After this row . . .

Ok- I know I already posted- but this was so funny I had to share!  I know my darling has GBB (sorry sweetie- but you do).  I bet we all know people with this same condition!

I LOVE NEEDLE FELTING!!!!!!  It ROCKS!  This eyeglass case was the first thing I fetlted last summer.  It is a handy little bugger!  I use it all the time.  But it was Dull.  I had a Dull Sunday this weekend, my son is sick- that viral thing going around- and he needed to stay in all weekend (Monday and Tuesday of the week too) so I have been in all weekend too (I got to go to school till Lunch on Monday- Hubby stayed home till then).  And NOTHING I had at home seemed to interest me.

I really wanted to work more on the Rock’n'Roll sock, but I think it was tainted on Friday with the whole inservice thing from HELL!

So I did this . . .

Isn’t that neat!  I know there is no way you would know this, based on the fact that none ofyou have seen my handwritting- but it is terrible!  Very very bad- my teachers in grade school told me to learn to type!  However, with yarn or thread- it rocks!  I have no idea why!  It makes no sense!

Since then I have done two more, one for a Mother-in-Law (no the one with the scarf- my other one) and one for a friend.  I forgot to take pictures last night- so I will do that and try and add later.

Take care!

Here they are- my contributions to the fun fur hat knit-along at Minestrone Soup for Boston Children’s Hospital.

I think they are so funny!  They were all knit with left over yarns- I was pretty excited for a chance to use up the fun fur in my house.

Or at least that was the plan!

Then I gave one of my mother-in-laws a scarf for Christmas to which she responded with, “wow you really do knit!’  .  She loves the scarf (done on the 50 size needles with lion brand- it is one of my fave scarfs too!), and asked if I would knit her another scarf for her Birthday coming up (I won’t say the years, just that it is a milestone and we can’t wait to celebrate with her).  She even sent me the yarn- 10 skeins of FUN FUR!  I used 4 or 5 on the scarf and another few on the blue/cream hat top left above.  It is with a Navy and Cream held together and I LOVE the kind of silver fox effect they had- the colors change depending on how you “brush it”. 

I had hoped to end the knit along with less novelty yarn than I started with, but that was not to be.  So now I have more Fun Fur to play with . . . any ideas?

How much sock could a teacher knit

If a teacher could knit a sock while stuck in a theatre listening to the worlds most dull, and worse yet INSULTING presenter ever?

That is a lot of sock for 4 hours!

I cast on last night and did 1 row- just enough to have it stay on the needles!  3 1/2 inches!  And I tried to pay attention a litte (that didn’t last long- really she was insulting to my subject- bad idea- we almost had words!), I also spent at least 30 min getting snacks and going to the bathroom (on the good side, I am well hydrated- I had to drink a lot of water in order to have to pee that much!).  The amounts to about an inch an hour- I am pretty proud of that!

This is the second in the pair (see avoiding second sock syndrome, cast on right away) of the pair I wrote about the other day.  I stayed up late last night to finish the 1st so that I could have the 2nd one to do today.  I don’t know what i did in these meetings before I knit!  For eight years I must have just wanted to DIE!!!! (I didn’t think to take a pic of the first one- I will take one when both are done)

WARNING-TEACHER VENTING TO FOLLOW- this is the end of the knitting content!

In case you didn’t know, I teach theatre- it is an elective and not tested the same way Math and Language Arts are- I know this!  But according to the evil that is No Child Left Behind- there are 5 core subjects- Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Science and ART (This is the ONLY thing in NCLB that is worth talking about, but I digress).  Art is VAPA (Visual and Performing Arts).  WE COUNT!  The only time this person mentioned us was to say things like, “Oh yeah- they are SUPPOSED to be covering this in Fine Arts as well” First- SUPPOSED to- You can bet your little gradebook that my class is more in line with grade level standards than many on this campus.  Second, You bet you BUTT that we are doing it.

Once she said something nice about a class, but prefaces with “this was a great example, WOULD YOU BELIEVE it was in a Home Economics class.”  Hello, why wouldn’t it be?  Just because we teach subjects outside her idea of core- does not mean we are lesser teachers.  For heavens’ sake – I have both a theatre and ENGLISH credential- I choose to teach this, not beacuse I am a lesser teacher- but becasue I LOVE the arts!  Because I think that the Arts bring value to ALL other areas of life.  That without Art, there is little purpose in life.  Art is that which brings meaning (Sorry, this is a bit of a soap box for me!).

We are done now, 7 hours of my life down the drain.  I did get my next sock started- and designed another hat for the Knit-Along.  I have 3 done already ( this is a great way to use up some of that “what was I thinking” novelty yarn we all have- and to help kids out in the process!).  I will try to get some pics this weekend.

Have a wonderful, RESTFUL weekend!

I have been at work since 8 (cause I am a good little girl), no kids till 10:30 (finals week and it is my prep period right now!). 

I have all my grades done for periods 1-4 (just have 6th left, they have the 10:30 final) UPDATE:  Ok it is 1:00- all my grades are in and done and submitted!  I have 2 hours left! (bets on my sneaking out early . . .)

I know- you have seen my desk and I needs to be cleaned- but I don’t want to!  I will, at some point today.  I promise! (I did it- it took 10 min- oh joy!)

OK- the baby news . . .

Who thinks these two should reproduce . . . ?

‘CAUSE THEY ARE!!!!!! 

 the baby we found out about a while ago, but I wasn’t to knit for due to worries is IN ITS (we don’t know boy/girl yet) SECOND TRIMESTER!  I got the knitting go-ahead from my sister-in-law (yep- my brother is going to be a dad!  OH MY GOD!)  She sent an email saying she had made the second timester.

The cold place the live . . . GERMANY, Black Forest- COLD!  Yeah- this is a baby that will need warm things and a MOM who does the yarn thing too- so she will “get” the knitted gifts! 

The pic is from some German Winter Holiday where they wear costumes and do strange things.  The American side of the family is trying really hard to understand Germany- but they get very cold, and very strange- it is FAB!!!!!!!!  They have so much fun! 

I am so happy and excited for you two three!!

Ok- here is the last of the yarn my dear gave me for Christmas.  I wanted lots of color and that is what he found.  I was waiting to start with this until I had a basic grip on the sock thing-’ cause I want these- I don’t want to give them away.

The yarn: Wildfoote in Color Rock N’ Roll- washable wool

The sock:

A simple 1 x 1 rib then leg, short row heel etc . . .

And as usual the backgroud is my super Messy desk.  It is finals week here at the high school- so I should get aroud to cleaning the desk- or I may just read blogs.  See the kids are gone at 12:30, but we are here till 3 (at least on paper)

Two more days with kids, then 3 of my 5 classes change!  Acting 1 will be over, till next Fall!  YEAH!!!!!!!!!

Have a good one!

My son got felted slippers for Christmas.  My husband got the first socks I did due to a size issue.  I have been coveting thier warm foot coverings the past week or so (and stealing my husbands socks whenever I could!)

I need to no more . . . .

For I have these . . .

Are they FAB, or What?  The are losely based on the Fuzzy Feet pattern from Knitty, but I didn’t get the heal as written so I did it based on Stephanie’s book instead (you do need to be a bit brave to just knit a few past center and turn!).  This is a pic of the slippers pre-felt, Jose the Little People Zookeeper is there for scale.

I felted for two cycles in the machine and then tried to stretch the slippers out- it was a loosing battle.  So I sucked in up and put them on wet (think cotton socks under).  This was not the most fun ever, but I have slippers that fit my feet PERFECTLY !  The joy!  The Warmth!  It is FAB!!!

I wore them plain black most of Saturday- but they were dull.  I had bought myself a needle felting set in Decemeber, so I got that and some scrap yarn and did the flowers~  I LOVE THEM!!!!!!

Wishing you warm feet!

Ok- I am a big huge DORK!  When I posted the picture of the button hole  bag a few days ago, I also sent a picture to Ann at Mason Dixion (at the end of the pattern they ask you to, I am not that big of a dork!). 

Ann wrote me back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!- it came to my work email this am.  I feel so cool.  She was very sweet and kind!  I feel like a total dork right now, but I am so excited. 

That is one way to brighten up the Friday before Finals!

One of the best things about teaching Acting is that some of my classes are only semester long.  That meas that in 2 week, I get new classes!  I like that!  Only kids who have a C or better in Acting 1 can take Actin 2- so second semester is where I get to weed out the kids that don’t want to be here.  So I am left with the more solid kids in Acting 2.  I also like Acting 2 more for a subject.  It is less of the basics and more of the History and style of theatre- MUCH more fun for me (Acting 1 is the stuff I learned in my first acting class (I was 10).  It gets really dull for me- 3 hours a day 107 kids!

The cold spell here has broken for now-  It is getting back up to normal for a while anyway.  There wasn’t as much ice on my van this am (the heater is working again- much better).  I can see blue sky through the windows in my room- I want to be outside, in a park or something- it is that kind of weather.  Oh Well . . .

In December, one of the Jr High’s that feed into my High School started a knitting club (isn’t that cute!).  They sent out a request for supplies, yarn and needles and such.  I went through the stash and found some stuff that needed to go- that I wasn’t going to use and sent if off-  right before break I got this:

Isn’t it cute?  They made them as thank you gifts- little candy dishes (I hold paper clips in mine).  I think it was made on one of those spindle knit things.  It is double knit and really sweet.

I don’t have much else today.  The cold is getting much better- it has been downgraded to just yucky.  I am way ready for the weekend- how about you?

Good Morning:

We are starting to thaw out here.  However, I have gotten a cold.  Spent last night in a NyQuil stuppor ( my husband thinks this is one of the funniest things going).  Woke up feeling yucky- but it is finals season at the high school- so I have grading to do every day this week.  Finals aren’t until next week, but I have memorizations to grade in Acting 1 today and Notes scenes to grade in Workshop (advanced acting) Thurs & Fri- so for now there is no rest for the wicked I suppose (by the way, Wicked, one of the best shows I have ever seen, if it comes near you see it!)

Ok- The FOs

First a Button Hole Bag from Mason Dixion Knitting.  This was the first bag I knit/felted and I actually followed the pattern pretty carefully (for me, this is a VERY rare thing, I can’t follow a pattern or directions to save my life!).  The yarn is Cascade 220 in 3  colors.  I knit with 4 strands at a time (pattern called for 2 strands of bulky, so I just doubled it forworsted- I hadn’t been knitting long).  The bag is so solid it just might stop a bullet!  When one of the 4 balls ran out, I just started with a new ball in a new color, not the most formal way to change colors, but I like the Fair Isle-ish look it got.

An eye glass/makeup case in Noro Kureyon.  I LOVE THIS YARN, but not the way it felts.  It gets kind of hairy, and takes a lot of shaving.  But once you get it shaved- I like it a lot.  The colors make it really easy to find in the purse. The little button is from my Grandma Goose’s Button Jar- she has been gone a while and it bring a smile to my face everytime I open the case to think of using her button.

I learned to knit with this yarn.  I had been wanting to learn for a while and was in Ashland, OR for the Shakespeare Fest when I wandered into Web-sters, a wonderful LYS.  There I found this yarn.  I had  needles with me and some Red Heart  to try to learn, tossed the Red Heart and got the Noro- it was fun!  That is now one of my FAVE scarfs!

Take care- stay warm and dry!