Mini March Madness

We're just getting ready for March in HECK...

Ready for a tasty treat? A food fight in class? We've got you covered. If you aren't ready to get messy, you can make a mini hat to encourage the Hufflepuff quidditch team on to a 'hat trick'.

As always, house pride and wizarding patterns are listed there as well. You never know when you might need a new badger bookmark.

As soon as March class prompts are up, we'll name our group class challenge, so come on, join us in HECK!

Sunday Staff

Welcome to Sunday Staff, the blog post where we introduce our wonderful Huffle-staff members! Today, we're talking to Marushka, one of the cete-mamas for the Honey Badgers.

What shall we call you?

Most people call me Mary in the “real” world.

What you do in muggle world?

I’m the Director of Transportation and Logistics for my daughters. Stay-at-home mother is a contradiction in terms as far as I can tell.

What’s your craft?

Knitting is my first true love, but spinning is a close second. I learned to crochet (somewhat) last year and began to quilt as well. I am experiencing stash guilt in all of them.

What project are you most proud of?

My Ethereal Triangular Shawl partly because it came out well and mostly because I completed it during a very difficult, injury-filled summer.

Tell us something interesting about yourself.
I am writing a novel. So far no one in it knits or spins, but it’s probably just a matter of time.
We’re all going out to eat, but it’s up to you to decide where. So, where are we going?
The best Italian restaurant in town -- which is often not the fanciest or most expensive one.
What one thing would you like to see happen this term?
I would like everyone to have a great time and make new friends (while also winning the Quidditch cup for the third time).

Activities Summary! Week 8

I hope you all had fun at (and got lots of badges from) last weekend's Hogsmeade trip!  In case you got distracted, here's what you might have missed this week around the den:

Spinners: Kazpatch returned from her week off and we had a discussion of spinning related accessories.  

Library: What to read next?  The Phryne Fisher has been made into a TV series!

Swedish Chef: More Veg (and "Veg-Inspired") discussion.

Cleaners: The horrors of cleaning the kitchen, just to have it become a mess again. And a new dress!


Sock-along: Warm and comfy socks, Colorful socks, and Pattern Help.

Pets: Huffle-pets was quiet this week.  Come in and make next week’s Huffle-pets summary more exciting!

Stump the HECKMistriss...

... is still going strong in HECK.

If you are having trouble fitting your project into class prompts, stop by for some ideas.  They don't have to be perfect, just in the ballpark.

We've also had a great turnout for the Share the Love challenge in Care of Magical Creatures.

Check out some of these great projects that garnered both HECKRaiser and Share the Love badges this month:

Lea67000 has a new pet puffskein!

RavenLuna's new corn snake has a new hidey-hut...

Stitchbot's Angus is warm and toasty...

and so is kristelknab's dog...

briezee's cat has a fun new toy...

Nice work everyone!

January Prize winners

I hope you all had fun at the Hogsmeade weekend (and it lasts until tonite so you still have some time!).

This week, the prize winners from January were announced on the main cup forum and we had some Hufflepuff winners!

Congratulations to
Garagebutterfly and her Cadence Socks

nummanumma and her DADA shawl

NarcissaM and her New Ears Hat

JamieK and her Detention Owl sweater

You all Rock!

Sunday Staff

Welcome to Sunday Staff, the blog post where we introduce our wonderful Huffle-staff members! Today, we're talking to cariboustar, who manages the Pantry and the American Badgers cete!

What shall we call you? cariboustar or Laura.

What you do in muggle world? My job title is Orthopedic Coordinator. I work for a travelling doctor. I make appointments, check patients in at the reception desk, update patient information, do some billing, medical records clerk….. kind of a jill-of-all-trades.

What’s your craft? I knit and LOVE to spin. I am trying to learn crochet too, but so far it’s just been a few squares.

What project are you most proud of? I have to say that I really really like how the beaded yarn turned out that I made for my Spring2011 OWL. The pictures on my stash page don’t do it any justice at all. I also am pretty proud of my Sorting Hat.

Tell us something interesting about yourself. I love to spin in Public. I take my Minstrel to the Farmer’s Market in the summer and spin. I get a LOT of very interested people stop and watch me. To my surprise (at first), most of them were men - older generations of Ranchers/Farmers. They would tell me stories about shearing day, and memories of their moms/aunts/cousins spinning… I want to open a Yarn Shop. I am also a huge fan of Pro Baseball and Pro (American) Football.
We’re all going out to eat, but it’s up to you to decide where. So, where are we going? McCormick & Schmicks Seafood Restaurant down on 1st Ave in Seattle WA.
What one thing would you like to see happen this term? I would love to see Hufflepuff win the Cup, but I would ALSO like us to win Quidditch for a THIRD straight time!

The Halfway Point

We have quite a few Puffs that are already at the 50 percent mark for their OWLS! Yay! Congratulations!!!

Featured in photo:
Top Row, from left to right: acwmaiden, lleavid, banklady6, PrivateJane, Bryshamom, TheWindWraith
Second Row: Bryshamom, TheWindWraith, Katniss, kaypendragon, kirsts, knitsNhikes
Third Row: Bryshamom, craftyshanna, simplyme5252, craftyshanna, susi, fluttervale
Fourth Row: susi, knitsNhikes, susi, timeless1, lanismom, lea67000
Fifth Row: WomblingStar

Activities Summary: Week 7

This weekend, Hogwarts is hosting a Hogsmeade Weekend!   I hope you all are getting out and involved in all the exciting badge-collecting madness!

Here’s what else has been happening around the Den:

Spinners: Kazpatch is on vacation but there is still shiny new fiber to show off!

Library: Working at a library holds hidden dangers!  Jasper Fforde as a good read.  Book club reads.

Swedish Chef: Vegetarian cooking and boxed lunches were the major themes this week.  There’s a LOT of Vegetarian discussion.

Cleaners: A to-do List!

Sock-along: Shiny Sock yarn!

Pets: Huffle-pets was quiet this week.  Come in and make next week’s Huffle-pets summary more exciting!

Hogsmeade Weekend!

I hope you all are having fun at the Hogsmeade Weekend!

Hufflepuff is hosting:

Dervish & Banges: where you fix things

and 

Owl Post: where there are Lots of owls, some missing.

Also, be sure to check in at the Central Station where you can find all of the other exciting things happening this weekend!

Happy Valentine's day!

There's lots of Huffle-Love flying around today.  In addition to Valentines Cards (did you know you can send them from Ravelers' profile pages?), Charms class has seen a lot of Hearts suddenly becoming visible!

Shawn found this one on a dishcloth!

AmarilloKnitter located one on a Kindle Cozy!

Lea67000 found one in pretty colors!

Sunday Staff

Welcome to Sunday Staff, the blog post where we introduce our wonderful Huffle-staff members! Today, we're talking to Lleavid, the Hufflepuff Swedish Chef.

What shall we call you?  Lleavid or Lisa is fine
What you do in muggle world?  I'm a stay at home mom of 2 teenage boys, so a lot of my daytime is open to do crafting.  I'm just about to open an Etsy store to sell some of my crafts.
What’s your craft? Knitting is my favorite and I always have a project (or three) going, but I also love to sew, make jewelry, crochet, and I'm just starting to do polymer clay.
What project are you most proud of?  I think my Harbor Light Road Trip Tote, although I didn't get great pics, it turned out really pretty in real life and it was only my 2nd intarsia project.

Tell us something interesting about yourself.  I got my pilot's license when I was 18, although I haven't piloted a plane in years, I used to fly mainly Cessnas.
We’re all going out to eat, but it’s up to you to decide where. So, where are we going?  Probably a chain restaurant to make everyone happy, or else a Japanese restaurant with a hibachi grill.  Those are fun to eat at, and even though I'm allergic to seafood, they have awesome steak and chicken.
What one thing would you like to see happen this term?  Hmm.  I would love to see everyone do some (relatively) stress free projects this term.  This is supposed to be **fun**!!

Activities Summary: Week 6:

Spinners: Leaping into February with spinning what you love!   What do you do when your spindle is full?   New Toy!   Half Owl!  Kaypendragon is going to be the substitute Kazpatch next week.

Library:  Lots of new book recomendations, including “Socks from the toe up”, “The Inquisitor’s Apprentice” and “Lord of the Rings”.

Swedish Chef: Crockpot recipes! Fun Meatloaf!  Kids cooking!

Cleaners: Meal Planning and a Less than Successful cleaning week.

Sock-along: Croc socks, Miss Marple socks,  January socks and Sock questions.

Pets: Snake in a new knitted house!  Puppy!  and a Reading Therapy dog!

Hat week in Herbology

As I was poking around the Hufflepuff homework turn in this week, I discovered that a bunch of our intrepid crafters had made hats for Herbology.  (Which alliterates very nicely.)
Look at these stunning examples:

kristelknab posted this interesting swirly hat with pockets in the brim!  Quite confusing!

DarlingDhampir is confusing everyone by crafting the same hat to protect everyone in her family.

sandybeach has kindly crafted a lovely beret for her mum so she doesn't get confounded while shopping.  Good plan!

Share the love!

This month in HECK we're sharin' the love!

In particular, we're sharin' the love for pets by crafting something for Care of Magical Creatures.


If you have a pet, use option 2 = make something for your pet.   Pattern ideas here.
If you don't have a pet, use option 1 = make something round - or make a round pet, like this Huffle 'Puffskein!  Puff patterns here.

Once you do, be sure to visit HECK or the Badge(r)'s Den to pick up your badges!  Huzzah!

Sunday Staff

Welcome to Sunday Staff - the blog post where we introduce you to one of the helpful Hufflepuff House staff members!

Today, we're going to meet kokopelli99, the amazing Badge Badger!

What shall we call you?
  You may call me.......Tim. (Heh.) Barring that, Kristin or Kopi is fine. Earburns are also good. Earburns = Love.
What you do in muggle world?
At the moment, I'm a homemaker, which gives me plenty of time for knitting.
What’s your craft?
Primarily knitting, but I also do a bit of spinning and crocheting, and I sew and do cross-stitch and embroidery. If it's crafty, I probably have attempted it at one time or another.
What project are you most proud of?
It's cheesy, but I'm most proud of my very first (Doctor Who) scarf. I had never ever knitted before, and yet I was able to finish 10 feet of garter stitch. And now I've managed to finish a whole heck of a lot more projects!
Tell us something interesting about yourself.
Aw, I have to *choose*? Well, at one point, I was planning on becoming an American Sign Language interpreter, but I had to stop, because signing at both home (my husband is Deaf) and at school was giving me carpal tunnel syndrome. It made me sad, but the year and a half of classes helped me better communicate with the Deaf community in my area, so it wasn't all bad. :)
We’re all going out to eat, but it’s up to you to decide where. So, where are we going?
Doc Watson's, a local bar/restaurant. They've got an awesome menu, Guinness on tap, and at least two of the servers are knitters, so they're really open to late-night knitters coming in and camping out in their booths.
What one thing would you like to see happen this term?
Quidditch Three-peat! And I plan to do my best to assist in that goal. Huzzah Hufflepuff!

Week 5: February!

It’s the first week of a new month, and that means new classes! (Confused? Check the Pantry for a quick summary.)  It also means new HECK challenges, which you can see here.

Spinners: Ashland Bay Colonial Top in Goldenrod Beginning spinning! 

Library: SuperM is orgainzing Elementary Reading Olympics. A visitor!  Foyle’s War on DVD. New YA books 

Swedish Chef: Breakfast in a crock pot, Low fat desserts. 

Cleaners: Getting ready for a new baby! Still tidying from the holidays 

Sock-along: Half Socks. Sock blockers 

Pets: Pollywogger’s replies post wall, Hufflepets is featured in HECK!

First of February Projects

It's a new month and that means new classes at the House Cup!
Amazingly, we've already had 'Puffs turn in homework!

Our first responders were
Lea67000 in Herbology

kokopelli99 in Charms

and Stitchbot in Muggle Studies

 

Congratulations for being on the ball!