I picked this week as much as I do.

TheAlexKlein made some fantastic socks for Herbology. They were knit sideways and then seamed; how cool is that?!


This adorable colour work and steeked sweater was made for Charms by ylleflickan. It was made with a pattern inherited from her grandmother and yarn from her grandfather's favorite cardigan. What a lovely way to preserve their memories and beautifully knit sweater.


SuperM spun up some lovely sport/DK weight singles for History of Magic. Such vibrant colours! I wish I could knit with your yarn.


And last but not least is kirsts' very first sweater. She did a fantastic job and finished it in under a month. Quite an accomplishment.


That's all for this week Puffs! So keep on crafting and you just might make the next POW!

Movie Weekend #10 November 5, 6, and 7

According the holidayinsights.com, the first week of November is "chemistry week". So our movies for the weekend will all celebrate chemistry, even if it isn't the strictly scientific kind of chemistry.

This week's choices:

Sleepless in Seattle ***

Sweet Home Alabama ***

Serendipity ***

Notting Hill ***

As always, *** means available to view instantly from Netflix. Leave a comment with your favorite, and I'll post the results November 4th.

Projects of the week!

Hi Badgers! Have I got some lovelies for you. Please click the links for their hand ins and show them some love.

Number one is a lovely vest made by knitbunnie for her daughter. A perfect herbology project with leafy goodness.


Up next are a pair of adorable mushroom wrist warmers volkat made for DADA. She did a wonderful job knitting them and then went the extra mile to steek them.


Project the third is a beautiful Ishbel that Bijou3owl made for Muggle Studies. She did an amazing job and finished it in only 6 days.


And last but not least is a cute little cardigan made by frimptes. Fantastic job!



That's all for this week Puffs! So keep on crafting and you just might make the next POW!

Pumpkin Prep with the House Elf Liaison

It's Autumn in the Northern Hemisphere and that brings cooler weather, changing leaves and pumpkins! Pumpkin patches pop up everywhere this time of year, and, while most of the pumpkins sold there aren't the tastiest varieties, that doesn't mean we can't talk about our favorite pumpkin recipes!

The House Elves want to know...What's your favorite pumpkin recipe?

Here's mine, we make these every year-

Pumpkin Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 cup shortening
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Mix all dry ingredients together thoroughly. Cut in the shortening until fine. In a separate bowl, combine egg, pumpkin and milk. Add this to the dry mixture and mix until just moistened. Stir in raisins. Fill greased muffin pans 2/3 full. (this recipe is for 12 muffins) If desired you can sprinkle a little sugar on top of each muffin. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes.

Yum!

Halloween Movie Weekend!!

I put up a poll asking for people's favorite Halloween movies. My original intention was to use a random number generator to choose 4 titles to vote for. But based on a (good!) question by YellowRaincoat, asking why not just choose the top 4 instead of randomly, I looked over the list again. There were 3 clear favorites, one with 8 votes, and two with 5. Six other movies received 2 votes each. So I used the random number generator to choose one from those 6.

So, your favorites (in order of preference):

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Hocus Pocus

Beetlejuice (available for instant viewing)

And the random entry:

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Leave a comment with your choice, and they'll be counted to decide which movie we'll be watching for Halloween weekend!

Going Shopping with the House Elf Liaison

So, the House Elves have learned about the Muggle invention of grocery stores with their aisles lined with food and they are all atwitter. House Elves just conjure up the things they cook, so they don't really understand what "ingredients" are, except for when you're talking Potions. They want to learn more about these strange places! Let's help them out by sharing our grocery lists with them.

The House Elves want to know...What's on your grocery list?

Hint: you might want to pick up a can or two of pumpkin for next week!

Projects of the Week!

Hey Badgers! Time for some projects of the week from October. Get ready to drool!

This lovely scarf from jaydee is our first POW. This fall inspired project is just wonderful.


Up next we have some Mad Men inspired socks made by sdhsmc86 for Muggle Studies. I absolutely adore Mad Men, and I know Don would love these socks.


Next we have some fabulous purple yarn, ingeniously dyed with beets by Mushroom. I can't believe you dyed it with beets; that is just so cool!


And our final project this week is from our beloved HoH, Leesy. She knit this gorgeous Orenburg lace shawl in 6 days!


That's all for this week Puffs! So keep on crafting and you just might make the next POW!

Movie Weekend #8 October 22, 23, and 24

Since Halloween is quickly approaching, this weeekend's movie titles are all a little bit scary (or possibly a lot scary, depending on personal opinion!).

As always, movies indicated *** can be watched instantly from Netflix. Leave a comment with your favorite; I'll tally the results and post the winner October 21st.

Dragonfly ***

The Sixth Sense ***

The Skeleton Key ***

What Lies Beneath

Something Special with the House Elf Liaison

Canadians just celebrated Thanksgiving and it's coming up in the USA too, not to mention all the other holidays and special occasions that come around this time of year. What do you like to eat on a special occasion? Do you like to break out that special gourmet cookbook and whip up a five course meal? Or that tattered, much loved recipe from your grandmother's recipe box? Or would you rather go out to a restaurant and let someone else do the heavy lifting?

The House Elves want to know...What's your favorite special occasion meal? Share your most special recipes, favorite restaurant splurges, or touching stories!

Movie Weekend #7, October 15, 16, 17

October 11th is "It's my Party Day", so our theme this week is "...and I'll cry if I want to." Grab a box of tissues, and watch a tear-jerker!

Leave a comment with your favorite - I'll tally the votes and post the result on October 14th. Movies indicated with *** are available to view instantly from Netlifx.

Steel Magnolias ***

Ghost ***

Bright Star ***

Titanic (1997 version)

Badger Badger Mushroom

Our Giraffe Stampede for History of Magic was a huge success, and in keeping with that, I'm proposing a Mushroom Stomp for DADA this month. Craftyshanna introduced me (and many others, I'm sure!) to the badger-badger-mushroom video, and I think it would be a great start to a group project submission. We're still working out the story bits, but it promises to be a lot of fun. All you have to do is craft something mushroom related, and Ravelry has 65 free patterns to help you do just that. We'll be posting them on the 22nd, to get them finished up and submitted before our House Pride Exhibition starts. To keep up with the Stomp, check in regularly with the Badgertastic Group Projects thread.

Speaking of the HPE, Minsue had the fabulous idea to do a HPE HECK project this month with a House Elf House Pride Drill Team. We're still ironing out the details, but I'll let you know once all the decisions have been finalized. The Quidditch Tie-along is still going strong, as well. Will you be ready to show off your tie during the HPE?

Finally, the October yardage challenge in underway. Congratulations to epazia for using up 5235 yards last month! That's amazing! Even more amazing are the final tally numbers for September: 1300 woven yards, 2614 spun yards, and 38,335.8 knit/crocheted yards. I'm in awe, guys. And I totally need to start calculating my yardage ;)

Time for Breakfast with the House Elf Liaison

It's a new month and every day is a new day. Mom always said that breakfast was the most important meal, and the House Elves agree. Please share your favorite breakfast ideas, recipes, experiences, anything at all about food in the morning!

The House Elves want to know... What is your go-to breakfast?

Movie Weekend #6 October 8, 9, 10

According to http://www.holidayinsights.com/ , October 9th is Curious Events Day, although it says they were unable to uncover any factual information about this 'holiday'. So to observe this holiday we'll have a list of movies containing events so curious that they can only be described as magical.

The movie choices are:

The Color of Magic***

The NeverEnding Story***

Labyrinth***

The Illusionist

Movies indicated with *** are available to view instantly from Netflix. Please leave a comment with your favorite title - I'll count the votes and post the winner on Thursday.

Projects of the Week!

Hey there Puffs! I have some more projects of the week for you to ogle! What with all the last minute submissions at the end of September I had to give you 4 projects this week.

First up we have angel101580's gorgeous Vine Yolk Cardigan. Finishing this baby in a month deserves loads of kudos. A shout out to SuperM who also submitted this cardigan this week.


Next we have some fantastic colourwork mittens made by kikipotamus. Can you believe this was her first major stranded project?


Some beautiful purple handspun by kell13 is up next! Her spinning just keeps getting better and better. Great work!


And last but not least we have this adorable illusion knitting baby blanket by m8land. I'm sure the little one will love it.


That's all for this week Puffs! So keep on crafting and you just might make the next POW!

Pantry Soup with the House Elf Liaison

You know the day before the big shopping trip? When the food available doesn't quite add up to a meal? Some people call it Pantry Soup, some people call it "Cheesy Grapefruit Surprise", here is your chance to share the food you make with the dregs left in the kitchen.

The House Elves want to know... What is your most (or least!) successful thrown together meal?

Projects of the Week!

Howdy Badgers! Had a busy week, so I apologize for the late post. You guys turned in so many things this week it took me a while to look at them all. Choosing just keeps getting harder and harder...So, let's see what I have come up with this time.

First a gorgeous crocheted shawl made by gardeniapatti. Superb job!


Up next some beautiful cabled gloves made by hydra-star for her boyfriend. Awesome work!


And finally a lovely pair of socks that also serve as banana cozies made by Pluesch. Making me laugh definitely scores bonus points on my non existent point scale. Fantastic crafting!



That's all for this week Puffs! So keep on crafting and you just might make the next POW!

Movie Weekend #5 October 1, 2, 3

For this movie weekend, we're going to have a belated celebration of International Rabbit Day, which was actually September 26th. So three of this week's movie choices have rabbits in strong roles, and the 4th at least has the word 'rabbit' in the title, which is the best I could do and still have two titles available for instant viewing. :)

This week's choices are:

Rabbit-Proof Fence ***

The Bugs Bunny Road Runner Movie***

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Harvey (Netflix says this will be available for streaming October 1st)


As always, movies with *** are available to watch instantly on Netflix. You can check with your local library and see if they have any of these titles; you may be able to order movies from another branch too.

Leave a comment naming your favorite title, and I'll count them up and post the results on Thursday.

Stampede On!

The Giraffe Stampede is offically live. It began here in History of Magic, but we've already seen some spottings in Transfiguration and Herbology. You have all weekend to join in. The giraffes are stampeding the 24th and 25th, leaf-related items to help coax the giraffes back to the Chamber of Spots are scheduled to go out the 25th and 26th, and the clean-up crew will be in full force the 26th and 27th.

Sorry for the short post this week. It's the end of the month...I'm knitting like there's no tomorrow ;) Have a fabulous last week of September!

Snooping with the House Elf Liaison

It's a well known fact amongst wizards that House Elves are notoriously nosy. The fact that employed House Elves are bound by strict silencing spells is the only thing that keeps the daily habits of their households under wraps.

So, today, let's let them snoop around a bit in our refrigerators...
The House Elves want to know... What's in your fridge right now?

Projects of the week!

Howdy Badgers! I am back from Guide camp and I can't wait to announce our Projects of the Week for week 2 of the term. You have all been so busy making amazing stuff that I had trouble choosing.

This week we have a beautiful pair of Latvian colour work mittens by Evucis. This is just one of three pairs she submitted so far this month.


Now for some more gorgeous mitts: a pair of Endpaper mittens by kerryespins. She knit these babies in just 7 days! Amazing work.


And last, but not least, a cabled adult cardigan made in under 2 weeks by mma. Fantastic job!


That's all for this week Puffs! So keep on crafting and you just might make the next POW!

Movie Weekend #4 September 24, 25, 26

Because this is the last movie weekend in September, and our beloved Professor McGonagall, Maggie Smith, is in a movie called "The Last September"(which also has Michael Gambon in it, and is unfortunately rated R), for a theme this week I've chosen movies featuring Maggie Smith!

Your choices are:

Curtain Call***

Murder by Death***

Sister Act***

Ladies in Lavender***

All titles are available to watch instantly from Netflix. Your local library may be able to order movies from other branches if they're not available from your branch.

Leave a comment with your choice below. I'll count them up, and announce the winner on Thursday, September 23.

First Half-Way Check

So we're officially into the second half of September. How are your projects going? Do you need inspiration?

The Quidditch Tie-Along is expanding to include other houses, and our Captain, Yarnvista, had a Badgertastic idea for our House Pride Exhibition in October:

As Captain, I’d like to make the suggestion that maybe as many ‘Puffs as possible make a House Tie for Regular Quidditch and then we could maybe make a massive Cheer during one of the Exhibition Days, maybe the first day, where we could post pictures of ourselves, loved ones, and pets wearing said ties in a huge yellow and black wave of House Pride!!! That would also free up our Exhibition days to make the other kinds of projects that don’t qualify for regular Quidditch, like bags and washcloths and bookmarks and blankets and every other thing that isn’t a garment. Of course, if you really want to make a garment for the Exhibition, that’s okay too.

The Giraffe Stampede is progressing! We've made the following outline for project submission dates:

So, I’m thinking that the giraffes could stampede on the 24th and 25th. Then any leaf-related projects could help round them up on the 25th and 26th. Finally (this is a new twist because I’m not going to get a giraffe made, but do want to stampede), the giraffe cleanup crew will be along to sweep up any ‘debris’ on the 26th and 27th (I’m going to make a swiffer cover, but a dishcloth would do -- lots of giraffe nose-snuffle marks to wipe up). ~Minsue

This is what we have for the story, which is a compilation of story bits from needlesnswiffers, vspringer, tiggersjp, purplesparkler, and myself. The adorable giraffe picture was created by bellymonster.

The Room of Requirement, a magical part of Hogwarts Castle, is many different things to many different people. Hufflepuffs through the centuries have utilized the Room of Requirement as the Chamber of Spots to study kindness, being gentle, meditation, hugs, and baking. You enter the Chamber of Spots once you have mastered enough purpletongue from your Mama or Papa Badgers to ask the room to enter. The Chamber of Spots earned its name, because Hufflepuffs love giraffes. Giraffes have a quiet, serene nature; they so closely match our colors, and because they’re highly useful when you need to pull ingredients for recipes off of top shelves.

In the spirit of kindness and hugs, the House Elf Crafting Klatch decided to bring some good cheer to the free elf Winky. As everyone who has read Goblet of Fire will know, Winky didn’t enter the ranks of the free house elves gracefully. The members of HECK felt that Winky could find comfort in the giraffes, and learn to be at peace with her new lot in life. We entered the Chamber of Spots looking for gifts for her. We found coasters and cozies, garments and toys. All things we felt would lift the spirits of dear Winky. Upon leaving, however, we discovered that the door to Chamber was ajar, and one of the most curious giraffes had escaped!

After spending most of his Sunday afternoon following the Hufflepuffs as they ran round the corridors attempting to retrieve the Giraffe, Hagrid told us that “giraffes oughter be able to run free”. We didn’t quite like to release it into the Forbidden Forest (how would we look after it?), so we coaxed the giraffe with leaves, leading it to the Transfiguration room. Professor McGonagall enchanted the giraffe into a painting, which we put down in the kitchen for Winky. You can now find our gentle friend wandering paintings throughout the castle.

Currently, I'm planning to post the story to History of Magic the morning of the 24th, and then it will all progress from there. I'm super excited to see all of the giraffe projects come together!

Just Desserts with the House Elf Liaison

House Elf Liaison, back from the kitchens...

When life gets busy, frazzled and harried, what to turn to but our crafting chocolate!!!! Or if not chocolate, dessert (but why not just shave, drizzle, or drench it with chocolate?)

Tell me about your favorite sweet treats, the one you make the best, the one you pick over the all the others, or the one that changed your world! Recipes, tips, and general comments are all welcome!
The House Elves want to know: What's the best dessert you've ever eaten?

Movie Weekend #3 - September 17, 18, 19

To celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day September 19th, the theme for this weekend's movies is (of course!) pirates!

Here are the week's movie choices:

Hook***

Peter Pan*** (2000 Broadway musical version with Cathy Rigby)

Treasure Island*** (2002, animated)

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Movies indicated with *** are available from Netflix to "Watch Instantly". Be sure to check with your local library - if they don't have a title available, you may be able to order it from another branch.

Leave a comment below with your preference - I'll count them up and announce the week's winner on Thursday.

Thursday Update: Well, it was close, but Pirates of the Caribbean was the winner for this weekend.

Thanks to everyone who voted!

Projects of the week!

Welcome Puffs, to the first ever POW! Admittedly it has been a bit over a week, but I plan to post these on Saturdays and I figured you would appreciate the extra time to turn in something fabulous. Check out my top 3 this week:

First up what might be our speediest socks ever; roomc's Foggy Bottoms completed in just 3 days! Madness!

A Good Ol' Fashioned Challenge

It's week 2, and the group projects are rolling along. Several students are preparing to storm History of Magic later in the month with the Giraffe Stampede, and maybe a few other classes. We're aiming to submit the giraffes the weekend of the 24th. So far we have a couple of ideas going for the story...Chamber of Spots, Giraffes roaming the castle pictures, and some combination of the two. I'll (hopefully) post the final story next week to get you inspired to finish your giraffes!

The September Yardage Challenge is underway, as well. Calculate the yardage of every project you finish in September. It's ok if it started the month as a wip, just calculate the total yardage for the project and post it in the challenge thread with your running tally. Our Badgertastic winner for August is SuperM, with ~1860 yards. Wow!

Finally, we had our first Yarntastic Yellow Huffleteer last week. Briezee made some badgertastic yellow accented socks and shoes for her 27 year old cabbage patch kid, Tania, and submitted it to Potions. Way to go, Briezee!

Lunch Date with the House Elf Liaison

House Elf Liaison, back from the kitchens!

Welcome Hufflepuffs, old and new! It’s a new term and the House Elves want to hear more from you! This term, instead of me just posting recipes, I’ll be asking questions about food- what you like and what you cook, what you eat and what you wish you could eat. I’d love it if you shared your recipes, ingredients, tips, anything that you want. Let’s talk about food!

Now that the term has started and we're all back in classes, the House Elves want to know:

What is your go-to lunch? A sandwich? A salad? A bento box? Tell us all about it!

House Unity and House Elves with a stampede of Giraffes

September is finally here, and classes are posted for the 7th term of the Harry Potter Knitting/Crochet House Cup. We have some fabulously badgertastic group projects going on that I hope will inspire you to craft and be merry. You can see a list of our current group projects here. I’ll be updating this list montly with the changing of the classes.

First, I would like to remind everyone that Quidditch is underway, and it’s really easy to participate. The goal is to prepare for the release of the first Deathly Hallows movie in November with a lot of house pride. All you have to do is craft a garment in house colors. That’s it! You don’t even have to craft in your own house’s colors. For anyone who needs a reminder: Gryffindor is red and gold, Hufflepuff is black and yellow, Ravenclaw is blue and silver/bronze, and Slytherin is silver and green. Our lovely keeper is Yarnvista. She’s currently accepting applications for the roles of Beater (x2) and Seeker. Please contact her if you’re interested in joining the team! All people who craft for quidditch are considered Chasers this term, so no sign ups are necessary there.

Next, we have HECK, the House Elf Crafting Klatch. Last July, we crafted to send our elves to camp. Now, we’re focusing on the free elves, Dobby and Winky. You’ll find a ton of project ideas in the HECK! It’s September thread in the Hufflepuff House Group on Ravelry. Namely, GIRAFFES! This month, Hufflepuff has been overrun with giraffe-fever. I haven’t contacted the school nurse yet, but if this gets out of hand, you can bet that I will ;) The main idea here is to craft something that would benefit Dobby or Winky, so the options are limitless. I bet Winky would get a lot of comfort out of a little giraffe stuffed animal, though.

Finally, the other idea that seems to be generating a lot of excitement is the house unity color theme. TheAlexKlein got us rolling with a great post of possible color themes in the Badgertastic Group Projects thread. For September, we’re going with the theme proposed by Needlesnswiffers – Yarntastic Yellow! How many projects can you craft in yellow in the month of September?

In the coming weeks, I’ll bring you updates to any cete-based group projects that might be happening, along with quidditch updates and general project progress. Happy Crafting, Everyone!

Congrats! It's FALL!!!

Oh, how wonderful! It is FINALLY September 1st, and the classes are posted. I (Fluttervale, that is...) finally got to cast on something new. I was So Good in August with my Snap stuff.

Anyways, let's talk a little bit about Quidditch. Quidditch seems to be the most confusing of the classes, so let's break it down. Unless you are a Keeper or Beater (in which case you already know your role and what you've gotta do), you are a Chaser.

Chasers have to knit garments (not headband, not wristie, but gloves/mittens/scarf/sweater/etc.) which are in the colors of one, and only one, house. But the upside: You can make stuff for ANY house, it just has to be consistent: Red & Gold, Yellow & Black, Silver or Bronze & Blue, Silver & Green, OR it can be one of the acceptable House Unity items listed in the first post in the Quidditch thread. Colors are very important this term, so if you aren't sure if your yarn is the "right" color, you'll want to ask in the Quidditch thread.

Here's the great part: You can make as many of these items as you want. The more you make, the more points we get. So me? I have like 20 miles of white Caron Simply Soft. It's going to turn into a big pile of House Unity scarves. And that's in addition to your classwork. The sky is the limit with Quidditch, folks.

Now let's play a clean game, and have fun!

Movie Weekend #1 - White Squall!!

The "movie weekend" polls may be moved to a tab of their own in the future, but for now, I'm too excited to wait.

Here's how it will work:

On Mondays (or Sundays if I'm too impatient), I'll post a list of movies. Reply in the comments which one you'd prefer, and I'll tally them up and announce the "winner" on Thursday. (In case of a tie, I guess I'll give myself the right to cast the deciding vote, unless anyone objects to that!) I'll start a thread in the H:MoA (Hufflepuff: Made of Awesome) board where we can discuss the movie to our hearts' content.

Our first Movie Weekend will be the upcoming Labor Day holiday - September 3, 4, 5 and 6.

This week's theme is: Stay Out of the Water!

Your movie choices are:

Jaws ****
Jaws II****
White Squall****
The Perfect Storm

Movies indicated with **** are available using the Netflix Watch Instantly feature.

Don't forget to check your local library for available titles - some libraries will let you request titles from other branches as well!

UPDATE - Thursday September 2

The decision's been reached - we'll be watching "White Squall" for this first movie weekend.

Now I'm off the see if I can find anymore ideas for movie-related snacks!

The list of movies for next week should show up on Sunday, at 6:00 pm Princess Onica time.

Thanks to everyone who left a comment!

Are you ready for September 1st?

Hi! I'm Fluttervale, TA for DADA this term, and one of your house Bloggers. Are you ready for the Fall Term? Here's what I do before each term.

1. I get the main forum ready to read. I start by ignoring all the old threads (because I find lots of threads visually distracting). Today, I removed everything that wasn't stickied except the Hufflepuff Common Room. (I ignored a few stickies, too, that I'm not participating in.) Just click in the "status" box next to each thread, and the option to ignore comes up. Once term starts, I'll ignore all of the common rooms except my own, and I generally ignore old class threads as well from previous months.

2. I read all of the remaining threads until I was caught up. Because, you know, I get behind on these things.

3. I visited the Hufflepuff House Group and did the same. I checked in on the Blog post (since I'm obviously part of the Blog team!) and will shortly be active in that group, just as soon as this post is posted.

4. I checked my Queue, and made sure that all the patterns that I'd like to work on this term are in my queue, and that all my patterns are printed. I even set aside the yarn in a special bin for classes. My goal this term is to knit up scarves and dishcloths, and I have some mittens/handwear patterns as well that I'd like to do for classes.

July winner

Ladies, gentlemen and badgers, the prize winners from July have been announced.

Let's applaud anneadeline who received an award for her extraordinary thigh-high rainbow socks! From what I've heard these socks are not only warm and cute, but they also banish dementors and attract unicorns. How cool is that?

Congratulations, anneadeline!

Fall 2010 Mentoring!

MENTORING!!!

Fall 2010 Cetes

In fall 2010, we will have 10 Cetes of Badgers. Each Cete will have at least one 4th year or higher leader ("Mama Badger" or "Papa Badger"), one 2nd or 3rd year, and however many firsties that balances out to. If I have more than 10 volunteers from each group, some groups may have additional upperclassmen to help out the firsties.

Each Cete will be given a name (a species/sub-species of Badger) and we will carry those Cetes forward so you can be a permanent member of that Cete. We'll make it up as we go along with the various what-ifs. Members are always welcome to Cete-hop and visit the others, of course, or do one of those "visit to stay" sorts of things! Each Cete will have it's own thread in the Hufflepuff House Group which should make it easier for everyone to stay in touch.

So, if you'd like to be part of the mentoring program, please PM Fluttervale on Ravelry and let her know, as well as your year, so I can make sure to balance out everyone. I need Upperclassman sign-ups by the 28th, please. (If you sign up later, that's cool, I'll still stick you in a Cete, I just would really like to get the upperclassmen figured out before the Firsties.)

If you are a firstie and asked for Hufflepuff, you will almost certainly become a Huff--we are the least-requested house since the books make us out to be the least competitive. But we have a great supportive atmosphere, and at least once a term discuss just about every topic on the planet. Firsties, please do NOT PM me letting me know you want a mentor, you will get one, I promise! ScarlettB gives me a list so that I can match you up.

Remember: Of all the species representing the various houses, we are the highest up on the food chain! Let's have a great term and be welcoming to our Firsties!

July nominations

Hello, everyone. First of all, I'd like to apologize for falling off the face of the earth last month. July was a bad month for me and August isn't much better really, but at least I have some prize announcements to cheer me up. As always we've had some extraordinary projects to represent the noble house of Hufflepuff. You guys are amazing. So without further ado, the talented nominees!

In Quidditch, yarnvista drew everyone's attention with her mega awesome mega blanket for the mega challenge.
In the OWLs, Pacasha was nominated for her Unicorn inspired cabled sweater and Bijou3owl was nominated for her twinkling night sky Aeolian.
In Potions, SuperM received a nomination for her adorable songbird shawl.
In HoM, Evucis was nominated for her Little Dolls sweater, modeled by the cutest little doll ever. And since we're on the subject, StitchyWitchy was nominated for her sweet baby Lily Luna Potter doll.
In Ancient Runes, Evucis was nominated for her cute Flutter-by Daffodil socks.
In DADA, kreachr was nominated for her so beautiful South African Merino handspun, anneadeline was nominated for her extraordinarily long (!) rainbow socks and Evucis was nominated for her amazing dragonfly sweater. Pay special attention when voting for your favorite DADA projects, because the nominations are not in order. I believe Hilltopkatie was so busy drooling over kreachr's handspun that she forgot to nominate anyone else until the very end of the thread.
In charms, Evucis received a nomination for her frosted petals shawl. So romantic!
And, in Herbology, tiggersjp was nominated for her cabled Dixie pillow. Looks really cozy!

Good job, nominees! Congratulations!

Summer Break!

Wow! So another term is over. NEWT's were announced. (Anyone having fun with NEWT's?) Everyone's working on Exploding Snap! and their OWL proposals.

So what sorts of things do you plan on crafting for next term? Me (Fluttervale), I am planning on getting all of the charity cotton knit up into burp/washcloths for charity and some of the acrylic into scarves. I also have two OWL's planned: Charms & Herbology.

Don't forget that now is a good time to start thinking of your holiday crafting. I know I need to get on the ball with shopping and everything before it's the week before Christmas!

Not Sure What to Make?

Here are some ideas for little items that you can knit or crochet up quickly for an easy 15 class points!

Ancient Runes

A rune is cast for each student, and then you must match yarn, pattern, etc. to the rune (please see the class listing)!! So I cannot give that many quick and easy suggestions.

Charms

Make something light and airy--like lace!

• Vine Lace Baby Hat - A quick little lace baby hat.
  
• Lace Juliet Cap - Another quick little lace hat.
  

D.A.D.A.

Make something to chase away the Dementors of Depression and Werewolf of Anger. i.e. something to represent calm and serenity in your life.

• Coffee Mug Cozy - Tea seems to be a theme. A knit coffee cup cozy would fit a teacup as well! 50 yards of yarn.
  
• Coffee Cozy - And a similar project in crochet. About 50 yards of yarn.
  

Herbology

Cables!

• Christmas Capelet Cuff - A Crochet wristie. Just remember to make two!
  
• Cable Baby Beanie - A knit and cabled baby hat.
  

History of Magic

Make (a) Something for a baby or (b) Something to recognize "The Boy Who Lived."

• Modern Cabled Baby Bib - Only a few hours and about 60 yards of scrap yarn, knit.
  
• Oh-So-Soft Baby Washcloth - A small square using about 50 yards of cotton or acrylic, crochet.
  

Potions

Make something either fiddly or calming. For calming, please see D.A.D.A. since I think tea would be a good fit for either.

I would like to submit this as the Huff Post Of The Week

Thank you, JMN, for some laughs in DADA!

"I have dreams of wearing nothing but handknit socks."

I could not help but share.

~Fluttervale, your MIA non-playing-activeish-Huff-DADA-TA

Redecorating

Blogger has some new template design features. What do you think? Is it too orange? :D

What the H.E.C.K.?

Hufflepuff's own Minsue had an idea for an ongoing background story to help talk our projects into a class - the House Elf Crafting Klatch, or HECK for short. The Secretary of HECK, Kell13, has made a companion blog to track the HECK cause. Go check it out!

Recipe Catch-up

Life is crazy in the Common Room, and so here we are, back to present TWO recipes in this installment :-D

Summertime means burgers! The House Elves couldn’t be more excited! So, for your next burger, why not try something a little different, and a whole lotta tasty? Lilleduck was so kind to share this little gem with a House Elf named Dink and now we get to share it with all of you.

Do you have a tried and true burger recipe? A summertime favorite? Let the House Elf Liaison know!

Salmonburgers



600 grams (approx 1 1/4 lbs) skinless, boneless salmon fillet
2 ½ teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons potato flour (this is similar to instant mashed potato flakes) or you could possibly use corn flour
¼ teaspoon white pepper
2 teaspoons parsley
2 teaspoons chives
3 teaspoons onion
1 ¼ dl (approx 1/2 cup) double cream (in the US sub heavy cream)
Butter or oil to fry in.

Put everything except the salmon and cream in a food processor and run it in intervals until it is chopped fine. Add the salmon and cream and pulse it until you get the consistency that you want. I like it to be a little chunky but you could make it smooth if you like that better. Form 6-8 burgers and fry them.

Make your burgers with the burger bread you like and salads and dressings. I use green salad and onions and crème fraiche dressing. The kids just put ketchup on everything…

Crème fraiche dressing
3 dl (1 1/4 cups) crème fraiche
Juice squeezed from 1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons chives
2 tablespoons parsley
2 tablespoons sugar

Mix it all and serve.

And as a refreshing drink, try Lettuceleaf’s No Recipe Breakfast Smoothie!

This recipe is great because there is no measuring, or specific ingredients - you just use what you have on hand.

First you set up your blender.
Start with some juice
Add 2 fruits (banana is encouraged as one of your two fruits, and our intrepid Blog Assistant to the House Elf Liaison has discovered over the years, frozen banana adds a lovely frothiness to a smoothy)
Finish with a carton of yogurt, or some milk, or even ice cream
(Another assistant addendum is to throw in a scoop of protein powder. I loves me my smoothies ;-D)
Blend, pour, enjoy!

Thank you, ladies, for getting in touch with our House Elves and sharing your lovely recipes!

Enjoy! :-D

May winner

May prize winners were announced and our very own Evucis earned not one but TWO prizes this month!
Check out her winning projects: for Herbology she made lace socks with a flower motif and for charms she made color work socks with a nightingale motif.
Both projects seem so complicated and they look absolutely wonderful.

Good job, Evucis! Let's hear a round of applause for this talented first-year!

May nominations

May prize nominations are up, everyone! Sorry for the delay in announcing, but there is still plenty of time to go vote!

In detention we have MopsyRoebuck nominated for her Aeolian and suzanneoswald nominated for her Teal Partie Innabun. Two big and daring lace projects. Impressive!
In History of Magic we had three nominees: Evucis with her scarily realistic spider socks, m8land with her rather inventive balloon crocodile and Bijou3owl with her gorgeous lace seashell shawl.
In Potions there is lettuceleaf with her sexy watercolor camisole.
In Charms we have Evucis (again!) with her amazing Nightingale socks.
In Ancient Runes there is richtergasse and her interesting woven shawl (So cool!), and yarnvista with her apple socks made to represent the Norse Goddess of apples (Is she classy or what?).
In Herbology we have Evucis (now where have I heard that name before?) with her flowery socks, gnomenapper with her lovely handspun Dropped blossoms yarn and optijoy with her cute and delicate Haruni.

Congratulations to the nominees. Those are all amazing projects!

Challenged to a Duel!

Hufflepuffs, arise!

We have been challenged to a Wizard's Duel by the mighty house of Gryffindor! To sign up, post that you want to play in this thread.

Our Head of House, Leesy, is coordinating.

You can see the Gryffindors' thread here.

The Ancient Runes class thread is here.

The Omniglot language list is here.

And if you're stumped for a spell to cast on your dueling partner, try this list!

Let's show everybody in Gryffindor what Hufflepuffs are made of!

DADA May 2010 - Complete!

DADA Results

35% of Huffs completed or turned in partials for DADA homework this month.

Of that 35%, 55% also completed Potions homework.

Of the students who completed Potions homework, 57% also completed DADA homework.

(Stats just for fun!)

Movie Night

Our Next Movie Night

Please peruse to the right sidebar of the blog and choose your favorite actors & actresses from the Harry Potter movies. On this coming Monday, I'll close that poll and open a new one with several of the most favorited star's movies. We'll close that one on Wednesday and declare a winner. The winning flick is going to feature during our Movie Weekend on June11-June13.

Potions Results!

I have May Potions finished!

33.11% of Huffs completed Potions homework!

Congrats everyone! That's a minimum of 750 points for our house!

Enjoy next month!

Quidditch prize

Hufflepuffs are on a roll this month! We just had another awarded student, this time in the Quidditch field.
Please congratulate vspringer, one of our corageous mad hatters who produced 11 hats while watching a marathon of all six HP movies. She was clearly in the spirit of this competition!

Great job, darling! I hope your fingers are better already!

Sunday Special, May 16, 2010

It’s been a busy week. Homework is in full swing, OWLs are starting to see some progress, the first big Quidditch challenge is behind us. I heard the House Elves talking about carrots and Curiouskate and my ears perked up. They happily chattered on until I had finally secured her recipe which looks so yummy and delicious! I did a little Arithmancy (which is hopefully accurate) to help out our students in the USA, my notes are in the parenthesis. So, for the Sunday Special here is

Super-Quick Carrot cake

* 4 eggs
* 250g (about 1 1/4 cups) sugar
* 200ml (1 cup) oil
* 200ml (1 cup) carrot juice or milk
* 200g (3/4 cup) ground hazelnuts
* 125g (1/2 cup) finely grated carrots
* 300g (2 1/4 cups) flour
* 1 T baking powder

Beat eggs & sugar until creamy. Add moist ingredients and stir thoroughly. Add dry ingredients and mix quickly until everything is smooth and even.
Pour into a 30x40cm form and bake at 180°C (350°F) for about half an hour.

Add frosting and decor as you like to, but the cake is yummy on itself :)

Enjoy!

Random prize

Another Hufflewinner!
Teesachu earned a prize this month for her lovely rose doily from potions. That's a really beautiful inspiring project. Congratulations!

Sunday Special, May 9, 2010

The House Elves wanted to wish every ‘Puff mom a Happy Mother’s Day! They had a little meet and greet with StitchingMagic and they came up with this fabulous looking Apple Cake - yum! StitchingMagic’s special touches are noted in parenthesis, the original was from cooks.com.

The House Elves are thrilled to get feedback and recipes so PM YarnVista to get in touch with them!

So, for the Sunday Special the House Elves have chosen…

Silver P.’s Apple Cake

* 1 1/2 c. vegetable oil (1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, melted and cooled)
* 2 c. all-purpose flour
* 1/4 tsp. ground cloves (leave out all 3 spices and put in 2 tsp. gr.)
* 1 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon ( cardamom )
* 1/4 tsp. ground mace
* 1 1/4 c. walnuts, chopped (I prefer pecans or blanched almonds)
* 3 tbsp. Calvados (or the flavored brandy to match, or Poires Guillaume for pears, kirsch for cherries)
* 2 c. sugar
* 3 eggs
* 3/4 tsp. salt
* 1 tsp. baking soda
* 1 c. whole wheat flour, sifted
* 3 1/4 c. coarse chunks of peeled and cored apples (or pears, or peaches, or cherries)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. In a large bowl, beat vegetable oil (or butter) and sugar until thick and opaque. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Sift together all-purpose flour, cloves, cinnamon, mace, (or cardamom) baking soda, and salt, then stir in whole wheat flour. Add to oil mixture and blend. Stir in nuts, fruit, and brandy or liqueur. Stir to distribute pieces evenly. Pour into a greased 10 inch round cake pan (This is not big enough. I use a large spring form pan placed on a baking tray.) Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cake rest for 10 minutes, then unmold and pour glaze over warm cake or cut cake and pour glaze over slices.

Apple Cider Glaze for Silver P.’s Apple Cake

Melt 1/4 cup unsalted butter. Stir in 2 tablespoons brown sugar and 6 tablespoons granulated sugar. Add 3 tablespoons Calvados, or brandy, or liqueur, 1/4 cup sweet cider, or juice of your choice, 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice, and 2 tablespoons heavy cream. Stir, bring to a boil, reduce heat slightly, and cook 4 minutes. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Pour while still warm over warm cake.

Enjoy!

We got a winner!

Hey, everybody! Hilltopkatie annouced this month's prize winners.

Let's hear a big "Huzzah" for LittleMsContrary who won a prize for her gorgeous Purple serpents. They really look amazing! Good job!

April nominations from detention

'Puffs, prize nomination from detention are up. Go check it out! This month we have three hard working students representing the house:

Suzanneoswald, nominated for her foresty L'il Bunny Foo-Foo. So cute!
Lalaith, who was nominated for her wonderful Umbrous shawl. Love the leafy pattern!
And LittleMsContrary, nominated for her amazingly elaborate Sepertine Valentine socks.

Congratulations, girls!

New Stuff

Hi folks!

We've added a few things to the Blog today that I just wanted to make a post about so it comes up in the RSS feed.

We have Group Projects for Knit/Crochet/etc.-A-Longs. You don't have to be a Huff to list something!

We have a list of all Huff homework here for perusal.

And don't forget the Prizes! The quilt top is nearly finished and ready for photos.

Sunday Special, May 2, 2010

The House Elves heard that several ‘Puffs wanted some healthy recipes and they are glad to oblige us! Remember, if you have a recipe you want to share, PM Yarnvista and we’ll get the Elves right on it!

So, for the Sunday Special the House Elves have chosen…

Honey, Do You like Blueberries?
1 Honeydew melon, skinned, seeded and diced into 1” cubes
1 pint blueberries
Fresh mint
Fresh lime juice (optional)

This is the easiest fruit salad ever, but it is so good! In a medium to large bowl mix together the melon, berries and several whole mint leaves. Yum! If you want to make it a little more tangy you can also mix in some lime juice to taste.

Quick Pasta with Tomatoes and Beans
2 cans diced tomatoes with basil, garlic & oregano
1 can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
8 cups fresh spinach chopped (approx. 1 pre-washed bag)
4 cups hot, cooked penne
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Mix all the ingredients in a large pan over medium heat- cook until spinach is just wilted.

Until next time, Enjoy! :-D

House Elves Welcome back the Hufflepuffs!

The House Elves wanted to welcome all the Hufflepuffs to the shiny, new common room! This term the House Elves are sharing tasty recipes with us. There is still time to vote in the House Elf Poll if you haven’t yet.

Also, if you have a favorite recipe - of any kind! - please PM Yarnvista! The House Elves really want to be able to share beloved recipes - they don’t have to be fancy or even be totally homemade. The House Elves will credit you with the recipe and I bet they can convince the ratties to give you extra love and kisses, if you like :)

So, for the start of term the House Elves decided to share

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk
40 miniature chocolate covered peanut butter cups, unwrapped (tip: put the uwrapped cups in the fridge or freezer as you are prepping the rest of the cookies)

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda; set aside.
Cream together the butter, sugar, peanut butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and milk. Add the flour mixture; mix well.
Shape into 40 balls and place each into an ungreased mini muffin pan.
Bake at 375 degrees for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press a mini peanut butter cup into each ball. Cool and carefully remove from pan.

Enjoy!

New Term: D minus 12 Hours!

Wheew...Break's almost over! I can't believe a month has passed!

Welcome to all Badgers, old and new. We have so much going on this term here at the Blog! Check out the links just above for prizes and the mentor program. We'll be updating daily with finished projects and keeping the whole team motivated.

I did want to post a few pre-term reminders for everyone as far as etiquette in the House Cup is concerned:

• The professors prefer that you not earburn them (if necessary, send a PM) because they will lose their spot in their threads. This means that some people might accidentally get missed in grading (way not cool.)
• Please remember that all staff is totally voluntary and no one is getting paid. This means that sometimes people will be away from their computer for a day or two--including even the Headmistress--and give them some slack if stuff isn't done as quickly as you expect.
  
• Keep any conversation or photos in the common rooms and Great Hall relatively clean. (i.e. no naked Gerard Butler or any other given hottie.)

Some great tips for keeping everything organized:

• Ignore the threads that aren't relevant to you (like common rooms you don't visit and old classes). You can always search for them and un-ignore them later.
• Have a special tag for favorites that are for the house cup and OWL's. You can use it in your queue and stash, as well.
  

Important OWL Changes

Important...but not life-altering...

The powers that be have made a few minor changes to the OWL's this term. The OWL thread is here. Read the whole thread before term starts to get a good foundation for your OWL!

Notable changes include a few additions to your OWL options, but the most important change is swatching. What's a swatch? It's a small piece of cloth knit or crochet in the pattern stitch, which you will then wash & treat as you would the finished garment. You will then see if the end result is what you're hoping the final project to look like. If not, swatch again with different needles and/or yarn.

So, say you're making a sweater or socks. You are permitted to knit only 2-3 inches (that's 5-7cm for you metric folks) of a sleeve or sock top as your swatch.

In addition, if you are going to propose an OWL, you must submit as many swatches as you will have different yarn/needle combos, up to 5 swatches. So if you're making a small herd of baby hats in various weights and needle sizes, you need to swatch 5 times. If you're making four pair of socks out of the same yarn, on the same needles, in the same pattern, you only need to make one swatch.

Please do not forget the importance of swatching! The OWL examiners want you to not only finish the project, but have the end result that you are hoping to achieve, and a swatch puts you a heck of a lot closer to that goal.