After starting the Big Lebowski sweater in August, I finally finished the back piece. Never mind that my goal was to have the sweater finished by October! Now I'm hoping to have it done in time for my dad's birthday in November. In order to complete this, I had to learn Fair Isle with 1x1 ribbing, which is much harder than doing Fair Isle in stockinette. That slowed me down considerably. Also, being a teacher is quite demanding, though I love my job, so I was only able to work on it during the weekends. I'm hoping that the rest of the sweater goes much faster, now that I know what I'm doing.

I thought I would be ecstatic to see this piece finished, but I was prouder when I had finished the Fair Isle chart. At any rate, you see that I'm pretty happy. I'll start the front piece tomorrow!

I had a very productive weekend! I did some work, but I spent the bulk of my time knitting. The more I knit, the more I want to knit. I know, I've said it before, but it's true.

While I am almost done with the back piece of the Big Lebowski sweater, I did finish a scarf. My boyfriend has a friend in Spain who is a police officer. Since he's always been a good friend of my boyfriend's, I decided to make him a scarf. I bought the yarn in San Francisco this summer because he has always wanted to go there. It's a dark brown color and the pattern I chose created a nice texture.

CO 30 stitches
Row 1: *K1, P1, rep from *
Row 2: *P1, ybk, sl1, k2, yfrn, psso the k2 and yfrn, rep from * to the last 2 sts, P1, K1
Row 3: See Row 1
Row 4: p1, k1, *p1,  ybk, sl1, k2, yfrn, psso the k2 and yfrn, rep from * to end.

Repeat rows.

Happy knitting!

Yesterday I learned that one of my coworkers is a New York Times Bestselling Illustrator. This is a link to his website: http://guyporfirio.com/ Not only is he a talented artist, but he also writes and teaches. Be on the look out for him in early spring, as he will have a new book coming out.

I hope you enjoy his artwork as much as I did!

Driving to work today, NPR was talking about science fiction movies and books that mention technology that is actually available and used today. Facial recognition is not only a reality, but it is very accurate. Iris recognition is not far away. Much like "Minority Report," we get personalized advertising online. Perhaps in our lifetime that will be available at malls and shopping centers. NPR mentioned that this technology could be very useful or it could become a nightmare. Here is the catch: the technology is not the nightmare: people's actions make it a nightmare. This means that all of our actions are being recorded and will follow us around. Companies are already constantly following people every time they use their cell phones and credit cards. Somewhere all of that data is being collected and stored.

In other words, we are constantly being monitored. This is a Dr. Jekyll nightmare. Much like life in the 19th century, people are constantly striving to be the best in their area. Especially in the United States where there is no royalty, awards and degrees set individuals apart. However, even if one is extremely accomplished professionally, they are still being monitored by credit card companies and can do no bad, or even risqué, at home. For the leaders of society or leaders of communities, they must be on their best behavior at all times, even in the safety and "privacy" of their own homes. This lack of privacy is enough to bring out the Mr. Hyde in anyone. This new technology is the nightmare of the 19th century: Queen Victoria's repressive society was harsh enough, even though people had more privacy at home. If they had this new technology back then, repression would have been unbearable.

However, in today's society, there is enough apathy where this technology should cause no disruption or uproar. If anything, people will think that it's new and exciting. In reality, this new technology is a violation of privacy and it can increase repression in our already repressed society.

Well, I'm going to start the arm holes either later tonight or tomorrow, depending on how soon I finish my real work. Here are some picture updates.

I have heard a lot about deregulation on the news lately. Apparently it is the key to ending this recession, according to republicans. They seem to forget how much damage deregulation can do.

One example of needing regulation is with home loans. The housing bubble was partially caused because people could get loans more easily and receive more money. When the bubble burst, many were living in houses that they could never afford, even when economic times were strong. Deregulation says that the market will work everything out itself. However, that is assuming people are honest. Although the USA is a supposedly religious and God-fearing nation, we have many, many people who are willing to take advantage of the system and to live beyond their means. It's already happened.

Another case where deregulation would be bad is in education. If education were not regulated, standards for becoming a teacher would disappear and perhaps people would not need to have a degree in the area they teach, or be finger printed, which could endanger children. That, of course, is an extreme example. However, if education were deregulated, grade-level standards would be topsy turvy across the nation. If children were to move into new states, they might enter a curriculum a few years behind or ahead. While I don't believe in over using standardized tests, I believe that consistency across states is important in education and testing is a fairly efficient way of doing so.

Lastly, if becoming a politician were deregulated, then Arnold Schwartzenegger could become president. An 18-year-old could go into Congress with barely any knowledge of how government works. Let's face it: experience counts. While some politicians have been in office for years and have messed things up, usually more experience means more control and knowledge for dealing with tricky situations. Being intelligent, loyal, and working hard are GOOD qualities, not bad ones.

So please, stop singing the deregulation song. We tried it while Bush was in office and that dug us into a deep hole. You don't use the tool that got you into a mess to get you out of it. Try something else. Even if it goes against your political party's belief.

Lastly, stop playing politics. I don't care your party background as long as you help the majority of Americans to get back on their feet again. Not big corporations. I want politicians to help their people. That is how the Constitution began: a country for the people, by the people, and of the people. It's classic, it's over 200 years old, but it still holds true.

As a child and teenager, I hated to get vaccinated. First, I'm afraid of needles. While I donate blood, I can never look at my arm otherwise...I'd be that pale lump that fainted. The last few times I've gotten shots, the actual "stick" hasn't been bad, but then my arm gets sore.

This time, I got two shots: the flu vaccine and the tetanus, whooping cough, and diphtheria vaccine. I'm a teacher, so I thought it would be mature of me to face my fear and do it. Well, a few hours later, I had my worst vaccine reaction in my life. This may be because I have just finished getting over a cold, but it doesn't really matter. After looking up side effects from both shots, it turns out that I have a combination: red eyes, sore throat, headache, sore arms, and I ran a fever last night (I know that because I was cuddling with my dog for heat and I was using my knit blanket, which normally makes me sweat after 30 minutes.).

So that botched my knitting and working plans. Unfortunately for me, I did manage to clean the apartment before symptoms set in. I say unfortunately because of knitting, working, and cleaning, cleaning is the activity I hate the most.

While I still have blood-shot eyes, I will brave my students and go to work today. I will be the zombie-looking teacher, haha.  

One really cool thing about working in the school district that I attended is seeing teachers that I had. This time, I get to know them from a different perspective. It's weird to think that while I've gone to high school, college, and started working, they have stayed at the same school, sometimes in the same grade, teaching year after year.

Yesterday I had a first-year teacher meeting. One of the presenters was a special education teacher in my 5th grade class. It's been over 10 years since I last saw her. However, she is one of those people that just radiates joy and safety. She still calls the student in my class that she assisted. She calls him every year on his birthday and keeps in touch with his family. Although I wasn't one of her direct students, she did remember me, which was touching. It made me think: if a teacher has 30 different students a year in elementary school and over 100 in middle and high school, it must be difficult to recognize all students one has had in over 10 years. What really touched me was that she has continued to be a role model and a friend to students that she had over 10 years before. She really goes above and beyond, especially in a culture that does not appreciate teachers the way it should.

I was hoping to be further along on this project, but I forgot how exhausting a new teaching job is! I love my new job, but working with new students and adjusting to a new community really takes it out of you! I should be fine by the end of the month.

At any rate, I was not able to work on the sweater at all last week. So, come Saturday morning, I went on a knitting rampage. It turns out that I really love knitting with two colors. No, I can't really watch TV or talk to anyone while I'm doing it, but I love the challenge and the thinking of fair isle. It's as if my hands and fingers are doing a choreographed dance. Needless to say, I knit for about three hours without stopping.

I'm about 10 rows short of shaping the arm holes at this point. I took it into Kiwi Knitting Company, my favorite knit shop, and showed the owner because she taught me how to do color knitting and I'm sure she'll teach me much more! Once there, I showed her the sweater and a few other people, who were all really impressed. It wasn't until that moment that I realized that I have gotten far. Yes, I'm still on piece one, but, holding it up to myself, it is almost long enough to cover my torso and it's wider that I am (it's made for my dad). Receiving all that positive feedback only made me want to knit more, but, alas, work and other things got in the way.

Sunday I planned all day, so I shouldn't have any prep work today. Therefore, after my after-school meeting, I think I'll be knitting some more :)

Happy knitting!

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/20-tips-create-safe-learning-environment-rebecca-alber?utm_source=housead&utm_medium=post&utm_content=blog&utm_campaign=20tipsforsafelearningenviro

All you teachers out there: this is a quick read to give you ideas to improve classroom management. I'm sure you're all doing this already, but sometimes I find it helpful for a fast reminder.

Have a great school year!

Although many people had told me that I would be greatly disturbed if I watched "Black Swan," or that it would anger me due to the violence against women, last night I watched it. Yes, I was disturbed, but I kept watching. It also brought up many important ideas in our culture. It seems that women have always had to work extra hard to get recognition, especially when women started working when society was still a "man's world." In this film, it is still a man's world, yet the protagonist, who had already achieved perfection in order to get her dream role, is still not good enough. Like so many themes, she has to play the angel and the seductress, a role that ultimately destroys her. Conclusion? Extreme perfectionism leads to self-destruction.

So in America today, does that mean that perfection is bad? That instead we should only be passionate and not have perfect technique? I don't think so. Yes, I hear you: everything in moderation. It does make a point that with so much competition in our global economy, what, exactly, do the leaders want from their employees? Do they want perfection or passion? Intelligence or creativity? Do they want the whole package? Even if working 24/7 makes one the super-person, is sacrificing your personal life worth it?

"Black Swan" brings many current issues up: how hard women need to work to be successful, perfectionism, work ethic, and female to female interaction. I'm just hoping that reality is a little more optimistic that Aronofsky's perspective.

http://www.giftsfromthemermaids.com/index.htm

This is a website about a lace wrap designer. She was a university professor and now designs wraps. You can buy two of her patterns on knitpicks.com. I'm hoping that she'll sell more of her patterns, which are beautiful.

Happy knitting!