Monday, May 30, 2011

Giant Food

I've been pretty busy in the past week.  Two weekends ago I was in Indy for a friends bachelorette party.  It was really fun, and it got me pumped for the wedding!  The wedding was Memorial Day weekend.  My friend grew up in a really small town, but they have a giant egg.  I have no idea why.  But my friends and I knew we had to take a group shot after the ceremony (and before we realized that my friend locked his keys in the car...).  The wedding was really fun, and it was great to see my friends join their lives together.
Mentone, IN

It's sort of strange, but this is not the first giant food item I've seen.  While on spring break abroad in Australia, my friends and I found a giant mango in Bowen, Queensland.  We loved it so much that our Aussie friend took us to see the giant pineapple near the Gold Coast for our last week in Australia.  I also had a giant fruit sighting in New Zealand, and am still kicking myself for not stopping for a picture.

Bowen, QLD, Australia


Trying to hold up the giant mango...


Gold Coast, QLD, Australia

The pineapple was sweet because you could climb up to the top!

I'm not saying that I will be one of those people that plans their entire vacations around visiting giant objects, but it would definitely be fun to keep up the tradition!

Aside from the wedding, I've been in the midst of packing to move back home for the summer.  I'm sitting in an empty apartment, and will be driving to PA tomorrow!  Hopefully I'll be able to get my weave on soon and play with my loom.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Tiny Needles

I'm only in Indiana for one more week!  I keep getting the urge to start new projects on Sunday nights, when everything is closed.  The LYS doesn't open until Tuesday!

I just remembered that I'm supposed to practice knits and purls on my ridiculously small needles for a class I'm taking this summer.  You may remember the Mary Ella Cuff:

Working on such small needles is so weird!  It's not hard per-say, but it's very slow.  I've also never knitted with beads on my yarn, so it should be an interesting class.  Here's a sneak peek at my practice:

Large picture = Easier to see the detail.  It's so tiny!


My bracelet will be on ecru colored thread, with deep amethyst beads.  I think.  It's been so long since I bought the supplies, I can't remember!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Exciting News!

I haven't said anything about this yet, because I was afraid of jinxing it...  But I bought a loom! YAY!
Photo Courtesy of rspack on Ebay.com

I took an introductory weaving class in 2010, and was immediately hooked.  The problem was that I didn't start until spring of my senior year in college!  By the time I knew I liked it, I was graduating and moving out of state.  I looked into buying a loom, but they're extremely expensive.  New ones can easily be over $5,000, and even used ones comparable to the one I learned on are over $500.  Occasionally I would browse online for cheap looms, but never found any. Until last week.  I found this wonderful table-top loom.  It's smaller than most; I won't be able to weave anything wider than 20 inches.  I don't wear shawls through, so I'm going to focus on scarves.  And maybe throw pillows?

After finding it, I tried to research the maker.  Internet fail.  I couldn't find anything.  So I emailed my weaving instructor from last year.  She was wonderful.  She gave me her opinion on its condition, appropriate selling price, and where to buy the 1 part that its missing.  She even offered to send me some old weaving magazines!  After discussing it with her, I knew that I definitely wanted to buy the loom.

Then the waiting game started.  I had only bought one thing on eBay before, so I was nervous to bid.  I didn't want people to know I was looking at it.  My mom told me about Just Snipe, a website that waits to submit your bid until the last few seconds of the auction.  I signed up.

The auction just ended a few minutes ago, and I was the only bidder!  So I got this loom for $175 (+$40 S&H).  A steal.  My weaving instructor said her upper limit would be $350!!  Even after buying a $35 piece and some weaving books, I'll be way ahead.  Looms last for a long time, so I'm considering this an awesome investment / self-graduation present!  Expect lots of news of my weaving adventures this summer...

Sunday, May 15, 2011

A Parade of Yarn

Now that my graduation ceremony has taken place, I have a lot of free time on my hands.  I'm done with all my school work, student teaching has been done for a month, I cleaned and entertained the family, and even sent some stuff home with them.  I'm just killing time in Indiana until my friend gets married in a few weeks.  This means... knitting!  Knitting, knitting, knitting.  Occasionally, I force the roommate to go running with me as well.  I figure getting out of the house is good for our mental health.

I've been working diligently on the Nip/Tuck shirt for the past few months, and I finally finished it!  I just need to block it.

Notice the coconut buttons!

For those of you who don't know, blocking is a process that "sets" the stitches.  I block the item to the size and shape I want, and then it doesn't get stretched out or mishappen when I wear it.  I've only blocked a few things in my knitting career, and never a bamboo/nylon blend.  Usually, I gently swish the object in warm water with some soap, then rinse and lay out to dry in the shape I want.  However, bamboo is prone to stretching, so I want to block this top differently.  I think I'm going to try to spray-bottle method (good thing too, because I knitting friend informed me that nylon is sensitive to warm water- crisis averted!).  I'll lay my shirt out, and use a squirt bottle and cold water to wet it.  Then, I'll just have to wait for it to dry.  I've tried to shirt on, and it fit perfectly, so I'm nervous I'll block it incorrectly and ruin everything...

Jayne Hat
After I finished the shirt, I immediately (I told you... lots of free time) cast on the Jayne Hat for my roommate.  I finished it the next day.  And immediately cast on the Grumpasaurus my friend asked me to knit.  I finished that the next day.  Now I'm out of things to knit.  I spent a while browsing Ravelry for new patterns, and found a purse that I love.  It has a beautiful lace pattern, and a 2-sided sewn lining.  Perfect.  I want to work on my sewing skills this summer, so I can knit the bag now, and finish it at home in a few weeks.  Unfortunately, the local yarn store is closed Sundays and Mondays.  I hope I can find a good yarn soon!  I don't know too much about fibers, but I want something that won't stretch.  Maybe a cotton or nylon blend...



Grumpasaurus.


Personally, I like Grumpysaurus better!

Teacher Appreciation

Recently I was back in school, substitute teaching for one of my former mentor teachers.  During lunch I went down to the teacher lunch room, only to find it empty.  Another teacher walked by, informing me that it was teacher appreciation day, and that there was free lunch in the auditorium!  I went in to find a delicious spread of Fazoli's (a chain restaurant with Italian food, and amazing breadsticks) and home-made desserts.  Teachers could also sign up for massages that day.

As I student, I was not aware of Teacher Appreciation Day.  I only know it exists because of my mom's PTA involvement when I was younger.  I remember her putting together little gifts for the whole week to leave in teachers' mailboxes.  Wouldn't it be great if teacher appreciation was more prevalent in society?

NPR has a short (~4 minute) story about it.  Coincidentally, I only know of this story because it is by a fellow Kenyon College graduate!  Check out his story here.  And remember, it's always nice to say thank you.  I think a professor described teaching well when she said "it's one of the hardest professions out there...  You don't even get to choose when you are able to go to the bathroom!"

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Who Do We Fire First?

Recently, several states have switched policies on how to fire teachers when they're under budget woes.  These states, such as Indiana, will look at teacher performance.  Student test scores will be a main factor in not only who gets laid off, but also who gets a raise.

Both scenarios are mildly terrifying to new teachers (specifically, me).  In states such as New York, I could lose my job right away because of my inexperience.  Even if I'm more dedicated than the older, more experienced teachers.  In other states where teachers are ranked based on student performance, I could be punished for my students not taking state tests seriously, or for having low-ability kids.  If I don't build the relationships with my students and inspire them to do well, my career may be short lived.  Stories such as the teacher in California who committed suicide after he was ranked "less effective" than  his peers makes me wonder if performance-based evaluations are really the best method.

This brings me to the Indiana Growth Model.  The state will begin analyzing test data with the growth model this year.  It compares a student's test scores to their previous year's scores, and the current scores of student who had similar scores the year before.  Ideally, this will allow teachers to follow individual student progress, and highlight students who are on the brink of failing.  The growth model charts data on two scales: An passing scale, and an improvement scale.  Ideally, each student (and school) places above the passing line and above the improvement line (although I do not know how they determine where to set the improvement line).

After attending a presentation by the state about the growth model, my friends and I agreed that it was a sort of excuse: Yes, our kids are still failing, but look- they're improving.  Here's the problem:  If every school is being compared to all the other schools or similar statistics (socioeconomic students, etc.), then it's impossible for all schools to score about the improvement line.  Even if all schools are improving, the schools who improve less than the others will fall on the bottom end of the scale.  While it is important to consider improvement, we have to keep the bigger picture in mind:  Students are in school to learn.  Learning is not necessarily correlated to their state test scores.  But until we find a better way to "monitor" student learning, we'll have to live with the growth model.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Comic Friday!

Just a comic to brighten your Friday!  Courtesy of xkcd.com.

Progeny
The alt-text reads "I tell my children 'it's now whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game.'  I'm trying to take the edge off their competitive drive to ensure that I can always beat them."

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Portfolio

In case you've been wondering where I've been the past two weeks or so, I've been working on this:
The dreaded portfolio!

For the Earlham MAT program, the portfolio is in lieu of a thesis.  And it sucks.  It's all I did last week.  Literally.  But I finished it before my birthday and the boy's visit, so success!

In other news, I've been slowly chugging away at the top I'm making.  It doesn't look like much now, but in 3 inches or so I'll start the shaping for the neck and armholes.  I need to finish it soon so I can work on the roomy's hat!  I was really excited to get a ball winder and swift for my birthday, so I need an excuse to go buy skeins and test them out.
Too lazy to rotate: A sideways view of my progress on the Nip/Tuck pattern.
Now, if the rain would just stop, I could enjoy May!