Okay, so Shirley Weber and I (also The Rice Czar, can’t leave Mr. Bill out) were at knitting last Sunday. Shirley was asking about a pattern for some scarf yarn she wants to knit up. So I told her about this pattern and this yarn I bought at Purls in Tucson (when I was ummmmmm……….chaperoning the HOSA students at their state competition/convention. The male chaperone took over so I could have a break). It is Bamboo by Southwest Trading Company. It’s one of those things that one of the ladies in the store was wearing, I overheard her telling another knitter that every time they got this yarn in Boom! they sold out. She had this scarf on in this colorway. So, being of weak constitution, of course I bought it. And another skein, different colorway. When I got home I cast on, and OMG, watch out, it is super addictive. Maybe moreso than the Ewe. Any kind bamboo yarn would work, you need a yarn with a soft, drapey-hand. Louisa did a scarf like this with bigger yarn. You can see it here, just scroll down to Jan. 16.I will bring it on Sunday. I am knitting it on size 5 needles. It is listed as a size 3 yarn which is DK or lite worsted, I think. Watch out for this scarf, it will beckon to you………………..must…………………cast……….on……………………….

Summer is almost here. And for lots of us, a break from school. The photo above shows my projects for the Knitting Olympics. At 12 is a pair of toe-up no-purl Monkeys for Karen. I had to re-knit from the ankle up because something strange happened to them in the too-tight department. They are in Tide Pooling BMFA STR ltwt. Going clockwise, those are toe-up no-purl Monkeys from my mom in Bella Coola, BMFA STR ltwt. They had the same mysterious ailment that Karen’s Monkeys had. Some kind of Monkey-dysfunction, undoubtedly caused when I got my new Signature DPNs and switched over in the middle of the sock. I had to tink both pair back to the lifelines for the legs and reknit. Next around the clock are my Queen of Beads in the colorway My Blue Heaven, BMFA STR ltwt from the RSC Club last year. I had one almost done, the second one went really fast. And no, the beads to not bother you when you wear them. Last on the clock are some socks for my mom–one of Cat’s patterns from her Insouciant book. They are in a rare gem that I bought at Camp last year.

Speaking of Camp, I am missing it this year. They have 2 sessions this year. The first session is on right now, it runs from Thursday to Tuesday and the second session follows starting Tuesday of this next week. No way that I could go this year. Work has been too cray and both sessions fell after break, I just couldn’t justify it, plus we have no subs this year. And I have no LPN, and I do miss Bertha. So, as a consolation prize, I have booked myself on a Knitting Cruise—from July 9-19 in the Baltic Sea. It leaves from Copenhagen then cruises on to Warnemunde Germany for a day trip to Berlin, then on to Tallin (Estonia), St Petersberg, Helsinki, Stockholm, Kiel (Germany), and back to Copenhagen. I spend an extra day in Copenhagen before the tour starts. Classes are taught while at sea, and at each port there is an organized yarn crawl if you like. And I do like:)

We have been having a knit-along and here are the results! This is Helen’s Personal Discovery Footprint. This photo is actually old–she is done with the first sock, save for the Super-Stretchy-Bindoff. The leg and rib are now added onto this sock.

Has anyone tried to feed my fish? You can put your cursor into the fish tank and click to feed them. They follow your cursor.

This is Shirley’s Footprints-her socks are both done now, this photo is not current. Have you started a new pair yet, Shirley?

And these Footprints and Feet belong to Andrea, my Daughter-for-Knitting! Are they keeping your toes toasty in Colorado?

Hope everyone has a restful Spring Break!

I LOVE this baby blanket pattern! It is knitted out of Encore Colorspun worsted weight, I really like how it worked up. For some reason it went much faster than the one I did for Jackson out of STR heavy weight. The Colorspun has long color repeats and you keep going because you can’t wait to see what happens next. I threw in some blue whenever, where ever. I could have used less of the pink, But I did want to keep the gradation of color continuous, without starting a new ball, so it was important to keep the color attached when it was the main color section. I will bring it on Sunday. I know it will be my go-to-baby-blanket pattern!

This posting is brought to you by Tang.

Today was Snuggy’s 17th birthday. We used to celebrate it like this. We both loved tacos from Chili Pepper.

Or sometimes we would take cat naps. Sometimes she was more tired than me, so I watched over her, and sometimes she stayed awake to watch over me.

And then, sometimes, we just snuggled together.

……..and sometimes now, if I close my eyes really tight………………….

……………I see her like this.

We miss you and love you Snug.

FYI to anyone who reads my blog==I am having difficulties with Blogger. When I try to go to my homepage it tells me that “allthingsknitterly does not exist” Today,it has also added the comment that this name is available for registration. I have not abandoned my blog, I am trying to get help from google, as there are other blogs who have experienced the same problem.. Hop to be back up an running soon!

I never posted about my yarn crawl on the way home from LA when I visited Carson. I had several new places and old favorites on my list. So here’s the goods!

Rachel is already knitting for future gift giving occasions, i.e. Christmas 2010. These are washcloths she is making–the pattern follows. She says they are quick and you have to pay just enough attention to cure any boredom that might pop up. Great idea—

Our district Admin is going crazy again. Musical chairs with campus Administrators. Moving two out, offering them classroom teaching positions if they so desire, a Principal from one school moved to another. An interim AD moved from one to another,an assistant from one school moved to another. One assistant moved to a school that already has a full complement of administrators, even though my campus is minus one administrator. Why?

One of the reasons listed by dao is that morale at this particular campus was down. Is this a result of the recent survey asking about job satisfaction? Is it possible that these cuts/changes were partially driven by this questionnaire? That was one of the reasons given by district admin (notice no caps) for these changes. What will these actions do to morale now? If it was low before, how low will it go now? They don’t exactly instill confidence and trust. We need leaders on each campus and at the district level that we have confidence and trusting relationships with. This is crazy.

Why is it better to do it now, halfway through the first grading period of this semester rather than spring break or during the summer? Could they possibly have chosen a more disruptive time and method to implement these changes? This will cause problems on all levels of campus life, down to each student in each classroom. Some of these positions that have been vacated will be filled by others with Admin Certification who were now teaching up until this time, which will mean that other teachers will be moved around in order to have coverage in each classroom. Out of the 6 schools in our district, 3 were left unscathed, and I am happy for them. The other 3 are going to have big changes on Monday.

And is there any truth to the rumor that there will be a nation-wide search to find a new principal for this school next year? Is our district sound enough financially to undertake a search like this? We have to scrape and beg to get copy paper or printer cartridges, and they are considering a nation=wide search for a principal? Look at our past nationwide searches, they didn’t turn out to be all that great.

Seems to me that in our district, if you are perceived as being competent and good at what you do, you get jerked out of your position and moved to a different campus. It has happened before, now it has happened again

Likewise, if you are bad at what you do, you don’t get invited back the next year. If you are really bad you are fired midyear.

However if you are somewhere in the middle, merely mediocre, might just be the best place to be. Hence my new goal—I am now Aspiring To Be Mediocre.

Knit on, with confidence and hope, through all crises.
-Elizabeth Zimmerman