HPKCHC End of Winter 2016 Term - Throwback

Hey happy crafters!

I promised to sum up the end of the Winter 2016 festivities over at the Hogwarts Knitting and Crochet Cup, and my goal was to Craft All The Things — that is, something for each and every prompt.

My previous posts covered all my classes (and when I remembered, Detention!).

Now to the heavy hitters, like my multi-month projects...

OWL Exam - Astronomy (Option 3) - Pattern Writing  (200 points)

I designed and wrote patterns for two bags, one of which has already been published here as the Reversible Minecraft Monster Bag.

And now, for the first time ever, I am pleased to present a Through the Keyhole Exclusive Pattern:

A Customizeable Minecraft Bag!

>>> LINK TO PATTERN <<<

This pattern is fanart, please use it as such and don't violate the Mojang and Microsoft guidelines.

And my shiny new Astronomy OWL badge:

Order of the Phoenix Mission/BROOM  (100 points)

I proposed to vanish at least 1,000 yards of yarn in the making of foot-warmers (and at least one pair had to be socks!).  I made 4 pairs of various things:

 

 

The ruffled booties are for sale in my Etsy store as of this post!

This marks my third term of successful Double Advanced Studies!

Taking into account my Quidditch total from the last post, I earned 134 points for all rounds.

Headmistress' Challenge - 2 parts

First: Make Her a Drink

Second: Help Shovel the Walk

A fine morning to you, Headmistress!

As you can see, I have crafted this excellent Muggle hat for shoveling the walk today. The Muggles call it a ‘sun hat’ which I thought was ever so clever—you see, if you bring a lawn chair and a fishing pole and something called a ‘cooler’ with you, you can simply sit down anywhere with this hat on and the sun will just come out!

I think this is brilliant, Headmistress. The benefit of melting the snow while you sit and fiddle with this fishing pole contraption? Priceless!

Although…I do wonder what Muggles do with these poles. Likewise the cooler…I was supposed to fill it with ice, I think. And some strange kind of ‘beer’ but all we had was butter beer and of course the beverage prompt was last month so I thought I could do without that bit…

But the sun-summoning hat! Yes, I think it will work quite nicely, don’t you?

…what do you mean ‘keep the sun out of my eyes’? Sun hats are supposed to summon the sun so it will melt the snow and I won’t have to shovel at all.

No?

Well, nargles. Guess I better fetch a shovel.

Total points achieved = 32 points.

And then of course there were the classes. January = 164 points, February = 178 points, and March = 183 points. Total: 525 points.

Grand Total: 991 points to Hufflepuff!

So, I didn't make it to 1,000 points as I did in my past two terms...but I DID Do All The Things.

Ravenclaw again took the House Cup, but...

We took back the Quidditch Cup!

All in all, a fabulous term!

Now I am at the end of the middle month of my fourth term (Spring 2016) and I can't wait to share all the new projects and patterns and things I've discovered along the way!

Stay tuned, and craft on!

HPKCHC : Quidditch Match XXIII (W16) - Throwback

This past term's Quidditch was all about Mediwizardry!  There were three rounds, and plenty of options to choose from!

Rotation One - Triage

I made bandages, along with my new-to-Hufflepuff bestie, April/CookinKat.  We collaborated and turned in complementing stories!

CookinKat's:

As the dust settled from the final round of the previous quidditch match, a bewildered-looking first year student in fresh new Hufflepuff robes ran from the front doors of the castle. Her eyes grew round as she took in the sight of the tall, forbidding maze, but she raised her wand defiantly.

CookinKat had not been at Hogwarts long (barely long enough to find the Den!), but she knew that her best friend VelvetKey was in the maze and had been wandering about Merlin-knew-where! She feared the worst had happened, after seeing first one, then two, then upwards of over twenty students limping, staggering, or otherwise leaving the prickly hedges and heading for the medical tent.

“Velvet!” she cried, dashing forward and peering into the hedgerows. “Have you seen VelvetKey?” she asked a passing Ravenclaw, who only shook her head.

CookinKat crept deeper into the maze, first little by little, and then farther and farther. And then suddenly, around a corner she spotted a familiar Hufflepuff hat. “Velvet! You’re okay!” Kat threw her arms around her best friend and Velvet laughed in exhausted relief. The third-year witch was sporting a black eye with a cut, as well as many scratches and gashes on her hands.

“Oooh, let me help you,” Kat insisted, magicking two blue bandages in place with a flick of her wand.

“Thanks,” Velvet replied, hugging her best friend. “What a way to introduce you to Hogwarts, amiright?” The two of them started back out of the maze, talking animatedly about the new term at the school. So intent was Kat that she didn’t see the gaping hole left no doubt by the explosion of a blast-ended skrewt or other such creature.

To be continued…

VelvetKey's:

CookinKat squealed in pain as she landed at the bottom of the hole; her right arm was trapped beneath her, and if it wasn’t broken then it was very obviously sprained. She tried to stand and get out again, but her robes had snagged on a sharp root, and there was a lengthy cut on her left calf. She gulped and stood up on her tiptoes, trying to see out of the hole while balancing on her good leg. “Help!” she cried to anyone that could possibly hear her. “Velvet?!”

“Wingardium Leviosa!” The spell caught CookinKat right in the chest, and in less than a minute, she found herself out of the hole and sitting near the hedges, with VelvetKey clicking her tongue in sympathy.

“What am I going to do with you?” Velvet asked with an exaggerated sigh that ended in a giggle. She went through her voluminous pockets (Kat was going to have to get Velvet to show her that spell) and pulled out two cowls.

“Here, let’s put your arm in a makeshift sling,” her friend said, shaking out the orange cowl. “Just until we make it back to the tent. “And this yellow one will get that bleeding stopped.” Velvet expertly bound CookinKat’s leg. “Come on, we’ll make a merry troupe getting out of here.”

Just as the two of them rounded the last corner and could see the tippy-top of the white medical tent, Kat thought to ask, “Where did you learn to bandage wounds so well?”

“Oh…well, there was a class that taught us the incendio spell two terms ago,” VelvetKey said, blushing in embarrassment. “Everybody picked that skill up pretty quickly. Madam Pomfrey gave us bonus points if we could avoid sending each other to the hospital wing.”

By that time, the two witches had reached the tent, where they were ushered over to a bench after a quick examination by Tinymightymom, which earned them little colored tags on their robes.

“Well, we sure know how to start the year out with a bang,” Velvet joked to CookinKat, who couldn’t help but laugh.

“Any excuse to eat chocolate, right? Chocolate is the best medicine?” Kat asked.

“That and laughter!” Velvet agreed with a cheeky grin.

The best part?  We were nominated for a trophy!

(We didn't win, but not bad for CookinKat's first Quidditch!)

Rotation Two - First Specialization

Given the choice, I decided to study magical plants and their effects, which entailed crafting something with cables.  There's a story as to why I went completely crochet crazy, and it can be found here, but a free login is required.

My submission:

Coaches, there are many great benefits of magical medicine. Sometimes, though, I wish we could extend our magic to the suffering Muggles that we know outside of Hogwarts. That brings me to my submission today, and the story of Brian, Matthew, Cheryl, and Nancy.

Brian is a Muggle who experienced sudden liver failure last year; the Muggle doctors could find no cause. In November, he was approved for a liver transplant. Cheryl (his wife) began keeping an online journal which I have been tracking while at school. Brian and Cheryl are close friends of Nancy and Matthew (and their combined three daughters get along very well).

Matthew went in for testing to see if he would be a match for a liver transplant. In December, he was approved and a little over three weeks ago the Muggle surgeons went to work. While Cheryl and Nancy waited in the hospital, they crocheted their husbands matching ‘liver buddies’ hats, and that inspired me.

I decided to make ‘prayer sister’ wraps to show them my support (spiritual, magical, and otherwise) and hope that the Muggle doctors will have no explanation for the miraculous progress of Brian and Matthew as they continue to heal.

Matthew is home now, and while he tires easily and continues to try and push himself too hard, he is off of heavy pain medication. Brian has been moved out of the transplant unit, but had to return to ICU when he had a sudden bleed. We hope that he will continue to gain strength and that more of the machinery regulating his health can be removed as he recovers.

In relation to the prompt, one of the side effects I studied of the Muggle medicine was unpleasant effects of pill medications. Some of these are derived from plant material, and some Muggles can have very adverse reactions to them, as if poisoned. In the case of Brian and Matthew, this “poisoning” took the form of some kind of uncoated pain reliever. I included a study of their chemical compound in my projects, pictured as honeycomb cables in the main body of the work.

These puppies were 1,275 yards each!

Rotation Three - Second Specialization

This time, I studied magical bugs, with the requirement that the two items I made had to have been copied from another student's work (Diseases Spread Within a Confined Environment).  That was fairly easy, once I narrowed down my choices!

Oh, dear, coaches! I seem to have picked up some sort of…bug? No, that can’t be right, bugs don’t have tentacles, do they? A magic bug maybe? I think I caught it from nanettew9 over in Gryffindor Tower; she had a collection of adorable magical sea creatures and I just couldn’t help myself!

This little fellow has duplicated and now I don’t know what to do!

(Project page link!)

In an effort to feel better, I may have gone up to the Three Broomsticks for a pick-me-up, where I ran into an SoS student, mermaid potato. She had crafted the most adorable amethyst dragon…which I fear was also contagious.

(Project page link!)

Now I have two extra little magical plushie creations hanging about, and I’m afraid that more will forthcoming! I hope the urge to make adorable stuffies won’t infect anyone else at the school!

All told, my Quidditch efforts earned Hufflepuff 134 points!  Woohoo!

Next time, I'll wrap up the end of term for realsies, and we'll take a look at how my attempt to Do All The Things panned out!

Craft on!

HPKCHC : Quidditch Match XXII (F15) - Throwback

Are you ready?  I said, are you ready?!

With the Tri-Wizard Tournament running at the school, the Quidditch matches became all about the great and glorious hedge maze that the Quidditch pitch got turned into (just like in the book).

The formidable hedge walls of The Triwizard Maze stand before you, where the Quidditch pitch used to be. The coaches’ faces are set with grim determination, knowing they have trained you as well as possible but from the sound of the cannon, it is all up to you.

In The Maze, foes lurk around every corner and you have only your wand to defend you. You will need to make quick decisions, work difficult spells, and keep your wits about you at all times.

The sights and sounds of the fans cheering all around you are almost too much to bear: you are the great hope for the glory of Hogwarts.

Task 1: The Sphinx

You anxiously wait outside of the maze with the other tri-wizard competitors for the competition to start.  BOOM!!! The cannon fires and off you run into the maze. There are a few twists and turns, but it takes you a while before you come to the first fork in the path. You slow down as you begin to see the shape of something waiting for you. You see a lion with the head of a woman: a Sphinx. As you approach, the Sphinx assesses you with cold eyes and begins to speak.

Two paths through the maze you’ll find. Choose left or right your path to bind. Answer my riddle, you may proceed. Answer me not, you must concede. For each path a different riddle I say. Give me an answer and you’ll be on your way.

You regard her for a moment and then understand the riddle you have to answer will depend upon the path you choose. You look carefully towards the left and then the right, seeing no hint as to what the riddles might be. You decide to go…

---

RIGHT:  The Sphinx swishes her tail and intones:

What always runs but never walks, often murmurs, never talks, has a bed but never sleeps, has a mouth but never eats?

LEFT: The Sphinx flicks her ear and recites:

Feed me and I live, give me drink and I die. What am I?

So, a choice I had before me, and a choice I made; I went right.


VelvetKey shrinks at first from the sphinx’s penetrating gaze, her heart fluttering wildly in her chest like a trapped butterfly. Her hands ball into fists—she has to give an answer, but riddles had never been a strong suit of hers.

Where are my friends when I need their brains? she thought desperately, looking left, then right. VelvetKey could see sparkles at the edge of her vision, sparkling in time to her pounding heart. And then, deep in the pocket of her Hufflepuff robes, she felt a little twitch. Then another.

Of course, like any good student with too many projects and not enough room in her schoolbag, VelvetKey had enchanted her pockets to be ‘bigger on the inside’. From within her right pocket, she withdrew her little blue cuttlefish, who waved his enchanted feelers at her.

And suddenly, the answer crystallized in her mind. VelvetKey took one shaky step forward and said loudly, “A river.” She held the cuttlefish up for inspection. “Rivers are blue, and have many unique creatures in their flowing depths. In fact, whole pods of these magical…quidditch-cuttlefish…quiddlefish?—can be found all over the world. I should know, I had four.”

And her quiddlefish turned a knowing, beady eye at the sphinx, as if daring the other magical creature to contradict her.

Task 2: To the Right

 Having correctly answered the Sphinx’s riddle, you begin past her to find a river in your path. Unable to see the bottom or anything that might be living, you chance swimming through. You safely arrive on the other bank, dry yourself with your wand, and continue down the Righthand path. After a few more turns, you come to yet another fork in the maze. To the left, you hear lots of noise and you swear you smell something burning. You face the corridor turning right. You can’t see or smell anything there and it’s quiet. Very quiet. Much too quiet!

You decide to…

---

HEAD TOWARDS THE QUIET:
Thinking back to the past Care of Magical Creatures class with Hagrid’s new creatures, you shake your head violently and head down the much quieter path. In the distance you see a large wardrobe. You slowly walk towards it, unsure of what it could possibly be. When you get closer, you realize that one of the doors of the wardrobe is slightly open. You feel chills run down your spine and you get the sudden feeling that…something…is watching you. You gulp as a…thing…starts to emerge from the door. Then you realize what you’re up against – a boggart!

For this task, you must craft something that looks difficult to the untrained eye, but is surprisingly simple. Things like self-striping yarn, easy lace patterns, mock cables…anything that makes a project look more complicated than it actually is. But don’t pick something too simple. Bogarts can still be tricky beasts if you don’t keep your wits about you.

---

HEAD TOWARDS THE NOISE:
You shudder when you imagine the creatures that could come crawling towards you on the quiet path and quickly turn left. With those Blast-Ended Skrewts you at least know what you’ll be up against after all those hours trying to feed them during CoMC classes. Bravely you walk on to face those nasty animals.

For this task we ask you to craft something that is so fiddly it seems to bite, burn and sting at the same time. Explain in your turn-in why this is fiddly to you.

I am not crazy, nor did I have a death wish.  I went towards the quiet, quick as I pleased!

Dripping and shivering a little from the river’s cold temperature, VelvetKey quickly scrambles up the opposite bank and uses a quick air spell to get most of the water out of her sodden robes. The path continues on clearly, and she clutches her wand tightly before venturing forward.

At first, it is eerily quiet, and Velvet’s own heartbeat is the only noise she hears. She swallows hard and forces herself to keep moving. Her imagination begins to get the better of her, and she thinks she begins to spy shadowy, dancing figures at the edges of her vision. Velvet shakes it off and quickens her pace.

A few twists later, and there is another fork, and a rush of sound to accompany it. Acrid smoke hangs in the air, and Velvet doesn’t even pause to consider. Fire? Nopenopenopenope.

The second-year Hufflepuff student all but runs down the opposite, much quieter and not-on-fire path. She stumbles over a root and has to pause and regain her footing. Then Velvet sees the wardrobe, perhaps fifty yards away. It is an old piece of furniture, with a cracked mirror that shows Velvet her own, scared-looking reflection.

Velvet glares at herself for a moment before standing up straight and brushing a few stray twigs off of her robe. “I did not face a sphinx and swim through a river to turn back now,” she tells herself sternly. “It’s just a boggart. It has to be just a boggart. And I know what I fear the most.”

She steps closer, raising her wand as the loose door of the wardrobe creaks and then swings wide. The wardrobe rocks back and forth for a moment, and then a pink ball of fingering-weight yarn in alpaca rolls out, its tail trailing across the ground. It’s course is somewhat impeded by the knitting needles poking from it, and Velvet draws back with a subvocal whimper.

“Riddikulus!” Velvet shouts, leveling her wand at the knitting. The boggard-turned-knitting dodges her spell, and Velvet backs up. The boggart slowly begins to fashion itself into a long length of gorgeous, knitted cable, and Velvet straightens in anger.

”I’ve met many kind and talented knitters in my house, in classes, and in the castle,” Velvet says aloud. “I am not afraid of them. I am not afraid of cables, even though I can’t knit!” She tries again. “Riddikulus!” She clips the boggart with this spell, and the knitting needles waver. The yarn becomes blue, worsted. The knitted cable shrivels up. Instead a much simpler, crocheted mock cable appears, and Velvet starts to giggle.

“And again, riddikulus!” The boggart shoots back into the wardrobe, now a ball of blue worsted acrylic yarn impaled with a crochet hook, and Velvet laughs wholeheartedly in triumph. “And take your mock cables with you, you jerk!” she shouts, sealing the wardrobe with a spell.

I was actually a little ahead of the curve on this one...

Task 3: Facing the Boggart

 You see it, your blood starts to turn to ice, and a cold sweat appears on your brow. Terrified, you think back to your Defense Against the Dark Arts class and begin to pull yourself together. You remember two spells as the boggart slowly takes shape and starts to turn itself into your worst nightmare.

You shout…

---

RIDDIKULUS!!!
You shouted the spell loud and clear! And…suddenly…a giant ACME anvil falls straight from the sky, crushing that dreadful thing into the dirt! You’re a little stunned at first as ACME anvils aren’t usually seen in the wizarding world, but you know your muggle lore. Then you realize your face is in a surprising amount of pain and you feel short of breath. What is this coming out of your mouth? Laughter?! Of course! This is quite literally the most ridiculous thing you’ve seen all year! Haha! You’ve done it! You got that boggart all right! You let out a whoop and then continue down your path, giving the anvil a loving pat as you walk on by.

You have defeated the boggart with laughter, the best weapon of all! Craft something that will make us laugh.

---

EXPECTO PATRONUM!!!
You remember your happiest moment in life and you draw your strength from it. Your silvery patronus guardian charges down that creepy dementor-boggart and it withdraws back into the wardrobe, the door closing with a loud snap. Your patronus circles the wardrobe a few times before giving you a sweet look, reassuring you that the boggart is dealt with, and then it slowly fades away. You feel…good. Like you could do anything. With this new found confidence, you race past the wardrobe and on through the maze.

You have defeated fear with happiness and warmth. Craft your corporeal patronus or something that evokes your happy memory.

This could have gone either way, but I summoned my patronus!

The wardrobe gave a renewed shake and black tendrils of dense, cold fog seemed to roll in from under the hedges as the door swung wide. This time, it wasn’t pink, lacy knitting coming to get her; no it was a dementor.

“Velvet, you ninny, of course it’s only a boggart playing dress-up as a dementor,” she chastised herself aloud, swallowing hard and tugging her Hufflepuff hat down further over her head. She wracked her brain furiously, her wand still out and at the ready.

The dementor floated serenely towards her, oozing deadly menace with every inch it advanced. Velvet scrambled backwards, until her shoe caught in a root and she tumbled over backwards.

“What would Hermione do?” she whispered furiously, scrambling to her knees. “Or Harry?” Her heartbeat thudded loudly in her ears as the creature drew closer and closer; so close she could see every detail of it’s hooded appearance.

And then suddenly, Velvet had it. She recalled with a giggle how Legolas Greenleaf (prince of Mirkwood and all-around studmuffin) looked in the cowl she had made for Flying homework last month. The memory warmed her as Velvet remembered the summons MadMoon had given her for the Trophy Room—for her very first trophy nomination ever!

With that happy thought firmly in mind, Velvet drew back with her wand and let out a piercing cry:

“Expecto Patronum!”

Blinding white light erupted from the end of her wand and a large, killer rabbit patronus materialized. It took one look at the dementor before batting it aside with one huge paw. The boggart fled for the wardrobe, and Velvet let out a giddy noise of relief.

“That’ll do, bun,” she told her patronus. “That’ll do.”

(Yes, I was nominated for the Flying Trophy in September!  I did not win; but it was cool anyway!)

Task 4: The Portkey

 It worked! Your spell worked perfectly! You clear the obstacle and head down the path at a near sprint. You can see something glowing directly ahead of you. As you head into a clearing, you can tell the glowing is coming from the Triwizard Cup. You look around and see no one else. The Cup is yours! As you grasp the handle, you feel the familiar tug of a portkey behind your navel. When the howling and swirling finally stop, your feet slam into the ground and you find yourself…

Tell us where the Triwizard Cup portkey takes you and craft something to represent that place. It could be anywhere in the world, or even beyond.

Anywhere I wanted to go?  There's one important place that comes to mind: Shadowmoor!

VelvetKey landed in the middle of a dusty road with a thump! followed by an “Ouch!” as she tripped over what looked like an elf.

She did a double-take. Well, he had the pointed ears of an elf, but his coloring was all wrong for a house elf. That, and he was wearing normal clothes (by wizarding standards), and he was holding a shield and mace. Upon closer inspection, it was rather evident that his skin had a marbled, pebbly texture.

“I…uh…yikes!” The stone-like elf swung at her unexpectedly, and Velvet did the first thing that came to mind: she blocked his downward blow with the Triwizard Cup! Thanks be to Merlin, the Cup was made of strong stuff and his mace glanced off. Velvet took the opportunity to roll to one side and scramble to her feet in a flurry of black robes.

“What magic is this? Teleport? Are you one of the dark witches that has haunted Shadowmoor these last few months?” the elf demanded.

“What are you talking about?” the second-year Hufflepuff student demanded. “I got…” she bit off the word ‘portkey’ before she could reveal too much about herself. “This is all an accident! I didn’t know where the teleport would take me!” VelvetKey insisted, very carefully not reaching for her wand.

“Audrick!” came a new voice, and Velvet whirled to see a group of odd folk clad in bright red and yellows. “Stay your weapons,” the woman in front ordered. “Allow me to cast a truth spell before you begin caving in skulls.”

“Hey, no, wait, I’ll just tell you the truth,” Velvet said insistently. “I got a bad…teleport spell and ended up here. Where is here?”

“The oasis known as Shadowmoor,” an armored fighter said from behind the leading lady. “I am Boaar. This is Kelyn, leader of the Battle Healers’ Guild. She means you no harm, strange traveler.”

For the moment, Audrick the stone elf had lowered his mace, which Velvet counted as a good thing.

“Ah, okay then,” Velvet replied after a moment to catch her breath. “I don’t suppose you’d have a portal or something back to…England?”

Confused looks crossed the Battle Healers’ faces, but one elf with spectacles spoke up. “It might be the strange portal the shaman conjured last night holds the answers you seek. No one has dared enter it; the magic it throws off is dark and mysterious.”

“Sure, I’ll try that!” Velvet said, still clutching the Triwizard Cup and trying to look more in control of the situation than she felt.

“First, the truth spell,” Audrick spoke up. “The truth spell or I shall have no choice but to defend the oasis of Shadowmoor from this unknown threat.”

Kelyn, so called, scratched at the base of one of her little red horns that poked up through the honey brown curls on her head, and sighed. “Very well,” she replied. “Miss…what is your name?”

“Velvet. VelvetKey,” the Hufflepuff student responded quickly. She told herself she could put up with a truth spell; she had nothing to hide; it would be fine!

“Miss Velvet. Hold still.” And Kelyn murmured a spell verbal quietly before placing her hand on Velvet’s shoulder.

“All right, Audrick, what do you want to know?” Kelyn asked the stone elf.

“Are you a dark witch?” Audrick said immediately.

“No,” Velvet answered honestly.

“See? Now can we take her to the portal? Perhaps she’s the one who is meant to enter it,” Kelyn said, snugging a red and yellow capelet around her shoulders. When there appeared to be no objections, she signaled to the rest of the Battle Healers.

Shortly, they approached a long, low building, from whence issued merry singing and (from the sound of it) some good-natured brawling. VelvetKey quirked an eyebrow and wondered if they served a butterbeer as good as Madame Rosmerta’s.

“There,” said Kelyn, pointing to a strange, black archway. “Look into the mists and tell us what you see.”

With a gulp, Velvet did as she said. The gray mist in the doorway swirled at her approach, but nothing appeared. Her grip on the Cup began to slip from the sweat on her hands, and Velvet knew she had to do something. Perhaps something simple, something to shed a little more light on the situation…

She took out her wand before thinking it through. “Lumos!” she said, and a bright light appeared.

Audrick’s mace was in motion before Velvet knew what was happening. “A witch! She must have a cloak versus truth spell on her!”

The spectacled elf stepped in the way. “Run!” he shouted to Velvet.

“This should protect you from whatever’s through there,” Kelyn said, whisking the capelet from around her shoulders and settling it over Velvet’s. “Be safe, and remember the people of Shadowmoor!”

Without time for pause or thanks, VelvetKey jumped into the portal. It was like stepping through a waterfall; an invisible substance seemed to pour over her, and the entire time Velvet thought to herself, I wish I were back in the Den, I wish I were back in the Den!

THUD!

She landed in an armchair, and the Triwizard Cup clanged to the floor. She was home again, fresh from the oasis of Shadowmoor, with a red and yellow capelet to remind her forever of her visit.

(Author’s Note: Shadowmoor is a LARP chapter I participate in, located in Kings Mountain, NC, USA! It’s tons of fun and it’s always a nice vacation from ‘the real world’! The players I mentioned, Audrick and Athelas (spectacled elf) are pictured below, and you can see a member of the Battle Healers’ Guild watching the fight on the left side.)

So in summary...

Quidditch was basically a choose-your-own-adventure trip through the Triwizard hedge maze!  It was so much fun; I really enjoyed having the choices and the story to go along with it.

As to whether or not Hufflepuff won the Quidditch Cup...tune in next time for the End of Term Summary!

Better be...Hufflepuff!

I started participating in the Harry Potter Knit and Crochet House Cup (HPKCHC) on Ravelry at the beginning of February, which I've shared all throughout my blog posts.  Mid-April, I had the chance to sign up for a chance to be sorted into one of the four Hogwarts houses.

Full of trepidation about actually having to leave my other NQFY friends, I told Sir Hat (the Sorting Hat, which was a Google Form) all about my fears.  I'm sure he listened quite patiently.  Upon submitting my application, I received the following:

And then the long waiting process for the actual sorting post began.  The HPKCHC provides many other activities to do in month wait between sessions, but as I was tied up with SFAC and TLT projects, I didn't participate in any of them.

On April 29th, a tizzy swept through the NQFY lounge when Sir Hat and many of the moderators for the group came online.  I was sitting at home with the Panda when I received an earburn (a direct summons via link) to the Sorting Hat Thread.

My heart may have stopped.  I'm still not sure.

And here is what Mr. Hat said:

The names of myself and some other fellow Hufflepuff firsties!

I was beyond excited!  I wasn't sure I was eligible to be sorted at all and even then I got my first choice!

I made some new 'robes' (my profile picture) to celebrate:

And was also notified that within Hufflepuff House (the Den) I had been sub-sorted into a cete (a group of badgers): the Asian Badger cete.  Everybody there was very welcoming, and I further met another Legend of Zelda enthusiast there, Aptenoknits, as well as being put with Piglottie, a closer NQFY friend.

Then it was time to get myself oriented for the new term!  There are so many more things to participate in intra-house.  Let me list what I can remember...there's a lot!

Basic Classes - These change every term.  This term the eight classes are:

Care of Magical Creatures

Charms

Defense Against the Dark Arts

Divination

History of Magic

Muggle Studies

Potions

Transfiguration

And of course, there's always Detention.

Quidditch Matches - There are usually four, spread over the three-month term.

Match 1 - Make a Shopping List

Match 2 - Stop for a Treat

Match 3 - Window Shopping

Match 4 - Spiff Up your Newly Purchased Secondhand Broom

Puffopoly - A Hufflepuff-only version of Monopoly.

You score points (move along the board) based on turning in classes, participating in Quidditch and other challenges, etc.  There are also bonus points awarded for high yardage, your speed, etc.

This term, we are playing at Malfoy Manor:

Every space you pass, you build a structure.

Sheds are for your first time around the board.

Houses are second, and bungalows third.

Some players choose to turn in their moves throughout the term, as their classes are graded, they score quidditch goals, etc.  I decided I'd rather make a tracking post at the beginning of the term, and then turn in all my points at once.  I can't wait to see how far I get around the board!  (Currently, I am at Durmstrang, in the orange section.)

Tour de Puff -  based on Tour de France, a team-based challenge put together by the Head Girl

ChellBelle is Hufflepuff's head girl, and she developed a unique challenge for us to participate in, featuring different kinds of jerseys, which meant different types of goals.  The choices:

Peloton (yellow jersey) - 450 pts average per student.

Climber (polka dot jersey) - Team yardage goal.

Sprinter (green jersey) - Team points goal.

Rookie (white jersey) - Badger trails (individualized goals)

Breakaway - Ride solo

Participants can choose up to two jerseys, which of course I did.  I was actually nabbed by MidwestAliceAnn (my captain from the U.S.S. Zimmermann SFAC challenge) to be on her team.  Aptenoknits and Piglottie came along, too!

We are Team Debutant Puffs, making a splash and being oh so classy while doing it!  We have each chosen our individual badger trails, and I decided to be conservative and go with Loyal Puff.   The requirements:

NEWT  or  OWL  or  OotP

6 classes

2 of the following:

• OotP  (Order of the Phoenix)
• Detention
• Quidditch
• HMC  (Headmistress' Challenge)

Well, if my craziness is any indication...I'm already done with everything on this list except for the OWL at the top.  (More on that below.)  I could have gone bigger, but having never participated in Quidditch before, I was too afraid I'd bobble the Quaffle and fail to make a goal.

My second team is a polka dot jersey team, Team Extra Mile.  We are collectively sprinting 25,520 yards together (I personally am attempting 3,520 yards = 2 miles of yarn)!  I even made a little ticker to keep track:

And a couple of the teammates designed matching 'robes' for all of us:

 

So this promises to be a lot of fun...if I can keep it all straight!

Top 10 List - A badge-collecting challenge persuading you to do what's most important.

There's a badge for completing each item on your list (and the list gets locked so you can't take-backsies), and then bonus badges for doing so many per month.

My Top 10 List:

1. Potions OWL
2. Calla’s Wrap (Tropical Delight Shawl)
3. WIP - Doc’s Viking Helmet
4. Twilight Sparkle (My Little Pony (Main 6 Cast))
5. Shining Armor (Shining Armor from My Little Pony)
6. WIP - Minecraft Enderman
7. WIP - SkyDoesMinecraft
8. WIP - Minecraft cake Pillow
9. Quidditch Match
10. Lincoln’s Monkey (Tallou the Monkey)

Headmistress' Challenge - A unique challenge once per term, given by HM Secrettrail.

This term's challenge is to help Headmistress Secrettrail work in her new garden by crafting something you'd find there.  She also has a bit of woodland glade (originally part of the Forbidden Forest) and you can craft something you'd find there, too (something a little more wild than just bluebells).

Advanced Studies - NEWTs, OWLs, or OotP.

NEWTs (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests) can only be done by students who have completed at least four OWLS.  (I don't qualify.)  They combine aspects from two OWLs into a long, 6-8 week project that is very, very impressive.

OWLs (Ordinary Wizarding Levels) are a bit less challenging, but each type of OWL has strict requirements that require approval from the OWL examiner before you can begin.  There are fourteen types of OWL, and you may sit each one only once before repeating the same OWL again.

I am actually doing a Potions OWL this term; more on that in a future post.

OotP stands for Order of the Phoenix, and these are Missions/BROOMs.  They are to help stop the evil forces of Voldemort by selecting one of the mission prompts that grabs your attention.  Each department has it's own prompts, and a mission commander for those prompts.

For example, I am working with Mission Commander GazeboGal, who is in charge of the Security Operations division.  Specifically, I am undertaking Planning with the Weasley Twins, which means that I am crafting something you could find in their store, Weasley Wizarding Wheezes.

Missions began May 24th, but I haven't begun mine yet.  I need a bit more time to sort out the other stuff from the month of May!  There's so much to catch you up on, that I'll come back to many of these points and do greater, in-depth posts.

Until I'm able to do that, though, craft on!

Better be...Hufflepuff!

Quidditch Cup XX - Match 3

Happy Sunday to you!  I'm actually going to attend a church this morning!  (I find there's less pressure when you're going to an out-of-state church with friends.)

Just a quick, fun photo today:

Yes, it's VintageBeef and PauseUnpause riding a broom.

I participated in the Quidditch Cup XX!   For Match 3, all you had to do was submit a photo of you (or a stand-in) riding a broom (or other floor cleaning device; plenty of people now have newfangled electric brooms, or Swiffers).

I did put out a tweet, just because I was in a whimsical mood.  This photo features the most recent VintageBeef plushie, too, who is now on his way to his forever home in Nevada.

Here he is posed with "Tangerine" (you've met him as "Wolfie"):

Just adorable!  I might change my Facebook page picture.

I'll be back home in South Carolina tonight, concluding my whirlwind galpal trip to see DSCA and Deevius!  Possibly more crafting shenanigans to follow (including art trade lootz!).

Cheers and craft on!