Good Morning Hogwarts Students! I’m Agatha Vablatsky and I will be acting as the dueling club coordinator for this term.
For new students, here is an explanation of how the dueling club will work:
Essentially, all participants will be organized into brackets where everyone will be paired up with one person. The pattern will be released, and the first person to receive a hat or sock in the mail from their opponent will be dead. The person who is left standing will advance to the next round and will be paired with the winner from another pairing within the bracket. In the end, there will be one person standing from each bracket and they will be dubbed the dueling winner.
There will be a bracket for hat knitters and a bracket for sock knitters. You do not have to be a fast knitter to participate, but you should be able to finish a hat within 5 days and a pair socks in 1 1/2 to 2 weeks at minimum. In the HSKS5 dueling club, many of the hat knitters finished their hats within 1 – 2 days after the pattern was released. Similarly, the fastest sock knitters can usually complete a pair of socks in about 2 days although many took between 3 – 5 days to complete a pair of socks.
Keep in mind that sometimes it comes down to a race of the owls, with the post office being the deciding factor. Completing a project a day or two before your dueling partner doesn't mean anything if your post office decides to mail your package out a day late.
As far as shipping requirements, overnight mail is NOT allowed. It must go Priority. We recommend mailing your projects with delivery confirmation because if projects are received on the same day, the delivery confirmation will let us know when it was delivered. This will help us to alleviate any possible disputes as to who killed whom first.
New for this round of the swap is the inclusion of crocheters! In the beginning rounds of the competition, you will have the option to knit or crochet within your bracket. I’ll pair knitters with knitters and crocheters with crocheters within the hat or sock bracket. However, please note that the final round will be knitting ONLY, so you must be able to knit to participate.
More than anything, this is just a fun project. Don't NOT join just because you think you are a slow knitter.
Interested? If you would like to join, e-mail me at hsksduelclub at gmail dot com with the following information:
Potter Name
Bracket: Hat or Sock
Craft: Crochet or Knit
If you have further questions about the dueling club, please comment to this post and I will answer them in the comments so that others may get their questions answered too.
Agatha
Labels: Dueling Club
Does the project have to be a certain color?
Arriana Stylos
Denise said...
September 16, 2008 at 5:36 AM
The project can be any color you wish. I will post the yarn requirements (i.e. weight and amount) the day before I release the pattern. This is a great stash busting event so feel free to use what you have!
Agatha Vablatsky said...
September 16, 2008 at 5:42 AM
I'm in the UK. Can I still play?
RooKnits said...
September 16, 2008 at 5:57 AM
Absolutely! Just know that, especially in later rounds, you might have to ship internationally. I'll try to keep pairings within the same country until as late into the competition as possible.
Agatha Vablatsky said...
September 16, 2008 at 6:04 AM
Erika said...
September 16, 2008 at 6:59 AM
Whoo Hoo I can't wait to start!
Erika said...
September 16, 2008 at 7:00 AM
Woot! Let's go!
Enna Kirts - Slytherin House said...
September 16, 2008 at 8:25 AM
are the patterns going to be difficult or can any skill level do them? Do they require knowing how to use certain methods such as magic loop or anything like that? I can't wait to start this is going to be so much fun!
minerva wood :)
YogaKnot said...
September 16, 2008 at 8:32 AM
The patterns will vary in difficulty. The first round will be fairly easy and the patterns will increase in difficulty with each round.
To see the patterns used in the HSKS5 dueling club, check out this link: http://hsks5.blogspot.com/search/label/Dueling
Agatha Vablatsky said...
September 16, 2008 at 8:41 AM
can I send ups? I don't have or rather I don't trust the post office here in china to deliver correctly...what's the priority equalvent then? I might not have suitable yarn either... Maybe I will just sit out on dueling...
M.L. Shioda said...
September 16, 2008 at 9:15 AM
I'm not sure what the equivalent would be but I think the only "rule" is that it cannot be delivered with next-day shipping. Maybe the headmistress will have a better answer for that.
As far as yarns, I participated in the hat duel last time and didn't have to buy any yarn (only what was in my stash). Most people used acrylic blends (at least for the hats) to keep costs low.
Agatha Vablatsky said...
September 16, 2008 at 10:25 AM
UPS Ground is allowed.
Winnie said...
September 16, 2008 at 11:52 AM
about how many projects are there in total? one per week? or one per month? etc. thanks!
pren said...
September 16, 2008 at 3:29 PM
Last time it was three sock projects or four hat projects total, with an average of two - three weeks between rounds.
Agatha Vablatsky said...
September 16, 2008 at 4:59 PM
ok great that helps. i am in then :0) i can totally handle that AND it will keep me busy enough to not sign up for any other swaps. hahaha.
pren said...
September 16, 2008 at 5:01 PM
Woo hoo! I signed up just now!
Antonio dela Weasley said...
September 16, 2008 at 6:44 PM
This will be fun!
Penelope of Flitwick said...
September 16, 2008 at 9:35 PM
I thought I was going to be unemplyed when I sighed up last time I eneded up with the busiest job ever. This time I am signing up for hats just so I can redeem myself, slightly at least.
Anonymous said...
September 17, 2008 at 11:40 PM
When is the start date for this? I don't want te be all clogged up with appointments when I have to KNIT!
Enna
Enna Kirts - Slytherin House said...
September 18, 2008 at 8:23 AM
i dont think there is one officially yet. i think she is waiting to fill up the club spaces for socks and then we will start.
pren said...
September 18, 2008 at 8:32 AM
It will most likely be Sunday (time to be determined). We needed to get started before quidditch starts on Wednesday of next week and I've had several requests for a weekend start.
I'll be ending signups at noon CST tomorrow (Friday) and will post the materials and bracket early Friday evening to give everyone time to gather and gauge :)
Agatha Vablatsky said...
September 18, 2008 at 9:35 AM
I wouldn't be able to compete in something like this till I have a real mail service again. It takes about 2 weeks for my mail to get to the states and 2-3 weeks for mail to get to me here.....hey wait, that might work in my favor! I guess my role really will be cheerleader - GO RAVENCLAWS!
Bella Shacklebolt said...
September 20, 2008 at 1:45 AM