Well, I still don't have a flash card for my camera, but that's on hold for now. I'm awash in the dreaded "report card writing" part of teaching. I have 31 report cards to write. Each report card contains 37 grades plus comments. Half of them must be done in Spanish (my second language is French. Not much help). At least, this year, finally!, I can now do my report cards on my computer. I can't import grades from my school-provided grading program, but at least I don't have to laboriously hand write every one. Yay for progress!
The quarter ended Friday. Report cards are due in the principal's hands by this Wednesday morning. I work Monday and Tuesday, although he has graciously given us an hour off from the students on Tuesday, ostensibly to work on our report cards. A whole hour!
Teaching, at least in California, is the only profession I know of that requires, routinely, that teachers put in volunteer hours to carry out their job. And it isn't just a few hours, here or there. It's built into every week of the school year, and beyond. I got green with envy (and green isn't my color) when talking to a teacher from NC. She gets paid to come in 2 weeks before her students in the summer, to set up her classroom. In my district, we get paid to come in 2 days before the students, and the first day is an all day "staff development/welcome back" affair; the second day is a staff meeting with the principal, and then meeting the parents a couple of hours later (in your "has to be ready" classroom. What are they thinking? End of the year requirements leave our classrooms with bare walls, boxed books, empty shelves. At least in elementary school, there is simply no way you can go from that to ready to welcome new students in a couple of hours. (Oh, I forgot to mention that the summer cleaning crew moves all the furniture into a pile in the center of the room, and leaves it there. We get to move it back ourselves.) So, of course, I and my colleagues find ourselves hard at work in our classrooms weeks before the first paid day back. (For that matter, I stay long after the students have gone, at the end of the year, because I refuse to strip my room of all the student work, the posters, the books, etc., before the students have gone. And paid time ends the same day the students leave.)
I digress. And my break from writing report cards is coming to a close, so I'd better end this and grab something to eat before my breaktime ends. I'll be back with some pics by the middle of the week, hopefully.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Monday, January 22, 2007
Well, after much trouble, and renaming this and saving it as 3 different kinds of file, Blogger finally let me upload this pic of my Amherst scarf. The color is a bit lighter than it appears here, and the dark spots are from it being smushed by my scanner's lid. This is two repeats of the pattern, about 9 inches long. Hopefully, once I get my camera working, much better pics will get posted.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Blogger trouble
Here I thought I'd be clever, and use my scanner to get a pic of my scarf. It's still small enough to fit on the bed of my scanner, so I scanned it in. No problem. It's not a great pic ~ the scarf is being smushed by the lid of the scanner, so it has some dark spots on it and the stitches look a bit wonky. But, it's a pic, right?
So, I log on and tell Blogger to upload it. Blogger says it's uploading "Amherstscarf.bmp", and finishes. Except that it isn't a picture of my scarf. It's a picture I'd saved from someone else's blog, of *her* scarf. Arrrgh! Can it be that Blogger is trying to tell me something?? LOL
So, I log on and tell Blogger to upload it. Blogger says it's uploading "Amherstscarf.bmp", and finishes. Except that it isn't a picture of my scarf. It's a picture I'd saved from someone else's blog, of *her* scarf. Arrrgh! Can it be that Blogger is trying to tell me something?? LOL
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Pictures delayed
Pictures will have to wait til either I find my missing card for my camera, or give up and buy a new one. I have two digital cameras, but my newest (and best) has a 1gig card, which my printer doesn't recognize, and the USB cable for it doesn't fit my PC, so I can't upload any pics from it. I know I have a smaller, 512M card somewhere, but it isn't in its case, so I have no idea where it got to.
I went ahead and started my scarf with Webs Amherst ~ I needed some soothing time after the hectic search for my digital card. I decided to go with cables, and settled for baby cables inside an angular, larger cable. One repeat (24 rows) on 9s is 4.5 inches, with another half inch seed st. border. I'm figuring 12 repeats, which will give me a 55" finished length. I'm petite, and 5'4, so that sounds right for me. I'll check when it gets a bit longer, to be sure. I do love this yarn! It's got good stitch definition, and feels so soft. It's in a periwinkle color (Webs' name for it), a bluey purple that's perfect for me.
Anyway, sorry for no pictures, as previously promised. I'll try to get some this week, whether I find that &$%# card or not!
I went ahead and started my scarf with Webs Amherst ~ I needed some soothing time after the hectic search for my digital card. I decided to go with cables, and settled for baby cables inside an angular, larger cable. One repeat (24 rows) on 9s is 4.5 inches, with another half inch seed st. border. I'm figuring 12 repeats, which will give me a 55" finished length. I'm petite, and 5'4, so that sounds right for me. I'll check when it gets a bit longer, to be sure. I do love this yarn! It's got good stitch definition, and feels so soft. It's in a periwinkle color (Webs' name for it), a bluey purple that's perfect for me.
Anyway, sorry for no pictures, as previously promised. I'll try to get some this week, whether I find that &$%# card or not!
Friday, January 19, 2007
Actual knitting content!
Hopefully, tomorrow I'll be able to post some pics. It's been a very busy week for me, and until today, the days have been overcast, and dark early. Not good for pictures at all. Tomorrow is supposed to be like today, sunny, so I should be able to take at least a few pics. We'll see.
I'm going to start a scarf using Webs house yarn, Valley Yarns Amherst. I love this yarn. It's wooly and springy, and lovely to knit with. I've been swatching different stitch patterns, trying to find one I really like. So far, none have made me fall in love. Guess I'll be trying a few more tomorrow. Maybe I'll just wing it, throw in a cable or two, and see how that goes.
I also just got some gorgeous ribbon yarn, Cherry Tree Hill's Rainbow Ribbon in Winterberry. I'm planning on using it to make a summer top I found in an old Vogue. Wow, a really old Vogue! I just looked, and it's from 1990! (Yes, I hoard pattern magazines, too) The original is pretty ethnic, and I'm not, but I think the colorway I chose will lessen the ethnic flavor a bit. I think this is one I'll want to take with me when I head off to DC in late May with my students. It's cotton, with barely cap sleeves, so it should be good in the warm, humid DC/VA weather.
I have so many WIPs, I should feel guilty starting any new project. But any WIP in time-out is there because 1) I got tired/bored knitting it or 2) I didn't like how it was developing or 3) I ran into trouble knitting it and put it aside til my frustration level decreased, so until I come up with a real desire to restart any of them, they'll remain WIPs, and I'll happily begin something new. Knitting is therapy for me, and being frustrated, bored, or unhappy while doing it just doesn't feel theraputic.
The parent of one of my students brought in a big plastic tub of craft stuff again today. (This is the second big plastic tub of such that he's brought in) It's from his mother, who was a "crafty lady", but he's a single dad, getting ready to move, and "this stuff has just been sitting around in the garage" since his mother died years ago. He thought of me because his niece (he's her guardian) is in my afterschool knitting club. So, two big (more to come) containers of all the craft things he's found as he cleans out.
Lots of acrylic yarn, in many colors. Crochet hooks, mostly steel; knitting needles of all sizes, mostly 14", but today lots of dpns. Thankfully, included was a needle sizer, since the dpns were all loose, and most have no size markings on them. I'm assuming the weird, U shaped metal objects I found in today's box are hairpin lace tools, but I'm not sure. And there were four or five elliptical objects which brought to mind shuttles, one out of abalone shell. I'm not sure what they were used for, though. Does tatting use shuttles? Maybe I'll post a picture of them if I can remember to take my camera to school next week, and see if anyone can tell me what they are used for.
I'm going to start a scarf using Webs house yarn, Valley Yarns Amherst. I love this yarn. It's wooly and springy, and lovely to knit with. I've been swatching different stitch patterns, trying to find one I really like. So far, none have made me fall in love. Guess I'll be trying a few more tomorrow. Maybe I'll just wing it, throw in a cable or two, and see how that goes.
I also just got some gorgeous ribbon yarn, Cherry Tree Hill's Rainbow Ribbon in Winterberry. I'm planning on using it to make a summer top I found in an old Vogue. Wow, a really old Vogue! I just looked, and it's from 1990! (Yes, I hoard pattern magazines, too) The original is pretty ethnic, and I'm not, but I think the colorway I chose will lessen the ethnic flavor a bit. I think this is one I'll want to take with me when I head off to DC in late May with my students. It's cotton, with barely cap sleeves, so it should be good in the warm, humid DC/VA weather.
I have so many WIPs, I should feel guilty starting any new project. But any WIP in time-out is there because 1) I got tired/bored knitting it or 2) I didn't like how it was developing or 3) I ran into trouble knitting it and put it aside til my frustration level decreased, so until I come up with a real desire to restart any of them, they'll remain WIPs, and I'll happily begin something new. Knitting is therapy for me, and being frustrated, bored, or unhappy while doing it just doesn't feel theraputic.
The parent of one of my students brought in a big plastic tub of craft stuff again today. (This is the second big plastic tub of such that he's brought in) It's from his mother, who was a "crafty lady", but he's a single dad, getting ready to move, and "this stuff has just been sitting around in the garage" since his mother died years ago. He thought of me because his niece (he's her guardian) is in my afterschool knitting club. So, two big (more to come) containers of all the craft things he's found as he cleans out.
Lots of acrylic yarn, in many colors. Crochet hooks, mostly steel; knitting needles of all sizes, mostly 14", but today lots of dpns. Thankfully, included was a needle sizer, since the dpns were all loose, and most have no size markings on them. I'm assuming the weird, U shaped metal objects I found in today's box are hairpin lace tools, but I'm not sure. And there were four or five elliptical objects which brought to mind shuttles, one out of abalone shell. I'm not sure what they were used for, though. Does tatting use shuttles? Maybe I'll post a picture of them if I can remember to take my camera to school next week, and see if anyone can tell me what they are used for.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
History does repeat itself, generally not the way we want it to.
I read this tonight in a book about the Battle of Bunker Hill, an American Revolution battle. It seemed so appropriate for today.
"If force is to be used at length, it must be a considerable one, for to begin with small numbers will encourage resistance, and not terrify; and will in the end cost more blood and treasure." and "A large force will terrify, and engage many to join you, a middling one will encourage resistance, and gain no friends". Thus wrote General Thomas Gage, British commander of the army in the colonies, to officials in King George III's government. I couldn't help but think how true this was of the situation in Iraq, today. Rummy's downsizing, his absolute, arrogant belief that a small number of troops would effect miracles.
The British army, in the 18th century, was every bit as awe-inspiring as the America of the 21st. Gage was an experienced, intelligent military officer, and he knew that even though the British soldier was considered the best in the world, and the native population admired them, and many supported them, that Britain could not win in America if they didn't apply overwhelming force from the beginning. Perhaps our George II should have read a little more history?
"If force is to be used at length, it must be a considerable one, for to begin with small numbers will encourage resistance, and not terrify; and will in the end cost more blood and treasure." and "A large force will terrify, and engage many to join you, a middling one will encourage resistance, and gain no friends". Thus wrote General Thomas Gage, British commander of the army in the colonies, to officials in King George III's government. I couldn't help but think how true this was of the situation in Iraq, today. Rummy's downsizing, his absolute, arrogant belief that a small number of troops would effect miracles.
The British army, in the 18th century, was every bit as awe-inspiring as the America of the 21st. Gage was an experienced, intelligent military officer, and he knew that even though the British soldier was considered the best in the world, and the native population admired them, and many supported them, that Britain could not win in America if they didn't apply overwhelming force from the beginning. Perhaps our George II should have read a little more history?
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Rambling Thoughts
I am obsessed with yarn. I admit it. I have a SABLE in my home. (SABLE= Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy, term courtesy of the Elann chatsite). I truly don't need to buy another skein of anything, and would still be able to knit non-stop til I die (and I'm planning on living a great many more years). It should distress me, but it doesn't. It's a sort of therapy for me, living surrounded by yarn. It's tactile, it's colorful, it's dream-inspiring. What more could I ask for?
Well, I guess I could ask that it inspire me to actually knit some of it up into one of the other huge collections I have ~ knitting patterns. Or even my own pattern, since I do make them up from time to time. I'm currently trying to create a record of the patterns I do own, to organize that *stash*, but it's slow going. I open a magazine, to find the patterns I bought it for, but find that I have to browse the whole thing, reread the articles, look at each pattern again, reconsider some of them, etc. And then I start to think about the yarns I already have ~ at least the ones I can remember unaided ~ and start calculating about whether I have enough of said stash yarn to make one of them, or how I can tweak said pattern to my needs. And before you know it, hours have flown past, and I've recorded maybe one or two patterns. Out of the thousands I have. I'm thinking this is going to take a long, long time.
My stash is made up primarily of natural yarns ~ wool, silk, alpaca, cashmere blends, bamboo. I love knitting those. Sort of impractical, since I live in Southern California, where (except for the last week) the temperatures tend to be a bit on the warm side. But I get cold easily, and my work environment is airconditioned (too airconditioned, but then, I have no control over that), so I can wear my natural fibers, as long as I don't go for something really heavy. So of course, I absolutely love heavily cabled sweaters. Judging by my knitting desires, I really should live somewhere that has actual seasons, including cold ones.
I said in an earlier post that I don't knit for my family, and that's not quite true. I have knit for them before, using washable yarns. My youngest brother is a clothing snob, but I seem to be able to meet his style sense. He's also 6'4, so I'm not inspired to knit much for him given how big a project that is. Both my sister and youngest brother have provided me with nieces and nephews, and I have made several things for them. The girls were especially fun to knit for, because they're both girly-girls, and love brightly colored, frilly, fancy things However, their parents are, as I said, wash & wear types, so I have to abandon my natural fibers and knit in machine washable yarns. Some of them are fun knits, and the kids have loved having Aunt Christine make them something.
I work a lot. Teaching is so not a "9 to 5" kind of job, although I don't think many people realize that. In addition to lesson plans, grading papers, parent conferences, report cards, etc., I do a huge amount of fundraising. The other 5th grade teacher and I take our students (as many as we can get to go) to Washington, DC, Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown, every year. Coming from SoCal, it's a tad expensive, so we find ourselves fundraising like mad to help the students go. I don't have nearly enough knitting time, and even when I do find myself with spare time, oftentimes I'm too tired to knit. So I have become a selfish knitter, knitting for myself only, with rare exceptions.
One exception to this selfishness ~ I do teach my students to knit. Well, as many as want to learn, anyway. One year I did do it as a whole class, and we even made our own knitting needles (dowels, sharpened in the pencil sharpener, then sanded smooth, with beads attached to one end. I can't remember what size dowels I used, but they became size 10 needles, more or less.) And I've loved the fact that, many years, it's my boys who seem the most interested, and the best learners. And my learning-disabled kids do just as well, if not better, than my other students. I love that.
Well, it seems I've rambled on for quite a bit. This blogging can be a bit addictive! I'm off to work on grading papers, with, hopefully, a little knitting time after that. I'm working on a simple little cropped jacket, a quick knit, and I'd like to finish it soon.
Well, I guess I could ask that it inspire me to actually knit some of it up into one of the other huge collections I have ~ knitting patterns. Or even my own pattern, since I do make them up from time to time. I'm currently trying to create a record of the patterns I do own, to organize that *stash*, but it's slow going. I open a magazine, to find the patterns I bought it for, but find that I have to browse the whole thing, reread the articles, look at each pattern again, reconsider some of them, etc. And then I start to think about the yarns I already have ~ at least the ones I can remember unaided ~ and start calculating about whether I have enough of said stash yarn to make one of them, or how I can tweak said pattern to my needs. And before you know it, hours have flown past, and I've recorded maybe one or two patterns. Out of the thousands I have. I'm thinking this is going to take a long, long time.
My stash is made up primarily of natural yarns ~ wool, silk, alpaca, cashmere blends, bamboo. I love knitting those. Sort of impractical, since I live in Southern California, where (except for the last week) the temperatures tend to be a bit on the warm side. But I get cold easily, and my work environment is airconditioned (too airconditioned, but then, I have no control over that), so I can wear my natural fibers, as long as I don't go for something really heavy. So of course, I absolutely love heavily cabled sweaters. Judging by my knitting desires, I really should live somewhere that has actual seasons, including cold ones.
I said in an earlier post that I don't knit for my family, and that's not quite true. I have knit for them before, using washable yarns. My youngest brother is a clothing snob, but I seem to be able to meet his style sense. He's also 6'4, so I'm not inspired to knit much for him given how big a project that is. Both my sister and youngest brother have provided me with nieces and nephews, and I have made several things for them. The girls were especially fun to knit for, because they're both girly-girls, and love brightly colored, frilly, fancy things However, their parents are, as I said, wash & wear types, so I have to abandon my natural fibers and knit in machine washable yarns. Some of them are fun knits, and the kids have loved having Aunt Christine make them something.
I work a lot. Teaching is so not a "9 to 5" kind of job, although I don't think many people realize that. In addition to lesson plans, grading papers, parent conferences, report cards, etc., I do a huge amount of fundraising. The other 5th grade teacher and I take our students (as many as we can get to go) to Washington, DC, Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown, every year. Coming from SoCal, it's a tad expensive, so we find ourselves fundraising like mad to help the students go. I don't have nearly enough knitting time, and even when I do find myself with spare time, oftentimes I'm too tired to knit. So I have become a selfish knitter, knitting for myself only, with rare exceptions.
One exception to this selfishness ~ I do teach my students to knit. Well, as many as want to learn, anyway. One year I did do it as a whole class, and we even made our own knitting needles (dowels, sharpened in the pencil sharpener, then sanded smooth, with beads attached to one end. I can't remember what size dowels I used, but they became size 10 needles, more or less.) And I've loved the fact that, many years, it's my boys who seem the most interested, and the best learners. And my learning-disabled kids do just as well, if not better, than my other students. I love that.
Well, it seems I've rambled on for quite a bit. This blogging can be a bit addictive! I'm off to work on grading papers, with, hopefully, a little knitting time after that. I'm working on a simple little cropped jacket, a quick knit, and I'd like to finish it soon.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Blogging Away
Just an update ~ I'm arduously linking to all my fav blogs, but it's slow going. Good thing today is a holiday for me! I'm still tinkering with the template and layout, (Blogger is rather limited, and I'm so not up on html )
Christine
Christine
Welcome to my corner!
Hello to any and all who've dropped in. This is my first attempt at blogging, although I've been reading blogs for ages. Advice welcome!
I'm going to be blogging about knitting, teaching, life, politics ~ I guess just about everything. (I'll try to keep the politics to a minimum, but here's fair warning ~ I am NOT a fan of George Bush!)
I'm a single woman (my cat doesn't agree) living in the Los Angeles area. I've been teaching for almost 20 years, and knitting for almost 40. I tend to knit mostly for myself, I don't knit Christmas gifts for the family (they're all wash&wear types), and I haven't done any charity knitting to date. I just send checks, instead. Maybe that will change this year, seeing all the great causes in the blogs I've been reading.
I'm working on pictures, but it will be a few days at least until I have some. I haven't been in the habit of photographing the sweaters I knit, but I'll drag some out and take photos soon. Oh, and I guess I'll have to do the finishing on all my FOs that are sitting around waiting to be seamed together! (I hate that part, could you guess?)
I'm off to figure out the rest of Blogger ~ thanks for dropping by
Christine
I'm going to be blogging about knitting, teaching, life, politics ~ I guess just about everything. (I'll try to keep the politics to a minimum, but here's fair warning ~ I am NOT a fan of George Bush!)
I'm a single woman (my cat doesn't agree) living in the Los Angeles area. I've been teaching for almost 20 years, and knitting for almost 40. I tend to knit mostly for myself, I don't knit Christmas gifts for the family (they're all wash&wear types), and I haven't done any charity knitting to date. I just send checks, instead. Maybe that will change this year, seeing all the great causes in the blogs I've been reading.
I'm working on pictures, but it will be a few days at least until I have some. I haven't been in the habit of photographing the sweaters I knit, but I'll drag some out and take photos soon. Oh, and I guess I'll have to do the finishing on all my FOs that are sitting around waiting to be seamed together! (I hate that part, could you guess?)
I'm off to figure out the rest of Blogger ~ thanks for dropping by
Christine
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