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!