Quidditch Ideas - What? Cowls!

Hullo, Gryffies! Here's another list of quick Quidditch projects. We all love cowls for their ease and speed, and they are economical when it comes to using yarn, so why not make a few cowls instead of scarves for charity?

First, the knit patterns.

• The Birthday Cowl is a quick knit using worsted weight.  (I made one for myself using DK weight!)
• Use bulky weight for a Quickie Cowl.
• The Darkside Cowl is elegant, but totally unisex.
• DK weight makes a light but warm Spiral Cowl.
• Burnished Leaves is delicate and feminine in a sport weight.
• You can use any yarn for the Malabrigo Neck Thingie.
• The Gloria Cowl calls for fingering weight, but it would be simple to use a heavier yarn.
• Use a variegate bulky for the Chickadee Cowl - fun and colourful!
• I love A Noble Cowl.
• Simplicity is a good thing as evidenced by Cap'n Crunch.

Unfortunately for us crocheters, there are far fewer patterns to choose from!  Here are a few I liked:

• The Convertible Cowl is simple and easy.
• Any yarn would work for the One Row Lace Cowl.
• Try bulky for the Crimson Ridge Cowl.
• The DK weight using in the Cardiff Cowl keeps the fabric nice and light.
• The Calm Cowl is so versatile!
• I love the Crosshatch Cowl.
• Baby, It's Cowled Outside!
• The Flexi Cowl looks like a good candidate for changing the gauge!
• The Wiffley-Waffley Cowl almost looks knit!
• Who says charity clothes have to be boring?  I'm thinking Ringo is both fun and practical!

Alrighty, then, Gryffindor!  Love you all, and I'll be back with more patterns next week!  :)

Feburary Class Recs for HoM and CoMC

Hello Everyone! Sorry I'm so late with these this month! Next month I promise to do better. Without further ado here are some suggestions for HoM and CoMC this month:

HoM is all about sweets this month. It can be something inspired by candy, or something that happens to you after you eat magical candy. Bonus points for using one of the listed holidays: Plum Pudding Day, Half-Price Chocolate Day, Gumdrop Day and Chocolate Mint Day.
Tiny Candy Corn (k)
Candy Cane Hat (k)
Candy Dish Scruby (k)
Candy Pillow (k)
Tiny Candies (k)
Pinwheel Candy (c)
Box of Chocolates (c)
Bon Bons (c)
Peppermint Coasters (c)

CoMC this month is all about the brightly colored Fwooper! Anything brightly colored/patterned works. Or anything that is beautiful or annoying. Or something to protect your ears from the noise. Lots of options here. Anything in a bright colored yarn would work, any type of hat (look at last month's recommendations for DADA, HoM and Flying for hat patterns) And then anything you find beautiful or annoying! Since it's nearly the end of the month I'm going to post a couple things in each category that shouldn't take too long to do. I'm not including anything for annoying since each person finds different things annoying, and for most people it won't be something quick!
Bright Colors (make these with bright colored yarn):
Heart Bookmark (c)
Bookmarks (k)
Basket weave Headband (k)
Beautiful (this is in the eye of the beholder):
Little Black Clutch (k)
Butterfly Washcloth (c)
Heart and Lace Mitts (k)Shell Stitch Baby Beanie (c)
Ear Protection:
Thorpe (k) (comes together very quickly)One Hour Ear Warmer (k)
Kirsten Hat (c)


Hope these suggestions help those of you looking for a last minute project to fit into a class!

Quidditch Ideas - What? Hats!

Okay, so WHAT can you make?  Let me see if I can break this down a bit.  :)  For this post, we'll talk HATS!

Everyone thinks of hats.  In fact, so many people immediately think hats that sometimes charities run short of things like socks, scarves, gloves, blankets, and other things.  So do consider that before you make hats!  ;P  Many of the charities listed above accept hats.  So, some free hat patterns (Ravelry links):

• Hermione's Cable & Eyelet Hat (she did make hats for the House Elves, after all!)
• Turn A Square is simple and easy, and good for leftovers!
• Thorpe is warm and cozy, and, being top down, is great for stretching your yardage!
• Felicity is simple and elegant.
• This lace-edged woman's hat is lovely, and perfect for cancer patients.
• Shroom will work up FAST and warm!
• How about A Better Bucket?
• The Star-Crossed Slouchy Beret is on my list of must knits!
• Foliage works with multiple yarn weights!

Oh no, she's forgotten crocheters!  Not true!  How about:

• The Husband Hat is simple and clean.
• Want a lace hat?
• Divine Hat is pretty pretty.
• I love the Nubby Brim Cloche!
• A free, crochet take on Koolhaas?  Try the Diamond Ridges Hat.
• I love this puff stitch crochet beret!
• The Gulf Shores Hat is a perfect chemo hat.
• The Shell Brimmed Cloche is elegant!
• The Flowerpot Hat is darling!
• Kirsten is reminiscent of Thorpe!

Baby hats!  :D  Oh, fiddlesticks, I can't choose!  Take a look!

Oh, just for fun, a few headbands:

• The Quick Winter Headband is crocheted using your choice of stitch!
• Everyone loves Calorimetry!
• Learn entrelac with Quant!
• I love the grace of the Blue Leaf Headband.
• Bamboozled is surprisingly easy, and a great way to get comfy with cables.
• Isn't Portsmouth elegant?
• A lovely fair isle headband!
• The Hilda Headband is very pretty and queenly.
• I love the Lattice Cabled Headband!
• This Basketweave Headband looks nice and simple.

That's it for this round, Gryffs!  Keep crafting!  Maybe, just maybe, we'll earn the House and Quidditch Cups both this year!

A Massive CRR! pgs 276- 303

Hey all! sorry it's taken me so long to update everyone! It's been quite crazy around here. so on with it.......

Aikaterini is asking for some pattern choice help. JJ went to the MVP parade and shared photos with us! it looks like fun! FF got a great Owl Post package. Oh pretty pretty pretty! Jedi's got a plan! Mauri's updating her's KQ our spindle master has some spindle links for you to check out. NK's bringing out the laughs. OKC's shouting. and a Baby Bump! This is totally awesome. TKJ's dreams sound like fun! Color me jealous. NK's got some awesome batts and spinning going on. The magic of lace! SLL shares some great photos of ice sculptures. PennyIA updated us with her progress. Oh prizes! AmyPC's Owl is coming along very nicely. The headmisstress challenge is up. SLY updates us on her progress too. Jaji shared her son's beautiful wedding cake! So what do you think? Can Miss Piggy save the world? Congrats to Flykytten for earning a Roaring Lion Badge.  A quidditch report. Siriusly needs help fitting a project into a class. Are candles made from crayons safe? K1207 is 50% on her Owl! a ZhuZhu pet cozy. Pretty Rhondaletts! PennyIA's OWL is beautiful! More lovely spinning from NK
That should catch you up for now.

Quidditch Ideas - Who?

Good morning, Gryffindor!  Wow, it's been too long, hasn't it?  I hope your week and month are going well!  I wanted to share some nice patterns, and give you ideas of what to make and where to send.  This is the first in a series of posts.  :D

First, WHO can you give to?  Any local charity is good, or perhaps your local hospital, homeless shelter, old folks home, church, or even Goodwill!  ;P  Other ideas include:

• Isis' HoH Challenge 
• Knit A Square 
• Caps for Good 
• Bundles of Joy (Rav link)
• The Salvation Army (US link) and Salvos (Australia)
• The Comfort Doll Project 
• The Special Olympics Scarf Project 
• Secours Catholique 
• Blankets4Canada 
• Mother Bear Project
• Afghans for Afghans
• Super Scarves
• Operation Christmas Child (US) and (UK)
• Angel Tree
• Apparently, your local fire fighters or police may carry "comfort" stuffies around when responding to calls, for children.  Call them up and ask!
• Need more ideas?  Check out Wikipedia's list of charities!
• Have a favorite charity that isn't listed?  Post a comment and let me know!  :D

My charity of choice is Operation Christmas Child.  My church runs an AWANA program, and every fall we host a regional shoebox drive!  It's incredible to watch, but I am usually scrambling to participate!  This year, I intend to be ready when shoebox time comes around!  ;)

Next post, I'll be listing some handy (and free!) patterns you can use.

Roar, Gryffindor!

Astronomy -- February 2011

This month in Astronomy we celebrate February. Here are a few projects in honor of Valentine’s Day ♥:

Sweetheart Bag (k)
Polly Jean (k)
Sweetheart Socks (k)
February Baby Hat (k)
Heart on a String (k)
Heart Sachet Pillow (c)
Crochet Valentine (c)
Little Hearts (k)
Love Hearts (c)
Grandma’s Favorite Heart-Shaped Dishcloth -- revised (k)
Be My Dishcloth (k)

Lets play catch up pgs 241-275

We continue to analyze the HP books. And we have one proud mama! (though who wouldn't be?) Frick is making me hungry! (I'm sure you are now too!) Give some applause to Tabbiekat she got a Roaring Lion Badge. CS wants to remind you about the spinning contest. Sparty's got a plan, so does Icejewel, WH,  Straayerliz, PennyIA,   We started talking about cupcakes of betrayal and all that jazz. Reality Check. Food Fight? Oh pretty Frick! Good thing RG is a knitter! Follow the links to find a list of all the books from Transfig. AI's first baby sweater. Rondaletts is making a shawl and she's got some pretty good progress on it so far! NesterKnitter finished some homework. AmyPc's first color work. It's awesome! Alexist proves it's super duper cold! Look at the twins. Look at them as kidlets. Can you suggest a good ball winder? A Roaring Lion Badge reminder. Fuzzie would like some help winning a prize. The quidditch reporter needs your help. Congrats Marui! I finished some of my yarn for my NEWT. it's so pretty I just had to share.Who was asking about warm mittens?
SM brought cake and fire whiskey. There's a few people taking about fan fic. A77 is 50% on one of her OWLs and almost there with her other! Good job! DD made a really cute hat! AmyPC made a really sweet bag. CS wows us with her amazing sewing skillz! The frog cards are starting to go up. You know what that means! The sock challenge started today. Awww how sweet. Superbowl adds. TKJ that is totally awesome!!! One more add.
And that catches you up
until next time!

Someone Should've Told Me! pgs 212-240

I'm sitting here on this icy day on the computer. I should be knitting or something.. but alas... I'm procrastinating as per usual. I can't believe it's been this long since I've updated ya'll on the CR happenings. Well actually I can as it's the end of the month and EVERYONE (me included) is trying to finish up their projects. Well today is Feb 1 so that starts a new month. Ok on with the CRR.
CK shared a link to a book about a mitten. The great cupcake betrayal and a fun uplifting post shared by GG.
Here's a fun housewife's cure for strep throat. SM was looking for info on librarians and college courses. She got some wonderful insight and info. if you're interested please click the links and follow the convo. Covington has updated us on Quidditch. RayOLR encourages you to knit as much as you can for Quidditch and mentions an extra side challenge. NesterKnitter needed help linking her project page up to the pattern. and NK found it for her. She also knit some black socks. CS shared some pretty awesome fingerless mitts and that mug is AWESOME!!! (i sooo need to get one!) FlyKitten found her camera! RG is giving an English lesson. A77 had a poll as to what to knit. FK is using her handspun. Hey look it's my mom. Hey Sparty! This is your reminder! Work on your OWLs. FF, stay sane! we're here for you and we're crossing our fingers. CK had a b-day and NK gave her a card... well almost. JJ made some beautiful yarn. Have you guys seen how nice draco is growing up? Frick has a lovely reminder about those yardage bonus. Read it and then read it again and take it to heart! we want to win this term! Beautiful socks Siriusly! YOWZA Hot HOH! Oh pretty colors. I'm easily distracted by colors! Quidditch Report. Lovely Chris01. just lovely! CS that is beautiful! And that swap package is awesome! Lupingirl!!!! this diadem is AWESOME. Anyone hungry? Free Pattern Alert! Here come the planners: FK, Mauri, DD, DragonCelt, AiK, KJH,ADL, and SLY. (i'm not that organized) There was a short and interesting convo about Draco.. click the replies follow it. Chocolate Frog Announcement. Frick would like you to think outside the box. please! Tabbiekat that is awesome!
Don't get anxious please be patient with the Professors. Grades will be posted by the 7th.
and PG 240 is mostly me talking so i'm not linking. It just goes to show that I can't control myself when writing these CRR's I have to comment... sorry people! I'm a chatterbox. and you're caught up.
C-ya next time!