I haven't really been following the news lately. So much bad news. But, there is some good.
This clip from Rachel Maddow's show last week talks about all the things that are good about having a bad president. Mainly, his incompetence is making it harder for his policies to be implemented.
I mean... not great. But it's something. Keep pushing back. It's us pushing back that's helping.
The wavy second side? Still wavy.
The first side is heading towards lettuce, too.
And right now both are about the same size. Woo-hoo!
But now I have a dilemma. Do I rip back the second side in an effort to tame the wave? Or do I wait?
Normally, I would have ripped this back days ago. But in three days I'm getting on a plane, and I'll see the recipient of the finished sweater (whenever it actually gets finished). And at that time, I can measure it against her.
Although, I have hours on a plane. With nothing to do. I might just have the time to redo what I rip out...
I mean, I was trying to make sure the second side followed the increase pattern of the first, but we saw how that came out. I could instead just do what I did for the first, and see how flat it lies as I figure out which increases to do.
The more I write this out, the more I like this plan. It makes sense.
My mind is whirling. While I may talk myself out of this, it's more likely that by the time you read this, that second side will be completely frogged, and I'll be working my way back.
As I'll be travelling, next Monday's post may or may not be up-to-date. (I've written most of the posts for while I'm away. I'll be checking in. But Monday's posts may or may not appear. I haven't decided yet.)
The Reluctant Sweater:
A funny thing happened over the last few months. The quiz site I currently use, Quizly, did a kind of series of quizzes about color. 'Round about the third color, I thought about making them this summer's quizzes.
Each quiz has one question 20-ish times. Which of the following choices are in the color of the quiz? This is both easier and harder than you think. In some cases I figured it out through process of elimination. I knew the others weren't, so the last one had to be. In some cases I did know which was the right color. And in the rest of them, I wasn't entirely sure.
I hope you join me on this journey through the colors. Today we'll start with green. (Why green? Why not green?)
I managed a 19 out of 20. Woo-hoo!
Good luck. Let me know how you did in the comments.
I've been trying to write this Thursday 13 for something like three years. I finally have thirteen things to list.
I've acquired a few things that until I got them I didn't know they existed. And they definitely solve a problem I had. Some you've probably seen and/or heard about. But there are some I'm sure will be new to you. Let me know in the comments of other gadgets that you have that you've found useful. I'm sure there will be others I want to acquire.
1. GripStic (where to find)
I was at the Orange County Fair more than fifteen years ago. We were in the building where the various vendors sold stuff. And the guy slipped one of these on a bag just as I was walking past. I stopped. What the...?
These are way better than any clips you might use. It seals any bag up very simply and securely. I have used these continuously since I got my first bag and even went back and got more a couple years later. These are the best.
2. Bowl holder
I first saw these at a craft fair. I'm sure they have mass produced ones, but I've only ever gotten them from independent sellers. They can go in the microwave with the bowl while it's heated, and then when you take it out, you don't burn your hands. It's also great to hold a hot bowl (of soup or something) when you're not sitting at a table.
3. Seat belt clip (where to buy)
As someone who's rather well-endowed in the chest department, I used to have issues with my seat belt. It never stayed positioned across me in a comfortable manner. It always rode up and choked me. And then I was introduced to this thing, and it is the best. It clips on the lap part of the belt, and the chest strap hooks on it, keeping that from straying up to my neck. I no longer have to adjust my seat belt for my entire drive. Game changer.
Sadly, I only found these on Amazon. And they have all sorts of different types. My link is to one example (as the one I bought I can't find). If you find it at another retailer, let me know so I can buy from them next time.
4. Shower step (where to buy)
We got a new shower for my bathroom. (It was a process which I detailed in another Thursday 13.) And while it's very nice in some ways, there was one glaring problem. With no bathtub component, I had no place to balance my leg when I would shave in the shower. There had to be a solution for that.
Once I started looking, I found this. And it's perfect. Just what I need in a shower with no way to balance my foot.
5. Cell phone kickstand (where to buy)
When I got my current phone, I discovered MagSafe cases and wireless charging. One thing I had had before was one of those things for the back of the case to help me grip the phone. When I went to purchase a new one for the new phone, I found one that magnetically attaches, and I'm never going back. It helps me grip the phone. It props it up when I've set it down (making my knit pyramid redundant, sigh). And it comes off easily when I charge my phone. I've had this two years, and it still works great. Expensive (for what it is) but worth the price.
When I went to find the link for this, I discovered that they've upgraded it with a finger strap, and now I need a new one...
6. Phone charging clock (where to buy)
Speaking of my phone... When I got my first iPhone, I had the best bedside clock. It was a docking station. It charged my phone and it played music from my phone through a speaker. It worked via an app, and I loved this thing. But, the iPhone charging connection changed, the apps were upgraded, and the clock became obsolete.
I'd been looking for a replacement for a decade.
Clock: check. Charging: check (via wireless). Speaker: check (via Bluetooth). And no app to go out of date. Perfect.
7. Bed caddy (where to buy)
This attaches to the side of my bed. I keep my ereader in it. It's big enough for physical books, remote controls, or anything else you might want to keep handy. It's brilliant, and I love mine.
I got mine via Zulily back before it went defunct (but it's back now), but when I searched it online, I found that Target had one, Walmart had one, and there were instructions on how to make your own. I linked to Amazon, but those are not the only options.
8. Shower speaker (where to buy)
Waterproof. Connects to my phone via Bluetooth. Just what I need to listen to music in the shower.
9. Neck light (where to buy)
I know, most people get these to read by. I use mine to knit (or crochet) with. It's great in the summer (rather than a big task light that heats me up). I didn't buy mine off Amazon or a online yarn retailer, but I've linked to the latter. You can search these up as many retailers have them.
10. Door stopper (where to buy)
This is one I use at work. Nowadays we don't unlock the classroom doors. Mostly a safety thing. (The doors don't lock from the inside.) But what do you do if you want the door closed, but you want kiddos to be able to get in without knocking? I use this. (The doors are self-closing.) I mean, most teachers have something that works, like a magnet or a blocker, but not all do. It's helpful for the days I need it.
11. Desk ring light with phone holder (where to buy)
When I started making videos (for my YouTube channel), I got this phone holder/light that clipped on the side of a table. It worked, but I needed something better. So, I got one of these.
I haven't used it yet, but the light is much brighter, so it should make my next videos that much nicer.
12. Microwave egg poacher (where to buy)
Did you know you can make hard-boiled eggs in the microwave? I happened upon a gadget that did that a couple years ago, and I'm never going back. (Alas, the first one I used kept failing at the vent hole. The second one I used exploded one day with a force so hard it blew the microwave door open.) This is the third version that I've bought, and so far, this one works pretty well. Will it fail, too? I hope not. This is way easier than boiling the eggs in water.
13. Meat chopper (where to buy)
When I was in elementary school, my father worked in fast food. The way they mashed up the ground beef for the burritos was by using a potato masher. (That's how he taught us to brown ground beef.) But now there's a better tool.
Do you have any gadgets that you don't know how you ever did without?
A fellow blogger asked about why they could no longer log in and use their profile when commenting on others' blogs. They try, but instead of logging them in, the comment resets, and they can either comment using anonymous or it won't let them comment at all.
Unfortunately, I do not know the answer to this. But it got me thinking about when I had a similar problem. I wrote a blog post about it then.
At that time (three years ago) the Incognito Mode had a screen that looked like this:
The fix was to turn on the cookies. After I did that, my commenting woes disappeared. And everything was fine, until the IT people in my school district decided to disallow Incognito Mode on district Chromebooks. Deep sigh.
(It took me a couple months, but I came up with a solution that worked for me: I bought my very own Chromebook just for work.)
So, I wonder if the logging in and being recognized issue on Blogger blogs is still just a cookies issue.
What are cookies? They are small pieces of data stored on a user's device by web browsers to remember information and track browsing activity. When you log into Blogger, it's the cookies that hold your username and the information to link back to your user profile. Google's own terms of use describe how they use cookies. (And how to manage cookies in your browser.)
If you're using Google Chrome, you need to click on your profile (it's your picture in the upper right hand corner), and then you'll choose "Manage Your Google Account".
Then, in the sidebar (on the left side), go into "Data & Privacy".
At this point you'll want to check a few things. Personalization Settings. Data Sharing. (Under my Data Sharing, I am sharing information with Blogger under "Third-party apps & services". If you aren't, this might be the issue with logging into Blogger comments.) This is probably a good thing to explore even if you aren't having issues as there might be some settings you want to check out.
(Google's own help topics talks about turning cookies on or off. This might be of help as well.)
This is a place to start, anyway. Whether it solves the problem or not, I can't be sure.
If you're using a different browser, finding data and tracking and finding the cookies should be similar. Look under your profile and check the settings. Whether you allow all cookies or just for Blogger will be up to you.
Safari (for Apple) has protections in place to disallow tracking, so that might be harder. But there should be a way to opt in to cookies, at least for Blogger.
I hope this helps. Let me know in the comments if it was of any use or not. And if you have a different solution, please also add this into the comments. If anyone can solve the issue, there are many bloggers who would like to know.
I only found this out recently, so some of you may also be unaware.
This July 4th is our semiquincentennial (that's 250th). And now that I've been seeing things about it, I wondered about who was organizing this thing. Turns out that ten years ago a bipartisan congressional committee was formed to organize the celebrations.
Very forward thinking of them. Very organized. They're ready to go.
But, a certain someone who has to be the center of everything signed an executive order to create his own little party. (Here's an article explaining this.) It's called Freedom 250. And we get to ignore it.
Because the official celebration stuff is America250.
(That concert that was announced? And then all the acts backed out? Yeah, that was the fake celebration.)
I hope this clears things up.
Last week I showed the start of the second back/front of the reluctant sweater:
This week:
And you will notice the lettuce-ing. I followed the exact same increase pattern that I used for the other front/back, and yet...
So, do I rip it back? Or do I keep going?
I'm just going to keep going. Because I figure once washing and doing some blocking, it should be mostly flat. (Maybe not, but I'm going to live in that delusion for a while.)
I worked a couple more rounds on the first side:
(See how flat that lies? Not quite perfectly flat, but close. Same increases. *shakes head*)
Both are almost the same size:
When I look at these, they remind me of amethyst geodes. That might become the official name of this sweater (although I'm still calling it the reluctant sweater to myself). And yes, this is purple. It may appear blueish on your screen. (There's something about purple, digital photography, and screen settings.) But purple. Just sayin'.
So, more plugging away. That's the plan for now. Hopefully they'll travel. More about that next week.
The Reluctant Sweater:
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?
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?
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?
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".
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.
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.
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:
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.
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."
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
