HPKCHC : May Classes (S15)

Good morning fellow badgers, eagles, snakes, and lions!

Now that I've wrapped up my first month in the Harry Potter Knitting and Crochet House Cup as a sorted student, I thought I would share the classes I turned in:

Care of Magical Creatures

The prompt:  Craft something based on thestrals or acromantulas.

Professors, in my study of thestrals this month, I came across another winged species of horse known as the alicorn. In particular, this mythical creature has made a resurgence in Muggle media, and I have a few close friends that are enamored by this particular animal.

Though they are not skeletal like thestrals, alicorns do possess wings with which to fly. They are also horse-like in appearance, but have feathered wings instead of leathery, as well as an additional protruding horn.

Still, these distant relations to thestrals were quite fascinating to study, and I’m glad I took the time to look them up in the thestral footnotes.

Thank you for your time, professors!



Charms

The prompt: Craft something reminiscent of water, or to protect from water.

Professors, our study of the aguamenti spell has caused me to recall all the wonderful trips I had made to the ocean with friends and family over the years. I’ve always been charmed by the many naturally-beautiful hues of the rolling ocean waves, and decided that my attempt at reproducing the aguamenti spell must reflect those delicious, aqueous colors.

Thus, I have developed a pattern and crafted a trio of tiny hexi vials that have captured the many-layered hues of the ocean. I hope to share my new pattern with the Hogwarts school library soon! One of these vials is for me, and another I am trading with karagenknight as fulfillment for one of her house badges! The other is for another friend I met along the NQFY course this past term.

Thank you for considering my homework, professors. What an exciting (and useful!) way to share my love of the seaside with new friends.



Defense Against the Dark Arts

The prompt:  Craft something that has a final 'hardening' or 'setting' step.

Professors, I received a charming bracelet in the mail, but I looked at the cheap Muggle band to which the focal bead was attached and knew I could use a fortify spell to turn the simple blue string into three-ply hemp. Additionally, I applied some of Mendigann’s Magical Glue to the frayed knots in order to set them into shape and harden them against continual usage. Thank you for your time!



Divination

The prompt:  Use two colors to create one object.

VelvetKey pauses hesitantly by the telescopes, clearly unsure what she should be doing. She listens carefully to the professors before daring to look through the eyepiece of the nearest telescope. After several long minutes and more than a few gasps of delight at the celestial bodies overhead, the first-year Hufflepuff student settles down to craft up a report.

Professors, for my first Divination lesson, I was fortunate enough to find the Butterfly Nebula, which was high in the sky for the time of night. Not far away, I saw a very bright formation of stars, which I later searched out using the “winter-net” (a Muggle invention, but very useful; especially for streaming episodes of Doctor Who). The formation was actually an asterism known as the Summer Triangle. The color of the nebula and the name of the asterism evoked a desire to make a summer wrap for a friend--she is a coastal sea elf, and loves cool, natural colors. I do beg for your secrecy, professors--it is a surprise gift for our meeting at the end of the month!



History of Magic

The prompt: Craft something that offers a form of protection, even if it won't last.

Professors, many strange and unusual creatures have only one specific environment in which they can survive naturally. Merpeople, for example, must have water to breathe. It made me wonder: could some of these unique alien and magical creatures survive if they had some sort of manufactured protection, such as a suit with water inside?

In my research on the Muggle “winter-net” I found a most interesting documentary, filmed right here the UK. It is called Doctor Who, and even the Muggles seem to believe it. I do doubt some of the practical methods at work in this documentary (after all, Muggles do seem to enjoy a plethora of special effects), but in particular there is one alien race that uses suits to protect themselves in order to move through the galaxy as we do: the Daleks.

I decided to try my hand at reproducing one of these protective casings, and then if successful gift it to a friend in the Ministry of Magic’s Creature Containment division for use and study. I hope that this project meets with your approval, professors!



Muggle Studies

The prompt: Craft something based on a postage stamp (provide picture of stamp).

Good evening, professors! I was very intrigued by your class prompt and immediately went to do some research on (laughably enough) one of those Muggle “winter-net” devices. (I think that’s what they’re called.)

A very helpful incantation known as Google helped me to discover this set of vintage postage stamps:

Which I thought were very simple and lovely. I immediately set about trying to reproduce that style of tree…unfortunately, I’m only a first-year student and…well…I think I shrunk it?

Potions

The prompt: Craft something based on potion ingredients.

Professors, in reading the ingredient list for this potion, I was struck by how many potion ingredients are plant-based. In the interest of finding renewable resources for gathering these ingredients, I have discovered an adorable living sapling that willingly surrenders it’s extra leaves and stray roots for magical use. As it grows, I expect that we might yet discover many new uses for these provided resources, and look forward to the challenge. Here is the little sapling, posed with some of my other potion ingredients.



Transfiguration

The prompt: Craft something in an unusual color (for you or for that something).

Hello professors! I have long been fascinated by the recurring cycles of Muggle fashions and trends throughout their history. As a half-Muggle myself, I recalled with some laughter the tales of my wizarding father and his strange, enchanted VW van. The charm was rather harmless; it changed the outside of the van to whimsical colors and designs whenever the weather would change. My father would drive up and down the west coast, his surfboard strapped to the top of his van…searching for the perfect waves and the perfect girl. For all his Muggle eccentricities, he did meet my mother who was a native of California. She loved art, and his van was no exception. I found a similar representation of his van here:

And thought a simpler, toned down version might be ideal for this assignment. Thus, I charmed my replica to be an unexpected simple, calming blue, better to blend in with the Muggle vehicles of today, and not the days when my parents were cruising up and down the beaches, getting into all kinds of trouble.

I hope you accept my homework, professors. Thank you!

Detention

I’m joining the Hufflepuff yarn bomb here in Detention!

After finicking about with this ridiculous (and might I add next-to-super-unhelpful pattern) hat, I am pleased to show it is finished.

Of course, it’s soft nature is perfect for keeping the noggin warm in all sorts of inclement missions--I mean,weather. Additionally, I invented and added padded bands to encircle the cranium, providing extra armor in order to deflect offensive spells while out in a miss--weather. Of course I meant weather.

Additionally, I will be developing a separate beard that may or may not be able to optionally attach inside the helm for added concealment and costuming for use during missio--confound it, weather!

Ahem.

So as you can see, professors, there are quite a lot of uses for this particular item. And I am so glad it is finished!

Yes, it was a busy, busy month for classes!  Next time, I'll talk a little bit more about Puffopoly, the Hufflepuff game where turning in classes and etc. gets you moves around a Monopoly-like board.

Craft on!

Etho: Six Months in the Making

We're approaching the end of the month, and I'm officially done with turning in homework/missions for imaginary points.

That doesn't mean I don't like it.

But I'm going up to New York for spring break, and since the new month of missions and then quests (we'll get to that in a minute) will begin while I'm away...I've been holding off on some smaller commissions.

But that didn't stop me from turning in an old Etho for Detention at Hogwarts this month:

He's been loafing about in a plastic bag, waiting for a new order to come in for him (or for him to come around on the commission schedule) since a cancellation last year.

Though I'm not 100% sure of the yardage, it's estimated between 1200-1400 yards (someday I will actually have to do a proper measure).  That qualified me for this badge:

And next month, the Harry Potter Knitting and Crochet House Cup will be on hiatus--but I'll be able to sign up for sorting if I so choose!

In the meantime, the new Doctor Who-themed challenge entitled Time Lord Travels begins in April.  I have been put on Team Dalek (Exterminate!) and hope to make some decent contributions to the team.  There are reportedly four quests each month, as well as the over-arching Time Vortex Challenge (like an Away Mission or an OWL).

So in April we're looking at:

- 6 Starfleet missions + Brig + Away Mission
- 4 Timelord quests + ???

I don't have a proposal in place for the Time Vortex Challenge.  I wanted to sign up the next plushie on my commission schedule, but the gal who ordered it isn't sure she can afford him anymore.  So for now I'm planning like she's canceled and I'll have the freedom to work ahead on the next commission, or focus solely on the small ones.

I've packed a few of those to take with me (ponies and monkeys and BTCs oh my!) to NY, and I probably won't be able to blog much while I'm there.

So to you, my faithful readers, I say: Craft and vacay on!

(I'll see you in April!)

Dalek Hanging Towel

I'd had this pattern in my Ravelry library for awhile, and finally had reason to purchase it (and no, not just in response to one of the Harry Potter Knitting and Crochet House Cup prompts).  Both Deevius and DSCA have moved into new houses this past year (their own bought-and-paid-for-not-renting-like-me houses).

Well, nerdy home decor is usually a must!  Plus, I've had some of that Sugar'n'Cream cotton yarn sitting in my stash for awhile now; this was the perfect opportunity to use it up by testing this pattern out!

Thus, for my Flying homework:

VelvetKey presents her project to the grading professors with a tired, yet happy smile.

Professors, sometimes the simplest maneuvers can be the most successful when attempting something as difficult as recovering a small object (such as a snitch, or dragon’s egg). Some broomwork utilizes cover--flying among trees, bridge struts, or other forms of shielding in order to disguise one’s movements.

In my project, I attempted to use the main color of my work to conceal the complimentary color until I was ready to use it, much like a surprise attack. I am pleased with the result, and hope you like it, too!

And the badge featured for this challenge:

Not too shabby for a Monday!

Laterz, craft fiends...I mean, friends!

Exterminate Classically

True story:  I did not know that there were significant differences between the classic Doctor Who daleks and today's modern daleks.

What is a dalek?

They're an alien enemy from the popular BBC series Doctor Who.  The doctors themselves are numbered from One to Twelve, based on which actors played them.

Fun fact:  I am partial to Nine (Christopher Eccleston) and Ten (David Tennant).

I think I would possibly like Twelve (Peter Capaldi), mostly for the fact that he is a diehard fanboy living the dream.  (He used to be the president of the Doctor Who fanclub.)

I've made other dalek plushies before, but they were the modern colored ones.  This time, I was going to make a classic dalek for DSCA, as her Facebook Art Trade this year.

Also, I had a Starfleet mission:

Science Mission:  Use a new technique or a variation on something you've done before.

This was the perfect opportunity!  My post in the Academy:

Though it is late, Cadet VelvetKey just had one or two more diagnostics to run in Engineering on the warp manifolds and the antimatter chamber mix. Figuring she’d stay up, she’d have an opportunity to work on her Science mission. In between watching her readouts and displays, she consulted a multi-screen schematic and began to craft quickly.

Commodore, this is my third time studying this particular schematic. However, there is a subtle nuance in the schematic that I had never tried before: the ‘classic’ subtext, which omits a few of the rows and has different color changes. I wished to try this slight variation, and even cross-referenced the schematic with some images on the Holodeck to be absolutely certain.

Additionally, I was dissatisfied with the way some of the knobular decorations appeared, so out of curiosity I began to experiment with different methods of color change, stitching, and tension. I believe I found a satisfactory compromise and am pleased with the results of my experimentation.

Thank you, Commodore! I hope I have not kept you up too late.

And the final mission picture:

The Panda says he needs a little top hat.

I think a mustache and monocle would need to be part of the ensemble.

Continue to enjoy your weekend!  Craft on!

Facebook Art Trades 2014 - #1

So I've been promising this post for awhile; it just took me a long time to get pictures!

On January 8th of this year, I copied and pasted the following status to my Facebook:

"I'm trying something different this year!

Welcome to Pay It Forward art-making project for 2014:

I promise to make a small work of art for the first five people who comment on this post and say "YES, I want in". A 'like' alone is not enough of a commitment, nor is a comment about thinking Pay It Forward is a great idea.


You must in turn post this as your status update and make something for the first five who comment on your status.

* The rules are simple: it has to be your work, made by you, and the recipient must receive it before 2014 ends.

* It can be anything art-based: a drawing or a conceptual work of art and anything in between. See? SIMPLE.

Yes, you can be on each other's pay it forward lists."

I had to check and make sure that crochet items counted as "art"...since I think of it more as a "craft".

Anyway, I had five sign-ups!

...let's not even examine the fact that it is now December of 2014 and I've only finished three of the five projects.

Moving on...

I had signed up for one of my former professors' art trades; when I was in grad school, I was prepping to teach English in China, so I took Cultural Anthropology, as well as History of Asia in the same semester.  I didn't know that the same doctor taught both classes, so it ended up that I saw her every day of the week for an entire semester.

She's an amazing lady; also a little bit of a geek.  She loves Doctor Who and frequently referenced it in the class my husband took from her, a special class about the concept of time throughout history.

So...I had already successfully completed the red Dalek for Deevius for her birthday during the summer.  What could be simpler than doing another?

Thus, I set out on the quest to create...The Purple Dalek.

Cuddly extermination may commence.

Throw in some Lego figures for scale.

Pretty good!

We met up at a Starbucks near my workplace and must have spent an hour just catching up and talking.  She had her art trade for me:

Fabulous handmade cards, and white shell jewelry!

I'm a huge fan of the abalone shell beads.  There's a particular store in Charleston, SC that I have to stop in whenever I'm in town that sells long strings of them.  I loved everything about this gift!

Thank you, Dr. S!

More on other art trades in a future post...

Happy Birthday Deevius! - Part Two

So Deevius and I attended the SC Comicon together, along with Midori, and I knew she was looking at LEGO minifigs as well as vintage toys.  But I also caught her checking prices on sonic screwdriver replicas.

Well, caught off-guard as I was by her birthday, I went to my fall-back plan: the Panda's Amazon Prime membership, which promises free 2-day shipping on select merchandise from participating sellers.

I began my research!  I knew that I wanted a replica that not only lit up, but made the sonic noise, too.  I think I went through two or three listings before I came across the only one that made noise:

Courtesy of Barnes & Noble.com

I remembered seeing a Doctor Who display in the local Barnes & Noble, however, so I did a price comparison.  With tax, I would only be spending a dollar or so more at a brick-and-mortar location, and not have to worry about shipping mishaps.

And then!

And then...

I remembered that I had an old, ancient giftcard from some friends.  (Like, 2011, 2012 era.)

(Of course, there was a warning on the back of the card saying that after 12 months of inactivity, the company would deduct $1.50/month.  I sent the Panda to the store with it anyway.)

Success!  The full amount was there!  Boo-yah!

But it wasn't enough!  I am famous for handmade craftsies; Deevius is one of my main cohorts in crime!  I couldn't let her down...

So on Friday (we celebrated on the following Monday) I went through Ravelry in search of free Doctor Who related patterns.  

(I am fabulous at last-minute panics.)

I took the pattern I chose and appropriate yarn colors with me to Shadowmoor (since my character has a RP Skill - Weaving: Crochet tag, I can crochet while in play and have a good reason for doing so).

Yes, I did have to give Deevius a not-yet-finished project.

But the final result is totally worth the effort!

Pattern by Lucy Ravenscar here.

And of course I couldn't leave well enough alone:

Dalek:  EXTERMINATE!!

Etho:  ...?  Kurt...someone here to see you...

I tweeted a similar picture to Kurt and Etho, as well as put it up on Deviant Art.  If I'm lucky, I'll be able to get a picture of Deevius with the Dalek before she moves north.  ^_^

SC Comicon 2014 - Part 2

So now we come to the brief, post-picnic-lunch section, where Deevius was able to see again, and we tried to get pictures of any amazing costumes we had missed.

Spiderman

Gambit & Rogue

The Tallest Jawa Ever

Lucy Heartfilia (Fairytail)

Fun story: I went up to this gal as she was turning

to walk away, and I tapped her shoulder and said,

"Lucy!  Can I get a picture of you?"

This girls's smile was the most brilliant thing I've

ever seen, which is what encourages me to try doing

a complete cosplay at a con in the future.

(She even let me pick which key she held in the picture--I picked Loke.)

The other two remote-controlled R2-D2s.

(This one snuck up behind me when I was photographing the Jawa.)

Also, a huge shout-out to Midori, who toted plushie Etho around with her for most of the day (barring the fifteen minutes where I was holding him and not taking photos).  She was amazing; every person that inquired about him, she pulled out the small stack of business cards I'd given her, and managed to give away all but four.

(It's my dream, maybe in a couple years, to be able to have a booth of my very own at a con like that.  Cuz that would be awesome!)

And it was pretty legit; one little girl came right up to Midori and said, "I like your Etho."  (Major WIN right there!)

Most other people recognized Etho as 'Kakashi' from Naruto, even if they didn't understand the reference to Minecraft via the redstone torch he had pinned to his left hand.

Here he is with me, posing in front of the "official" SC Comicon badge:

The one other thing we had to do was get Deevius in the Batmobile.  There was no way she was leaving without photographic proof:

Everything inside was labeled "Bat_____".

So, my goodies from the con included:

Tile coasters featuring the TARDIS in other fandoms.

This is Narnia and Middle Earth.

(The artist was out of his Shire coasters.)

Deevius got Middle Earth and the bridge of the Enterprise, c. 1969.

Amazing wooden charms for all fandoms.

Clearly, I went with Legend of Zelda.

Deevius went with Captain America, and chose the necklace option.

The artist also had everything from Marvel to DC, Naruto, and many more.

But there were all kinds of toys, models, shirts--and of course, boxes and boxes of comics.  I wish I had had the presence of mind to ask about some of my retired/vintage/internationally-published collections that I'm trying to finish (namely 'ElfQuest' and 'Asterix and Obelix').

There's always next year! 

So my next con...hmm...I've been invited to MineCon 2014, to speak as a member of the Broken Buttons if they are able to host a custom map-making panel.

But, as the Panda would say:  "There are 3,249 things that have to happen in order.  We are on 8.  You're talking about number 2,796."

Still, he was kind enough to photograph my arms before I became a normal person instead of a crazy fangirl:

Silence will fall.

(But only because I tripped Deevius.)

Until next time, where we'll get back to Minecraft crochet discussions.  ^_~

SC Comicon 2014 - Part 1

Because there's just too many pictures and information for one post!

This past weekend in South Carolina (Greenville, to be precise) I attended my first ever convention!

My friend Deevius and I had been modifying her previously-gray mask into something a little more Silence-y, and I had intended on going as a 'victim' of the Silence so that people would have a better idea of what she was.

(I was also her handler, chief photographer, and Mouth of Silence (yes, it's a lame Mouth of Sauron reference)).

The con opened at 10:00 a.m., and we actually arrived around 11:00.  Since Deevius was our driver, we suited her up in the parking lot and then joined the long queue outside the door (it went down the hill from the doors, and wrapped halfway along the building on the sidewalk).

Thankfully, a helpful staff member came along the line and told those of us that had pre-ordered our tickets (Midori had one of those) or had Will Call reservations (that would be Deevius and I) we could step out of line and go up to the right.

Thus, instead of waiting out in the hot sun with our black-suited Silence in what I'm sure was a very warm mask, we were able to jump ahead and spend only ten minutes or so waiting to pick up our wristbands.

Disclaimer: yes, it was a "comic" con.  No, I don't know anything about comics.  I was there primarily to see how things work at one of these events.

No sooner had we gotten inside and plotted our route through the many aisles, then Deevius had her first request for a photo.  (And then I saw what Mike the Coworker meant about people stopping for photos.)

I was very glad that I hadn't worn a more obvious outfit for my first con.  Since I'm an introvert, that kind of attention from strangers would have severely unnerved me.  Deevius (although she had her mask on) played it all off as natural, and just rocked every photo request she had. (Even though a fair few asked if she was a Slenderman.)

Here are the ones I managed to catch:

Amy Pond cosplay; every time she saw Deevius after

that, she drew another tally mark on her arms.

The Riddler

The 11th Doctor and Sherlock

Miss Captain America

And then, every so often in her Silent, lurky way, Deevius would tap us on the shoulders, or gesture madly with her three fingers per hand and indicate that she wanted photos with some of the other cosplayers:

Captain Jean-Luc Picard

Random stranger with the name "Pond" on the back

of her sweatshirt; she wasn't cosplaying, but she

said her friends would refer to her as Amy Pond.

Wonder Woman

Stormtrooper

(We had to hunt for him.)

Grumpy R2-D2

(He kept chasing people.)

I think we spent more time messing around with photographs than actually stopping at all of the booths/stalls, but none of us knew that much about comics, so the majority of the stalls didn't have that much appeal to us.

However, the vendors with artsy stuff, toys, and other goods for sale warranted a lengthier look.  Tomorrow I'll share the lootz I got away with (and all for less than $20!) as well as the pictures from the 1960s Batmobile.

At about 1:00 we headed back to the car, where we had left our cooler with our packed lunches, and Deevius took off her mask and was able to see the con in it's beautiful entirety.  ^_^

Part 2 tomorrow!