Student Knitters

Hello:

I know I haven't been posting much.  It's mostly because I am knitting/crocheting right up until I fall asleep while knitting/crocheting, then I am just too tired to type something.  Lame.

I now have 2 students in my 5th period math class who are knitting, and a 3rd student who as asked to learn to knit.  I started them off with hats.  I gave them some old Clover circular needles and yarn from my stash.  I knit about 1 inch of ribbing, then let them go round and round with stockinette.  The first student is a boy, E.  He started first, then one of the girls, A, asked if she could learn, too.

So E brought his hat after one night of knitting, and this is what it looks like:

I am not knitting.  This is a 13 year old boy's first knitting project.  He put it on as a joke, and it fits well.  Of course it looks like a headband, but seeing it on his head made the 3rd student, S, ask if she could learn, too.

I am consulting with the Eastside Stitchers for ideas for 2nd projects.  I would like to teach them to purl, so we were thinking simple fingerless mitts, maybe knit flat with garter stitch borders at the bottom and top, then sewn together with an opening left for the thumb.  I will suggest this, and see if E is interested.  I hope he wants to continue because he is doing  beautiful work.

Peace,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with student knitters

Did you Vote? I did

Hello:

I know the vote was on Tuesday, and this is Thursday, but whatever.

I voted
So, Washington is an all mail in ballot state, and I love it.  I used to love going to the polls and chatting with the poll workers.  I did not like waiting in line, but that rarely happened at our polling place, the local elementary school.  I read a letter to the editor this morning where someone was complaining about missing the fun of the polling place, and I get that... a bit.  That person mailed in his ballot.  I don't usually mail mine.  There is a collection bin for ballots at Crossroads, where the Eastside Stitchers meet on Wednesdays and Fridays.  On Tuesday evening, I took Allifer her ballot (she always forgets to pick it up) and waited at her work while she filled it out, then I drove to Crossroads to put our ballots in the bin.  Doc had mailed his in about a week before.  I don't like to mail mine in because what if something GIGANTIC happens the day before the election?  Like, someone running for state representative died 3 days before the election... and he is still winning.  Honestly, that is happening here.  Anyway, I brought our 2 ballots to drop off (this is completely legal, not voter fraud, you can bring someone else's ballot to the bin for them... they are all sealed), and there were so many people there bringing in their ballots that there was a uniformed police officer directing traffic.  I had to wait in sort of a line for my turn to put in the ballots as the bin has a small opening like a mail box.  It was fun to see all the people queuing up to drop off their ballots.  I really wanted to take photos for my blog, but I wasn't sure if people would be offended, secret ballot, etc. so I just watched for a bit, and felt very democratic, or really democratic-republic since we were electing representatives.

Democracy in Action
Last week the Bellevue School Board outlawed teachers giving out any kind of snack, including pretzels and candy.  Also, students could no longer bring snacks for other classmates, like on their birthdays, moms can't bring treats for the class.  This happened right before Halloween and caused an uproar.  I understand why the Board did this, we have lots of kids with serious food allergies, but really.  And yes, candy is not healthy.  But come on.  Lots of the teachers toss kids candy when they do something great as a motivator in middle school as there is very little else that gets these kids interested.  Also, our school ends at 3:30 and for the kids staying for tutorial, the teachers keep pretzels etc. as snacks.   First lunch is at 11:45. It is crazy to expect the kids to focus on empty stomachs.

Anyway, we kept telling the kids that if they didn't like the new policy, to have their parents call the Board.  They are elected officials, and they will listen to the voters.  Also, there was a board meeting on Tuesday, and the students could go and voice their opinion as all of the meetings are open.

And it worked.  The Bellevue School Board has revoked the snack restriction and is working on a new policy.

Occupy Bellevue is a success.

Peace,
f1bercat
shaping the planet in a democracy.

First Wednesday in November

 

Hello:

Fall is here.  My body is still on daylight savings time (see my rant on this subject in my Sunday, Nov. 2 post).  My cats are still on daylight savings time.  Which means that I am waking up at about 4 am every day, with my cats who WANT ME TO GET UP.  And so by 9 pm I am exhausted.  Anyway, I made it to the regular Wednesday night meet up of Eastside Stitchers at Crossroads in Bellevue, but I left a bit early because I was falling asleep.

I got to knit with a great group before I headed out into the rain towards home.

CathieC brought her Exit 0 Shawl.  She has made huge progress.  Can you see her stitch marker?

CathieC got it during the South Sound LYS Crawl last year.

BlueBerryMary brought the sweater she is making for her grandson.  He drew the teddy bear that she is knitting (with intarsia) onto the front.

Mary made the ribbing for this sweater by using a crochet technique she learned last week at the Eastside Knitters Guild Meeting where the Shibaguyz taught a class on how to crochet on your knitting.

GwenS is knitting (and is almost finished with) a Monarch Butterfly sweater by Taiga Hilliard Designs.

WireKnitter brought her beautiful Exit 0 Shawl.  She looks almost finished.

And look at JulieMustKnitt's Exit 0 Shawl!

Maybe next week we will see a finished shawl worn by one of our group.  These make me want to knit this pattern.

NightOrchid was casting on stitches for a new hat.

VanesaPolo is working on a new design, so I can only show you the yarn.

I brought the sweater that I am knitting for Moogie.

I am well down the sleeves (knitting them 2-at-a-time with magic loops).  Of course we had our best baby visitors.

Peace,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with yards and yards of lavender yarn.

Falling Back

Hello:

This is the semi-annual post where I both complain about the switch from or to Daylight Savings Time and Standard Time and propose my genius idea.

I have to admit that I love switching back from Daylight Savings Time to Standard Time.  I absolutely love the extra hour of sleep.  I love waking up to sunshine again.  However, I think that Springing Forward into Daylight Savings Time in the Spring is a horrible thing.  As much as I love falling back every Fall, I really really really hate springing forward and losing an hour.  My idea is that we just always fall back.  Even in the Spring.  Ok, so it might get a bit confusing as we get to wake up later and later in the day, and eventually, our "night" will be during the daytime, but for 2 extra hours a year?  I could seriously put up with a bit of time confusion.  I think we could all just get used to our "time" shifting a bit every year.  Did I forget to mention 2 extra hours every year?

And if that doesn't seem to be a good idea, well, I think we should do away with Daylight Savings Time all together.  Let's face it, in the Spring and Summer, there is lots of Daylight.  Why do we need to skew our timezone to give us one more hour after dinner?  When the sun rises by 5 am and doesn't set until after 8:30 pm, you don't need to change all the clocks to give yourself one extra hour of sunlight.  If we need more sunlight, it is during the winter, and we get sunlight earlier with Standard time.  Ok, so we won't have sunlight later in the evenings, but to have a bit more in the mornings would balance it out.

So, think about it next Spring when we have to Spring Forward and lose that hour of sleep.  Think about my idea of just falling back instead and GAINING that extra hour.  I bet thoon.at you will agree with me soon.

Happy Halloween

Hello:

That is a photo of Moogie in the catacombs in Paris,  yes, she has changed the color of her hair again.

For Halloween at the middle school where I am working, the Math Department wanted to dress in themed costumes.  We really work as a team, and the group likes to show this.  We needed something that had enough different characters for the whole department.  We decided to go as characters from the Despicable Me movies.  The 3 aides and the student teacher were to be the Minions, and the teachers the main characters.  Starting last Monday after the Eastside Knitters Guild October meeting (the Shibaguyz came! and taught is how to crochet on our knitting), I started making 4 Minion hats.

I used a free pattern by Crochet by Jennifer as a guide, but changed the pattern a bit because her hat is sc, and that was taking too long.  I needed the hats finished by Oct 30th in the evening.  The hats came out great, and the other aides really loved them.

I also knit the "bald patch" for the male teacher who was our Dru.

The students recognized who we were right away, and really loved the hats.  I have one boy in 5th period who keeps asking me to make him something.  I tell him that I will TEACH him how to make his own.  He seems interested, so I plan to bring materials for him next week, and see if he really does want to learn to knit.

Peace,
f1bercat
shaping the planet on Halloween

shawl worn by a woman on the tour of the catacombs below St. Stephan's Cathedral in Vienna, Austria

Eastside Stitchers, Last Wednesday in October

Hello:

So I get to Crossroads at about 5 pm and no one is there.  The big round table near Half-Price Books and Starbucks is empty, and so is the 2nd big table in the corner.  I grab a seat at the table, and get to hooking.  I'm making 4 "Minion" hats for Halloween, and need to get them finished.  It hits 5:15 and still no one arrives.  5:30 and I am alone.  This is weird.  Where is GwenS and Addie?  Where is VanesaPolo and Emma?  Just when I was thinking that it was going to be a really weird night with NO Eastside Stitchers, CathieC arrived.

We had this HUGE windstorm last weekend.  On Saturday, our power went out when 2 trees took out power lines on the 24th St. NE hill.  I sat in the living room listening to fir cones hit my roof with a thud thud thud, the much louder THUDS as branches started hitting my roof.  Across the lake I saw flashes of what I thought might be lightning, but what were really the transformers blowing.  Our power cut out at about 9 pm Saturday night.  There were lights to the south, but east across the lake towards Issaquah, and north towards Sammamish and Redmond was total black.  I texted various members of Eastside Stitchers and quite a few of us lost power at the same time.  Some of the lucky ones got theirs back quickly (Skeinherder!) or really didn't lose power at all (JulieMustKnit!)  Sunday knitting at Panera had to be switched to Crossroads because Panera in Redmond had no power.  Since my house was dark and cold, I really wanted to go somewhere for breakfast, so I picked up GwenS and Addie, and we met a few friends at Crossroads where there was Light and Warmth.  My power came back on very late that night, or really very early Monday morning.  Doc and I piled extra blankets on the bed and hunkered down.  Poor CathieC didn't get her power back until mid-day on Monday.  But it seems that we all have power once more.

Anyway, I wondered if people were still digging out (or sweeping up and cutting felled trees) and so we would not really have a group tonight, but I was wrong as we ended up using both big round tables.

Wajio brought a Knitted Knocker.

She had a paperclip holding the nipple part together, we called it her "pierced nipple."  She has finished this first one and will get started on its pair soon.

GwenS is knitting another baby sweater.

The pattern is Curve by Terri Kruse and I'm pretty sure the yarn is Malabrigo.

Jessica brought her very first knitting project, a scarf.

It will be fun to watch her knitting skills and the scarf grow.

And now for the Exit 0 Shawls.  Let's hope I remember who is knitting which shawl.

This is JulieMustKnit's Exit 0.  She has finished the first 2 sections.

And, here is WireKnitter's:

They are at about the same spot, which you can easily see.  It is so interesting to see how the different colors look in this pattern.

WireKnitter also brought a finished shawl for Show and Tell.  The pattern is Ananke by Shannon Squire Designs, and the yarn is Blue Moon Fibers Socks that Rock.

And here is CathieC's Exit 0:

She was worried about a decrease that she missed, but there is no way to see it.  And we encouraged her to forget about ripping back (see the stitch marker, that's where the missed decrease is!) and knit on.  She is almost ready for the second section.

Ok, I think this next piece of knitting is VanesaPolo's.  I know she was starting a project that began with a TON of stitches.

Tara1682 finished her Iznik I Heart You Shawl.

I know this is a gift, and she was really motivated to get it off the needles.  This is absolutely beautiful.  The photo does not do it justice.

And lastly (because she arrived last) is domesticshorthair.  She brought her Concentric shawl by Melanie Dilworth.

I think she had put this away for a bit, and when she pulled it out, the yarn was in a bit of a tangle.  It is all straightened out now, and she is back to knitting.

That's all for now.  We are expecting wind again this coming weekend, so let's hope that all the weak trees have already fallen, and we will have a very uneventful storm.

Peace,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with yarny friends.

Happy Birthday, Emma!

Hello:

It was a super fun night tonight at Crossroads where the Eastside Stitchers met to knit and celebrate Emma's 1st birthday.  No photos of the beautiful birthday girl, but I can show you my gift to her which was an Owl Hat.

I used some Ella Rae yarn for the main part, with a garter stitch brim, knit a big tube, then did a 3-needle bind off at the top.  Then I used some white Cascade 220 and hooked two big circles (3 rounds of dc starting with 12 dc in a magic loop) leaving a long tail for sewing onto the hat.  I used some Cascade Heritage Sock yarn in black for the dark part of the eyes.  I hooked 12 sc in a magic loop, then did a 2nd round with 2 dc in each sc. but stopped with 20 dc.  I left a long tail to sew these onto the white part of the eyes.  The beak is a crocheted triangle of orange Cascade 220.  I think the yarns are a mix of wool and super-wash, but I hope they won't need to wash the hat...  I really had fun making it, and it knit up really quickly.

JitteryKnitter brought the last 2 pair of mittens for the Detroit Achievement Academy.  She has knit them flat in garterstitch, and I helped sew them together.

Our group made over 30 hats and 18 pair of mittens in about 2 1/2 months.  I am so proud of us!  Wajio was finishing up her last pair of mittens, too.

She made these top down using the Double Knitting method by Beverly Royce that she learned at Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival.

Puzan brought a new project.  I want to say she is making a new sweater...

of course it could be a cowl...  The yarn is this really neat barber pole striped yarn, but when knit up, it has a heather look.

The next four projects were of the Exit 0 shawl.  Let's hope I match the shawl with the right knitter.

 JulieMustKnit has finished the first striping pattern.

 O Rats.  CathieC's photographed a bit burry.  She has finished the first page!  I really think she made a wise decision when she changed her colors.  These look just right together.

 GwenS has finished the  triangular wedge!

Wireknitter's shawl looks like it is about finished with the first striping section, too.  Great progress, everyone.  These shawls really make me want to knit one for myself.

After finishing her mittens, Wajio started another charity project, a boob, or more precisely a knitted knocker.  Here is the information on this charity:

Knitted Knockers are special handmade breast prosthesis for women who have undergone mastectomies or other procedures to the breast. Traditional breast prosthetics are usually expensive, heavy, sweaty and uncomfortable. They typically require special bras or camisoles with pockets and can’t be worn for weeks after surgery. Knitted Knockers on the other hand are soft, comfortable, beautiful and when placed in a regular bra they take the shape and feel of a real breast.

Tara1682 brought her beautiful beaded shawl, Iznik I heart you.  This is to be a gift, and Tara is in the crunch time for finishing it.  Here is an attempt at a close up so you can see how many beads she has used.

Domestic Shorthair brought her finished Fast Forward by Natalie Servant for show and tell.

She brought another project, but I'm not sure what the pattern is... I believe it is a shawl.

Nightorchid was also knitting mittens tonight, but she is making Puppet Mittens!

The "teeth" were crocheted, and sewn in.  We were all delighted with these so cute mittens.

So, Happy Birthday, again to Emma.  It is just amazing that a whole year has passed since the first 4 of our crop of new Eastside Stitchers were born.

We have some more baby birthdays coming up, but not until after New Years!

Peace,
f1bercat
shaping the planet with wool.