Beading Banquet

Today has been a beautiful day.  The temperature reached fifty degrees, so there was lots of melting going on.  I went out to Jacci's house where we had a Beading Banquet.  We made jewelry and had brunch.  Jacci made a delicious quiche and fruit, and we spent the afternoon at the dining room table creating.  I was braiding beads into a necklace.  Jacci was using silver wire and turquoise to make a beautiful necklace.  She actually knows what she's doing, whereas I just string beads.  It was so much fun!

Dog News

Miss Winniekins

Bailey spends a lot of time sleeping on the back of the couch and love seat.  This start when he was little and lived with Zoe, and it has continued now that Winnie has joined our family.  He feels safer up there.

Clever Yarn Caddie

A friend on Plurk recently showed a picture of a yarn caddie she found.  Her caddie is a spindle that spins as you unwind the yarn.  I was delighted when I found this one in one of the booths at the craft fair.  This is the Cadillac of yarn caddies.  You can actually fit two balls of yarn on this one (or one large ball) and you have a place to store extra knitting needles or crochet hooks.

Of course I had to buy one.  My yarn looked a lot better before Miss Winniekins mistook it for a dog toy and started tossing it around.

Gourd Art

The Arts and Crafts Show is going on at the fairgrounds this weekend.  I haven't been there in a while, so I decided to go walk around today.  My friend Chris Arvizu and her friends P.J. and Tim were there.  Tim is a wood carver, as is Chris.  These carved and painted gourds are amazing.

A Class of Cartoonists

We are working on functional writing. That's the everyday writing we all do, like writing directions, recipes, persuasive paragraphs, and cartooning.  The kids are loving the cartooning part.  We read part of the book 1-2-3 Draw Cartoon People.  The kids are turning those ideas into great cartoon characters.

Snow Flocked World

Winter made it's return on Thursday night.  We woke on Friday to a snow flocked world. It was really beautiful.

Winnie versus the Oreck

I do not vacuum nearly as much as I should.  When I do get the urge, Winnie makes it a much more challenging job than it used to be.  That's because she races around in circles, barking and attacking the vacuum cleaner.

Trader Joe's

Last Sunday I made my first real shopping trip to Trader Joe's.  I actually went into the store a year ago, shortly after it opened, but it was so incredibly crowded that I left with out buying anything. Now that it's been open a year, things have calmed down a bit.  They're still busy, but you can at least move through the aisles.  I bought a few things, and I'm sure I will go back.

Button Tab Hat

This is my first time knitting a hat. It was also my first time knitting in the round and using double pointed needles.  Good thing there were five bamboo needles in the package, because Winnie chewed up one.  I made a few mistakes along the way, but I learned a lot, and it fits.  I am really enjoying the time I spend knitting.

Waiting for Dinner

Jasmine Thai Cuisine is a great restaurant in Altoona.  Their food is delicious.  Jacci and I met there for dinner on Friday evening.

The Bows Win

I decided to go with the bows.  So I made another one and sewed them on.  These simple little slippers are so comfortable.

Sock Yarn

I signed up to take a sock knitting class at Knitting Next Door.  It begins in March, but I picked up my supplies today.  I met my teacher, and she helped me select the things I need.  This yarn  is going to make some pretty snazzy socks.

With a Bow or Without?

What do you think?  Do you like these slippers better with a bow or without?  I can tell you that they are really comfy.

Double Point Needles

My knitting skills are getting better. I'm trying things I've never tried before, like knitting with seed stitch and using double pointed knitting needles.  This is a hat that I am knitting for me.  So far, so good!

Lips and Mustaches

The kids were looking a little different after our party.

Mailboxes

It's not even Valentine's Day yet, be we already had our class party.  We had it on Friday, and the kids made some great mailboxes to collect their cards and candy in.

Yarn Shopping

I went yarn shopping today.  I stopped in this little shop on Friday.  I had found it via a Google search, and a friend at school told me about the quilt shop next door.  The clerk was very friendly, and as I looked around, she told me about the Sunday sale.  It was a bustling place today, with lots of people just sitting and knitting.  It was really hard to make a decision, but I did buy yarn for two projects.

Snow

We finally had a real snow storm.  We got about four and a half inches here in Des Moines.  Originally I was planning to go out to Costco for groceries, but I opted instead, for Hy-Vee, just 3 blocks away.  It is very pretty.  As I look down the street today, mine is the only driveway that hasn't been shoveled, so I still have that ahead of me.

New Desk Arrangement

About once a month, or sometimes more often, I need to rearrange seating.  I was trying to figure out something new to do when I saw this website, called Classroom Desk Arrangement.  You enter how many students you have, and it gives ideas.  It did make me wonder how big those classrooms on the website are, because our 28 desks take up a lot more space than that.  I did come up with this new arrangement. We are in groups, but for the most part we can all easily face toward the front of the room.  The arrangement by the door still needs some tweaking.