Tuesday Ten

Carole's topic for this week is ten favourite Thanksgiving side dishes. This leaves me a bit non-plussed - I think there's one with sweet potatoes that have little marshmallows in them, which would probably be a bit sweet for me, and maybe tater tots, which I don't think really go with a roast, but other than that I am drawing a blank.

So, instead - Ten Ruminations on November

1. The mud around the drama block has started to get all churned up again from students running across it in rugby studs.
2. Does it get this dark by 5pm EVERY year?
3. I quite like the mist, especially in the mornings. I used to hate it and thought it made the world look like Mordor.
4. The colours in the trees are at their most beautiful so far this year, when, curiously, the beautiful leaves on the tree outside my house were all blown away in the storm two weeks ago.
5. It's mighty chilly. I made it to half term without donning a pair of tights and thought I might continue afterwards. That didn't even last a day.
6. The sun feels just that bit more welcome now than it did in early July, when we seemed to be getting a bit over it.
7. I like it when the sun shines on the damp fences and they steam, gently.
8. I was already quite excited for Christmas this year, with no holidays booked to look forward to (I know, what is the world coming to?), and the current clutch of Christmas adverts has just made me even more excited. I am mainly excited about Christmas decorations and paraphernalia. I am less enamoured of the idea of shopping.
9. I need to knit myself a pair of November gloves, or handwarmers. It's not desperate enough yet for the thrummed mittens but I need SOMEthing.
10. The mitten is starting to get her winter beard back. There's an element of panic in her, I think. She is racing around the house as if she is hoping it will somehow all come loose and she will be spared the indignity of having us cut it off in December when she is unable to clean herself properly without getting it in her mouth.

Weekend FO: Cabo da Roca

If I wait for natural-light pictures it will be spring, so, without further ado - a mixture of with flash and without flash (and with pyjamas but nevermind)-



Pattern: Ingenue by Wendy Bernard
Yarn: Easyknits Deeply Wicked DK in Aquillian, 4 skeins
Needle: 4.5mm
Mods: I added an extra 30 rows or so to the body. I think it was 15 in between the shaping and 10 or 15 after the decreases. With hindsight, I could have afforded to do this on the sleeves, too - I am guessing my row gauge was off - but I can always rip back and add length at a later date if the shorter sleeves put me off wearing it.
To begin with I was worried it was a little short even after the extra rows, but then it blocked to the perfect length. I love it when that happens. 



I really love the colour. It reminds me of this yarn/top I knitted in yarn from UK Rav Day in Coventry, but which I rarely wear because it is felting under the arms and is a smidge too short.



I was slightly disappointed that one of the skeins was very uneven, but I worked two skeins together on the sleeves and it was OK. I think I probably wouldn't have needed the 5th skein at all, since the yarn went so far (and to think, I was concerned I would run out), but, you live and learn.



I want to pull it up over my face like this all the time. It is so very snug! I almost didn't want to stitch the flap down so it was easier to do this. Then Jenny at knitting group pointed out I could just knit myself a cowl with the leftover yarn, to warm my upper chest and chin area, if I so desired. Excellent idea.



(Incidentally, if anybody has any better ideas on how to pose for a knitted garment picture, I'm all ears. I expect you are as sick of seeing this pose as I am. Also this one really doesn't show off the sleeves very well.)

It went superquick. The whole thing took me three weeks, though I think I could have finished it sooner if I hadn't had to go to pesky work. I really enjoyed knitting top down with raglan sleeves and think this might be my favourite way of constructing sweaters.

I have high hopes for this being the first knitted garment I've finished where somebody asks me where I bought it, instead of if I made it. 

Weekend WIP

Some black lace for Parpy Jo.



I knitted Jo a white lace scarf from Victorian Lace Today a few years ago. She asked, this year, for a black on the same as a birthday gift. It feels like a lot of work but she is going to set a cameo I bought in Italy as a brooch for me, so it's a good swap, again.

Since her birthday was in June, though, I had really better get a wriggle on with this.

Do Islamists swim?

I go swimming most Sunday evenings; there's a very chatty gentleman that goes too. He is Asian and has a very long beard, but always wears a swim cap, which I find a bit paradoxical. He's very friendly and will chat to just about anybody between lengths.

A couple of weeks ago we were both resting in the deep end at the same time and I commented that he had changed his usual white swim cap for a black one. "Oh, yes!" he replied, "but I have the white one in my bag - it is a spare. I bought the new black one because the white one makes me stand out, you know. I am a Muslim, but there are certain Muslims who like to wear white hats like this and I don't want anybody to think I am that kind of Muslim."

He then proceeded to tell me a very amusing story about how he'd come swimming once without trunks and had to buy a pair, but found them much too tight and uncomfortable, only to discover, at the end of the class, that they were a child size M. He really is very pleasant.

It did make me think a bit, though - about the white swim cap. Does anybody look at Asian men swimming in the pool and wonder if they might be Islamists? I mean, presumably between all that jihad and bomb research they must like to get out for some leisure; and if it becomes the case, as predicted by a man on Radio 4 this week, that the council put sensors in the sewers to test for bomb-making chemicals, then washing it all off at the pool might become the best idea.

I do feel a bit sad for him though, that he even had to think about it when choosing a swim cap. Hopefully he was only joking.

Scenes from the classroom #3

Today's lesson with year 9 was about the Suffragettes.

Boy A: Miii iii iiisss....
Me: Yes?
A: Well...I don't want this to sound like...well, yknow....racist or anything, or offensive....
Me: (inner sigh) Yes.....
A: But the Suffragettes, Miss.....
....
......
Me: Yes, A? The Suffragettes....?
A: Well, Miss, if they REALLY wanted to fight for their cause Miss, wouldn't they have been like, lesbians?

Two asides here. Firstly, my students always seem to use the word racism to cover any kind of bigotry, whether racially motivated or otherwise. I put this down to poor vocabulary.
Secondly, we were encouraged earlier in the year to, instead of giving straight answers to such questions (or indeed, moving straight on from unusual answers), to first consider why the student might have said it in the first place and hopefully correct some subtle misunderstanding that might otherwise have been missed. Ie, we have been asked to try and consider the student's thought process before correcting them and moving on.

Me: (Pause) (Quite a long pause, because I couldn't work it out, though I did give it a good try)
Me: No.
A: Oh well Miss, it wasn't my question really you know, it was B's question, but when he asked it sort of...excited my curiosity Miss.
B: Yes, I just thought...well, you know....
Me: OK. No, they did not need to be lesbians. Being lesbians would not have helped their cause. The Suffragettes were fighting for the right to vote: therefore it did not matter with whom they were sleeping, because it hasn't got anything to do with getting the vote. Do you see?
A and B: Oh yes, Miss, OK, we understand.

So, now, the only link I can make is that someone has, at some point, told B that if feminists really wanted to be feminists they should be lesbians; or that all feminists are lesbians, or something. And now I feel I have to plan a lesson on feminism*. Also, because later on in the lesson somebody else asked why the Suffragettes didn't use sexual favours to win themselves the vote (though not in quite such a bald way as I have phrased it). What can I say? The hormones, they are raging. The whole class sniggered when I told them to turn to page 69.

I think secondary school textbooks should be printed without a page 69.

* Girl A will love that. Her sincerest wish after today's lesson was that she could go back in time so she could join the Suffragettes. I think she is awesome.

Fave Friday

Angelberry! This is a frozen yogurt shop on Bristol centre. I love visiting, mainly because it reminds me of our America trip in 2009 when I visited one next to Jimmy Beans in Reno and had yellow cake flavour with walnuts and blueberries.

Angelberry doesn't have yellow cake flavour, but it is still definitely worth a visit.

Portugal: The Edge of the World

I never did blog about my little trip to Lisbon in May, and now seems as good a time as any. I have a few of these lined up for the next few weeks. It's always fun to look at pictures of sunny holidays when it's dark and dreary, isn't it? And it has felt very dark today.

We spent one day on a train journey and a rickety bus to the coast, to visit Cabo da Roca. It's the most westerly point in Europe. I really could have stood there staring at the sea for hours - the colours kept changing. But Tutty wouldn't let me, and since she'd already sacrificed part of her holiday for my day at the tile museum, I just took lots of pictures of it. Now I think my new blue jumper is going to be named Cabo da Roca.

The rock formations reminded me a lot of the Great Ocean Road in Australia.

That's probably not surpising, since both coasts have been battered by enormous waves. It's clearly not exactly the same type of rock, and in fact, looking over these pictures again, I remember that I meant to ask Tom about it because there are a couple of different types.

I uploaded one like this to Facebook and tagged him. He was most unhappy. "That's not fair. You can't say you're "with me" when you've got that amazing near vertical bedding and sea stacks.... and I can see Swindon train station."

I got a bit caught up in the history of the place - Lisbon is dripping with its explorer heritage - and spent some time imagining how sailors must have felt 600 years ago, staring out across the ocean and wondering when the heck it might end.

It was quite an adventure getting there. Getting the train tickets was not straightforward, although it should have been. We attempted to use the self-service machines and got in a bit of a pickle. I managed to get my ticket but couldn't remember what I'd pressed to get it. Then these two young guys came over to help. They were dressed in low slung scruffy jeans and caps and I saw Tutty visibly tense and try to back away, while I instinctively zipped up my bag; we'd both been reading about the pick pockets around the train station. However, they spoke English, were very polite and were able to help her in spite of her trying to go to the ticket window instead. I guess that says a lot about judging a youth by his clothing.

When I was looking back through my pictures on the DSLR on the train, though, the conductor came along and told me it would be a good idea for me to keep it out of sight, so perhaps being overly-cautious was not a bad idea.