parrot it is

this is the craziest darn yarn. It's quite fun to knit with but i'm glad they're not for me. i think that i might think they are a bit much. I'm not sure though, ask me when i'm less stoned.
And i have been sleeping, despite the heat. not a lot but enough that i'm not totally deranged by now. I haven't been too queasy, just dizzy and.. stoned. really. It could be worse, but i don't know why anyone aims to feel like this on purpose.
Monty says "sup y'all"

Peace out
Ms Spider

PS. told you it was a quick knit yarn. I even did the requested 16 rounds of ribbing.

check up

Regular readers will know that this Spider has a tendency to be... well... less than well. Migraines, black dogs, girly cramps, insomnia... I'm one great bundle of laughs.
Yesterday, finally, i went to see my Doctor. I have been trying for a while but he happens to be very popular... and i go on cancellation lists but no-one calls me back.
So i had the hideous two-yearly girly check-up and a boobola exam (tires kicked, peered at, prodded, proclaimed "healthy") and was then told that as my black dog has not run away, despite school finishing and stress disappearing... i have to double my happy pills.
I hate altering the dose of my happy pills. HATE IT. It means I'm going to be dizzy and nauseaus for a few days, won't sleep for a week and probably wont be able to concentrate on anything I actually want to do. fun fun. I know it's better to deal with it while I'm on holiday, rather than during the first few weeks of probationary teaching.. but man! I just want the best holiday ever and this is pissing me off.

Fortunately i suppose, i had a parcel arrive from getknitted yesterday. Two balls of opal 6ply in the rainforest range and a ball of tofutsies. yummeh. You are looking (from L to R) at Tiger, Parrot and One foot in front of the other. Now that I've got what i wanted i can mention that getknitted has TOFUtsies for sale. and they have wicked-fast shipping. just saying. If you haven't ventured there before... it's worth it. if only for the drool factor. Trust the spider.
Monkey informed me (midway through secretly killing myself with his Doktorfisch slipped-stitch rib socks) that his favourite socks ever are his 6-ply basic chameleon socks. As they were very quick and easy i was pleased, but considering how many socks i have made him out of 4-ply... also a little annoyed. Luckily, getknitted still has it on sale so i bought some more, and unless my brain clears significantly, i think that 6-ply socks are it today.

yesterday i did some spinning. This is Sarsparilla from Fibreworks and it is ridiculously velvety merino wool. *drool* I've been saving this particular 100g bag of sliver for a while and yesterday i halved it and spun half. I spun a very fine single and then navajo plied it to maintain colour blocks. It's a soft, 3ply sock yarn. It is also so beautiful it makes me want to weep. The other half of the sliver will be treated in the same manner, and i WILL finish spinning the lot of it BEFORE i knit it (i've done this before and it took me 18 months to get around to spinning for the second sock... and i only finished THAT sock two days ago). You are all burdened with the sacred duty of keeping me honest. *taps on shoulder with addi turbos* Rise oh knights of the needles!
Sadly, with an addled mind i really cant be sure my single will stay fine and consistent enough, so simple dum-dum stocking st is probably the best idea for today. If only i had the mental capacity to choose.. Tiger or Parrot?

Peace out
Ms Spider xo

twelve-year-olds are crazy

just sayin', they might be making me a bit more that way too.
of course, the unseasonable warmth isnt helping my sanity along any. there is a small range of temperatures within which i remain composed and happy. sadly this range is between about 18 degrees celsius and... about 22. this 31 business, right in the middle of october? just plain rude.
add to that the care of 80 or so insane 12yos, buses that consider themselves on time if they arrive 7 minutes either side of their scheduled arrival time, uni work that is making my brain bleed and a Monkey who is taking to sleepwalking on a regular basis (not that he does anything particularly worrying.. he just walks into everything and wakes me up. and tackles me.).. it's fair to say i am a little stressed. and tired. i feel like i havent slept in a week.

My classes are.. interesting. There's a certain amount of power struggle whenever there's a new teacher.. always. even if you know 'em. i expected that. what i am constantly surprised with is their incredible range of bizarre behaviours designed to drive me out of my skull. half of one of my french classes launched into an extremely loud and proud rendition of the school song the other day, halfway through an explanation of verbs and why you need to say them right. top points for creativity really. then there are the two girls who ask to go to the bathroom together.. every lesson. straight away. and they ask and ask and ask until i decide that whatever they are going to do has got to be better than them annoying me and interupting my lesson. and sometimes, when they get back after 15 minutes or so, they'll say they forgot to go get a drink. They certainly found my achilles heel quickly - i take issue with this whole 'dont let them leave, they need to learn to pee/drink/get belongings at lunch/recess' thing. because, basically, stopping someone from going to the bathroom when they need to is a violation of basic human rights... and i stand by that.
i cant explain these girls in any more detail, they are nice and they like me... they just frustrate the hell out of me and clearly dont think they need to be doing any work at all.

In knitting: went to snb for a while today :) was a good turn out, lots of newbies! left sort of early with monkey to help him get some new work clothes (and because of the reasons i listed above, i'm tired and stressed and reached my fun quota for the weekend). saw three kids i've taught and they saw me. kids seem highly diverted when they discover that their teachers actually have lives outside of school, there was much pointing and whispering. If that's the reaction from a SnB sighting, i am very tempted to plop myself down outside Kingo's after school one day and have a few bevvies! maybe even bring some clubbing clothes with me and change... yeah. i know. it's sick. i just find it sooooo funny.
Finished monkey's Opal socks today too. He loves them, and is SO excited they are finished. Of course.. the heat-wave thing. oh well. (this photo brought to you by the miracle that is air-con... and he's doing a crazy foot pose. don't ask me why).
and my new Pomatomus sock is chugging along. I like the way the stitches pop out - it's a very pretty pattern indeed. I'm just not enjoying knitting it that much. I'm not sure if this is because the sock yarn i'm using is scratchy and bleeding blue dye onto my fingertips.. or the pattern itself. i find all those twisted stitches slow me down and as a rule.. i dont like being slowed down. But really.. i think it's the yarn.

Wish me luck for tomorrow. i have all three classes on!

Peace out,
Ms Spider

This whole Southern Summer of Socks thing has started rather well for me i think. I appear to be three socks down after a week.. is that insane?

the spider-web sockies were ok.. I mean, the beading was wicked fun.. and love the way they look... though once you get past the interesting beaded chart bit.. they're pretty dull. i mean, black stocking st on 2.5mms? i really wouldnt have finished so quickly if i hadnt had to go to a tedious all-day conference at uni on friday.. so let that calm those hyper-ventilating out there.

and i already had one of the peacock socks knit before this week.. one that i started back in August. so it's not as productive as it looks.. promise.

i hope everyone had a tremendous weekend.
Ms Spider xo

blech ahoy

So i finished the stupid essay.. and it really REALLY is. ugh. And i am good at essays. i am brilliant at essays. I tutor kids doing the AST in essay writing for chrissakes. and if i had a decent topic, i'd get an HD no worries. As it is I'm hoping to pass. Ps make degrees people!

And just to top off my uni 'joy', today there is an all day 'mini-conference' on socio-cultural politics in education. most of them will be in lecture theatres ('Hello spider socks") but a few of my peers opted to do a presentation instead of an essay... suckers! so we get to watch them in smaller rooms and people will notice the knitter (though i can always argue with this subject that it's a part of my personal cultural identity and their lack of tolerance is offensive... which it is of course. but then i'd be a tosser like all of them.. and i'm much more likely to be honest and say "how else am i supposed to get through this? - valium is a prescription drug").

Anyway, i did have some knitting time yesterday while recovering from dental work (my favourite) and as a result I am up to the second heel flap. WHich is nice.. they are chugging along for what is essentially black stocking stitch.. but it does mean i now have no beading to bribe myself with. oh well.. i'm sure black 4ply stocking stitch will seem fascinating after 10 minute of mini-conference hell. They are pretty though arent they? i love beads.. and these socks rock. I'd better work out what's next though, or i'll finish and be all forlorn. my second peacock sock i suppose... remember your goals spidey, finish those WIPs!

Ok, better go eat something... academics are even more boring when i have low blood sugar.

Peace out y'all
Ms Spider xo

something

Have i mentioned that i hate Uni? I do. It's pov. Right now i'm writing a 2000 word essay, analysing the key socio-cultural political issues explored within an Australian film. yup. I was going to do Lantana but i found it too depressing: i believe in marriage!
So, after checking it was ok, i'm doing Summer Heights High. Which is HILARIOUS. I dare anyone who has worked in a school to watch it and not find it funny. dare you. However, I am being reminded of an old quote i hold dear:

'Humour is like a frog: dissect it and it dies'
Mark Twain

Lets just say the essay are poo (just to illustrate how much it is hurting my ability to make sense as well). Binary thinking, heteronormativity, queer theory...

How about: it's just funny?
How about: kids are both bastards and sweethearts.
How about: no amount of thinking about human diversity will stop you from being a bigot if you really believe what you believe.
How about: interview every kid, teacher and parent i've ever dealt with and ask them if i respect and value diversity... in fact, ask them if it ever came up. Ask them if i was more concerned with the student's well-being and achievement than tip-toeing around their 'personal cultural fingerprint".

Ok, rant over. One term to go, 'Breathe, Spidey, breathe'.

Probably won't make it to SnB tonight. This essay is due tomorrow evening and i could knock it over in a couple of hours (if it wasnt so painful to write i need to take breaks) but unfortunately the next stage of my dental excavation is this morning and, as Monkey so gently reminds me, i tend to take a couple of days to recover form the injections. delicate flower that i am.

(lets pretend i have a picture of me drooling, half my face paralysed, passed out on the couch to illustrate Monkey's point shall we?)

I've finished the first Spider-Web Sock and am into the chart on the web sock.. naughty naughty. Have to have something to knit at the bullshite 'mini-conference' on friday: a whole day of new age academics wafting on about all this personal cultural identity crap... and then i get to write a report about it! wish you were me?

Peace out
Ms Spider xo

cough

Ok, so who guessed it was school holidays?
yeah. I know. and yes, i do have uni work to do, and lesson plans to prepare for next term.. and all that jazz.

but right now?
right now i'm loving the look of silver beads on black merino.. mmmmmmm tasty!

This is the leg part of the spider sock (rather than the web sock) and i'm using my foot to stretch it out enough for the spider to be clear.. pretty or what? it's just about time to heel-flap bab-ay!

Peace out
Ms Spider

public holidays are go!

so my monkey is home :) and as almost his first act once through the front door.. he broke one of my tape measures. He did try to fix it, which i found deeply hilarious. i share for your viewing pleasure.
His being home has naturally been somewhat of a handicap to my knitting.. yet here we are nonetheless:
today is of course the first day of the Southern Summer of Socks and i have a new pattern, yarn and beads and have cast on.. but tragically i have reached the yoke of my sweater and it whimpers at me if i leave it alone.
so SSS has started for me... but wont get properly underway until i have cast off the sweater i think. but really... cables. do you blame me?

Oh and i finished my first peacock sock.. so the pattern is pretty much sorted but i'm too frazzled at the moment to sort out a pdf..I've been thinking about SSS and what i want my goals to be. it would be fair to say i'm in my element with socks.. and knowing me, giving a quantity i want complete is less that useful. all i will say is i want to:

• Complete (or frog) and unfinished pairs.
• Write up all my sock patterns properly, as in pdf files.

Does that sound reasonable?

happy day off to all Aussies!
Peace Out,
Ms Spider