Mini sock key chains

I have been asked how to make my little sock keychains, here is a basic recipe... you might need to add a row or two in some places, depending on your gauge and the yarn, I never really count the row just try to get them to look right:

With sockyarn and 2.5 mm needles or whatever size you usually use for socks CO 20 st, knit 1/1 ribbing for 4 rows, then continue in stockinette stitch until leg is about 1 inch. Knit short row heel with wrapped stitches over half of the stitches (you can do every other short row heel as well), after heel knit in stockinette again for 7-9 rows.
Toe:
(K1, ssk, k 4, k2 tog, k1) twice
knit all around
(K1, ssk, k 2, k2 tog, k1) twice
(K1, ssk, k2 tog, k1) twice
cut yarn, pull yarn through remaining 8 st to close the toe, weave in ends - use cast on end to sew to a key ring or keychain.

Care of Magical Creatures Homework

Another week is gone, so here is my homework - it is due today, so I finished on last minute. But I got the extra parts done as well...

Part 1: Describe and explain 5 items that you would use for the care of magical creatures

1. Gloves - of course magically enhanced - to handle animals that might bite, are poisonous or spit acid
2. nail clippers - to shorten the claws of some animals, to prevent them from harming themselves or each other
3. brush - to brush their hair, to remove dirt stuck to their pelt
4. belt - serves as an impromptu leash if you use the right charm on it
5. wool - to make a soft nest for orphaned baby animals

Part 2: Answer the following questions

1. Please describe the physical appearance of a house elf. - House elves are between two to three feet tall, with spindly arms and legs and over-sized heads and eyes. They have pointed, bat-like ears and high, squeaky voices. Rather than conventional clothing, house-elves wear discarded items like pillowcases and tea-towels
2. Kreacher is the house elf of which wizarding family? - The Black family
3. What is Hermione Granger making for the house elves? - she's knitting little hats for them
4. How do you free a house elf? - Make them a gift in form of a piece of clothing
5. What does S.P.E.W. stand for? - Society for the Promotion of Elvish Welfare

Part 3: For bonus points, knit or sew a SPEW item - I decided to crochet a sunny yellow hat with a scalloped edge. And as I just realized, I forgot my originality marker for this picture, I'll take a new one and exchange it later



Edit: Here is another picture, to prove that it is my hat... same originality marker as always

Transfiguration homework

I have almost finished my homework, just the bowtruckle and the time turner refuse my attempts of Transfiguration. But I won't give up and hope to get that done as well.

My originality marker is the black notebook with dragon, I didn't photograph it separately.

Nosebiting Teacup



I forgot my originality marker in the first photo, but I hope it still counts. The spell efficio poculum transfigured it into the lovely teapot below - but be careful, or it might bite your nose



Golden snitch



To turn this into a golden snitch, I used the spell efficio picala



Remembrall



Efficio memorium turned the above items into a beautiful Remembrall



Spectrespecs



This spell was a bit tricky to figure out, but oculus clarus helped me to create a pair of spectrespecs



Decoy Detonator



The results here are not too pretty, but at least the Decoy Detonator works, the spell I used was Sonitus falsus



Rock Cakes



This was another tricky one, but at last I remembered the spell crustum saxum to make some rock cakes

First week assignment

The term has barely started and we have our first assignment - but this one is really fun...

Which characters did I chose for my kit and why?

• Bellatrix Lestrange - I don't particularly like her, she's a bit too crazy to do so. But sometimes I'm a bit crazy too, so I think it fits. And I like the way she dresses, appeals to the goth in me. And if you ignore the crazyness, she is really pretty ;-) I don't know what else to say about her
  
• Draco Malfoy - He's pretty too, but in a completely different way. I think he is misunderstood a lot of the time, he is not evil but stands under a lot of pressure from his family. And he is just a boy, so what is he supposed to do? With a different upbringing he could have been a rather nice person. He is intelligent, that's something I like in other people. Draco must be really strong to be able to hide his emotions from everyone - but that's also why they don't realize that he doesn't really want to be like his father. I don't know if this all makes sense to you, but it's hard for me to write down what I like about him
  
• Sirius Black - He is loyal to his friends and to Harry, he would do everything to help them. He even risks his life. Sometimes he takes unnecessary risks as he doesn't think it through, he acts immediately. That sometimes is true for myself as well, I'm rather impulsive so I can relate to him there. He must be really strong as well, to survive so many years in Azkaban without going completely crazy.

Now I'm off to stalk my spoilee's blog, I need to get some ideas about what to make for her. Oh, I didn't tell you yet, I'm spoiling Rowena Bladvak this term, can't wait to get to know her better.

new term

I'm so excited, we will be going back to Hogwarts soon - Quidditch and Summer Camp were fun, but I can't wait to see Hogwarts again. I'm looking forward to get to know my new house mates and meet old friends

Wibbly-Wobbly Timey-Wimey

As you can see, I have a tiny!Timelord visiting, he's travelling around the world with his TARDIS and visits crafters. But somehow he must have gotten the date wrong after we were on a trip in the TARDIS, as the weekend is already over and I didn't have time to post on Saturday.

Last week has been really busy, as I've been preparing to sell yarn and handmade items on a market - but it was a giant waste of time, almost didn't sell a thing.

From today on I should have more time and will hurry to finish my kit for Lizzie.

Wow, that was fun

First of all, sorry that I've been so quiet but the stupid muggle technology called 'Laptop' refused to let me write to this blog while I was on vacation in the UK. I'm going to give you a bit of a report here, more about the conventions I attended can be found on my muggle blog



After a long day (I had to use muggle transportation like airplanes, subways and trains) I arrived in Birmingham to attend a convention called The Hub 3 - it was all about a TV series called Torchwood. To blend in, I made a costume related to one of the characters, but of course I femalized it. Below is a picture of the original costume:


Unfortunately, James Marsters (the actor who played John Hart) couldn't be there as he had an accident on set of his new project, but it still was a lot of fun. I got to know a lot of nice people and will try to stay in contact with some of them. To my surprise, there were a lot of German people as well and I feared I would be the only one. More photos can be found in this flickr Album and as I said before, a full report is on my muggle blog.

Then I spend a few days in London, just walking around and visiting museums - but it was really crowded everywhere and I didn't get to visit the Science Museum or the Natural History Museum because of the masses trying to get in there. No way I'm going to queue over an hour to get into a museum just to not be able to see anything because it is filled with little kids. Next time I probably shouldn't go there during half term.



The next weekend I went to another convention about all things Joss Whedon has created and as it was around Halloween it was called Hallowhedon. This time, James Marsters was there - even if he still was in pain because of his accident (something with his spine, a slipped disk if I got it right). Once again, I had lots of fun with my friend Birgit (on the pic with me) and got to know a lot of nice and interesting people. The outfit on the photo was handmade, I crochet a triangle shawl and a skirt (with a petticoat style musslin skirt underneath) - thanks to handmade jewelry by Roseworksjewelry, which she custom made for me, I could wear the shawl like wings for the Halloween party.



And of course I got a photo taken with James Marsters - I just had to wear my John Hart outfit, even if it was the wrong convention. It was so worth all the effort I put into it, as James Marsters commented on it and told me he loved it *swoon*. Again, more photos on flickr and a full report on my muggle blog.