Craftpocalypse 2012

The awarding of points is going strong in our cozy, crazy, crafting during the count down to the end of the year, neigh world, ;) in our Craftpocalypse 2012 thread here in the Den.

Marushka has been tallying the points. Bonus points are available from one and all, so Marushka really has her hands full with this one, folks. The lead changes every time a new project enters the fray because for once the points don't matter and neither do the rules. Points range from a modest 2 for a pair of sleeves on a sweater to 88,888,888,888,888,888,888,881 for serenading Sir Sorting Hat!

There's six categories projects can fit in. Bits, Wips, Ends, Nick, Lonely, and Anything. Wips is any project you want to share just b/c you want to share it. Bits are projects like one hexipuffs, a small blanket square, something too small for the House Cup. Ends are projects that are the end of a large wip you are happy to finally be done with. Lonely is the single glove or sock you finished. Nick is anything that comes together just in the nick of time. And, the anything category is for all the non Ravelry crafts, lots of food has been turned in here, but also quilts and sewing.

Lots of fun submissions and lots of fun banter in the thread. A fun place to stop by if you need some lighthearted cheering up. :-)

Final Class Coverage, November 2012

Well, it's time to wrap up Class Coverage for the Fall Term!  Thanks to all of you who have read my posts, and thanks especially to maineknitter1975 for giving me a chance at blogging!  It's been fun! :)

I am pleased to report the following statistics regarding our awesome Badger homework turn-ins: 

Ancient Runes - 29 homework turn-ins (in my last post, there were only 8 - way to go, Hufflepuff)! 
Charms - 74 homework turn-ins (holy cheese...in my last post, there were only 16!!!)! 
DADA - 34 homework turn-ins (good grief...last post = 12!!!)! 
Flying - 30 homework turn-ins (picks self off of floor...last post there were only 7!!!)! 
Herbology - 19 homework turn-ins (up from 8, people - awesome!!)! 
History of Magic - 60 homework turn-ins (seriously??  From 19!!!!)! 
Muggle Studies -  42 homework turn-ins (up from 15!!!)! 
Potions - 39 homework turn-ins (up from 12!!!)!

Well, now that I have used up my allotment of exclamation points...Let's give a rousing cheer for the 327 homework submissions that Hufflepuff students submitted in November!

There have been a tremendous number of beautiful projects, so I thought I'd leave you with one more - frimptes and her beautiful socks!

See you in the funny papers, everyone!

Class Coverage, 11/23/12

My sincere apologies for not staying current in November...why on earth is it already November 23rd???  Sigh...well, here is a wrap-up for November thus far - Badgers, you are making us all proud!! :)

Ancient Runes - 8 homework turn-ins
Charms - 16 homework turn-ins
DADA -  12 homework turn-ins
Flying - 7 homework turn-ins
Herbology - 8 homework turn-ins
History of Magic - 19 homework turn-ins
Muggle Studies - 15 homework turn-ins
Potions - 12 homework turn-ins

That is a total of 97 homework turn-ins so far this month...and we still have a week left to go in November!  Not counting yardage bonuses, that's 1455 points!!!  Way to go, Badgers!

And now to show off a few of the beautiful projects that the Hufflepuffs have turned in for homework:

catger

k8erpillar

kandbpurple

MrsWoolflower

PatriciaO

Thank you, Badgers, for all of your hard work with your homework!!!  You definitely make all of us proud!

Advanced Studies Update - OWLs

GothKnitty finished her History of Magic OWL. She knit a cardigan to join the Malfoys and the Weasleys and a cowl to represent Dumbledore. I was sceptical of the Malfoy/Weasley combo, but it actually is a great representation of both families. Yay for interhouse unity!

Knittingnearside finished four pairs of mittens and successfully completed her arithmancy OWL!

midwestalice completed an amazing star chart for her Astronomy OWL. Check it out!

Advanced Studies Update - OWLs

Sorry about my absence. I have been very sick and am just catching up now. I missed the 50% mark for my OWL, but I think I can still finish mine by the end of the month. There are a few Puffs that are NOT suffering from falling behind though and I would like to share their COMPLETED OWLS.

First up is Timeless1. She completed her Herbology OWL by spinning some bamboo fiber into cabled yarn.

cmjalisa completed her Charms OWL by knitting a Vernal Equinox Shawl. Her skills in "alohomora" are very evident!

LumosKP also completed her Charms OWL by knitting a large lace blanket, affectionately dubbed Jim and Joanne. Look how pretty!

banklady6 crocheted a lovely blanket for her Potions OWL. Her blankets are always magnificent and this Chain Reaction Afghan is no exception.

Aren't these projects beautiful?!?! Great job, ladies!

Class Coverage Wrap-Up for October!

Well, October is gone...precisely what happened to it remains a mystery to me!  Part of it was sucked up by my trip to Florida to celebrate DH's 50th birthday...which brings me to another mystery - when did I get old enough to have a 50-year-old husband?!  Ah, well...such is life!  And now, on to our Class Coverage!

As I missed out on reporting weekly for the last couple of weeks in October, I will be doing a summary this time around, reporting how many awesome Hufflepuffs submitted homework for each class!

Ancient Runes - 31 homework turn-ins...and highlighting these beautiful mittens by NarcissaM!

Charms - 59 homework turn-ins...and highlighting this adorable Wolf in Granny's Clothing by fantasium!

DADA - 53 homework turn-ins...and highlighting this gorgeous Glumbumble dyeing by yarnvista!

Flying - 59 homework turn-ins...and highlighting this lovely woven magic carpet by kazpatch!

Herbology - 73 homework turn-ins...and highlighting this badgertastic badger hat by Krypton!

History of Magic - 37 homework turn-ins...and highlighting this awesome sweater by smbennett!

Muggle Studies - 35 homework turn-ins...and highlighting this darling Husky by TBoutiqueCritters!

Potions - 55 homework turn-ins...and highlighting these amazing colorwork mitts by simplyme5252!

Assuming my calculator is working correctly, that makes a total of 402 homework submissions!  Way to go, you awesome bunch of Hufflepuffs!!!!! :)

Thanks for reading, everyone!  See you in a week or so as I get started with November!

October Class Coverage - 10/14/12

Hello, hello, my Badger Buddies!

There have been so many more homework submissions since my last post!  Hufflepuff truly is "in it to WIN IT!"


Ancient Runes saw 4 additional submissions from Hufflepuffs - GothKnitty, SharonLuvs2Knit2, anthrogirl17, and maineknitter1975!  For the picture highlight, I chose GothKnitty and her gorgeous hooded sweater:

Charms saw 15 additional submissions -EmilyMarianne, texaninalaska, HOLLYGOOD, JaiStorm, burningpopsicles, kimanneberly, slothmuffin, Shawn, krazykt82000, iws, yarnvista, Catger, GothKnitty, Dottydori, and scubaknit!  That's a lot of awesome Charms practice!  This lovely shawl submitted by iws was especially impressive:

DADA saw 4 additional submissions - maineknitter1975, lmolin, yarnvista, and tigerbeat!  Check out this adorable baby raglan sweater by lmolin:

Flying had 11 more homework submissions - lmolin, Texaninalaska, Timeless1, maineknitter1975, Dottydori, banklady6, fluttervale, burningpopsicles, costumer47, KnitBreatheKnit, and lucamama!  Well done to banklady6 with her beautiful baby afghan:

Herbology had 13 more Hufflepuffs turn in homework - kazpatch, OliviaB, Shawn, maineknitter1975, midwestAliceAnn, burningpopsicles, kimanneberly, LumosKP, vberry, costumer47, kokopelli99, Jenstc2003, and knitbunnie!  Way to go, vberry, on your lovely Rowan tree dyeing:

History of Magic saw 7 more Badgertastic homework turn-ins this week -anthrogirl17, maineknitter1975, krazykt82000, TheWindWraith, brighteyesjessy, catger, and GothKnitty!  TheWindWraith made these amazing socks:

Muggle Studies saw 5 more homework submissions - anthrogirl17, maineknitter1975, JillinSingapore, hydra-star, and Dottydori!  A special shout-out to hydra-star for her beautiful tribute to her dear doggy, Strider:

And finally, Potions class - which went from 1 submission to 11, with homework turn-ins from lmolin, littlefit, maineknitter1975, PatriciaO, costumer47, solfjader, alitacasey, hawnsmith, krazykt82000, and AnissaH!  And in honor of the season, I had to show you the adorable candy corn toy by alitacasey:

I am so proud to be part of such a talented house!  Way to go, Badgers - keep that homework coming in!!! :)

Advanced Studies Update

NEWT
softnshiny is attempting a NEWT. No changes in NEWT coverage. Just wishin' softnshiny luck!

OWLs
We have 77 Hufflepuffs attempting OWLs this term! That is the final count and no more submissions are being accepted. The 15th is the day when any proposal changes have to be submitted. The 31st is the last day to score some points by making it to your halfway point. I have a list of OWL students:

Ancient Runes
Shawn
Melathe
burningpopsicles
ScarletFever

Arithmancy
TameraLeah27
knittingnearsided
msoyster

Astronomy
midwestAliceAnn
Travelista
TheWindWraith

Charms
yarnvista
cmajalisa
WoolandHelen
starrynightsky
Bryshamom
grafovna
LumosKP
Cynaira
CorianderLeaves
cyberjill
Pollywoggers

Care of Magical Creatures
rcmarcks
stitchbot
krazykt82000
torsparkles

Defense Against the Dark Arts
maineknitter1975
bijou3owl
silverbison
smbennett
SuperM
Marushka
texaninalaska
mamalion
Simplyme5252

Detention
Kimanneberly
MiaParanoia
BlueSocksUK
xsangel100
Rubypearl

Divination
JMN
Fluttervale
kerryespins

Herbology
lleavid
carrie-daway
brighteyesjessy
Timeless1

History of Magic
GothKnitty
Jenstc2003
theresmiling
Luckynumbers
HOLLYGOOD
nwheatley
lmolin
mma

Muggle Studies
Scrapdash
dottydori
ChelleBelle
suseknits
stashalert
SheepTricks
RavenLuna
anthrogirl17
KristiRose
Sandy62
cowgirlknitz
Skrewkat
iws

Potions
kazpatch
Solfjader
Banklady6
knitbunnie
Klio82
briezee

Transfiguration
KnitForBrains
mediaperuana
AnissaH
WomblingStar

OotP
BROOMs have been submitted and missions started on September 30th. The following is top secret and I am charming this blog post so that only those who SHOULD see this information can. All others will see a dancing hedgehog.

Central Command
1. Coordinate Operations at HQ
cmajalisa
JaiStorm
LumosKP
zillalatte
pinkpuffy
cowgirlknitz
DeannaJ
2. Special Equipment/ Mad Eye's Staff
stashalert
purlingkitten
kazpatch
JMN
cariboustar

Recruitment
1. Depths of Darkness
maineknitter1975
suseknits
silverbison
jenn2291
lleavid
ChellBelle
hudfamsix
Skrewkat
grafovna
jaygee
Hollygood
torsparkles
Melanthe
Texaninalaska
Luckynumbers
Shawn
littlefit
Timeless1
bellymonster
fantasium
rubypearl
cyberjill
NarcissaM
EmilyMarianne
2. Friendsssss
KristiRose
namihn
kaylynwhite
tigerbeat
frimptes
iws

Security Operations
1. Reinforce the Castle
kimanneberly
chillywillyrawks
PollyWoggers
nwheatley
mamalion
knittingnearsided
smbennett
Fluttervale
hydra-star
2. The Acromantula Advantage
PatriciaO
KnitForBrains
Dottydori
SuperM

Undercover Operations
1. Ministry of Magic Spy
theresmiling
Bijou3owl
ScarletFever
MiaParanoia
Myrtle2911
TheWindWraith
2. Undercover Abroad
costumer47
starrynightsky
kayhey
yarnvista
softnshiny
GothKnitty
knittingsheeple
rcmarcks
slothmuffin
sbfh

October Class Coverage, 10/6/12

Happy Weekend, Badgers!

I hope you're all enjoying October...personally, I'm still trying to figure out what happened to September!  I know I missed reporting on some of your awesome homework turn-ins toward the end of the month, but I'm going to try to do better in October!

So far for October, we have some really great homework submissions!!

Ancient Runes - smbennett and starrynightsky
Charms - starrynightsky
DADA - silverbison, knittingnearsided, starrynightsky, and Jenstc2003
Flying - LumosKP and starrynightsky
Herbology - krazykt82000, Marushka, and starrynightsky
History of Magic - Dottydori and starrynightsky
Muggle Studies - kirsts
Potions - suseknits

I've noticed that there is some amazing dyeing work going on!  starrynightsky seems to be leading the pack with 6 homework submissions so far this month (Merlin's beard...by the 6th of the month??  Way to go!), all beautiful dyeing, and there are other Badgers who are also cooking up some gorgeous yarns!

One of my favorites of starrynightsky's yarns was her magic carpet yarn for Flying class, inspired by the magic carpet in Aladdin - one of the best characters in that movie!! :)

And our own Marushka took one for the team with her dyeing for Herbology - look at those hands - that is true dedication!!!

Okay, Badgers...that's it for this week!  Way to go on the 16 homework submissions so far - keep up the GREAT WORK!

LumosKP :)

 

Advanced Studies Update

1 brave badger is attempting a NEWT by crocheting a couple crazy, colorful blankets. 50% mark is tomorrow. Good luck, softnshiny! 71 happy Hufflepuff students are doing missions for the Order of the Phoenix this term. All BROOMs are in and are accepted. Mission work begins tomorrow. 72 perky 'puffs are attempting OWLs this term. Submissions are still being accepted until tomorrow. If you haven't turned yours in yet, be sure to do it ASAP! If you have already started your OWL, remember that proposal changes are due by October 15th and 50% is due by October 30th. This is a total of 144 Advanced Studies projects! Wow!

What's going on?

Postcard Swap:
We have 55 people participating in the card swap. Everyone should have received their list to send to earlier this week and some have already started finding cards in their mailboxes.

Here's where everyone in the swap comes from:

11 countries, 4 continents

and within the US, from 23 states

I hope everyone will post updates in the Postcard thread as they receive theirs in the mail. We even have two badges for those participating.

Elsewhere in The Den, the Shawl-A-Long progresses nicely, recent discussions in the Theater focused on The Lake House (and as always, Dr. Who), and de-cluttering continues worldwide over at the Hufflecleaners.

I'm hearing lots of good news in the Fitness thread as many of us make changes that put us moving in the direction of our goals. Some are even involving family members and pets in the process.

Drop by the Library any time to share what you're reading: JKR's new book The Casual Vacancy was just released -- are you going to read it? I'd love to hear what you think.

The Give & Take thread continues to match up things with new homes, including this past week a bunch of yarn re-homed to people working on charity items.

We're still playing the "5-Letter Game" in the Games thread. I'm spending way more time there than I probably ought to, but it's a fun way to procrastinate. Come play along!

Firstie Friday: Wake Me When September Ends

Oh, wait.  September's pretty much ended for 2012!  Can it be, the first month of this term is already coming to a close?

And I am sad to say, at the end of my first month in Hufflepuff (my first time doing HPKCHC), I'm still as overwhelmed today as I was the day I was first earburned to join in Quidditch.

So good Friday morning to everyone from the sunny desert southwest in the U.S. of A.  My name is Duckfiend, and I'll be sharing Firstie Friday hosting privilege here with burningpopsicles.  I'm a knitter, crocheter, beader, writer, and photographer (in other words, I'm a long-winded jackie-of-all-trades, master of none).  And of course, the tie that binds--I'm a Harry Potter fan. :)

I have the happy task of reflecting briefly on the first month of my participation in the House Cup.  Personally, I've submitted projects for the Quidditch warm-up, and challenge 1 (the last day to Letter in a Sport--aka Challenge 1--was Sept. 25).  I've also turned in a project for Defense Against the Dark Arts, barely completing my minimum requirement for classes this month--something I hope to improve upon for October and November.  I believe there are fellow Housemates who have completed something for each class, and participated in both Quidditch warm-up, and challenge.  To those people, from a Firstie:  my mind is blown.  How on earth do you do it?!  While I still try to get up-to-speed on participating, I'm admiring the handiwork of other talented Hufflepuffs!

Here are some fantastic class projects from around our House over the last couple days:

ScarletFever's Dusty Corners

*

woodlandhelen's Cloud

*

PatriciaO's double viking knitting

*

jen2291's The Wallpaper Had it Coming

I am really looking forward to the wonderful month of October (I say wonderful because it's my birthmonth and, of course, there's Halloween)--  Quidditch Challenge & Game 2!  Challenge 2 runs September 30-October 6, and Game 2 follows October 10-26.  I hope to see you all there!  Thanks for reading, and I'll see you back here Friday after next. :)

*~* Duckfiend ~*~

Class Coverage, 9/23/12

Good Morning, Badgers!  It's time for another installment of Class Coverage...today I will highlight what's been happening in Ancient Runes, History of Magic, and Muggle Studies!  Everyone's work is so lovely, and I am proud of our house's homework output!

Ancient Runes - 18 submissions so far! 

baxgirl – Milano loop cowl – post 228
carakipp – cute hat – post 226
ScarletFever – Futhark blanket square – post 221
kirsts – spinning – post 220
kimanneberly – Christmas stocking – post 219
Marushka – German heritage cloth – post 194
slothmuffin – snowy owl – post 192
Nailbunny – Hagalaz ruin cloth – post 184
knittingsheeple – rainbow mug cozy – post 183
jen2291 – Celtic shawl – post 174

LumosKP– sweater – post 169
sandy62 – cool ring – post 161
knitbunnie – aviatrix hat and cardigan – post 77
maineknitter1975 – bold smocking sampler – post 76
fluttervale – cloisters cap – post 44
Catger – dice cup – post 43
torsparkles – Joy hat – post 42
SheepTricks – runic square – post 36

Check out knitbunnie's awesome hat and sweater set:

 

History of Magic - 15 submissions so far (13 new as of this posting)!

LumosKP - critter nuggets - post 166

LaKimmer - Fortuna hat - post 163

brighteyesjessy - leafy earrings - post 160

ScarletFever - Asha blanket square - post 157

jen2291 - autumn shawl - post 152

MsBlackStitch - spinning - post 148

midwestAliceAnn - flower hair clips - post 139

knittingsheeple - leafy knot bag - post 126

sandybeach - snowball - post 115

knittingnearsided - Amata chess piece - post 86

Dottydori - tote bag - post 79

GothKnitty - autumn leaf - post 77

Katniss - dyeing - post 64

It has been so fun to see knittingnearsided's chess pieces show up in classes this month - be sure to check her project page for the full set:

Muggle Studies - 17 submissions so far (23 new as of this posting)!

kirsts - spinning - post 201

namihn - cabled toddler sweater - post 199

woodlandhelen - felted entrelac bag - post 198

Nailbunny - book cover - post 194

midwestAliceAnn - dust grabber - post 182

suseknits - blanket squares - post 181

sandybeach - hi mitts - post 180

JillyMac - Skeeter square - post 159

knittingnearsided - chess piece - post 145

jen2291 - gillyweed bag - post 143

starrynightsky - market bag - post 132

LumosKP - Harry's glasses blanket square - post 100

krazykt82000 - felted snack bag - post 96

ScarletFever - blanket square - post 94

lmolin - market bag - post 90

Woodlandhelen's entrelac bag is darling - lovely work!

 

We have one week left in September, Hufflepuff - Keep up the awesome work!