Owls galore!

[None of my attempts at loading pictures right now are working... so I'll have to come back and add them a little later...]

I received my kit in the mail on Tuesday. (This has been a great mail week...4 packages, 3 knitting related!)
My kit came to me from Clara Clovenhoove, a Gryffindor. I knew it was "it" when I got the box, but waited and grabbed my camera first!

I got some really lovely yarn from Crazy 4 Dyeing. The colors are just gorgeous and the yarn is soft.

The bag is both knit and sewn... it's a dark blue and very soft yarn with a bronzey fabric lining with stars.

The stitch markers go along with both the color theme & the star theme of the bag.

And I got 2 circular needles, so I can try some socks on 2 circs (I've mostly been doing Magic Loop on 1 long needle) That will be a new technique and a new brand of needles to try out soon! (Oh, and a good excuse to get a new knitting book!)

Thanks, Clara! I can't wait to get to that beautiful yarn... I have a large pile of yarn building up though and a couple of must-finish projects first.

Term Break and good mail!

I haven't been journaling much lately, as I've been relaxing and enjoying time with my family while away from Hogwarts. I love being at home, but I find myself missing all the friendship and adventure at Hogwarts! The lack of homework, though, is allowing me to get some knitting done! I finished a pair of socks last week, started another one (a gift), and started a scarf (another gift!)

Although I haven't had the joy of receiving my sock kit yet, I was very pleasantly surprised to receive and owl with my 2nd prize of the term... some Gryffindor colored Lorna's Laces sock yarn. It's called "Parry Hotter", and came with a note explaining that it's an exclusive colorway! Even though I'm not a Gryffindor, my boyfriend Viktor Scamander is, so I'll be able to wear some Gryffindor colored socks to secretly support him during Quidditch matches, while still showing my Ravenclaw pride! I promise I'll take a picture of the Lorna's Laces and the Faery Fiber's Fawkes yarn that I won in a House Quiz soon! I finally got new batteries for my muggle camera, and now it works like a charm. (Could be the longevity charm I put on the batteries before putting them in the camera!)

I am looking forward to signing up for the next sock kit swap! My sister Jade may be attending Hogwarts this year. Her birthday is right at the cut-off date, so my parents may talk to the headmistress about keeping her home for one more year since they think she might not be quite ready for all the responsibility that comes with studying magic away from home. I'd never tell my parents this, but I hope they do decide to keep her home... I like enjoying Hogwarts without having to keep an eye on my little sister. I'm sure they'd expect me to remind her to study and keep her out of trouble. She can be a bit of a trouble-maker, so that would really take away from my own study time. At least I can be fairly certain that she would NOT be sorted into Ravenclaw. Then I would only be responsible for looking after her in the main areas of the castle, and could just do my own thing when I'm in Ravenclaw Tower.

'Tis better to give

than to receive. Or at least maybe just as good!
I'm still looking forward to the arrival of an owl with a package for me, but I really did have such a great time reading about all the stuff I sent to my pal, Perpetua Phoenixfire. You can read about it and see pictures here.
I think I must've had as much (or maybe more) fun reading her re-cap of it as she did opening it all up!
Also, Marty arrived back home today with some Muggle spells to increase (or, in one of our cases, decrease) the amount of galleons in your bank. I think the Muggles call them taxes. Even though I would've thought Marty'd be tired after all that traveling, he was still feeling strong enough to carry two parcels! Besides the tax spells, he brought a notebook from a 6th grader at a Muggle school. The notebook had already traveled around the western and midwestern United States, where each host wrote a journal entry and added some photos. The teacher included a note saying to send the book back to the class on May 1. I added some pictures and information right away and prepared to send it off to a friend in a frosty Muggle village in Alaska. After some quick treats for Marty and a quick snuggle, I sent him back off with the notebook, the Muggle tax spells, some birthday cards and letters. Poor Marty!

Way to go, Marty!

I heard today that Marty made it all the way to my partner, Perpetua Phoenixfire (the Gryffindor). I'm so glad that he made it (he did have an entire ocean to cross after all!) and especially glad that my partner liked the package! I was so nervous about both! My partner has been involved in a lot of swaps, and since this was my first one, I was a little bit afraid that I might be doing it all "wrong". But her happy words on my blog and on the main blog just brightened my day! Very exciting! Now I'll be waiting for Marty to get back here, because I have some letters I need to send out to my grandma, my aunts and a couple friends whose birthdays I've missed! It didn't take him as much time as I thought it might to get all the way to Perpetua's house, so here's hoping that he'll be back soon and I can get all those things sent off!

Yum!

I just have to share the recipe for some deliciously magical brownies! I'm glad to be on term break so I can hang around with our house-elf taste-testing some yummy sweets! In need of a sugar rush? Click here!
I wonder how long it will be before Marty gets back from dropping off my partner's owl. He has quite a trip...maybe another week or so before he returns. In the meantime, I'll be watching the skies for an owl bringing my own swap kit!

Bye, Marty!

My sweet owl Marty took off yesterday with the package for my spoilee! He has a long long journey ahead of him, so I hope he doesn't get too tired and drop the package. There are a couple of breakable things in there! I hope it gets there soon so I can breathe easy...I'm not only hoping that it makes it there, I'm also hoping that my partner will love it! Or at least enjoy it!

Oh boy!

I went to read the Daily Prophet today and saw my name there! I won an award for being one of the Most Consistent Bloggers! Very exciting! I've had such luck lately with owls coming my way with wonderful goodies... my yarn order, some new Muggle clothes to wear once we get off Platform 9 3/4, some sickles from my grandma...I can't wait to see what my prize will be!

A Magical Package!

No, not my swap partner's owl yet (but that's okay, since I haven't sent mine out either...no matter what my intentions are, I guess I'm just a last-minute kind of gal!) but a wonderful package from a Muggle-net knitting store called Eat.Sleep.Knit In addition to the yarn I ordered, which was pretty wonderful (and I'm already making a list of the possible yarns I could buy for next term's swap partner!), there were all sorts of great extra goodies in the package! A free pattern! Color cards (but not for the colors...for the different types of yarn offered at the store)! Candy! Scratch-offs! And a winning scratch-off for me! If I had that much fun opening that package, I can only imagine my excitement when the owl arrives with my swap package!

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes

There sure were lots of tricks going on around here yesterday! April Fool's day was full of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and other practical jokes. One of my classmates got me by saying there was a small rip in the back of my robes. Some of the other girls were all excited about Professor Black covering all of our classes yesterday... they were April Fooled as well.

April 1st also means that this term at Hogwarts is rapidly coming to an end. Good thing another term is right around the corner!

Accio, Socks!

I finished my sweater yesterday afternoon and it's blocking now. I hate the way it smells.
With the sweater finished, the idea of sitting and doing nothing just didn't appeal to me. So I planned to work on a pair of socks that I've been "working" on for months now. Until they were replaced by my sweater sleeves, they were my "little project" for taking with me in the car or if I anticipated a wait somewhere. Well, I have no idea where they are! I tried an Accio, socks in the common room and in my dormitory with no luck. So I decided to start a new pair! I spent some time with my hand upon the Fawkes yarn that my Prefect sent me, but decided not to use it until I am sure I can make a really nice pair of socks with it. Good thing, too...I'm 6 rounds in and I fear I may have already made a mistake!

Transfiguration: Saturday Session

A visiting professor from a wizarding school in Asia was here for a special session of Transfiguration. First, he gave some background information about dragons. Chinese dragons are much different from our own European dragons. They are long and built like snakes, with just 2 legs (I think...our dragon had only 1 leg, because the other leg would be inside the vase) The dragon we made was a Lung Li or sky-ocean dragon. It doesn't need wings to get to the sky. It just sort of slithers through the clouds. Chinese dragons also dwell in the mountains, but there are no mountains where this professor is from, so we left those out. It turned out to be a transfiguration lesson like no other... I hardly used my wand, instead we used our hands and a series of strange incantations that went sort of like "grape, fat carrot, sweet potato, crescent moon, flat semi-circle" and all of a sudden, we'd turned a piece of clay into dragon eyebrows! Piece by piece, our dragons began to come together! It was a very cool project, but the visiting professor has to take them back to his school where they have a kiln. He must have some strong and reliable owls to bring them back in a few weeks or a month. Here's a picture of the vase before firing. This isn't the vase I made, but (hopefully!) mine is a lot like this. I forgot to take a picture of mine before it was packed up for transport.

I can't wait until my finished and fired vase comes back!

Not the only one!

Phew! I was glad to see in the Daily Prophet today that I am not the only one who hasn't gotten my package out yet! I keep seeing all these owls arrive and feeling quite badly that Marty hasn't gone off with the package for my partner yet! I still feel quite badly...but now I know I'm in good company! I might have to send it off on Tuesday because I have an all-day make-up lesson in Transfiguration on Saturday. I'll be turning a brick of clay into a vase with a dragon on it. I won't have time to get to the Owlery and send it off with Marty, but it might be possible for me to get my Gryffindor boy-friend (or is he my boyfriend?) to take it up to the Owlery for me.

Owls all around!

The cutest little owl arrived here yesterday with a package almost as big as she was! In the package was the adult kit for Maggie Pace's Snugs (and the pattern for the baby ones)! I think those are so cute & I can't wait to knit that kit up! I need to check and make sure I have the proper needle, and of course, I still need to finish 1/2 a sleeve and seam up my sweater. Those Snugs will keep my feet so warm... I probably picked a bad time of year to start them!
I've been seeing all sorts of owls with packages bringing wonderful swap kits to many of my classmates! So exciting!

Progress Reports

With the end of the term coming up, I decided to talk to some of my professors and see where I stand as far as grades will go. I think Mum and Dad will be very pleased with my marks! With some hard work and perhaps a bit of natural talent, I've managed to do quite well in all of my subjects this year. But especially...

Which Class at Hogwarts Would You Excel at?

You excel at Transfiguration. One of the most dificult classes, you seem to be a natural at turning a coke bottle into a homework pass. Take this quiz! Quizilla | Join | Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

Almost ready!

Today I need to get my hands on some wrapping supplies so I can pack up my spoilee's kit. Of course, all of the things I wanted to get or make for the kit didn't get done, or didn't get found. But, I still managed to do a few little extras, and I hope my partner will just love it! If only I had a time-turner, I'd have been able to finish all of the ideas I had about putting in the kit (a whole notebook page full---front and back!)
Another thing that is almost ready is my sweater! I finished the right sleeve (I suppose it could be the left sleeve, but I kept on trying it on my right arm, so it just kind of seems like it should be the right sleeve) last night. Now the left sleeve and the neckline to go. Bummer... I really wanted to finish it and wear it on Thursday (3 weeks after I started it!) but I think I might need a few more days.

Happy Easter!

Holidays at Hogwarts are such fun! Some of us didn't get to go back home to our families for Easter weekend, so the teachers at Hogwarts really made it special for us! I woke up to an Easter basket filled with loads of delicious candies- chocolate bunnies, chocolate eggs, gummy chicks and marshmallow chicks. There were magical colored eggs hidden all over the school and the grounds. Some were enchanted to disappear or change back into other objects when you got close. I hope we ended up finding all of the real eggs so Hogwarts doesn't start to smell! We had a late breakfast in the great hall and boy was it delicious! A huge Easter brunch feast! I ate so much that I doubt I'll even want to go down for dinner tonight!

Time flies!

I can't believe that Easter weekend is already here. Even when you don't use magic, time flies! I'll have to work up some kind of coloring spell for my Easter eggs, because all the wizards with young children bought up all the coloring kits that had been in Hogsmeade. Guess I should've bought one on my last visit. Hope the Easter bunny will still stop by!

Owls galore!

Owls galore are being sent and arriving daily... it's making me really feel bad that I haven't sent Marty off to my partner yet. I keep reminding myself that I still have time before the deadline, and that I'll still even get mine sent off before the deadline...but I hope my partner isn't feeling nervous! No need to worry, partner... it WILL be sent off soon!

One last assignment and...

a second place finish for Ravenclaw! Not bad! I'm definitely proud to be a Ravenclaw!

The final scores were posted as well as a re-cap of the previous Seekers (all Gryffindor gals!) who caught the snitch. Our Headmistress also mentioned that there would be a prize for the greatest Prefect. Of course I think our Ravenclaw Prefect is totally deserving! I must admit that I was a little bit sad to see that the "Most Consistent Blogger" prize that was mentioned back in January was left off the list today. I'm a little bit bummed, because I had been really trying to post almost every single day of the term. I've found that I can't always rely on luck or skill to win things...but if it's something that involves persistence I have a better chance! But... I've already been quite lucky this term and won some beautiful Fawkes yarn in a house quiz and then of course there is the fun of wondering what will be in my swap package, the fun I've had picking things and making things for my partner's package, and just plain being here at Hogwarts with so many great people. I've definitely won enough!

Speaking of some of the great people at Hoggy Warty Hogwarts, this week's House assignment was all about some really fabulous Ravenclaw classmates... here are my answers:
1. Who loves containers of all sorts?
Esmerelda Beanswallow
2. Who dyed her fingers blue?
Lavender Ackerly
3. Who is related to William Shakespeare?
Celestina (and Elanor) Cadogan
4. Who wants to own an alpaca farm?
Victoria Black
5. Who hates carrots?
Selina Starfire
6. Who is from the Muggle town of Bagshot in Surrey?
Patonga Pinkstone
7. Who was searching for radishes in the winter?
Ferula McGonagall
8. Who got a gift certificate to a LYS from a Slytherin boy for Valentine's Day? Cecilia Kettleburn
9. Who discovered ghosts and house elves drinking tea in the Great Hall at midnight?
Ophelia Hopkirk
10. Who took an extra credit class called Muggle Fantasy Literature?
Selina Starflame
11. Who attended a Muggle music convention?
Patonga Wigworthy
12. Who taught herself to purl backwards?
Serafina Starfire
13. Who sports Ravenclaw Spirit socks?
Minerva Quickspell
14. Who would like to work in Muggle Relations after graduation?
Allytria Spelling
15. Whose Mum is named Henrietta?
Avada Finch-Fletchley

Sleeve time!

The owl from Knit Pickery did arrive yesterday! He had some other deliveries to make, and dropped off my package before breakfast, so he left it with my own owl Marty. Marty made sure it was delivered to me...and just in time! I had just sewn the shoulder seams of my sweater and was wondering what I should do while I waited for the needles to make my sleeves.
Whenever I go a while without using DPNs (as I have been using a circular needle for both the body of my sweater and for Magic Loop-ing socks) I tend to forget how to cast the spell to make them work. I was struggling at first because I forgot to pick up the 4th needle and knit with it and was trying to just go around on 3 needles, with the loops already on the 3 needles! Luckily it only took me about 3 stitches to realize what mistake I was making. The sweater knit up so fast...but 2 rounds into the first sleeve and I'm already saying, "Is it 10 inches yet?" and also measuring my own arms to see if I just can't get away with 8 inches instead.