School of Magical Stitches and Literature Year 5, Weeks 5, 6, 7, 8

It's catch-up time again! Hope you've all been getting lots of stitching in. I need to catch up on blogs as well as posting myself. Here we go though, let's jump right in:

Week 5 - Stitching Army - if you've read the books, then you know around halfway through is when several scholars start up a group to learn defensive magic since Prof. Umbridge isn't letting anyone do any spellwork in class. Our tasks this week relate to some of the spells, as follows:

Task 1 - Expelliarmus - stitch 200 stitches with red beads or metallics because this spell gives off red sparks. I had some debate on this one, but eventually decided to stitch the ladybug with a blending filament doubled and that will give it a little shine, just like a little ladybird should have.

See Ya Later Alligator by Jodyri Designs

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Nuriel's Forest by Chromatic Alchemy with stash threads

 Task 2 - Stupefy - stitch 200 stitches on something that is stunned, with explanation. I chose to go with a new start, and said the fabric was stunning, and that fit well enough for the graders.

Halloween SAL by Durene Jones through Lakeside Needlecraft

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Ashardalon Breathes by Chromatic Alchemy with DMC 310

Task 3 - Levicorpus - stitch 200 stitches on something in midair as that spell hoists a person up in the air by their ankle. I finished off Maple Leaf for this and did a bit more on Do Not Meddle

 Maple Leaf by AAN

stitched 2 over 1 on 14ct hand-dyed aida with WDW Fire

Do Not Meddle by Dragon Fire Designs

stitched 1 over 1 on 28ct Monaco as charted with DMC

Task 4 - Reducto - this spell can break things into pieces, so we were to stitch 200 stitches on something in pieces. SALs worked for this, so Universal Monsters came out to get a little farther along:

Universal Monsters SAL by Witchy Stitcher

stitched 2 over 2 as charted on 28ct Al's Dark Magic by Chromatic Alchemy

Task 5 - Expecto Patronum - this is the Patronus charmed used to banish Dementors, a tricky spell and everyone has their own Patronus. You had to stitch on something related to your own Patronus, not just a Patronus in general. Mine is a Chow as of last time I checked, so I could work on anything that had a dog on it. 

I got out this HAED Basset Hound that hasn't been touched in a good long while. 

 Bailey Basset by HAED

stitched 2 over 1 tent stitch on 25ct pewter linen

It will eventually look like this, only a bit more colour ;)  

And that was it for Week 5 and I got full points. I think there were bonus points too as the red beads/metallics really stumped some people. 

Week 6 - Change in Power

Umbridge has taken over at Hogwarts, and as everyone has been dreading this, we are to stitch 1000 stitches on our least favourite/most dreaded project. The one that you leave buried, that you're tempted to throw away, but you've worked on it, so you can't, etc. 

This was a bit of a challenge as I have a few of these. I decided in the end to work on something that I really want to get done, although it's a real pain in some ways. When I said I'd stitch it 1 over 1 for the recipient, my eyes hadn't quite needed the assistance at near that they do now, and this is a lot more difficult than when I started. So getting it done would be great. 1003 stitches went into this one:

Week 7 - O.W.L.s week - this week all the 5th year students have to take their Ordinary Wizarding Levels. That includes 7 core subjects and 3 electives. Our assignment was to stitch at least 100 stitches on the 7 core subjects with the electives being bonus points. That gave you a grade of Exceeds Expectations. If you managed to stitch 200 stitches on everything, then it was mega bonus points and Outstanding grade. And since I'm not at all competitive, I went for 200 on everything. :D

The possible classes are listed below and the reasons I was able to fit Universal Monsters into 8/10 classes. 

Core Exams:

1. Astronomy - has a moon on the pattern2. Charms - a charm called Lumos lights lamps, there are chandeliers in the pattern3. Defense Against the Dark Arts - learn about werewolves, there's a werewolf in the pattern4. Herbology - water plants in the Creature's room5. History of Magic - taught by a ghost, there are ghosts in the pattern6. Potions - there's some potions in the Invisible Man's room7. Transfiguration - can change yourself into a cat for example, there's a cat in the Mummy room

Electives - choose up to 3:1. Arithmancy2. Study of Ancient Runes3. Care of Magical Creatures - someone suggested Hagrid would have cared for the monsters4. Divination - can be a crystal ball, or a snowglobe, used Joy Snowglobe
5. Muggle Studies - Santa is a Muggle (nonmagic) construct - Joy Snowglobe

And here's the photos!

 I did it this way so you didn't have 8 photos of a little more stitching, then a little more stitching, and a little more stitching, etc.

Joy Snowglobe by Dimensions

stitched on plastic canvas as charted with kit threads

So excited to have another finish!! I'm really glad this group has made me get some finishes this year, it's a great feeling. 

Week 8 - Bulletin Board Notices  - this is the current week and the tasks are a little different, although not very complicated. It's a good break after last week. 

Task 1) 11 Death Eaters were defeated at the Ministry of Magic, so stitch 300 stitches on your 11th WIP. This is Happy Halloween by Satsuma Street and was last here:

Happy Halloween by Satsuma Street

stitched 2 over 1 on 20ct Fiddler's cloth? as charted

Task 2) stitch 300 stitches in any colour but pink now that Umbridge has been ousted. I will likely use Halloween as well and make sure I don't stitch in pink. 

Task 3) stitch 400 stitches as a bonus for the Weasley twins prank - this is a magical swamp. I've joined the Steotch-a-long for the first time ever. I heard about it from some of the people in the LOTR stitching group, and joined in with them. My reasoning for using this is it's a mystery and how to dispose of the swamp was a mystery since Prof. Flitwick could never get rid of it entirely. 

Steotch-a-long 2019 

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct Rubescent by Chromatic Alchemy

That reasoning may not work, but I don't think I have time to stitch another 400 stitches and wanted to try and keep up with this SAL if possible. It has a lot of blended threads, so it's been interesting so far. 

Hope you've all been having a good week, happy stitching!

Tiffstitch