FĂ ilt [Welcome]! Ciamar a tha thu [How are you]?

• The Fiery Cross Sign-up runs through March 1, 2011 [CLOSED]
• The Fiery Cross Clan Assignments & partners posted March 15, 2011
• Sporrans mailed by May 15, 2011

Outlandish Swap V: The Fiery Cross

Scottish clans were originally a Highland way of life. The Highland clan was, above all things, a family; a family in which everybody believed they were all, from chief to blacksmith, descended from one founder or progenitor. They regarded themselves as very close kinsmen. This Swap is dedicated to such clan families and will be organized into four clans.


Saturday, April 18, 2009

Final Challenge

Lasses, it is time for our final challenge from Dragonfly in Amber. It has been fun coming up with these puzzles to make your mind work a bit harder and perhaps a wee bit differently than it normally does. For this challenge, I wanted to do something that hadn't been used for any of the others, and you left me little choice but to do a Syl la cros tic. I have taken 10 words (or word groupings), broken them down by syllable. Your challenge: to give them back to me, in their entirety. The number in parentheses is the number of letters in each grouping. Each one is one word unless there is a ~ in there. The ~ separates the word grouping into words. They are all people with the exception of 1 which is a place, but some of the people have had their local named after them, so they might be places now. All of these words are in the last section of the book.

Good luck!
~Mordag

Example:

A AL DI DON FRA GAB JA MIE NA SER

__ __ ~ __ __ (11) (2 words, each word has 2 syllables. Total letters for both words: 11)

ANSWER: JA MIE ~ FRA SER

__ __ __ ~ __ __ __ (13) (2 words, 3 syllables each. Total letters for both words: 13)

ANSWER: DI A NA ~ GAB AL DON

See...that was easy. This might be a little tougher:


AN AN AR BAL BALD CAM CAR CHI CUL DEN DI ED ER EW FRA GAR GARS GIL GLEN I KIL LACH LE LI LIS LO MAC MAR MC MER MON MUS NO NOCK ON REC RY SEA SER SI TCHAR TOR

__ __ __ ~ __ __ (13)

__ __ __ __ (9)

__ __ __ (8)

__ __ __ (9)

__ __ __ ~ __ __ __ (14)

__ __ ~ __ __ (11)

__ __ __ (8)

__ __ __ (10)

__ __ __ ~ __ __ __ (16)

__ __ ~ __ ~ __ __ (18)

This challenge ends at midnight on April 28. Please submit your answers to highlandergames@ymail.com and please use "Final Challenge" in the subject line. As usual, please include your swap name and ravelry name to help identify everyone. This challenge is open to everyone but the chieftesses. We are sitting out this round.

I will try to get winners posted as soon as possible after this round, since this will determine who will win the Highlander Games. It's a close one this time around.
~Kellan




Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Mackenzie Challenge Results

A total of 21 of our lasses sent in their guesses. Of that there were 12 who got a perfect score. They were: Eilis (vicjorob) and Suisan (knittingalone), Morven (BessE) and Muirne (bwarnergroup) of Clan Beauchamp; Monique (Moniquews), Nannag (LCBraun), Fiona (Cinnamonamon) and Lileas (Knitswithisis) of Clan Fraser; Mordag (abitknottie), Marsali (mommaowie), Joan (Vivian5), and Latherna (Cabrita) of Clan Murray. The Mackenzies did not participate in the challenge because they were the authors.

My lassie drew Suisan Beauchamp out of the hand-knit felted cloche


Round 2 Clan Standings:

Beauchamp: 75

Fraser: 56

Mackenzie: 0

Murray: 82

Additional awards: (for bragging rights)

Early bird: Mordag Murray submitted her answers at 10:21 Saturday, March 28

Sneaker: Morrigan Murray edged out Edme Murray for the first time in three weeks. Morrigan's answers arrived at 11:57 p.m. on April 7, a full three minutes after Edme Murray's arrived in the highlandergames inbox.

Most Dedicated: Nemetoma Beauchamp couldn't figure out where Hughey the Sheep came from and she said it "stumped me, I have never seen the name Hughey before and I couldn't get it so in the end I looked through 500 projects till he jumped out at me . . . Phew."

I hope you were inspired by some of the projects you saw during your adventures through Ravelry land.

Statistics:

21 of 47 clan members participated in the first round of the Highland Games, that's 44 percent. This round, Clan Fraser sat out, since they sponsored the round.

Clan Murray scored an additional point for having the highest participation in this round of the games, with 9 clan members participating.

Clan Beauchamp had 47 percent or 7 of 15 members participate, earning 75 points.

Clan Fraser had 31 percent or 5 of 16 members participate, earning 56 points.

Clan Murray had 56 percent or 9 of 16 members participate, earning 82 points.

Up-to-date Standings
Beauchamp: 372
Fraser: 247
Mackenzie: 346
Murray: 402


~Kellan

Mackenzie Challenge Answers

Apparently ye liked this little challenge. There were quite a few people who commented on how fun it was. Glad to like it. It appears most people did well in it. Without further ado, the answers.

Across:
1. Ian Murray's Place. Protecting the weaker side But I also accepted Protecting Chief Weak Side. It fits the crossword, but doesn't help the solver in answering the jumble. It didn't seem to be a problem though.
4. The damning letter marking Himself as a traitor. Bill of Assocation or Call of Association.
6. Mistress of the house since she was 10. Jenny
7. Without Eastman Kodak, Himself has found his own way to capture Memories.
8. A dour little clansman. Murtagh

Down:
1. "Fritter away the famine with these. Potatoes
2. A leak on the door post will keep out the Ghosts.
3. Healing comes from the Healed.
5. The locals call Broch Turarach this Lallybroch.

Jumble:

As a wee lamb, his ma might have called this Scottish ovis a "colorful" nickname.

Hughey the sheep

10. Enter the Jumble answer as a Ravelry project search and answer this question:

What clan's tartan is he wearing? Murray


Background

When we were planning this little challenge we wanted everyone to end up at Ravelry to do a specific search that would result in one answer. This was the only project, item that could tie the swap, Outlander and Ravelry into one place. What's the connecting thread? I, Kellan/knitmo made Hughey the Sheep for Latherna Murray during the first swap. So, we know Latherna got that part right. Hughey doesn't really belong to Outlander, perse, but I think Jenny should have named her surly/spoiled merino buck that.


Search Tip

Some of you commented that you got a bit derailed on the search part. On right side of the main Ravelry page (the one that's headed with "Where my stitches at?" is a quick search box. The default is "pattern" but this is really a drop-down menu, and you can pick projects and enter your search term. Check it out. Try searching for one of your own projects -- you should be able to find it pretty easily.