Short Horror Story

Since it's Halloween, rather than a what if, I thought I'd try my hand at a two sentence horror story. (Thanks for the idea, Jeanne.)

If you want some really good ones, go here. And if you'd like to try it out yourself, I'd love to see what you come up with in the comments (or go ahead and link to your own post).

After days starving, trapped by the snowstorm, we thank James for his sacrifice today. But the children are going to be hungry again tomorrow.

Fidget Spinner Cozy Pattern

I've been meaning to post this for a while. I wrote this up in May, I think, and then set it aside and forgot about it. Oops.

(I know many of my readers aren't knitters. If you want one of these but don't have the means to make it yourself, I am selling them out of my Etsy shop, Zizi Rho Designs.)

Initially, the idea was to repurpose my "knitted pouches" (which is a repurpose from a cell phone cozy that you can clip on something--long story how they came about in the first place). If the fidget spinners fit inside, that's what I'd call the pouches from now on.

But once I had that thought, I kept going. I could knit something the same size as the fidget spinner. It would need to be a triangle. but if I did that, then I could keep it open at the center so one could still spin it while it was in the fabric. This would make it a cozy...

How to construct? I could start from the center, knit one side, then knit the other. That way, both sides look exactly the same. Balanced.

So, plan in place, I set about knitting one. I used a temporary cast on. Knit a few rounds. Bound off. Unraveled the temporary cast on and repeated for the other side. Easy enough.

But I didn't like how the finished object looked. There was an extra half row that made the garter ridges look wrong.

A couple more tries with a couple more tweaks...

And I discovered that I was making the whole thing much more complicated than I needed to.

I guess I've been knitting for too long. I know several ways to accomplish a goal. I was using every trick I know when simpler is actually best in this case.

Right. So that's the story. Here's the pattern.

Materials:

• About 0.15 oz of worsted weight yarn
• Set of 4 size 8 (5.0 mm) double pointed needles
• Stitch markers

Gauge: About 15 sts/4 inches over garter stitch while slightly stretched.

This is made to fit the triangular shaped fidget spinner that's about 3 inches (7.6 cm) along each side. If you have a different style to cover, adjust the pattern accordingly.

Notes:

• This pattern is written to be knitted on 3 double pointed needles. If using a different circular method, mark each "needle" with stitch markers and proceed accordingly. 
• The increases are done by doing a yarn over (yo) on the round, and then on the following round working those yarn overs through the back loop (TBL). 

Using Old Norwegian Cast On, cast on 21 stitches.

Arrange these stitches over 3 needles, 7 stitches per needle (or mark off 7 stitches).

Join to work in rounds.
Follow the chart, working each needle as indicated:

Round	Needle 1	Needle 2	Needle 3
1	K1, yo, k6, yo	P1, yo, p6, yo	K1, yo, k6, yo
2	P1, p1 TBL, p6, p1 TBL	K1, k1 TBL, k6, k1 TBL	P1, p1 TBL, p6, p1 TBL
3	K1, yo, k8, yo	P1, yo, p8, yo	K1, yo, k8, yo
4	P1, p1 TBL, p8, p1 TBL	K1, k1 TBL, k8, k1 TBL	P1, p1 TBL, p8, p1 TBL
5	K11	P11	K11
6	P11	K11	P11
7	Ssk, k7, k2tog	P2tog, p7, p2tog	Ssk, k7, k2tog
8	P9	K9	P9
9	Ssk, k5, k2tog	P2tog, p5, p2tog	Ssk, k5, k2tog
10	P7 (bind off)	K7 (bind off)	P7 (bind off)

Round 10 is the bind off round. Use the Simple Stretchy Bind Off.

Wind in ends, and put it on your fidget spinner.

I'd love to see your finished projects. Upload to Ravelry. Tag me on Instagram or Twitter (I'm @ZiziRho).

The Balloons

They delivered them while I gave period one my opening remarks. A bunch of helium-filled blue balloons. I was covering an 8th grade science class. And all of their eyes went wide.

"What are the balloons for?"

I tied the bunch to the back of a chair. No way was I going to deal with those yet. Experience has taught me to pass those sorts of things out at the end of the period.

Still, periodically, someone would ask, "What are the balloons for?" And I would reply, "We'll get to them at the end of the period."

The balloons were a reward for the kiddos who had done well on the state testing last spring. The awarding of the balloons turned into a nice little ceremony.

I read the explanation of what the balloons were for. Then I called names. Each student came up to retrieve their balloon. The class applauded each recipient. It went very smoothly.

And then the bell rang.

Passing period. A student returned. "Howard knocked Amber's balloon out of her hand, and it flew away."

And so it began.

Second period the balloons were everywhere. A couple came loose from their strings. I retrieved one from the ceiling. (I was tall enough to reach. The student was grateful.)

Fourth period a couple girls came up with a game. Balloons mysteriously floated to the ceiling. The girls were cutting their classmates' balloons loose. (They did not have balloons of their own. And Andie was in that group.)

By sixth period, there were far fewer balloons. One boy walked into class with his balloon's remnant. Tied to a string was the bottom of a popped balloon. It looked rather sad as he tossed it over his shoulder as if it might fly again.

Yeah, that went about how I expected it would. Talk about an ephemeral reward!

The Long Walk

We're now officially into the school year. We've hit the days where there are not enough subs to go around. This means extra work for me. 😎

I was at the back of campus. Room 919. Beyond the classroom were the P.E. fields. So, way at the back of campus.

I was, of course, expecting the phone call. Could I work an extra period? Of course. And then she told me the room number.

Room 100.

Yup. That's about as far away from room 919 as you'd expect.

Sometimes the secretary will tell me who the teacher is or what the subject is, but not this time. However, I knew already. It was a Spanish class. But this teacher has various levels of Spanish. So, I didn't know quite what I'd be walking into.

As per normal, we got into the classroom after the bell. I went looking for the lesson plans. Found them. And then I learned what class I'd be covering.

AP Spanish IV.

I did a mental jig as I read that. The class cheered when I told them their test had been postponed.

(I could have ended up with freshmen in Spanish I. They would have been a challenge. But Spanish IV--and AP to boot--contains the kiddos who have chosen to remain in this elective. The kiddos who actually like the subject. The good kids.)

Some days I just luck out. It was that kind of week, actually. Well, until... (Check in tomorrow. That day was more "interesting".)

Requested

Monday morning. The teacher was there before school to give me the rundown of what he wanted done in his classes. It was a chapter on vertebrates in the simplified science textbook for the middle school special ed. class. Standard stuff.

Mr. M was in and out of his classroom for the first couple periods. (This sometimes happens when the start time for the teacher's thing is later than the start time for school.) I don't particularly mind, but I do get a bit of stage fright.

(There have been instances where I got a "critique" later, so I worry.)

Luckily, the classes were cooperative on this day, and we got through the material. Before Mr. M was ready to leave, however, he mentioned that he'd be out again on Wednesday. And, if I wanted and wasn't already booked, I could cover his class.

As it was a pretty good day, I figured I'd try to get the class again. But when I called in for an assignment for Wednesday, Mr. M's class had already been taken.

Ah well. There are other classes. I didn't think too much more about it.

I happened to be on the same campus Wednesday. I was scheduled to cover a general ed. English class. But the secretary had a request for me. Mr. M had gone to her and asked her to have me cover his classes again.

When we're booked to cover a class, we're booked to cover a particular class. There's a whole system in place. The secretary sometimes does switch subs around, but it's something that only happens under extraordinary circumstances. (Or if there's a mistake in the scheduling.)

However, on this day, the secretary asked if I'd be willing to make the switch. It was okay with me, but what about the other sub?

He's been subbing about as long as I have. We're on friendly terms. I figured that he'd be okay with the switch. I mean, general ed. instead of special ed? I think he actually got the better deal.

(I told the secretary that if he didn't want to make the switch to let me know and I'd take back my originally scheduled assignment.)

It amazes me that teachers actually request me to cover their classes. And so this is how I covered the same class for two days this past week.

UBI

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. 😉

Have you heard of the idea of a universal basic income? It's something that's been all over my Twitter feed recently as #basicincome and #CASHcon. (If you haven't seen it, check it out.) I first heard of this only this year, but it seems to be getting more and more press. And this got me thinking...

What if you started getting an extra $1000 a month from some philanthropical concern? Would you be suspicious? What would you do with the money?

Fixed It

Last week I revealed the first block of the project I'm calling the Russian Poncho.

And I mentioned that I made a mistake. It's a subtle difference, but one that was kinda bothering me. (I'm not posting the picture from Pinterest of the pattern as I don't know the copyright, but you can check it out via the link.)

Well, I fixed it. Here's the updated version...

Look at the outer rounds. It's visible in that purple band between the bands of teal. See it?

I think it makes a big difference. And it wasn't a big correction to make. I even managed to complete a second block this week...

So, progress.

What did you make progress on last week?