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!