Summer Camp Game #2

More fun, I've cracked the anagrams and here is the resulting passage: In the second volume of the HP books by JK Rowling, The (#1)Chamber of Secrets, we continue to learn the incredible adventures of Hogwarts student (#2) Harry Potter and his friends (#3) Ron Weasley and (#4) Hermione Granger. Belonging to the house of (#5) Gryffindor, they attend Defense Against the (#6) Dark Arts taught by Wizarding celebrity (#7) Gilderoy Lockhart, a none-too-bright fellow who cannot even handle pixies! In The (#8) Chamber of Secrets, we also meet Dobby a (#9)House Elf for the first time. Determined Dobby seeks to sabotage the return of (#10) Harry Potter to Hogwarts and is pretty persistent but is unsuccessful. After a few weeks at school, the deceased Ravenclaw student who haunts the girls lavatory, also known as (#11) Moaning Myrtle, shows (#12) Harry Potter and (#13) Ron Weasley an old empty diary that dropped through her ghostly form out of thin air! Many nifty things continue to happen for the next several months… we won’t go into all the juicy details right now… however, the ending is prime reading indeed!! (#14) Harry Potter finally kills Tom Riddle’s (a.k.a #15 Voldemort) sneaky diary (which we now know is a #16 Horcrux) and saves the sister of (#17) Ron Weasley, (#18) Ginny Weasley!!! Oh! Of course, we must mention that the thickheaded (#19) Gilderoy Lockhart unintentionally erased his own memory, so he won’t be back for book three, The (#20) Prisoner of Azkaban… And that done, I really should get on with planning my package for Salamandra Grindelwald, must dash...!!!

Sozzled!

What a great time I'm having here at camp and being a teenager again. We've already had a campfire, with a sing-song session, voices oiled by copious amounts of Butterbeer - would you believe some naughty wizard or witch hid 99 bottles of the stuff in our cabin? Not only that, it was spiked with something wicked! I got rather tipsy very quickly, and rather embarassingly spilled a whole bottle over our dreamboat counsellor, Antonio. I must say though that I really enjoyed mopping him dry! Antonio is helping us all to have such a fun time, and this week he has asked us to follow up on our Muggle pretend game, by saying which of our 4 statements was the "lie", and why the others were true. So here goes: 1: I have never travelled outside Europe. This is the lie, I have been to the USA several times, and to Hong Kong. 2: I scored 100% in a statistics exam at university. I hoped people would think this was the lie, because I think it is quite a joke, but it really is true! 3: I have slept in a 12th century castle. I have actually spent a weekend at Alton Castle which is a catholic youth centre. 4: I have never watched "Its A Wonderful Life". This is true, can you believe it? I keep promising myself each Xmas that I will watch it, but never get the chance! So there you have it, well done to Wisty for guessing correctly (helped along by Emma's helpful hint!). Well, it's dinner-time for me now, so I must dash...!!!

Summer Camp Games Week#1

What fun, the cabins are already competing in games at camp. Here goes with my entry for this week: Part 1 "What's in your trunk?" Lizzie brought… 1. Laxatives 2. Liver salts 3. Loperamide capsules 4. Linctus 5. Lozenges 6. Listerine 7. Lithium salts 8. Local anesthetic 9. Lugol's iodine 10. Lint-free dressings Part 2 WINGO! Part 3 Get to know your Spoiler and Spoilee. I am spoiling Salamandra Grindelwald who is in the Erumpents cabin, and this is her first time in HSKS. She claims to be a quiet girl, but I've noticed that she has been quite chatty so far in camp. I've noticed this with many people, that they can become their alter-ego in a new environment where they can make new friends. Sal has already got into the spirit of things with this game, and left a lovely comment about my Brae mini-sock. I've taken a peak at her projects and spotted one that intrigued me called SJ's Womb - it is a very quirky pattern based on a womb and fallopian tubes! I have of course left a comment, and here for your pleasure is a pic of Sal's progress so far... I plan to thoroughly spoil her of course! And for my Spoiler I have Ambyr Pheonixfire, a wonderful girl who is already one of the chattiest at camp. She is closely related to my cabin-mate Gryphon. I've taken a look at her projects, and it is clear that she shares my passion for socks. She is currently working on some Winter Garden Socks, I just adore the colours and pattern and left a comment to say so, I'm sure you'll all agree... I can't wait to see what delights she puts into my package! And now I really must find Antonio, I think he's beginning to notice me in the right way, he told me today that he loved my woolly jumper and actually stroked it! Must dash...!!!

Summer Camp

Something very strange has happened, and I think it must be something to do with the anti-aging potion I have been using. I find myself to be a teenage girl again, with a group of complete strangers at a wizarding summer camp. It is a lovely place, and my fellow campers are wonderful people, but I do worry that Mr Wychwood and my two little ones must be beside themselves with anxiety about my whereabouts. Hopefully he has contacted the Ministry of Magic to ask for their assistance in finding me, with any luck the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad will be able to help. My friends all know that I am never one to shy away from a new experience, so I have launched myself into camp life, and must say that I am loving it. I have been placed in a cabin with some very chatty students from Hogwarts. I'm not sure that they believed my account about really being a grown up witch who works at Gringotts - I have had a few strange looks and heard some whispering with my name in there after lights out. I have to say that I would be sceptical too if I were in their shoes, so I am doing my best to be as normal as possible, and taking hope in the fact that mad Luna Lovegood made friends with many legendary people in the wizarding world whilst at school, including Harry Potter and Hermione Weasley (nee Granger). Acting normal though is no mean feat, as the age reversal is playing havoc with my hormones. I have developed an irrational crush for our cabin counsellor Antonio, and find myself fantasizing about spending time alone with him, playing through my mind over and over the longed for moment of our first kiss. I am undecided about the best location and circmstances for this, it simply has to be perfect. During a midnight skinny dipping lark perhaps? Or by the dying embers of the campfire when everyone else has left for their beds? Or during a twilight stroll along the mountain brook? My heart speeds up just thinking of these possibilities, I think I may faint if this dream ever comes true! Could it?!!! Antonio has set a task for our cabin, whose mascot is the Manticore, a fearsome magical beast with the body of a lion, tail of a scorpion, and face of a human hiding several rows of viciously sharp teeth. We are all to pretend that we have a muggle alter-ego, and make 4 statements about that alter-ego, 3 of which are true, and one of which is a lie. So here goes... In the muggle world I am a British woman, married to my one true love, with whom I have 2 dear children, and live just 5 minutes drive from my birth-town, my wonderful parents, and my dear twin sister and her adorable family. The statements about me that you have to pick the lie from are: 1: I have never travelled outside Europe. 2: I scored 100% in a statistics exam at university. 3: I have slept in a 12th century castle. 4: I have never watched "Its A Wonderful Life". Oh goodness, Antonio has just asked me to help make the beds, must dash...!!!

Mad Libs

Here is my completed tale... "I have to tell you about the slinky time I had in Diagon Alley last weekend! My friend Victoria Pettigrew and I decided that we really needed some new needle holders and had to get over to Diagon Alley immediately. Victoria Pettigrew put on her brooch because it was steamy and she did not want to get a cold. I grabbed my wedding ring and we headed to the trains. While waiting for our train to Diagon Alley, we chatted with Hermione Bagnold and Emma Gorodok who were planning to visit Gringott’s. Emma did not want to go alone because she was collecting a dustbin and that was very wide and brought Hermione along for her excellence in protecting spells. The train arrived and off we went. Our seats were very comfortable and the train sped along towards Diagon Alley and we were there in a flash! Before heading to the Yrsa’s Yarn Shoppe, we went into a book that sells the short chocolate!!! As we neared the book, we noticed quite a lot of commotion! The book owner had set the chocolate-making machine and it had gotten stuck! Chocolates were shining everywhere! I ducked as a cream-filled chocolate came shining right at me and it puckered into Professor Sprout’s socks just as they walked through the door! A lemon chocolate did a nose dive and splattered all over the floor most elaborately! We made it out of the store just as a chocolate frog and a kettle of Bertie Bott’s every flavor beans collided in a rainstorm of goo! Since we were still pretty, we walked the 42 blocks over to Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor! I decided on a cone with nutty ice cream and Victoria got the hot fudge sundae with extra breadcrumbs! Yummy! Professor Sprout had made her way over here as well after the incident at the chocolate shoppe and had chosen a redbush tea float. After that, we passed Gringott’s and headed to Yrsa’s Yarn Shoppe! I tried not to look at the beautiful skeins of silk and bamboo and wool and instead, headed toward the needle holders while Victoria stopped to knit the stitch markers. I found a yellow needle holder made out of steel and made my purchase. Victoria kept hedging between the needle holder she came for and a pattern for a blanket. She chose the blanket pattern and we walked back towards the train station just in time to make the 12:30 train. After sitting down, we noticed Hermione and Emma were on the train as well. Emma looked quite sweaty to have the dustbin with them. Hermione however did not look sweaty at all. While waiting to go into the vault, a baby goblin waiting in line with his Mommy, had swam on Hermione getting vimto all over her clean robes! The smell really was just horrendous! Apparently, Hermione’s protecting spells don’t work well against vimto!! We made our way to a less smelly compartment and talked about how we were going explain missing Professor McGonagle’s lecture on the valuable ways elves are working with the Department of Mysteries in solving unsolvable people!" What a laugh that was, thankyou Bevin! Now to get on with some more knitting for my dear sister Emma Wigworthy, must dash...!!!

HSKS Package Arrived!

Today Megaera Black's trusty owl flew in with my package. The poor thing was exhausted having carried such a heavy package all the way from Canada to England, so I gave him some much needed treats before tearing open the package. Packed tight into it was a feast of magical and knitting goodness. Firstly the bag she had made, along with a dischcloth in the same yarn as the bag tie. The bag is a gorgeous lacy knit drawstring style, perfect size for sock projects. The dischcloth is a Hogwarts one with the characters HP for Harry Potter along with a picture of a snitch... Also enclosed was stacks of yarn from Knitpicks, which we can't buy in the UK, so I was well chuffed with this. The Swish Worsted in Fired Brick colourway came with the gorgeous "Cable That Bag" pattern by Chrissy Gardiner. There is also divine Imagination yarn in Damsel, and Gloss Lace yarn in Pinot, both from my wishlist... I was overwhelmed with knitting accessories: a zip-up case to keep everything in, Knitpicks circulars size 2.25mm, Clover darning needles, 3 packs of wool soak, and from my wishlist the Knitpicks view sizer and a set of foldable scissors... Then there were some lovely personal touches: a pocket book for noting my spells and charms, a linen mailing bag carrying instructions to feed the carrier owl on delivery, a notecard with a message from Mageara, some shrinky dinks from my wishlist, and two little handknit owls for my wee ones, who immediately fell in love with them saying "Mummy, QQ has some babies"... Here is a picture of the package contents all together: Thank you Megaera, I love it all, you have been such a wonderful spoiler! Now I have to plan projects for that yummy yarn, must dash...!!!

HLBOES Package Arrived!

I have been blessed with a great package from a wonderful young witch, Isabelle Prince. Her owl flew in today with it, and after I had given the little treasure some much needed victuals, I commenced with the opening of my package. First to meet my eyes were a set of notes from Isabelle about herself and the contents of the package, I must say that for a witch from Singapore of just 17 years she has very neat writing and excellent grammar. She is busy deciding which university to attend when she has finished school, I do hope she ends up here in the UK at one of our famous institutions. Next to come out of the box was a delightful journal with totally blank pages so perfect for sketching project ideas, and writing notes/thoughts/to do lists. Then I lifted out a some novelty paperclips, shaped like cutlery (4 sets in all) and with a magnetic holder in the shape of a plate - I shall have to put these in a safe place to protect them from Cornish Pixies, who they are perfectly sized for! Then out came 3 huge skeins of yummy yarn, one in a super red/orange multi colourway and 2 in pure white. I also pulled out a clover sizing gauge - my little wizard (5 years) loved this for the chinese writing on the packet as he has been studying about China at his school. He and his sister were also very happy to see some handmade sweets emerge from the box - Blackcurrant Bursts and Apple Rock, delicious! And last of all, but the crowning glory, was the hat - in Ravenclaw film colours of course, for my house in HLBOES. An earflap hat, which I have yearned for in the cold winter months. The crown is in stocking stitch, and the contrast brim and flaps are in garter stitch. It also has braided ties as a finishing touch. A total triumph, for which Isabelle deserves a NEWT for achievement in the tricky muggle technique of knitting. Feast your eyes on these pictures of my wonderful package... Thank you Isabelle, you have been a simply super spoiler! And now to advertise this post in the HLBOES thread, must dash...!!!

Gryffindor Divination Homework

Having consulted my crystal ball and the stars I confidently predict that Ravenclaw will be HSKS7 House Cup winners with a final score of 129%. Slytherin will be runner up with 110%. Gryffindor will be in third place with 99%. Hufflepuff will be last with 95%. I have also predicted elements of a story that Bevin is to publish: 1- An adjective - slinky 2- A fellow Gryffindor - Victoria Pettigrew 3- A knitting or crocheting item - needle holder 4- A clothing accessory - brooch 5- An adjective - steamy 6- Something you always have with you - my wedding ring 7- A HSKS student1 - Hermione Bagnold 8- A HSKS student2 - Emma Gorodok 9- A noun - dustbin 10- An adjective - wide 11- A noun - book 12- An adjective - short 13- A food - chocolate 14- An adjective ending in “ing” - shining 15- An adjective ending in “ed” - puckered 16- A Professor at Hogwarts - Professor Sprout 17- An article of clothing - socks 18- A food flavor - lemon 19- A part of a room - floor 20- An adjective - pretty 21- A number - 42 22- A food flavor - nutty 23- A food topping - breadcrumbs 24- A drink - redbush tea 25- A verb - kintting 26- An adjective - yellow 27- Something you can knit or crochet - blanket 28- An adjective - sweaty 29- A past tense verb - swam 30- A food or drink - vimto 31- A Professor at Hogwarts - McGonagle 32- A magical creature in Harry Potter’s world - elf 33- A noun - people I'm sure it will be a fabulous tale! And now I am feeling a little sleepy, must dash...!!!

Final Quidditch!

The Wychwood family is away having a wonderful holiday, and have spent the last week in York, a wondrous city which in my opinion is actually better than Edinburgh (there will be shocked cries of "never" at this I am sure!). We are now at my dear husbands mother's house for the weekend, from where I spoke to my dear sister Emma Wigworthy today using a muggle device called a "mobile phone", to ask if she would kindly buy some shirts for my little wizard who starts summer term at his prep school on Monday. Just as well, because she reminded me about the Quidditch due in today, so here it is... 1. This “Harry Potter” character’s first name comes from Roman mythology. The mythological character’s twin brother is named Romulus. What is the Harry Potter character last name? a. Black b. Lupin c. Pucey d. Finnigan 2. Which “Harry Potter” character’s first name is the Roman equivalent of the Greed Goddess Athena? a. Evans b. Malfoy c. McGonagall d. Flitwick 3. In ‘Harry Potter’ World, this wizard has created the Philosopher’s Stone (called the Sorcerer Stone in the US). The historical figure from the 14th and 15th centuries was a scribe and a manuscript-seller who became famous as an alchemist. Who is this individual? Nicholas Flamel 4. What is the first name of a character whose last name is the name of a Bulgarian leader from early 9th century who doubled the country’s territory? a. Theodore b. Cedric c. Viktor d. Vincent 5. Which character’s name is the name of goddess in Indian mythology? a. Creevey b. Patil c. Zabini d. Vane 6. “Where the Wild Things Are” tells the story of Max, a young boy sent to bed without his supper for his wild antics. Who created this winner of the Caldecott Medal? a. Maurice Sendak b. Chris Van Allsberg c. Ezra Jack Keats d. John Steptoe 7. What was NOT one of the unexpected defense mechanisms that Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Griphook encountered in their attempt to rob Gringotts? a. The Flagrante Curse b. The Thieves’ Downfall c. Anti-summoning Enchantments d. The Geminio Curse 8. What was Snape aiming at when he cut off George’s ear? a. Another Death Eater’s back b. George’s wand hand c. Another Death Eater’s wand hand d. George’s face 9. How much older than James was Lily? (Referring to Harry’s parents, not children). a. James was older b. 6 months c. 1 month d. 2 months 10. Food is one of the five exceptions to what magical law? a. Grimp’s Law of Elemental Transfiguration b. Gamp’s Law of Elemental Transfiguration c. Gamp’s Law of Fundamental Transfiguration d. Grimp’s Law of Fundamental Transfiguration Picture Hunt George McGonagall Patil Where the Wild Things Are Hopefully I shall be around for the snitch hunt, although I cannot be certain until Mr Wychwood advises me of his plans for the day, as we have little ones to keep entertained, speaking of which I must dash...!!!

Hogwarts Prep

My little ones are so eager for the day to arrive when they will attend our wonderful educational establishment, that we have caved in and had a trip to Diagon Alley to fit them out with uniforms and wands so that they can at least play act. Luckily they are not yet bound by the Ministry edict on underage magic, thankfully that does not apply until they begin their schooldays at Hogwarts. Don't they look keen!

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HSKS6 Best Kit Prize

Wow, it is definitely worth winning the best kit award! My prize for HSKS6 landed this weekend from Wisty, and of course my little witch and wizard were full of anticipation now that they know that when Mummy gets a package it always contains something very wonderful! And they were not disappointed, look at the fabulous stuff I won... Full descriptions: 1. Gorgeous blue (my fave colour) dishcloth handmade by Wisty, embossed with a witch's hat. My first ever handmade dischcloth, I must make some myself now, I love it! 2. Hogwarts Journal, it's fantastic, so quirky, and shall now be my notes companion for all future Hogwarts swaps re packages, homework, pattern ideas, and so on. 3. Color Style pattern book by Pam Allen and Ann Budd. 17 great designs, I particularly like the Bohus knee high socks. And a very useful section on the back about colour techniques. 4. Holiday Window Snowman Craft Kit. My little ones love this, it will be put away until the appropriate time, and they will then have lots of fun making it up. Thank you Wisty for this wonderful prize, and to everyone who voted for my kit in HSKS6. And good luck to you all for HSKS7, the winner is going to be very spoilt! Now to spend some time drooling over these patterns, must dash...!!!

Birthday Surprises

I had such a wonderful birthday on Sunday. My little witch was desperate to give me my card and present, and was up at the crack of dawn to deliver them! Mr Wychwood had to send her back to bed with instructions to wait until he gave the all clear, so I did get a lovely lie-in. I dozed from that point on though, not slipping back into a deep or lasting sleep, and so got up at about 9am, but was forced back to bed by my little wizard as he and Daddy were busy cooking breakfast for me to enjoy in bed! Mr Wychwood scored major brownie points with my present - nothing less than the Royale Harmony Interchangeable Set (Gold Plated)! Emma rang to sing happy birthday, it is becoming a tradition for us to warble to each other down the phone like this on our birthday! Then we made plans to have a thoroughly indulgent day at Nostell Priory, where we met for lunch and a leisurely wander around the wonderful regency period house. My gift from Emma was fabulous, she had made me this wonderful felted needle roll... As you can see I have already transferred my DPN's and fixed circulars into it... I have been busy myself with knitting, firstly finishing off my Plimpy Tracks socks - the design makes me think of webbed feet... Then I set to with some old stash yarn to make an outfit for my little witch's baby, she has been begging me to knit some clothes for him for some time now! So he got some trousers, a jacket and matching scarf. I was quite proud of the jacket which I knit without a pattern, using a top down raglan technique... And now I really must get on with some knitting for SPEW, those poor elven babies are in need of charity. Must dash...!!!

HSKS Kit Delivered! RAOK Received!

What an amazing weekend we had in Edinburgh, it has taken me a week to get back into the swing of work and play! And now that the early send date is passed, I feel able to share with you all that thanks to a special dispensation from our dear Headmistress, Professor Wartbobble, I was able to personally deliver my kit during our fantastic weekend to Hermione Bagnold of Ravenclaw. She is an extremely brave witch who travelled all the way from Italy with her two little wizards, aged 2 and 3, whilst having the "trip from hell". Thankfully she didn't give up, and so we had the pleasure of her company along with her wonderful boys, who I must say compared very favourably with other little wizards I have known at a similar age (mine and Emma's included!) I don't want to spoil Hermione's exclusive journalistic opportunity by posting pictures of the kit yet, so I will just post this picture of her opening one of the gifts. It felt wonderful to cheer her up with this after her nightmare journey, which you can read all about here. She is an amazing mother to look so relaxed and happy after such an ordeal! And it wasn't all one-way, Hermione had brought us all a beautiful magnet each, here's a picture of mine... Following the wonderful weekend in Edinburgh I suffered with PMS - Post Meet Sadness, but was cheered up after a few days by a lovely RAOK from Lily May Clearwater, who had welcomed us to Edinburgh, her home town. She sent me some gorgeous stitch-markers, made by her clever hands, and a pair of foldable scissors - she is clearly gifted in Divination as I had been wanting a pair of these for quite some time... And now I really must get to bed, having swapped to British Summer Time today, I need to help my body clock to adjust, must dash...!!!

Waverley Station

Wow!

Time to leave

Here is our transport, unfortunately without modifications by Arthur Weasley. Farewell Edinburgh!

Wyrd Sisters musical pipes

Bringing traditional techniques bang up to date using these pipes made in 1757.

Hermione's Dress Robes

18th century style!

Magical Artifact 2

Cauldron, circa 1850 A.D.

Magical Artifact

Sock knitting machine, circa 1800 A.D.

Professor McGonagall's Dress Robes

Right from scratch!