WIP Wednesday: Marching Along

We had an impromptu KAL. Surprise! The last Quidditch event of the Winter 2015 term of the Harry Potter Knitting and Crochet House Cup on Ravelry was a speed event. We were given a list of patterns and could choose to knit or crochet one of the patterns as fast as we could within a given time frame. The faster you completed your item the more points you earned. I decided a couple days into the race to participate so I stalked Cyprienne to see which pattern she picked from the list. She picked the knitted hat pattern, Barley. I love knitting hats so I decided to go for it. Every day, something happened to keep me from working on the hat. You can read about my adventures here if you are so inclined. This hat pattern is simple and would have been a quick knit if I hadn't run into so many personal difficulties. Will I knit another? Maybe but probably not. I would say it's a good pattern for someone knitting a hat in the round for the first time but I have other hat patterns I'd rather knit multiple times.

The Barley Hat was barley'd on my end as well -- for some reason I decided that stopping everything else in the world and making a hat was an excellent idea, so I got finished in a day with much less drama overall!  Slouchy hats make me look like some sorta goiter tried to grow out the back of my head, so I cuffed the brim to turn it into a beanie; the gray is quite pretty and the hat was very quickly stolen by my daughter... she has yet to return it.

I managed to finish (!!) my Rosebud shawl, but I don't have many beauty shots yet, so you'll have to forgive me.  The weighing of the yarn proved to be foolproof and I was able to squeak out an extra Chart B repeat before edging and binding off with seven grams to spare -- phew!  The red is just so gorgeous.

AND the Hooded Cape of DOOM continues a-pace as my sole project for as long as I can stand it.
My finish-before-April desperation ramps up daily...

Ravenclaw Report: A Short Report for a Short Month

When we last met our heroines, they were adapting to Gryffindor extroverts and pride culture...

I still haven't managed to participate in my Pride as much as I'd like. Even so, I'm enjoying getting notifications to collect my Chocolate Frog Cards and badges. There certainly are lots of tags and events to keep track of but doing so means you get a badge for every thing you do. Yay, badges! It kind of feels like getting a sticker on your graded homework. Sigh. I miss the days of collecting stickers. Now I don't have to miss those days because today is the day of badges for everything!

Yes, the badges have been fun -- especially since only Gryffindors get collectible Chocolate Frogs! -- but all the tracking is leaving me a little confused.  At the beginning of term I was asked to declare a goal number for my total yarn usage, and I was absolutely flummoxed as to both why it was necessary and how I would even begin to know what was right for me!  I understand tracking one's points (obvs), but why track yardage?  Maximizing class bonus points?  Maybe.  I'll go along with it... For The Mantel!

What have we learned so far?

• In a departure from previous terms, this term's Gryffindor pride groupings are named after a type of dragon, rather than a type of candy?  The deal with that: we're dragontrainers.  Each pride gets a baby dragon to train.  It's pretty serious business (srs bidness).
• The Marauder's Mission challenges for this term are similar to Ravenclaw moonpaths and prefect challenges, but they take the pledge-a-point-total concept a bit further by introducing a group challenge aspect.  Deathly Hallows Missions allow for group pledges in points, yardage, and storytelling to inspire maximum pride in one's efforts at Hogwarts.
• Apparently there's usually Bingo, and the WIP the First detention challenge, and something called Trolley Treats...  all of these are absent in Gryffindor this term, so if you want to know more, that research is on you.  :)

Phoenix Pheature: Cast On!

I'm loving the Rosebud shawl already and it's only the beginning!  HSpoon and I are both using bright red laceweight, because of course we are, and my yarn is a merino/silk blend -- a welcome change from the monster cowl's Allergen Central experience.

Triangular lace shawls without beading are my wheelhouse, so it's just zipping along, being awesome and cheery and just what I need for such a short, cold month!  I grabbed some US6 needles by mistake (I thought they were US4s but NOPE); fingers crossed I don't run out of yarn.

I'm very excited to finally be starting this shawl. I've owned the pattern for a couple years and have had it in the back of my mind as something I wanted to make eventually. Well now the time has finally come. I love my yarn choice, Misti Alpaca Lace in the color lipstick. The yarn is lovely to touch and the color is lovely to see. It's a win-win!

 

Webchat cast on -- FOR THE MANTEL!

Ravenclaw Report: the View from Gryffindor Tower

When we last met our heroines, they were adjusting to a new life in a new House at Hogwarts...

I hadn't realized until this term how comfortable I had become in Ravenclaw. There we were sorted into Dorms by year so as time went on, the dorm turned into a core group of people with guests in and out from term to term. Cyprienne's and my dorm consisted of mostly introverts who enjoyed sharing WIP (work in progress) pictures and personal life tidbits. In Gryffindor, students are divided into sizable Prides with discussion themes for each day. I have found my pride to consist of several chatty extroverts. I haven't been as intentional about getting to know my pride-mates as I had intended and hope to rectify this over the rest of the term.

In addition to getting to know my pride, there is a lot to learn about the ins and outs of Gryffindor. There are all sorts of missions to inspire participation, particularly since Gryffindor is making a big push to win the House Cup this term. Overall, everything is just so new and I'm still adjusting. I find myself focusing more on my knitting and less on the game which is an acceptable approach but not exactly in the spirit of exploring the houses. Fortunately there is still plenty of time for me to become more familiar with Gryffindor House and this lovely group of extroverts.

I have used more exclamation points this term then in all previous terms combined...  that may not be an actual stat, but it feels like it sometimes!!  (Regular sentences get one exclamation mark!  Two punctuation points mean I'm here to party and feeling emphatic!!)

I was lucky enough to get swept into the Common Room during the later half of December.  I came bearing cookies -- the legendary Gryffindor sweet tooth? not exaggerated! everything from disappointment to a dissertation is celebrated with ice cream -- and they've consistently pulled me back in throughout the term with Martin Freeman gifs...  a gateway nugget to convince me to ROAR! and drink the kool-aid, perhaps?

What have we learned so far?

• There is a definite culture of excitedly Doing.All.The.Things, with copious yardage-tracking and tagging of posts and badges, badges, badges
• This term, Gryffindor has put WIP the First on the back burner -- with a new focus on Advanced Studies proposals, the Lions are keeping pace with Ravenclaw and Slytherin!  Surprised?  Don't be.  It's no accident.
• In Ravenclaw, the Common Room is the chatty place to be while the Dorms are where the low-key discussions happen. In Gryffindor, the Common Room is less chatty and the Prides are where all the action resides.