Germy little people

I'm home sick...again. Actually, I haven't been sick for awhile. Anyway, germy little kids should stay home from school. They have a difficult time focusing and learning when they're sick and THEY INFECT OTHER PEOPLE. I think I should have the right to refuse services to anyone with stuff coming out of their nose. I've been feeling under the weather for a week now and finally decided to give in and stay home today and rest. See, I've been feeling sick but other than drinking orange juice, I haven't done much to make myself better. I should've been resting all week but life's just been too busy lately. Some of the adults at work have been driving me crazy and what with planning the convention and general social obligations, I just haven't had too much time to rest. Anyway, I drank some orange juice, took a nap, and forced myself to eat some saimin for lunch. I think it's time for another nap. I hope M*Bark doesn't mind shoving over so that I can have a bit of the couch.

I Win

After three years of offering to teach Joy to knit, she finally gave in! Okay, maybe I didn't really offer to teach her. The first year I offered (I didn't know her very well...), the second year I nagged (I knew her much better by then...), and the third year I left her alone (but not really...). The third year I stopped bugging her about knitting because I suspected that her unwillingness to knit had become more of stubborn mule thing rather than a lack of interest. She just didn't want to give in to me. So instead of openly bugging her, I left my knitted items laying about. Y'know, an ipod case in my car, a beanie on my head, my knitting sticking out of my bag, that sort of thing. And then I knit in front of her and taught someone else. And then someone else wanted to learn. And ahh, finally Joy gave in and agreed to knit. She pretended to be reluctant and tried to convince me that she was only giving in to shut me up, but I know she was really excited on the inside. And y'know, she did pretty well for her first time.

Lance is disappointed in her.

Feeling clever

How funny that Matt commented about felting when I had these pictures to post. Anyway, I recently completed my first felting project. And I must say, I'm feeling pretty clever. It's cool that by knitting this:

You can make this:
With felting, you do indeed knit an item extra big and then throw it in the washer using hot water. The agitation and the hot water felt the wool. The item shrinks and the yarn fuses together, creating a pretty strong fabric. And what's extra cool is that you can shape the item while it's still wet and it'll keep its shape when it's dry. These are a pair of clogs for Lance. I need to add something to the bottom, though, b/c I think they're a little slippery for our wood floors.

I like knitting

I like knitting, I really do. But this bloody sock has been kicking my arse. I started it a year ago and have had to frog it twice. The first time I got confused and didn't decrease enough at the gusset. I had a feeling it was way too big for Lance's feet, but I was scared to find out so I put it aside for several months. I finally got the nerve to make him put it on and it was way too wide. The only way it would have fit was if he was a clown. Dismayed, I frogged it and put the yarn aside for awhile. The second time I started it I had gauge problems and had to frog it again. I just cast it on for a third time a few weeks ago because my other projects are huge blankets and I desperately needed some immediate reinforcement and socks are relatively quick projects. Plus I needed a travel project because the blankets were just too huge to be lugging around. Anyway, so I cast on this cursed sock for a third time, but this time I changed to smaller needles because I hoped the new needles would break the curse. So far I've had to rip out parts of it but at least I haven't had to resort to ripping the whole thing out. I don't know what's with this sock. It's not the first sock that I've knitted and it's not a fancy sock. In the year that I initially cast on these socks, I've knitted a bunch of other projects, including another pair of socks.

Anyhow, I found out that knitting actually helps me pay attention during long presentations. At big conferences, I can sit in the back and knit under the table. I always choose a project that's fairly mindless so I can listen to the speaker and having my hands move constantly really helps me stay alert and awake. Anyway, while I was working on this sock the other night, I came to a horrible realization. I've been hoping that my realization was wrong so I've been asking other people. Sadly, they all agree with me. Is it bad form to knit at a conference that you're in charge of?

Fair is not Equal

This week I was reminded that equal and fair are not the same things. It was a good reminder. Do all kids get the opportunity to learn in a small group environment? No. Do all kids have an adult following them around, helping them throughout their day? No. Do all kids have the same amount of money spent on them? No. But for some all of this extra help is necessary to learn the material that other kids are able to pick up with just a teacher's guidance. Fair is not equal and equal is not fair. That's the whole premise behind special education. Our kids are not lazy but need something extra in order to succeed in the classroom. But although we special education providers embody and demonstrate this everyday, we sometimes forget that this applies outside of the classroom as well. Our kids will turn into adults, adults who will be able to one day contribute to society but may continue to need that something extra to be successful at doing so. We may one day be working with them as adults and we shouldn't begrudge them the extra help that they're given in order to do the same job as us. Having a learning disability is a life long struggle. They're not lazy, they need extra help. Fair is not equal.