Dream Knitter

Band Sponsored Craft Fair!

2012-02-03T16:56:00.002-06:00

Looking for crafters in the Kankakee area!

Episode 9: Just a little quickie!

2012-01-20T16:44:00.002-06:00

Just had to share!

2012-01-14T19:38:00.001-06:00

My friend Kali from high school bought my Arcade handspun. She said her doggy approves!

:)

Goals for 2012

2012-01-01T11:01:00.005-06:00

At least one handspun a month.
One full sized quilt
One baby quilt
One table runner
Kill my acrylic stash. Kill. Kill!

One pattern out of every knitting book that I own by the end of 2012: (Can have modifications!)
-First Book of Modern Lace Knitting by Marianne Kinzel: pg 90 Three of Hearts Design, made from Cushion cover into scarf
-One Skein, 30 quick projects to knit and crochet: pg 30 Asymmetrical Cable Hat
-Just Hats by Lion Brand: pg 91 Urban Trekker
-Not Your Mama's Knitting: pg 134 PDA mittens
-Stitch N Bitch Nation: pg 196 Hurry up Spring arm warmers
~~-Stitch N Bitch The Knitters Handbook: pg 187 Big Bad Baby Blanket~~
-Oddball Knitting: pg 42 Ted's Scarf
-Knitting on the Road: Pg 93 Whitby Socks
-Victorian Lace Today: pg 72 A Curved Shawl

Gifted Patterns:
~~Thermis by Kris Knits~~
Cladonia by Kristen Kapur
Juneberry Triangle by Jared Flood - in progress

Patterns:
Rock Island by Jared Flood
Cerasifera by Kirsten Kapur
Chalice Cowl by Julia Trice
Atalanta sideways by Asa Tricosa

Personal:
Get along better with my mother
Lost the last 5 pounds and tone up my legs
Eat healthy, and only have fast food once a week
Start a marching band program at the high school
Get the members of the bands at all 5 schools to grow by at least 5 for the HS and 10 for the GS

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-21T13:36:00.001-06:00

Found it online and wanted to share it!

Knitter's Night Before Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas and all around me
There was unfinished knitting not under the tree,
The stockings weren't hung by the chimney with care
'Cause the heels and the toes had not a stitch there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
But I had not finished the caps for their heads.
Dad was asleep---he was no help at all.
And the sweater for him was 6" too small.
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I put down my needles to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash.
Tripped over my yarn and fell down in my stash.
The tangle of yarn that lay deep as the snow
Reminded me how far I still had to go.

When out on the lawn I heard such a noise,
I was sure it would wake up both Dad and the boys.
And although I was tired--my brain a bit thick,
I knew in a moment that it must be St Nick.

Yet what I heard left me very perplex-ed
For nothing I heard was what I expect-ed.
"Move Rowan! Move Patons! Move Koigu and Clover!
Move Shelridge! Move Starmore! Move Spinrite!
Move over!

Lopi, don't circle around, just stand there in line.
Pay attention you sheep and you'll work out just fine!
I know this is hard as it's just your first year
But I'd hate to go back to 8 tiny reindeer."

I peered over the sill. What I saw was amazing:
Eight wooly sheep on my lawn all a-grazing!
And then in a twinkle, I heard at the door
Santa's big boots stomping on the porch floor.

I rose from my knees and got back on my feet.
As I turned around, St Nick I did meet.
He was dressed all in wool from his heat to his toe
And his clothes were hand knit from above to below.

A bright Fair Isle sweater he wore on his back.
And his toys were all stuffed in an Aran knit sack.
His hat was a wonder of bobbles and lace
A beautiful frame for his rosey red face.

The scarf on his neck could have stretched for a mile,
And the socks peeking over his boots were Argyle.
On the back of his mitts was an intricate cable.
And suddenly on one I spotted a small label:

"S.C." in duplicate on the cuff.
So I asked, "Hey, Nick, did YOU knit all this stuff?"
He proudly replied, "Ho, ho, ho, yes I did.
I learned how to knit when I was just a kid."

He was chubby and plump, a well dressed old man,
And I laughed to myself, for I'd thought up a plan.
I flashed him a grin and jumped up in the air,
And the next thing he knew, he was tied to a chair.

He spoke not a word, but looked down in his lap
Where I had laid my needles and yarn for a cap.
He began then to knit, first one cap then 2--
For the first time I thought I might really get through.

He put heels in the stockings and toes in some socks,
While I sat back drinking a scotch on the rocks.
Quickly like magic his needles they flew,
Good Grief! He was finished by two!

He sprang for his sleigh when I let him go free,
And over his shoulder he looked back at me.
I heard him explain as he sailed past the moon,
"Next year, start your knitting sometime around JUNE!"

Episode 8: Hi all! It's been a while!

2011-12-19T18:47:00.000-06:00

The band! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpwrDarlze0

Fo's
Christmas Blanket- stash bust Red heart
Blue and Silver Scarf- Vannas glamour yarn
Chunky Cowl- Malabrigo in Zarzamora (gifted)
Passafier Baby Blanket- baby yarn
Field of Greens- Baby yarn
Hats
Shawl- Handspun
New York Jets Hat- Red Heart Yarn

IP
Slipped Stitch Cowl- random sock yarn
Socks- Salvia- 100% Merino
Black eye shawl- Zauberball

Spinning
Taylored Fibers- Super wash Merino 100% wool 137 yards
Seaweed yarn 78 yards Navajo Plied
Gifted from Alpacaandwe 244 yards, plyed with white yarn I spun a couple months ago
Far Nebula - Madd Mess roving - 4 3/8 ounces from http://www.etsy.com/shop/Dingbattz?ref=seller_info - 548 yards plied with three threads at once

But why do you spin???

2011-12-09T21:33:00.000-06:00

This is not for those who spin.

This is for those who do not understand why I own a spinning wheel.

This is for those who stare at me weird when I say I spin my own yarn.

This is for those who are confused what I mean when I say I spin my own yarn.

Get ready for the extremely watered down version of how I go about spinning.
Booyah.

First off. You have your animal.

Sometimes sheep, sometimes alpaca, some times even silk worms. For realz.

You make the sheep bald and cold, then clean the wool.

Then someone dyes it. I have not gotten into dying yet, as I do not have the kitchen space, free time, or creativity as of yet. Though it will happen in my future.

^someone dyeing their fiber. Beautiful right?

After it is dyed, they dry it and braid it (depending on how they finish their fiber, sometimes they braid it, sometimes they batt it. There are differences but its just too much detail :) )

It is literally a thick....well... wrist thick...chunka.

Then you do this thing called drafting, which means you pull at the fibers so it is no longer thick, but looser and loftier.
And you take a drop spindle (which is what I started on)

Or a spinning wheel (Which I now have *SQUEE!*)

And you spend hours, (more so on the spindle) and I mean hours spinning. I am not very fast at the wheel yet, but I am getting better. The spindle and wheel literally twist the yarn, making it stronger (most of the time). And once you're done spinning half of the fiber you can stop there and call it a single. Or you can ply it, where you literally twist what you just worked with with another yarn, or onto itself. Confusing? It's really not. Its just alot of steps!

Once the yarn is spun, I wrap it around this swift which my awesome dad made me for Christmas last year. wrap wrap wrap, tie, measure, and then its off to the sink.

You have to soak the yarn to set the twist, then you fwack it. (Slam it against the wall, pull it, yadda yadda.)

Once the yarn dries, you have a skein of yarn! (I navajo plied this! First time and it went sorta well)

Close up of the yarn, not too shabby!

Some other yarn I recently spun and navajo plied. I was not fond of it at first but now I love it. I only wish I had more!

I LOVE IT! But seriously. 74 yards wont even get me a hat... hmmmm

What do I do with the yarn once its all spun up and pretty? I usually put it up in my store for a couple months, and if no one buys it and it expires in the store, I usually knit it up into something.
For instance! This was some of my favorite yarn that I spun up. It was 100% wool, and so colorful! The hat will be sold in my store shortly.

This is a shawl I made with some yarn I recently spun. It will also go up in my store soon.

Hopefully that gave you an idea of how I go about spinning my yarn.

Why do I do it?
It's relaxing
It's fun
It's exciting to really get down to the basics.
I couldn't find a good rainbow yarn, but I found some fiber. So I made my own yarn. How many people can say that?

I like knitting with the yarn I spun.

It's unique.
I like saying that I spin yarn.
It's what I do when knitting, crocheting, and quilting get boring.

And lastly.
It hypnotises my cat.
Which just makes it that much more worth it.

Spinners out there? Why do you spin?

OOOHHHH AWESOME!!!!!

2011-11-27T14:39:00.001-06:00

I want to start out by apologizing for not doing a video this time around. I was planning on it, but with all the chaos of holidays I just wanted to lounge around the apartment in sweats!

But I still wanted to update as I have had such a great holiday (minus a couple of not so great issues...)

First up, Steve finally has his diagnosis. He has been having severe issues for months now, and
after multiple ER visits, and doctor visits, he was diagnosed with Crohns disease... So... well. Lets just say it sucks. Especially right around Thanksgiving. Mind you, he has had symptoms for years now, but it just got really bad these past couple months and he finally decided to take my advice and go see a doctor.

If anyone out there has some advice for making mornings less miserable for him, please let me know, I have done my research but its not the same as first hand accounts!

Other than having to deal with that, things have been pretty great. I have gotten a whole bunch of knitting done while he is resting, and I have been able to chug out quite a few things!

So heres the pictures!
First up is a squirrel from a squirrel family that has been haunting my poor Kitty day and night. Partially my fault for leaving a pumpkin to rot on the front porch, they have their nightly meals of pumpkin and it drives Kitty nuts.

His name is Ted, and he is a cutey!

Kitty glares at me from her table whenever I laugh at her....

Onto the knitting! I just finished this hat, earflap style. It is knit out of the yarn I spun on my drop spindle, 100% wool. I love this hat. I loved the yarn. I am just so proud of it!

It will be going up for sale in my shop this week, I dont wear hats, otherwise I would keep it!

Next up is a shawl I knit with the wool I also spun on my drop spindle. It was a pleasure to knit up and it went by really fast. I winged the pattern, but it sorta reminds me of the The Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief by Orange Flower. Though not really.

I love it and I plan on keeping it for myself unless someone gives me a great offer! I love it and its soft and warm!

Lastly for the works in progress (which truthfully is not even half of what I have going now, I got lazy and didnt take more pictures)

is my silk hankie cowl. I must say, it is such an interesting thing to work with. My hands are slightly rough so the fibers stick to me like nuts. I love how it looks, I love how it knits up, but I cannot stand how my fingers stick in it!

Will I do it again? probably. Will I like it? eh. I'm sure I will once its done!

When I got to my rents place for Thanksgiving, I was greeted with multiple packages. Some I had ordered and knew about, and some were a complete surprise! Every single one made me smile ear to ear all day.

First up was the Far Nebula - Madd Mess roving - 4 3/8 ounces from http://www.etsy.com/shop/Dingbattz . I love the shop on Etsy, and I loved this fiber.

I cannot wait to spin this up, not sure what I will do with it yet, or what weight I will spin it, but I love it. LOVE IT. Epic. It has merino top and fleece, corriedale roving, mohair locks, bamboo, firestar in it. And it is gorgeous!

After that I opened up my last shipment of Sunset Fibers roving of the month club. It is cute pastel colors, and super squishy. I would reorder for the next three months, but currently I cannot afford any more, and I really have a lot of fiber at this point!

When I ordered my silk hankies from http://www.etsy.com/shop/SheepishCreations I also bought some fiber (Romney Wool Roving (Top) - Handpainted Spinning or Felting Fiber, "Samwise Gamgee" - 4.0) Which I love. And it is named after a character from the LOTR, which just makes me love it even more. When will I have time to spin it? No idea. But I will make it happen!

Next up was something I did expect. A teacher that I met when I was doing my graduate study abroad in Germany sent me an awesome care package! I had told her that for some stupid reason I forgot to get myself the one thing that I wanted to get while in Germany. A German made cuckoo clock magnet. She sent me one!
I left it on my parents fridge, but I swear she got me one and it works too! She also sent another cute magnet from/of Esslingen, which is the town we stayed in when we were there. AND sent me a whole bunch of German chocolate, which I did of course take pictures of!

GERMAN CHOCOLATE RULES THE WORLD!

The next package I opened was an RAK from a fellow Ravelryer. She sent me a very nice card thanking me for my dedication to teaching, and I almost cried. It was so sweet. Its just nice to know there are people that appreciate teachers out there.

She sent me chunky Malibrigo yarn in the Zarzamora colorway. It is beautiful, and I have no idea what I am going to do with it. Any ideas for bulky yarn out there?

Last but not least is the part of the post that made me say "OOOOOHHHH AWESOME!" So loudly that my parents came rushing down the stairs thinking I was dying or something.

Once I bought my spinning wheel, I started saving up to buy myself a flute. I have a trumpet, 3 clarinets, and a tenor sax. I find that when I am doing private lessons, some student benefit from hearing what the part should sound like before they play it. So with trumpet and flute I would just take their instrument and wipe it off before playing on it. But I really did not want to have to do that for sanitary reasons. Hence wanting to buy a flute.

I had posted on Plurk that I was attempting to save money through my Etsy store to purchase a flute, and Gail aka Alpacaandewe on Plurk messaged me saying that she might be able to help me out. She said she had one but was not using it, and would love to see it go to someone who could use it. She asked for a very small amount of money (flutes can range anywhere from 400-3,000$, and I was so grateful for the price she asked!)

She told me she would package it well, and sent it on the way.

I love the decorated case!

Its so beautiful! Plays like a charm too. I wouldnt say I am expert flute player, but now I can actually practice ahead of time to work with my students. Next podcast I will include a little tidbit of me playing flute, I am so happy!

But to my surprise.... She had not only included the flute. She kept her word on making sure the packing was suitable as to not hurt the flute. But I had no idea how awesome the packing would be!!!

Instead of actually packing peanuts, she included fiber. And lots of it. Everything except the braid (handdyed and falkland) is alpaca, which I have never actually worked with.

Look at all of that fiber!!! I think I started foaming at the mouth when I realized what it all was. Mom actually asked me if I was going to be alright. I explained to her how EPIC this package was. She was excited about the flute, but didnt understand my excitement when it came to the fiber. "It just looks like a bunch of stuff."

After I refused to talk to her for five hours, I explained how awesome it was.

The alpaca was dyed and processed by Gail, and grown by her sons. It is so soft. should be illegal.... I am so excited to work with the black and white fiber in the first picture, and the peachish in the second picture. You dont even understand how excited I was. I almost asked greg to take of picture of me throwing everything up in the air, but then decided I didnt want to risk felting anything.

Because Gail is so epically awesome (EPIC is the word of the week) I am pimping her store and blog.

Blog: http://alpacaandewe.blogspot.com/
Store: http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/AlpacaandEwe

Some days you just feel like crap after how the day has turned out. But knowing there are people out in the world who care makes me smile day in and day out. Thank you Gail, Maren, and Janie. You three are some of the most amazing people I know, and I cannot explain how grateful I am to know you!

Episode 7: So Much Done, So Much To Do!

2011-11-12T20:51:00.000-06:00

Show notes soon

Plurk Cookbook!

2011-11-09T11:28:00.000-06:00

It's hard to keep replurking for all the new people interested so I am just going to make this the common link so I can just post it for people who are interested!

I am collecting favorite recipes from fellow plurkers to make a plurk cookbook. It can be any recipe, and since I am giving this cookbook away as PDF files to my plurk friends, (not selling) you can also send me your favorite recipes from cookbooks or whatnot.

This will be my Christmas present to all of you out there in Plurkland!

My mouth waters whenever I see all the Dinner plurks, and I though what a great way to create variety, and accessibility.

If you are interested in having one of your recipes included please email me at luganchica102@yahoo.com.

Limit 5 recipes each plurker. Try and think of an appetizer, salad or soup, main dish, and dessert!

Knitwithlove Episode 6: All Tied Up

2011-10-31T19:25:00.000-05:00

Show Notes:
Fundraising for Kappa Kappa Psi

In Progress:
Test knit purse for Kelly- Red Heart yarn
Braided cowl- random sock yarn
Christmas Baby Blanket- stash busting red heart yarn
Linen Stitch Scarf- ramdom sock yarns

Finished:
Baby Hats- stash yarn
Fundraisers for Kappa Kappa Psi
Scrap scarves for shop
Halloween socks-Knit Picks Felici in Abracadabra

Spinning:
4 ounces Sunset Fibers Merino wool= 489 yards on spindle
100% wool= 266 yards
Kromski Prelude = love

Check out my shop! http://www.etsy.com/shop/luganchica102
Any profit from my shop will go straight into buying myself a flute (not brand new of course) so I can help my beginning flute players play strongly.

Sick and Lethargic!

2011-10-20T12:19:00.000-05:00

Forgive me, but I really have no motivation this week to do a podcast. I have been in and out of feeling ickky and sleepy, and in my free time I pass out!

But I really really really want to show you some things I have been working on!

Steve got his socks this weekend, and turns out I could have made them much longer! But he was really happy with them, and wore them every night I was there! I made him wear slippers so his icky carpet wouldnt dirty them, but he seemed to love them, so I am happy!

Kitty was not so fond of the socks though....

Now I was working on some fiber from Sunset Fibers Roving of the month club. 4 ounces of merino wool that was just absolutely awesome to work with! I was able to get a whopping 489 yards with it, and I am very happy with the results.

It was spun with a drop spindle, and took literally forever... oih.

Glad it is done though! BECAUSSSEEEE.......

I bought myself a spinning wheel!! I have been saving up for this wheel since the beginning of my job, and once The Yarn Studio started selling wheels I knew it was going to happen.

So I went over to the YS this past weekend and the owner Jeanette had the wheel set up already, and showed me how to spin with some scrap fiber.

The gray part of the yarn is what I spun, the red is just plain commercial wool. But it gives you an idea of how even I was able to get it. Soooo much easier than drop spindle! I am so happy!

Once I got home and Steve got out of the hospital... (long story) I started spinning some 100% wool that I purchased when I got the wheel. I was able to finish it in 2 days, and I love the result.

I was able to get 266 yards before I filled up my bobbins, and even though I can't stand how rough the yarn is, I absolutely love it.

So I was very excited about it.

I have started spinning up some roving from WoolGatherings (http://www.etsy.com/transaction/56781947) This is how much I have gotten so far. I have been moving slow recently. If I knit or spin I get sleepy within five minutes and want to take a nap... I think I am getting sick, but I don't know yet! It might just be the weather. Gah.

That is all I have for today, I do have some In progress items I am knitting, but the light is just not right in my apartment and will not do it justice. Until next time!

Knitwithlove Ep. 5 What else could go wrong?

2011-10-13T06:26:00.000-05:00

Wip's:
Halloween Socks
Knit picks Felici yarn in Abracadabra

Linen Stitch cowl
Random sock yarn

Beekeeper's Quilt by Tiny Owl Knits
Sock scraps

Fo's:
Steve's socks

Spinning:
Plying the merino wool!
New spinning wheel!!! WEEEEE!!!!

Store updates:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/luganchica102
Scrap scarves, stitch markers, ear flap hats, winter hat and scarf sets!

Knitwithlove Ep. Four: Getting Caught Up

2011-10-04T06:38:00.001-05:00

WIPS:
Toe up socks loosely based on Lifestyle Toe Up Socks by Charisa Martin Cairn
Yarn: Heritage 150
(technically FO now, finished it last night after I recorded!)

Linen Stitch Scrap Scarf
Yarn: ALLLLL different types of sock yarn

SPINNING:
Sunset FIbers 4 ounces Merino Wool

FO's:
Technically nothing this week....

STASH ADDITIONS:
Corriedale Fiber from Sunset Fibers
The Whole Craft of Spinning- Carol Kroll
Start Spinning- Maggie Casey
Intertwined- Lexi Boeger

SHOP:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/luganchica102
Check it out!

Knitwithlove Podcast 3

2011-09-25T22:03:00.002-05:00

I promise to get the shownotes done tomorrow!
Please excuse how frumpy I look! It was my day off!

FO's
Sunshine on the Horizon Scrap Scarf- done with.... scraps

Shop Updates
Stitch markers and earrings!
Check out my shop! http://www.etsy.com/shop/luganchica102

WIP's
Black and gray scarf- red heart yarn
Steves socks: Pattern "referred to" Lifestyle Toe Up Socks- Charisa Martin Cairn
My own pattern technically: K2 P1 yadda yadda
Cascade Yarns- Heritage 150

Spinning: Sunset Fibers 4 ounces of M6-11

$132.70 dollars saved up for the Prelude spinning wheel!!!

Que:
Lithuanian Blanket- Now turned into scarf :)
Jeweled Cowl- Alpaca with a Twist Fino

Catching up!

2011-09-21T19:12:00.000-05:00

So this past weekend I got to visit an old friend! I decided to spend my weekend up north with my friends from home, and upon announcing that I was heading north, Sarah/rainlolverknits told me I had to stop by! So I did! I drove the 1.5 ish hour drive to knit for a couple hours with her and two other girls that live in her apartment area.

Her two friends, I feel bad that I do not remember their names! I have been learning so many names in the past month that all new names slip out of my head! It was fun chatting with them both though!

It was great catching up with Sarah, as we have both been living on opposite sides of the world (but not really) and have both been pretty darn busy! It is so nice to be able to catch up!

As you can tell, I really look up to Sarah! She has been knitting for such a short time (well.... a little longer now) but she just does so much! I am proud to say that I know her and went to school with her!

SEE! I look up to her! :)

I have updated my shop, quite a bit actually. Earrings, made from Amber that I received from Lithuania, and many other knitting notions! In a couple weeks I will be putting up Christmas items!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/luganchica102
Check it out!

Knitwithlove Episode two

2011-09-15T18:48:00.003-05:00

BLIP TV WORKED FOR ME THIS TIME!!!! :)
Update on Life:
Get Healthy Raverly Group- http://www.ravelry.com/groups/get-healthy-group <- Check it out! Join! Get the Motivation to get healthy!Yarn Store in Casey Illinois- The Yarn Studio. http://www.the-yarn-studio.com/Owner- Jeanette Huisinga <- awesome lady. Awesome awesome awesome. Stop in and buy something if you are in town, tell her Vanessa sent you!Spinning Wheel- Kromski Prelude- 57.07 saved up for the spinning wheel! (I am bad at math apperently) <-and spelling! Please help me out by purchasing something from my store!! http://www.etsy.com/shop/luganchica102Works in Progress:
Tee shirt quilt- all high school and middle school Tee shirts
Brown Baby Quilt
Music Purse
Yellow Stash Buster Scarf- will be on sale in my store when it gets colder

Spinning:
Four ounces of Merino Wool - Sunsetfibers.com Roving of the Month Club
SPINNING WHEEL!!! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

FO's
Baby Blanket, Blues and Greens- Bernat Baby Coordinates

Stash Enhancements:
Fiber- Cashmere Queen Fillzwolle 2 Ounces, Dark greys
Royalty Fiber Farm 4 ounces, Dark Red

Yarn-
Cascade 220, Fushia and Cyan
Cascade 128 Bulky, Coralish and off white
Dream, Classy Pome-grenade
Heritage 150, Cascade Yarns Sock Yarn- Green
Kraemer Yarns Fountain Hill Brushed Mohair- Royal Lights, 560 yards

Plurk- knitwithlove
Ravelry- Luganknitter
Etsy- Knitchet Shack

Knitwithlove Episode 1

2011-09-11T20:31:00.000-05:00

I am crossing my fingers hoping this is going to work as it took me allllll weekend to figure the uploading to the internet! (not because I don't get how to do it, but the net was not keeping a stable connection! Grrr)

Let me know what you think, (be nice!) And I will have a great yarn update next week from my trip to The Yarn Studio in Casey Illinois.

Also, I will not have shownotes for this episode, but I will make sure to do so for the next one. The hat fundraiser is PatPat Hat- go to this blog to get more info on it!

Labor Day Weekend!

2011-09-07T11:14:00.000-05:00

Did you say "whoooa"? Yeah so did I when he came up to the window holding that bullfrog. It was hugeee!

For Labor Day weekend, Steve and I headed out to the island for a weekend of fishing, swimming, and relaxing. Too bad it got so cold and all we got to do was fish!
We caught quite a bunch of bluegill, perch and pumpkin fish, and a couple of smallish northern pikes. It was a good fishing trip.

Kitty even came with us and hung out around the house, she took over steves sleeping bag. (the beds are still in disarray from years of no use, so we decided to camp out in the living room.)

Sadly thats all the pics I have from the trip. The weather was sorta stormy so we didnt get to do half of the things I wanted. (Tubing with a rowboat was one of the main things I wanted to get done....)
But I did get a little bit of knitting done!
Here is a baby blanket I am working on for the shop. Simple, stash buster blanket. I am getting through my yarn! I might even be able to bring my yarn storage into my apartment! yay!

I spun this yarn from some white fiber my friend Sarah gave me a while back. Its about 260 yards, lace to sock weight. I am not quite sure what the fiber is, but it is not very soft. I hated spinning with it, well... sort of. I felt that its fiber was not long enough to spin anything thinner than sock weight. I am planning on buying some kool aid so I can dye it. Because I hate white, and I would love to give it some colors! Greens and Blues are my favorite, so we will see!

I also bought some fiber, because I am participating in Rainlover Knits Spin Along (http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/rainlover-knits/1711344/1-25). I also have been trying my best to perfect my spindle spinning before I go out and buy a spinning wheel! (Squee!)I signed up for the Roving of the Month with SUnset Fibers, and she sent out roving right away! I have started spinning it and I literally love it!

It is 4 ounces of Merino Wool, and it is just.... so freakishly soft and comfortable. I love it already. Seriously, sign up for her roving of the month! It is a thrill to get a surprise in the mail! (sunsetfibers.com)

Lastly is some fiber that I ordered from WoolGatherings shop on Etsy. It is superfine Merino Wool Roving, and I have yet to start with it, waiting to finish up with the sunset fibers roving.

I do not have a bunch of money to spend but once a month I plan on spending 20 fiber or yarn. Depending on what I reallllly need during that month. Next month I have a feeling it will be sock blockers (Unless someone wants to donate a set! :) )

I am 27.07$ closer to buying a spinning wheel. Profit made in my shop on Etsy will go into buying a spinning wheel. I am also debating on throwing profit from me teaching private lessons on instruments into the spinning wheel funds. Its either that or get internet for my apartment.... hmmmm Anywhoooo, go check out my shop and help me buy a great spinning wheel!!! http://www.etsy.com/shop/luganchica102

Thats it for now I guess. Teaching has been hectic mostly because the 4 grade schools still do not have the band schedule added in, which makes my life confusing. But the high school pep band played at the first home football game and we got tons of compliments! I am excited to push this band to their limits in order to make them great musicians!

Right on. That is all I have for you this week! Stay tuned because I am going to start updating my shop with winter scarves/hats/shawls/ and whatnot!

Until then!

First week of school is over!

2011-08-27T16:30:00.001-05:00

I made it through my first full week of teaching, and it was great! I think the kids were overwhelmed with the big selection of music I picked out for them for the football and basketball games, but I know that they have grown to love the music, even if its a little more difficult than what they are used to.
As for the four grade schools I work at, its a slow process seeing who will be in band and who wont. These are four private schools, so the band will be small no matter what. But I am extremely excited about one of the schools who has 8 6-8th graders in the band as of right now. Thats more than the other schools combined so far! Though, I am not 100% sure of the numbers in the other groups until this coming week when I do presentations to all the schools about why joining band is fun!

My days have been pretty slow recently. Mostly because I am teaching HS band at 7:30-8:30 every morning, and then I pretty much have nothing to do since the GS bands have not started yet. So, I am able to get some crafting done. Not much, but just enough to keep me satisfied.

First up is the socks that I have been knitting up for quite some time now. They could have been done weeks ago, but I was having trouble getting internet connection, and I wanted to make sure I was grafting the second sock correctly. So here they are finished! They are the Charade by Sandra Park. 2.5 mm needles, and the yarn is unknown as I cannot find the tag for it.

These are the first pair of socks that fit well, They do not have weird gaps anywhere, and they are snug. So I am very happy with them!

You can see the cute pattern. It was easy. I would recommend the pattern. For sure. I would have made them longer, but I still do not have a sense of how much yarn I will have left over. Next time I am in a yarn store I will buy two balls of yarn and make long socks out of them.

And of course, Kitty wants to be in the pictures too!

Now for spinning, Sarah (rainlover on pretty much everywhere) gave me this fiber a while ago, and I decided to practice my lace weight spinning. It is not great for lace weight. But I am trucking through. This will also be the first yarn I plan on dyeing. With Koolaid. To test it out.

As I have been stash busting all summer, I continue on. This is a baby blanket I am working on of some baby yarn that has been sitting in my yarn stash for ages. This will be on sale in my Etsy store within the next week or so, along with my Emma baby blanket. Let me know if you are interested!

It looks like just plain white from afar, but it actually has some cute baby colors in it!

Also going along with the stash busting, I crocheted up this scarf in a couple days, and when winter comes I will be posting it to the shop.

I actually like how the colors came out. I think I would like it more if there was now white part, but still, I dont mind it!

Also with the yarn, I made these cute little circles, which will eventually be built into a unique scarf. Not quite sure what I am going to do with it, but when the time comes, I am sure it will be great!

GARDEN TIME!
I have two tomatos that are gaining color, and I cannot wait for them to be done. Not sure how I am going to devour them, but I will come up with something. Maybe Grilled cheese with tomatos. hmmm

And then the Cherry Tomatos are coming out! Look at the little cuties! I also caught a few more cherries popping up, and eventually these will be in a pesto, gnocchi type salad.

As for my weight loss. I purchased the 30 Day Shred after hearing how it is working wonders by Sarah, and Erin at Mommy Needs Yarn- http://www.mommyneedsyarn.com/
I thought I would add it to my exercise routine. I try my absolute best to make it to the gym every other day, and on the opposite days I don't go to the gym I do the Shred. I have done Level 1 twice, and did not have too much trouble with that except for the push ups. (My upper body is weak while my thunderthighs are intensely muscle.) I did not get too sore the day after, so I moved on to level two. Big difference. It has been a while since I have sweat that much. Its tough because I'm tall and alot of those moves use the upper body, whicha s I said before... needs some work.

But with Zumba at least twice a week, and foundations once a week, and then cardio (including walking the mile back and forth to the gym, elipticals, and stationary bikes) I think I am doing pretty good. I have decided Fridays will be my day off of working out. I was not losing weight, which I am sure has to do with the muscle gain, until I took a day off and then weighed myself the next morning. Today I am at the lowest weight I have been in 6 years. I have finally reached 150.0! And I am so happy.

So to treat myself with something sinful, but still somewhat healthy, I made myself blueberry ricotta pancakes for breakfast, and tilapia fish tacos for lunch! :)

And did Shred level two for the first time. wow.

Spinning wheel in the future??? I hope so!

2011-08-13T18:17:00.002-05:00

I have been keeping myself extremely busy trying to make a little extra money when it comes to crafting. I have decided that I really want.. no need a spinning wheel. The drop spindle is great, but I am really wanting to make more yarn. I love knitting, crocheting and quilting, but I really want to spin more. I am enjoying it, and I think I can make some interesting and fun yarn.

Also, I am getting a gym membership. I want to be in good shape this year, not only because so many diseases run in my family, but because I know I will be exhausted after work. I want to be able to work out, so that I can not be so tired. The whole do more exercise to gain energy. Who thought that worked out that way....

So this is where the making extra money comes in. Every single item I sell in my shop, I will put that money towards both the spinning wheel, and then the gym membership. I can technically afford the membership on the small amount of cash I get from teaching at the four grade schools, but I really would like to get this spinning wheel. Badly. So if you buy something from my shop, you are helping me not only get healthy, but also enjoy my free time all the more!

Going along with that, I have updated my shop a whoooole bunch.

But first, this may or may not go in the shop. It really depends on if you (the reader) are interested in buying it. I may just knit it up this winter to make a fun chunky ish hat. Something with earflaps. and tassels! :)
So first pic is before soaking and blocking. On the awesome yarn swift my dad made me out of the blue!

Next is it all skeined up an beautiful. I did not like how the yarn was spinning up, colorwise that is. But now? I LOVE IT. I like how sometime the colors are different, and sometimes they blend together. I think it would make a great hat! It is about 167 yards of ..... I wanna say worsted to bulky. It is pretty consistent with the weight of the yarn, and I am doing my best to work on that! Though the thin and thick yarn always looks so awesome!

I bought the fiber from GreenwoodFiberworks, on Etsy and it was about 4 ounces of awesome fiber. It just spun up really well. I love it. Its squishy. mmmmm

Right then. I knit this hat up one night as a stash bust, and it will be going in the store come colder weather. Right now, its hanging out in my living room... waiting for me to stop being so lazy and put it in my FO bin.... hmmm.

These washcloths will be going in my shop as soon as I can get a good internet connection. I have two sets of four which I will be selling for 10$ a set, with shipping, and then a set of three for 7$ and a set of 2 for 5$.

I had originally made these to make a blanket, but that was before I decided that the yarn was not really suitable for blankets. But just perfect to wash your dishes! :)
I tried my hand at felting a few days ago, and found out that I actually don't mind it. The only issue I have is that the washer and dryer here in my apartment are both a dollar each. I don't want to spend a dollar to felt a darn bowl. ugh.
But I did, and washed some towels along with it. This is my first bowl. Its blue. I made a second one, and doubled up the yarn, but it did not felt so great the first time, so I have to go back and pay another dollar to throw it in the wash again. BOOOOOOO.....

I am working on my next pair of socks. Trying to make Sarah (Rainloverknits) proud of me!!! I am slowly, slowly learning to love socks. This is the first sock of the Charade by Sandra Park. I love this pattern. I am using size 2.50 cm needles, the smallest needles I have worked with when it comes to socks so far, and they are turning out really well. I dont mind them. I am almost to the heel with the second sock, so that should be done in the next couple days.

Ok now for the sales. I made a whole bunch of stitch markers now that I have my materials in my apartment. (They were at the rents place!!)
These beautiful stitch markers are made from ocean jasper, and are just... I love them. I am keeping a set for myself because I love them so much. They are being sold in my store! Go buy some! Help me afford a spinning wheel!

I made these awesome green ones too, for sale in my store. I feel they are really girly, and if you know me, I am not very girly. SO I am not keeping these for myself. Buy them! :)

Lastly another girly set of stitch markers made with some cutesy pearls. Also for sale.

Fun fact, I will be heading to Micheals tomorrow to buy more beads. 25% coupon for the entire purchase! :)))))))) <- I am that happy!

Now before I go, I want to talk about the weight lost/get healthy. I have signed up for a gym membership, and they waived the membership fee. Which was 40. So I saved 40! Which makes me happy. I have been going to the gym almost every day for the past week. It has gotten a little iffy because Steve came to visit, and he does not want to go to the gym. I was not about to leave him!
But I have been eating healthy, making all my meals from scratch, or as close as I can get to scratch. I have been trying out new veggies, for example eggplant. I LOVE EGGPLANT! I seasoned the slices and then brushed them with olive oil before putting it in a pan and "dry frying" it. Once they got some color I put them in the oven until they let loose of their water. Came out with a gooey mess. OH SO GOOD! mixed up some tomato sauce, pasta, and ate it like a pro!

I have been hearing alot about this 30 day Shred, and I just purchased the DVD off of Amazon. I figure it would be a great thing to do on the days I cannot get to the gym because of rain or tornado or whatnot.

Welp. Off to knit more!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/luganchica102 <---------- Go there! Help me get a spinning wheel, and help me get healthy! :)

Summer home update!

2011-08-02T21:00:00.000-05:00

I want to start this post with food ...porn. I decided to make peach cobbler a few days ago, and I absolutely love peach cobbler. LOVE. I ate most of it. Steve does not like peaches. Too bad for him!

Next up, Steve and I went over to a farmers stand orchard shop thing and picked up peaches, corn, and something I have never tried before. Green tomatos. I decided now was the best time as ever to try making fried green tomatos. They were pretty darn good. Could use more spice though, I felt they were sorta plain. But for a first try they tasted great!

Lastly for food, Steve and I made up some beer battered bluegill. When I asked the Deacon (from my school) where the good fishing places were, he handed me a bag of frozen bluegill that his friend had caught. Told me they were great beer battered. He was absolutely right.

This is also something I have never done before, but they turned out realllllly good. Like... so good I wanted to go out and catch more...
Too bad all I caught was a stupid catfish... ;)

KITTY BREAK!

Ok now onto your previously scheduled show. The summer home. If you have followed my blog you know that this has been the.... most stressful part of my life other than school. Long story short, its on an island in Indiana. The water level went down for 8 ish years, and we could not get onto the island, unless we wanted to walk through waist deep muck. So for 8 years... we didnt do any yardwork, we didnt clean, we didnt do laundry, we didn't kill any mice or bugs, we didnt turn on the electricity or water. So everything .... went downhill. Last year my brother and I went against dads will to start cleaning since the water was back up. It was bad. But we did alot of work. ---> this is the blog post from last year. It has some great pictures! http://dreamknitter.blogspot.com/2010/05/welcome-to-island.html

Ok, to continue on for this year. Our row boat was stolen a few years back. Some idiot. We think we know who it is. I want to punch him in the gut. Because it has to be him. ugh.
Annnnyways. We ended up buying a jon boat so we could get to the island to do work.

Yay!
Greg and I got ready to get some work done in the heat! Gotta love my little brother.....

Alright, Here are before and after pictures of the stuff we did in the two days we were there. (excluding stuff inside)

The front entrance-all overgrown and insane. We did a whoooole bunch of work cutting down the weeds and raking up everything.

Much better once we got all the leaves into the fire pit!

Looking down the hill at the main shed. Very overgrown and weedy.

Now all deweeded and cut down, the are by the shed was pretty much overgrown like it is next to the water. We cut some of that down and then mowed the rest.

The view from the front window out towards the lake. This used to be a view of the lake, and had turned into a bush grove.... so I took the liberty to cut all the bushes down.

And I did a great job. It was hard with the litte saw I was using, but I got it done. And then realized the area I was standing was actually.... a poison ivy patch.... Thank God for the kitchen gloves I was using to keep the bugs off of me! :)

Dad on the old swing. Not very safe...

While I was working on a bunch of yardwork, and eventually cleaning up the inside of the house with mother, Greg and dad went to the shore and built our pier. They did a lot of work. A LOT OF WORK to get those piers in. They had to clear the water of the water plants. See how the plants on on the left of the pier? Yeah, thats how it was everywhere....

All those bushes I cut down, along with all the branches I picked up got thrown into a pile. And that night, we started a bonfire!

See my brother holding a giant stick? Greg is over 6 feet tall. The fire was three feet above his head! Awesome!

Then the side hill, which we chopped up and made accessible.

Lastly the view from the back of the island. I cannot wait to spend Labor day weekend here!

Garden post!

2011-07-23T13:23:00.000-05:00

One great thing about having my own apartment is being able to fill it to the brim with plants. Well at least the balcony.

First up is my cherry tomato plant. These popped up so fast that I thought someone came in and planted them while I was asleep. Amazing. THough still no tomatos to be seen, but as soon as they do show up, I know I am making a pesto gnocchi salad with cherry tomatos. OMG sounds so good.... Hello. My name is Vanessa. I am a foodaholic. I plan what I am going to make with food I do not currently have. I only buy the best supplies to make meals because I would rather eat than have air conditioning on a day when it reaches 101 degrees outside. I could eat a pound of cherries in one sitting. And I have. Yesterday. (hey at least its better than chocolate!)

Next up is the Big Boy tomatos. Steve planted these for me and gave them as a housewarming present. The last post I put has a picture of the first fruit it produced. AND THERES ANOTHER ONE COMING!!!

This is another plant Steve grew for me. Cucumbers! Everytime I get a cucumber I want to make Lithuanian beet soup. So good during the summer!

Then my absolute favorite plant set that I literally just put together today. Its my first collection of succulent plants! Sadly I cannot eat these. But the aloe will be great for... all those burns that I get....? Right in the center, the short stubby looking ones are called Baby Toes. hahahahaha. The big ones in the front are the elephant bushes, and the ones in the back are mini jade. I have always wanted a succulent garden. I am the type of girl who loves the bamboo plants, the bonzai trees, and anything that is ornate like that. I can't stand growing flowers. They just... are boring.

Lastly, my newly planted mint plants. yes yes, its too late in the summer, but I thought I would give it a try. So far, they are tiny. I can wait. But they are for sure going in my tea when I head into work in the morning!

There are still other plants but some of them are newly planted seeds and have not sprouted yet. And its boring to look at dirt. So....

Plant on.

Huuuuge Update!

2011-07-18T16:51:00.000-05:00

Well, it is summer, so I think I have every right to craft! Considering my job did not technically start until today (Band camp), and after this week I have three ish weeks left of summer technically. There are a couple meetings, and gatherings I would like to go to for all the schools, and of course I will always be working in the classroom and music library. Though since it is usually miserably hot in the school, I will hold off on most of the music for cooler days, since it is not essential to have completely organized.

The first day of band camp was today. I did not have my hopes up for big numbers, just because the flyers were not sent out at the end of the year, rather they were sent out mid June, beginning of July. We have plenty of beginners from one of the four grade schools, so in the first couple weeks of school I will reach out to the rest of the schools in hopes that there will be more kids interested in band. It will be... interesting. We will have to see, but I am not going to give up. That is not me!

Well, since I have had a bunch of free time recently, I have gotten a whole bunch of crafting done.
THis first shawl that I worked on was with Knitpicks gloss. I must admit, I hate this yarn. It feels so plasticky and really knits up... ugh... I don't know, I am picky, I just don't like how it feels or knits up. But I have a whole bunch of it, and I am attempting to stash bust. So there you go!

This is the Summer Flies Shawl by Holly and Ella Knits. I would highly recommended this pattern if you are looking for an easy shawl to work on while watching tv. It knits up so fast, and I think I would love it even more if it were in a different yarn.
But look at the little butterflies! :)

Remember how I said I am stash busting? Well this is an example of how I am stash busting. I am taking all the leftover balls of yarn, and I am crocheting up all these scrap scarves which I plan to sell in my shop once the weather starts getting cooler. (Hopefully soon, it is horrible out there!)

It is pretty long, and soft. If I wore scarves I might actually wear it!

The next shawl I knitted up was The Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief. I loved the yarn I used, though... I have no idea what it is. I seem to have lost the yarn label in the move... Too bad because I would have bought more of it.

This shawl was also very easy, and it's something that I have had in my lineup for a really long time. It knits up fast, and I think it would be great in the winter. I plan on keeping this for myself! I promise to wear my shawls during the cold season!

Random picture of KITTY!

I wanted to post these, because my gramma made them for me when I was born. I never thought about posting them, until that is, I was moving out of my rents place and I grabbed them. I love them so much! Just thought they were cute!

Alright, now for spinning. I had some leftover fiber after I spun my 2 ounces in single ply. So I spun the next 2 ounces, and went back and plyed it.

So now I have 68 yards of really pretty yellow/brown/autumn colored yarn. There is a good chance I will sell this yarn, so if you are interested let me know! It will probably be 15-20 with shipping.

I will be spinning this next batch of fiber as soon as I possibly can. (probably tonight) I saw this fiber online, and just had to buy it. I love the colors soooo much. Go to www.greenwoodfiberworks.etsy.com There is some amazing roving! I have been shopping around recently to try and find fiber and stores I love, and this was one of the stores! Check it out!

Socks. Sock sock sock sock socks. I hate them. But I am getting better at them, meaning I am enjoying it just a little more. I just can't get over the fact that they will be living on peoples feet. ugh. But this was the next installment of Liz's socks. They fit better than the first pair I gave her, and they are not as "holy" as the first few pairs of socks I have knitted.

I think smaller needles will benefit still. I worked on these with 3's and they came out pretty good. I love this yarn, but once again... the move has killed all of my labels... boo

Oh well I am pretty proud of these socks. Took me two days. Next pair will have an easy pattern now that I get the basics behind sock knitting for sure.

Lastly. Steve brought me a whole bunch of plants, including a tomato plant with my first tomato of the season! I ate it in a salad, and it was delicious! I am also growing grape tomatos, mint (for my tea), cucumbers, parsley and cilantro. All in my tiny balcony!

Ok well. I think that is it for now! I have gotten a bunch done and I believe in the next few weeks I will have much more. Stash busting- the thing to do when you cannot afford more yarn. :)

Happy 4th!

2011-07-05T20:17:00.000-05:00

So, our 4th of July plans did not go completely according to plans. We had planned to get sushi up in Schaumburg for our anniversary, then head over to the Schaumburg Flyers game where Steve had asked me out last year after months and months of dating. Well... turns out the Flyers went bankrupt. Oops...

So instead we headed back to Kankakee early, and got sushi from the local Krogers. We were quite wary, I mean... you have to be when its sushi. But it was actually pretty darn good! I even heated up a couple bowls of miso soup (my favorite!)

Look at how cute the goodies are! I felt much better buying the sushi because there was a sushi chef making each package individually, so I knew that the stuff was not sitting out there for days like it could in my university union.

We got eel rolls, california rolls, and boston rolls. All were amazing. So worth it, and cheaper than a restaurant too!

Next up, I want to reintroduce you to an old friend (as of two days ago) (whose name has officially been changed) and a new friend as of yesterday!
Meet Sushi and Tofu! My brand new bearded dragons. They are little babies, but absolutely adorable. I was worried they would not get along being from different stores, but it turns out, they kinda like each other! :)

And as of now they just fit perfectly in the palm of my hand!

Steve bought me everything, the log, the tank, the lizards, and the lights. So I officially have a zoo going in my apartment. Three lizards (Terrence my Leopard Gecko, Sushi and Tofu my bearded dragons) My fish tank with the four beautiful fish, a beta named King George the second, and mine and Steves cat Kitty. Combine that with the Scorpion named Fluffy, and the Snapping Turtle named Sassy that Steve has at his place... well we are going to have a full family. I just feel bad because I did not really get him anything much for our anniversary. (technically the Christmas gift overlaps because it was such a rariety of rocks and stones that I got him) But I was not expecting him to pay so much for these lizards and everything.

So I ended up making him dinner! I made a shrimp bruschetta, which was actually pretty darn good. And for the main course I made shrimp pasta, going along with our shrimp theme. We then sat on my front porch and sipped Champaign, while Kitty plopped down next to us.

It is going to literally hurt when I don't get to see Steve for weeks on end. I will be 2 ish hours away from him, working my butt off to help these kids love music and playing an instrument, and he will still be going to school to get his degree.

I know I will be doing plenty of blogging, crafting, and reaching out for kind words!

Well, off to spend the last few hours hanging out with him before he leaves for Charleston.

Marley!

2011-07-03T17:59:00.000-05:00

I want to introduce my newest family member! Steve bought me a baby bearded dragon for our anniversary! I wanted to call it Tofu... buuuut Steve decided on Marley. It is a good fit.

I do not know if it is a girl or boy yet, but once it gets older we will find out! Right now its basking in its light on its corkboard log. Kitty is laying with her head on the spare piece of cork board while napping. She spent the past two hours just sitting there staring at the lizard.

I could not be a happier person right now!

All moved in.... ish

2011-07-02T10:27:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone,
So, I am technically moved into my new apartment. I have all the esseentials, bed, couch, tv, kitchen table, chairs, bookshelf, yadda yadda yadda.

Moving a dresser from the rents place on Tuesday, so I can finally stop living out of garbage bags full of clothes. Not fun... THe wrinkles are nuts to deal with when you have no iron, and have to pay a dollar to use the dryer...

I have been keeping busy though, I have stopped by the high school a few times, organized the band room to look like a band room. I collected all the music laying around and brought it to the music storage room (its a mess in there, but thankfully not too bad). I did realize that the band is going to need to purchase more mallets for the percussion section. I found one matching set, and also found out that one of the sticks was broken in half... Unless of course, the students provide their own, which is something I should ask about soon!

It's hot in the school, like sweltering. I will be bringing a couple of my home fans to hopefully cool off the music storage room so I can get some work done in there come Wednesday. But for now I am home at my parents place celebrating the 4th of July with a block party and a few cold drinks.

Oh yeah, and I get to celebrate mine and Steve's anniversary with sushi and Schaumburg Flyers baseball game! He asked me out on the fourth of July, which I thought was sweet until he let it slip that if its on a holiday then its less easy to forget about. I was upset for a millisecond until I realized... he is absolutely correct...

So. What have I been doing craft wise? Well no cable and internet means that I have a bunch of free time to watch my three series of Two and a Half Men, and craft. So here is what I have been up to!

I finally finished my mother's scarf. Which I had promised her back in January... Oops. Well it has some nice autumn colors so hopefully she will be able to use it once it starts getting cooler. (if that EVER happens....)

Next up is a quick hat I crocheted when I realized I had to start stash busting because I have boxes of yarn that needs to be used up. Too bad I barely used any of that skein of yarn. I love it though. I cannot remember for the life of me what the yarn is, but it is soooo soft.

I finished up the baby blanket with a cute flower that matches the edging. I actually really enjoyed doing this blanket, mostly because I knew that I wanted to make it cute, as I am not really a cutesy type of a girl. But I think I did good!

I was going through my yarn stash and came across yarn that I had spun up last year, but it was not skeined up or even wrapped correctly (I did not have a yarn swift until earlier this year) So I swifted it up, and skeined it up, and I just live this yarn. It is in fact for sale in my store, but I have yet to change the photos over.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/66122360/pink-tide-handspun
It is handspun with a drop spindle, so for all you spinners out there you know it took.... forever. I have got to invest in a spinning wheel when I start getting money. (hahaha that was a joke- I won't have any money until my loans are paid off!)

Last but not least, I have some yarn that I just finished spinning, wool, one ply, not sure of yardage as I was too lazy to count out the number of times I wrapped it around the swift. I am not fond of the colors, as they are not really my type of colors, buuuut I do like how it turned out. I still have another 2 ounces of this fiber left, and then sadly... I am out of fiber! I have gone through my stash! Sad day.... I will have to buy some more soon....

Well, I'm off for now, I have to get over to the block party to do a balloon toss with the folks!

I'm back- Sort of

2011-06-22T20:14:00.000-05:00

I want to say that life has gotten easier and calmer since I got back from the Germany trip. But it is the exact opposite. Not that I am complaining or anything, because I absolutely despise sitting around doing nothing.

The issue is, I'm sitting around not able to do the things I need to do because I am waiting for my apartment to get done so I can move in. Until then, a bunch of stuff I need to do is put on hold.

But I'm keeping busy. Don't you worry! :)
Now here is what has been on my plate since I got home from Germany.

I get home and jet lag took over, making me wake up at 4-5 am every morning. I got stuff done. :)

Two days after I got home, I met with the five principals of the schools I will be teaching band with. One high school and four grade schools. We discussed how next year is going to look. I will have a lot of freedom in creating and molding the band programs, considering one of the schools does not even have a band program. I am going to have to be creative to keep the students interested and excited. So my mind is racing of different things I can do.

I decided that I would host a "band camp" a few weeks before school starts. I would have the beginning band students come in for two days, an hour a day, and do a type of instrument petting zoo. Let the youngins hear and see how someone plays the instrument, and then in the end get to play it and hold it themselves. This will get them prepared to choose their instrument the first week of school.

Then after the beginning band camp, the 5th and 6th graders will come in for an hour, Monday through Friday, and we will learn about the expectations of the next school year, the cost of being in band, do fun ice breakers, get to know each other, and then work on some fundamentals in music, possibly even play some music. It really depends on the skills of the students. I need this band camp to see where we are at skill wise so I know what music to choose for this year.

Theeeeen after that band camp, I will have the 7th and 8th graders come in and do about the same thing. For these two older groups I would like to reach out to them and see what they expect from me, and then make rules and whatnot based on what we agree on. I think it would be a really great experience. I am also planning on having the high school band students come in and help out, lets just hope they agree on it!

Ok so thats that, my minds going nuts about what music to use, but I cannot look through the music because I am 2.5 hours away and my apartment is not done being painted. So I cannot move in until that is done, which will be this Saturday.

So. Fun list of things that have happened to me these past couple months.
-Went to Florida with the high school band group I was student teaching with: Marched through Disney world with the marching band.
-Graduated college with a music education degree

-Sent out over 30 job applications all over Illinois, and one in Alaska. Why not.
-Went to two interviews for jobs
-Got turned down for the first job
-Got a call back with the second interviews job offer the day before I left for Germany, and accepted it.
-Went to Germany for three weeks to study the German school system, and travel. I miss it dearly
-Got back, met with principals
-Had an awesome graduation party!
-Found an apartment, and put the security deposit down- I HAVE AN EXTRA ROOM MEANING.......CRAFT ROOOOOOOOOM

So now I am sitting around answering emails from parents of my future students about the band camp, knitting, crafting, and packing up my old apartment. Which... I think I am done and all I have to do is move it all into my car tomorrow and Friday.

I did get to see my little cousin in all this insanity, which I always look forward to. Though I feel horrible because my mind was so preoccupied with the job that I felt I was not as much fun as I usually am. I hope she understands!

Now for some crafty stuff.
I have been working on this scarf for quite some time now. It is the Pedestrian Crossing Cowl by Melissa Sibley, only changed around a bit to make it a scarf instead. I am making it from some stash busting yarn, no idea what it is though. For mother. Cause I keep promising her a scarf but I never get it done. So this is it darnit! I am going to make her this scarf and then cross it off of my que!

I love how the colors look, and I really think it is her type. So I am excited to get it done.

When I knit, Kitty likes to lay down next to me. It does not matter if I drape yards and yards of yarn over her head, she looks around wondering what is going on before she plops on her side and passes out. I have never encountered a cat that does not go ape sh** when it comes to yarn until I adopted Kitty. haha

But does she not have the absolute cutest mug you have ever seen? :)

Next up is an almost finished object. I had bought a whoooole bunch of baby yarn years and years ago, and its about time I stash bust. All that I have left to do is crochet up a cute little flower to add to the front of it.

I decided on the cute little ruffle around the edges, nothing too girly, but also sweet. The flower will match the edging a little.

Full out view of cuteness. I will probably pop out the flower tomorrow in between packing a bit more.

Up next is my spinning. I have a bunch of roving laying around and I really do enjoy spinning, even if I am not amazing and my arms hurt after five minutes with the drop spindle. So it is a slow process. But I am getting better every time I work on it.

I don't mind the color, its not amazing, but I think it will look really nice spun up. Right now it is about sock weight, though it always poofs up whenever I take it off of the drop spindle... Any spinners out there with advice? How do I keep it from doing the thick and thin? Is it because I am uneven?

I need a darn spinning wheel already...ugh

Lastly for today I finished my Baktus. I am debating on doing some sort of edging, whether lacy of not. It just feels very plain right now.

My goal for teaching this year is to use scarves to spice up my wardrobe, whether they are shawls, scarves, or cowls. Once it gets cold I am stocking up!

Well.. that is all for now.

Except

.....

YOU SHOULD GO TO MY STORE AND BUY SOMETHING TO HELP ME PAY FOR RENT.

Just saying,

http://www.etsy.com/shop/luganchica102

Silence

2011-06-09T09:24:00.000-05:00

It seems I have gone silent since my last post but I have good reason!

I was a couple days behind with the Germany trip, and then we left for the states! Once I got home I had to start planning with mother for my graduation party. I also met with all five principals in the schools I am going to be working at this coming year. I am excited and terrified all at the same time. I feel they are giving me a bunch of freedom to mold the bands into something I think will work, so I am doing my absolute best to brainstorm.

If you have had any experience with beginning band programs please let me know what worked for you! I will need all the advice and experience I can get!

Oh, and I just put in a security deposit for an amazing 2 bed 1 bath apartment just 5 minutes down the road from the high school!!! I AM SO EXCITED!

As for the Germany trip... it is over. And I am slightly sad. I miss the people we met, all the students we visited and observed, all the places we experienced. I learned more than I could have ever hoped for and I made many new friends. So for all of my new German friends who read this blog, thank you for being so absolutely amazing! You made the stay exciting, and incredeble!

The last couple days in Germany were amazing and relaxing. We met with students from the Hauptschule. The first day we observed I believe we all felt quite overwhelmed with.... the intensity of the classes. I felt that the class I was in wanted to talk about smoking the entire time. 8th grade. smoking....

In the Gymnasium the students asked about Obama, and what Americans thought of Osama and terrorism. In the Hauptschule the students asked if we smoke cigarettes. Give you an idea of the difference?

The class was very loud, and some students did not seem to want to learn as they sat with their heads down or just stared off into space. There was more ethnicity in this school, and the hallways were covered in art. (which I loved!)

While the two classes I observed in the first day were very rowdy, the second day I was put in a class that was absolutely amazing!

We were in the hallway and two 6th graders came up to us and offered us chocolate saying "We are the student presidents of the 6th grade class, please follow us"

The class was.... not what I expected at all! These students moved around chairs for us, looked at us in awe, spoke English very well, and were very excited to learn.

They even had prepared three skits in English for us!!! The skits were hilarious, and I have them recorded but it takes so darn long to get online So when I have free time I will upload them for your enjoyment.

This is one of the skits, where the boy is writing a letter to his girlfriend. The three friends help him decide what to write (very funny) and then he decides to tell her he is going outside to play. Oh my gosh it was funny!

The next class seemed to want to ask us questions the entire 2 hours instead of do their studies. It was fine, but the questions got repetative. I noticed some of the students who were disorderly, but nothing as bad as the first day.

They asked us to sing the National Anthem. And we did. Very poorly. But better then it was at the Super Bowl I would like to think!

They proceded to since the German Anthem, which was interesting as well!

WE made it back to the Mercedes Benz museum, and it was pretty epic. It not only had the cars on display, but also had the history surrounding the cars.

Wednesday night we met up with one of the teachers from the Gymnasium, and she took us out with some more of her English teacher friends. We went to a great restaurant, and then off to one of the bars.

It was nice to be able to really get the insight of the teachers, not just the students. Then again, many of the teachers said the same thing as the students. It was so interesting!!!
I am so glad I got to meet them all, and I hope to keep in contact with them until I get to go back to Germany! Thank you so much for being so amazing!!!

Off to breakfast, then to figure out how I am going to work this band program from the ground up!!!

Just a quick note

2011-06-02T04:20:00.000-05:00

When we went to the Gymnasium, I asked the students what they thought of the "lower" schools. They told me the truth, that they felt that they were better.

I learned last night while experiencing the German night life, (with a bunch of the Gymnasium teachers) that these students follow my blog, and felt bad for what they said about the lower schools.

I want them to know that I fully expected what they told me. I totally understand what they were saying and I do not want them to feel guilty at all.

I am doing a paper on the differences between German and American tracking in the schools. And what they said puts the reality of the tracking into perspective. I fully appreciate them being so truthful, because all the other schools were very truthful as well. I find this all very interesting.

Mind you, I was able to talk to students at the Reaschule, but when we got to the Hauptschule, we were not able to talk with the students. We were able to observe, and trust me, we noticed differences.

So to those Gymnasium students- I fully appreciate your truth! Never feel guilty about anything! You are helping me with a 15 page paper, and all the other students with me on this study abroad trip got the same answers from the classes they observed.

Thank you for being you!

We didn't do much today, just climbed the Alps. NBD.

2011-06-02T04:12:00.000-05:00

So we started out Monday with a slightly long trip to the Mercedes Benz museum. It was a hike to the train station, a little bit of a train ride, and then a hike to the Museum. We posed, and had fun with the car statue outside, each one of us getting a good picture with the car.

That got our excitement up for this museum. Until we got to the front door.

So. This museum knew we were coming, and decided it would be fun to close on Mondays so the Americans could not come in. So. The museum was closed. Lets try a different one. The Dino museum? Nope closed to.

So Olaf (our professors husband) ended up taking us all out for ice cream instead. I think it was a pretty fair trade. :)

Tuesday. Was probably the best day of my life. I mean other than the day Steve asked me out. (Don't tell him it was probably better :) )

We climbed the Alps. No Big Deal. But we climbed the Alps. In Germany.

In the middle, and a little to the left you can see Tegelberg, which is the mountain range we climbed. 1720 Meters.

On the way up you can see the Cinderella Castle (Neuswanstein) After the climb we were going to take a tour of this castle.

Me at the landing before the big climb! The view was breath taking. I want to go camping on a mountain. So badly. I want to wake up and see the view!

This is part of the view from the landing. I love how you can see all the fields, with their different crops and colors.

Part of the group that was trucking along, making sure we would get to the top soon. Little Leela there was such a trooper, if I was her age I would be complaining about the hike, but she kept going and was actually enjoying it! We did not know that we were going to be hiking. So one girl wore Ballerina flats, and Olaf wore dress shoes. I of course was all decked out in my comfy jeans, gym shoes, tee and sports bra. Just cause, when I hear the sentence "We are going to the Alps" I think, "Well we will probably have some sort of a hike." :) Thats just me though.

This is one of my favorite pictures. There is a good chance I will print this picture out and frame it. Ok there is no doubt I will print it out and frame it. How could you not?

The cross up there is where we needed to get to. There was a path for a little bit, and then as Tasha says, "S*** got real". I have conquered my fear of heights a long time ago. But after a while of climbing and hiking, I started getting nervous. We were high. Really high on that mountain. Like. For real.

Hey guys, nah its just me chilling on a mountain. It is an every day thing. I am just that cool. IM ON A MOUNTAIN!

This was when it started getting complicated. Instead of taking a nice little forest path, we had to start climbing and actually worrying about life and death situations. Once we started getting higher and realizing there was nothing holding us to the mountain except gravity (and we all know that gravity is great until you fall...) we started to goof around less. Because death by mountain is cool and all. But I envision myself getting stabbed by a knitting needle or something cool like that. :)

We learned brotherhood. Mostly because if it was not for other people helping us up, we would have easily died...

We did however get to hold onto some metal wire thingys. We just knew that if our fingers slipped, there was nothing holding us to the mountain, not like when we went to the climbing park.

We have finally reached the top! The view was just... astonishing. I have not seen anything like that in my entire life. I don't think there was any way I could be any happier.

The group of girls at the top of the mountain!

How amazing is that view? I will tell you. It is amazing.

Heading back down. This was the easy path I was talking about. Not exactly smooth, but it was better than some of the stuff we had to climb up. It would not be very easy to fall down the mountain from this path. Which I was grateful for.

Now for some amazing views. Eat your heart out Americans!

I filled up on some amazing pea soup after we got to the landing. It was amazing. For real. We got stuck up on the landing because of lightening for a little over an hour. We learned that older Germans don't know how to form a line, and continue cutting in line. We discussed elbowing some of them in the face to prove that there was no cutting in line. Instead we stood quietly as the old woman pushed their way past us. (As if we dont SEE you doing that...)

Next up. We went up to the Cinderella Castle (Neuswanstein). Oh and we took a horse drawn carriage up there. NBD. We just took a horse drawn carriage to a castle. Oh and we were in Germany. And we just hiked up the Alps. All in a days work.

This is the view from the entrance of the castle. They wouldnt let us take pictures inside, of course. The tour was sort of... a flop? You go in expecting tons of interesting details, and I mean its the Cinderellas castle. You go in thinking its going to be amazing. What we saw was amazing don't get me wrong. But the 2nd floor was never finished. And it was just like.... ummmmm. But he did have a room that was a cave. Literally a cave. This kinda had a cave in his house. NBD.

But I cheated the system. Thank you google.

That is the Kings bed. Seriously. The woodwork was all hand carved, and was supposed to look like gothic castles. I... WANT.... THAT.... BED......!

Heres my last favorite view from the castle. This will also get framed.

:)
This is our last day, but I am a few posts behind. I figure the layover at the airport in Zurich will give me a chance to finish updating. I hope!

Grundschule Summer Celebration/Night on the Town/Monkey Habitat/Lake of Constance

2011-05-29T16:03:00.000-05:00

So in earlier posts I talked about heading back to the Grundschule for their summer fest celebration. We were supposed to dance with them, but we arrived a little late so we ended up just watching. (made me sad! I would have really enjoyed the dance again!

But even without us Americans, the celebration went on. It was a blast! All the grade schoolers danced the dance, and sang, and did skits about the four elements, earth, wind, fire, and water.

That dance was hilarious!

They brought in a fire blower for the fire section. It was intense!

My favorite part of their 'concert' was the air pipe orchestra. They played a symphony piece ( I cannot for the life of me remember which one it was...) and the children "played" along with their air pumps. Was it musical? Not at all. WIll I use it if we ever do an Earth/wind/fire/water show? Oh heck yes!

I really enjoyed their festival, but it came to a point (during the play) that we didnt really understand, we felt like everyone was staring at us, and it was really crowded, so we left.

We wanted to check out the celebration on the oldest street in Esslingen. (Remember the scavenger hunt last week? Well its a good thing we did this!)

My brother would be interested in this, they had a hookah booth on the street as part of the celebration. It smelled amazing while passing by, nothing fake like most American tobacco smells. Just ... good... I wanted to ask what they were smoking, so I could buy it for my brother, but I realized I had no idea to ask any of that in German. Oh well.

They had a live band playing, they seemed about my age. Then again, it seems that someone who is my age turns out to be 17 or 18. Everyone looks so much older here. And the other girls in the group found this out when heading out for some drinks!

I really enjoyed some of the decorations on the street. They had live music everywhere, and one guy playing the violin. He was really, really good. We got married and now he plays violin for me every day. (let's see if Steve, the boyfriend, is actually reading my blog... :) )

That night we went out on the town. We got all dressed up and ready to go experience the German night life, went to dinner, and then I started feeling sick and went back to the hotel. Cause I am lame like that. But I was able to talk to my family for the first time in 2 weeks. I love Skype. So much.

Today, we went to the Lake of Constance. It is a vacation spot for Germans, when they don't feel like heading out of Germany. And it is beautiful! They had stork nests everywhere. Literally everywhere! On top of roofs (or rooves? no roofs sounds better... right?) tall posts, everywhere!

Now this is where you need to get jealous. We got to feed monkeys. We went to a a monkey habitat, that houses endangered monkeys. There is a path that you get to walk around with a handful of popcorn. And you feed them. And they take their little cute hands and snatch up the pop corn really fast and then just eat it. No you cannot pet the monkey, and you have to resist the urge to just wrap him in your arms and go "MOOOOOOOONNNNKKKKEEEEYYYYY!!!!!"

Which was a very hard urge to resist...

^Bettina (our awesome professor)

^Emily

^Tasha

^Marcella

^Sarah

^ MEEEEE FEEDING A MONKEY!

We just chill. Thats how we do it.

Now lets talk about these salads. They are delicious. Amazing. Beautiful. Just absolutely everything you want in a salad. The onions don't taste like onions. They taste like pure love. The dressing is perfect. And it comes with potato salad under it, along with sliced cucumbers, carrots, radishes, and sometimes even noodles. American salads are boring, ugh. I am not looking forward to going home. I will miss the food dearly.

Now lets talk about my main dish. Felchen is a fish that is local in Lake of Constance. And I ordered it as my meal. not really knowing how it would be cooked. I had in my mind a bulging ugly fish with gross eyes, slimy scales, and giant teeth. Imagine my relief when it arrived Beer battered and delicious. And I ate it all.

Amazing how I can eat so much fried foods and yet look so slender. :) juuust kidding. I am sure I will be at least 5 pounds heavier when I get back to the states!

Look at how beautiful the lake is! No sand where we were, just painful rocks. Ouch!

We were right next to the Stone Age Village, which is 6,000 years old. Houses on stilts! It was an amazing view. We could have taken a tour, but decided to lay out in the sun!

Trying to get my tan on! You can see the tan line right above my suit top! Sweet!

This is how we spent the last half of the day, and it was totally worth it. Thankfully no burn. That I know of. But from what I learned from Florida earlier this year, I probably won't notice a burn until tomorrow!!

Good night all!

Ludwigsburg

2011-05-28T18:01:00.000-05:00

We traveled (yesterday) to Ludwigsburg! We got to walk around, and see the Baroque palace! It was one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen. (at least on the inside...)

I will give you a little tour!

Look at those chandeliers!

The paintings on the ceilings were different and amazing in every room!

That fat man, is the man who lived here. Lucky fat man!

Look at that bedroom! Can you say jealous? That was the Dukes room

This is the queens room. Yes please. I could live there!

We kept interupting wedding pictures while taking our tour. This is another moment that I was seething with jealousy! I only wish I could take pictures on my wedding day in a palace!!!

Look at that ceiling! I could be quite content laying on the floor looking up for hours!

Beautiful hallways, everything so colorful and ornate.

I just cannot get enough of the ceilings...

Funny story about this room. Mirrors were quite expensive years and years ago. People who were worth something stocked up on mirrors, and most palaces have a mirror room. One of the dukes would use this room.... with his mistress. As the tour guide said, he wanted to "see" what he was doing. One of the times the duke was looking for some hanky panky, he popped a "viagra" type pill, and then had a heart attack and died. In his mirror room. Before his mistress made it to his side. If FML.com existed back then, he would have a perfect story to tell!

Look at the gardens!

This was a pond behind the palace, before heading into the fairytale land. The fairy tale land was a trail of German fairy tale stories. German fairy tale stories are quite dark, and dont always seem to have a happy ending. Actually they never seem to. Disney just kills what fairy tales really are!

The lizard before we headed into fairytale land

Oh yes. And it seems that Micheal Jackson finally was able to find his place in the world. With 7 very short men.... :)

I find myself having an odd fascination with German food....

2011-05-27T15:56:00.001-05:00

German 9 pin bowling!

"This game is one in which a player brings a plastic or wooden ball that is rolled down an alley to nine pins. The "bowling ball" is smaller and lighter than in ten-pin bowling, and the ball may have two or no finger holes. Being smaller, the ball will actually roll, rather than slide, down most of the lane distance. The lanes are shorter than those for ten-pin bowling. The nine pins (cones) are placed in a diamond shape on the alley. In most lane systems the pins have a rope on top, as part of a "string-setter", to pick up the pins and replace them back in to the diamond shape for the next roll.

In Germany there are three kinds of bowling lane systems in different regions of the country (not counting ten-pins which has made some inroads). The systems differ both in their measurements and in the materials used for construction. One of the systems uses a lane that starts out narrow, but widens when approaching the pins. One uses flat asphalt lanes, while two use wooden lanes that are slightly elevated at the outer edges. There is one more special lane system only used in a small region of eastern Germany (Mansfelder Land), in this a very heavy ball is literally thrown at rather than rolled towards the pins; it is usually played outdoors. The different lane systems require noticeably different throwing techniques for successful play."

Look at our little lane!!! It was literally a a three lane bowling alley, and each lane had its own dining area. Mind you the dining area was as narrow as the lane!

We played a couple rounds of games, which were sort of like battle ship. I really enjoyed this game more than american bowling. Considering the balls were lighter. So they hurt my wrist less!

Yay bowling!

For the record. Every team I was on won. So uh. I'm amazing! :)

I ate alot during this bowling session. Sarah and I shared the bruschetta, which was absolutely amazing. And then I ordered a Rustic pizza. Which... was... you guessed it... amazing. So good!

We went to Munich, after the concentration camp yesterday. We grabbed dinner at the Beerhaus

I ordered beer roasted pork, potato pancakes, and sauerkraut. I love food. I love new foods. I love German food. I am so going back on my diet and exercise plan as soon as I step foot on American soil. I have to get back into my routine, rather than eating rolls upon rolls, upon meat and noodles. But it is so worth it now.

We walked around Munich shopping and hanging out for a couple hours. Some of the architecture was amazing. For example, this building (which I have no idea what it is to tell you the truth. My guess is a church...):

Is it not beautiful? It took our breath away when we saw it!

Munich is all about Dirndl's. It is the German dress for woman. My mom has one, from what I remember. Because I remember wearing it. I went out and bought myself the blouse that goes underneath it, just in case I still fit into it when I get home. It was a few years ago, and my mom was much smaller than me when she was my age. So we shall see!

The luckiest girl in the world was able to convince her mother to buy her a full set though! I was so jealous!

Thats what you get when your parents are the two coolest parents (and professors) in the world! :)

Dachau Concentration Camp

2011-05-26T17:18:00.000-05:00

I do not want to talk about this camp. Just look at the pictures. If you know any history you know how painful it was to walk through there.

Zollberg-Realschule

2011-05-26T16:38:00.000-05:00

1972- A famous handball player thought it would be important to have a sports orientated school. There is only one other school in this state that has a sports track.

If you are on the sports track you have gym 5 hours a week, and if you are not on the sports track, you have three hours a week of gym.

Boys and girls are together in the gym class, which usually does not happen, and they are usually separated at age 12. Though, they are separated into two teams, girls and boys. Gym offers many opportunities for the students including fencing, climbing, and tennis.

Students in the sports track tend to be more academically advanced, with more drive and organization.

OK- Now more about the school, and most realschule in general.
The Realschule is a step down from the Gymnasium, which I talked about a couple posts back. In this school students tend to have greater weaknesses in reading and writing. The focus is on getting students into the workforce when they leave.

Discipline is a big problem. Students seem to have trouble with the transition between Grunschule and Realschule. (they have officially grown up, can ride the bus on their own, so they think they are the bomb...) I would assume the discipline problems are close to the ones we have in bigger cities in the United States, an assumption though.

With tracking- the principal and student council gave us some insight.
Students have mixed feelings about being in a Realschule. They worry because companies look at their marks (grades), but not only that. They also look at how they are doing in school, and lessons. How well they work with their teacher, do they talk all the time or listen. If you get a low evaluation and marks, then it will be very hard to get hired. Anywhere...

This is how the student council of the Realschule explained the three schools.

Hauptschule: 9 years of schooling
-Foreigners attend mostly
-Students don't want to go to school
-they have no motivation and fight alot
-do not study for tests
-do not listen to teachers

Realschule: 10 years of schooling
-students are more motivated
-the exams are harder

Gymnasium: used to be 13 years, but they have shortened it to 12
-classes are very hard
-no to little free time
-the students are learning all the time, even weekends
-abitur- means higher education and job opportunities
-students can be stuck up at first, but tend to 'grow up' fast

So the conclusion was they were pretty happy being in the realschule. They can move up to the gymnasium if they wanted, but they seemed happy cause the classes were easier. They seemed happy that they were not the lowest on the totem pole.

One of the interesting things we got to do was interview the Student Council in the school. They literally are... as the words say... the student council. If a student is having a problem in school with a teacher, they can come to the student council and talk to them about it and the student council will do their best to resolve it. They can even change rules, and throw events and parties for the school.

I just thought that was amazing, because the student council really has a bunch of control in the schooling.

Will post more in the morning.

Tuesday: Day 9- Halfway Through, Wednesday: Day 10

2011-05-25T16:27:00.001-05:00

We observed at Zollberg Realschule. Refresh- It is the middle level school, between the Hauptschule and the Gymnasium. Students here had the middle/average test grades.

The Principal was sick the night before, and yet still came in so we could ask her questions! Very nice of her. WE talked with her for two hours... More than we needed, but we got a bunch of information out of her. ( The light is off in our hotel room right now, since we needed to open the windows because of the heat (no air) but the bugs outside come inside when the light is on.
So I cannot read my notes. )

But she and the secretary had this table set up with the most amazing pretzels I have ever tasted. And we at sooooo many of them... sooo many.
I cannot wait to start counting calories and working out again when I get home. I simply cannot wait. You know all that weight I lost? With eating bread constantly here in Germany(its the thing to do...) I'm sure I put some of the weight back on. So heres to working out for the rest of the summer! :)

We went out to dinner afterward in a 700 year old wine cellar called Einhorn. (Unicorn) WE drank rose wine made in the town we are staying! Esslingen is known for its vineyards. And the wine was actually pretty darn good! I don't even drink wine!

I got a great dinner. I ordered Maultaschen, which is almost like a pasta lasagna, but not... In a beef and onion broth. So good. So amazingly good.

The entire group!

Outside of the wine cellar restaurant.

Today I got to observe in a Musik class! General music, 5th and 6th grade, because the Realschule is a sport oriented school. They do not have a band class like most American schools. If a student is going to play an instrument, the parents have to pay for private lessons outside of school. If they wanted to be in band, they have to already know how to play their instrument. THey would not be allowed in the band program if they could not play.

In America, we teach students to play. We are the teachers.

In the school we were observing today, (and yesterday) The general music class does not learn with recorders, which American schools tend to gravitate towards. I would choose a recorder because its hand positions are like most woodwinds. The students can learn notes, and become accustomed to where the hands and fingers fall on a regular instrument.

In this school, the students learn on Harmonicas. They say it is easier, but I am skeptical. Then again, I have never tried a harmonica. (New goal for this year!)

I asked the teacher why they do it this way, and she told me that its easier to play. She is not looking to get students used to holding their hands and mouths a specific way. Rather she is looking to help the students learn the notes and rhythms with ease. Learning an instrument is not the music teachers responsibility.

We started out the lesson with some singing, and some harmonica playing. Then switched over to music theory. In 6th grade... I never got music theory in 6th grade...

She was working on intervals with the students. (How far one note is from another) The first exercise: she had two notes written in, and the students had to answer how far apart the intervals were. After they finished that, they stood up and did a clapping Call and Response exercise. (just to keep their attention on the work, and not on goofing off) Then she did the next examples, where the first note was written in, an then the number of the interval. The students went around saying what the second note should be.

Then they did another singing/dancing exercise.

Back to the third example- She would play each interval, and ask them which song it sounded like. They threw out answers. Somewhere over the rainbow (first two notes) is an octave.
This is not something I did until college. As a music major. IN COLLEGE....

*facepalm*

These kids make me feel dumb...

ANd this was not even a music school!! I cannot even imagine the theory and aural training that would happy in a music specific school. The gymnasium we went to the first two days was a music school... I just missed out on all the music days... Sigh...

The 5th grade was working on Peter und der Wolf.

"Peter and the Wolf (Russian: Петя и волк, Petya i volk), Op. 67, is a composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936 in the USSR. It is a children's story (with both music and text by Prokofiev), spoken by a narrator accompanied by the orchestra." Wiki

She put up pictures of each of the animals and people in the piece, and asked the students to name some characteristics of each animal/person. (Wolf-mean, scary Peter-playful, quick....)

Then she asked them to name instruments that would fit each character. After that was all written down, she played an except for each character and compared answers.

"Each character in the story has a particular instrument and a musical theme, or leitmotif:
Bird: flute
Duck: oboe
Cat: clarinet
Grandfather: bassoon
Wolf: French horns
Hunters: woodwind theme, with gunshots on timpani and bass drum
Peter: string instruments"

They did pretty darn good in connecting the character with the instrument! I am positive I would not have done so well if I were in their position years and years ago. I don't believe I really knew Peter and the Wolf much until my college career!

The story of Peter and the wolf if you do not already know:

"Peter, a young boy, lives at his grandfather's home in a forest clearing. One day Peter goes out into the clearing, leaving the garden gate open, and the duck that lives in the yard takes the opportunity to go swimming in a pond nearby. The duck starts arguing with a little bird ("What kind of bird are you if you can't fly?" – "What kind of bird are you if you can't swim?"). Peter's pet cat stalks them quietly, and the bird —warned by Peter— flies to safety in a tall tree while the duck swims to safety in the middle of the pond.

Peter's grandfather scolds Peter for being outside in the meadow ("Suppose a wolf came out of the forest?"), and, when Peter defies him, saying that "Boys like me are not afraid of wolves", his grandfather takes him back into the house and locks the gate. Soon afterwards "a big, grey wolf" does indeed come out of the forest. The cat quickly climbs into a tree, but the duck, who has excitedly jumped out of the pond, is chased, overtaken and swallowed by the wolf.
Peter fetches a rope and climbs over the garden wall into the tree. He asks the bird to fly around the wolf's head to distract it, while he lowers a noose and catches the wolf by its tail. The wolf struggles to get free, but Peter ties the rope to the tree and the noose only gets tighter.

Some hunters, who have been tracking the wolf, come out of the forest ready to shoot, but Peter gets them to help him take the wolf to a zoo in a victory parade (the piece was first performed for an audience of pioneers during May Day celebrations) that includes himself, the bird, the hunters leading the wolf, the cat and grumpy grumbling Grandfather ("What if Peter hadn't caught the wolf? What then?") In the story's ending, the listener is told that "if you listen very carefully, you'd hear the duck quacking inside the wolf's belly, because the wolf in his hurry had swallowed her alive."

Eastern Illinois' Orchestra did this a few years back. I absolutely loved it!!!

I know I left a bunch out because I am not reading my notes.. All... 10+ pages of them from today and yesterday. So when we get back from our trip tomorrow I will make sure to post all the interesting things we learned from the Realschule Student counsel, and vice principal!

Tomorrow we are heading to a concentration camp. It will be a very solemn day for us I am sure...

Catching up! Day 8

2011-05-25T08:18:00.001-05:00

I am a few days behind... We just get so busy and then by the time I get back to the hotel I want to chat with Steve, and then pass out!

Last post was about Sunday, and our relaxing spa day.

Things got very... unrelaxing come Monday.

We went to observe at the same grade school we were at last week. I volunteered for a hike with the 1st grade, thinking, "oh its first grade. I'm sure it will not be so bad."

I was miserably and horribly wrong. The path was extremely steep for the most part. The sun was very ... burning... It would have been easy if I could walk at my own pace, but I was walking along side of 1st graders who could not keep a constant pace. Oih.

The view was amazing though. We could see all the way to Stuttgart. And the kids were doing a great job walking. It was about a 45 minute walk, almost always at some sort of a slope. I was amazing at how the 1st graders were doing. I am almost positive that many American students the same age... would not be able to do even close to what they did...

On the way up, we passed by an egg vending machine. I have never seen that before!

Once we got to the top, the kids started warming up to Tony, Steph, and I. I made two little friends, who for the rest of the day could not be seperated from my side. They both fought over my hands, and were constantly calling my name. They would point out something, say the name of it in German, and then wait for me to say it in German, and then in English. I'd like to say I learned a bunch, but they only would say it once, and it was always too fast for me to catch on. But they were able to catch on pretty well, and kept saying the English word over and over again.

We went on this hike because the school is having an Earth, Fire, Wind, Water, type.... month? They do paintings, drawings, crafts, studies, and anything else about these elements. We had Erde (Earth) so we went on a hike collecting leaves, moss, branches, dirt, and anything else.
One of the other group made a fire and cooked meat. They got the easy job :)

We passed by a field of rhubarb, and broke off the leaves to make elf hats for everyone! The kids were so adorable!

When we were "relaxing" in one of the fields, the two girls decided that they wanted piggy back rides. I thought, why not. So I gave them both a ride or two, and turned around to find a line of the students waiting for a ride. I decided that was not going to work and told them Tony was a better choice. SO they crowded around him.

I thought that sitting down would save me from getting jumped on for a piggy back ride. I was horribly wrong. Those little German girls are violent!

We thankfully got to ride the bus back down the hills, and I was extremely grateful, because I was exhausted!!!

I learned that I really do love working with younger students. This is something I was always afraid of when student teaching, because I felt like I didn't have the ... rapport that I needed to have. But they seem to take to my amazingly. So much so that I can't seem to shake them off! I hope this proves to be a good thing in the future!

When we got back to the hotel we all passed out for quite some time. Then my two roomies and I went to the store to grab some food, and we ate a picnic in the park. It was a nice end to a busy, exhausting, but entertaining day!

Running behind

2011-05-24T16:10:00.000-05:00

So I am a few days behind. But I promise I will fill you in on what has happened Monday and today.

We went on an epic hike with the 1st graders Monday, and today we observed at a Realschule.

Tomorrow when I get a chance, I will post!

Day 7-Sunday: Spa day!

2011-05-23T16:29:00.001-05:00

A couple of the girls and our professor decided that they wanted to go to a horse breeding center (not sure if that is exactly what it was...)

So the rest of us, minus Tony of course, slapped on our swim suits and went to the local spa and pool, Merkel'sches Schwimmba.

So glad we did!

We walked up to this spa, with the wonderful art on the outside of the building. Young ones avert your eyes!

We paid 5ish Euro for the mineral bath, and sauna service. The building is huge, and beautiful. Oh it was beautiful!

The mineral bath was amazing.

" A bath for the senses. Weightless you glide along. "Sodium-calcium-chloride-sulfate Mineralthermalsäuerling" is the technical term for the precious liquid that gushes from the ground 200 meters. The special mix regenerated and revitalized. The skin is tender, the cycle mobilized, relaxes the muscles. Lose yourself in pleasant, warm thermal mineral water and feel the soothing effect for body and soul. "

It tasted like salt water. So you know its good. :)

The water seemed thicker, floating was so simple. It was nice to just float along with your ears under the water. There was even music playing under the water! It was so.... upscale.

A couple of us went on an adventure to see where the saunas were, and found a steam room, sat in that for a while. Then we found a small bath next to the sauna. I stuck my finger in thinking it was going to be warm. So so wrong. It was colder than ice. Maybe to cool off for the sauna? Not sure, but it felt great after getting out of the sauna. I thought Bikram Yoga was intense. This has beat the cake for intense temperatures!

We were drenched in sweat within seconds. But the freezing bath was amazing right afterwards.

We walked around for a little bit and turned a corner to see a full frontal of an older man. We quickly turned the opposite direction... but we will probably be scarred for life. Funny thing is... the man just laughed at our reaction. I'm guessing he could probably tell by our reaction that we were Americans.

Europeans use sexuality a bunch more than we do. In the train station there was a full frontal of a very attractive woman. Full Frontal. Everything was there. No bathing suit or bra.

I felt like a weirdo for staring, but I am just not used to it! People just walk past like they see it every day. And they do! Its nuts...

Until Tomorrow!

Day 6: Oh the adventures we go on....

2011-05-22T04:46:00.001-05:00

I a a day late for day 6, but it is because we did so much yesterday!
Saturday- This begins our free weekend. Up until Friday we still did not seem to know what we were planning on doing. But Bettina offered us a scavenger hunt that she cooked up, and we accepted.

First off, we stopped by the Street market. They host these every Wednesday and Saturday morning, and the streets are filled with people.

The square was filled with stands of all different kinds. Teas, to butchers, to bakeries, veggie and fruit stands, flower stands. The smell was amazing!

Asparagus seems to be huge in Germany. I felt like I saw it at every stand! I love asparagus!

The apples looked amazing! Next Saturday I think we are all planning on coming back and gathering items for a picnic!

I saw leeks and I got really excited. Leeks are one of my favorite veggies. I learned how to cook with them last year when I made leek and potato soup. 8 Servings and I believe I ate half of all the servings at one meal, and half at another. Worth it....

After the market we started the scavenger hunt that Bettina had set us up with. She wrote down a bunch of questions pertaining to Esslingen, and Stuttgart, and we traveled along finding out the answers and taking pictures.

First off
Question: How many stairs is it up to the castle in Esslingen?
Answer: Alot. But we cheated on accident when we asked how to get to the stairs. One of the ladies in the traveler info shop told us that there are 313 steps up to the castle. We decided we were still going to walk them. I got my workout in for the day with these steps.

313 steps. What a blast!

The view was amazing though. You could see for quite a distance, and everything was beautiful.

Look at the vineyards! There are everywhere in this part of Germany, covering the big hill in the center of town.

Question: How many canons are in the castle?
Answer: We found 3. So we assumed there were 3. :)

Question: Find the residential castle.
Answer: We found it! Took us a while to figure out the train system. Meaning we got on the wrong train and had to backtrack.

"The New Palace (German: "das Neue Schloss", which may also be translated as New Castle) is a building which stands on the south edge of Schlossplatz, the central square in Stuttgart, Germany. The castle is built in late Baroque style.

From 1746 to 1797 and from 1805 to 1807, it served as a residence of the kings of Württemberg. (At other times, the Ludwigsburg Palace, a few miles to the north was the favoured residence of the royal family). The palace stands adjacent to the Old Castle.

The castle was almost completely destroyed by Allied bombing during the Second World War and was reconstructed between 1958 and 1964. During this time most of the inside of the castle was also restored and the building was used by the Baden-Württemberg State Parliament. Today it is used by the State Ministries of Finance and Education. Public tours of the building are only permitted by special arrangement" Wikipedia information

The courtyard was filled with so many people. And the grass was so soft! WE sat around for a little bit before moving on to our next scavenger hunt situation.

Question: Go to Stuttgart and have fun.
Answer: uhhh.. that's not a question but I believe we can make it work.

Tasha recommended we try a dish named currywurst. It is a bratwurst covered in a sweet ketchup, and then they put curry spice over it. They serve it with a baguette. It was amazing. I have not yet been let down by a food yet.

We also witnessed a rally in Stuttgart.
Could not understand a word they were saying, but we asked around and found out they rally were people against the rebuilding of Stuttgarts train station and multiple other things. It was titled K21, or Kein 21.

"Stuttgart 21 Protests
Stuttgart 21 is a massive urban development and transportation project with a goal of making Stuttgart the "heart of Europe". For many reasons, from the uprooting of 200year old trees for the project to the outrageous costs, and the dubious ways it passed through local government, S21 has seen much opposition.
One of the interesting things about S21 is traditionally, Stuttgart is a very conservative city not known for protests of this scale. Every day at 7pm, people all over the city participate in the Schwabenstreiche, a Schwabisch style of protest. Basically it is 5 minutes of blowing whistles, banging on pots, and making noise.
There are usually 2 very large and organized protests each week as well."

We traveled to the Porshe museum to view some cars, but turns out it was not a free entrance fee. So we hung out in the gift shop for a little bit and headed back to Esslingen.

Where we took a much needed nap.

Once we all woke up, groggily... We decided to grab dinner and drinks in the park near our hotel. Our waitress was a teacher in one of the Grundschule (grade schools) here in Esslingen. She spoke little English but made us speak in German. She helped us with words and even made Tasha and Marcela say the German word for silverware when they were asking for it. After dinner she sat with us and chatted (the best we could) thankfully one of us knows some sort of German. Emily was embarrassed to speak German, but she did a great job! We were all so proud.

Most of us are starting to really understand German, and even though we can't find all the words to speak it, we are able to listen and pick out the main topics of what is being said.

The waitress even taught us about German coin money. You know how we (in the states) have the quarters from different states? Well that is how the Euro works too. Germany has its own design on the coins, which is different from Spain, or France, or any other country in Europe. All the coins work where ever they take Euro, but its just different designs. She even went through her money pouch to show us the different types that she had with her.

We showed her American coins, and even gave her one of each coin to keep. She was a rather amazing waitress, and I think everyone had a blast. Her manager came over and told her to wait on her other tables too (in German) but she just laughed and said she wanted us to have a good time. It was a great end to a great day!

Btw, I think I found a beer that I can drink! It's beer mixed with cola. So I am not full out beering it. But I am getting closer. :)

Today seems to be a rest sort of day. Zoo may be in store, or canoeing, or a mineral water bubbly swim. We will see.

Germany: Day 5 Zip Lining/Castles/Rain/and German Weiners

2011-05-20T15:50:00.001-05:00

Right now everyone went out to the store for some snacks and drinks after the realllly long day we have had. I decided to stay in because I knew there was a ton of stuff I wanted to post today in my blog. Plus it was just really easy to give Tony some coins and ask him to grab me something! :)

I have a couple pictures from the amazing night last night still left. We went on a walk to try and find some nightlife, and ended up getting ice cream and taking pictures!

It was just one of those nights where you cant stop laughing. We were high on life!

So today, instead of heading into a school we went on a small car drive to visit one of the castles here in Germany.

We first stopped off in a butchers shop and bakery! Everything was so much cheaper than in the states!!
And cuter too!

On the way we drove by a volcano! (the bf would appreciate it!)

We were on our way to a castle!!!

Lichtenstein castle is one of those castles you just want to pick up and put in your pocket it is so cute.

"Lichtenstein Castle is situated on a cliff located near Honau in the Swabian Alb, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Its self-descriptive name in English means "light (colored) stone."
Historically there has been a castle on the site since around 1200. It was twice destroyed, once in the Reichskriegs war of 1311 and again by the city-state of Reutlingen in 1381. The castle was not reconstructed and subsequently fell to ruin.

In 1802 the land came into the hands of King Frederick I of Württemberg, who built a hunting lodge there. By 1837 the land had passed to his nephew Duke Wilhelm of Urach, Count of Württemberg, who, inspired by Wilhelm Hauff's novel Lichtenstein [1], added the current castle in 1840–42. The romantic Neo-Gothic design of the castle was created by the architect Carl Alexander Heideloff.

Today the castle is still owned by the Dukes of Urach, but is open to visitors. The castle contains a large collection of historic weapons and armour."~ wikipedia

We got stuck in a big thunderstorm right after we got out of the castle, so we held up in a random arch until it passed.

After the castle and grabbing some food we went to abenteuerpark. It is a tree climbing park,
"The Adventure Park Adrenatur are young and old welcome. Experience your own adventure as you swing in the forest ten meters through the trees like Tarzan. Overcome your fears and experience unforgettable moments in nature. Of course, always with a net and double ground."

And it was a blast. We tried three courses, took about 3 hours, maybe a little less, but at some points took every single muscle in our body. There were times I thought... Oh yeah... I'm afraid of heights... Or I don't think I can get myself up on that platform.... or... There is a good chance I am going to die.

But hearing all the other girls scream with laughter, made me realize, I am actually having a blast. And for the platforms I had trouble with, I had Tony to hoist my weak butt up to safety!

Getting ready! Pirate hats on!!! :)

Professor Becker! The amazing reason we are here to celebrate Germany!

All of us looking so stylish in our awesome harnesses. A little snug in all the wrong areas was the common agreement. :)

Climbing up the tall tower to see what is in store for us! Excitement and terror filled us!

It was actually not that bad. Exhausting at some points, but extremely fun none the less and an absolute blast the entire time! I learned a lot about myself. I can be strong when I know if I let go I could die, I have better upper body strength then I thought I did, and I am no longer afraid of heights! Tho when I did give up, I had some awesome cheerleaders, and a really great helper to pull me up when I couldnt make it by myself! (Thanks Tony!)

I never thought in my life I would be doing anything like this. Never. I am glad I got to conquer my fear of heights in order to do this adventure!

Weiner Roast!

Yay me!
I still love being a pirate though!

Day 4: The fun keeps rollin

2011-05-19T15:26:00.001-05:00

It seems that every day I enjoy being here in Germany more and more. I find myself forgetting everything and anything that I liked about the United States. (Other than Steve and my friends of course!) But I have made new friends, who I have a blast hanging out with. Our instructor, Bettina Becker, is absolutely amazing. She has a great personality and is just down to earth and so much fun to be around!

I have some pictures from the youth group gathering last night that I didnt have yesterday! It was a ton of fun, and such a nice group of kids!

Today we observed in one of the grundschule, (grade school). I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the school, but I will ask tomorrow. We started off in a 4th grade class. It was pretty uneventful, except we did get to read an English story for them. The kids were sweet, and when we left the class they all ran up to the door and waved goodbye to us. It was so sweet!!!!

After that we went to a first grade class. They did not speak English so well, and a few of the kids seemed upset that we didn't speak German. Like “Why don't they speak German? Do they not speak???” One of the kids kept introducing himself, but when I would not reply back in German he would glare at me. It was hilarious.

A few of us went up to the front and taught a small reading lesson. I was the picture holder, Tasha played the part of “mommy” and Tony was “child”. The idea was that the child kept asking his mother if he could have different animals as pets. But every time Tony would talk, it sounded... freaking hilarious. He kept making his voice all high pitched. So funny!

After we finished, we all sat back down, and the students very shyly came up to us (eventually of course, because they kept coming up and then chickening out, then turning around and on and on) They all wanted to introduce themselves to us “my name is...” It was adorable. Then they wanted to hold our hands all the way over to the university, which was about a... 5 minute walk. I felt so loved!

We also got to observe their dance/gym class. They are preparing for a celebration next weekend, and they have prepared a dance for the celebration before the dinner. We got to participate in the dance today, and we were invited to dance in the celebration next weekend!!! They let us learn the dance behind the kids, and then once we got it, we were able to move up to the front line with them.

t felt great being a kid again, we had a great time. One of the moves you have to smack your own butt, then the next move you have to slap your neighbors butt. I decided it probably was not appropriate to smack a grade schoolers butt. But let me tell you, the boy next to me had no issue slapping my butt! Twice too!

We will be back Monday to observe at this school, and hopefully I will finally get to observe a music class!!!

Oh yeah, dinner was amazing tonight!

And afterwards, the girls and I walked around town looking for a good bar, and ended up getting ice cream. I love this bunch!

Day 3: Germany

2011-05-18T15:31:00.000-05:00

Today we went into one of the gymnasium schools. (remember? The school that is considered the highest education system out of the four schools students can attend after primary/grade school).
The group was split up into smaller groups, 1-2 people each, and sent into different levels of English classes in the school.

First I went to the 6th grade English class. The teacher told the students good morning and the students sang it back. It reminded me of Annie, “Good morning Mrs. Hannegan.” It's just something we do not see in the United States ever! I was so impressed!

The teacher taught part of his lesson and then got myself and the other study abroad student Anthony involved. I taught a small lesson out of the book, but I had to remind myself to talk very, very slowly. I did an exercise with the students asking them about a story they read, and matching up pictures. I think it went really well, and the English teacher told me I had a knack for teaching and that I will be a very good teacher! It made me smile inside.

The second class we went to, was a 10th grade class. The teacher is actually a student teacher. In Germany, you have two years of student teaching. The first year you are in the classroom with a certified teacher, and the second year you have the class all to yourself. She was in her second year of teaching, and was absolutely amazing and friendly. She let us know that we were going to answer questions that the students have, and then whenever we were done we could work on a lesson with the students. Long story short, we talked for the 90 minute class period, and then the students wanted to stay longer so we could ask them questions about their school and life. So they actually stayed 5 minutes past their lunch period started to talk to us!

They asked so many questions, things about Obama, Osama, the oil spill, Prom (they do not have prom), Spring break (we had to explain that it is not all glory...), the school cliques (yes cheerleaders are usually just exactly as you see them in the movies), our school system including tracking, and so many other subjects... I just cannot remember them all. They seemed so interested and really wanting to get all the information they could get out of us.

Towards the end of the period, I asked if I could ask them a few questions about their school and life. My first question “Do you think you are better than the students in the Hauptschule, or Realschule” (the lower schools in the schooling system).
The main answer I got was “yes”. I received so many answers, but they all leaned the same direction. “We are better than them, we are smarter, and more clever. We are proud because we get to go to the University. We can get better jobs, we act better, we are more musical. It is hard to speak to students from the Hauptschule and Reaschule because they do not know as much as us, and the conversations are difficult because they can't understand us. We are scientific, and we take Chemistry and Biology.”

I turned it around and asked them what the students in the lower schools are good at. They stared at the walls and ceiling for a while, but then started talking. “They are good at sewing, woodworking, engineering, cooking, and they are better at hands on things. They speak more languages, but they do not have the same classes as we do.” So I asked them one last question.

“So when I go to the Hauptschule and Realschule, what will the students say about you?”

Silence for a little bit.

“That we are spoiled and stuck up. That we think we are better than them. That we are mean.”

“Was it their decision to be in the lower schools, or do you think they would have wanted to be in the Gymnasium?”

“Their test grades in fourth grade determined which school they go to”

“So if they were bad test takers, and they didnt do as well as they had hoped, does that mean you should treat them badly for the rest of their life, or do they deserve better than that?”

“Well... they deserve better.”

I feel I made some sort of difference. I could see their minds turning and I was excited to see that they actually were thinking about it!

We then attended a 9th grade class. The students did not seem interested in what we were teaching, or talking about. Which makes sense for the grade they are in. :)

After we left the schools, the girls went shopping, and I bought a shawl! My mother is either going to be proud or upset that I spent money on shawls. It was only 7 Euro Mom! Don't get mad!

Dinner was my first Weiner Schnitzel. Delicious. So so so so good. I love German food.

DrumRoll please! I ordered my first beer!

And then I gave it up. Still not my thing!

We also hung out with a German youth group before dark, and they did a bunch of relay races type stuff. I just relaxed in the grass because I messed up my knee a few weeks ago. I needed a rest after all the walking!

It's been a long day, and I am so exhausted. I plan on passing out pretty soon. It is almost 4 pm in Illinois. Here it is almost 11pm! We are observing in a grade school tomorrow. I think it will be interesting to see if the students know any English.... They won't. It will be interesting!

When I am not so tired I am going to explain about the folklore behind pretzels!

Until tomorrow!

German Trip Day 2

2011-05-17T15:38:00.000-05:00

Today started off rough. Jet lag was intense. Thankfully it passed after my shower! My eyes were red. I looked.... rough...

We ate a wonderful breakfast. In Germany, they do not serve pancakes, waffles, and sausage. Instead its rolls (they cherish their rolls), lunch meat and cheese, pretzels, yogurt, granola, and fruit. The food was pretty darn good, and I am looking forwards to eating the free breakfast every morning!

After breakfast we had presentations. We discussed the differences of etiquette between Germans and Americans. The things that surprised me are
-Germans eat with their forks in their left hand, and knife in their right. They DO NOT put the knives and forks down until they are done eating. It is improper to do so. (I learned this after breakfast....) -They also keep a small “trash can” on the table for jelly, jam, butter wrappers.
-Germans are known for their handshaking. If you shake weakly, you will be considered weak.

Lunch we got to go to a really cute little bakery! I tried my best at German and ordered some type of croissant with ham and cheese. It was really good!

I did my presentation on the German school tracking.
Which I am going to tell you all about! :) I am hoping all my information is correct so you can fully understand it!

Germans start off in Kindergarten, Kita which is short for Kindertagesstatte (Children's daycare center). Children attend between ages 3-6, but they do not have to attend. It is not mandatory, and it is not free, but the government can help pay. It is not part of the school system, and it is run by the city or town administrators, churches, or registered societies. It is also a day care for chuldren ages 6 months, to 10 years.

Next up is the German grade schools, primary school, or in German Grundschule. Children 6-9 must attend, which is up until 4th grade. They learn the basic skills like reading, writing, math, and religion. Theres also a class called Heimat and Sachunterricht where they learn about local history, geography, and biology. Like American grade schools, they only go outside of the main teacher for music and PE. After Grundschule (ages 10) students can go onto one of four schools. This entirely is based on their grades on tests they have to take. And it determines which school they can enter next, and if they will go to a university or technical trade or field.

One of the schools they can go is the Hauptschule. It is considered the lowest track in the German education system. The grades are 5th-9th, and they prepare the students for vocational occupations that require training. (baker, plumber, repairman, hands on jobs) During this schooling, they continue with their basic subjects, and they learn English (which is required in all schools now! Good thing too! I would be lost if it was not required) Students who do not get very good grades attend this school, and this is causing a problem in Germany. There are two (technically three) higher education schools above Hauptschule, and when students graduate from these three schools, they start taking all the jobs. So a student who graduates from Hauptschule, tries to find a job. But he/she has been branded with the title of Hauptschule graduate. (like only being a high school graduate in America (actually worse than a high school degree....)) So they can't find a job. It's making it rough in the economy because these students are not able to work. After Hauptschule, the students can move onto a vocational school for about two years. It makes their schooling a little less... worthless. But even still, the job market is still rough. We will be attending this school and observing next week. (I am interested in hearing what the students have to say about their schooling...)

The next step up for the schools is the Realschule. It is also secondary education, ages 10 or 11 to 16 or 17. It is more advanced than Hauptschule, with a more scientific emphasis. This school gives students the basics to prepare them for a midlevel job in business. They have to take a minimum of one foreign language, and is usually English. They also teach classes like technology, domestic encounters, math, science, geography, social studies, economics, history, religious education, and physical education. Once out of 8th grade, the students have to choose between Art and Music. If a student recieves a high enough grade, they can transfer to the Gymnasium.

The last school is the Gymnasium. It prepares the students to enter a university. This is the highest level of school a student can attend. It hosts students 5th to 13th grade. Teaches students, German, math, physics, chemistry, geography, biology, art PE, religion, history, and two foreign languages (one has to be English).

Thats the headmaster at this school! ^

The jazz band room! ^

Common types of gymnasium
1. Humanistisches Gynmasium (Humanities oriented)
2. Neusprachliches Gymnasium (focuses on modern Languages)
3. Sportgymnasium and Skigymnasium (Sports and Skiing)
4. Musikgymnasium (focus on music)
5. Europaisches Gymnasium (languages)

Students have to take the Abitur test, which they have to pass in order to attend to a university. WE were given some statistics by the headmaster about who passes this test. Out of 100 students, there is a 10 percent drop down rate, (meaning the students will drop down to the school lower than they were in. There is no “drop out” rate) 4 percent will decide that they don't want to take the test, and 2% will fail. If you fail, you have to wait a year before you retake the test, and then you only get one more chance. It is also not like the Basic skills test, because on the Basic skills, if you pass one part of the test, but fail the rest, you do not have to retake the part you passed. This is a 4-6 hour test we are talking about. I would not want to retake it! Todays visit was at a Gymnasium. It was amazing!

We met with the headmaster, who was a very nice man. He took us on a tour of the school, only speaking German (our professor translated) and then when the tour was done he walked us into his office where...

He took out his china for us!!! :)
We ate pretzels and raison bread, and drank tea and coffee with him while squeezing out as much information about German schools as we possibly could. He let us know so many things, like teachers are not accountable for students failing, that there is no NCLB, all the information about the Abitur test. It was amazing how much we learned!

After that meeting, we met with the student council of the school. Their instructor seperated the Germans and Americans on either side of the table, and started off by asking us what we thought about Germany. We all shared our feelings, and then the German students asked us questions about America.

Most of their questions had to do with Terrorism, and Obama and Osama. They wanted to know about how we all felt about all those issues that are affecting us right now. I think we all feel something different so it was difficult to really say. How are we supposed to feel? I have no idea!

Then the 'adults' left the room and we were free to discuss anything and everything. We discussed the school a little bit, but then they asked about how we felt with the marijuana laws in California. We also compared legal drinking and driving limits. Turns out, the measurements are different. So we just ended up very confused! It was a great laugh, and I think we all had a great time. We discussed good hang out areas for our free weekend, and turned up with nothing special... So I am still on the hunt for something to do with that!. I was sad to leave them at the end, because they were closer to our age (though much younger than me) and I felt that we could talk to them more openly about the night life. Since the drinking age in Germany is......16! I can't imagine going into the bars and seeing one of my students! That is nuts!

This is our German trip group, and the student council. Along with the jazz band director! He gave me a CD of their last biiiig concert. I was honored and I plan on listening to it in the morning!

We ended the day walking around Esslingen with our Professors relatives and her friends. They showed us some of the town, and told us where good places to shop, eat, and hang out were. We ate some amazing food- Doner kebap im Fladenbrot. Which is pretty close to a gyro, but oh so much better. OH SO MUCH BETTER!

After that the group went to the park to sit in a circle, play guitar and sing. It was very relaxing, and not something I am used to doing with a group of friends! But I loved it!

And to make my Casey/Westfield students proud, I introduced the German group to the game I learned from them... Ninja. And it was a hit!

Day 1: Germany

2011-05-16T15:46:00.000-05:00

So I want to start off this post with the FO that I sewed up right before I left for Germany. I finished this quilt a couple days before I left and in good timing too. I handed it over to Steve's mom and she said she loved it. So I am a happy camper, knowing that I can finish a baby quilt in less than a week!

Now for the Germany trip!
We took off and I was hoping to get some sleep. The woman next to me was amazing! She was from Sweden, and was heading home from Las Vegas. The job she works at goes on a business trip every year, and they get to go to places like Australia, Ireland, the US. I want her job. I don't know what it is. But I want it!

I literally did not get more than an hour of sleep on the 8 hour plane ride to Copenhagen. I was smushed and could not get comfortable in my seat. Every time I would get comfortable I would wake up 10 minutes later with a numb butt.

It just did not work out for me.
So I ended up reading a book that I bought in the airport. Thought it was about a mother and her sons injury. Turns out it was a book entirely about cheating. It really put me on edge for the rest of the flight! but now that I finished it I am feeling a little less irritated!

We stopped in Copenhagen, Denmark for the layover. And of course. We bought Danishes.
And ate them.
But not really.

Flying over Germany was surreal. It does not really look all that different from the United States, except that it seems all the roofs are red. And beautiful!

We did not do much today, it was a bunch of waiting and standing and sitting and more sitting... With absolutely no sleep....

But when we got to the hotel room, I was in awe. It is not that small, plus the view is amazing! You can throw open the windows and stick your head outside. The culture smacks you right in the face! There is a river and waterfall outside of our windows, and if the window is shut you cannot hear it. But as soon as you open the window, it is like you are standing right next to it! Heres some pictures from the hotel room.

I think the biggest area of culture shock I am having is how perfect the streets look. Its almost like I went to Disney and was walking through the Hogwarts area. It just seems too perfect. Especially when you can see the rolling fields behind the buildings!

It has only been on day, but I am falling in love with this place. I may never want to leave! I am sad though because Steve is not able to get Skype on his computer... So I will miss talking to him during these three weeks...

Off to Germany

2011-05-15T17:20:00.000-05:00

I am excited to report that I am just about to leave my house to head to the airport.

It will be a long airplane ride, 8.5 hours until Copenhagen, where there is a two hour layover. Then off to Stuttgart for another two hours. It will be a very long night. We are leaving 10:05 pm today (Sunday the 15th) for the 8 hour plane ride, which would put us at 6:20 am. Then the 2.25 hour layover puts us at 8:45am (Illinois time). Then its another 1.35 hour trip to Stuttgart. Which in Illinois time would put us at 10:20 am (if my math is correct).

Not too bad right? Wrong. It may be 10:20 in Illinois. But in Germany May, 16th it will already be 5:20pm.
Germany is 7 hours ahead of Illinois. So looks like I will have time for dinner and then back to sleep!

We have been advised to drink ALOT of water on the plane ride. It is supposed to reduce jet lag. I have never been on a flight this long. Longest was... to Puerto Rico when I was very young. Or Seattle, Washington. Both very long rides!

I am excited, nervous, scared, and homesick already. I taught myself a little bit of German last night. Not much, but enough to help me around town if I get lost. German seems to be a ton easier to learn than Lithuanian, just because alot of the words are alike. (reading it is slightly easier than talking or listening, because when you hear or speak German the letters all sound different)

W's are V's.

Z's sound like TS.

V's are F's.

And when you add in vowels, everything gets jumbled up. Mutter had to recorrect me constantly for the first.. hour...

But I am getting the hang of it. I just don't get enough of the flemmy throat sound that Germans seem to have down easy.

I hope to learn alot these three weeks!

Ok well... Looks like I better double check everything before I leave! I really don't want to forget my passport!

This is Proof!

2011-05-10T12:15:00.000-05:00

I wanted to start this post with proof that I have been crafting! This is still a craft blog! I have not stopped! I would not be me if I stopped crafting!

Ok. So I said what I needed to say. Here is what I have been working on.

This is a baby quilt that Steve's mother asked me to quilt up for one of their neighbors. All that is left is the binding, and possibly (if I have time) more cutesy quilting.

I started this last week, the day she asked if I could do it for her. I went to Walmart... the only store in town that sells fabric... And I picked up three colors of fabric that I loved together. She didnt love it. So I grabbed the colors you see here. I don't love it. She does. So I made a quilt. :)
I need to have it done by Sunday because I am leaving for Germany then. And I will not be back until June 4th. Which is the day of the baby shower. So I am cramming as much hand quilting in as possible in my little free time!

If I get the binding done with time to spare I will be hand quilting in flowers on all the squares, just to make sure this quilt will stand up to the years of wear and tear a baby provides!

OH YEAH! I graduated! :p
I am a proud owner of a Music Education degree. No job yet. Still trying. 35 applications out since January. One completed interview (came in the top two but lost :( ) Tomorrow I have another interview. Which will be nuts because I will be heading up to Chicago, so it will have to be on my way... (with a car packed full of my apartment...)

^
Thats me and my family!!!

Look to the bottom right! Its me!
Yes... yes I get excited easily!

Now that I graduated, what am I doing with my life?
Exactly what I have been wanting to do for months!

I love fishing. Not as much as I like knitting or crocheting or quilting. But close. And in the past few days we have been doing a bunch of fishing!
This was the biggest catch of the day. Catfish!

For those of you who do not fish alot, when you hold onto a catfish they grunt. Or meow. its really an in between thing. BUT IT IS HILARIOUS!.

Steve let me hold this little guy right before we put it back in the water. I almost fell in because I was laughing so hard at the noises it was making!

We even caught a little snapping turtle. Named it Sassifrass. She literally just ripped apart a minnow in the cage we are keeping her in. Brutal.

How do I finish days where I fish until I cannot stay awake anymore?

By cuddling with Kitty. Of course.

End of the year

2011-05-06T15:48:00.000-05:00

It has been a while. But I have a very good reason for it. I was finishing up my college career. Student teaching is done, (which I am very sad about) I am graduating tomorrow, and in a week I am leaving for Germany.

Even though I am done with school, the excitement and fun does not stop! :)

The saddest thing though right now, is leaving the school I was student teaching with. I loved getting up in the morning to teach these students. And even though my ST ended a week ago, I went back to the school this morning to conduct the grade school concert. It made my day so much better!

These are the 5th graders that I got to teach!

And the 6th graders.

Now the 6th graders were having fun on my last day, and blew up balloons, decorated the room, and just jazzed everything up.

Oh yeah. Did I mention they dumped a bag full of confetti over my head? (first thought "Oh no... the janitor is going to kill me!")

They also crepe papered me... And yes, I did walk down the hallway like that!

Today was their end of the year concert, and I was lucky enough to get to conduct on it! I love these kids so much!

Oh yeah, so we all know I went to Disney a couple weeks ago. But I didn't get to put up any pictures of me walking along side of the marching band. HOW FREAKING COOL IS THIS PICTURE!!!???!!! Best experience ever.

Lastly, I cut and dyed my hair. The long blonde was getting boring for me. And I was getting the itch to chop it off! So I did!

I promise, I will post crafting related pictures soon. I pinky swear. Just let me graduate already!

I'MMMM BAACCCCKKKK!!!!!!

2011-04-23T14:44:00.000-05:00

Guess Where I went?

Guess???

Guess???

I'll give you a hint!

You probably guessed it if you follow my blog.

SO CONGRATS!!!

Yes I just got back from Florida, and it was the best student teaching experience that I could have ever asked for! I had such a blast, even if it was alot of work. Which it was. but it was still amazing!

GIRAFFE!!!

Medieval Times!

Dinos!

And beach day!

I just had so much fun, the students did great marching in Disney. It was such an amazing time. During the parade, I got to walk along side of the band, and this Disney character, with giant long fingers, (some dressed up doll) who was standing on the side leaned over to me and said "Welcome to Main Street" it made me smile so big!!!

I could not have asked for anything else when it comes to where I was placed for student teaching. This trip was something I am never going to forget. Never.

Before I left, I finished spinning a skein of yarn. I have posted some pictures before, but I really really wanted to post some of it finished. So here it is!

Its the best yearn that I have spun so far. I am starting to understand how to use a drop spindle, and I am trying to get better every time. I would love a spinning wheel though. Absolutely would love it.

But for now I have to go apply for some more band teaching jobs... sigh... such a bad time to apply for education... especially the fine arts...

Until later...

I swear I still exist!

2011-04-11T21:23:00.003-05:00

Student teaching is kicking my butt.

At least during the day.

When I get home I either head off to the gym, go for a long run/jog/walk, head into work (recording studio), spin, knit, work on some lesson plans, head into work (catering), or over to steves for dinner.

Some days its all of the above.

I have been lagging in all my crafting. Mostly because I have until the end of this week before I am heading to Florida with the high school band I am student teaching with (squee). And only 4? weeks until graduation. I have really been pushing myself to lose these extra ten pounds.

I don't have a ton of weight to lose... thats the thing. I'm not overweight. I am actually at 22 BMI, which is healthy. But these extra pounds are just something I have told myself I would like to lose. Start college at 145, end college at 145.

Just a goal I have for graduation.

Now. I do want to say I have tried something new. Bikram Yoga.

It's... interesting.... and exhausting... and freaking hot...

It's yoga. plain and simple. Some of the positions are different though. For example, its 26 positions in a row. Which takes about 90 minutes. In a room that is 105-115 degrees.... ours was topping at 111...

The heat helps loosen your muscles. But I have never once in my life been that sweaty. Hated myself for agreeing to go to the yoga session during it, but after I felt great. and tired.

I would say try it out, if you are somewhat fit, and have done yoga before. And heat is not a huge issue. cause I swear... you will want to die during....

Now for crafting, I have finished spinning that rainbow yarn. But I do not currently have any pictures. I will though. I will.

Knitting wise? also not much. I have been working on multiple projects, slowly. Nothing spectacular, but I have some ideas of what I am going to start up working on in the next couple weeks.

I promise by Saturday I will have some great pics up of what I have gotten done!

I leave you with me after my run!

And now for something completely different: 2011 Knitting and crochet blog week (Day 5)

2011-04-01T21:30:00.000-05:00

Knitting jokes.

Because I cannot write poetry.

My camera sucks (I get to use moms old *new* one as of next week! So I will finally have good pictures!)

I am too tired to write with yarn.

But I need a laugh, and I hope you get one out of these jokes!

A piece of yarn walks into a bar and orders a beer, but the bartender snarls, "We don't serve your kind here!". The yarn is forced to leave.

While sitting on the curb feeling sorry for himself, the yarn is suddenly hit with a brilliant idea. Working quickly, he ties himself into a knot and unravels his ends. Taking a deep breath, the yarn marches back into the bar and orders a beer.

"Hey!" says the bartender. "Ain't you that piece of yarn I just threw outta here?"

"Nope," replies the yarn, "I'm a frayed knot."

HAHAHAHAHAHA

Next.

A highway patrolman pulled alongside a speeding car on the freeway. Glancing at the car, he was astounded to see the blonde behind the wheel was knitting.

Realizing she was oblivious to his flashing light and siren, the trooper cranked down his window, turned on his bullhorn and yelled, "Pull over!"

"No!" the blonde yelled back, "It's a scarf!"

:)

I swear I will be more creative when I get my "New" camera!

Day Four: 31st March. Where are they now?

2011-04-01T21:20:00.000-05:00

I am a day late. Sue me. It was my 23rd birthday yesterday and I was literally busy all day! I was teaching all morning, and then as soon as I got home I went to the gym for an hour or so. Yes. I went to the gym on my birthday.

Then the boyfriend made me dinner, and presented me with birthday presents!

Let me explain, so you don't think I am an ax murderer.

A week or so ago, I was trying to cut up a pineapple. with a steak knife.

Lets just say all the sawing in the world did not get me past that rind. I gave up. And in my tiny apartment, it was the only sharp knife I had... I had to borrow a neighbors to eat that delicious fruit. But I complained for days...

So he bought me a set of knives. And then donated some that he had laying around to my cause. (I felt bad for taking them, but he assumed me when we move in together, he will get them back anyways)

He also bought me a pan, since the pan I have.... well it burns everything.

But now that its not my birthday, I am going to catch on on the Knitting and Crochet Week!

I want to talk about some of the toys I have made, and who they went to. I do not know how they are doing recently, but I know they were my most favorite to make up!

First up. My soph. year roomie and I were obsessed with those beef jerky big foot commercials. And it was Christmas. So I wanted to make her something to remember the good times we had. I crocheted/knitted her up a big foot.

She loved it. It was hard to give up!
She was dating a guy named Trevor, who was always a great guy to me. I decided since he liked turtles to knit him up a Shelden. I am sure he still has it laying around!

If you have not caught on with the big foot, I will randomly make something up. This is a camel I was dared to make. Is it perfect? heck no. But the guy that dared me had such a great laugh when he got it, that my week was made.

This is Rupert. I made it for a guy I was dating Soph, year of college. We named it Rupert after the Family Guy teddy. I absolutely love how cute this pattern turned out. I even used older looking yarn to give it a... used look. I have not talked to this guy for a while now, but I am sure he still has it laying around somewhere!

A lobster. Long story short, Rock Lobster is my besties and my fav song. So I knit her a lobster. She laughed. I laughed. She still has it. But I am sure in the mess of her room she will never find it! :)

Lastly, was the duck I knit up for my brother. He was dating a girl who wanted a duck. I knit it, he handed it over, they broke up, He wanted it back. Of course once he got it back, he didnt want to keep it. So I got it back. It now sits on my bed at the rents house. I love it. I put so much work into this little guy. It will stay with me until I die.

That is if I can get it away from my cat!

Organizing my yarn stash... or attempting to... 2KCBWDAY3

2011-03-30T20:21:00.000-05:00

I really don't want to talk about my stash. I really really don't want people to know about my sickness.

But since I agreed to do this blogging week, I guess I will share.

This is the yarn storage I have at my parents place in my bedroom there. Mind you, it does not look as organized on the top of it anymore. Months upon months of me not being there, and the rents throwing mail, and whatever else on top... well it's messy now.

But this is how it looked before!

the blue container on top with the drum company stickers holds all my knitting/crochet magazines. The black wire container holds my pattern books. (now I have so many, including my quilting books, that it does not all fit there anymore...)

Ok, so you saw the organized portion. I have three big garbage bags full of acrylic yarn that people have donated to me. I am really trying to get rid of it. (if you are interested, I will send you some...

Imagine two more bags filled like this one...

Gives you an idea of how I am swimming in acrylic...

Now, including those bags and that storage thing in my room at my rents place, I also have a drawer full of yarn in my dresser.

Now in my apartment.... I have two of those big plastic tubs full of yarn. The two foot high, two foot wide and long bins? Yeah. Two of those filled with yarn.

And then under my bed... two of those long under bed containers, filled with *drum roll* good yarn. My non acrylics. My love nest. My "if you touch this yarn I will cut you" yarn.

Is that all? No. I have random balls of yarn in bags, on my desk, sitting around in my room, on my bed, really anywhere it will fit.

I love yarn. But I really don't buy it unless I need it. Most of it has been donated to me. And its nuts...

I am stash burning though, slowly...

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week Day Two: Skill + 1UP

2011-03-29T21:34:00.000-05:00

New skillz within my last year of projects eh?

Well lets start off with spinning. I am counting this as important to knitting and crochet because I eventually will use the yarn to knit or crochet!

I started to teach myself how to spin using a drop spindle. I have come close to feeling comfortable with it, and I am loving the results I have been achieving.

This is the second yarn I spun up which I knit into a hat, because I didn't have much of it, and I wanted to see how it would knit up. And I liked it. A lot. Alot alot alot.

My second skein that I spun up was a challenge. I taught myself the Andean plying method, which is pretty much just wrapping the yarn around your fingers in some sort of a figure 8. It helps making it easier to spin the yarn into a two ply. Which as you see I was able to somehow do it with this yarn!

My third skein of yarn I kept single ply, and I knit it up into a scarf as soon as I had it off the drying rack. I love this yarn. But then again, I have not spun a yarn that I didnt love!

And lastly for the spinning, I have to show my current pride and joy. I am just about done with the roving, so so so close. I was hoping to finish spinning it tonight so I could put it all together and soak it, but I don't think I will have time... Sigh...

Doesn't it just make you want to drool?

Socks. They were the next big step of the past year. If you follow my blog, you will see how much I hate knitting socks. I can knit circles around scarves, hats, blankets, toys, anything but socks. But I have been trying to love them. Trying to understand why no matter how small my needles are, the socks still seem... thin... I swear to myself I will do better with socks!

The three pairs of socks that I have completed in the past year. I WILL DO BETTER THIS YEAR!

That is all on socks.

My life with yarn revolves around multiple ideas though. Not just knitting and crocheting. (If you only care about knitting and crocheting, then stop reading here. If you are a cool person, keep reading!)

This past year I had an analysis project in... analysis. And I was kinda... dared to "cross stitch" the project. I embroidered it instead. So, here is my embroidery of Joseph Haydn's Symphony Number 101 in D Major.

I am a complete nerd. I know this. But I learned how to embroider pretty fast. even though this project probably took 30+ hours, compared to the 2 hours it took the rest of my classmates. Worth every extra second.

Lastly, the farthest away from knitting and crocheting in this post, was learning how to sew quilts, and how to actually quilt, quilts.

This was a big deal for me because I have always been able to sew, but never something equal to quilt magnitude. And I bow down to anyone who can make more than two quilts in a year. It is extremely time consuming. But the finished project is epic. EPIC!

This was my first quilt. I kept it. I love it. It adorns my apartment couch. Simple pattern, but for someone practically teaching herself how to quilt, I say I did a pretty darn good job.

Next up, and lastly is the quilt I made my cousin when she graduated high school. I spent 6 months on it, far too much money (did you know making a quilt was expensive?) but every second of it was worth it to see her face when she received it!

Of course another music quilt. Because I am a music freak. Don't like it? I don't care! :)

I think all in all I have expanded my crafting knowledge over the past year. I of course would like to keep going, hopefully getting a good teaching job in the next few months so I can afford a spinning wheel. Yes, the spinning wheel will be bought before I buy a new car. I will walk to work every day if my car breaks down. As long as I have a spinning wheel to come home to!

SCARF OF DEATH IS DONE! ^
With no surprise from me, it did not block well. The yarn was acrylic. *face palm*
But its still pretty. And I will wear it. No doubt.

Until next time my awesome readers.

AHHHH!

2011-03-28T17:44:00.001-05:00

41 followers!

*skips with joy*

A Tale of Two Yarns 2KCBWDAY1

2011-03-28T17:36:00.000-05:00

Day One: 28th March. A Tale of Two Yarns.

Lets see.... yarn.... I have tons of favorites. Malabrigo, Araucania Quillay, anything silk or bamboo. But at this moment my absolute favorite yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Select. I love love love this yarn. The colors are amazing, and for some reason I am obsessed with the way it is wound.

I think its wound with magic.

Fairies actually spin this yarn.

This yarn is dyed by tiny elves.

With this yarn I knit up one of my favorite shawls, Waves of Leaves Shawl by Ijeoma Oluo. I loved how it came out, I love how it looks. I love the colors. Have I said I love this yarn yet?

As for this yarn. It is still sitting in my stash. It beckons to me every week or so, but I cannot find a project I feel is worthy of it. It is driving me bonkers. Totally totally bonkers.

I will find you a pattern oh yarn of the heavens...

Now I must talk about a yarn that I love. A yarn that I find so interesting that I went through a stage where I spent hundreds of dollars just buying more and more of this yarn. The story behind this beautiful, catching, jaw dropping yarn is as follows:

This yarn is made from remnants and scraps of Indian saris. It is 100% silk and silk remnants. It is called recycled, but the yarn is actually made out of unused silk fibers left over after making the saris. You can even find little twigs in the yarn sometimes depending on how it was made.

What is this yarn?
Guess?
It's the Himalayan Yarn, Nepalese Yarn, Kathmandu Yarn, Rungy Chungy Yarn, or Tibetan Yarn, or recycled silk yarn.

And its amazing. So pretty. So unique.

SO USELESS! Great. I can make purses. Scarves, hats, anything that touches the skin, NO GO. Why? Because the stupid yarn is scratchy, and uncomfortable. And it sheds like nuts.

But it sure is purdy.

This is a purse I knit with it. Put some really nice dark red fabric on the inside.

And now I have way too many skeins of this yarn, and a lack of interest. Sad, sad day..

Good end to a crappy week!

2011-03-27T09:42:00.000-05:00

I want to start off by saying that this week has been extremely difficult on me! I received a text from my roomie stating that we received a 698$ water bill. Our water bills are normally 35-45 a month....

Freaking out a little, I called the water department, who said that they contacted our landlord March 9th, and he sent a repairman in to check things out. The landlord never told me or my roomie anything. Did not even let us know that the repairman stopped by.

I called the landlord, and he said not to worry and we don't have to pay. He said he sent over the repairman to check things out and nothing was wrong.

So I skipped out on student teaching for a morning to go to the water department. They said they were told that the repairman fixed the toilet, which had been running. (I had called the landlord in November telling him that this was the case, repairman said everything was fine)
If I had a receipt from the repairman then they can do some deductions. Repairman seemed to be ignoring my calls for two days straight... Water company called 2 minutes after I did, and got into contact with him....

I freaked out a little with this whole issue, because I literally can barely pay my bills as it is. So I am sure the water department felt bad, which is why they lowered the bill down to 120$. (I would hate having someone crying in my office too.....)

So... landlord... when I say something is wrong with my toilet, I am not lying. 689$ is way too much for a water bill. About 14 times our regular bill. I am not dumb. Do not say nothing is wrong.

Then! After my Germany trip was approved, I bought the extremely expensive plane tickets (non-refundable) about a thousand bucks... and a week later I receive an email stating that they cannot approve me for the class I signed up to go to Germany with. By the time I got to the email, the secondary education office was closed. Commence Freakout All Night.

I did get that figured out tho, pretty simple too, which was nice. All I have to do is sign up for Graduate school, pay an extra 30 bucks, and sit tight.

I save money, I barely spend it unless I am buying yarn. I am a stickler for money. So when someone tells me I owe over 500, or that I wasted my money, I freak out.

Thats just me though.

Now for what cheered me up!

I FINISHED CITRON!

I wanted to start a new pattern, to find out that my 6 needles were being used by my Citron. So I put forth the effort to finally finish it. It takes forever when you get to the last 11 ish rows... so many stitches! But its a good TV knit, and I was able to watch Diners, Drive ins, and Dives while finishing it!

Isn't she just so pretty?

I blocked it on my BRAND NEW............... Puzzle piece thingys!
I made Steve step away from his video games to take me to Walmart so I could pick up some T-pins for blocking, and saw that these mats were only 5 bucks, so i bought a pack, cause I am tired of getting dirty knitted items from the floor! (Fellow Charleston knitters, go to Walmart!)

I couldn't even wait to get home, and I blocked the shawl at Steves place, on his big bedroom floor. Which is not possible in my place, cause I do not have a bedroom floor. Since the darn room is so small....

But when I woke up this morning, and I saw that I have not yet blocked my Eliina Shawl? Well duh, I blocked that too! Only issue is.... well... I did not buy enough mats, but it still is blocking fine!

Eliina shawl. huge. Absolutely the biggest lace thing I have knitted. I loved the yarn (Malabrigo Yarn Lace) and I love the pattern. I am glad to have it blocking though, cause it was getting in my way sitting on my desk!

The next thing I have to block is the *GASP* Yellow Scarf Of Death! Yes I have finished it. Yes it is sitting in a crumpled heap on the floor. Yes it took me forever, because it was one of those projects you liked when you started, and then by the middle you loathe it. But being the person I am, I was not about to frog it. I finished it. All of it. Now I wait until Eliina is done blocking so I can block Scarf O Doom.

Next up is the give away that In it To Knit It won. She posted pics on her blog (http://iitki.blogspot.com/2011/03/look-whhat-i-won.html) and I am glad she liked it so much! I plan on doing my next giveaway with in the next couple weeks!

Lastly, my new workout and weight loss goals. I of course want to eat healthy. And I have been doing my absolute best to do so. I found a new calorie and workout tracker on my Ipod, and I will be using that a bunch. I also have been looking up great low calorie recipes. Yesterday morning, Steve and I made mushroom, and turkey bacon omelets when I got back from the gym. Last night we made a tuna steak salad, with browned portabella mushrooms, and baked herb garlic potato "chips". Everything from scratch and it was just amazing. Plus it filled me up.

We decided on blueberry pancakes this morning, and I asked for three but really only ate one. I guess I was still full from last nights dinner, which made me smile. Once I am done with this post I will be heading over to the gym for another workout. So far, as of Friday and Saturday, I have burned 900 calories. 2,600 more to go before I burn off a pound. (As long as I am eating healthy and not stocking up on calories)

Tonight, we are making Portabella mushroom burgers. Something along the lines of this-> http://www.ivillage.com/portobello-cheeseburgers/3-r-310704

Can you tell that we are a couple that likes mushrooms? Loves actually.

I just have to make sure I am not too tired during the week nights, so that I can go workout and keep myself going.

Does anyone out there have any good low calorie meals? I am pretty good on dinners, but its the lunchs that I have to pack for school that really throw me off. I eat my sandwich and I am still starving. So I need something else to fill me up! Give me some ideas!

That is all for today.
Tomorrow starts the Second Annual Knitting and Crochet Week!! I am so excited! http://eskimimiknits.com/knitting-and-crochet-blog-week-2011/

2nd Annual Knitting and Crochet Blog Week

2011-03-21T19:51:00.000-05:00

I cannot wait.

http://eskimimiknits.com/knitting-and-crochet-blog-week-2011/

Just cannot wait.

Yarny Goodness

2011-03-20T14:30:00.000-05:00

I want to start off with some... yarn porn.

I have been spinning this yarn on my drop spindle for a couple weeks now. I am loving how it is turning out. I love the intensity of the colors. I love that I am getting better at creating a constant flow, instead of the thick and thin yarn I made the last time. I have been doing more research to figure out what I was doing wrong. I have learned a ton!

I have been looking for a rainbow yarn that wouldnt break my budget. I could not find something I loved, so I bought this roving, which was just perfect. And it is turning into something I am obsessing over. I love it.

Oh btw, thats the yarn swift my awesome father made me. It is kicking butt. I love it. It is exactly what I needed!

And this is the man of the year! With one of my kitties!

CALLIE!

These are three of my best friends in the world. We were getting ready for Sarah's 21st birthday party, which was a masquerade theme. Aren't they just the little buggers?

Short entry today. I was just wayyy to excited about the yarn I was spinning. Still a couple ounces of roving left!

Birthday Girl!

2011-03-14T20:42:00.002-05:00

Happy March everyone! It is the month of my awesome birth! (March 31st)

I was born at 7:11 am, I weighed 7 pounds and 11 ounces, and I was 21 inches long!
How freaking cool is that? My life revolves around 7, 11, 21.

My lucky numbers!

A couple weeks ago, I emailed my dad about making me a yarn swift, thinking, "well all I can do is ask...." And I came home this weekend to my family, friends, and work my high school bands' pancake breakfast. When I got home, dad handed me four short wood dowels, and told me to go in the kitchen to shut off the light. (Mom had been complaining that someone left the light on in the kitchen. It was her....) I was slightly confused as to what these dowels would do. I walked into the kitchen thinking that they would be glowing in the dark or some weird thing like that.
Until I saw the kitchen table. My dad had made me a yarn swift. OMFREAKINGG.

Its heavy duty. Like hard core heavy duty. But I am so freaking happy about it. I am currently housing it in my car, until I clear off my cabinet in my ridiculously small bedroom. I only have a crappy phone picture of it right now, but I will be getting one of it in action in the next couple days.

I tested it out, and it worked like a charm, except my cats found it very interested and really would not let me get any work done on it....

Here it is!!!

How cool is that? Seriously. Best birthday present ever. My dad is absolutely the greatest. When my moms old sewing machine crapped out on me, (right when I was about done with a purse) he learned how to take it apart, replace the broken parts, and fix the timing so that it worked correctly. And then he taught himself how to use it! He was also the one who first taught me how to crochet. Which I am forever grateful to him for that, because it changed my life.

My grandma of course taught me how to perfect my skills. (Along with my grandpa's Lithuanian caretaker, even though back then I didn't know Lithuanian as well as I do now, so I don't think I learned much!)

Now for some cute stitch markers I threw together! I will be selling them in my etsy store as soon as I finish this post!

I made one of the markers with an extra bead, so you can use it as the beginning of the row. (I always find it helpful!

Check out my store for new postings, I want to make a whole bunch of fun stitch markers in the next couple months!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/luganchica102

I am spinning again on my drop spindle. I have been doing a bunch of research, to try and find out how to fix mistakes I am making when I spin. I am going to try to use the "park" technique tonight. Pretty much meaning I spin the spindle, then I "park" it, by sticking it in my armpit or knees, and then I work with the drafting to spin. I have just been jumping right into it, spinning the spindle and hoping that everything works out. But I want to start from the basics, to make sure I am doing everything right.

I love love love this roving tho. Love. The colors are amazing. I am debating on making a two ply bulky yarn.... and debating and debating. The colors would stand out more... but I am not sure yet. Choices choices....

Lastly, a picture of a hat I knitted up. I love this yarn.
But gosh darnit... I cannot find the label for it. I know it was pricey. But I also know I have enough left over to make even another hat out of it.
HOW CUTE IS THIS FREAKING HAT!!!!????!!!!

And a great picture of me after my nap wearing it.

Naptime has become a customary thing when I get home from student teaching. Though when I wake up I am groggy, even more exhausted, and I cant get back to sleep when I need to. Ya just can't win....

I currently have 6+ projects going on right now... but none have made much progress. I am going to spin tonight while watching tv tho. Because I feel like it. So there.

:)

Hats for Haiti

2011-03-06T16:38:00.001-06:00

I want to start off this post by talking about Estella's awesome idea for donating hats for Haiti.
Go check out her blog at this website -> http://justonemorerowplease.blogspot.com/2011/02/hats-for-haiti.html

I have multiple hats laying around, ones that I have made, but have not necessarily given away or sold.
I thought, 'hey why not' when I saw her post. I also have some free time in between my band periods, and usually I work on my Citron, or something of the sort. But I have been working on hats, and I hope to have another three done by the end of the week. Check out her blog! I follow it now, and I think this is a great idea!

These are a few hats that I had laying around, and I will donate these to Estella by the end of the week! I am planning on a few more too!

I finished crocheting this today, and I will send it along with the other hats I have done!

This is a hat I knit up during Casey high schools solo contest yesterday. I was planning on donating this hat as soon as I finished it, but a student saw me knitting it as I was binding off and asked if he could buy it. He handed me ten dollars, I sewed in the ends, and he walked off. It caught me by surprise!

Now the next thing I have going on is a big sale in my store. I am trying to reduce some of the boxes and bins I have laying around in my apartment. They are all full of knitted/crocheted/sewn items that I either have in my store, or because I knit them from a pattern and I am not allowed to sell it.

I have cut all the prices in my etsy store, (all the winter items) so I can attempt to empty out these bins. By the end of April, I will take all the listings of wintery items off the site, and donate them.

I have two coupon codes for my shop, along with the slashed prices.

GRADUATION2011 will give you 25% off on check out.
CASEYBANDTRIP will give you free shipping.

If you leave near me, or attend EIU or even Casey schools, you get free shipping anyways. So use the 25% code!

This is one of the bins that resides in our living room. See that awesome melted gash? Thats from being pushed against the heater... it melted, and caught 5 different scarves in the melted plastic. I had to cut into the fabric and throw all those scarves out... I just wanted to cry...

This bin is not as full, but it is strategically placed away from the heater..... I learned my lesson once...

I am also working on my usual, Citron, and that yellow scarf of death. I have done a few more repeats on it, so it's getting there. I did start another scarf tho, using the basic stitch idea behind Pedestrian Crossing Cowl by Melissa. I really liked the pattern, but I just thought a cowl wouldnt work... I had too much yarn that I wanted to burn through, so I am making it into a long scarf. Pretty much until the yarn runs out. Which may be a while!
I really like this pattern, and when I can find a cute baby style yarn, I plan on modifying it so that I can make it into a baby blanket. One of my students is having a baby, and the knitter in side of me says "BABY!" So a baby blanket is in store.

I think I will give this scarf to my mom as a present, she has been asking for something knitted from me forever. And she usually just grabs something I have made and throws it on. So I figure, why not give her something to call her own!

I feel like I am slurring my words today. When I type. Which does not make sense. I am exhausted... (not drunk) (though I have a great story about a drunk)
I spent all day yesterday at solo contest with the Casey high school band, and when I woke up today I went into Catering to make some money. I was a little upset with one of the student workers, who decided to show up drunk. I usually wash dishes, and I am darn good at it. I work fast, I get things done, and then I leave. But because this kid was drunk, he was working slow at cleaning the tables. So after I finished washing all the pans, dishes, and serving tools, I went upstairs to find out what was taking so darn long.

He was moving like maple syrup. Only slower. There were twenty tables (ish) to clear. He had maybe gotten half done. I started helping and by the time I cleared 6 tables he was still on the one he was working on when I got up there. I wanted to scream at him, GO HOME! I took all the dishes I had collected downstairs to finish them, and he still was not done by the time I finished those dishes. I decided he could finish the rest by himself and left. It was just so stupidly ridiculous.

I love that job.

But I hate stupid people.

I am relaxing for a few hours before heading into the EIU recording studio to get some cds done.

I am hoping for a good paycheck. Because being broke is not fun....

Giveaway Winner!

2011-02-28T20:17:00.000-06:00

The winner is......

*drum roll*

Jordan from the blog In it to knit it!

http://iitki.blogspot.com/

Please email me your address when you see this so that I can send it to you!

For this giveaway, and all the next ones, I would like to "fit" the giveaway to the person I randomly choose (through a random number generator).

I see that Jordan knits and crochets a whole bunch of cutesy stuff, so expect some cutesy things along with the care package!

All I ask is you post pictures of your package in your blog when it comes so I can keep it in my archives! (I won't spoil the surprise!)

Congrats again!

The days are getting longer!

2011-02-27T19:52:00.002-06:00

I have been keeping myself busy. Which is not always a good thing. I student teach every weekday, from 7:45 am to around 4:30-5:00 pm every night. After school its a bunch of lessons which I love. It's always fun to work one on one with different students. Every one is at a different level, and its sometimes challenging to help each student achieve better playing ability. But It's something I look forwards to as a teacher!

Job hunt is moving along. 8 different schools applied for so far. I am really crossing my fingers for a small town like Casey or Carlyle. They would be my dream job. I would rather not head back up to Chicago to teach, just because I have experienced Chicago. And I am ready for small towns and cornfields!

But for now all I can do is search and apply. And knit of course!

First up: I am attempting to empty my store of knitted scarves and hats because it is getting warmer and I would rather not attempt to store them. So check out my shop on Etsy, see if theres anything you like and use the coupon code CASEYBANDTRIP to get free shipping. I have already lowered (by half) all the prices for the scarves and hats, among other things! So its the best time to buy!!!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/luganchica102

So. I finished up one of my big projects. I bound off the last few stitches 20 minutes before I had to go to work. And I was so excited! Got back from work.... realized I dont have any of my pins that I use for blocking. I thought.... "hmmm maybe I can get away with just soaking it and attempting to lay it flat." But there are far too many loops and I am positive it would not hold very well. So tomorrow I am going to stop by Walmart to pick up some pins...

But here are some pics of the finished project, laying out on the only space big enough to hold it... my bed....

This is my Eliina Shawl by Lankakomero. I love it. Love it. Love it.

I knit it up with the Malabrigo Yarn Lace yarn I won for donating money to my friend and fellow knitter Sarah. You can find her at http://www.rainloverknits.com/ She is an awesome person, and I am glad I got to help her graduate! (Plus the yarn wasn't too bad of a win!)

Look at that lacey edge! I love it! It took forever to bind off. And I was getting pretty antsy. But seriously. This shawl is huge! I cannot wait to block it. I cannot wait to find a way to wear it. I cannot wait to snuggle up with it and rub it all over my face. Because. If you have every worked with Malabrigo yarn... you would understand. BTW. The colors of ^ are the most accurate of the pictures that I have so far! I will attempt to get some daylight going tomorrow so I can take better pics after I block it!

Love me some stripes.

This was not a complicated pattern. If you can do yarn overs and decreases, then you are set. Its big. I didn't check gauge cause I really didn't care to. And I am glad I didnt, because I love how it came out!

Next up is the scrap scarf I was working on a couple posts ago. I received some great scraps in the mail for RAK in the past week, which made me sad because I had already finished this scarf! So it looks like I will be making another one!

I am not a huge green fan, but it seems like I have knit a bunch of green in my years. I just used scraps for this, all weights. You have some bulky, some lace, some sock, some worsted. Everything. It adds to the texture and the uniqueness of this scarf.

I plan to sell it, or give it away as a gift. But I want to start stocking my shop with more purses and summery stuff. Just because no one really wants to buy winter stuff during the summer. Right?

Next up, my Citron. I am halfway ish done. It is an easy pattern, something I can do while there is nothing to do during ST prep period. My CT walks around the gym during the periods we have free, so I grab a seat next to the heater and knit a little until the kids come. It helps me from chewing my nails off. Which I will do when I have nothing to do. Seriously.

Now I have taken to spinning. I love it. It is relaxing and I enjoy doing it. Too bad it takes forever because I am working off of a drop spindle. When I graduate, I have asked my parents to by me a spinning wheel. Cause I swear, spinning will be my thing.

I bought some more roving, since the leftovers I have won't amount to much. I try and keep at least 4 ounces of roving in my apartment at one time, so I can just pick up the next project. I bought this awesome stuff at http://www.etsy.com/shop/woolgatherings Go there. Buy something. Make something out of it. great store!

Doesn't it just make you feel happy?

Last up are some stitch markers I bought. I love dark greens and dark blues. So so so so much.
I bought these to treat myself. I usually just use plain white boring stitch markers. But I decided, "I deserve nice stitch markers"

Am I glad that I decided that!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/fallingstitches
She has a great store. I had to hold myself back from buying anymore markers. It was a tough thing to bargain with myself. I would soo soo soo soo love another set. Especially since I am going to be working on lace more in the future. But alas. I will deal with the ones I have until I get more money!

How pretty are they! Squee!

Alright. Now for one of my goals. I want to lose 8 pounds by graduation. This is not a bunch of weight. You may look at me and say "what part of your body will that weight come off of?" (It's what they BF asks me whenever I talk about losing weight)

But heres why. I came to Eastern 5 years ago weighing 145. I reached.... 160ish, while I was dating a guy whose idea of making dinner was microwaving pizza rolls. Almost every night. And me being the type of person who wants to make everyone happy, dealt with it for over a year. And then I dealt with the breakup, eating away my problems.

That was 2ish years ago. And now I am with a great guy (Steve) who cooks for me, and makes sure I get my veggies in at every meal! Since my junior recital in April 2010, I have lost 6 pounds. So I balance around 154.

My goal by graduation is to be at the same weight I was when I got to college. 145.

So 9 pounds. That is all I have to lose in 3 months. I can do this. I have been going to Zumba every Wednesday after student teaching (if you have not experienced Zumba, do so. It is so much fun!) I am going to be taking Yoga classes Tuesday nights, and then on Thursdays and weekends I will try my best to make it to the gym to work out. Once it gets a little bit warmer outside I will start my running routine again.
Working out really does give me more energy, so I am excited to get back into a routine!

Lastly!!!

Tomorrow is the last day to sign up for my blog giveaway. I have some sock yarn, and lace yarn, and who knows what else to throw into a package. So if you read my blog, just comment on my last post! That is all you need to do!

I may extend it a little just because I want to make sure everyone gets a chance!

Alrighty. That is all for today. I hope to have some more projects done or started so I can make a new post soon!
Later homies.

New give away!

2011-02-18T19:26:00.001-06:00

Hey followers! I am planning another giveaway!

This time it will be slightly smaller, but I promise it will still have a bunch of great items!
(look at the last post for an idea of what I may or may not send out!)

I am going to be picking out some awesome yarn for it, and then some other items.

Anything from buttons to books.

I will choose (randomly) who wins this giveaway on the 28th of February. So ten days from now.

How do you enter?

-Become a follower of my blog if you are not already, and then comment telling me about the most interesting thing you have ever made with yarn. (If you are already a follower you can still enter!)

-For a second entry to this giveaway favorite my Etsy shop - http://www.etsy.com/shop/luganchica102 (and let me know you did so!)

I will announce the winner in ten days! Good luck!

LOOK AT HOW MUCH KITTY LOVES ME! :)

Some updates on knitting progress!

2011-02-17T09:46:00.000-06:00

First up, for my followers!

The giveaway that was last month has been received! (Mind you it took so long because it had to get through customs into Canada!)

She has posted pictures on her blog (http://teasin.blogspot.com/) that were wayyyy better than my pictures... I really need a better camera!

But here is what I included in her giveaway (it was the first one so I made sure to make it rather large!)

I included everything from yarn, to body spray, to fabric to tea.

I kept thinking about what I would want in a give-away, and I threw it all in a box and shipped it!

Next give away will be in a couple weeks, once I get some more job applications out! So keep reading!

Next up is a scarf a friend and fellow brother of Kappa Kappa Psi asked me to knit. Back in December. I knit it up when I was home for Christmas break, and then left it at home... *face palm* So I had to wait until my parents could find it so that they could send it to me. Of course the day I get it to her its going to be 65 degrees here in Charleston....

Sigh....

It was knit up in Homespun yarn, which can be a hassle, but I tend to favor it!

I reorganized my room last night, which is a huge feat because I have such a tiny room. I let my roomate have the bigger room when we moved in two years ago because... well I assumed she would have more stuff than me! In the end it turns out that my yarn storage and GIGANTIC desk took up most of the room.... I don't mind, I am barely home as it is, but it was horrible trying to move everything. Thankfully Steve came around and helped me!

Newly organized desk, moved in front of the window. (which makes me sad because I love the morning breeze. Of course when its warm outside...)

And theres my bed, which is literally right next to my desk. So you can imagine how tiny this room is...

Why did I rearrange everything? We have those little floorboard heaters, or whatever you call them in both of our rooms. I also have a heat lamp for my little buddy Terrence. So my room gets sweltering in the middle of the night if the heat is turned on. My bed used to be right next to the window, which in turn had it right against the wall with the heater. The roomies heat doesnt work too well in her room, unless you pump it to 60 ish, which for the record raises the heat in my room to a horrible 90 ish degrees.

And you can feel the wave of heat from between my bed and wall. I have found melted socks on my heater. My curtains have melted and bent.... my sheets have a hard melted edge because of the accidental dropping the sheet onto the heater.

Now you may ask, why does it get so hot in my room? Well besides the heat lamp, my room is tiny compared to hers, and it has a ton more stuff in it. So a little bit of heat goes a long way. I could survive without the heat turned on. I really could.

But heres the main reason it gets so hot. The thermostat is in the living room. Meaning if it gets turned on, the heat never stops flowing. Why? Because the living room is consistently cooler than our bedrooms, meaning its not picking up the heat in our rooms, but the lack of heat in the living room. Meaning, that whoever built this apartment has some screws loose in their head. Even if the heat is turned down to 40, the thermostat never catchs the correct heat, so it just keeps pumping and pumping and I die of heat exhaustion.

So I moved my bed away from the heater, it was way too much work. and now my room is still small. But it did not get as hot. So far. End of story...

This is the progress I have made on my Eliina Shawl by Lankakomero. I am loving it so much, I have the pattern down, its pretty easy considering I have not reached the lacy part yet. But I love this yarn, I love the colors. So pretty!

You can kind of see the colors and the subtle changes. I just want to squeeze it!

I finally started my Citron. Everyone does this pattern, and I have had the materials set aside for months. Its about time I finally make it! I got this much done last night while watching the Hawks game on tv (We Won!) So far its simple, self explainatory, and a dead brain knit. (meaning I don't really have to think about it, and I can just knit)
I am using KnitPicks Glass Lace in the Fiesta colorway, I like it so far, of course I have grown to not totally love the gloss yarn. Why? it feels too plasticky when its knit up... Once I wash it, then its a different story, but it just bothers my hands!

And lastly, my scrap yarn scarf. Its coming along pretty well. I won't be making it much thicker. I just have to find a thick yarn to finish off the other end so that it does not curl much! I might just take some of my bulky wool and double it up. Have not decided yet.

I think the colors go pretty well together, and thankfully I am stopping myself from becoming a hoarder, since I am using up all those scraps! (Something else the roomie tells me all the time, that I am going to end up on that hoarder show... ummmm except that I am actually doing stuff with the yarn I have! :) )

So far, that is all the progress I have made. I have to get into the recording studio to get some Cds on the shelf, and then I have a seminar at 1 pm until 4 pm. I am just excited that the weather is so freaking nice outside! I have my window open!!!!!

Bingo is over!

2011-02-13T17:20:00.000-06:00

The stress of winning was just too strong today! I was attempting to play 15 bingo games, each round. It was not the brightest thing to do...

And yet, I did not win one game!!! *sigh*....

at least all that money went to a good cause!

Thats Steve and me, along with my friend Ashely and one of the students Danielle. We had a table full of bingo cards, and only one of us won! I will get over it, but I realllly wanted one of those baskets! (Longaberger baskets and pottery were the prizes)

I donated a bunch of scarves and hats that I have made for the door prizes. Even a crocheted bag that I made out of walmart bags. For some reason everyone thought those were amazing. My friend Ashely won it, and when they brought it over to her, another lady grabbed it to show to a bunch of older ladies.

They all wanted to know how it was made, and it made me feel pretty darn special!

This is just a simple knit scarf, that I donated. Not sure who got it, but I hope they enjoyed it right in times for Valentines Day.

I also crocheted this scarf a while back, and I thought it would be a good "guy" scarf. So I donated that too!

Next up is a scrap scarf. I usually keep all the extra balls of yarns that I have left over, so I can knit up some of these scrap scarves. People seem to like the scrappy looking scarves, so it's always great to have a couple in my store!

^ the balls of yarn that I am using.
And a close up of the scarf so far. Nothing special but its cute!

I have a seminar tomorrow, so I should be done after noon. And I am hoping to stop by the yarn store and just say hi, because its been over 2 weeks since I have been there, and I am jonesing for some yarny goodness.
But thankfully I will have some time to get stuff done, bank visits, work in the recording studio, and possibly a new purse sewn up.

Also visiting the gym again! I went to a Zumba class last week, and it felt great! I felt like the whitest person there, but it was so much fun! So I will be doing that again tomorrow night. yay!