House Cup Happenings!

Welcome to this edition of House Cup Happenings!

We've got some fabulous projects showcased as always and I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I did!

See you next time!

Advanced Studies Update

Welcome to February, Advanced Studies Students!

Here is some information about our esteemed OWL students!

Felix Felicis Friday: February Edition

Welcome to the February 2012 edition of Felix Felicis Friday!

First, we must award January's prize!

Our question was: The Malfoy family is one of the most well-known and affluent wizarding families. Narcissa Malfoy, the family matriarch, is a dedicated follower of fashion. If you had to craft one item of ‘high wizarding fashion’ clothing, so as to blend in at the Malfoy’s annual New Years Ball, what would you create and why?

And the winning response: "I would make a tapestry-patterned sash to wear Czarina Alexandra-style over a ridiculously expensive dress robe. No excuse to look like anything less than royalty at a party full of wizarding society's elite."

This response comes to us from none other than the talented TheHysterian!  I will PM you with instructions on how to claim your prize!

And now for February's Felix Felicis quesiton!

In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Ron eats chocolates given to Harry by Romilda Vane. These chocolates were laced with Amorentia, the most powerful love potion in the world. Ron quickly succumbs to feelings of deep affection for Romilda and must be taken to Professor Slughorn for a cure. If you had a vial of Amortentia, upon whom would you want to use it?



Leave your answer along with your RavelryID in the comments for a chance to win a prize!

Best of Luck!

Your Editor-In-Chief,
AbbyEBee

Tutorial Tuesday: English vs. Continental

Do you throw or pick?  I do both, and find it helpful to know how to do both in doing colorwork.

If you only know how to do one or the other but want to learn a second way, read on!

Are you a crocheter who's wanted to learn to knit, Continental might be just the ticket for you!  Continental has you holding your yarn in your left hand just like you do when you crochet.

When I learned to knit, I learned English style, or "throwing."  In this style, you wrap the yarn around the knitting needle with your right hand.  Here's a tutorial on English knitting.

Last Christmas, I decided to make scarves for everyone in my family.  This took a lot of time.  To make things go faster, I decided to learn how to knit Continental, or to "pick" the yarn through the stitches.  The following video was the most helpful for me in learning to knit Continental.

Happy Crafting from your Blog Team!

Hogwarts After Hours: Slytherin Edition

That's right.

You've got it.

Hogwarts After Hours.

A cross between the forboten and an afterschool special.
When I'm not devoting my blog space to Quidditch, I'll be focusing on things going down in the Houses.

Fun stuff that you may wish to check out!

This week I'll focus on the Noble house of Slytherin! Without giving away too many secrets of course.

If you've wanted to make a clapotis, there is the clap-a-long. But it is not just for knitters. We have discovered the crocheted version, the clapochet. So if you knit or crochet, you are welcome to join us.

Then there is a Spin-a-long if you are so inclined!

And for the more risque out there you can join in the fun with the Lingerie-a-long.

As you can see we have something for everyone in the Pit.

Next time I'll show you another house and what's happening at HOGWARTS AFTER HOURS!

Cheers!
AuntTalllah

Advanced Studies Update: NEWTs

The NEWT proposal deadline has come and gone and we have our Winter 2012 NEWT cohort!

A little information about NEWTs from Chief Examiner BadAmy:

The Ministry of Magic is pleased to announce that students who have successfully completed four (4) Ordinary Wizarding Level Examinations (OWLs) are eligible to sit a Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test (NEWT). One NEWT will earn your House 350 points. NEWTS are involved projects, using any of the Ravelry sanctioned crafts, which require consistent effort for three to four months.
To earn a NEWT, the student must demonstrate full mastery of a pair of subjects by creating an item or items that not only exceeds the OWL-level minimums for each chosen subject but somehow connects them. In simpler language:
1 NEWT = 2 related complex OWLs worth of work.

Our Winter 2012 cohort includes:


Autumnleaf77, Cindiknits, EvilMichelle, greenheron, Hopesclan, Jajigirl, LNS, Lupingirl, Mauri, MightyGoodYarn, Naturallyknitty, SFCorgi, & Stitchywitchy

I've taken the liberty to do some data analysis about the current term's NEWT students and their subjects.

We've even had some progress posted!

SFCorgi's Delius

naturallyknitty's stocking

Autumnleaf77's Earth square

Good luck, NEWTlings!  I can't wait to see what else you craft!

Which NEWT is your NEWT-to-watch?