Honeydukes I love you!!

I was so bogged down in my assignments that I only had time to pop into Honeydukes on my quick visit to Hogsmeade. I desperately needed some Chocolate Frogs and Ice Mice to keep me going while I finished all my charts for Professor Victor. I am so wishing for a time turner lately!! I had to pass right by the Three Broomsticks even though I was longing for a butterbeer. Alas none for me as I headed back to school as quickly as I could.
But what a lovely surprise was waiting for me!! Bevin Rae (a generous Ravenclaw) had popped by while I was out to leave me some lovely things to keep my spirits up while I am studying. Some lovely teas and crafty things and a few cute drawings that might get embroidered on a pillow or quilt. I was so happy to have them! I have put my official Hogwarts bookmark right in my book and now I'm right back into my studies. Thanks for making my day so bright Bevin Rae!

I've been tagged!!

The lovely Dagmara tagged me on this cool meme and as she is a fellow house member I must do as she asks!!
Here's how it works:
1. Go to your pictures on your computer
2. Open the 6th folder
3. Choose the 6th picture
4. Show the picture on your blog and write something about it.
5. Invite 6 new people to this challenge.
6. Link to them and let them know they have been tagged.

So my picture is the character Eduardo from Cartoon Network's "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends". It was a pretty cool commission. I worked on Ed and Cheese (another imaginary friend). I got the job from a random email that got sent out to a few yarn stores here around 6 or 7 weeks before Christmas. It was an oddly worded email that made it sound like the person wanted an entire sweater knit before Christmas. No one wanted to TRY that so I emailed the person for some clarification. It turned out that she needed two panels knit so that she could then attach them to a ready made sweater and then photoshop it to look like it was a homemade sweater. It was for a photo shoot for a calendar and this was going to be December. I had to chart them and then knit them in a little under 2 weeks. Things were further complicated by my having to be out of town for the entire time I was knitting them. Even further complicated because I was at my brother and sister-in-laws house while he was having radiation due to cancer and then everyone else in the family got the stomach flu. (At this point it's customary to say "EWWWWWWWW!")
SO, I got started on my first intarsia project. Yes folks I said yes to a commission with confidence and started right out having never done intarsia before or frankly ever creating my own chart. BUT luckily for this intrepid knitter it all got done and done well (if I do say so myself) and the resulting calendar looked really great! Very Molly Weasley sweater-like. And it made me feel like a "hip" knitter since now I get to say that I once worked for Cartoon Network in a knitting capacity!
I am tagging a few folks Siân, Wisteria, Lizzie, CentyB, Ophelia, and Pandora! Let's see your pictures ladies!

Arithmancy is kicking my butt...

I am stuck making all these amazingly detailed and precise charts for Professor Victor and it's killing all my free time. Luckily Ava is keeping me provided with my mail and I received a great package from my friend Siân. She made me these lovely mitts for keeping my hands warm while I'm writing these dang things. They are even in lovely Gryff red. I love them!
Well back to my homework. I have a history essay to write as well. Whew!

Pictures!!!

Here are my pictures for the scavenger hunt!


Mad-Eye Moody


Nymphadora Tonks


George Weasley (super HOTT!! whoops! Did I post that out loud?)


The Dursley's House, 4 Privet Drive


Kreacher

Quidditch!!

Roar Roar Gryffindor!!! Good luck team! :)

1. What momentous event was the reason that the members of the Order of the Phoenix felt it necessary to move Harry out of the Dursley’s house?
d. Harry’s upcoming birthday

2. Who revealed the actual date of Harry’s transfer to Voldemort, despite the misinformation the Order had been spreading around that the move would occur on the eve of his actual birthday?
b. Snape

3. With the use of Polyjuice Potion (and to confuse any possible attack by Death Eaters), six member of the Order were disguised as Harry and escorted out of Privet Drive, along with the real Harry. Which member of the order did not survive that night?
a. Mad-Eye Moody

4. Who informed Harry, Ron and Hermione of the bequests left to them in Dumbledore’s will?
d. Rufus Scimgeour

5. During the wedding celebration for Bill and Fleur, Kingley Shacklebolt sent a Patronus to tell the guests that the Ministry had fallen, Scrimgeour (the Minister) was dead and the wedding celebration was about to be attacked by Death Eaters. What form did the Patronus take?
a. A lynx

6. Escaping from the wedding to London, our three friends found themselves confronted by a pair of Death Eaters, disguised as workmen. This close brush impressed on them the need to find someplace to hide. Where did they decide to go?
b. Sirius Black’s house

7. Kreacher’s animosity towards Harry, Ron and especially Hermione (a Mudblood) was well documented in book five, “The Order of the Phoenix.” His initial interaction with them showed that his attitude had not changed. How did they win him over?
d. By giving him Regulus Black’s old locket
(They also give him food and kindness but I know they give him the locket as a token of their appreciation which really sends him over to their side.)

8. Who did they eventually find was in possession of the locket/Horcrux?
d. Dolores Umbridge

9. What did Harry find embedded in the door of Umbrdige’s office?
a. Moody’s magical eye

10. After retrieving the Horcrux, they tried to return to their safe place but they were pursued (actually Yaxley tagged along when they disapparated). This meant that the Death Eaters knew their hiding place and they had to go somewhere else. Where did Hermione take them?
d. To the site of the Quidditch World Cup
(It's the Forest of Dean)

Let the Dueling Begin!!!

ETA again: Finally finished ONE and then started #2. Life is intervening and I WILL send these out tomorrow! I will!! ;)

ETA: OK, I ripped out my first try and now I'm recasting on for the mitts. I didn't like the finished product so I would rather be late and send lovely things than win and send something crappy. :)

I'm casting my knit spell as fast as I can but boy are my fingers tired!! I'll update with progress but I'm only on the first mitt still. I'm contemplating ripping but I'll go a little farther before I decide. :)

Homework II : Electric Boogaloo

Whew! OK I misread the directions and thought we could only use 4 letter words, not 4 or MORE. So too bad for me but here are the 4 letter ones I found and their attendant Potter meanings! :)

Muggle Studies - 4 letter words

• mule - an obstinant burrow see also Ron Weasley
  
• stud - Cedric Diggory
  
• glug - what we do with butterbeer
  
• mess - what the whomping willow made out of the Weasley's car
  
• glue - what you use to keep your copy of Tales of Beadle the Bard together
  
• less - Draco's company is something we want LESS of
  
• mugs - what we drink butterbeer out of
  
• smug - Draco Malfoy's usual expression
  
• dies - Our hope is that Lord Voldermort does
  
• digs - What one does when one wants to bury a baby mandrake
  
• diet - Something Crabbe could certainly benefit from
  
• duel - a contest of speed and endurance of the wand or knit variety
  
• legs - what we use to run from dementors
  
• ties - what we must wear with our uniforms at all times on campus
  
• deem - a word Professor McGonagal uses in many sentences eg: "Your punishment is whatever I deem necessary Mr. Potter."
  
• diss - what we commonly do to Slytherins ;)
  
• dime - a common form of American muggle currency
  
• dues - what we pay every semester for upkeep of our House
  
• duet - a song sung together with someone else
  
• dust - everything in the room with the mirror of Erised was covered with this
  
• duit - another form of muggle currency, Dutch
  
• edge - what the death of Albus Dumbledore pushes Harry over
  
• edit - what Hermione does to Ron's papers to make them look halfway decent
  
• eels - creatures that live in lakes and rivers and look a lot like Nagini
  
• eggs - what dragons hatch from, see also Hagrid, Charlie Weasley
  
• egis - armor plate that protects the chest like the ones on the suits of armor at Hogwarts
  
• Eide - A village in the muggle country of Norway, sometimes thought to be near the unplottable Durmstrang Institute
  
• elms - a wood said to be the abode of faeries, resistant to splitting and used in wands. Lucius Malfoy's wand is made of elm
  
• else - other, different
  
• emit - to throw or give off or out, when Harry opens the dragon egg it emits a screeching noise
  
• emus - the largest bird native to Australia
  
• geld - what Hagrid has to do to the Gryffin's so they don't reproduce
  
• gels - a colourful filter cover over a light, gelatin
  
• gelt - gold covered coin shaped chocolate similar to Shock-o-Choc from Honeydukes
  
• gems - jewels, sometimes set in jewelry
  
• gest - A notable adventure or exploit, A verse romance or tale. eg: Harry Potter's adventures
  
• gets - Hermione really "gets" Ron
  
• gigs - The Weird Sisters get great gigs like the Yule Ball
  
• gild - To cover in gold, the very apt beginning of Gilderoy Lockhart's name
  
• gilt - Gold coloured, Gilderoy Lockhart's hair was like a gilt picture frame!
  
• gist - the idea of, It takes Ron a little while get the gist of what Hermione tells him.
  
• gits - Crabbe & Goyle are little gits.
  
• glee - what Hermione has when punching Draco in the nose
  
• glum - how Ron feels when Lavender will not stop hanging all over him
  
• glut - an abundance, Fred & George have a glut of extendable ears when they start Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes
  
• gums - what your teeth are in!
  
• gust - a strong wind, though you might feel a gust if the Whomping Willow swung a branch by you
  
• guts - what the Dumbledore Army has in abundance
  
• ides - the 15th of the month, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter will open on the ides of December
  
• idle - what Gryffindor's never are
  
• isle - a small island, the Isle of Drear is a small island located off the northern most tip of Scotland. The Isle is the home of the Quintaped,and has been made Unplottable for this reason.
  
• item - an object, the horcruxes that Harry looks for are magical items.
  
• lees - residual yeast from fermintation, when yeast is used in making butterbeer you can see lees in the container after straining
  
• leis - beautiful flower necklaces usually made from orchids, sometimes seen on Veelas
  
• lest - for fear that, Harry left school after his 6th year lest Voldermort take over the magical world.
  
• lets - contraction for let us, Let's head into Hogsmeade this weekend.
  
• lids - coverings for jars
  
• lied - told a lie, Harry's Aunt and Uncle lied to Harry about his parents death.
  
• lies - untruths, Rita Skeeter writes various lies about Harry for the Daily Prophet.
  
• lieu - instead of, Ron depends on Hermione to help him with his studies in lieu of actually doing the work himself.
  
• lime - a green tart fruit, Cornielius Fudge has a habit of wearing a lime green bowler hat.
  
• list - a collection of items, Dumbledore's Army members all signed up on a list.
  
• lite - lighter, when you want a less calorie drink, drink Butterbeer-lite!
  
• luge - a luge is a small one- or two-person sled on which one sleds supine (face up) and feet-first, a common sport at Drumstrang Institute.
  
• lugs - a four sided sail as on the Durmstrang ships
  
• lust - what Lavender has for Ron
  
• lute - a stringed instrument, the Weird Sisters have a lute player in their band
  
• meet - what the 3 wizarding schools did at the tri-wizard tournament
  
• meld - what Harry's mind does with the memories in the pensieve
  
• melt - what Harry does when Ginny Weasley is around or what Ron does when any Veela is anywhere near!
  
• mete - to give out, Harry metes out some mighty punishment on Lord Voldermort
  
• mild - what everyone thinks Neville Longbottom is and oh how wrong they are
  
• mile - a sneakoscope is a type of Dark Detector and can detect dark magic up to a mile away
  
• miss - what we do to each other when our swaps are over!
  
• mist - what hangs around in the Forbidden Forest making it super creepy
  
• mite - a tiny thing, Colin Creevy was a mite of a guy.
  
• muse - what Hermione is to Ron.
  
• muss - what Harry's hair normally looks like.
  
• must - fermentation residue from wine making, I'm sure Fleur Delcore's family is familiar with must and all aspects of wine making.
  
• mute - silent, something Molly Weasely never is, unless something horrible has happened
  
• seed - the germ of a plant, something we see a lot of in Professor Sprout's Herbology classes.
  
• seem - to be like, Draco likes to 'seem' like a good student when really he's a horrible git.
  
• sees - to see, It takes another guy (Viktor Krom) to make Ron see how much Hermione means to him.
  
• semi - half, Hagrid is a semi-giant.
  
• sets - series of things on a common theme, Dumbledore's Army is a great set of wizards.
  
• side - a place, space, or direction with respect to a center or to a line of division (as of an aisle, river, or street), you need to PICK A SIDE and we pick Dumbledore's.
  
• slit - a narrow opening, A loophole is a slit in a castle wall for light, air,or shooting through and Howart's has many of them.
  
• site - place, The site of the Battle of Hogwarts was within the castle and on the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
  
• sits - to sit,Neville spends his first year at Hogwarts sitting down rather a lot.
  
• sled - a seat with runners to slide on snow, another popular Durmstrang sport.
  
• slid - to slide, as in the Durmstrang luge.
  
• slim - Fleur Delacour is described as slim in all her descriptions.
  
• silt - the dirt on the bottom of lakes and rivers, Harry encounters a lot of silt in the tri-wizard challenge underwater with the mer-people.
  
• slug - a snail without a shell, The Slug Club is a club started by Horace Slughorn.
  
• slut - something I'm quite sure none of us are. ;)
  
• smit - to be smitten! For a while Harry is in deep smit with Cho Chang.
  
• smut - trashy writing, Rita Skeever is a muck raker and a smut writer.
  
• stem - the thing that the flower sits on, or great legs!
  
• suds - soap bubbles, If you use the scouring charm you get great suds!
  
• sued - to be involved in a lawsuit
  
• sues - to involve someone in a lawsuit
  
• suet - raw beef or mutton fat used to feed birds, if you need some you can usually find it in the owlry.
  
• suit - a set of clothes, a suit of armor is handy for fighting dragons
  
• sums - what you need to do your arithmancy homework!
  
• teem - to swarm, sometimes the owlry at Hogwarts is simply teeming with owls
  
• tide - the rising of Earth's ocean surface caused by the tidal forces of the Moon and the Sun acting on the oceans
  
• tied - to tie up, the Death eaters tie Harry to a tombstone in Goblet of Fire
  
• tile - small ceramic piece used for decoration, the bathroom the Moaning Myrtle lives in has many tiles
  
• time - what Hermione turns
  
• tugs - pulls on, Colin Creevy is always pulling on someone's robe so he can get a better picture.
  
• tule - a hardstem bulrush found on the shores of Hogwarts lake
  
• used - to use up, once you have drunk your polyjuice potion it is all used up!
  
• uses - to use, Harry uses his wand on many a different spell.
  

I'm a nerd!!

Not that I didn't know that already but this was fun! :)






I'm loving getting to know my partner in this swap! I hope she likes the goodies that are coming her way!! :)

I'm in a knitting funk...

School is a bit harder to get used to than I thought. I've had a myriad of muggle things that are making it hard to focus on my school work and we've only just started. I have so many great ideas. I think I just need to sit tight and focus. And maybe going to bed before 1am would be helpful. ;) Or perhaps putting down this butterbeer? Nah, that NEVER helps!!
Off to feed Ava and then go to sleep!! That will help me focus on my lovely prezzies for Wisty! Ta!

Homework!!!

I had a great time meeting people at the feast but I had to get back to the house to finish my homework. I have been looking at all the kits from past terms and I have to say I'm impressed! I may be an ickle firstie but my kit skills are stellar. I wasn't sorted into Gryffindor for nothing. ;)
So here's my homework questionnaire.

1. What are your three most favorite colors?
I am a colour fiend!!! My all time favorite favorite colours are: tangerine orange, alazarin crimson, & grass green.

2. What are you three least favorite colors?
I love most colours but a few are not really my bag. I would say muddy colours are not good for me. Not browns per se but colours that are not saturated or clear. Tweeds are not great for me. If I was forced to pick (which I guess I AM!) I would say my least favorite colours are peach, mustard, olive green.

3. Your favorite candy is Caramel Creams.

4. Who is your favorite Weasley?
Arthur. I love how much he loves his wife and his children. I love how he accepts Harry into his family with no questions, just love. I was surprised at how worried and sad I was when he was injured. Any man who can raise children of the caliber of the Weasley's is a father, a Man, I want on my side.

5. Do you knit, crochet, or both?
I have knit for about 25 years and I have about 5 or 6 years of crochet experience. I prefer knitting because I can do it without thinking but one of my resolutions for 2009 is to get a little more automatic with my crochet.

6. What type of kit did you ask for?
A sock kit. I love to make socks!!

7. Acrylic— (a) has its uses, (b) should all be burned, (c) best yarn to work with?
(a) The new blends can be really useful and there is a time and a place for everything under the sun. I love fantastic yarn as much as the next girl but sometimes I need a cheapie! ;)

8. Who is the Gryffindor Head Girl ?
Millicent Brocklehurst or CentyB if you love her! ;)

9. Name four "extras" you would love to receive in your kit.
Hmm...I love tea (Black teas, Mint teas). I am a sucker for lip balm. I love all different kinds. I LOVE notebooks. Any kind, any shape. I also like kid drawings. I do a lot of embroidery on stuff for kids and I love to have drawings done by kids to use for decorations.

10. What are your three most favorite scents?
honeysuckle, lavendar, mint

11. Do you prefer salty or sweet snacks?
Depends on the mood I'm in but I usually start with salt and move on to sweet.

12. Which Gryffindor and Slytherin students are sisters in real life?
Lizzy Wychwood and Emma Wigworthy are the sisters if my sleuthing is correct! Which just goes to show you that my answer to the favorite character is not so odd!

13. Do you really need more stitch markers?
Actually yes! I don't have very many. :)

14. DPNs, circular, or straight?
DPNs or circs. I have a hard time using straights because I have some issues with arthritis and carpel tunnel syndrome in my right hand.

15. Favorite yarn? Dream yarn?
My favorite yarn is Handmaiden's Casbah Sock. It is fantastic to knit with, holds up really well, has GORGEOUS colours and the price is not bad for the yardage. Dream yarn? I love Cashmere of all kinds, any nice cashmere silk blend would be lovely as long as it was dyed well. I am a sucker for a beautiful colour!

16. Favorite HP Movie?
Prisoner of Azkaban. I love Sirus, Hermione punching Draco, the time-turner, flying on Buckbeak, the introduction of Professor Lupin, all wonderful. I thought this one was directed the best as well. My only sadness was that my beloved Richard Harris passed away and this was the first of the movies without him.

17. Favorite HP character?
Severus Snape. I love him. He's the most flawed, complicated, sad, lonely, horrible, loving, tragic character and I was glad I trusted him all along. (Check out my ravelry avatars to see my devotion!) It might seem odd since I'm a Gryffindor (Roar! Roar!!) but so was Lily. :)

18. What is your favorite pattern?
Gosh. I love so many!! This is one of my all-time favorites, Convertible, it's a convertible shawl. I also love cowls of all shapes and sizes since I don't wear scarves.

19. My ravelry name is tuliptoe!!