What Fursona Are You?

Now that the school year has officially ended (and I've completed my end-of-year posts), it's time for the summer schedule. On Fridays it's all about the random quizzes. To start this summer, let's look at your fursona. What's a fursona? It's a self-claimed animal persona. 

Why would you take a quiz to determine your fursona? Why not? 

What Fursona Are You?

I got Bookish Rabbit. 

I'm good with the bookish (and there were a lot of references to books and libraries and such in the quiz), but rabbit? Meh. 

So, let me know what you got in the comments. Are you a Bookish Rabbit like me? Or did you get something completely different? 

13 Phone Apps

What apps do you have on your phone? 

Most of us have the usual things, like texting and calls. We know about food delivery and ride shares. We scroll social media. But I have run across some apps that were news to me, so they might be news to you as well. Some are more specialized (getting up to 13 apps presented a challenge), and some are ones you'll need as soon as you know about them. And yes, this is a Thursday 13.

1. Roku remote (Android link / Apple link)

The other day I was searching for something on my TV. When I went to the search bar ready to use the arrow keys to slowly spell out the title on the screen, my Roku TV offered to connect to my phone so I could pull up a keyboard and type in what I was searching. So much easier. 

I'm sure the other streaming platforms have something similar. This app is just for the remote (not for the platform which you can totally stream on your phone as well). I did not know this thing existed until prompted, but now it's one of my many apps. 

2. SkyView Lite (Android link / Apple link)

Looking up at the night sky and wondering what that bright object is? There's an app for that. 

Open the app, and point it towards the sky. This app names the constellations and identifies the planets. Way cool. (I could not find this name in Android, but I'm sure they have something similar.)

3. IMDb (Android link / Apple link)

For years I have whined about this. You're watching a TV show and that actor just looks so familiar. Where do you know them from? There has to be an app... 

Well, this is not perfect, but it's close. Type in the actor's name. It lists their filmography. There's also so much more information about movies and TV that you can find, but the only thing I use this app for is to look up actors that I just can't place. 

4. Yuka (Android link / Apple link)

An instructional aide introduced this one to me. Scan the barcode of whatever food you're choosing. It gives you a rundown of what's in it (and how healthy it is). Ingredients. Calories. Healthier alternatives. (Full disclosure: I can't recall which app the IA showed me as when I went to look for it, I found several versions of the same idea. But this was news to me, so I thought it might be news to you, too.) 

5. Fetch (Android link / Apple link)

Scan receipts. Earn points. Use your collected points to convert into gift cards. (I got a $50 Amazon gift card a bit ago. I'm waiting until my point total is high enough for another good gift card. Soon.) 

If you're interested in trying it, you can use my referral code: 6VMWJH. (I get points and you get points for using the code. And then we become "friends" on the app.) 

6. Strava (Android link / Apple link)

When I go for a walk, I "record" it using this app. It tells me how long I've been walking and for how far. Then I get a nifty map of where I've been (although, the map can be glitchy). I have not signed up for the subscription, which has more features, as the free version has everything I need. But if you're serious about tracking your walking (or running or biking), this is a good app to do that with. 

7. WeWard (Android link / Apple link)

Fetch, but for walking. This app tracks your daily steps. You convert them to wards. And those wards convert to gift cards and/or shopping discounts. This is another one I have a referral code for: ValidTiger9242. (If you're going to sign up, this gives you and me a few wards to start with.) 

8. LastQuake (Android link / Apple link)

I live in southern California. Of course I have an earthquake app. (Although, they changed this one so that it's functionality isn't as good as it once was. It's time for me to make a switch.) 

It happens frequently enough. I feel something. Was that an earthquake? Time to open the app. Usually, it was. And the app tells me the severity and the epicenter. And then I move on with my day. 

9. My Q (Android link / Apple link)

Okay, this one is pretty specialized. A little over a year ago our garage door opener broke. They replaced it with a "smart" garage door opener. It has a camera. (We don't pay to store the video, so it doesn't "record", but if we want to check the camera, we can see what's going on in real time.) It has alerts (that you can turn off if you don't want to be notified every time the garage door opens or closes). And, this is the cool thing, you can open and close the garage door via your phone. 

I usually use the remote. I don't often check on the empty garage. But, if you've ever gone, "Did I remember to close the garage," well, this solves that problem. And, when my remote's battery dies, I have a backup. 

10. Sub Alert (Android link / Apple link)

Speaking of specialized...

Have you wondered how substitute teachers get their gigs? The school districts contract with a company that posts the jobs, pushing alerts to the subs who can then pick them up. But competition is fierce. So, this second party app (that does cost money) exists. Do the jobs pop up quicker? All I know is that I see this app more than the official one, and it's kept me in work (during the school year). I'll keep it.

11. Medisafe (Android link / Apple link)

I have run out of apps I have that you might not know about. But, that's what the internet is for. I found this one that reminds you to take your medication. This is something I will probably need in not too many years from now.

12. Soundscape (Android link / Apple link)

This contains a library of calming sounds. Nature sounds. For relaxation, sleep, focus, or meditation. 

13. Daylio Journal (Android link / Apple link)

Mood diary and happiness tracker. It's a bullet journal for your phone.

What apps do you have on your phone that I might not have heard of? 

School Year End Stats Post

The last day of school has passed. Last week I finished up the last posts of the school year. And now it's time to reflect on the year that was by tallying up all the classes I covered. (This is a very dry post, so no worries if you want to skip it.) My previous years are linked at the bottom, for comparison. 

There are 180 days in the school year. I worked 161 of them. That's... low... It's down from last year's 173 days and way down from my all-time high of 177 days. But, the district hired more subs so jobs were a bit harder to get, and I had only one long term assignment at the beginning of the school year. It's nowhere near my lowest totals, back when I was a newbie sub. So, meh. It makes it easier to do better next year. 

This total does not include the day I worked summer school at the adult transition center in June nor the three days I worked at the continuation high school in July before the official first day of school. I also worked one day of teacher prep for that vacant art class I started the school year in. 

I worked 84 days at the high school level, 69 days at the middle school level, and 4 at the adult transition center. I only caught one day at the alternative education center, and that will be my last as I heard that they're closing the school. I only worked 3 days at the continuation high school, but I had to stop going there for much of the spring semester for reasons (which I haven't blogged about, but probably will explain eventually). 

10 of those days I covered an extra class while a different 10 of those days I covered a teacher who did not have a prep period. 

I worked both the first day of school and the last. Woo-hoo! (I did a happy dance when I caught a last day of school assignment. It's been a few years since I managed to work both in the same school year.)

Now on to the specifics. But first, some definitions. 

Most teachers do not teach the same class all day. An English teacher might have a period of ninth grade and two periods of eleventh grade. So, when I say "partial day", I mean that I covered at least one or maybe two periods of that subject. When I say "full day", the teacher taught one specific class all day (like biology). An extra period assignment is when I covered a different teacher on the prep period of the teacher I was booked to cover for the day. 

Each subject is listed with three numbers: 5/2/1. The first number is for a "full day". The second number is for a "partial day". And the third number is for an "extra period assignment". 

• My winner (of the core subjects) is, of course, English (like it is almost every year) with 25/11/3. 
• In first place is freshman English at 2/8/0.
• Next is sophomore English at 1/8/1.
• In third place, eighth grade English at 5/2/1.
• Then, following, junior English at 0/7/0.
• And the rest, in no particular order: 
• Seventh grade: 0/5/0
• Senior English: 2/3/0
• English language development: 0/7/0 (which is for students who are learning English. It's generally taught by the same teacher who teaches their core English class, so it's not surprising there's no full day for this.)
• Creative writing: 0/2/0 (which is an English elective. The teachers who teach this only have one period of it.)
• Journalism: 0/1/0 (which is only one period a day. I haven't caught this class in several years.) 
• Yearbook: 0/1/0
• Supervising the writing center: 0/0/1. The writing center is new. It's a place where the kiddos can go if they need help with an essay or such. 
• In second place is math with 6/27/0. Why all the partial days? Many of them were for special ed teachers who also do a period in the learning center. Or there's one math teacher who also teaches computer science (who I did a long-term assignment for two years ago). 
• Winning the math is, of course, IM2 or integrated math 2 (which is sophomore math which was probably geometry when you were in school) at 0/11/0. Which tracks. Mr. J, the teacher I did the long-term for, and his co-teacher Ms. L were the teachers I covered, and neither of them only has IM2 on their schedules.
• Business math (math for juniors or seniors who aren't college bound): 0/8/0. Ms. L co-taught one of those classes, plus I subbed for Ms. C a couple times (who Ms. L co-taught with). 
• IM1 (read: freshman math or algebra 1): 2/5/0
• And the rest are tied:
• Seventh grade math: 0/5/0
• Eighth grade math: 0/5/0
• IM3 (read: algebra 2): 0/5/0
• And finally, statistics: 0/1/0
• In third place, social studies with 12/9/1.
• 10th grade world history: 1/6/1
• 8th grade U.S. history: 0/4/0
• 12th grade government: 2/1/0
• 12th grade economics: 2/1/0
• 11th grade U.S. history: 1/2/0
• 7th grade world history: 1/1/0
• 9th grade geography: 0/1/0
• 11th grade U.S. history, ethnic studies: 0/1/0
• AP African-American studies: 0/1/0
• And rounding out the core subjects: science with 7/4/3.
• 7th grade: 2/1/0
• Chemistry (10th grade): 2/1/0
• 8th grade: 2/0/0
• Biology (9th grade): 0/2/1
• Health (9th grade): 0/1/0
• Earth Science: 0/1/0
• Forensics: 1/0/0
• Environmental science: 0/1/1
• Intro to Health Care Careers: 0/0/1
• Next on the list of subjects is special ed, although this isn't necessarily a subject. These classes overlap with the above. If I covered a co-teacher, I tallied the subject (English/math) as well as here. If I covered a "special day class" (SDC), I tallied the subject and here. This is why these numbers are high: 41/5/1.
• Mostly I was co-teaching: 5/19/2
• Next were the special day classes: 10/7/0
• Then were the mild/moderate or moderate/severe special ed, or the "very" special ed classes: 11/0/1
• Learning center: 0/10/0. This is where the kiddos go when they need a quiet room to take a test in. The special ed teachers supervise the room, generally one period a day.
• Study skills: 0/8/1. Basically this is a study hall for special ed students.
• BEST (behavioral and emotional support teacher): 2/0/0
• My art totals are high due to the vacant class I started the school year in: 30/3/0
• Under the art umbrella are also digital media art: 4/0/0
• Photography: 1/0/0
• Ceramics: 1/0/0
• World languages: 
• Spanish: 6/1/2
• French: 4/0/0
• Mandarin: 1/0/0
• Computers: 4/3/0
• Computer science: 1/2/0
• Graphic art: 1/1/0
• eSports: 2/0/0
• Leadership: 0/4/0. The teachers who cover the student government classes don't cover that all day. They teach other subjects as well. 
• ASB: 0/2/0
• WEBS (middle school leadership): 0/1/0
• Link Crew: 0/1/0
• And then a miscellaneous category for those classes that don't fit anywhere else: 
• CTE (career and technical education): 2/0/0
• AVID: 0/1/0
• Success: 4/9/0
• Woodshop: 4/1/0
• Culinary: 1/0/0
• Credit recovery: 0/8/0
• Drama: 0/1/0
• PE: 0/1/0
• Athletics: 0/2/0
• Film studies: 0/1/0
• Roving: 1/0/0

Whew. Yeah. I get around. 

When people ask me what I teach, I never know how to answer. I substitute. For what? Whatever they need me for. And if the questioner drills down, I still can't give a simple answer. "A bit of everything." Because, yeah. I cover just about everything. If not this year, then last year or next year. 

And here's the stats from previous years:

• 2025
• 2024
• 2023
  
• 2022
• 2021
• 2020
• 2019
• 2018
• 2017
• 2016
• 2015
• 2014
• 2013
• 2012
• 2011
• 2010

Make the Big Things Fail

Did you hear? They're taking his name off the Kennedy Center.

I couldn't find video of it completed (on Sunday), but if you go on YouTube you can find an eleven hour video of the workmen setting up the equipment to get the job done. (I considered putting that video here, but meh. It doesn't get done in the video, so why bother?)

And then one more video:

I hope we hear more about the little acts of resistance that made the big things fail. I'm sure they're out there. 

I wish you a week of little acts of resistance to help make the big things fail. 

Second Sock Syndrome

I've been working away on SIL's "Christmas" present. (Can you still call it a Christmas present when you didn't even start working on it until five months after said Christmas?) And things are going pretty well:

It's getting a little lettuce-y, but I can rip one round back. If I increase every other round, upping the distance between increases by one every other round rather than every third round (and the in-between rounds having no increases), it'll probably be okay. 

It's getting pretty big. It's about 19 inches across and about 15 inches top to bottom. I'm a little over halfway to my goal. 

And I realized I was getting a bit antsy. 

Have you heard of second sock syndrome? It's a knitting term, but it applies here. It's when a knitter finishes one sock (or mitten or sleeve), and then realizes that they must make another, exactly the same (or with opposite shaping). Deep sigh. 

There are many knitters (and crocheters) who never quite get around to that second sock, hence the syndrome. 

This week I realized I was going to have to make a second oval. I mean, I knew this, of course. One for the front of the sweater, one for the back. And I've been keeping notes as to how I've been increasing because I want to replicate this exactly for my second side. But suddenly it felt like it was going to be a lot of work. 

So, I decided rather than wait, I could start the second side now. 

So, yeah, the variegated yarn started at a different spot in the striping, but I'm good with front and back being different, color-wise. Starting these is easier as each round is so much shorter. I should make good progress for a bit. At least, until this front (or back, not sure which is which yet) gets to be the same size as the other.

I'm not sure if this is just going to make everything take twice as long or if this is genius. 

Well, both have to get done at some point. Why not at the same time?

Progress is happening. And once these are big enough, then I have to figure out how to connect them, how to add sleeves, and how to make this whole thing sweater-shaped. 

Problems for another time. Later. Now, it's oval time.

The Reluctant Sweater: 

• Questionable Quality
• Planning and Research
• And It Begins
• Watching the Increases

Missing Student

And so, I ended the school year not far from where it began. Literally. I started the school year in room 906 and ended it in room 915. (Both classrooms are within sight of one another.) 

Thursday. Seventh grade math. Fourth period. 

It was the last day of school. Each period was about 28 minutes long. The lesson plan was basically "do what you want". As I have been in this situation before, I knew I didn't have to have them do anything. 

What I did have to do was take roll and make sure I knew where the kiddos were. 

At the beginning of the period several students descended upon me to request permission to go elsewhere. I growled at them that they'd have to wait until I had taken attendance. 

(A science teacher three doors down must have been having a bacchanal as that's where everyone wanted to go. But there were a couple other teachers' classes they wanted as well as the art teacher--the one they hired for that vacant class--needed help cleaning her room.) 

I went around the room, checked in with each kiddo asking their name, and I marked each student present. Then I got the names of those who left, and I wrote them down so I knew where they were. 

Roll taken, I had a group of girls request to go outside so they could film a TikTok dance. Others had grouped up and were playing video games. I didn't much care so long as they didn't trash the room. 

Then the phone rang. Was Jamir there? 

I checked my roll. He was marked absent. No, he was not. 

"His mom is going to be pissed..." 

Just to be sure, I called out, "Jamir..." Nope. Not there. 

Groups of students were coming in and out of the room. (Teachers called to ask if they could send kiddos. I had given permission.) There was one boy in a Lakers jersey who I thought belonged in class, but he did not check in with me, and then he left again. 

Towards the end of the period (so, about fifteen minutes later), I went to check on the TikTok girls. Who should have been back in the room already. Security drove up and stopped the boy in the Lakers jersey. "Jamir, your mother is looking for you," and she gave him a paper. 

Security gave me a hard stare. "You're marked absent," she told him. I protested that he was not around when I took roll and he had not checked in with me when he arrived. 

I mean, seriously? I'm a sub. Most kiddos know to check in with me if they arrive after the bell. But last day crazy... 

I did fix the attendance. Growled at Jamir. He asked to go to his PE class. Well, now that I knew where he'd be... 

And just like that, the school year is over. 

Next week I'll share my year stats, and then the summer schedule shall begin. 

Arranging Chairs

Tuesday. Eighth grade history. Second period. 

It was finals week, but the eighth graders were done. I was to take roll and then escort them to the gym. So, that's what I did. 

Many of the eighth grade kiddos I had taught at the beginning of their seventh grade year in that science class. (And if you click on that link, the Mr. F I reference in the post is the teacher I was subbing for on this day.) It was kind of a full-circle moment for me. I liked getting just a small taste of the end of their middle school career as I had gotten the small taste of the beginning. 

Anyway, we were there to start promotion practice. Mr. S (yes, the same Mr. S as from the linked post) was getting them in the order they were to enter the gym for their actual promotion. And that took a while. 

Me and the other eighth grade teachers (who know who I am and knew that Mr. F was out) helped arrange chairs. Yes, chairs. They were all seated in the wrong arrangement, so as Mr. S called them up, they brought the folding chair they were sitting on, and those got put in the correct arrangement. 

Tedious. 

But that's how these things go. I didn't get to see any practice as the bell rang for the next period, and I had seventh graders, so I had to go back. 

The seventh graders (it was a leadership class) were making candy leis for the eighth grade promotion. I had been in this situation before, too. They were to make at least twenty. They made twenty. 

And then, the eighth graders returned to class for the last class of the day. To do nothing. Sigh. 

But I knew what I signed up for when I took that assignment. I am appreciated, though. Mr. F replied to my email about the day with, "With all the chaos of the day, I was really happy to see your name covering my class." 

Signing Shirts

Monday of the last week of school. Eighth grade English, co-taught. Fourth period. 

The eighth graders were done. Their grades had been submitted the prior Friday. Eighth grade promotion activities started Tuesday. So, the lesson for the day was a streamed movie. 

As it was a co-taught class, Ms. R was there. (I was subbing for the special ed teacher.) And she was really done with them. She wasn't going to permit them to sit next to their friends, but she was going to permit them to sign yearbooks. 

After going over the agenda for the rest of the week (she made sure to stress that the quicker they followed directions on Tuesday, the quicker they could be done with promotion practice), she put on the movie. 

A boy pulled out a red Sharpie...

The kiddos are not allowed to bring Sharpies to school. The kiddos have not made good choices with regards to where they write with that permanent ink marker. 

Ms. R, exasperated, reminded the kiddos that she had spent a lot of time at the beginning of the year warning them about having Sharpies at school. She was not in the mood to deal with it, though, so she told the boy to put it away. 

He explained that he brought it so that people could autograph his shirt. 

Okay, I might need to back up here a bit. It was tradition in my elementary school, and likely many of the elementary schools in the area, that on the last day of school, the sixth graders got to wear a white t-shirt that everyone could sign. I still have mine. Someplace. 

He was in a white t-shirt. In fact, there was a good portion of the class that were in white t-shirts that had various writings on them. (This is the first time I've seen it in the middle school.) Okay, then... 

So, people were signing shirts. A few of them had yearbooks, but more had shirts. (They were complaining about the price of the full-color, hardcover yearbooks. Their yearbooks were much nicer than my junior high yearbooks were.) 

I mean, it is a Title I school. I'm sure some couldn't afford the yearbooks. 

The Tantrum

He's a toddler, and we're placating a toddler. How did we get here? 

You probably already saw the infamous Meet the Press interview where he stormed out. In case you haven't: 

Or, if you're like me and can't listen to his voice, you can find a quick overview here. 

Watching the Increases

Where I'm at:

After I saw you last week, I ripped back a bunch of rounds from this: 

And then I redid them with a different increase system. As you can see, the top image lies flat. Which is want I wanted.

I don't know if you can see that the last round of the top image is curling inward. Last night, when I got to about there, I had to rip back a round as it was starting the wavy of the second image. I crocheted that round again but without increases. 

Because I don't have a pattern I'm working off of, I'm just keeping an eye on the piece as I complete each round. If it's starting to ruffle, then I have to rip back. That curl for an even round is okay as it'll flatten in the next round when I do more increases. 

I've made progress. And it's going so much quicker now that I'm not just staring at it wondering how to start. I've even started wondering about how I'm going to make it sweater-shaped eventually. But that's a ways off at the moment. 

For now, my next round will be an increase every sixth stitch. An increase is when I crochet two double crochets into the same stitch. As long as that lies flat, I'll continue the increase system I've been using.

I've been keeping notes as I will have to make another just like this for the front/back (not sure which side this one is going to be when it's all said and done). 

Suddenly I'm not so reluctant about the sweater. 

The Reluctant Sweater: 

• Questionable Quality
• Planning and Research
• And It Begins

Graduation Season

Friday. Integrated math two, honors. (Read: advanced freshmen and sophomores.) 

They weren't actually having a final the next week. They were taking a quiz on the latest unit. (No cumulative final. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.) They had review work on it. (Factoring and solving quadratic equations.) 

Ah, but it was the last Friday of the school year, and it was the day of the senior farewell assembly. (Their teacher was the advisor for the senior class, ever since they started at the school. So, she was involved in doing all the graduation things, hence why she was out of class.) We had activities that were going to interrupt class (not that anyone truly minded). 

Towards the middle of the period, we all stopped and stood outside as the seniors in their caps and gowns walked the campus. They've been doing this for several years, and I've been present for it several times. In previous years the kiddos weren't all that enthused about this, but this year these students had friends in the senior class, so the seniors stopped and gave hugs or fist bumps. 

(I recognized many faces. Several from various long terms I did last year and the year before that.) 

After the seniors walked the campus, we all went to the gym for the assembly. I had not gotten to go to one of these before, and it was emotional. Mostly for the staff. I'm sure some of the seniors were upset, though. As the festivities started, one girl ran for the restroom. One of the senior teachers followed her to make sure she was okay. 

I warn the kiddos that this is going to happen. Throughout the year I tell the seniors that it's going to go fast, and they're going to feel it when it happens. They don't believe me. Well, some of them believe me. 

After the assembly, we went back to class, but I had the next period group. Back to work... 

Although, the seniors were wandering campus. In their caps and gowns. It's a good reminder to the underclassmen that this is what they're working towards. 

The last day of school was yesterday. Next week's posts will wrap up the school year with my last working days. And the week after, before summer schedule goes into effect, I'll do my annual stats post for the classes I worked this school year.

Finishing Up, Part 2

Friday. Middle school leadership. They were creating "mission statements". 

(The success classes a couple weeks ago were doing a similar assignment.)

I was to remind the eighth graders that this was their final and it was due that day. Their grades were due by 4:30 PM. I mean, some of them could probably afford a zero, but their grade would take at least a letter grade hit, I assume. 

(The seventh graders still had a week, but I don't think their teacher really wanted to grade the assignment twice.) 

And the kiddos? Pretty much worked on the assignment. This was a leadership class, after all. Student government. There are GPA requirements, besides the fact that a kiddo has to be pretty motivated to choose to run for an office and serve the year doing all the various activities that go along with that. 

Today is the actual last day of school. Whew. Made it another year. 

Finishing Up

Tuesday. The penultimate week of school. I managed to catch an English class for seniors. 

Their finals had been the previous week. Their grades were due the prior Friday. They were effectively done. 

Not quite half the class showed up. For the first class. For the second, it was more like a third were present. 

There was no actual lesson plan. "They can play games." The teacher had some board games left out. 

The first class played the games. The second class, well, there were maybe ten of them. 

Three students came up to me to ask if they could hang out in their photography class. Any other day, I'd hesitate. But seniors? Now? No problem. 

I didn't even blink when a random student asked if he could hang out in this class. (His friend was in the class. They spent the period chatting.) 

Then that same student asked if he and his friend could "wander" campus. 

And that's where I had to draw the line. 

While the seniors were done, the rest of the students were not. Some teachers might have been doing early finals. (The finals week schedule is not great, so some teachers start or just do the whole final early.) And if they weren't doing early finals, they were preparing for finals or doing actual school work. 

I could not permit roaming students. 

The student understood. He sat back down and continued talking to his friend. 

I do love the easy days. 

Election Day

It's primary election day here in California. This is your reminder that all elections are important, not just the presidential ones. 

It's the local municipalities that have done the resisting. The national offices have basically rolled over and let this regime do what it wants. But the various state and local governments, depending on affiliation, have done much in the way of pushing back. They've sued. They've resisted. They've sent people to check the concentration camps. 

Local races matter. Make sure to vote in November, even if the only national race is for Congress. (All the representatives are up for reelection this year.) Who your governor is matters. Who your mayor is matters. Who your state reps are matters. 

Let Washington know we're pissed. Effectively end the regime by making sure those checks are in place. 

And It Begins

I've got good news and bad news. The bad news is I have to rip most of this out: 

The good news? Look at how far I got! I've finally cracked the Reluctant Sweater. 

If you've been following along, you know that I barely got the oval started at all. And this was in April. 

But I did a funny thing this week. I actually sat down and watched the crochet oval video (that I linked to in this post) all the way through. When I found it, I hadn't done more than quickly preview it. It looked like the right shape. Once I took the time to sit down with it, I knew it was what I wanted to try. 

And look how far I got! It's almost perfect. 

The issue? See how that oval doesn't lie quite flat? It kind of lettuces out (not a real crochet term). It means the increases are increasing too fast in the outer rounds. My mistake was listening to the video saying that the increases continued in the same way as the thing gets bigger. 

I know how to make a flat crochet circle. You increase every round by the same number. So, if you start with eight stitches, you increase eight stitches for each round, but only eight stitches. 

The video had us increasing every other stitch for every round. That doubles the number of increases every round. So, eight increases becomes 16, becomes 32, becomes 64... 

I ripped that back and started doing the increases the way I know they should be done, but I don't think I ripped back far enough. And I'm wondering if I should do a round even between each increase round. 

Minor irritations. That above oval? That's only a few hours of work. Once I have the increasing formula figured out, it'll be smooth sailing until it's as big as I need it. (That's when other issues will crop up, but I'll worry about those when I get there.) 

I'm thrilled. Now that I know what to do, I can do it. It's the figuring out what to do that flummoxes me. 

The Reluctant Sweater: 

• Questionable Quality
• Planning and Research