My Life as a Matchmaker

Sock Yarn, meet Pattern.

Sock Pattern, this is Sock Yarn.

Now, why don't you two spend some time getting acquainted while I go look for some knitting needles.



Don't they make a cute couple?

(The pattern is Child's French Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks. I really enjoyed knitting the Fancy Silk Sock from this book, but discovered after it was done that, alas, I dislike wearing socks with openwork. So I'm using this Sockapalooza knitting to find out if this particular pattern is too open for me. After all, my sock-partner said to have fun with this, so, you know, it's not a totally awful thing to do, using her socks as guinea pigs.

And the yarn is from Lisa Souza, who I saw mentioned by some other blogger, not that I have any memory of who that blogger was or why I was blog-hopping that day. I saw this color and thought, "Bingo, that's the color I want for Sockapalooza". So, again with the guinea pig thing, since I've never used this yarn.

Are you starting to discern a pattern here? My family will assure you that this isn't a recent thing -- I've a long history of deciding I want to mess and gom with something, and using a gift-giving occasion for an excuse. I also buy books for people and immediately ask if I can borrow and read them. At least I don't pre-read them before giving them, which is a triumph of willpower. Okay, honestly, I used to do that, too, but now I'm usually running too late on getting my presents together to have time to read the books before giving them away; but let's pretend I don't pre-read due to my virtue, okay?)

RightStart Geometry

The continuing saga of our adventures using RightStart Geometry and RightStart B. I have an 11yo and a 7yo who have average math ability.The 11yo has done Miquon, Singapore, RightStart Transitions, Level D and Level E; RightStart has saved her from a life a math phobia.

I try to update our adventures on Tuesdays, although sometimes it doesn’t get done until Wednesday. And sometimes we really haven’t done that much math, so I skip it entirely.


RightStart Geometry:

Lesson 124 Pick’s Theorem

A geoboard is optional for this lesson, although it certainly makes life easier, since Pick’s theorem has to do with using a grid. We have geoboards because we’ve done so many levels of RightStart. And I’d like to pause here and say that I really, really do not like the geoboards: I bought a geoboard directly from RightStart, and it doesn’t match the pictures in the RightStart books (the grid has fewer pegs, which sometime makes the problems in the RightStart book impossible to replicate). Also, the rubber bands drive me nuts; this is not RightStart's fault, though, as it is simply a function of geoboards and the deterioration of rubber bands.

Kid1 reported, though, that the size of the geoboard does not matter for this lesson. Frankly, she breezed through it so quickly that I’m not sure much of anything mattered. The lesson also requires remembering how to find the area of polygons, with references given to previous lessons for those who don’t remember how. Kid1 obviously remembers how.

This is the only RightStart lesson she’s done all week because we’ve been working on Challenge Math, in which we’ve worked with decimals. For the record, Kid1 reports that she will never, ever forget how to do long division with decimals now, having slogged through all of those problems (by the way, for those who have never looked at Challenge Math, it is mainly story problems).

The Yarn Has Entered the Building

What I'll be knitting for Sockapalooza 4:



No pattern yet. I decided to go for the yarn first, then figure out a pattern that matches it.

So. Exciting.

Lights

I tend to prefer fairly sleek styles without a lot of frills

(except for my socks, which tend to run more towards glow-in-the-dark patterns; I used to wear gaudy earrings, too, but discovered that babies tend to be fascinated by 4 inch long skeletons that dance on your shoulders and little twinkly stars that have battery-powered blinker lights in them, so those were put into storage)

so the kids were astounded that I had anything to do with the purchase of our new dining room light:



I simply pointed out that it does NOT have any little electronic sounds or voices (I hate things that have little electronic voices or music or whatever) (except for maybe in a pair of socks).

In the meantime, we gave the kids permission to dismantle the old chandelier, and discovered that once you take all of the prisms off it looks like a space station for Polly Pocket dolls:



"Hey, it's like Deep Space 9!"

"Nu-huh! Deep Space 9 is a Cardassian design. This obviously isn't Cardassian."

"Okay, so some OTHER Federation space station. Gees."

And the prisms are now some sort of pod the dolls fly around in. I don't quite understand it all. I do realize, though, that I have a massive new mess in the middle of the family room, and we have a deep need for the little Star Trek dolls that are about the size of a Polly Pocket.

History Pockets

I really thought long and hard before buying any History Pockets. You may be thinking, "How could you go wrong with coloring, cutting and pasting, especially in such a girly household?" And I would have to remind you that this is the girly household wherein the girls are using their Geomags to build bizarre cages for their Kelly dolls (the cages spin due to the magnets' polarity, so it's not just a restraint for Kelly, but, apparently, a torture device), and biting the butts off of their hollow chocolate Easter bunnies so they can fill them with Junior Mints and pretend the bunnies have diarrhea.

In the end, though, I decided to give it a whirl. After all, our history program this year has consisted solely of slapping in Jim Weiss CDs on an irregular basis. So I ordered one pocket for Egypt and one pocket for Greece.



They are a hit.

Unfortunately, that's the table I use to spread out my sewing stuff.

My Favorite Socks

Just in case anyone wondered. Wink wink nudge nudge.

These are out of Cascade Fixation from the sale bin of a yarn store back in Ohio. The pattern is Broadripple from Knitty. I used size 2 needles.



They are tied for most-favored-sock status with my Girl Scout socks knit from Regia. No memory of what needle size, or even whether I knit them toe-up or toe-down.

Note how the colorways have nothing to do with each other. And they are out of different fibers. One has some pattern to the knitting, one is just plain old stockinette.

Both are out of multi-colored yarn, but I think that's probably due more to random chance than anything else.

Which is why the field is pretty wide open when it comes to figuring out the perfect sock for me.

Just sayin'.

RightStart Geometry

The continuing saga of our adventures using RightStart Geometry and RightStart B. I have an 11yo and a 7yo who have average math ability.The 11yo has done Miquon, Singapore, RightStart Transitions, Level D and Level E; RightStart has saved her from a life a math phobia.

I try to update our adventures on Tuesdays, although sometimes it doesn’t get done until Wednesday. And sometimes we really haven’t done that much math, so I skip it entirely.


RightStart Geometry:

Lesson 123 Napoleon’s Theorem

The lesson starts with a brief history lesson (I didn’t realize that Napoleon was an amateur mathematician).

Then, on to the theorem itself: “If equilateral traingles are constructed on the outside of the three sides of any given triangle, then their centroids are the vertices of ....” Well, surprise! You get to figure it out for yourself.

Up to this point in RightStart Geometry, equilateral triangles have been constructed using a T-square and 30-60 triangle. Now we learn how to make an equilateral triangle with a compass (the mmArc compass).

The end of the lesson discusses generalizing -- first, what does it mean to generalize, then, what happens when we generalize about non-equilateral triangles.

Lesson 124 is about Pick’s theorem. Kid1 opened the book to it, looked it over, and asked if we could spend some time on Challenge Math instead. We’ve been working with decimals in Challenge Math for the past several days -- we’ll return to Pick’s theorem eventually.

Sockapalooza has begun!

I've got my match!

A woman.

Lives somewhere on the planet.

Judging by her blog, appears to be much, much cooler than I.

(Not that any of that narrows it down by much.)

Ironically, tends to like orange. I say ironic since I've spent the past 2 months whining about knitting with this color.

I am speedily finishing off this final Dulaan hat, then plunging into sock obsession.

Suffering an Obsession? In a Rut?

A lack in imagination in choosing my knitting projects? A meditative experience?

What really explains knitting the same hat over and over in the same yarn?



Could it be that I want to be rid of all of this yarn? (Although I've noticed that many people compliment it if I keep my mouth shut and don't begin conversations with an announcement that I think it's hideous.)

Could it be that Sockapalooza is starting soon, and I don't want to start anything else important until I get my sock partner info? And, in that case, could all of this mindless knitting be pulling the mental knitting tension tighter and tighter, like an bow pulled back to its limit before loosing the arrow, like a spring coiled so freakin' tight that it's about to sproing out in all directions?

RightStart Geometry

The continuing saga of our adventures using RightStart Geometry and RightStart B. I have an 11yo and a 7yo who have average math ability.The 11yo has done Miquon, Singapore, RightStart Transitions, Level D and Level E; RightStart has saved her from a life a math phobia.

I try to update our adventures on Tuesdays, although sometimes it doesn’t get done until Wednesday. And sometimes we really haven’t done that much math, so I skip it entirely.


RightStart Geometry:

Lesson 119 More Golden Goodies

Although Lesson 118 took Kid1 several hours, leaving me filled with dread for this whole Golden Ratio study, this lesson is done quietly and relatively quickly.

One worksheet is simply drawing the golden spiral that can be made by dividing a rectangle into a rectangle-plus-square. So. Cool. I would’ve thought this was one of the coolest math lessons ever if I were a kid doing it. And Kid1 seems to catch the charm.

Golden triangles are also discussed, which are less charming, but not too bad.

Lesson 120 Fibonacci Sequence

“If you ever played the ‘Chain’ games, you will recognize the ones column as a chain.” What are “Chain” games? Should I know this?

Much drawing on the worksheets, which have graph paper on them to help with the drawing. Lots of little bricks and stair steps. I think it’s all great fun. Kid1 doesn’t share my enthusiasm.

The final paragraph asks kids to make up their own Fibonacci problem. “If you think of a good one, let me know at joancotter[rest of email address]”. I think that’s a great touch -- asking the kids to get in touch with the author and share their ideas. Kid1 has no interest in it, of course. Oh well -- someone out there will enjoy it!

Lesson 1221 Fibonacci Numbers and Phi

“Fibonacci spirals are found in the seed heads of dandelions, daisies, and sunflowers.” Enchanting idea, but the second worksheet isn't quite so arty and poetic as this blurb makes Fibonacci sequences sound. It it based on the work of Robert Dimson, the Scottish mathematician. I am called upon to help interpret fn x fn + 2 along with (fn + 1)squared. Once Kid1 sees someone else talk through it, she’s okay with it. She doesn’t even blink at tackling the final problems, which look like: (fn x fn + 2) - (fn + 1)squared = 1 (the question being, is that true when n is even, or when n is odd?).

Lesson 122 Golden Ratios and Other Ratios Around Us

More history of the Golden Ratio, then a chance to run around the house measuring various things. I am asked the dimensions of a legal pad (8.5 by 14) and the television (no clue, you’ll have to measure it yourself).

The worksheet also has questions about the ratios of the 30-60 triangle and the 45 triangle that are used in the course.

The whole thing is accomplished without grumbling and without announcements of how many more lessons are left in the book.

Thoughts and Observations from the Past Few Days

** Many of us are energized by going into a bookstore or yarn store. I just realized this weekend that I also feel that way about going into a landscape nursery. However, stockpiling stash from a landscaping nursery is a dicey propostition, as the stash requires huge amounts of upkeep.

** Those capri pants that were a little snug last summer? They've now moved into the category of "Ack!", which may have something to do with my recent discovery of Trader Joe's Venetian Lemon Tarts (mmmmm). I used to describe my figure as becoming "more fluffy", but have decided that's inaccurate, since "fluffy" implies that compression is possible. The pants have proven this to be untrue.

** I cannot swim 200m freestyle. Well, I can, but by the last 25 meters my arms seem like they're wrapped in wet towels, and I have to stand at the end of the lane sucking air when it's over. How did this happen? I used to be able to knock off several laps at a time. And that was a mere 12 years ago.

(Okay, I've gotta admit, I tried some laps last summer in a different pool. I couldn't even make it a 50 yard length. So this is an improvement. But it's still disappointing.)

Finally Warm Enough to Wear the Easter Outfit

Dress is #38 from Ottobre 2/2005 in a linen blend from JoAnn's.

Sweater is from Stefanie Japel's Fitted Knits using some ancient Paton's South Pacific recovered from an old Unfinished Object. Apologies for the poor photo of the sweater -- it didn't occur to me until today that Kid1 had arranged her hair all over the sweater in every single shot.

This shrug looks So Good with this dress. Kid1 just loves the look. If you have any 11 year old girls hanging around the house, consider making this combo. Or just the shrug.

The choker is crocheted out of the South Pacific, and has one of the flower embellishments I had made for the dress (the flowers on the dress are near her right hand). I ended up making several flowers to get 2 that I liked for the dress, having never before entered the wonderful world of Sulky stabilizer plus multiple layers of fabric plus fusible web plus using a sewing machine to embroider (I don't have an actual embroidery machine, so I faked it with the triple-width stitch).

Cheap FIller Knitting

I needed to come up with a small project to cast on while waiting for Sockapalooza to start.

I decided to knit a Dulaan hat according to Norma's hat pattern, using Highland Wool in the color I despise.



So, I'm sitting in the lobby of Dance Class, knitting away, talking to the mom next to me, commenting that I really don't like this color of yarn (I like to announce that right up front so people don't think I actually find it attractive and therefore am A Person With No Taste). And another mom comes zipping in, The Elegant Mom, the one who always looks pulled together, who looks like she's just stopping by to pick up her daughter and then will be getting back to the fashion shoot she's probably modelling for. You know, THAT mom. There's always one of those around. And she says, "Oh, I love that color!"

Well. I sort of sat there with my jaw hanging open, trying to form words.

She also complimented my socks, which are my A#1 favorite pair of socks, which wiped out any inkling that she'd been struck Temporarily Sans Any Taste in Color/Clothing.

At least now I don't feel like I'm sending ugly stuff off to charity.

RightStart Geometry

The continuing saga of our adventures using RightStart Geometry and RightStart B. I have an 11yo and a 7yo who have average math ability.The 11yo has done Miquon, Singapore, RightStart Transitions, Level D and Level E; RightStart has saved her from a life a math phobia.

I try to update our adventures on Tuesdays, although sometimes it doesn’t get done until Wednesday. And sometimes we really haven’t done that much math, so I skip it entirely.


RightStart Geometry:

Lesson 116 Cross Multiplying on the Multiplication Table

I didn’t realize there was a term for this idea of cross-multiplying. What it refers to is looking at a multiplication table for 1x6 and 3x2; now, if you draw a line between the 1 on the first line and the 6 on the second line (showing you’re multiplying them), then draw a line between the 2 on the second line and the 3 on the first line (showing you’re multiplying them), you’ve made a big X.

Various applications are given. For example, mental multiplication can sometimes be easier with cross-multiplication: 8x35 forms a cross with (and therefore has the same answer as) 20x14. (I’ve gotta admit, though, I would never, ever mentally multiply 8x35 that way...I might factor it out a bit and make it 40x7, but probably I’d just do 8x30 plus 8x5 and move on with my life; however, MrV is much quicker at mental math than I, and I wonder if he’s using this technique at times.) Another application is in simplifying proportions.

Lesson 117 Measuring Heights

You know, if I weren’t reviewing every single lesson in this Appleworks file, I might never have realized that this lesson called for a small mirror and a sunny day. Yoohoo, that didn’t happen around here -- no mirrors or sunny days were used to measure the height of something tall outside (tree, pole, building). Hmmm.

Lesson 118 Golden Ratio

KidV1 despised this lesson, and managed to spend the entire day on it. Really, it’s just a matter of calculating phi to a couple of digits, then working with it a bit. It’s hard for me to help her, as her worksheet it so covered with doodles that I can barely see the problems.

Among the issues: she announces that she likes the “other rectangles” better than those that are golden rectangles. She finds them more pleasing. Sigh. How to explain centuries of design theory in about 5 minutes and (possibly) motivate her? I explain that the ancient Greeks used the Golden Ratio in their architecture (she’s currently fascinated with the Greeks), I google pictures of buildings both ancient and modern, I find a page on web design that explains how to use Golden Rectangles to make customer-pleasing design, we look at phi to 1000 decimal places (weird numbers are also interesting). In the end, though, it’s just a matter of “This Must Be Done. Period.”

Really, she has great talent for engineering and architecture, so it’s annoying that she hates this so. I console myself with the thought that perhaps she’ll be a groundbreaking designer that will find a new proportion that will revolutionize design theory.

Sock Accessories

Also known as Footwear That Does Not Impede My Enjoyment of My Socks



I'm gearing up for Sockapalooza. These are from Endless.com, which currently has negative shipping charges for overnight delivery (what a gimmick!).

(No, the socks aren't handknit, but they're still fun, and worthy of the shoes.)

End of an Era

Kid1 has completed Porpoise level at the Y. This completes her YMCA swimming lessons.

She's taken lessons in 4 Ys in 3 states. She's had some fantastic teachers, and some not-so-great. We've discovered that YMCAs vary greatly in how rigorous the swimming program is.

They suggested she next join the swim team. She isn't sure she wants to put that much time into swimming. It would be tough to compete in swimming and dance, and right now she's intrigued by competitive dance.

An Easter Dress

Butterick 3714

Fabric from JoAnn's, as are the fabric flowers at the waistline.



The cowl was sort of wonky to make -- there seemed to be about 3 plus inches of fabric that I was supposed to fit into 2 inches of shoulder. I assume whoever drafted the pattern didn't do the math (surely it wasn't my mistake) so I just folded it up a bit more.

After I had attached the skirt I had her try it on, and realized it was massively too big, even though I was using the smallest size possible. So I opened out all of the lining (yes, it's fully lined), took in an inch on each side seam, and sewed the lining back in place. I tried to taper the skirt seam into its original hemline fullness; I think the bias tapering ended up a bit iffy. There's some weirdness to those side skirt seams now -- they don't hang just precisely right.

Hurray for me, I only had to put the zipper in twice. And I remembered to let it hang several days before hemming -- wow, that front panel stretched out an amazing amount in that time!

Overall I'm pretty pleased with it.

And Kid2? Mostly she twirls around and around and around. Really. It's amazing we got a still shot of her wearing it.

RightStart Geometry

The continuing saga of our adventures using RightStart Geometry and RightStart B. I have an 11yo and a 7yo who have average math ability.The 11yo has done Miquon, Singapore, RightStart Transitions, Level D and Level E; RightStart has saved her from a life a math phobia.

I try to update our adventures on Tuesdays, although sometimes it doesn’t get done until Wednesday. And sometimes we really haven’t done that much math, so I skip it entirely.


RightStart Geometry:

Lesson 111 Sierpinski Triangle

Introduces much history of geometry -- Euclid and the Elements, Benoit Mandelbrot and The Fractal Geometry of Nature, and , of course, Waclaw Sierpinski and The Sierpinski Triangle. I don’t know if Kid1 caught the point of all of this history -- I wouldn’t have at her age. Then again, she has a more subtle mind than I (this isn’t saying much).

The worksheets ask for three iterations of the Sierpinski Triangle.

Lesson 112 Koch Snowflake

We both hit a snag on worksheet 1. Kid1 is able to easily draw iterations of the Koch Snowflake, but the algorithm to figure out the perimeter escapes her. She is able to graph out what will happen to the permimeter and area -- the “analysis” section of the book pretty much lays that out -- but doesn’t get how to put the perimeters into numbers. I peek at the answers. I discover that each perimeter is to be multiplied by 4/3 to find the next iteration. Well, how the heck would I have known that? I’m totally clueless as to how we were supposed to figure that out. Really. The only thing I can think of is that the Sierpinski Triangle in lesson 111 had each iteration shaded 3/4 more, so maybe those numbers should’ve been on my mind? Huh? I should email RightStart and ask them.

Lesson 113 Cotter Tens Fractal

Yes, it’s the fractal we all know and love from Level B and/or Transitions -- the Cotter Tens. If you’re new to RightStart, don’t worry -- this is a snap. Cotter Tens are all about powers of ten. You get to play around with really big numbers, like quadrillions. Kid1 is fascinated by really big numbers; I suspect this is common at this age.

Lesson 114 SImilar Triangles

Blessedly short, the point of this lesson is that two triangles are similar if two corresponding angles are equal. They may be different sizes, but they are similar.

It’s the sort of lesson that shows up on Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader (which should be re-done as Are You Smarter Than a Homeschool Mom, let’s face it).

Lesson 115 Gractions on the Multiplication Table

Another lesson with quick-to-complete worksheets. Kid1 did the worksheets in various colors of ink pens; she said the variety of colors helped her keep track of what she was doing (drawing squares around various boxes on the multiplication table).

UFO Resurrection, Stealth Edition (Shhhh!)

It's Easter time, which means it's time once again to ask ourselves, "Will the kids actually get the felted sheep this year in their Easter baskets?"

What felted sheep? The ones I blogged about here and here and here. Timeline in brief, in case you don't want to slog through old posts: purchased yarn and pattern in 2005 and started knitting. Moved. Decided to complete sheep for Easter 2006. Discovered that I'd lost part of the pattern in the move. Got pattern from cool folks at Fiber Trends who emailed me the part I was missing. But their heroic efforts were for naught, since I still ended up shoving the unfinished sheep back in the closet for another year.

I did manage to felt the sheep before I stuck them away last spring:



And this week, by golly, I finally stuffed them with wool:


Two years in the making!

Here's how the size compare to a 7 pound cat:


If I were a better mom I'd have embroidered the kids' initials on the sheep. But, alas, I'm a mom who is still trying to finish sewing an Easter dress, finish knitting a shrug to go with the other completed Easter dress, and currently has eggs on the stove to cook and dye today; not to mention I still need to fill a bunch of plastic eggs with stuff for hiding over the weekend, and clean up the sewing mess from the dining room if we're to have any chance of using it as a dining room Sunday. If I had to embroider initials I think I'd end up sticking the sheep back in the closet another year. A plain sheep in the Easter basket is worth 2 embroidered-initial sheep in the closet. Or something like that.

RightStart Geometry

The continuing saga of our adventures using RightStart Geometry and RightStart B. I have an 11yo and a 7yo who have average math ability.The 11yo has done Miquon, Singapore, RightStart Transitions, Level D and Level E; RightStart has saved her from a life a math phobia.

I try to update our adventures on Tuesdays, although sometimes it doesn’t get done until Wednesday. And sometimes we really haven’t done that much math, so I skip it entirely.


RightStart Geometry:

Lesson 109 Tessellation Summary and Mondrian Art

Hurray! No tessellations to draw! Just a couple worksheet to summarize the types of tessellations, which can be filled out fairly quickly.

We can’t seem to connect with the website listed in the book for Mondrian Art. We have a couple of postcard size prints of Mondrian’s work, plus I found this website . The instructions are to draw a couple of Mondrian designs on the bottom of the worksheet; Kid1 uses a separate piece of paper which she mounts on construction paper for an artier effect.

Lesson 110 Box Fractals

I am asked, “Mommy, what’s 1/3 of 1/6?” I’m playing Corners with Kid2, and brush off the question, telling her to figure it out herself. I later discover that she ended up using a calculator and doing it in decimals. Yikes! I draw pictures on scrap paper to show how to figure it out.

“See, you end up with 6 groups of 3, which equals what? And here’s what the equation looks like ... remember this now?” This stuff was at the end of Level E. We even took time off from Geometry earlier this year and went back to review it. It isn’t sticking.

I notice that the lesson has a portion with a sidebar stating, “If you know all about exponents, you can skim this paragraph.” The glitch with multiplying fractions leaves me wondering whether she knows about exponents.

Pink Happens

Day one of the new Project Spectrum color triad found me up to my eyeballs in fabric.

Pink fabric.



Butterick 3714 in size 7. I swear this cowl was drafted incorrectly; in any event, it was the first time I've had a major problem with a Butterick pattern. I think it gives the dress sort of an I Dream of Jeanie vibe. It was Kid2's favorite part of this pattern.

And, yes, it's fully lined:



Check out all that tulle! Woo hoo! MrV peeked in the sewing room (which is actually the dining room) and simply commented, "My, how foofy it is in here. You've got a lot of foof goin' on."

Today I will do the zipper. This will probably involve a lot of potty mouth comments coming from the direction of the sewing machine. After that is the hem, the freakin' I-hate-bias-cut-skirts hem (potty mouth comments are already erupting in anticipation).

Fortunately the kids can be outside, and can miss the vocabulary-expanding action going on in here. They can be outside because it is very GREEN out today. Last spring when Yarn Harlot was in town she simply commented, "St. Louis is very green." She's right -- this is an extremely green time of year here. You'd swear the windows were tinted, it's so green when you glance outside. By summer it will all be brown, burned to death in the sweltering heat. But spring really is beautiful and GREEN here.

(You know, since Project Spectrum is PINK for April and May, this would be a good time to work on PINK projects, like, say, if you had pink yarn and a wrap pattern lurking in the closet, for instance. Just sayin'.)

UFO Resurrection Challenge for March

It's taken me awhile to come up with my March UFO Resurrection because I've been trying to coordinate the UFOs with Project Spectrum, and, well, there are so many UFOs around here that coordinate with the current color, and so many of those UFOs that I would rather pretend don't exist. You know, those nasty little UFOs that you keep thinking you'll deal with later, when you're a stronger person, like maybe in 10-20 years.

And so, I present a UFO that comes with a saga that spans decades.

It all began back in ... well, I'm not sure when. Or where. I bought a bag of Paton's South Pacific so I could knit something or other, probably out of Vogue Knitting. This was probably in the early 1990s, and probably in either New Hampshire or Indiana. Who knows. I can't even find any info online about when the yarn was manufactured. A couple of years ago I found it on Wiseneedle.com, but it seems to have been deleted to make way for newer, more interesting yarn.

Then other stuff happened. We moved to Maryland. We moved to Delaware. We moved to Ohio. And the yarn was packed up and moved each time, still in its bag.

Finally, a couple of years ago, I decided to clear it out of my life. I found a great pattern for it in Vintage Knits, a long sleeved ribbed pullover. I cast on and started knitting away on pointy little size 3 bamboo needles. I loved the way it was coming out (even thought the yarn is splitty, and I can see why it's no longer sold). I loved the idea of wearing a white ribbed pullover:



And then one day it occured to me that I had loved the idea of a white long sleeved ribbed pullover so much that I'd gone out and bought one readymade:



Well. That sort of took the oomph out of the knitting, you know, discovering that I was knitting a duplicate of a top I already owned. I set the knitting aside. Eventually I packed it up and moved it to Missouri.

Then, one day recently I wanted to knit Kid1 a shrug to go over her Easter dress. I looked through the stash of white yarn. I knit guage swatches. And the winner was:



Yes, the Paton's South Pacific. So, after sitting around in bags for over a decade, going through multiple household moves, and time knitted up as the back and most of the front of a sweater, I've come up with a purpose for this yarn and I need it done in about 3 days time. It will feel good to get rid of this UFO and yarn, after all this time.

I think I might burn any leftover yarn, except being acrylic it would probably stink. Maybe I'll bury it in the back yard. In any event, it will All. Be. Gone. when this shrug is done, regardless of how much the shrug takes. Pics of a Finished Object will show up around Eastertime, we hope. If not, assume I'm burning or burying the Unfinished Shrug.

RightStart Geometry

The continuing saga of our adventures using RightStart Geometry and RightStart B. I have an 11yo and a 7yo who have average math ability.The 11yo has done Miquon, Singapore, RightStart Transitions, Level D and Level E; RightStart has saved her from a life a math phobia.

I try to update our adventures on Tuesdays, although sometimes it doesn’t get done until Wednesday. And sometimes we really haven’t done that much math, so I skip it entirely.


RightStart Geometry:

Lesson 106 Tessellating Triangles

As the title implies, this is all about tessellating with triangles. The drawing portion of worksheet 1 takes For. Ever. as Kid1 draws out jillions of tiny tessellating triangles with her drawing tools; I read aloud several chapters from a book as she works (I used to love listening to books when I was working on drafting projects, since it’s somewhat mindless work).

We pause for some whining about not understanding worksheet 2. I pick up the textbook and read it aloud, including the words “If you need a hint for the second worksheet...”blah blah blah. Oh, okay, now it makes sense. I am hopeful that Kid1 will eventually learn to re-read the lesson if she doesn’t instantly understand everything. Sigh.

Lesson 107 Tessellating Quadrilaterals

“Only 42 lessons until I’m finished with the book!”

I try to tell her that I think more lessons will be mailed out -- that the book isn’t completely written yet. My heart’s not in it, though.

And the lesson itself? Just more tessellations. Always more tessellations. “March 2007 -- Season of Tessellations” -- that’s how we’ll remember this time of our lives.

Lesson 108 Escher Tessellation

Hooray! I’ve been waiting for this lesson forever! We had a couple of books of Escher’s work that I used to spend hours and hours studying when I was in middle school. I requested some Escher books from the library, but they haven’t arrived yet (the books my family owns are apparently at my parents’ or a siblings’ house). I love this stuff.

The lesson also discusses the history of tessellations in various world cultures. A couple of Internet links are given which give examples, including this one that has some Escher.

The assignment is to make a tessellation with a more sinuous design, within the parameters of 4 corners. Kid1 isn’t happy with her results, feeling too constrained by the corners. Ah, the problems of designing/making art within someone else’s specifications ... it never ends, does it.

March Books

Many Waters by Madeline L'Engle
A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeline L'Engle
The Arm of the Starfish by Madeline L'Engle
A Wind in the Door by Madeline L'Engle
Dragons in the Water by Madeline L'Engle
An Acceptable Time by Madelin L'Engle
The Princess of Neptune by Quentin Dodd
Chicks with Sticks: Knit Two Together by Elizabeth Lenhard
Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett

Some Major Read Alouds:
The Wanderings of Odysseus: the Story of The Odyssey by Rosemary Sutcliff
Redwall by Brian Jacques
Little Clearing in the Woods by Maria D. Wilkes
On Top of Concord Hill by Maria D. Wilkes
Egyptian Diary: the Journal of Nahkt by Richard Platt

Zoology

We've been continuing our look at various animals. After finishing up rodents we moved on to owls.

Owls were not a planned stop on our tour of the animal kingdom. The local park department happened to have several owl programs, though, so we decided to attend one:



Wow! Owl pellets to dissect. Who knew? Kid2 commented that is was a little like doing a mouse dissection, given all the little bones we found.

The park department also had owl wings to investigate, owl talons, and a large stuffed owl. This was all pretty cool, given that it's illegal for the rest of us to own even a feather of a raptor. We were able to fan the wings through the air and consider the silent flight, to touch the talons and consider the death-grip, and try to match the owl's pose (our necks weren't nearly flexible enough).

Kid2 and I followed up by reading an article on owl families in the March 2007 issue of Ranger Rick. Kid1 read the book Owl Puke , which comes with yet another pellet to dissect (yippee, we're now a 3-pellet family).

Kid1 requested that our project for owls be to build an owl house. I said no, since I thought owls wouldn't be too attracted to our area. Hah, I got up at 2a.m. this weekend, thinking I heard a dog woofing nearby; imagine my surprise to realize that the animal was saying something more along the lines "Who cooks for you?". Well. Anyway, I think we're a little late on the nesting box at this point, plus I have no desire to shinny up a tree that high. Plus I think the power company is planning on digging up some stuff back there in the brushy part of the yard, and would probably cut down the very tree we'd use. Etc., etc.

We have moved on to studying cats, including our 2 resident felines. One observation we've made so far: if you play a RealAudio of a hooting Barred Owl while your cat is asleep on the computer chair, the cat will get up and leave the room, leaving you to reclaim the chair.

It's Official: We All Know How to Read

Yep, another homeschooling book done, this time Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading, or OPGTR for short.



Did this actually work to teach my child reading? Hmm, well, there's a question -- just how did she learn to read? We started OPGTR a bit, using the free downloads ... she did some of the the Explode the Code books because she longed for workbooks (Get Ready, Get Set, and Go For the Code), she really enjoyed Bob Books and worked her own way through 2 or 3 sets of them, we explored the alphabet using Christopherus First Grade Syllabus ... and then one day I realized that she was reading the parent's script out of OPGTR as easily as she was reading the child's script. So, it seems she just sort of worked it all out for herself, having been exposed to a lot of reading.

It was fairly early in OPGTR that this happened (maybe around lesson 75?), so we decided to just go ahead and read through a few lessons per day and see what happened. Somewhere up in the 200s we started hitting words she would stumble on, like "cordial" and "pique". And the later lessons provided good discussion on spelling, particularly the words of French origin. We also had a chance to discuss the correct pronunciation of "Xavier", since it it imperative to pronounce it correctly when discussing college basketball (I once knew a woman who always pronounced it "Ex-ayvier", which pretty much destroyed any inkling that she had a CLUE about college basketball).

As soon as we were done with the book we applauded wildly ... then she hesitated ... asked softly, "Mommy, are you going to mail this to someone now?"

"Well..." I sort of guessed where this was headed, that she'd read my mind as I've been wondering where to post this as used curriculum FOR SALE.

She picked up the book and cradled it in her arms. "I mean, are you going to sell it? You can't! I need to practice some of the words I didn't know!"

Yow, I feel as though I've been selling her childhood memories out from under her. So, this book will NOT be sold, at least not any time soon.

The Hat Is On Its Way

to Pittsburgh for the Represent! event there.



Yes, it's out of that yarn, this time used as a single strand. A single strand of it isn't tough enough for the Mongolian weather, but I think it will do fine in Pittsburgh. The pattern is the In a Flap Cap, this time sized for a child. If I had a clue what needle size I used I'd mention it ... ummm, I think it was the yellowish-green ones, whatever size they are (love this gauge free knitting!).

RightStart Geometry

The continuing saga of our adventures using RightStart Geometry and RightStart B. I have an 11yo and a 7yo who have average math ability.The 11yo has done Miquon, Singapore, RightStart Transitions, Level D and Level E; RightStart has saved her from a life a math phobia.

I try to update our adventures on Tuesdays, although sometimes it doesn’t get done until Wednesday. And sometimes we really haven’t done that much math, so I skip it entirely.


RightStart Geometry:

Lesson 103 Pattern Unit

The smallest repeating of a tessellation is called a unit. Idea introduced in this lesson: a pattern has 3 elements -- a unit, repetition, and a system of organization.

The lesson involves identifying units, and also making translatons of the units. The first exercise looks like the brick pavers that are so popular in landscape applications.

Lesson 104 Dual Tessellations

By connecting the center of each polygon in a tessellation a new tessellation is formed. The student needs to remember how to find the center of a polygon to accomlish this. The lesson is easy, but takes a long time. It’s yet another lesson that can be done while listening to a book on tape.

Lesson 105 Tartan Plaids

The book has some discussion on the history of tartans, and also some information on weaving (the difference between a plain “tabby” weave and a twill weave). A suggestion is made to go look at some plaid fabric, which we have in abundance. The assignment is to design 3 plaids. This is incredibly easy.

By amazing coincidence, Weaver is posting pictures of her latest plaid weaving project today, so we get to look at a plaid on the loom. Kid1 is pretty sure we need to get a loom to further explore this idea.

Trip Knitting

We just returned from a roadtrip, with travel times carefuly planned for optimal NCAA basketball enjoyment. I took along my current knitting project, along with a "just in case" project -- you know, the one you grab "just in case" something untoward happens to the first one. Like, for instance, let's say that in spite of numerous gauge swatches, one false start on the project, followed by more, larger gauge swatches you discover after getting several inches into the project (which is, by the way, knitted in the round and features cables) that the gauge is still off and you didn't bring circular needles in the size you'll probably need, so all that's left to do is rip out the entire skein's-worth of knitting, rewinding it into a ball using the pestle of a wooden mortar and pestle (since, of course, you didn't bring a swift and ballwinder, either). That's the sort of situation where you need that "just in case" project:



Yes, another Dulaan sweater in that yarn. If I have enough of the yarn it will have long sleeves.

(For the record, the photo was taken on top of a jigsaw puzzle of a mosaic of Helen of Troy, as Kid1 is on a Greek binge lately . And, frankly, the sweater is pretty boring to look at on its own, so I wanted to jazz it up with an interesting background. And I thought the colors went rather nicely. If this mosaic needed a sweater I'd definitely knit it out of this yarn. And I maybe haven't had enough sleep in the past few days, which sort of feeds into my tendency to babble.)

Pi Day

We ate Shepherd's Pie for supper.

And then we had apple pie while I read Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi.

We also got a head start on the Ides of March, since by coincidence we hit the Julius Caeser chapter of Famous Men of Rome today. Very cool.

(Of course, then I had to drag a ladder out in the pouring rain at 9:30pm to unclog a gutter, so the cosmic equilibrium of cool-to-crappy has been maintained.)

RightStart Geometry

The continuing saga of our adventures using RightStart Geometry and RightStart B. I have an 11yo and a 7yo who have average math ability.The 11yo has done Miquon, Singapore, RightStart Transitions, Level D and Level E; RightStart has saved her from a life a math phobia.

I try to update our adventures on Tuesdays, although sometimes it doesn’t get done until Wednesday. And sometimes we really haven’t done that much math, so I skip it entirely.


RightStart Geometry:

Lesson 101 Semiregular Tessellations

This is a 2-3 day lesson. It isn’t necessarily difficult, it just takes awhile to execute. It especially takes awhile when the weather suddenly becomes spring-like and we want to go outside for fresh air and sunshine.

Sidenote in the book: “If you’re finding pencil lines to be boring, here’s how to add some color to your work.” Oooh, perfect timing -- yes, it really is time to add some color. And now we have suggestions for how to use gel pens to draw tessellations. Cool.


Lesson 102 Demiregular Tessellations

What is the difference between a semiregular and demiregular tessellation? And how does the term semi-pure tessellation fit in to all of this?

Kid1 has realized that this somewhat mindless work of drawing out and coloring in tessellations can be done while listening to Jim Weiss reading Story of the World. Homeschool multi-tasking at its best! She even made extra photocopies of her tessellations so her younger sister could color some in; I think this is really clever on her part until I see that it is suggested in the book. Okay, then, it’s really clever on the author’s part. Kid2 is thrilled to be included in the “advanced math”.

Our Version of March Madness

Yes, I grew up in Indiana, where basketball reigns supreme. And, yes, I went to a Big 10 school, so I'm still very in tune to what everyone else calls March Madness -- believe me, there have been several phone calls lately to discuss Who Will Get In, and then several more phone calls yesterday to discuss Who Got What Seed. And there are those in the family that believe that all of our actions next weekend should be governed by game times.

But, behold, I tell you, we are now a family defined not only by NCAA Basketball, but by Irish Step Dancing. And having The Games on St. Patrick's Day weekend, well, let me tell you, that's a real conflict of interest.

First of all, there's the hair issue:



People ask, "how long does it take to do that?" Well, it takes about one CD of Jim Weiss reading Story of the World to do 2 kids worth:



Then you have to let it dry for hours and hours and even overnight, then carefully unroll:



Then put on skirt, top, poodle socks, ghillies, headband, cape, et voila ... too bad I didn't get a picture of the finished effect in full costume. But there are plenty of photo oppotunities coming up. Everybody seems to think having some Irish dancers do a jig and a reel is quite the thing for March parties. And here I thought March was all about basketball.

What's On My Mind

Snapea Crisps. Yum.

Keeping my nightstand dust free. How is it the most dusty piece of furniture in the bedroom? Do I exude dust while I sleep? Are the cats up to something?

That mango drink at Trader Joe's ... the one in the plastic bottles in the dairy case, along with the Super Cee and weird green drinks. Mmmmm.

Stefanie Japel's Fitted Knits. I can't find it in the local stores yet. This is really bugging me. Have they gotten a copy or 2 in and it already sold out? What's up? So, I end up searching google for reviews and pictures of Finished Objects (for pete's sake, other people already have the book and have finished knitting stuff from it!). And brooding about the worthlessness of having 2 large bookstores near your house if the stores don't stock the books you want.

This funny little jag in my back molar. D'you think it could be a crack? But I can't see anything. Dentist appointment in 2 weeks, anyway, so I guess I'll find out then.

Rereading Madeleine L'Engle books.

Sewing. Buying fabric. Carrying around various issues of Ottobre. Tracing patterns, sewing them up. Measuring. Altering. Creating.



Kid2's pants (in foreground) are #36 from Ottobre 1/2007, pink velour from Sewzanne's, hot pink ribbing from JoAnn's. She didn't want the tiny stripe down the side that the pattern called for. Kid2's top (fuzzily in background -- this picture was taken in the Butterfly House, and the camera was steamed up) #38 from 3/2006, fabric from the quilting section of JoAnn's.

I would try to take better pictures, but that would take time away from cutting out the next item. Must. Go. Sew.

Latest Dulaan Item

Annie had this really cool idea of spending Lent knitting for others. She even came up with a cute button that people could put in their blogs ... which I would maybe do if I had any time to spend on my blog, which obviously I don't since I haven't been blogging much at all.

ANYWAY...

The ONLY knitting I've gotten done during Lent so far has been for Dulaan, so the 40 Days For Others concept has been working out well.



This vest is the Cozy in Cables pattern using 2 strands of Elann's Highland Wool in color "What Was I Thinking" (seriously, I have an entire bag of this stuff, which was pretty on the monitor but would look hideous on me, so expect to see lots of charity knitting in this color). I used about 3 skeins. I also used a US10.5 circular needle, and left the guage to chance. It almost fits my skinny 7 year old, who proclaimed it "really warm".

It was a fun, quick knit. Very satisfying, even when I screwed up the lefthand cables and twisted them the wrong way meaning I needed to unravel them back a few rows and re-twist them the other way (although by the 6th time it happened the charm had sort of worn off, if you know what I mean). And, no seams, so very little finishing -- just pop it into the Dulaan bag, and off to the next project!

RightStart Geometry

The continuing saga of our adventures using RightStart Geometry and RightStart B. I have an 11yo and a 7yo who have average math ability.The 11yo has done Miquon, Singapore, RightStart Transitions, Level D and Level E; RightStart has saved her from a life a math phobia.

I try to update our adventures on Tuesdays, although sometimes it doesn’t get done until Wednesday. And sometimes we really haven’t done that much math, so I skip it entirely.


RightStart Geometry:

Lesson 99 Two Pentagon Tessellations

“Start by cutting out the 25 pentagons on the first worksheet”. It is so hard to line up little bits of paper to make patterns. The edges curl, the little bits want to float away. Kid 1 tries putting double stick tape on them to help them stay in place, but that doesn’t work too well.

She is supposed to find 2 patterns she can make with these pentagons. She can only find one. I’m okay with that, given the little-bits-of-paper issue. She is supposed to draw the patterns on the worksheet. She opts (at my suggestion) to do the drawing freehand rather than with her drawing tools. Yes, the drawing tools can be more precise, but there is value in being able to draw geometric shapes freehand.

Lesson 100 Regular Tessellations

This lesson takes a look at 9-, 10- and 12-sided polygons. The student is to find the interior angle of various polygons, ranging from 3-sided to 12-sided. In our case, the student gets a quick refresher on how to find the interior angle (so did the student's mom, for that matter). She knew the interior angles of the smaller polygons off the top of her head, interestingly, but had to figure them out for the heptagon on up. Once that hurdle is leapt, the worksheet is fairly quick.

Again, the tessellations are drawn freehand at our house.

February Books

Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert
Man and Mammals: Toward a Biology of Form by Wolfgang Schad

Read Alouds:

Black Ships Before Troy by Rosemary Sutcliff
Owls in the Family by Farley Mowat
Little Town at the Crossroads by Maria D. Wilkes

Green: Adventures with Wilton Icing Colors

I thought it would be nice to have a green silk for spring -- something to put on the Nature Table. And, lo and behold, I found a blank silk in the drawer. And, lo and behold, I found some Leaf Green Wilton Icing Color in my kitchen cabinet. Seems like fate, right?

Of course, I've never dyed fabric with food coloring before. But I'm not one to let little details stand in my way, even when the little details are along the lines of "no idea whatsoever what I'm doing".

I did find instructions on how to dye wool yarn with Wilton. It also mentions dyeing silk yarn. Close enough for me!

I put my silk blank in a Tupperware salad container full of tepid water to soak while I prepared my dye. I started heating the water in the tea kettle, and put filled a pot half way with water, setting the latter on the stove also.

When the tea kettle was fairly hot, I poured water into a measuring cup. I used about half a cup of extremely hot water. I got some Wilton on the tip of a dinner knife (about 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon) and stirred it into the hot water. It dissolved quickly. I then poured the now-green water into the pot on the stove, giving me a cooler dye bath.

At this point the silk blank had been soaking in its tepid water for 20-30 minutes. I removed it from the water, noted the foamy character of the water, contemplated the sudden memory that you're supposed to wash the silk blanks before dyeing (oops), decided to skip that step, and rinsed the silk blank lots and lots, hoping that would count as "washing".

I put the blank silk in the dye pot and started heating it. I don't have a thermometer (or maybe I do, and just haven't seen it for a long time -- I'm sort of hazy on this point) so I simply heated until steam started rising. I stirred the cloth around, occasionally lifting it with a spoon, noting that it wasn't taking up any color at all. None. Hmmm.

(About this time Kid1 came into the kitchen and asked what I was making. "Green. (Long pause) I'm making green."

"Yeah, but what is green?"

"Some fabric."

Because, of course, I was using the regular old cooking utensils. And it did look vaguely edible.)

So, I went to the next step, that of dumping in a glug of white vinegar. The color immediately began migrating to the silk.

By this time A) I was bored; B) I had decided stirring was a lost cause, since water kept splashing on the smooth top stovetop, and if you have a smooth top stove you know that that means the water is likely to run under the lit burner and annoy you greatly (hate this stove! must get rid of this stove!); and C) it was the episode of Start Trek Next Generation where Worf's adoptive parents come on board the ship, while Picard goes down and visits his brother -- not the most gripping episode, but it has some good scenes. All of which added up to wandering off for a few minutes. And arriving back to find the silk merrily boiling away. Oops (again).

It seemed that the water wasn't getting any clearer; also, the water had a definitely yellow tinge. I turned off the stove and let the pot cool on top of the burner (which would retain heat for quite a while anyway, being electric and all -- have I ever told you how much I dislike this stove, by the way?). I went to put kids to bed, then answer a phone call from someone asking about matters such as endometric reticulum, then tell the caller that maybe she should google some web pages about it since I haven't thought about stuff like that for years and years, then hang up the phone and announce to the kids that they were never, ever to wait until the night before an exam to discover they don't understand their textbooks. Then, back to the kitchen to plop the cloth on a cake-cooling rack I'd laid over the sink.

The next morning I ironed out the dried cloth and laid it on our Nature Table:



The color was a nice spring-y green, very even. I couldn't get the silk to iron out smoothly, possibly a function of having boiled it.

Our Nature Table so far has some root children, a Mother Nature (this was made from a kit TheSilverPenny.com used to carry), a bowl of dry earth (a Lenten feature), some seed pods and rocks we liked, and a small mouse sculpture. I'd like to make some Flower Children, and even have a book on the subject. Alas, the book didn't come with what I needed to make any flower children. I have the wool, the felt, the pipe cleaners, the stockinette, but I lack the will to actually get everything out and make something.

But, hey, at least we have green silk to put stuff on now.

Tuesday Teatime

Easy-to-do teatime:

Get a copy of Poetry Speaks to Children.

Pop in the CD.

Open the book to follow along.

Listen to Langston Hughes, Nikki Giovanni, J.R.R. Tolkien, Roald Dahl, Oden Nash, and Robert Frost, among others, read their poetry to you.

It's an amazing experience.

(I've gotta admit, the most memorable moment for me was realizing that Robert Frost read Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening in a totally different way than my mental version of it. On the other hand, Kid1 said Tolkein sounded exactly like what she expected.)

The Accidental Hat

The other day I realized that a) I had no projects hanging over my head that had to be done next, and b) I had nothing to carry along to places like piano lessons and dance lessons. So, time to cast on a new project!

I grabbed some Lopi and some 10.5 needles, and cast on the In a Flap Cap (by the way, when I try the pdf I get gobbledy gook, so I downloaded it as a doc instead).

And before I knew what was happening, I had this knitted up for Dulaan:




Whoops! It went so fast I finished it off in one sitting. And had to cast on another one to take to piano lessons.

RightStart Geometry

The continuing saga of our adventures using RightStart Geometry and RightStart B. I have an 11yo and a 7yo who have average math ability.The 11yo has done Miquon, Singapore, RightStart Transitions, Level D and Level E; RightStart has saved her from a life a math phobia.

I try to update our adventures on Tuesdays, although sometimes it doesn’t get done until Wednesday. And sometimes we really haven’t done that much math, so I skip it entirely.


RightStart Geometry:

Lesson 97 Frieze Patterns

The goals of the lesson are to learn the terms used in frieze patterns, learn about the 7 types of frieze patterns, and to work with the patterns. Tangrams are used. It’s a simple concept, but takes a while to execute.

If I were a more with-it homeschooler, I would’ve tied this in to frieze patterns on ancient buildings, which would tie-in with all the reading about Greece and Rome we do daily. Cool idea, right? Too bad I didn’t think of it in time.

Lesson 98 Introduction to Tessellations

I’ve always thought tessellations were fun. We have a magnet set for making tessellations. We have wooden pattern blocks.

Kid1, on the other hand, asks if she could puh-leeeeeease do some other sort of math, anything but geometry, which has apparently become insufferably boring. Perhaps it’s tessellation burnout. I suggest she just Get It Over With, since she’ll have to do it eventually.

She does. It turns out to be a quick lesson. I don’t know if she realized the next 6 lessons are also on tessellations, though.

The next lesson shows a tiling pattern from ancient Egypt. Aha. My chance to redeem myself and tie this in to a favorite history subject. Must go google some historical tessellations.

Multiple Choice

Possible topics for a blog post today:

Attending our first Feis.

Chinese New Year Celebration.

Sneaking into someone's house to clean out their litter box without their knowledge.


Possible sentences and phrases to describe these events:

...having spent several hours putting spikes in hair...

...one of the few people attending who didn't speak Mandarin, apparently...

...finished altering the pleated skirts (let me tell you, the smell of vinegar-water used to re-set the pleats made my boogers shrivel, as Weaver would say)...

...and since it was 7a.m. and about 3degrees F, I figured not many people would be out wandering around...

...too bad the Mardi Gras celebration was also this weekend, since between that and all the snow there was practically no parking downtown...

...when Kid2 kicked her shuttlecock right into the bouquet on the main table, they just laughed and patted her head...

...and this woman I've never even met before kept saying, "Oh, you must stop by on Wednesday or Thursday -- I have some outfits that would look so cute on your girls"...

...really needed more sleep than I was able to get with all this going on, which is why I'm not writing a coherent post...

Book Stash

Back when we lived in Ohio we started reading all of the Little House books. We checked them out of the public library. It was a really excellent library, one of the top 10 in the U.S. for towns that size. It had not only the standard Little House books, but all of the tangential series about Martha, Charlotte, Caroline and Rose. The head of the children's section told me they went back and forth about whether to keep all the books together as a series, or shelve them according to author; at the time, they were all neatly lined up in timeline sequence.

And, at the time, we were just concentrating on Laura Ingalls Wilder's books. But Kid1 always wanted to read all of the books. And, of course, she wanted to read them in order.

So, one day here in Missouri she happened to notice the first Martha book on the library shelf, and asked if we could read it. We did. We decided to read all of the books, all the way through the series, in order.

Then we made a terrible discovery. The way the books had been cataloged in our local library branch, in a word, sucked. The first book of the series was fully cataloged, and on the shelf. The rest of the books were casually hurled in with other paperbacks, and only given a spartan cataloging that allowed them to be checked out but not searched. In other words, there was no way to tell where the heck the books were, or even if they existed in the library (unless the books were checked out, at which time a hold could be placed on them). Eew!

We soldiered through this mess for most of Martha, but I Could. Not. Find. the final Martha book on the shelves. Aargh! I decided to show the library a thing or 2, and bought all 4 Martha books. Hah! Take that, public library! See if I need your stinkin' poorly cataloged books now! As a matter of fact, as soon as we finished the final Martha book, I bought all 4 Charlotte books. (Can't you just hear the libary employees sobbing over that?)

By the way, there was some discussion at our house about waiting until Melissa Wiley wrote more Martha books before we actually read the Charlotte books. Because, you know, we need to read them perfectly in order. And I started reading her blog to see when, indeed, she was going to give us our next fix (by this time we were pretty addicted to the books, you know).

And that's when I started to hear rumblings. Ominous rumblings. I started catching on that there might not be more Martha and Charlotte books by Melissa Wiley. I discovered that the covers of the Little House books were going to change (which I don't really care about that much, but those among us who like to read thing in perfect order also would like all of the covers to match, thank you). It occurred to me that it might be wise to start getting ALL of the books.

I started asking for them for birthdays and Christmas. I started scouting the internet for copies of the titles already out-of-print. And I completed our stash



just before Melissa Wiley posted confirmation that Martha, Charlotte, Caroline and Rose are all going to be abridged. Abridged! As in "dumbed-down". Because, you know, this stuff is too complex for the average child to comprehend (never mind that the same child may well be slogging through every Harry Potter book).

Frankly, I think the publisher is making a whopping huge mistake. The charm of the Martha and Charlotte books lies in the writing (I can't say much about Caroliine and Rose, as I haven't read that many of them).

But, hey, I've got MY stash. We're set. I am now grateful for the crappy cataloging in the local library, since it got me started on collecting the books for myself.

And, yes, they aren't all in the bookcase in the picture because they don't fit.

Zoology

Our study of rodents is going along nicely.

Kid1 decided she would like to focus on mice in particular. We've read books on the subject, both from the children's section of the library and excerpts from adult books such as Handbook of Nature Study.

I decided not to offer the option of trying to trap a field mouse. For one thing, it's too cold and snowy. For another, I really don't want to mess with it, especially with bored, snowbound cats in the house.

So our observation of rodents in general and mice in particular took place at PetSmart. We were able to see how they moved (pizzicato!) and what they liked to do (gnaw, move their bedding around).

I've asked Kid1 to complete a project now. The choices are to write a report, make a simulation of a habitat, or make some sort of mask or sculpture of the animal. Again, I got these choices off of a Waldorf homeschooling list.

Kid2 also wants to do a project, but I've made her choices a little broader. We may very well end up writing a story about a mouse or squirrel, or acting out a play.

Kid1 was enthused about the project choices, and declared she'd like to do all three. Hmm. We shall see what gets done, given all the holidays we have right now (Valentine's Day, Chinese New Year, President's Day, Mardi Gras). I really do not want this zoology unit to drag on for weeks and weeks.

She's starting with the report. This is new territory for us, this writing of reports. We're drawing heavily on suggestions from Bravewriter for our approach. So far she's picked her topic (house mice), gathered information, and done a free write. Now it's time to start narrowing and expanding, to start using the topic funnel. It's really pretty exciting! She's very engaged in the process.

I'm not quite sure how to accomplish the final Bravewriter step of publishing. She's quite shy about sharing her writing, and grandparents don't live close enough for a casual read-through. Will she consent to mailing or emailing it to them?

UFO Resurrection Challenge

February's UFO is complete!



Pattern from the Blue Blog (she may take this pattern and link away as we come closer to book publication time; I'm glad she hasn't yet, though, since I lost the pattern when I got to the neck).

Yarn is from Dale of Norway, Falk washable. Needles were size 4 US.

Kid1 was very pleased with it. I had her try it on when I finished seaming it. She wanted to continue wearing it, but I made her take it off so I could weave in all the yarn ends that were hanging out (I think having yarn ends dangling out of your finished knitting looks sort of like boogers dangling out of your nose, but apparently Kid1 doesn't share this attitude). Of course, by the time I got the yarn ends all tidied away she had lost all interest in it. By then she was hot from sledding and the hot chocolate we had afterwards. And I was distracted having Kid2 throw up all the hot chocolate into the sink, which then plugged up, so I didn't really care.

(This is why I will never have a swanky knitting blog. I start out talking about a nice, neat sweater, and veer into boogers and vomit. That's life with young kids, though. And I'm not even telling y'all about the really weird stuff going on around here.)

The new Interweave Knits arrived right after I finished. Great timing to just curl up and select a new project, right? Except I'm now busy altering skirts. Pleated skirts. With zippers up the side, and elastic in the back, and a slightly trapezoidal shape to the pleats. Ick.

Math

This week we took a break from RightStart Geometry and worked on Challenge Math.

We used Chapter Two of the book, having completed Chapter One several months ago. Chapter 2 is on Problem Solving, and presents several ways to approach various problems: charts and diagrams; think 1; Venn diagrams; patterns, sequences and function machines. Nothing integrates all the various methods -- for example, it's pretty clear that we're studying, say, charts and diagrams, and all problems in this sections are going to be solved using charts and diagrams; and no problems using Venn diagrams will be sneaking in.

We did one section per day. We read through the explanations together. I copied off the page(s) of problems, and Kid1 worked from the copy, using stacks of scrap paper. In the end I stapled all of her scrap paper to the copy of the problems, so we can save it all together as a sort of homemade workbook.

By the way, the answers to all of the problems are in the back of the book, along with a good explanation of how to get the answers.

The first section we tackled was charts and diagrams. This included problems such as: Marilyn had a bag of gold coins. She gave 1/8 of them to her mother and then gave 1/2 of what was left to her brother. She then gave 2/7 of what was left to her dad. If she then had 25 coins left, how many did she have originally?

The method given to solve this is to draw a rectangle representing the original amount of coins, then start divvying it up according to what went where ... so, 1/8 of the rectangle is marked off to show that amount went to her mother, then the rectangular area left is divided into half to show what went to her brother, etc. etc.

Me: "This looks a lot like Singapore math."

Kid1: "Yeah, pretty much."

Next day we took a look at "think 1". This helps with problems such as: a group of 24 college students decided to climb Mt. McKinley. They bought enough food to last 20 days. If 16 additional students join them, how many days will their food last?

To solve this type of problem, you think how long the food will last for 1 student -- which is to say, if only 1 student went, having that amount of food, how many days would the food last? It would last 480 days. So if you have 40 students, that same amount of food should last 12 days.

The problem that we most discussed in this section was about cats: Jay has 8 cats that need to be fed while he is away on a 12 day vacation. If a bag of cat food will feed 3 cats for 15 days, how many bags does he need for his vacation?

Setting aside the image of the litter box situation after a 12 day vacation (is someone coming over to clean them out? and, just how big is Jay's house to hold 8 cats?) we found ourselves remarking that a) there's no way there's going to be an "average" cat in the bunch -- some will be big eaters and some won't eat much, and b) eating patterns vary wildly when the routine is disrupted by vacation -- some will gorge and some will refuse to eat.

But Kid1 starting in on her calculations, and soon discovered that it was going to take a bit more than 2 bags.

"Okay, he needs to buy 3 bags, then."

"Umm, I think they want to to figure out how much more...like two-point-something-or-other."

"Well, that's dumb, because you can't buy partial bags. And anyone leaving for 12 days should leave extra on hand, anyway, in case something happens -- you're not going to measure it out that precisely."

Next section, Venn diagrams. Coincidentally, Poppins posted a link to this site, just chock full of Venn diagrams, the same day we did this section. This was an easy, fun section.

Finally, patterns, sequences and function machines gave us tips on how to solve questions like: in the following sequence, what is the 500th term? 7, 16, 25, 34 .... (the answer is 4498, by the way).

Overall, it's been a fun week of math.

More Zoology

We've started our zoology block with an overview of humans. Much of this has taken place sort of casually, while we've been hanging around in the family room or dining room. Some comment will spark a discussion, and off we go.

We've discussed that humans can do a lot of things moderately well, while animals tend to do certain things extremely well (for example, my cat is much better than I at seeing in the dark, but he can't imitate bird whistles; actually, I can't imitate bird whistles, either, but I know people who can).

We talked about how interesting the human body is: the head is all hard and round on the outside, but squishy inside; the limbs are long and hard inside, but squishy outside; the trunk sort of mixes it up. The head doesn't do a lot of movement (much chomping of jaws and wiggling of noses occured during this discussion) compared to the limbs; and the trunk is somewhere in between, with so many of the automatic movements such as breathing, heartbeat and peristalsis occuring in it. The head has much to do with sensing things (taste, sight, smell, touch, hearing, balance) while the rest of the body doesn't have so many senses associated with it.

We talked about teeth.

We drew pictures of ourselves. We then drew more pictures of ourselves with a sun for a head (regally shining out over all), a moon (rhythmic) for a trunk, and shooting stars (with 5 points) for our limbs (this is a classic Waldorf exercise) and then drew several other planets from our solar system (not classically Waldorf, but we had worked a lot on astronomy last year and felt like doing this). We read Walter de la Mare's poem Unstooping.

We also discussed what animals we would like to study. Often classes will study a head animal, a trunk animal, and a limb animal. Another way to split it up is a nerve-sense animal, a metabolic-limb animal, and a rhythmic functions animal. I chose the latter, partially because I could think of animals we're already familiar with in each category, and partially because Schad's Man and Mammal book splits up the mammals that way.

(Also, I really really did NOT want to do a cuttlefish as a head animal, since my kids have never seen nor heard of a cuttlefish before except in a Jane Yolen book; I think cuttlefish would be fine to study if we saw them in the fish market on a regular basis, but we don't. So, right there I was put off the entire idea that's bandied about to "start with a head animal and, oh, by the way, a cuttlefish would be great for this". I'd like the basis for this study to be looking more deeply at what we've already seen on a fairly regular basis, sharpening our powers of observation.)

So I opened the discussion for which 3 mammals we'd like to focus on: some sort of rodent (nerve-sensing: mice, hamsters, squirrels, chipmunks, rats, etc.), some sort of hooved animal (metabolic-limb: cows, bison, horses, deer) and some sort of carnivore (rhythmic funcitons: cats, dogs). Later on we'll also look at birds (maybe focus on owls for a head animal, or maybe get around to using that Apologia book about birds) and perhaps fish, amphibians and/or reptiles. I picture this leading to some rabbit trails about what else we'd like to study in the animal kingdom.

I pretty much presented this as a menu of choices, "Okay, which of these would you like to do -- cows or horses or deer or bison? Okay, then let's also do something like cats or dogs or I guess we could do something like lions if you want -- which of those? And a rodent would be good -- which one?"

The kids chose mice, cats and deer. Cats and deer are plentiful around here -- we have 2 cats, and deer wander through our yard fairly regularly. We also have plenty of squirrels and chipmunks, but apparently mice are more appealing, so mice it is.

To be continued.