Another Finished Object.

What's this? Another finished object? Non-knitting readers, you may want to skip the rest and go look at Go Fug Yourself or something. Isn't poor Britney turning into quite the trainwreck?

Are you still with me? There were rumors these would never get finished--they were the knitting I carried around in my purse. If I was waiting somewhere a round or two would be completed. They took a very, very long time. There was panic at the end when I got as far as the toe decreases on the left sock and Charlotte decided she wanted to try it on--she pulled the needles out to do so. I rescued the sock and it is hardly worse for the wear. Thankfully I had a hair appointment a couple of days later so you can no longer see the new grey hairs this moment produced.

These are the very first pair of socks I have ever knit. I am very proud of them and my feet feel so pampered. I am very impressed with how well the stripes match up--there are only a couple of minor variations in the patterning.

The Kitchener Stitch tutorial at Knitting Help is amazing. I didn't have it available when I grafted the first toe and I wish I had. The second one was a piece of cake.
The Details:
Pattern: Jaywalker socks by Grumperina. This pattern has swept the internet by storm--it is so clever and fun to knit up.
Yarn: Regia Crazy Colours in Red--a kind gift brought from Germany by my good friend and knitting partner in crime Poppins.
Needles: 2.25mm metal needles from my late Grandma's collection. I had to combine two sets to get enough needles and they will never be used again--one of the needles got rough at the end as I was finishing the second sock.

If you want to try and find the mistakes I made, just click on the pictures to make them bigger.

For the "Someday this will be funny." file.

So, this afternoon I decided to put away some laundry. The kids were playing quietly downstairs. Wait a minute. The kids are playing quietly? Downstairs???? Oh. No. Ok, deep breath Jen, you have to go down there and see what they are doing. Be strong, Jen. Just be strong...




I guess they wanted some chocolate milk without the milk. Sigh.

What do you think?

This morning as I was shuffling around the kitchen, pouring cereal into bowls and ignoring the impatient cries of my youngest, I caught a bit of the morning show on my favourite radio station. The hosts were talking about a decision that could be made in The Big City that would take away the ability for teachers to penalize students for handing in late assignments.

Apparently it is causing great controversy and lines have been drawn and debate has started. My brain has been chewing on this ever since.

Why is this so controversial? I don't understand what is to be gained by letting students hand in assignments late without consequences. Don't boundaries need to be set? Isn't it important for students to learn to budget time and pace themselves? What is to be gained by having the knowledge that it doesn't matter if a paper is late? What are we protecting kids from?

Once you escape the protected cocoon of home and school you learn that being late has consequences. You lose pay. You lose promotions. If you are late filing your taxes you are penalized. When I was working at the hospital being late could at its worst, have very dire consequences. I know I am now comparing an essay to taking care of the sick and injured, but habits take time to learn and internalize. Isn't a good idea to learn that actions have consequences before the stakes get so high?

I don't really know why this issue is resonating with me so strongly. My kids are not school-aged and I am even strongly considering homeschooling them. Maybe it is my grey hair talking. Maybe it is because I was raised in a home that put great importance on punctuality and now I have a low tolerance for lateness. Maybe it is because my Dad is a teacher. Who knows?

What do you think?

Cold Weather Fun.

It is -27 C today. Brrr! When I was at the grocery store this morning I picked up a tube of refrigerated bread sticks to play with. While Charlotte was napping, Emmett and I moulded the bread sticks into different shapes--Emm's were kind of blobby, and I spelled out his name with mine. Emmett then brushed the shapes with beaten egg (that was a LOT of fun for him) and I sprinkled on some Kosher salt. After a quick trip through the oven, we had a fun snack to greet Char with after her nap. They are not very pretty, but they sure are tasty!