Guest Posts: For the Love of Hufflepuff

From this break month's PuffleCards II comes three guest posts about the loves of Hufflepuff.

Honey Badger Cete
by thatgirl1225

This was my first term as a full student of the House Cup. I knew very early on in my NQFY term that I wanted to be sorted into Hufflepuff. I could feel a sense of family, here in Hufflepuff. As a Firstie, I was not let down at all! Between the camaraderie in the Uncommon room to the warmest welcome and embracing I received in my cete (go Honey Badgers!), I felt like I had snuggled into my perfect corner of the Den. I knew I didn’t ever want to leave! I have truly enjoyed the competitive push I got from my fellow Puffs; I wanted to contribute as much as I could to our points, but I also never felt like I was being pushed to give more than I could (for several weeks, I was out with an elbow injury).
My hats are off to all of our staff members in Hufflepuff! Between the activities, spreadsheets, cheerleading and help, our Puff staffers have done a fantastic job making this term go by so smoothly (and quickly!!). I know that I used a ton of the tidbits throughout the Den, as well as getting direct help from my cetemamas (craftyshanna and RavenLuna) and cetemates. One day, I hope to be in a position in my life where I can be a staffer, give back a little of what I’ve gotten during just my first term!
The people in Hufflepuff have been the warmest, friendliest, and most encouraging folks that I’ve met online in a very long time! I used to be part of an online community, where I felt like I had found a family, but it unfortunately didn’t last. Now, in Hufflepuff, I’m feeling like I’ve found that again and it feels so good! I’ve made quite a few friends, particularly in my cete, although when looking back I realize that it wouldn’t have been hard because Hufflepuff is filled with such awesome people!
I love Hufflepuff for all these reasons, plus it would just be plain hard not to! The muffins don’t hurt, either!

From WAgirl98

I am a Knitting Ninja. At least according to the pin I have on my knitting bag. I stealthily transform ordinary yarn into extraordinary things.
However, this year, in the midst of making numerous items for Christmas gifts I found that I lost my drive to make those extraordinary things. I was ending up with Works-In-Progress, not much drive to finish them, and nothing made for myself.
I have actually been a member of the Cup group for awhile, but never participated. After a couple others, a fellow Hufflepuff and a Slytherin, encouraged me to try it I signed up and am so glad I did! The class assignments gave me fun ways to finish many of those Works-In-Progress, start and finish other projects, and to make myself something in my queue I had wanted to make for a long long time. It was structured without boxing me in. I had a deadline, but was able to fit whatever I wanted to make into the prompts.
This is why I love my Hufflepuff Family and the HouseCup! Now I have my Knitting Ninja mojo back again and I’m looking forward to Pufflecards during the break month, and a second tearm next month!

Ch-ch-changes, The Hufflepuff Way
by LadyDragonsinger


I hate change.
Totally absolutely can’t stand it.
Doesn’t mean I won’t do it but I don’t like the upheaval involved.
I took a rather long sabbatical from the House Cup after it’s second year. It was the fact that some changes had been made in how it was organized that allowed a friend to convince me to do so. This was not enough change to terrify me as it really did not fully affect me. It was a change that I did not actually have to “live through” as it were.
However, when I left, Hufflepuff Common Room was simply one thread on the House Cup Group so I was a bit surprised when I didn’t see it (or any common rooms) on the discussion board there. That is until I found out it was a group of it’s own.
Now, we’re getting into scary territory. BIG change. Whole new group. New ways of interacting in the group.
Cue me being dragged into this virtually kicking and screaming. I had decided it was too big and too scary for me to do anything more than maybe converse in the Common Room thread. That lasted one day when I woke up to find several pages of conversation that had to be read.
Okay, fine, I decided. I would just do my projects, post my classes, notify the Den with posts in the Common Room thread that I had posted my classes and Advanced Studies. That worked fairly well for my first term back.
Then the Pufflecards post went up and I thought there was no way I’d do much there. coughcough managed to get a complete set coughcough
But I still wasn’t thrilled about how the simple thread for the house had become this big active group. However, it turns out there was another change in store. This term we were required to be in a cete. I’m not a joiner and, in case you hadn’t realized it yet, I’m not thrilled with change. I had no idea what cete would be a good fit but I remembered posting in one last term for a challenge so when we had to fill in which one we wanted, I picked that one.
Change can be good.
waits for audience to recover from the shock of me saying that
This one was. I found the cete to be warm, welcoming and supportive. I even branched out and posted in and used “The Hufflepuff Way” thread and Huffletainment and a few other threads I’d never thought I’d be involved in.
Change can be good. Cetes can be and are very good. The Hufflepuff Way does work.

See your name on the blog and get a PuffleCard in this month's PuffleCards II
 

Staff Chocolate Frogs: Final Round

So real life has been hectic so here it is: all the last hints from the Fall 2013 staff. The current standings are:

1.  LadyDragonsinger - 7 points
1. Kalmia Latifolia - 7 points
3. lucamama - 3 points
3. MKmaineknitter - 3 points
5. ashleybah - 2 points
5. VampiratKnits - 2 points
7. AuburnChick - 1 point

However, as I'm posting a mass entry now - this is anybody's game! Winner gets a special badge all for them an a $5 pattern download. So let's look at the rest of the staff!

Answers for this week are due Tuesday 12/10 by 9pm EST (New York)

9. This witch has been helping in one of Hufflepuff's newest activities this term - tracking everybody's contributions! She has two very cute cats and learned to knit so she could make herself a Harry Potter scarf - and hasn't stopped since!

10. This witch is in charge of Hufflepuff Athletics. Beyond that she loves roller derby, books, and the Oxford comma.

11. Along with #4 this witch has been helping in one of Hufflepuff's newest activities this term with tracking contributions!  She has five children and two grandchildren. She loves pink and is also an OWL Mistress

12. This witch pulls double duty as a cete mama and being in charge of a Hufflepuff publication. She has a dog and cat, both named after Harry Potter characters, and loves the color blue.

13. This witch stalks your projects and asks you to come show them off in her thread. Besides that  she is a scientist by day and a singer and cookie baker by night. She also has an almost 3 year old son.

14. This witch helps you keep on track in a recently re-named Hufflepuff thread.  She also has a young son and another son on the way very soon! Her favorite "curse" word is "dangnabit!"

15. This witch is one of three who can help you fit you projects into various prompts. She also is in charge of shipping for one of Hufflepuff's newest activities. She has five kids and loves colors of any kind.

16. Our youngest witch on staff is a cete mama. She is a homeschooling student, loves homemade and handmade items, and besides knitting and crocheting also sews, embroiders, and draws.

17. This witch loves to play games with you in her thread! Besides crocheting and knitting she teaches swim lessons, spends time with her 6 kids, 4 grandchildren, 3 dogs, & 2 tutrtles. One year her whole family dressed up as characters from Harry Potter for Halloween!

18. This witch is a cete mama in what I hear is a rather chatty cete. She has two sons and has started designing for knit and crochet recently.

19. While this witch was SOS this term she was still on staff helping you find people who had something you wanted or wanted something you have. She began knitting in 5th grade and crocheting more recently. She began designing around the time she learned to crochet. All of her patterns are free!

20. This sweet cete mama is also a mama to four children and also has 5 hens!

21. This cete mama has 2 kids, 4 grandchildren, and a spoiled rotten West Highland White terrier who is named for a Harry Potter character.

22. This witch helps you fit your projects into various prompts throughout the cup. She has two kids, two grandchildren, and two dogs (lots of twos!). While she's been crocheting her whole life she mostly does granny squares. She also dabbles in design.

23. This cete mama from "down-under"  has two daughters, a cat, a dog, and two budgies (I'm pretty sure these are birds). She loves TV shows, mostly sci-fi and crime shows from both sides of the pond.

Remember! Your answers are due by PM to baxgirl by Tuesday, December 10th at 9pm EST (New York)

Staff Chocolate Frogs: Round 2

Sorry for the delay in Staff Chocolate Frogs! I was on vacation and then moved...crazy!

The standings currently are at:

1. LadyDragonsinger - 3 points

1. Lucamama - 3 points

1. KalmiaLatifolia - 3 points

1. MKmaineknitter - 3 points

5. Ashleybah - 2 points

5. Vampiratknits - 2 points

7. Auburnchick - 1 point

There will be a total of 23 points so it's not too late to join!

Now for this round. Answers are due Thursday, October 31st (Happy Halloween!)) by 9pm EST ( New York time)

4. This witch keeps lots of things organized around the house! She mostly crochets but also knits, spins, dyes, and is learning to quilt. She also collect amber jewelry!

5. This witch stalks your projects and posts them on your special day! She also spends a lot of time in the Huffletainment center. She knits, weaves, dyed, and crochets. She loves being a grandmother and has an awesome yarn room in her house!

6. This witch also spends a lot of time in Huffletainment. She knits, spins, and dyes. She is also starting to crochet more and more. She's also a lefty!

7. This witch supervises and runs many extracurricular activies in Hufflepuff! She mostly knits but does do a little crochet and dying. In college she spent a few months each year sleeping in a tent to sit in the front row at Duke basketball games. 

8. This witch does a lot of organizing of Hufflepuff Advanced Studies students, keeping them motivated and being an awesome cheerleader. She is a knitter and a crocheter, having knitted longer. She also loves spreadsheets!

PM your guesses to baxgirl by 9pm on Halloween!

All Hallow's Homework

Like most of the internet, it seems, Halloween is my absolute favourite holiday, so I've been eagerly keeping track of the many wonderful Halloween-themed turn-ins you badgers have been making for classes.  Here are some from September, to start.

ThatTessGirl outfitted her husband with a truly awesome Princess Leia hat, which I believe earned her a nomination (well-deserved!) in the September prizes thread.

krazykt82000 dyed this enviably beautiful roving.  I love a good spooky-monsters type colourway.

bbhatsnstuff knitted an adorably expressive ghost/pumpkin minisock.

Melanthe knitted a perfect candy corn hat.

CraftyShanna created an amazing turn-in for these cute little vampire bats.

KarenRedBaron made an amazing improvised cat's-eye eyepatch.

Moving on to turn-ins from this month, Lea67000 (the World's Fastest Hexipuffer!) made this fantastic jack'o'lantern puff.

 Pumpkins abound this month.  Here's a perfectly-knit specimen from Maylablue.

And LittleFit added a face and limbs to her pumpkin for extra Halloween goodness.

 broknmachin14 made her decorative gourd in hat form to donate to her local NICU.

Kirsts worked some magic that will transform her baby into a carrot!

Rikachet is helping us haunt the Den in the cutest possible way with this little ghost.

Luckynumbers has been sewing up a whole party's worth of super-cool superhero capes.

Wrapping things up with some sweetness, JessiaSott created this delicious-looking little candy corn.

Let's hear it for Quidditch!!

Hello there my fellow puffs!
This will be my first time blogging for Hufflepuff; what better way to start than by talking about Quidditch!

We are making a strong showing on the pitch, and I have seen so many great goals turned in.  I will be posting a weekly update with both points and photos of some of the great projects.

We are in the middle of 2 challenges; the term long "Explore the Quidditch Positions" will end midnight on November 5th.  If you haven't turned in anything for this challenge there is still time:

• Beaters: Knit, crochet, weave or spin up to 15 projects using 50 yards/project minimum. Each project will earn 10 points.
• Chasers: Knit, crochet, weave or spin up to 6 projects using 150 yards/project minimum. Each project will earn 25 points.
• Keepers: Knit, crochet, weave or spin up to 3 projects using 300 yards/project minimum. Each project will earn 50 points.
• Seekers: Knit, crochet, weave or spin up to 2 projects using 500 yards/project minimum. Each project will earn 75 points.

When you turn in your first item for this Activity, please let us know which position you will be studying by including one of the following tags. Once you’ve turned in your first project you will be locked into that position, so choose wisely!

Tags!!
HQ16Beater, HQ16Chaser, HQ16Keeper, HQ16Seeker

The Pre Match  Jitters challenge goes until October 19th.
No project is too small for this challenge.  Current standings:

Gryffindor has 27 goals
Slytherin has 19
Hufflepuff has 16
Ravenclaw has 8

Our current standings:
In the Nimbus Challenge bonus point changed things up:  ( these are unofficial, please excuse any math mixups that might happen)

Gryffindor: 1732
Slytherin:  1478
Hufflepuf:  1471
Ravenclaw: 1463

In the Get to know the Quidditch positions as of post# 3593 here are the standings:

Gryffindor: 3740
Hufflepuff: 2430
Slytherin:  1855
Ravenclaw: 1775

Now for the fun stuff, here are a few pics of some of the recent turn ins:
The Beater position:

             Anthrogirl17                                                                        Karenredbaron

Littlefit

CHASER POSITION:

ashleybah

Costumer47

lanismom

KEEPER POSITION: 

curlysue

katelemmers

                                                               

Kazpatch

Lea67000

Skrewkat

                                                                  SEEKER POSITION:

JMN

LadyDragonSinger

Marushka

                                                                 PRE-GAME JITTERS

                                         

Craftyshanna

Marifly

Rikachet

Theresmiling

Vampiratknits

Staff Chocolate Frog Cards: A Contest!

Welcome to our HuffleBlog Contest: Staff Chocolate Frog Cards!

Every week or so I will be posting a few "backs" of chocolate cards describing members of the Hufflepuff staff. From the date posted you will have two days to PM baxgirl on Ravelry with who you think the chocolate cards are about. All answers are due by 9pm Eastern Standard Time (New York time) on the date due. 

For every card you get right you will get 1 point. I will track these and after I've gone through all the staff members whoever has the most points will receive an awesome badge just for them and up to $5 in a free pattern download on Ravelry!

In order to prevent the last few being too easy based on process of elimination I will not post the answers until the contest is over. I will, however, post the current points rankings with each new post. 

So let's get started!

1. This witch is in charge of placing all students in Cetes and is also cete mama to her own cete. She's been a cete mama since before Headmistress Yarnvista was a cete mama (did you know she was a cete mama before becoming headmistress?). Her crafting pursuits including knitting, weaving, dying, and spinning but weaving is her current passion. She is also a huge Seattle Seahawks fan. 

2. This witch is in charge of excusing students from class, answers questions, and organizes a lot. She knits, crochets, and spins a little. She also owns 1 donkey, 6 chickens, and 7 Soay sheep!

3. This witch is new to staff this term and is a cete mama. She knits, crochets, spins, and dyes. She loves to knit up her handspun! She can also do the wave with her eyebrows! Cool!

Guesses are due to baxgirl via PM by 9pm EST on Thursday, October 10th!

Fall 2013 OWLs!!

We had a whopping 87 (provided I counted right) Hufflepuffs approved for OWLs this term! Comparatively 96 Slytherins were approved, 87 Gryffindors, and 98 Ravenclaws (again, provided I counted right as I am doing this while watching Alaska: The Last Frontier and trying to find patterns for their knitted hats). 

As we are now into October midterms can be turned in at any point from now (well, a few days ago) and October 31st (Halloween!). Midterms earn 75 points for the house. However, if for some reason you do not meet your midterm you can still turn in your final in November if you finish for 125 points. 

Now let's check in on some Hufflepuffs who have already turned in their midterms!

shagma has already turned in her 50% - one of her awesome O.W.L mittens from the Harry Potter Unofficial Knits magazine for Ancient Runes!

The books at the bottom of her photo is a set of the brand new HP books that her boyfriend got her to cheer her on. How sweet!

Lanismom has also turned in her 50% on her Transfiguration OWL

I love the colors in this beautiful, soon to be steeked, sweater!

First year jpester turned in the 50% on her Muggle Studies OWL - another pattern from the Harry Potter Unofficial Knits magazine - the Ginny sweater!

I can't wait to knit this sweater too!

ashleybah has also turned for her Arithmancy OWL 75 of her 150 proposed Hexipuffs!

So cute!

kirsts finished this stocking for her CoMC OWL and her soon to be born baby!

This will be a great family heirloom!

Don't worry, there's plenty of time to finish your 50% on your OWL but congrats to these Puffs who are on top of it!