Zizi Rho Designs

...at the farmers market...

This was my setup the last time I went. I've been tweaking it. I rather like this look.

(In case you didn't know, I have a little knit/crochet business. You can find me online here.)

That's it! We be done! How are you celebrating the end of the A to Z Challenge?

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

Yahoos

Some students...

11th grade English. They had a couple articles to read and questions to answer. Standard fare.

Then, because, well, just because, Mr. C also had an extra credit assignment for them. they had a choice to do this after finishing the day's work.

I gave the instructions, or tried to. A couple of the kiddos weren't giving me as much attention as I'd like. As in, complete. (I only had a few things to say. Complete attention for two minutes is not too much to ask.)

So, unsurprisingly, a little misunderstanding cropped up. I noticed a knot of boys, the same ones who were distracted while I explained things, not doing any of the work.

"But it's extra credit..."

Um no. No, it wasn't. And if they had been listening earlier...

"I'm failing this class, anyway."

Of course. Because when you're failing the course, you're going to ignore extra credit opportunities.

I've had these sorts of discussions before. So, I asked the spokes-boy if I'd be seeing him soon at the continuation high school. (Might as well get to know the players now, so I'll know them when I see them over there.)

Oh no. They weren't that bad. Summer school would make it all up for them. Which they were looking forward to.

Yeah, they were looking forward to summer school. Told me it would be lit.

via GIPHY

Did you ever attend summer school? Is junior year too early for senioritis? We're almost done--are you ready for A to Z to be over? 

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

Ximena's Help

Um, yeah, so I'm totally cheating today. The girl in the story--not named Ximena. Although, I do generally change students' names. (They are minors, after all.) And I have run across a girl named Ximena. She's three years younger and a pleasure to have in class. Not blog-worthy at all.

(In case you're wondering, her name is pronounced "humena", so my title is an alliteration. Kind of.)

I was back at the continuation high school. It's been a while. The computer class. They were working on computer literacy, career planning, or the yearbook. Every class had some of both (although there was only one period of yearbook).

And, of course, there were the ones not working on any of the above. Even though they should have been. This was the continuation high school, after all.

But the boy was on task. It was an assignment on workplace safety. Things like how should one lift something and how one responded to fire alarms. He called me over to ask the answer to the last question, which was something about what causes back pain.

He chose an answer and hit "submit" for the whole thing. He got 79%. He needed 80% to pass. Helpfully, the submission screen gave him a list of what he'd gotten correct and what he'd missed. But he couldn't go back and fix his answers.

I wandered away. The next time I returned, I discovered the boy and Ximena working on the assignment again. Redoing it. Only this time, they were utilizing Ximena's phone. She had pictures of various screens--the question screens and the submission screen.

Um... Cheating...?

No, they said. These were the boy's answers. Ximena had just taken a picture. Of his answers. And whether they were correct or not. So, they could retake the questions and get them all right this time.

Deep sigh. Well, at least it was on task.

That next time through, he got 83%. So, he passed. And as that was the last assignment for the class. He had finished.

It just kinda left me with an odd feeling.

Would you consider that cheating? Or, was he just redoing his own work? What did you post for X today? Did you cheat, like me?

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

What a Difference!

First period math "support". It was my fourth time covering this group, and I wasn't looking forward to it.

(It's a special ed class. The teacher has missed this period several times due to IEP meetings. I just happened to have a first period prep often enough to have gotten to cover. Pure luck.)

Small group, but they do nothing. And I couldn't convince them to get on task.

I've listened to conversations that I'd rather not repeat. Partying. Stuff they shouldn't be doing. I won't go into details.

I wasn't the only one with this problem. I had told Mr. L what happens while he's out. He informed me he had similar issues.

But this day, as Mr. L gave me the rundown of what they were to do, he explained that they finally had gotten in enough computers for all of them. So, instead of working on math, they were doing credit recovery. (It's kind of a long explanation, so just suffice it to say that I am familiar with this.) And things were going much better.

Dubious, I awaited their arrival. And they rolled in as per normal. But then a surprising thing happened. They got to work.

via GIPHY

I watched. I expected the usual conversations. While there was a little talking, they were mostly on task. One girl wrote an essay. (I got to proofread it. It wasn't bad.) One boy finished one assignment and started another. Another boy, who has done nothing every time I've seen him before, actually pulled up a science website for his current event for his science class.

Apparently, the lack of computers in the room was the issue. Who knew?

Sometimes I'm happy to be wrong.

Has someone ever surprised you in a good way? Have you ever been glad you were wrong about something?

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

Vast Distances?

At the heart of much speculative fiction (and fiction in general) is a question. What if? On Tuesdays I like to throw one out there and see what you make of it. Do with it as you please. If a for-instance is not specified, feel free to interpret that instance as you wish. And if you find this becomes a novel-length answer, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements ;)

What if the distances to other stars was just an illusion?

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

Under Yarn

So, I find myself between projects yet again. Sigh. But then I realized that there was something I'd been meaning to do for a while, but I hadn't had the time.

It was time to cover my cords.

I've done this before. But this time I decided I didn't like the look of the last ones, so I was going to cover them with an I-cord. But, I hate knitting I-cords. Well, apparently, one can crochet an I-cord...

(Although, if you don't mind knitting the things, that would work as well.) 

And, here's what I ended up with...

finished

in progress...

I know what you're thinking. Why? For the earbuds, it keeps them from getting tangled. And the other is just because I can. (Yes, I'm that kind of crazy.) 

Do you ever do something just because you can? 

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

Tree

When I started contemplating what sort of thing I'd photograph for T, this tree came to mind...

I walk by it every day on my way to get my mail. It's become a good friend.

Do you have any interesting trees nearby? Is there something you walk by every day that puts a smile on your face? 

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

Surprise Speaker

It was Friday, my last day in the 11th grade English class. They had a quiz on five more chapters of The Catcher in the Rye. I got class started, and we passed out the quiz. They got started...

Another teacher walked into the room. It took me a couple moments to catch up to what she explained. Turned out that the class was scheduled to get a talk about college stuff that day. Problem was, no one told me about it.

Oops.

I tried to wrap my brain around what to do next. Should we pause the quiz? That seemed like the wrong thing to do. So, instead, we just waited for them to finish. It wasn't an overly long quiz. Once they finished, there was still plenty of time for the presentation.

(Luckily, the teacher--who had a class of her own that period--agreed to wait until they finished. She had a sub that period and no other class to get to after ours. Whew.)

Well, now that I knew, I made sure to find out when the speaker would be arriving for the following periods. For the next class, she was coming at the end. So, that was easy.

I passed out their quiz. Got them going. And I told them nothing of the speaker coming later. They finished more that 10 minutes before the teacher arrived.

When she did, I let the class know, surprise, you've got a presentation to hear.

This is not the first time this sort of thing has happened to me. It is the first time that it interrupted a quiz.

Did you enjoy having speakers come into your classes (even if they were talking about college)? Did anything surprise you this week? 

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

Rearranging the Books

It was Thursday (or day four) of my week in the 11th grade English class. Period 4 was the creative writing group.

Like many English teachers do, Ms. E has a bookcase filled with various novels. Students are allowed to borrow these novels on reading days (Mondays) or after quizzes (when they're supposed to be doing something silently). Ms. E's bookcase looked like it got many borrows, with various books stacked haphazardly when students returned a book without fitting it back into the shelves as neatly as it had been when they took one.

I didn't think much of it. But, apparently, someone couldn't stand the look of it.

London walked in, took a look at the shelves, and decided that she could stand it no longer. She was going to fix them. The period hadn't yet started, but she did. She pulled books off the shelves and onto her table. Her tablemate arrived, and she pulled her into the task as well.

They did have an assignment. (Of two short stories we had read, they were to figure out how to adapt one into a movie.) London promised she'd get it done.

(I could have stepped in and said no. But I didn't see the harm in letting her straighten the books.)

They'd barely started their task when I noticed something. I mentioned that when one alphabetizes books (as the girls decided to do), they're generally alphabetized by author's last name. But they had started alphabetizing by title, so they kept on doing it that way.

Well, it wasn't like there was any rhyme or reason to it before...

It took them about half the period. (If I had known the bookcase was going to get a makeover, I totally would have taken a picture of it before. Ah well...) At least it turned out neat...

This is a vast improvement over how it was before.

The girls hope that Ms. E is going to notice, but they think she might not. She should. Things like this get mentioned in my note.

Have you ever been so annoyed by someone else's clutter that you took it upon yourself to straighten up? How are your bookshelves organized (or are they)? 

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

Quietly Reading (or Not)

For all of last week, I covered an 11th grade English class. They're in the midst of reading The Catcher in the Rye.

Tuesday (or day 2) they had a quiz on the first 11 chapters of the novel. After they finished the quiz, they were to spend the rest of the period reading, either Catcher or a novel of their own choosing.

Oh, how they whined!

Much of the class had finished the quiz. And I was doing my usual continual shushing. Because they weren't reading. Like they were supposed to be. I stood over one boy...

"I'm sick of reading..."

Sick of reading? How does one get sick of reading? I can understand how one can get sick of reading the book you have in front of you, but there were other books to choose from.

Me: "You're telling this to someone who has been known to stay up until 4 AM because she can't bear to put down a book. I have no sympathy."

Because, if they had been reading quietly, like they were supposed to be doing, I totally could have pulled out a book of my own and been reading along with them. But nooooo. Nope, I had to pay attention and police them.

Oh, to have days where the only thing on the agenda is to read. Deep sigh.

Are you reading anything good at the moment? What is the latest you've ever stayed up because you couldn't put a book down? Or, do you agree with the student--you do get sick of reading? 

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

Programmed People

At the heart of much speculative fiction (and fiction in general) is a question. What if? On Tuesdays I like to throw one out there and see what you make of it. Do with it as you please. If a for-instance is not specified, feel free to interpret that instance as you wish. And if you find this becomes a novel-length answer, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements ;)

What if everyone else was just a construct in a computer program built to contain you?

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

Overhauling the Crochet Donut

Last week I described the changes I made to the crochet donut pattern to make it not make me crazy. Today, as promised, I'm posting the full pattern.

Materials:

• Worsted weight yarn: in beige or brown for bottom of donut, in frosting color, and variegated for sprinkles. (Left over yarn can be used as not much is needed for the project.)
• Size H crochet hook, size I crochet hook (optional)
• Stitch marker
• Tapestry needle

Pattern: 
Chain 15. Join to form a ring. Then, rather than working into the usual spot, work into the bump on the back of the chain...

...2 sc into each. (30 sts)
Continue working as a spiral:
Round 2: *2 sc into next st, 1 sc in next st, repeat from * all around (45 sts)
Round 3: sc in each st around
Rounds 4-6: repeat round 3
Break yarn. While not vital, the best way to end this half of the donut is with the seamless join (video link).

Frosting:
Flip donut to the first round. With right side facing, 2 sc into each chain. (30 sts)

Round 2: *2 sc into next st, 1 sc in next st, repeat from * all around (45 sts)
Round 3: sc into each st around
Rounds 4-8: repeat round 3

Now there should be 14 rounds total.

Don't break yarn.

Now's the time for any embellishments. "Sprinkles" can be added using a variegated yarn and running random stitches over the top. This is easier done before the thing is stuffed.

Lay the layers of the donut together, being careful to line them up. Remove hook from the last stitch of the "frosting". Insert hook into the bottom, through the live loop, and then through the top layer.

Single crochet. It may be a little awkward to get the hook through all three layers, but it's perfectly fine if you need to make the live loop a little bigger to accommodate.

The next stitch is worked the same way. Remove hook from live loop. Insert into bottom layer, through live loop, then through top layer. Then single crochet. Continue working as such until the whole donut is bound together.

At the same time, stuff the donut. I find it best to work about 5 stitches, stuff the part that's now sort of closed, and then work a few more stitches. Rinse and repeat.

Once the whole thing is bound together, break yarn, and bury the end inside the donut.

And there you have it. A crochet donut.

(I would love to see how yours turned out. You can find me on Ravelry. I'm ZiziRho, and the pattern page for this is here.)

If you crochet, are you going to try this? If you don't, what sort of foodstuffs should I attempt to crochet next? 

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

Noooooo!

Have you noticed how several TV shows have quietly taken a bit of a vacation lately? (Well, lately as in a couple weeks ago when this post was written.)

Okay, so because of DVR storage issues (it's time for an upgrade) and the amount of time I have each week to watch TV, there are a few (five) shows I'm a bit *ahem* behind on. (Only 6 episodes. Apiece. Or the one that I'm 9 episodes behind on...) Right...

But with the little vacations the other shows took, I suddenly found myself caught up. So, to OnDemand I went to try and catch up on the other shows that have been slowly accumulating... Only to find that the shows that were there just the week prior were no longer there. Gone. Not even their network remained.

For two days, I fretted. Then, on the third day, finally, a message on screen...

Um, yeah. So, by the time you read this, I should theoretically be able to catch up on the shows I've been accumulating. Just about the time when several other shows begin...

Naturally.

(Except, that message still appears when I attempt to try OnDemand. Still. And this is as of 7 PM on Friday the 15th.)

Do you have any TV shows that you've fallen behind on? Do you have a DVR? Is it near capacity?

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

Math Quiz

Middle school special ed. math. They'd been working on menu math. (Wow, this really works for M-day!) It was quiz day.

The teacher and instructional assistant realized that the students might have issues with the format of the quiz, so they decided to address this with a warm up. That looked exactly like the quiz.

We took it slowly. We gave them time for each of the five questions. #1 listed the items they'd order. How much did that cost (the subtotal)? We checked to make sure every student got that right before moving on to numbers 2 & 3: How much for the tip (assuming 20%) and tax (assuming 8.5%).

Once those were correct (and that meant that they all calculated it and got the right answer), they were to find their total bill. And finally #5, they were to figure out how much change they'd get back if they used a $10 bill.

Everyone got there with us. We helped them figure out what to do for each question, and we checked to make sure every student got those questions correct. Then we passed out the quiz.

The quiz looked just like the warm up. The only difference: the items chosen from the menu.

And... Some of them bombed it.

One student who seemed to easily complete the warm up was completely flummoxed. She was adding 0.20 and 0.085 to the subtotal. (Well, at least she converted percent correctly.) Others stared at the questions, unsure what to do.

via GIPHY


Clearly, they're still not comfortable with the concepts. Sigh. It'll come. Eventually.

How are you at figuring percents? What sort of tip do you leave for your servers? We're at the halfway point this month--how's your April going? Is A to Z flummoxing you? 

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

Listening to Music

Health class. Fourth period. A large group of mostly freshmen.

I passed out the assignment. They were doing it. There was a bit of a low rumble--a few groups were talking, but it was the talking/working volume of a group making progress on the assignment.

In other words, it was a perfectly acceptable class. A definite 4.

Days like this, I don't mind if they have their earphones in, listening to music while they work.

School policy on this, however... It's kind of a gray area.

Anyway, things are going well. I look up and see the principal heading our way.

It's nice when things are going well and administration happens to stop by. But those earphones...

"Mr. E is outside and heading this way..." I announced.

Several sets of earbuds disappeared just as the door opened. Silence settled over the room.

I have no idea why he came in. Perhaps he needed to see the teacher. He scanned the room for a couple moments, then left.

And there was a huge release of breath. As if they'd been holding it.

It was funny mostly because they hadn't been doing anything wrong in the first place. If I hadn't said anything, the visit would have likely gone the same way.

Ah well. It was a pretty good day all around.

Do you like music on in the background while you work? (Or do you prefer silence like me?) Did the principal of your school make you nervous, even when you weren't doing anything wrong?

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

Kind of Expected

Rain was in the forecast for later in the day and for the weekend. It had rained the previous day. And while it hadn't yet rained that Friday, it was cold and dark. It smelled like rain.

Third period. There was a fire drill scheduled. (I hate fire drills.)

The lesson plan had me skipping the checking of the homework to account for the shortening of time they'd be in class.

But I was 90% sure that they'd cancel. Because, really. The kiddos scream when it starts raining and they're indoors.

Third period started. I gave the correct-the-homework instruction. I took roll. I passed out the day's assignment. And the time for the drill rolled around...

The principal came on the PA system. Due to weather, the fire drill would be postponed...

Yeah, I called that one. (The class, however, was disappointed. They wanted to get out of chemistry.)

Third period ended. I looked out the door. It was raining.

Are you a fan of fire drills? How about a good rainy day? 

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

Jalopy

At the heart of much speculative fiction (and fiction in general) is a question. What if? On Tuesdays I like to throw one out there and see what you make of it. Do with it as you please. If a for-instance is not specified, feel free to interpret that instance as you wish. And if you find this becomes a novel-length answer, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements ;)

Self-driving cars are coming. Or, at least, that's what the auto industry is working toward. So, let's take that a step further...

What if future cars had personalities? What if you needed to make yours your friend?

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

Improvements

I took the donuts I'd crocheted to the person who requested them. Unfortunately, they were too big for what she needed them for.

(Not surprising, really. We didn't have a ruler, so dimensions were a guess. And I'm terrible at estimating size. On the plus side, I can sell these to anyone who wants them. Anyone?)

Back to the drawing board...

Although, not really. Now I had some experience with the pattern. And I'd been contemplating tweaks I wanted to make.

There were some things in the pattern that irked me. The thing is crocheted as a sphere with the ends cut off...

...which means that the thing gets sewn and stuffed from the center. This is kinda awkward. And because the last round is all decreases, there are some bigger than I'd like holes there. I compensated by sewing around those holes, but that process is time consuming. There had to be a better way.

First, instead of working a sphere, I worked the bottom half as before, but I joined the top half to the center.

Which turns the thing inside out, so to speak. Then, because I'm now attaching the top and bottom half on the outside (by crocheting them together, not sewing them), a little lip forms at the join. Which kind of makes it look like the frosting is on top of the donut.

And this whole thing goes much faster. (Of course, being smaller helps--fewer stitches.)

***

I also had a moment of inspiration. Remember these earrings?

Bauble Earrings Multicolored Knit

It occurred to me that they might work better with vaguely metallic looking yarn...

They may become a future addition to my shop, Zizi Rho Designs...

***

I've been contemplating posting the tweaks I made for the crochet donut pattern next week. (I even found a title that'll make it work: Overhauling the Crochet Donut.) If you're interested, that is. (Maybe anyway. We'll see if I find anything interesting to knit or crochet this week.) 

Should I post the changed pattern for the crochet donut? What do you think of the earrings? Any ideas on what I should knit and/or crochet next? What sorts of projects have been rolling around in your head? 

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...

I've gotten a few comments/questions about the knitted letters. It was something I did for A to Z last year. The full explanation is here. I still have them for sale if anyone is interested. 

Handwriting

Saturday is random picture day. I keep hearing in the media that cursive is no longer taught. And most of the time, the work I see from students is printed. But one day I had a class of seniors, and I was surprised to get work back that had been done in cursive...

Apparently someone is still teaching it. And some are still using it.

Do you still handwrite things? Do you think they should still teach children cursive?

Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...