Wednesday, October 26, 2011

A Charity Roar, Featuring Slothmuffin!

In this edition of A Charity Roar, we're featuring the amazing work of Slothmuffin, aka Kathleen!


Slothmuffin whipped up this gorgeous Olivia's Hat while watching Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows in September, and fell in love with the pattern while crocheting! This hat was added to her donation pile for the Children Of Pine Ridge, a charity many other Gryffindors knit and crochet for as well!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

An Interview with BarknKnit

So I'm the random interviewer for Gryffindor this term. That means I get to interview people and ask them random questions and you get to read the answers.So pull up a chair and grab some coffee or tea and let's get to know each other.
What’s your Rav name? Barknknit
What do the muggles call you? Natalie or Gnat
What year are you in the HC? Firstie!
What you do in muggle world? I am a customer support specialist for a web company.
Do you knit, crochet, or spin? Tri-craftual? Bi-craftual? I would say I’m Tri-craftual in that I knit, spin, and can sew. However, on several occasions I have learned to crochet so I guess I could be quad-craftual.

What’s your fave craft? I guess I would have to say knitting because it’s what I do most of but if I could bring my spinning wheel with me everywhere it would be a tie.
Do you have a fave project to date? Again I can’t just pick 1. :) My all time favorite project would be my wedding shawl. It was my very first lace project and it was for such a special day. But there are two other projects of note. The toddler hoodie I recently knit for my daughter babybarknknit was my first steeking project and turned out so cute! And I also have to mention the vest I made my dad because none of my knitting gifts have ever been received by a more appreciative recipient and he wears it all the time even though he lives in Panama. :) 
What Inspires You? My inspiration comes from my family and friends. I really enjoy knitting for those around me, however, when I first started knitting no one in my family understood why I knit when I live in Florida! It took us having a really cold front come through two years ago and when I had all kinds of lovely handknits they all asked where were theirs. I’ve since started a slow process of knitting everyone in the family something and for the record I am part of a very large Latin family so this is going to take a while. Ravelry.com is another big inspiration! Even before the greatness that is the House Cup for inspiration, I have always trolled the new and old patterns on rav as well as checked out my friends activity on a regular basis. I have found many of my favorite projects by looking through rav. I have also been known to find inspiration by listening or watching podcasts. It’s great to hear or see what others are knitting and how they make the pattern their own.
Do you have a green thumb? I wouldn’t say I don’t but I wouldn’t say I do. :) When I have planted things or had plants in the house, I have always managed to keep them alive but we moved a bunch for a while and I ended up not investing a lot of time in planting new things. I have been wanting to start a small vegetable garden for sometime but our backyard needs a lot of work before this would be able to happen.
Are you a good speller? Thankfully spell check and Google exist. :)
What kind of critters are you scared / nervous of? spiders, snakes, cockroaches and anything else that is creepy and crawly give me the creeps!
Do you collect anything? What? Other than yarn and fiber, the only other collections I have are books of all sorts and Willow Tree figurines! I love them and only have a few but they are my favorite!
What is something that makes you cringe? Scary movies!! They make me cringe so much I refuse to watch them!
Do you have any weird habits? What? My weirdest habit is that I talk to my dogs like they can respond to me. I will have full on conversations with the both of them.
What is the first thing you think of when you wake up in the morning? Can I please sleep just a couple more mins? 

Thank you so much for the interview.  If you'd like to be interviewed PM StarKnits.

Friday, October 14, 2011

This Week on the Seventh Floor!

Good afternoon, fellow lions!

Those of us on the Blog Staff have decided that we really want to make this blog about you. We want to showcase your projects, brag about your ginormous hearts, and get to know you even better. So, as part of this mission, I'm bringing you our first installment of "This Week on the Seventh Floor!" Basically, I'm going to post at least one Gryffie project (that was turned in this week) from every class/event currently going on in the House Cup! Prepare yourselves for the splendor that is GRYFFINDOR! ROAR!


Abitknottie turned in these gorgeous socks for Ancient Runes:


For charms this month, Knitkitsune used legilimency on Luna Lovegood and made these beautiful hair clips to suit her personality perfectly.




For DADA this month, Binkette55 made this adorable baby sweater! So cute! Mindless knitting at it's most precious!




Lovesockwool washed her New Moon handspun for Potions! Love it!




Alexist created this target to practice aiming for zombies for CoMC!




Jrf1977 finally revealed that she is an animagus--a purple dragon--for Transfiguration!




WoolenHorse made this beautiful Calorimetry (from Knitty) for Muggle Studies!




Mcoolidge made this super cute rainbow monster to symbolize the fractal nature of clouds for Arithmancy.




For Detention this month, SherryHarrison finished this Halloween shawl!




Intallcotton turned in this hypogryff as part of her CoMC OWL:




RiverCameron completed Task 2 of the Triwizard Tournament with this stunning air-inspired scarf!




Keep up the awesomeness, Gryffindors!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Chemo Tremo or the one where we forget to introduce ourselves. Ep 6





As promised here are our show notes!


MoJo/No MoJo...

Jessica:








Allena had no MoJo...


WIP's-



Jessica




Allena





To spin or not to spin- 



Jessica




Allena










This month we are sponsored by Alina Shea Creations    (Gryffindor's very own ) .... there's a contest to win some of her yarn! listen to the podcast to see what you need to do!







you can win this!:






Listen to the podcast to get a coupon code to get 15% off of your order! (club members will still receive an additional 10% off their order after it is placed through paypal!)





Gym- 



Jessica


  • getting back on track! did about 6 times since last podcast!
Allena

  • on track with 3x a week.... Jessica's going to send her some roving if she does what she wants to, ie, 3x week

Questions:



What do you want to know about other Gryffies Allena interviews?
Have ideas for the blog?!... go and PM HermioneWeasley!
KAL!.... have ideas?.... we are thinking shawl.... 












Other linkage-

Tour de Sock  (rav group)
If you would like to be a sponsor for a month please PM one of us! We can review your shop/pattern/yarn/fiber.... host a contest for you or anything... just let us know!





























Monday, October 10, 2011

A Charity Roar, Featuring Jeanub!

Welcome to the newest column here on the Gryffindor blog -  A Charity Roar! Each week I'll be featuring charitable Gryffindors, knitting and crocheting (and spinning and dyeing!) items for charity for their classes, Quidditch, OWLs and more!

This week I'm highlighting Jeanub, who shared a great idea over on the Mungo's for Muggles thread - she makes dish cloths to include in food bags given out through her church!


Turning in a Christmas-themed dishcloth for Arithmancy this month, and shared her story - she and several of her crafty friends work up dishcloths over a period of time, and on the appointed "food distribution day" they add one to each bag of food heading out to a family in need. The dish cloths must be quite a pleasant surprise to folks!

I love the idea of finding a way to give locally to others, helping to brighten someone's day in a new way. I wouldn't have thought of doing something like this, but you can bet it's gone on my "ways to donate" list for the future!

Jean, thanks for your charitable heart!



Want to share your charitable creations with the rest of the Gryffindor House? You could be featured here next week - simply be sure to share your charitable creations in the Muggles For Mungoes thread!