Monday, April 27, 2009

Camp Counselors Wanted!


For Summer Camp HSKS is going to do something a little different. We are going to have Camp Counselors in lieu of Head Girls/Boys. Camp promises to be a more relaxed environment than a regular term, but we will still need someone from each house to round up the troops and make sure that all is well. We are also taking applications for the activity counselors as well.

Also to change things up a bit in order to qualify to be a Camp Counselor you must fit into these qualifications:
  • You cannot have served as a Head Girl/Boy during the regular term. Serving as a Prefect during last term is okay.
  • You have to be able to spend at least 2-3 hours every week encouraging your campers, posting to your own blog and sending out needed reminders.
  • Dedicated to updating the Camp Record sheet with your cabin's scores and participation.
  • You have to have participated in at least one HSKS term.
  • You will need to be available for the Counselor Workshop June 1st through June 5th.
  • You can choose to be a Camp Counselor in these following roles: Cabin Counselor (only 10 will be accepted), Best Kit Counselor, Angel Kit Counselor, Traveling Rope Counselor, or ROAK Counselor. Counselor duties listed HERE.


Camp Counselors Have Been Chosen! Thank You For Your Interest!

Counselor Duties


Cabin Counselor
A Cabin Counselor is someone who is in charge of making sure that your cabin mates are having a good time at camp. You will make sure that your cabin mates are participating to the best of their abilities, keep your cabin scores up to date, and make sure that you are in constant communication with the Camp Director and Assistant Director. Counselors will be expected to update their cabin information in an online collaborated excel spreadsheet (not as difficult as it sounds).

Best Kit Counselor
The Best Kit Counselor will need to know how to update a Blogspot blog. No HTML or CSS knowledge is required, but attention to detail is preferred. The Best Kit Counselor will be responsible for posting blog notices of Best Kit requirements, updating Best Kit site, accepting and keeping record of Best Kit photos sent via email, and orchestrating the final judging of the kits at the end of camp.

Angel Kits Counselor
The Angel Kits Counselor will be responsible for soliciting campers for angel kit donations and having the donations sent to his or her house, putting angel kits together if needed and determining what is left over for prizes at the end of camp. The Angel Kits Counselor is also responsible for sending out angel kits and prizes to recipients (postage supplied by HSKS).

ROAK Counselor
The ROAK Counselor will be responsible for posting the ROAK rules to the main blog, signing up participants, and facilitating the ROAKs.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Advertise With Us!



Nothing comes without a price these days. To run a successful swap there are always hidden costs which the swappers at-large are many times unaware of. Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap receives many donations for angel kits and prizes, but there is always the cost of shipping these items out. To off set this cost and to award better prizes HSKS8 will display adverts here on a three week rotation. All paid advertisements are 125x125 pixels and are billed as a one-time fee. This swap has an average of 80 participants who use this site as the second most popular means of communication - this first being our Ravelry group forum.

We are looking for advertisements of:
  • Yarn
  • Stitch Markers
  • Patterns
  • Harry Potter themed items

To advertise with us:

  • Please send your image in either a .jpg, .gif, or .png format to misswartbobble AT yahoo.com
  • Only 125x125 images are acceptable.
  • You can purchase space for your ad to run 3, 6, or 9 weeks.
  • Accepting adverts until Friday, July 31st, 2009, at which time only 3-week adverts can be purchased.

Please see the fee schedule below:





HSKS Advertisement








Diagon Alley


Diagon Alley is our free advertisement program. Diagon Alley will be linked to from the main page and provide text links to some of our favorite vendors. To get your link listed here just leave a message in the comments section of this post and we'll update soon.

Cicada Valley - NEW!!
15% to swappers!
Leave a message for the seller to receive discount.

Bumblebirch - NEW!!
Swappers will receive 10% off

The Froggery
Swappers will receive 50 cents off each set, but must follow instructions on the site.

TipoFilato
10% off to HSKS Swappers

Rumplestiltskin
10% off to HSKS swappers

Arachknits

Tempted Yarns

RazzyTazzyKnits

Jenny's Cards
$1 off for HSKS Swappers or 2 extra cards free of your preferred design.

InsanKnitty
10% off and free shipping
Mention you are with HSKS

Crazy 4 Dyeing
15% of everything in store
Coupon Code: HSKS7

Selena's Handarbeitskram
10% off - mention swap

Alivan's

Mac Kintosh Yarn

Craftilly

Misty Water Woman

Hogwarts Sock Stitch Markers

Crest Palace

Whimsical Alley

Cosmic Fibers

Hogwarts Recipes

Fairy Fiber

Luminous Jewlers

Wind Twirlers Shop

Night Blooming

What Is A Craft Swap?


Swap
–verb (used with object)
1. to exchange, barter, or trade, as one thing for another: He swapped his wrist watch for the radio.

In the case of a craft or knitting swap two participants agree to swap handmade items. In the case of this swap participants join the swap, agreeing to be matched up with someone following certain criteria (i.e. based on allergy compatibility, geographical location, ect.).

The Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap is a swap in which participants put together a kit and they swap this kit with another participant in the swap.

Kit
–verb (used with object)
8. to package or make available in a kit: a new model airplane that has just been kitted for the hobbyist.

For an example of the types of kits that we swap please visit the Requirements page.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Favorite Camp Movie - Parent Trap



One of my very favorite camp movies is Parent Trap. Below is the synopsis of the movie. Do you have a favorite Camp movie?

Synopsis

The Parent Trap follows identical twins Sharon and Susan (Hayley Mills) as they attempt to reunite their divorced parents Maggie and Mitch (Maureen O'Hara and Brian Keith). The two 13-year-old girls meet for the first time at summer camp and switch identities in order to visit the parent they have never seen. While Susan is in Boston masquerading as Sharon, Sharon is in California masquerading as Susan.

Sharon calls Susan in Boston with the news that their father is planning to marry a gold-digger and their mother needs to be rushed to California to prevent the union. In Boston, Susan tells her mother the truth about the switched identities and the two fly to California.

With both parents and both twins in California, the twins set about (with some slight approval from their mother) sabotaging their father's marriage plans. Mitch's money-hungry girlfriend Vicki Robinson (Joanna Barnes) receives some rude, mischievous treatment from the girls and some veiled cattiness from Maggie. When Vicki is away for an evening, the girls stage a reprise of their parents' first date in Mitch's home with an Italian dinner and a gypsy violinist. The former spouses are gradually drawn together. (Read More @ Wikipedia)





Thursday, April 9, 2009

Requirements & Workshops


All participants are required to be a part of Ravelry, so if you are not on there now, please go and sign up - if you are a heavy crafter you won't be sorry :)

The other requirement for this swap is that you MUST have a blog. The blog can be your regular blog, but you'll notice that most of the participants will create a character blog especially for HP type swaps.


Kit Should Not Go Over $30 and not under $15.



A Change of Pace

The following are a list of Workshops available for Summer Camp. These options will give you more leeway to add creative flare to your kits. Much of what goes in the kit will determine on how you interpret each workshop. Stitch markers and needles are NOT required. There are a few staples (musts) and they are listed below:

  1. For Summer camp a handmade bag is NOT required. But, the workshop that you send has to be neatly contained in either a bag or a decorative box.
  2. You must include yarn in the workshop and the yarn must be specifically for the workshop activity/craft.
  3. Each workshop must include the instructions to complete the workshop (a pattern).

Workshops

Herbology
The Herbology workshop is very simple. You will include either a knit or crochet pattern of something which includes a little lace work. It does not need to include laceweight yarn, but could be pattern and yarn for something such as the Foliage hat or the Lace Round Dishcloth. Crochet examples include the Queen Annes Lace Scarf and Doral Wristlets.

Potions
For the potions workshop you will send workshop items a little out of the norm for HSKS. You will send ingredients and items for your spoilee to make homemade solutions: sugar and salt scrubs, soap, candles, or you can send ingredients for a new non-alcoholic drink such as a Slytherin Slushie or Plimpie Punch. Come up with your own creation and make sure it's delicious!

Care of Magical Creatures
For this workshop we will have a little fun! Include a pattern for a knitted or crochet toy. Make sure to include any buttons or other accessories your spoilee will need to complete the workshop. You can go to the Knitting Central or Crochet Pattern Central for some great ideas.

Defense Against The Dark Arts
For this workshop, you can get a little creative on what defending against the dark arts means and you will send yarn and pattern for your spoilee to complete the a pattern such as the Dark Side Cowl or the crocheted Seduction scarf.

Astronomy
The workshop will be yarn and pattern for something such as the knitted Star Crossed Beret or the crocheted Star Scarf.

Divination
This workshop is where you can let you creative imagination run wild!! You must divine a pattern for a small project. You will come up with your own creation for this one, but it must be a small project, such as a hat, gloves, scarf, dishcloth or something of that size.

Charms
This workshop will be of the beaded category. Stitch markers, bracelet, necklace, row counters, or any other wearable jewelry or knit/crochet accessory that you can think of. Please remember that your workshop items must come to at least $15.

Ancient Runes
This workshop will be of the Fairisle variety. Again, a small project, but will include yarn and pattern for a Fairisle project.

Transfiguration
This one will be a little tougher, but it must be something that is recycled and given new use - new life. It does not mean that you will send old yarn, but that you'll find something that was used has a hat, but once you felted it (by accident!) you've decided to use it as a coin caddy! This subject is definitely up for discussion, but has limitless possibilities.

Registration


Registration for HSKS 8 will begin Monday, June 8th, for new and returning students. Keep watching the Rav board and this site for more information.

Camp HSKS


The Swap

Camp HSKS is an overnight summer camp for girls & boys located in the "heart of a wooded mountain" in Imagination Peak, MakeBelieve. Founded in 2006, our art summer camp continues to provide an exciting and enriching summer camp experience for artisans of all ages.

Each summer Camp HSKS provides a unique summer camp program of recreation, adventure, creativity and fun. From Log Cabin crafts, Sock Beanies, Camp Games, and a Traveling Ropes Course. Each day at camp is filled with new experiences and great opportunities to develop lasting friendships.

Our swaps are structured in the round-robin method, so if your spoilee or spoiler has to leave the swap for any reason you will then be paired up with their spoiler or spoilee. Everyone who remains in the swap receives a kit!

Our Goals

Our goal through these summer camps is for each camper to gain, at his or her own pace, a deeper understanding of herself and of her relationship with other people and the magical world of craft. Emphasizing a friendly and somewhat *wink* competitive environment, we aim to provide summer camp memories that can serve as inner resources upon which to build character.

Our Promise & The Numbers

Though Summer Camp promises to be more relaxing than a regular term, swappers can count the promise of receiving a kit when the swap ends. HSKS terms average 80 participants and approximately two to three swappers are either dropped from the swap because of non-participation or because of family or financial emergencies. That is a pretty good record!! That means that HSKS swaps have a 96% retention rate during each of their swaps. Over half of the participants each term are returning swappers. HSKS swaps are about more than simply swapping. HSKS swaps are about building long term frienships. We hope you join us!

Please note: HSKS 8 is not an actual camp, but a fictional camp facilitating the HSKS swap during the summer months of 2009.

 

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