Knit Two Together

A little crafty

My daughter and I sat together the other night and made these.

          

Simple but pretty little stitch markers made from some beads and the semi-precious stones from a broken chakra bracelet I wore out. Perhaps they'll bring good knitting karma?

(oh, and about those pictures. I suck at Paint. I can open the program and that's about as far as I get. Inevitably the image is ginormous, far too big to actually work with, and I don't know how to make it small enough that I can see what I'm doing so that I could just crop the image so you can see bigger stitchmarkers and less table. I spent a frustrating hour getting to exactly the same place I did the last time I spent a frustrating hour dealing with this non-intuitive pain-in-the-arse program. )

(I hope my grousing about the stupid paint program doesn't cancel out the knitting karma.)

Still winter

 

 

 

 

 

Hoar Frost is that pretty white coating of ice crystals that forms when dew or fog freezes on the branches. It's really quite lovely. I think that the sight of sparkling white branches against a bright blue sky is one of the most beautiful sights in winter. 

I took this picture this afternoon. For the record, it's March 25, 2011. I haven't done anything other than upload it. The absence of colour is accurate.

This is spring.

Everything is covered with frost, the sky and ground are the same dull grey colour, and it's been like this every day for a solid week.

There's only one thing to do. 

One Child: an online reading experience

Blogjack continued....

I hope at least some of you have taken the time to check out the online book experience I talked about last time. I have been raving about One Child to any and all that will stand still enough to listen, but that's not really enough anymore; a little book review is in order.

One Child is a thriller which ultimately brings together several story lines in a grand climax. The first 8 (erm 9, more on that later) days are free to anyone with the remainder of the book available in daily release online format for only $10. I think it's a bargain.

By the end of the free period the reader will have met the major characters and been introduced to all of the major story lines. Author Jeff Buick takes the reader from the gritty reality of life on the streets of Khandahar as experienced by Halima, an 11 year old girl, to the world of high frequency trading and a view of Central Park from the 46th floor. That wealthy and somewhat removed perspective then goes further into the world of private covert operations and one Trey Miller, whose job it is to exact revenge for his employer by disrupting a U2 concert in Moscow. Meanwhile, back in Afghanistan a journalist and his soldier escort are set to have an experience which will change their lives.

One Child is a really good read, and you'll be able to purchase it online, or in bookstores, as a trade paperback edition beginning August 25th. Before I started reading online, I was a little sceptical about it. I like books, and I like to read with a pencil in hand. Enthrill has created a much more inclusive experience though, and it adds so much to the book that I've lost my pencil entirely. I've used the reader both on my computer and on my iPod. It's smooth and easy to use, with a clear interface and options to scroll or click to move forward or backwards within the text. Enthrill has been responsive to reader comments and went ahead with some improvements to the reader and the purchasing screens. Unfortunately, it appears that Trey Miller took advantage of that opportunity to send the whole thing sideways resulting in both One Child and Enthrill going offline for an entire day. To their credit though, Enthrill has a staff of dedicated IT geeks, who found the sabotage and put it all back together, better than before. In compensation for being down on day 8, Enthrill released day 9 as part of the free reading segment. Well done all! (I hope they catch that guy Trey Miller.) Those first 9 days of story are all available online now, and you can sign up and join the experience at any time.

I love reading this thing on my iPod. I like that I can control the font size. Each mini-page features a good balance of type to white space and moving forward is a tap on the side of the screen. I don't think it's slowed my reading pace at all, and I do believe that challenged readers would benefit greatly from the small screen experience. It's hard to be overwhelmed by text when you only have a few lines at a time. Other features work better on the bigger screen. It's easier to use the audio player there, and easier to follow the links to personal profiles, Facebook, and company websites on the computer. Unfortunately I don't have access to an iPad, and would love to know how that format affects the experience. My guess is that the iPad may be the best of both worlds with an easy reading format and large enough screen to let the reader explore.

Innovative publication, easy to use and customizable reader interface and a really good thriller all together in one slick, interconnected, very real reading experience. Well done! 

One Child

I'm hijacking my own blog to tell you about something I think is extremely creative, out of the box, progressive, and exciting.

As a skilled reader, I approach any text with an enormous fund of background knowledge and experience, and the ability to use all of it to build meaning. As a teacher, I work with unskilled and reluctant readers. These individuals tend not to have that big fund of knowledge to help them create meaning from text. Sometimes they find ordinary text unappealing and have trouble maintaining enough attention to really get into a book. Many readers, particularly boys, need a more involving experience to motivate them to make the effort to read.

I heard about a new book coming out, a thriller, published by a boutique company called Enthrill Entertainment. The book is called One Child, and is written by Jeff Buick, a 5 time international best-selling Canadian author whose other books have been published by a mainstream publisher and can be found on the shelves of most bookstores.

One Child is different. It is being released online, in real time, section by section, beginning July 27. It is perfect for your new iPad, or to carry along with you on your iPod or iPhone (at school these are collectively referred to now as your iPhun devices). Daily novel releases are combined with websites, radio broadcasts, video, and the ubiquitous Facebook. Following the full online release hardcopies of the book will be available. Look here for details on this unique publication strategy.

I'm not being paid, and I haven't seen so much as a draft copy of this novel, but I am so enthusiastic and excited about this publishing format and the potential for making the reading experience a much more encompassing, involving, personalized, and motivating experience that I stole space on my own blog to write and encourage you to check it out.

One Child, a thriller by Jeff Buick. published by Enthrill Entertainment. Sign up and join me for the ride!

When two knitters meet...

Life's been just a little busy for me lately. Not sure I actually have the wherewithall for the witty prose I'd like to present you with. Today is day 14 of 19 in a row that I need to put in full on working days. I'm starting to get a little punchy. Suffice to say it's a combination of May/June deadlines and the net result of my less than efficient winter.

Funny story to share though....

Last weekend I attended a conference put on for teachers by SMART. They are the leading manufacturer etc of interactive white boards and are based here in Calgary. I'm fortunate enough to be in a school where nearly every teaching space has been equipped with a SMARTBoard and Notebook software is part of the image on every computer - both teacher and student. Anyway... I figured that since I had been a bit distracted all winter and really didn't know much more than how to turn on the thing, that I should take advantage of an opportunity for some intensive training. Fabulous idea - crappy timing. Three full days of training in the middle of May! I'll tell you something though; it was one the best conferences I can remember attending and in 22 years of teaching, I've been to one or two. My brain is still processing the information, techniques, strategies, applications and extensions of both hardware and software.

"Great" you say, "but not funny."

I always sit in the back row of keynote speaker sessions. I want to be able to listen and focus, but I never take notes (because I never use them later). You can guess what I like to do in that back row (NO! That's dirty.) So... I slipped into a seat at the back that caught a beam of light from a doorway, got settled, and pulled out my knitting. The lady two seats down turned to me and asked, "Are you going to knit?" I smiled and nodded, ready to explain that knitting during speaker sessions actually helps me to focus. She grinned back at me, reached into her bag, and pulled out her own knitting! Turned out we both had shawls on the needles and we caused a bit of a scene laughing at ourselves, and admiring each other's knitting. Turned out we had registered for several of the same sessions and were able to spend the rest of the afternoon together. The next day we connected again for a session and another keynote before skipping out for a quick visit to a LYS before she had to get ready to catch a flight back home to Seattle.

The subtitle of this blog since the very beginning has been, "Whenever two knitters meet, they find a friend." That's part of the reason I named the blog "Knit Two Together" as well. Two knitters never lack for common ground, conversation flows easily between knitters who share a language of stitches and fiber; patterns and authors; techniques and mistakes. It's been quite a while since I spent time in the company of another knitter, and it was wonderful. I'm so pleased I met you.

In my own knitting news...

Progress on the Cable Neck Cardi is stalled with about 3" left to go in the body, and the sleeves. First, because the miles of stocking stitch have become painfully dull. Second, because I'm not entirely sure a lime green cardi is actually wearable. And mostly because I decided to make a shawl for a colleague who is moving away at the end of the year. I, quite rightly, doubted my ability to work a lace pattern in the spring so chose Lavalette. I've done one before and knew that it lacked counting or repeats but still looks very pretty. I paired it with some pale green Kidlin from the stash. From my first shawl I knew that the pattern as written makes a small shawl but that I could just keep adding sections without any issue as long as I had the yarn. It's been slow going because I've been working so much, but I'm down to the last 8 rows or so before I cast off. It's lovely and soft, with a halo that will make it a very light, but warm shawl. Pictures will be taken, and posted, both before and after blocking.

I really do need to stop stalling and get back to work. I promise to take next weekend off in it's entirety. Maybe I'll go see a movie (Iron Man 2? Robin Hood?)  -- Speaking of movies - go see "Gunless". Paul Gross is still hot, and the movie is hysterically funny. It was filmed around Sparwood, BC. I took the kids and all 4 of us laughed our butts off. Well worth the ticket, and looking forward to adding it to the DVD collection. -- or maybe I'll find a yarn store where I can sit and knit and make another friend.

Crunch!

I'm fine!!!

I was driving home from university Saturday afternoon. I stopped at the Tim Horton's for a large double double and had just savoured the first sip or two as I headed home. It was 3pm and my first coffee. Considering that I had been up and out the door at 8:30 on a Saturday morning and had spent the best part of the day sitting in a lecture, that coffee was delectable. I really wanted that coffee. (My non-Canadian friends may not understand. Tim Horton's is a chain of coffee/donut shops. It is our national addiction.)

Anyway....
I was driving down the road, under the speed limit because it was Saturday afternoon and I had a fresh Timmy's in my hand, minding my own business, traveling in a straight line. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the front corner of another car heading toward mine. There was no possibility to react; no time to even so much think of a swear word. He drove into my car somewhere around the front passenger side wheel, knocking me into the oncoming lane and setting off the airbag which in turn smacked the fresh Tim's out of my hand causing it to explode in my face and to coat the interior of the car. My glasses kept the coffee out of my eyes, and fortunately it wasn't hot enough to burn me but I could not see anything. Suddenly instead of a clear view of the road ahead everything was white and steaming. I couldn't steer so I stood on the brakes and put about 20 feet of rubber on the road. Thank god the oncoming traffic was able to swerve around me. Once I had stopped I was able to drop my coffee coated glasses on the passenger seat and was stunned to realize that I still couldn't see because the inside of the windshield was coated with a layer of steaming coffee and the car was filled with acrid white smoke still wafting from the airbag. It happened so fast that was the first I realized it had exploded.

My first thought was to call my husband and immediately dialed him on my cell phone. The smoke was making me cough and I got out of the car while it was ringing and ... ahem... lost it all over the 20something guy. (Meanwhile, my son answered at home to be greeted with the almost unidentifiable voice of his mother shouting obscenities at someone.) I impressed myself with the use of "fuck" as noun, verb, adjective, and adverb sometimes within the same sentence. Can you imagine the sight of a fully enraged woman, her body steaming with coffee, liquid dripping from her hair, yelling every variation of FUCK that she can possibly think of at the very top of her lungs in the middle of the street. Heh heh heh... that kid knew enough to back off and to admit that it was totally his fault. Hubby came... police ... tow trucks came... We slowed traffic going both directions for at least 90 minutes.

My car will need significant repairs; take a look at the pictures. The driver said he looked in his mirror but did not shoulder check when he changed lanes. Police ticketed him - $172. His insurance should cover everything since it was clearly his fault. I was just minding my own business driving along in my own lane, in a straight line, below the speed limit even. Fuckhead decided to change lanes directly into my space.

I'm not hurt. My left forearm is sore from gripping the wheel so hard and trying to steer, and I woke up Sunday with a stiff neck and upper back from the recoil reaction but that's all. We left the car at a body shop for estimate next week. I don't imagine it will be a quick or inexpensive fix (new front axle, wheel assembly, quarter panel, front bumper....). I am blessed by wonderful friends whose first reaction, after knowing that I was unhurt, was to offer me the use of a vehicle for as long as I may need it.

I've been knitting, but I think I'll save that for next time. Have a good week everyone.

Henry Winkler

I don't have a whole lot of time to write this morning.  I'm off soon to the Learning Disabilities Association of Alberta annual conference.  I need to tell you quickly about last night's opening keynote.

It was Henry Winkler.  Yup.  Arthur Fonzarelli.  Fonzie.  Da Fonz.  Heyyyyy!!

Look, audience pic from the back row...

Can't quite see him?  I understand.

Now you can!

Let me tell you about Henry Winkler.  He is an actor, producer, husband, father of 3, dog lover, and the co-author of 13 books for young readers with the 14th in progress.  He is funny, self-deprecating, honest, well-spoken, thoughtful, thought provoking, and kind.  He is short, his hair is thinning a bit and grey, he is fit and healthy looking and he has an absolutely warm and generous smile. 

Henry Winkler spoke for about an hour about his experiences growing up with an undiagnosed learning disability.  The books are about his own experiences in school.  He related a story about the fan mail he would receive while Happy Days was on television (50,000 pieces a week!).  One of those pieces contained a plaque which he hung on his wall.  It said, "If you will it, it isn't a dream."  That has been his mantra ever since.  If you will it... If your desire to achieve something is great enough... if you are willing to work, to sacrifice, to persevere then the impossible becomes real and the dream happens.

After his talk, Henry Winkler sat down for a book signing.  I, being wise and experienced in this, had purchased one copy of each of the 6 titles available there in advance of the speech and so was able to proceed directly to the head of the line (ok, maybe 25 or 30 back, but that was very much the front of the line which was probably 200 long).  I had a plan, which I explained to my friend Tito.  I needed his help you see.  Everything was ready by the time I was next.  I took a deep breath and dove in, "Mr. Winkler, I enjoyed your talk very much and thank you for sharing your experiences with us.  I was wondering if I could make an odd request of you.  Would you mind holding this sock for a picture for my knitting blog."  (I'm not sure I used the periods when I said all that.)

He gave me a kind of an odd look.  So I held up the sock and said, "It's bizarre, I know, but I'd appreciate it ever so much."  With that he smiled, shrugged, signed my 6 books and reached for the sock.  I pointed out Tito with the camera and.....

There just so happened to be a news camera shooting at the same time.  The whole thing made the 11 o'clock news last night. 

SQUEE!

A Thousand Suns Aren't Quite Enough

I went to the dentist today.

If you've been reading for a while you might remember my last adventure in dentistry.  Go ahead... remind yourself of my last trip to the seventh level of hell.  I'll wait.   I need a fresh ice pack anyway.

A month or so ago I went back in for a routine cleaning.  I'd been noticing that one of "those" teeth seemed to be unusually sensitive again.   An x-ray showed that one of the new inlays had broken off a corner.  It needed to be replaced.  I looked at the very sweet, kind, gentle, considerate hygeinist and responded with a muttered curse (yes... I used the F word.  No.... not all that creatively.)  She agreed with me. 

8:15 am... I arrive at the Demonic Headquarters

8:30 am...  I am guided into the Bowels of Hell, and given a bib.

8:32... I am stabbed in the face, twice, by the Chief Demon (disguised as a kindly grampa dentist) but not until I confirm that there is not a drop of epinephrine in the anaesthetic. 

8:40... I have assumed my stroke victim disguise, complete with droopy eyelid, numb nose, and fat lip.  The Chief Demon smiles and tells me, with some excitement, that they've got this really amazing new ceramic material that's so much better than the other stuff.  yay.

8:41... The drilling begins.  High speed diamond tipped bit.  Pulverized porcelain tastes putrid.  There is an alarming crunching sound and the drilling stops to be replaced with picking and a muttered comment about the ceramic being broken right through... no wonder this tooth was sore!  The drilling continues for quite some time.  My tooth begins to feel cold.  Cold stabs through my upper jaw making me flinch hard.  I am gently stabbed again and work resumes.  The last little bit is accomplished by a laser and hurts enough to bring tears to my eyes.  The Chief Demon comments to his Demonic Assistant that he's surprised even the very gentle laser hurts; the tooth is awake; he doesn't like the plain anaesthetic.

9:30... I am allowed to sit up.  The remaining bit of my tooth has been painted with desensitizer and a mould has been taken.  They will mill the fabulous new ceramic inlay while I relax for an hour.  Thank goodness I have brought my knitting.  Progress is made on my handspun fingerless mitts while the last of the anaesthetic leaves my face. 

10:45... The very, very gentle drying of my tooth with a piece of gauze once again brings tears to my eyes.  The Chief Demon shakes his head as he snaps the inlay in place for a dry fit and the tears threaten to spill over.  The last time he did this, he was able to install the inlays without any further anaesthetic but not this time.  This time it is far too much.  He stabs me again.  It hurts.  A bit of liquid flows onto my tongue.  I gag at the bitterness but can't tolerate the water rinse either.  We wait just a couple of minutes but the gauze is still very painful so another shot of anaesthetic is needed. 

10:55... I am finally numb enough to proceed.  I can't feel the tooth but my face sure hurts.  At this point, I am more than a little sick to my stomach.  The Kindly Grampa Dentist is at his most gentle now.  He is being so very careful not to cause me any more pain.  He bonds my tooth under the inlay to give the tender nerve as much protection as he can then installs the ceramic. 

11:15... Done.  At last.  I feel like I've been hit by a truck.  I want nothing more than to collapse in tears. 

Instead, I stop at Tim Horton's and pick up coffee for my colleagues on my way in to work. 

I taught spinning to ninth graders again today.  I love this lesson.  It's so much fun to see them with spindles trying to figure out how to do something which, to their eyes, looks so easy.  I don't let on that I'm really not very good.  They don't need to know that.  They have fun and learn an important perspective on history at the same time.  They think it's cool that I can spin and they ooohhh over the handspun mitts in progress.  The last period of the day was a spare and I left early, just too worn out to think.  Now that I've had a nap, and something to eat (the first today), I feel partly human again.  Tomorrow is a non-instructional day so while I have a ton of work to do it's not the same high energy level that I need to maintain for working with kids.  Then it's the long Thanksgiving weekend.  I'll post sometime over the next few days and show you the mitts, and maybe some of my famous pumpkin pie.

Parenting....

Oprah says that parenting is the hardest job that anyone ever does.  I think she's right.  Parenting is tough, and I had a bad day Sunday. 

Thanks everyone, for all of your very heartfelt words of support.  Thanks even more to Phil.  His comment made me stop and be thankful, and that's really what I needed to remember.  Take a minute to go read his comment on yesterday's post.

Meanwhile... The Husband made supper, the kids helped with the dishes, the laundry is done and so is the homework.  No one is fighting.  The dog is sleeping on my lap unmolested and Dragonsdottir is sitting next to me playing with her paper dolls.  There is mild bickering but it's quiet and more or less humourous, no squeaky inane tv, and no urgent chores that require my attention.  I am spending some quiet time with the family before the parade to bed.  I may even get to finish that handspun handwarmer!

F is for Parenting

CAUTION  RANT AHEAD

I'm busy.  I work 10 or 12 hours a day at this time of year.  It doesn't look much like it's going to slow down.  Slowing down will be 8 - 10 hours a day.  I have a home, a husband, three kids, and a dog to feed, clothe, shelter and love.  Somewhere in there, sometime, I try to go to the gym and work out.  Lifting weights helps me sleep better, gives me a great deal more energy, improves my mood, and significantly lessens my desire to smack people in the head.  It's important.  Knitting and spinning do similar things for me.  It's important too.

Lately though, if I sit down with my kids all three of them, and the dog (who doesn't know he's not one of the kids) pile on me, fighting and squirming for position, complaining if they get stabbed with a dpn but not giving an inch for fear of losing position to one of the others.  Eventually I am forced to put down the knitting for lack of elbow room.  I either fall asleep under the kid pile, lulled by the noxious re-run or I get up and do chores.  I would love to sit with them in the evening.  I'd even watch that inane crap they like (No I wouldn't.  But I would sit in the same room and knit while they watch it.)  I just get so tired of being rolled on, elbowed and fought over.  I remember companionably sitting with my parents in the evenings... the quiet snick of my Dad rolling cigarettes (fascinating machine, rolled a long cigarette with no filters that they cut to length with a razor blade), my mother would write letters, read her book, or sometimes knit while my brother and I watched whatever show or movie was on that night.  We didn't fight.  We didn't push and shove to get closer to our parents.  Once in a while one of us would ask to cut the smokes but that was about it.  We each had our space and we stayed in it.  Nine o'clock was tea time.  Mom or Dad (or me when I got to about 12) would put the kettle on and make a cuppa then.  I remember that tea tasting so good.  Evenings were quiet, companionable, comfortable.   I miss that so much.

Evenings now start when I pick up Dragonsdottir from the day home and am greeted with "I'm Hungry. When will supper be ready?"  Usually, I have to clean the breakfast and snack debris in the kitchen before I can even think about making another meal.  By the time I have nagged the kids to clear the table and load the dishwasher it's time to fight with them about doing their homework.  Homework done and some inane, high pitched drivel comes blaring out of the tv.   Thank goodness for Mythbusters and Dirty Jobs.  They are interesting and entertaining and such a welcome break from the squeaky voices.  I collect, wash, and fold laundry, sweep floors, clean the bathroom (2 boys and a dad in the house), and generally do chores.  There is ALWAYS something to clean, pick up, put away, or throw out.  By the time the oldest is in bed it's after 9:30 and I probably haven't sat down yet.  I still have marking to do, haven't actually spoken to my husband much less anything more fun, and I'm ready to collapse.  I haven't been to the gym in a week, my back hurts and I have a constant headache from the flourescent lights all day at school.  I also haven't knit a stitch or spun a yard in days.  Something has to give.

Today husband has an afternoon meeting.  I thought I'd take the kids to the Science Centre for the afternoon while he's gone.  It turned out to be a gorgeous day and I changed my mind and told the kids we would go to the zoo instead... save the dark basement of the Science Centre (which the youngest wasn't really keen on anyway) for a mid-winter day when we're freezing in the dark anyway.  The middle one whined that he's too old for the zoo and it's not much fun for him anymore while the oldest started to cry.  This happens all the time!  I know they want and need my attention.  I want and need to spend some time with them.  But for fucksakes, NOTHING is good enough.  Obviously, I am crap as a mother and have done something significantly wrong with these kids.  Give me an F.  They can go play outside on their own while I do chores, mark papers, and maybe even find my knitting.