Bron's Blog II

Well, There Would Have Been A Picture Of Knitting

...if Doug hadn't lost my camera.

He swears he packed it to take skiing, never found it when he got there and now it's missing at home.

Grrrrrrr!

Until we get a new camera, please envision the last sweater pic I took, only with 6 rows of horseshoe lace..

Ouch! It's Been Almost A Week?

Sorry!

The pressure's been pretty intense around here.

If I could find my camera that Doug took skiing yesterday, I'd post a pic of my sweater progress. But it's 5 in the morning & everyone's asleep so I can't go banging around to get it.

A pic tomorrow, I promise.

In the meantime, this is what I've been up to:

• Writing an article synopsis for my Fundamentals of Reading class. (Like an idiot, I found a 15 page peer-reviewed article instead of a 4 to 5 page, so my summary is twice as long as she asked for!)

• Starting my gifted learning theory paper, which has stymied me for 2 weeks. I only have 2 weeks until it's due so I'm in a bit of a panic. This weekend I'll make up for lost time. It's taken me a week to search the 'net for articles to cite in my paper! Grrrr!

• Writing curriculum for the next 6 - 8 weeks for my class. I've expanded from just the Arthurian legends to beginning with a short unit on Beowulf and Old English, then basing everything in an overarching unit on the Middle Ages. This idea was greatly aided by inheriting yet another storage box full of information and books from my de facto mentor. It was like manna, I'm telling you. I'd just decided to have the kids read, Catherine, Called Birdy, when the next day I found the box contained a lesson planning guide to that very book. I absolutely adore my de facto mentor.

• Finding out that because a new middle school is opening next year, my job will go away. So....I also have the added worry of finding a new position for next year. Luckily I have many friends with many contacts so my search will be easier than most. However, I've been faced with writing a new resume and getting my ducks in a row pretty quickly!

• Getting used to the fact that I have to move from the school where I've worked for the past 4 years. I'm a little angry about it - I'm happy and content where I am. My mentor has to move too - I keep hoping she can find a position and take me with her!

That's it in several nutshells. I've just been too overwhelmed to post, but I HAVE been knitting a bit in the evenings. I've been getting enough done during class and during my prep time that I haven't been bringing work home. The one saving grace in the midst of all this!

Today should be a good day, though...I went to bed at 7 and finally got some decent sleep. Yay! for sleep!

Remember...tomorrow = picture!

In The Midst of A Little Light Reading...

Yeah ....

After all this light reading was finished...and the one page reflections that need to be typed every time you DO any of this light reading are done, THEN we're finished. Blech.

There was time for true light reading:

And even a pattern to catch my eye:

 

That fairly screams for my hoarded skeins of Bubblegum CE, don't you think?

Because my current CE project is zipping right along...between all that light reading....

 

Have a great week.

Finally, Happy Knitting Again

The formula for me is simple: Size 8 needles, preferably Addi Turbos, with lace involved in a sweater made out of Cotton Ease.

And once you've found a winning formula, why stray from success? I've started the Kelso Cardi with Hazelnut CE which, in some lights looks brown but in others it look quite green:

I think the true color is somewhere between the two.

But I'm loving this pattern for ease of construction and for having what is, perhaps, the easiest lace to knit, ever! Zipping right along & feeling good to be with my old buddy, CE, again.

Can another collaboration be far behind???

Yet Another Change Of Plan

I didn't have enough of the blue yarn for the Chevron Cardi and the second yarn I tried was terrible to crochet with.

Add to that the fact that I've been thinking about knitting another lacy cardi (like so many I've done before...in Cotton Ease!) and I ended up purchasing the Kelso Lace Cardigan. It looks almost exactly like a sweater I did a few years ago that shrank. I ended up giving it away, but that horseshoe cardi was my all-time favorite sweater.

As an added bonus, while looking at my Rav queue, I found Amused. I printed out that pattern too, just in case. Although it doesn't have lace, it does have cables & that's always a good option. ;)

Sometime You Just Have To Start On Something...Anything...

to get the creative juices flowing again. I'm too caught up in creating curriculum and I'm having a tough time finding and deciding on a project. Soooo...I decided to do something easy and crocheted:

 

This is the beginning of the Chevron Lace Cardigan and I'm using Sirenetta from Skacel that I purchased from a fellow Raveler a few months ago. This is a worsted weight while the pattern calls for DK but we'll see how it goes. If it's too ruffly after a few more rows I'll switch out for some other yarn hiding in my stash.

As I said in my title, I just needed to start on something...having nothing on the needles or hook was drivin' me nuts!

When All Else Fails, Post Pictures Of A Cat

I'm resurfacing after a grueling week. Not much crafting...well...unless you count crafting answers on tests!

I feel fairly confident, which means anything can happen. I am, however, glad I took both tests on one day. Just getting them over with is a good feeling. The teacher's competency took the most time by far. It had 3 short essays (basically a couple of paragraphs) and then the looooong answer that took 4 pages.

I'll find out on Feb. 13th, so it'll be interesting when the scores come in.

The elementary content was the most random piece of testing I've ever come across. Honestly, if you're good at Trivial Pursuit, you'd be good at this test. 100 questions later, I still did not see the rhyme or reason of the test. I did, however, identify a picture of a peach taking up an entire living room as a surprise of perspective rather than subject matter. And that a big event in the 1600's gave Indians mobility and wealthy they'd never had before. That big event was the Spaniards brings horses to North America. And also, did you know, that "Brown v. the Board of Education" actually effected NM too? Yep - we got desegregated just like the rest of the country.

I think this test tries to prove that you went to college and half-assed paid attention in those obligatory art and music classes you suddenly have to teach in a grade school classroom.

I truly believe my inherent randomness was a real plus in this area so I think I'll do fine. The essays on the other test might kill me because I was forced to argue the other side on a couple of issues. But I pulled up my big girl panties & dealt. So hopefully I've passed.

Here then, the "I have no content but a really cute cat" pictures:

 

 

Wish I had sweet buddies to sleep with like that! No trouble, no back talk, just warm furriness on a cold winter's night.

Watch history tomorrow, folks, Obama, our hope...our only hope for the future is being sworn in. I'm so freaking glad I'm here to see it. You've definitely got THIS American family behind you 100%

Man "President Obama" sure has a great ring to it. Long Live Obama!

(Edited for spelling. If I create my post after I've taken Ambien for the night, things get a little befuddled! Sorry.)

I'm A Lemming

After reading about the wonderful loaves of artisan bread being baked by fellow bloggers I had to order my own copy:

 

When I'll have time to delve into it, I don't know, but at least it's on my shelf. :)

Breaking News

• Dylan made state again in marketing, in both the individual and team competitions. He's a sophomore and he competed at state as a freshman too. Looks mighty good on a college app! We're really proud of him. :) He's happy & surprised - the tests to get in were very hard this year & he thought he didn't have a chance. He says his partner (a senior) is a real stoner but brilliant in marketing so all he has to do is hold up his end.
  

It's been a big week for Dylan. Friday we finally got him in for his road test. (It's been a comedy of errors trying to get him there! Twice we didn't have the proper identification, once the mileage log wasn't presented in the right form and twice more there wasn't anyone available to give the road test! We finally made an appointment and waited another month.) He passed with a 90% and now has his provisional license.

• I don't know what's more nerve-wracking. Riding with him and teaching him to drive or sending him out on his own!!!

• I've decided I need to crochet more during my hectic times. When I'm primarily knitting, I forget how practically instant the gratification is with crochet:

 

This is a hat and scarf set I made from 2 1/2 skeins of Malabrigo worsted in "Peach Tree." The patterns are "The Professional" and "Shelly Scarf", both by Emily Nelson. I wanted something quick, easy and needing almost the exact amount of yarn I had on hand. A couple of hours later, the set was complete.

This will probably end up being a gift for next Xmas because I'm just not a beanie girl. I look much better in a slouchy beret or cloche. Something that doesn't moosh all my hair down and make it disappear! ha!

• I promised myself that I'd take this last weekend to enjoy myself before the fury hits next week but....of course I couldn't help clicking over to the NMSU website yesterday and, lo and behold, even though class doesn't really start until Jan. 14th, all the class information had been uploaded. I went ahead & did my first assignment yesterday (creating a personal homepage with picture for 10 points) and printed out the 6 page syllabus and the 4 pageclass schedule. I got a jump-start on the first assignment too: We'll be doing an analysis of a curriculum model and they are assigned on a first come, first served basis the first week of class, Jan 20-23. I emailed my choices last night. ;)

• My NMSU instructor said in the syllabus that there would be no final because the 4 assignments we're doing will be so challenging.

• Sigh.

I'm off to research crocheted slouchy berets on Ravelry.....before catching up on grading and previewing a DVD for my Star Wars mythology unit.

Hope everyone's having a great weekend!

Tough Week Back

Whew! There were some issues happening at work that took all my time & energy this week (hence no blogging) but luckily it looks like the bad stuff went away so it's back to business.

It's been really cold here lately and thankfully I have another neck warmer completed. Doug likes it so much he agreed to model it:

 

No buttons. If I need to, I'll use a pin to keep it shut. This was a stash buster. I've had the yarn on my shelves for a couple of years and I'm happy to have used it. :)

Of course, if one rather largish ball of yarn gets used, a few more have to come & take it's place:

 

Courtesy of WEBS and their clearance sale, I bought several more balls of this & that for scarves & hats: Rowan Country, Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Chunky and Cascade's Revolution.

I'm not quite sure what I was thinking with those 2 balls of burnt orange, but I'm sure I'll find something to do with them. After all, they were on sale!

My school starts on Monday - I have my student teaching class at 5:30. Then Tuesday I have a class on teaching reading and Wednesday my 2nd gifted class starts with NMSU.

Next Saturday I'll be taking both of my final teaching tests - the NM Teacher's Competency and the Elementary Content. I'm rethinking taking both of them on one day, but at least I'll get them out of the way. Thankfully I can re-take as many times as it takes to pass, although hopefully it won't come to that. I won't be finishing my license until next Christmas so I have plenty of chances to retry.  These aren't the sort of thing you can study for, at least that's what I've heard in talking with people who've taken them, butI do have a study guide for the teacher's competency one.

All this is my way of saying you might not be reading another entry until Sunday!

Gosh, I miss winter break!