Twin Rib

twin rib
yarns liberated from two one-dollar sweaters. One says 100% lambswool, the other says pure merino. The rib is not nearly as stretchy as regular, but I am getting about 7-8 st per inch in the stockinette for these two combined wools.

freedom of speech attacked again

So it seems that there is no freedom of speech for public employees -
If you teach, and criticize the president, you'll get suspended from your job
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/03/07/politics/main1379331.shtml

So, if you mention an idea, are you "teaching" that viewpoint??

Also:
Police in Britain have been informed that " Disciplinary proceedings may be considered against posters of material that may be (among other things) defamatory, offensive or otherwise inappropriate."

World Weary Detective: "It is therefore with deep regret and great sadness that I must announce that I will no longer be submitting posts to this blog. I cannot challenge New Scotland Yard. I am weary indeed and cowardice is my bedmate. The protection of my family must take precedence.

To each and every one of you - take note of what has happened here and be afraid.

If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever. - George Orwell"

How drug field testing can go terribly wrong

How drug field testing can go terribly wrong
- an intelligent, well-reasoned comment on a recent poisoning of volunteers paid well to experience "field testing" of a new drug. It shouldn't have caused multiple system failures - but it did. This
article also links to several other reference sites.

"the IGN 1412 drug trial run by Parexel, where volunteers stood to earn up to £2,000 pounds for participation"
http://blacktriangle.org/blog/

orchid - 7 blossoms, over two weeks old, nearly translucent 

a nearly matching pair - ?Sockotta? with Fortissima Socka reinforcement in the heel 

Plassard - Tahiti

The best mirror is an old friend. 

Trekking - go ahead, I dare ya to find the dropped stitch! 

I have knit with Cherry Tree Hill, Sockotta, Regia, etc. and I get 7 st per inch on size 2 dps. In fact, a couple of months ago, I bought some birch #2s. Loved them so much I went back and got 4 other sizes.Then my son's Great Dane Puppy raided my knitting chair and ate most of my #2 birches.

Strangely, he didn't chew on the sock....I frogged a couple of rows, and the yarn was strong - slobbery, but no weakspots.(Yeah, I know Yecth!!)

The wooden ones were soooo nice, and the lys is an hour away, and I usually knit late at night when it's closed anyway, so I went to the kitchen and got out some bamboo skewers I had. I sanded them with emery boards, and they work beautifully!! They are somewhere between a size one and a two, and I love them! No more needles falling out of my sox in my purse.

At any rate, I had also started a sock with TrekkingXXL. Now, on this one I got 8 spi on size 00. IT MADE ME CRAZY!! The aluminum needles in that size are so slippery!! There are SO many MORE stitches!!Last night I finally finished one Trekking. I immediately fixed the ends and slipped it on my right foot. It is so warm. It fits beautifully.

But what's that??!!AAARRRGH!! A dropped stitch right near the join for the afterthought heel!! I took it off, unladdered back as far as I could, cut a three-four inch piece of yarn, and tied it down. (No it's not visible to anyone but me, and no, there is NO WAY I will frog and reknit these killers. As soon as the ends were woven in, I put on the sock.That is, I put on the sock ON MY LEFT FOOT. So beautiful, so warrrr...

BUT WHAT"S THAT??!!??!AAARRRGH!! A dropped stitch way up on the leg. You know how I fixed it. You know there is no way I am ever going to frog this stupid sock. It's warm. It's lovely, and no one is going to notice my undropped stitches. NO ONE, do you Hear!!! NO ONE...

Regia 60 st on size 2

very small very rural very middle

very small very rural very middle

reposted from Feb 15

I have almost always taught in small schools – VERY small schools – very small, very rural schools. Heartland. Bible Belt. God’s Country.

There are advantages – few (none?) of my students are in gangs, and few of them actually go to jail while enrolled in school (Of course, I teach 7th and 8th grades, so our high school mileage may vary).

We do have drugs in the community – ‘hemp’ grows wild around here – and once (long ago and far away – but still small and rural) a teacher that I worked with was indicted for raising the stuff. But we haven’t had any here at the middle school (that I know of). I heard teachers discussing one particular student using drugs, but I know the symptoms, and he sure wasn’t using at school.

Another advantage is that we rarely lock anything. In fact, I have nothing in my classroom that CAN be locked. (There is a lock on my desk, but the key disappeared many years before I inherited it.) I lock my purse in my car (Hey, I used to live in a city), but many teachers just leave their purses in an unlocked desk. In fact, I have passed empty classrooms where teachers’ purses are lying in full view. (Insert joke here about no one having any money because our salaries are so low.)

We leave gradebooks lying out in full view while everyone on the hallway mills around on their way to lunch. But I haven’t heard of a single instance of gradebooks vandalized, disappearing, or ‘being adjusted’ (Of course we are not still mired in the last century, and grades are entered into the computer, but we still must keep paper copies. Our principal looks forward to the time when the electronic version will be the final word, and we can save the trees.) I also keep candy in my desk ( rewards for winning Bingo or Concentration – I teach World Languages) and I can send students to get a pencil or scissors out of my desk, and know that they won’t take the candy.

(There’s one kid here who steals – I have caught him, other teachers have caught him, and other students have caught him. He has other behavior problems too. Needless to say, it’s a plaintive cry for attention and love, but he’s a hard kid to love. We live in hope.)

But the major DISadvantage is that we are complacent. We don’t realize what a great situation we have here. We get lost in the day-to-day scrabble, the paper/computer work, the phone calls home to parents. We get furious when we are told that Dallas can’t find teachers willing to work for a salary that’s TWICE our beginning pay scale (But then, we wouldn’t teach in Dallas either.)

bird in my hand - almost

reposted from Feb 20

I just heard a _huge_ thump - no surprise - birds fly into our windows all the time. Sometimes they die. Other times they just are knocked silly, and recover slowly.
When I checked, I saw a black and white striped back, and a striped wing sticking out at an angle. His back was maybe 4-5 inches, and his wingspan would have been about 12 inches. The rest of the bird was buried in the snow. He was not moving. I watched. He continued not moving. Surely his wing or neck was broken, and he was already dead. But if I left him, he might freeze before he came around. I debated for a minute or so.

Then I stepped out in the snow to pick him up. I gently slid my hand under him, but before I could even lift him, his whole body lurched, his wings flapped awkwardly, he looked me right in the eye, and flew drunkenly up to the nearest tree, where he hung upside down. A twin circled round him, berating him. They flew in circles arguing and fake fighting. Brothers? Mates? The top and back of his head were scarlet, and his beak was at least an inch and a half long. Bird book says a Ladderback Woodpecker.

Yep, I know I'm ascribing human ideas and feelings to a stupid bird. (Time to insert some sappy moral - a chance to make more of it than it was - a semi-conscious, not-dead, clumsy, feathered neighbor) But I smile every time I think of it.

intercom blues

reposted from mid-Feb

Yep – we STILL say the pledge of allegiance – not every day, but about once a week the nsfna (not so friendly not-my-boss administrator **see note below) gets on the intercom, announces the perfect attendance winners, the students of the week, any birthdays coming up, and a couple students’ favorite books ( I am not making this up) (How could I?) These are for grades k-4. NONE of these are in grades 5-8. Our principal doesn’t do that; he sends email for announcements. In fact, we have a place for announcements on our gradebook/attendance program every day. But she likes the intercom. Today she announced her son’s birthday. Which is nice – friendly – reminds us that we have a life outside of this building. But my students were having a QUIZ. Sheesh!!

Then she leads us in the pledge.

Yesterday the nsfna (not so friendly not-my-boss administrator **see note below) interrupted my lessons on the intercom to announce that someone had oranges and grapefruit for sale in the office. She interrupted three times. One of those was a message for a specific teacher. Yes, our intercom CAN be used to call a specific room. Yes, she interrupted EVERY class for that. SO there are disadvantages to small schools/small administrators.

But I’m not bitter. YMMV.

** See, our school is so small that we have elementary and middle school in the same building. We are in separate hallways and have separate Secretaries, Principals. But we share the cafeteria, gym, art teacher, etc. And when one principal is absent, the other is backup for behavior problems. So she’s not my boss. Really.

ed-oo ca shun wurks

How embarrassed should I be
when my State Department of Education
publishes a grammatical error on its website?


http://www.dese.mo.gov/divteachqual/teachcert/forms.html#Administrative_Forms

They write
"Application for Teacher's Certificate for Holder's of Doctorate Degree"

There should not be an apostrophe in a simple plural.
You may need an apostrophe to show ownership when the word is followed by a noun.
For example, "doctorate degree holder's interest in applying for a certificate".

But not when it is followed by a preposition.

In which grade is apostrophe use taught?

So, tell me, does this indicate anything about “No Child Left Behind?”



Or am I just being Ms Grundy?