Tuesday Ten

Ten Noteworthy Events of the Last 24 Hours

1. Malaysia launch meeting - 43 sets of parents, I thank you. Whittling down the letters of application to a mere 16 is going to be a toughie this year.

2. Wispa Gold. I ate it after dinner last night....and tonight. The love affair continues, even though I feel like boycotting Cadbury since their latest piece of news. I am going to miss seeing that factory twinkling from the ring road when I drive home in the dark.

3. I was deliberately obtuse and bunked a lesson supervising my class in the hall and used it to plan my cover for the next two days. Nobody actually told me I was meant to be there so I used it to my advantage. I have teh guilt, because my friend Caroline is directing the production so it was her who was let down. She didn't seem to mind though, as she got new boots today.

4. I bought a ticket for the production on Tuesday and Caroline asked me to do front of house, so I feel like I am repaying her a bit. This year we're doing We Will Rock You. I love a bit of Queen.

5. My new pink velvet coat shipped. Half price in the sale! Loves it.


Yes, of course it's Boden.

6. I finished the first sleeve of the baby jumper, unpicked and 3NBO'd the shoulder I'd done wrong, seamed the sides and wove in all the ends. Now just one sleeve, seaming the sleeves in and the collar to go. I love fast baby projects.

7. I familiarised myself with the Shirley sweater pattern, ready for swatching. I really should be swatching now, rather than knitting this baby jumper, so I am all ready for casting on on Saturday: Ravelympics, day 1. But I have a lot of marking to do. Which is why I am blogging, and watching Die Hard.

8. I realised part of the Die Hard score is Winter Wonderland rescored to have a menacing, growly sound. I can't tell you how many times I have seen this film, and never noticed.

9. I watched The September Issue. Meh. I can't help but feel Anna Wintour was being disingenuous when she talked about her noble brothers and sister thinking what she did was a joke. Surely she's earning more than them combined, not to mention being easily the most influential of them all: the last laugh, I feel, lies at her door.
And since she talked about fashion being a serious thing at the start, I don't think she can then expect us to feel sorry that her siblings might look down on her: surely that can't make her feel bad, if she believes her own spin?
And, really, Grace Coddington could do with a conditioning treatment and a lesson in how to walk in flats, she looked like Stig of the Dump tramping through those halls.
Good clothes, though. I loved that gigantic knitwear they were photographing for the texture piece. And I love Grace in general. Except I think she'd totally dismiss me for wearing so much Boden.

10. I enjoyed reading this article about the relative merits of Kits Kats and bananas. I liked the bit about the Dangers.

Tuesday Ten

Ten Reasons to be Cheerful (again)

1. Ebay. Perfume going for more than I paid for it. Result! Which leads to...

2. Chanel sunglasses. I decided they were too frivolous for buying with real money, especially because I am terrible with looking after sunglasses, so I set myself the task of raising enough money on ebay for them. I am currently a scant (!) £70 away with 5 days left on my extremely popular auctions.

3. Fireflies by Owl City. It really reminds me of something but I don't know what.

4. New skirt coming from Boden soon.

I love when Boden release their spring catalogue. How summery is this skirt? I am going to be living in it, especially since the sad demise of my workhorse denim skirt, which finally wore away at a seam this winter.
The new skirt will go with my favoured sunglasses, which have denim arms and red frames but are not nearly as dodgy as they sound (cannot find a picture of them anywhere, though).

5. The functionality of this SuperMacbook which sucks all my time in the evenings now it sits by my chair, with a siren song coming from Facebook, Ravelry etc. It is easy to use, though. I didn't have to go through right click, save etc with that Boden snap - I can just highlight a bit of the page and take a picture of it which goes right to the desktop. Did you know that? I think it is very clever.

6. Tomorrow is Happy Wednesday: I don't have to drive to work or teach until after break, and I've got belly dancing with Parpy Jo in the evening.

7. Glee. Especially this bit of the football team dancing and Kurt making the goal in the episode which aired here yesterday. It may be my favourite bit of TV so far this decade.

8. Travels. I booked tickets to Malaysia for the summer holidays, Caroline from work and I are going to see an ex-colleague, Rhiannon; and I booked train tickets to Manchester for Feb 13th to see Sian, and then I'm going to visit Jen and the mini-Jen (or, more correctly, mini-Ben since she is the absolute spit of her daddy) afterwards.

9. Cadbury Caramel Bunnies. Small, yet perfectly formed.

10. I am having trouble thinking of number 10 because I just remember that fricking Ofsted still have not been in and the whole school is wound tight as a very tightly wound spring that won the Most Tightly Wound ribbon at a tightly wound spring contest. At least I haven't lost my sense of humour....yet.

Tuesday Ten

Ten Warm Things

1. Hot water bottles. I am now grateful that Mother Hand keeps them bringing them to my home and leaving them behind.
2. Duvets.
3. Thermal tops - especially this handy sport one I am currently wearing, on which I cut the neckline down so I can wear it under my summer dresses.
4. Central Part Hoodie, made from Debbie Bliss Maya. I promise, if I'm not at work tomorrow, that I will (think about) finally picking up for the button band on it.
5. Thrummed mittens. I have a desperate wish to thrum myself a catsuit right about now.
6. My classroom. I think myself and Ian (in the other half of the mobile) are the only people able to control our own thermostats.
7. Malaysia. It was warm there. I remember lying awake at night trying to decide which was the lesser evil - the heat or the air conditioner noise. Good times.
8. Curtains. They at least keep the heat in even if they are not independently warm. I must get some for the enormous French door at the back of the house.
9. The Mitten. Though, admittedly not at the moment - she has just been out in the snow. She looks like the snow now.
10. My fur lined duvet duck slippers, annoying though they may be (they are shedding feathers all over the house)


It is snowing again. Work tomorrow is looking unlikely, though this is not really a good thing because I think school will still be open, so cover will need to be set....and I have things to do, dagnabbit! But Mr Z snaked all over the road when he went out to fetch us dinner earlier and he saw a transit van do a nifty sideways curb mounting move, so I don't think driving seems like a good plan.

The worst part of it is, the snow is very wet, because it's rain coming from the Atlantic and hitting the cold front from the east. It's not fluffy snow like last week - so that means that, even though it's not officially as cold as it was last week, it's so mofoing DAMP. It's get-into-your-bones cold. Worse, in my opinion.

I am too depressed and cold to even knit. Though, at least I can catch up on some sleep tomorrow if I'm not going in.

Tuesday Ten

Ten New Year's Resolutions

1. Lose weight. 15lbs by the end of the year (let's start realistically)

2. Read a book every month.

3. Declutter the house. I have started well - I am doing 20 minutes a day. My bookcase no longer looks like it is about to collapse any second.

4. Finish a knitting project every month - at least one. The stripey cardigan counts!

5. Halve my credit card debt. I hate paying it off, but have started to put whatever I have left in my account at the end of the month towards it.

6. Make an effort with the garden on a regular basis. I hate that it looks so messy.

7. Not get sunburned. I have found half a dozen bottles of suncream which I must dot around everywhere I go - car, gym bag (snort), work desk....

8. Make inroads into stash. This is not just yarn; this also includes wax tarts, perfume and bath products. This goes hand in hand with....

9. Buy less. At least whilst decluttering. I really want to buy some of the Jimmy Beans ltd edn Lorna's Laces this month but I am not allowing myself to, because I cannot find a project to match it with. Though...damn, it would make a GREAT clapotis....

10. Take more photographs. Of everything. Then maybe I will get better at it!


Henry the wondrous car of miracles has a cracked windscreen. I am hoping it might heal before Autoglass can finally make it (Friday...5 days after I rang them!) and I might get my £75 excess back. The worst part of it is, we haven't even got any snow, so we don't even get tomorrow off work!

Tuesday Ten

No, I'm not dead. I had the annual KS4 weekend away this weekend past which was amazingly fun and very low maintenance but required me to be absent from my home for a few days, and last week I was out every night, so blogging time has been in short supply. Blogger is on the work blocklist and I could access it through the unfiltered proxy but I have a sneaking suspicion that is more closely monitored and anyway I'd have to use IE. BLERGH.

But anyway.

So, I found out that I stole Tuesday Ten from another blog I read but that it is actually a big blog thing thing and there is a weekly Ten on Tuesday topic posted over here. So, I have stalked the blog for the past few days waiting for the topic and slightly relieved I didn't have to think up my own topic; only, it has not been updated. BOO.

Ten Things That Made Me Happy/Laugh This Week

1. Sweet, sweet karma.
My year 13s told me off about laughing at this but I couldn't stop, in spite of the fact somebody got really ill and that's in no way funny. I don't know if humans are responsible for climate change, but climate change IS happening and the fact that this guy went to a climate change conference, said it was rubbish and then had a heart attack....well. I found it funny.

2. This new pattern on Knitty.
I had a little fake moustache pattern that you put on your finger in my queue for a while, but I like this better. Funny!

3. This article on TreeHugger
(TreeHugger has had a lot of reading from me so far this week)
It's making me want to plan a whole new camping trip to the US, although I can't make it a reality until 2012, thanks to other holiday plans.

4. Getting a Christmas card from Australia. It was from my friend Beccy and her new husband Ian. I couldn't figure it out.

5. Fixed chair. My armchair has had broken springs for as long as I can remember and required me to sit on 2 cushions and 2 blankets and it was STILL low. Then Mr Z fixed a computer for an upholsterer. Today my chair returned, good as new.

6. New pattern. I knitted cabled beaded wrist warmers, based on a pattern I made up as a new knitter, and they turned out lovely. I am going to write the pattern up and put it on here. I might even get to keep them, because I made them as a secret Santa gift for somebody at work who had opted out of secret Santa.
They were my weekend FO for this week but I haven't had time to make a post. Maybe tomorrow?

7. It's almost the end of term. And Ofsted didn't come in. But the governors did, to ask us how we thought school was going. That was a long meeting. I got a lot off my chest. Very cathartic.

8. Baths. Lush. Especially at this time of year.

9. Seeing friends. We had a ski trip staff meal last Wednesday and I had Ali and Parpy Jo over on Sunday for Chinese and X Factor. It really makes me more relaxed for the rest of the week.

10. Scrabble games that aren't Scrabble. I learnt speed Scrabble and anagrams at the weekend, which are both played with Scrabble tiles but no board. I killed at both of them. I am a Scrabblemeister. I wish that was cool....

Tuesday Ten

Ten Things I Would Like To Achieve before 2010

1. I want my Ravelry queue (92 items) to be smaller than my projects page (87). I would like to achieve this without deleting 5 items from my queue.

2. I will get over my irrational fear of the knitted join and add the border to Parpy Jo's scarf, and I will do this in the next fortnight, so that I can finally give it to her.

3. Knit the same Parpy Jo a hat for Christmas, that she has been hankering after.

4. Write some Christmas cards. I stopped several years ago, expecting that after a year or two people would stop sending them to me, but this has not worked and I just have teh guilt. I am putting a limit on it, though. 20, I think.

5. Knit a gift for my Secret Santa (isn't it weird how a lot of these goals relate to number 1?) This year I have drawn one of the textiles teacher, and her entire degree was in knitting. Oh crap. BUT she has never held a knitting needle in her life! It was all machine knitting. So some handwarmers are probably going to be just the ticket.

6. Mark all exercise books before the end of term and plan the first week of lessons for January, so I can relax over the holidays and just concentrate on writing new schemes of work and maybe some coursework marking.

7. Maintain my current weight. I may as well ask the fish to stop swimming, I fear.

8. Write my New Year's Resolutions in a findable place. I have just spent 20 minutes trawling fora, looking for them. No luck yet.

9. Print photographs (especially wedding pictures) and get them into albums and onto walls.

10. Receive many compliments on my new hat.

I have tired hamster face tonight.

Much better view.

Pattern: Star-crossed Slouchy Beret by Natalie Larson (free Rav download).
Yarn: Knitpicks Andean silk I got in a US/UK yarn swap; it is LUSH. It's much greener than the picture suggests. Kind of like, a dark jade.
Needle: 8mm Knitpicks circ
Mods: I knit the brim as a 2x2 rib because, honestly, who has time for a 1x1 at this time of year? I unintentionally used the same size needle for the ribbing as the rest of the hat, so it's not as snug as I would like, but it hangs off my head really nicely and it's superwarm. And it went so quick. Four hours, max.

As predicted, I had to scrape my car for the first time this morning, but the rain has set in again this evening which is what the hat is REALLY useful for. I want to knit another one right this second, but I really must do the lace scarf border. How badly can it go?

Tuesday Ten

Ten Things It's Tough To Do With Jet Lag

1. Teach
2. Form coherent sentences
3. Knit (I know....horrifying)
4. Be pleasant and forgiving to your lift-share person when she tells you she can't drive all this week as promised because she has to take her car in for an MOT on Friday, and you've booked your car in to have the scary rattle fixed on Friday
5. Remember when you were told to input the year 8 data/understand why you haven't done it yet
6. Catch up on all the TV that's been recorded (I can't concentrate)
7. Return the phone call to the parent wanting to cancel the ski trip place (I'm sure she's going to argue with me about the money because we warned we wouldn't refund anything paid up to this point, and I just don't have any fighting spirit....I might write a letter instead)
8. Make interesting and witty blog posts
9. Upload holiday pictures to Flickr
10. Remember to put a title for your blog post

I think I should just give up and go to bed. It's very windy outside: just the sort of blustery evening that's best spent in bed, imo. I did sleep very well last night and felt quite with it all day, but then we got stuck in a traffic jam outside Bath because a tractor towing a trailer of 100 pigs was blown over and blocked the road, and by the time I got home I was fit for nowt.

Ramble, ramble....I promise, more effort tomorrow.

Tuesday Ten

Ten Things I Have Done Today

1. Visited the Cameron Highlands
2. Eaten a scone and jam in a very British manner
3. Trekked through some jungle
4. Fallen on my behind and skidded halfway down the path, thus making it muddy and slick for everybody who came after, ha ha ha.
5. Been round the Boh tea plantation, seen tea being processed and drunk some orange pekoe tea on the terrace, with a slice of chocolate cake, natch
6. Bought Teresa's tea and even taken a picture of a small, blue house I found on the plantation (though not THE blue house from the picture she posted last week)
7. Marvelled at the lovely weather and been thankful that the rain held off and it was cool for walking in the jungle
8. Watched part of the Battle of the Bands, until one band butchered Mr Brightside and It's My Life by Bon Jovi in one set and I could take no more
9. Unsuccessfully tried to upload pictures here, and Flickr - you'll have to wait a bit longer
10. Got chewed by mosquitoes because the only place I could get the wireless to work was outside in the quad and it's around 11pm. I am going in now, links and pictures tomorrow hopefully.

Tuesday Ten

Ten things on my mind

1. Fresh sheets. On the bed now, waiting for me. Am going to have trouble finishing this post.
2. Wow, that rhubarb and Greek yogurt I had earlier was delicious. I can't wait for rhubarb season to come round again.
3. This week is going to pass way too quickly.
4. I have to mark those essays in the morning or Megan in my year 12 class will give me the disappointed look again.
5. My foot hurts from driving the minibus for the first time all the way to the ski slope and back.
6. Thank goodness I didn't have an accident in the minibus.
7. Why did the minibus milometer say I had driven 190 miles when it is only 120 round trip?
8. I can't be bothered to clean my teeth (but I will because I am not a rebel in this respect)
9. My feet are cold; I wonder if I can sweet talk Mr Z into making me a hot water bottle.
10. OMG I can't believe I have to get up for work in 7 and a half hours.

Tuesday Ten

My Ten Current Favourite Things To Do

1. Facebook Scrabble. I am very good at it now.
2. Scramble, on Mr Z's iphone (or Boggle online)
3. Scrapbooking from fashion magazines. This is especially fun at the moment because they're crammed full of knitwear.
4. Knitting, particularly the grey cardigan, which is coming close to being finished (maybe another week?)
5. Baking, with pumpkin. I made this cheesecake at the weekend, it was delish.
6. Reading. I am still plugging away with the House of Niccolo series by Dorothy Dunnett, but mostly I am reading portions of newspaper, or bits of knitting books, because I am so tired by the time I get to bed.
7. Daydreaming about going to Malaysia in 10 days. TEN DAYS!! I need to buy bug spray.
8. Watching The Wire. I'm onto series 3 now. I am also loving Strictly Come Dancing, and the Closer.
9. Napping. I have been doing a lot of that this week.
10. Blogging. I refuse to say I'm doing NaBloPoMo, because (a) it's a national thing and I am not American, and (b) I can't guarantee I'll be able to blog in Malaysia. But I am going to try and post every day in November.

Watch me not post tomorrow, now.

Tuesday Ten

Ten Things I Have To Do This Week

1. Give a presentation to all the AG&T parents tomorrow. Eek. I hate speaking to large groups of people.
2. Get travel shots for Malaysia. I thought I needed Typhoid, Hep-A and Tetanus. The nurse has added Polio and Diphtheria and wants to talk about Malaria. Yikes.
3. Get to bed before 10.30pm one night. I'm being attacked by a cold, I will not give in. If I can think of seven more things quickly, that night will be tonight.
4. Meet with the AG&T year 11s and ask them what they want to do for their weekend away this year. One of them caught me in the playground to ask me if it was happening and when I said yes, she and her friend actually jumped for joy. I love it when the kids are geeks.
5. Do something with that beetroot I cooked on Sunday and haven't done anything with.
6. ...but generally, eat less. I ate too much today. By-product of being tired and under attack from germs.
7. Add five repeats to Jo's scarf by the end of Friday.
8. Take my car into the garage. Henry's knocking on the side where the suspension broke in February. He's also getting a little rusty, the cradle for the spare is broken, he needs a new rear wiper blade, and the clock has started randomly going backwards on occasion.
There goes the extra money from the payrise this month...
9. Book an appointment with the beautician for Saturday.
10. And maybe the hairdresser. I will decide that when I get the bill for my car.


Also, I totally finished the tea cosy tonight:



Pattern: Debbie Bliss 24 Tea Cosy/Mug cosies
Needle: 4mm bamboo straights
Yarn: Cascade 220

Took a week. It might have been less, but I have a lot of other projects OTNs, in case you hadn't noticed.

One WIP down, six to go. Oh yeah. I am going to be all fresh and ready for brand new projects in November, you mark my words!

Tuesday Ten

Ten things I'd like to knit by the end of the year

1. A tea cosy. The new deputy head requires one, and I like her, and I have lots of leftover red and purple wool (her favourite colours) and a handy pattern from the Debblie Bliss A/W08 magazine. I don't reckon it'll take me longer than a weekend.

2. A cabled beret. I like this one by Ysolda Teague, but there is a similar one in the aforementioned Debbie Bliss mag, which I have already paid for, so I might try my hand at that one instead. I have some teal Knitpicks Andean Silk, which I got in a swap, all ready for it.

3. Colourwork mittens. Something using the purple Andean Silk from the same swap, and the skein of Noro Silk Garden I will have leftover from the Candy cardigan I'm knitting right now. There are a few patterns out there I like, especially the Bird in Hand mitts, but I'll probably try and come up with my own design.

4. Thrummed slippers. I have some red roving for thrums and some chunky purple Sirdar softee. I want my feet to be as toasty as my hands.

5. WIP - Candy cardigan. It's knitting up quickly - I am proud to say that, at the weekend, I picked up and knit the bottom ribbed edge AND picked up for the top portion as well. I picked up 400 odd stitches, with only a little complaining. In fact, Mr Z complained more, because I required something mindless to watch whilst doing the second picking up, and made him sit through three episodes of Housewives of New Jersey, back to back.
Anyway, I intend to have that cardigan put to bed before October half term, but we'll see.
And yes, that big chunk of grass on the right of the picture DID end up caught up in the knitting - and yes, I will pay more attention to where I lay it down in future.

6. WIP - Jo's lace scarf. After getting the hang of it and adding several inches in just a couple of days, I have now cast it aside in favour of Candy, which makes me a promiscuous knitter, as well as a bad friend. I am on a deadline for this since I want Parpy Jo to have it as the weather turns cold, so I am going to set Candy on the back burner and get on with this. At the end of the week.
Maybe the start of next week.

7. WIP - Bamboo wrap top - aka "half term finisher". This is the project that I intend to concentrate on during my break, as it's a summer top and will be useful for my impending trip to Malaysia. I need to get over my fear that it will be too big - it's a WRAP top, it hardly matters.

8. WIP - red cardigan. I started the red cardigan for a June wedding and knitted the whole back in just one day, whereupon (regular readers might remember) I discovered my gauge was off, and threw it aside in a fit of pique.
The time has come for the red cardigan to come back out of the wilderness. I have on at least three occasions wished the red cardigan were in a wearble state since I started back in September, as it would make an excellent little cover up for a number of my summer dresses.

(I should here insert two more WIPs which are crying out for my attention, but I'm not going to lie to you - I probably won't get them off the needles by the end of the year).

9. Mr Z's Binary scarf. I have had the yarn for TWO YEARS and now I've done a colourwork workshop, I have absolutely no excuses. I have earmarked this as a Christmas holiday project...probably the Christmas holiday project.

10. A self-designed navy jacket, to incorporate the dichroic glass buttons I bought at Fibrefest. I have a picture in my head of how I want it to look; I just need to find some suitable yarn (something quite stiff and jackety) and put some numbers down on paper.

It's hard to pick just ten, really, especially since I quite urgently want to start a bag soon, and I haven't even thought about Christmas gift projects. It feels weird not to be knitting hats, since last autumn was consumed by them. I am starting to get a bit twitchy about all the projects I have OTNs - I can't look at them on my Rav page for too long before I start to want them to disappear - but I don't want to have another month where I can't start anything, like April was.

That said, I have one day left of September. If I cast on for a couple of things tonight and tomorrow, I can make October a no-starting month and still have plenty to play with.

You're a sneaky one, Mrs T.

Tuesday Ten

Ten things I would like to say to the girls at this school

1. That foundation is the wrong colour. And it's too thick.
2. If you MUST cake it on, go and try a few shades on and look at them in natural light - pick the one that blends in most, not the tanned colour you wish to be - and invest in a decent foundation brush and a smoothing sponge.
3. Try mineral foundation. It will be better for those spots which aren't improving, thanks to their thick caking with cheapo foundation.
4. Eyelash combs - essential if you insist on wearing 12 coats of mascara.
5. Footless tights are not leggings. They require you to wear a top/dress/skirt that covers your arse - because they are see through.
6. The world will not end if your hair is not poker straight. You might feel like it has ended, though, when your hair falls out because of over-styling.
7. Screeching swear words across the playground is not classy. Stop it.
8. STAY AWAY from that vile boy in year 10 who shall not be named. HE IS DISGUSTING. You can all do a lot better.
9. You don't smell. Stop putting on body spray in my room.
10. Pick your battles. Teenaged girls are bitchy and will always be so. Ignoring it does not make you weak.

Tuesday Ten

As the winner of the Class of 2009's Most Stylish Teacher Award, I thought it only fitting that I should now bring you...

Ten Tips To Steal My Style

1. Dress for your shape. Yes, it makes me sad that I can't really wear a shirt dress (instantly smart, I think), that I don't have the neck for a turtleneck (they look so snug!) and that to wear bodycon would be a complete betrayal of my genetic legacy, but putting these things on won't change the facts. On the other hand, I rock the strapless prom and wrap dresses; and hats, along with most styles of sunglasses, suit me.

2. Dress for your size. If I could have one wish, it would be for sizes not to matter anymore. Why ruin a perfectly good outfit by pouring yourself into a size 10 when you're actually a size 12? It's not a good look. Nobody ever looked stylish in clothes they feared to break wind in.
It works the other way, too. I spent many of my formative years in outsize clothes, and I wince to think of it, in the same way most people do when they look back at their childhood birthday party outfits. You want a clean silhouette, and to get it you need a nice drape, and nice drape can't happen when the clothes are barely touching the body.

3. Have a signature portion to your look. Keep one part of it instantly recognisable, as a way of keeping a running theme through your outfits. I had a friend at school who never went out without plenty of red lipstick on. I find you can dress as outrageously as you please but if you keep that one thing the same, people won't be surprised.
Of course, your one thing might be that you're always different. And hats off to you, for being so original. Now, go away and stop proving my theory wrong.

4. Find your niche. I was surprised when I received my award, because not many teenagers would regard an endless parade of jersey dresses, handknits, polka dots and Boden as stylish. It seems knowing what works for me and sticking with it has come to fruition. It may not be their idea of style, but it is a definite style.

5. Have a couple of crazy fashion rules. If the Americans can have that slightly bizarre "No white after Labor Day" thing, there's room for a few more. They don't have to make sense to anybody except you. My fashion rule is that I don't wear green - it's for leaves. I very rarely break this rule. Brown used to be in the same category but I couldn't fight that battle forever, being both a brunette and a fan of leopard print.

6. Invest in things that help. My handbag liner was one of my smartest buys ever, because now each one of my two dozen handbags sees the light of day at least three times a year, and I am never without lip balm/safety pins/work keys. Good underwear also falls into this category - and certainly helps with #4.

7. Customise a little. Elle blogger Laurelle Gilbert recommended adding some studs to the collar of a plain white blouse to get on trend this autumn. This is a marvellous plan, which I shall be following, as soon as I remember to buy a white blouse. And some studs.
Sequins are looking popular for 2010, so there's plenty of time to get a bit handy with a needle and thread - even if it's just your socks. And there’s a lot of very lovely knitwear about these days, too.

8. Bend trends to your will. When I went shopping for new school clothes at the end of the summer, there was much gnashing of teeth as I realised that all those cute jumper dresses didn’t cover that mole on my thigh which is my hem length for decency; and, as a leggings reject (see #1), they were sadly unsuitable for sporting outside, let alone at work in a secondary school.
However, I soon realised I'd given up too easily. Enter, the wide legged trouser and the chunky waist belt.

9. Know your limits. It takes a lot of effort to look fabulous every day. Have a back up plan. When I'm tired and overworked, the black clothes come out, as if I am reverting back to my sloppy student days - only now, the black clothes are of better quality. And clean. And there is only one set of them, so I can't stay lazy for long. Going back to black removes any issues about matching accessories or shoes, and gives me time to sort out my signature hair. And my classes have it figured out now – black outfit = short fuse; shut up and get on with work. See? My style helps in my job.

10. Wear it with confidence. Who cares what they think? The vast majority of women are more interested in their own appearance than yours, anyway, unless you happen to be strutting down Christopher Kane's runway.

Tuesday Ten

Ten Things That Have Happened Since Last Tuesday

1. Challenge Days at work. Typically, the first day was shocking, as one might imagine it would be - an interfaculty project, running of the first time, with no dedicated planning time provided. I was so pissed off by the end of day one I threw a sulky fit in the post-mortem, when everyone talked over me and ignored what I had to say. Day 2 was much better. It's still not a patch on enrichment week, though.

2. Having a year 7 class again. Awww! They're all so cute and eager! They do that hands-up thing where they push their arms with their other hand to make it go higher! They get out of their seats and bring me their work to praise! Bless.

3. Reunited with my year 12s from last year. Except all the dross has been weeded out. As I predicted, 6 out of 7 pupils sitting on the left of the room failed, while 9 out of 10 on the other side passed. I have kept the right side, in more ways than one. I was totally missing my new-term buzz until today, when I was obviously so sub-cosnciously excited about seeing year 13 I left the staffrom a full 8 minutes before the end of lunch to make sure everything was properly prepared. This is unheard of. Buzz has finally arrived. Excited about the new year.

4. Found a use for Guam/Puerto Rico state quarters. The lady in the educational supplies shop in Reno tried to take my Guam quarter and I made her give it back. I collect, for no apparent reason. But today year 13 kicked off with the Spanish-American war and the quarters had a purpose! Why do Guam and Puerto Rico have state quarters and yet Cuba doesn't? I asked. They are going away to read about it.

5. Recruited for remarks. And getting a nice hefty cut of the remark charge. Not loving the tough stance though - "Keep the mark the same if you can cos otherwise the schools will lose confidence..." le sigh. Those kids who missed a C by one mark from my class aren't going up a grade, are they? Bloody system. I hate the system.

6. SHOPPING. Mmmmmm, shopping. I went to M&S for some coloured tights. I bought said tights, in teal and purple....plus seamed stockings, four rings, a silvered leather belt, a new bra, a navy polka dot cardigan which will go with many summer things, thus extending my wardrobe through the seasons, and has already been worn and much complimented (see how well I justify it?) and this skirt.

I am HANGING OUT for the day it's cold enough to wear this little piece of lushness. The stripes don't seem quite as garish in the real thing, and it's felted the way you'd make felt with a rolling pin, so they blend a lot better towards the bottom, almost in a wispy way. And it has a killer flare. The seamed stockings are for this skirt. It's got that prim worst witch thing going on which demands some sort of surprise.

7. Banned self from shopping again until the end of the month (except Mr Z's birthday present). But at least I didn't buy any more shoes.

8. Got blisters from new shoes. This makes me sad. They are a beautiful blue confection from the Jones sale and I wore them on Hell Challenge Day, and I haven't been able to wear shoes with a back ever since. Bad shoes. And yet, so good.

9. Went for curry at Shadin in Staple Hill. I had banana curry that was just pineapple (no banana), and duck and pumpkin curry that I'm fairly sure was some sort of elderly lamb. But they got mega points for presentation and the food was all delicious, even if somewhat...surprising.

10. Started a scrap book. If I am going to start forking out for fashion mags again, you can bet I'll be keeping chunks of them. I am now plotting three new knitting designs, based on other people's designs. I've only recently started to make up my own designs a bit more regularly, again spurred on by mega (over generous) compliments from knitting group friends about my suck-it-and-see approach. It made me remember when I started knitting and there was no Ravelry, and how I'd just try things out to see if they worked. Hence, the DK cotton running mitt. Error. But there were some good things.
Now I just need to finish all the things I have on the needles. I have an unprecedented four projects OTNs at the moment - well, four that I wouldn't class as UFOs - and I'm finding it difficult to keep track of my needle tips. I need to get some knitting done (more knitting, less shopping) and then I can get on with a bit more designing.

Tuesday Ten

In honour of my return to the Tuesday evening class, like the prodigal daughter....

Ten Thoughts On Spinning

1. It hurts. It hurts more on the following days, too.

2. It's a pain/pain thing. The seat hurts my bum, so I try and join in with as much of the standing stuff as possible, but that hurts just as much, so I sit back down...&c. &c.

3. It works, quickly. It's a pity, but it does. I mean, not in a week or something - but twice a week for six weeks, and I defy anybody to not notice a difference. Even once a week will help fitness levels.

4. All instructors are not the same. If you have tried spinning and particularly despised it, you might try a different instructor. Makes a huge difference.

5. The music helps. For me, I have to have tracks with a beat I can catch, and it helps if they build to a crescendo. I like 80s rock, personally. Best spinning track ever - Bohemian Rhapsody. I don't like instructors who play one CD from start to finish, or play dance music which has such a fast beat you'd have a coronary trying to pace it (see #4).

6. Everybody in the class has their place. My place, if we were actually riding, would be puffing away at the very back, making everybody else feel better. To my knowledge, I have never once finished an out-of-saddle hill climb. I don't feel bad about it, though.

7. "Put a bit of resistance on" means a quarter turn, maximum. Maybe just an eighth turn if your legs are already heavy. It doesn't mean two complete turns.

8. If the person in front of you seems to be doing really well, but they are bouncing around everywhere, "their doin it rong." Lots of bouncing = no resistance. Of course they can keep up.

9. Please, wear suitable clothing. For more than two years, I have been sat behind a woman who wears the same pair of black leggings every class. And a thong. And I don't know about her underwear choice because it's sticking out over the top - I WISH it were because of that. Please, check your trousers stay opaque when you bend over. And I would recommend big, snug granny pants, for hygiene, if not for comfort.

10. The stretching at the end is the best bit. Stretching always feels better when you've been through hell.


I have been lazy with Tuesday ten since I got back, I know. And weekend FO - I have two FOs to share. And I don't even want to mention One Local Summer - that was an epic fail this year. I must keep up my blogging. My blog is 10 in October! I used to be a lot more frequent with my updates, too. I've improved hugely in the past year, though, so hopefully I will maintain it.

Tuesday Ten

This Tuesday has been eight hours longer than last Tuesday. I am currently experiencing 5pm for the second time today - only this time it's 113 degrees outside.

Ten Things I Plan To Do During The Next Three Weeks

1. Go rafting. There may be white water involved.
2. NOT have to run away from bears.
3. Have a nice anniversary meal out with Mr Z (we have been married for three years today).
4. Swim in Lake Tahoe.
5. Visit Jimmy Beans in Reno.
6. Go on a hike for longer than an hour (and try not to whinge about it). This will help me to truly appreciate Yosemite at its most beautiful. I hope.
7. Visit the Donner Memorial - the story behind which I teach every year - and surreptitiously shoot a photo story re-enactment for use in class next year, without being thrown out/causing an international incident.
8. Get a pedicure. You're probably sick of reading me write that by now.
9. Get a nice tan - or at least, not burn.
10. Fill up a memory card with photographs.

There may be some blogging on the way round. I have it in mind to do a video diary on my camera and upload it when I get the chance, so it may be me talking. As long as I don't get attacked by a bear.

Tuesday Ten

Ten Things That Have Happened This Year (Most of which are fairly trivial)

1. Lots of 'slebs died. Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Molly Sugden, Henry Allingham (the oldest man in the world, a WW1 vet).
2. Everybody wanted to commute home from work by waterslide.



3. Katie "Jordan" Price and Peter Andre broke up, and I was sad. Their relationship didn't seem to be a sham and I thought they would stick it out. But, marriage is hard...so I hear.
4. Slumdog Millionaire won about a million awards, including a big pile of Oscars.
5. Several artists had number ones by working with dance musicians, like Dizzee Rascal and Kelly Rowland. (Though, I have to admit they both did this last year to some degree of success, and actually I prefer this Dizzee Rascal (perhaps because I have a minor obsession with Calvin Harris) and this Kelly Rowland).
6. Take That did a load of comeback gigs and I really felt my age because it seemed like most of my friends on facebook had status updates about going to one of them.
7. It turned out that Andy Coulson, who is a bigwig adviser to the Tories, was the editor of the News of the World when they were illegally hacking into the mobile phones of the rich and famous in order to sell newspapers. Sadly, I fear this scandal won't be enough to save Labour next year.
(Incidentally, I read this month that, if only men voted, Labour would not have been out of office since 1945.)
8. Harry Potter & the Half Blood Prince finally came out. I, along with many other Ravelers, spent a lot of time discussing the knitwear in it. I also resolved to take teaching tips from Snape for next year.
9. There was a really long, drawn out business about MP's expenses, as some of them paid for duck houses and moat cleaning. As if by magic, everybody's expenses seemed to be under the microscope, including people from the BBC. I felt smug when I went to my exam board meeting and bussed it across London in the midst of a tube strike, instead of getting a cab...but then expensed a glass of wine with dinner. So I'm as bad as everybody else.
10. There was an earthquake in Italy, while we were there with the ski trip. Thankfully it happened miles away from where we were. The incorrigible Berlusconi toured the refugees in their camp, remarking that it must be like going on a camping holiday. Here are some other cringeworthy Berlusconi moments.

And an extra one - I was flicking back through my Facebook links and found this, where T-Mobile used flash mobs for advertising, which I thought was amazin'.

ONE WEEK UNTIL THE HOLIDAY!

(I really had to dredge around in my memory to recall that html tag....)

Tuesday Ten

It's that time of year agin. This advert is back in the TV. It makes me very happy.



So. Three weeks from today, we fly to Las Vegas (baby) and it's all about enjoying the fruits of my labours for 3 weeks after that. So here we go, in honour of the trip....

Ten things I miss about America

1. Peanut butter M&Ms.
2. Crystal Light. It may be more British to have liquid squash but it's so much more convenient to have it powdered - and nobody does a fake raspberry quite like Kraft. What a pity the dyes are illegal in the UK.
3. Sitting out on the back porch at midnight when it's cool, so that it's only like having a hair dryer in your face instead of sitting in a sauna, sipping Crystal Light and gabbing.
4. The fake garden, beautiful glass ceiling and fancy shops at the Bellagio. I might treat myself to a little birthday present at Tiffany this year.
5. Lazy driving. American cars, tsk - I could be paralysed down my left side and still drive perfectly normally, especially on the massive broad roads (though that turning right on a red light thing really confuses me). Also, though, tarting around in Father Hand's convertible MR2.
6. Pedicures. I love my little local salon, which is a 5 minute walk door to door and has really friendly beauticians who've been working on me for 4 years now, but nothing beats that pedicure I got from the teeny Asian girl chatting on her mobile phone as she shaved the dead skin off my feet.
7. Sephora. Philosophy! And all the make up. Benefit especially. Mmmmmmmm.
8. Cheap petrol. Don't come crying to me that it's $3.20 a gallon or something now.
9. Blizzards from Dairy Queen. Anybody who has only ever had a McFlurry is totally missing out. In fact, Americans do almost all ice cream better - witness, the billion flavours of Ben and Jerry's available.
10. Father Hand, of course.

I'm so excited about the holidays. I have booked almost everything now - just need a campsite at Tahoe and a motel in Visalia for the first night. Rather than driving the 7 hours from Vegas to Sequoia and pitching the tent in the dark (because we wouldn't leave until the middle of the day, in spite of any good intentions we might have had), I decided we should drive 6 hours to a Visalia motel and then go into the national park nice and fresh the next day.

That was a really pointless paragraph but I can't shut up about the whole scheme, it's too exciting!

I'm also planning yarn store visits. Father Hand informed me (I can't remember if I said already) that an associate paid him for a job by giving him a car, which we can use for our trip - so all that money saved is now yarn money. Well...a bit of it, anyway. I'm most excited about finally getting to see Jimmy Beans in Reno, after several years of buying from them online and suffering the VAT/PO charges.

Feeling much better, by the way, just still a bit twingey.

Belated Tuesday Ten

Yesterday was my tutor group's leaving day and ball, so I had a late one last night and not two minutes together for blogging all day.

In honour of them...

Ten Memorable Memories of My Tutor Group

1. On induction day, when they were still officially in year 6, C had a massive strop because B had spent the whole day hanging around K and C was jealous. C drew a disturbing picture on his whiteboard of K being shot in the head while he pointed and laughed.

2. C ate a lot of sweets in registration. One morning I confiscated them and replaced them in the bag with satsuma segments, and then hid in the cupboard until he came back. His reaction? "Apple would have been OK but she knows I don't like orange."

3. K sprayed aerosol over the bottom of a desk in textiles - LOTS of aerosol, ie so much it was dripping off - and then flicked a match at it and set fire to his own bag and singed his eyebrows. The class had to evacuate while Miss Hawker put it out with a fire extinguisher.

4. The boys came to afternoon registration every day for a week or so with a new toy and told me they were being sold in the canteen. I naively believed this until I was alerted to the fact that they'd been leaving school at lunchtime and buying these toys at the local pound shop.

5. Hat day, Christmas of year 11. When the girls suggested, as I sat knitting in my deckchair on sports day 6 months earlier, that I knit them all hats for Christmas, it seemed like a good idea. Then I actually had to knit them. But it was all worth it, they were so pleased with them.

6. When we changed classrooms at the end of their year 9, we all crawled into the bottom of the book cupboard (one at a time) and signed our names on the wall of the old room. They're still there.

7. In year 9, we did a tutor group assembly about the litter problem in school. Half the class dressed as rats while the other half went up on the gantry in the studio and threw scrap paper into the crowd. Then the "rats" ran around to the Benny Hill theme picking up the paper. The HoY's face was an absolute picture.

8. Tutor trips. I maintain we had more than any other tutor and they were all amazing, even the one where L had been ill all day but still really wanted to come and then vommed on the floor of the ice rink boot room.

9. The year I got married, Rihanna release Mr DJ and whenevr it was on the radio in the morning the boys would turn it up. M told me it was the official tutor group song. It still makes me think of them (and driving around running wedding errands).

10. The ball - has to be. They all looked so grown up and I realised how proud of them I was, even though this is a little weird because they're not my actual children. But it was amazing. S even managed to create drama one last time....she has been creating it for several years and was banned from the ball, but turned up fully dressed in her finery anyway and her parents had to be called to fetch her home. They were not happy. But, well...send your child to school on time, in correct uniform, and teach her not to scream obscenities at staff members and it all might have been avoided.
(Same mum bought her 13 year old booze to drink at a morning school event earlier in the year - that made national news).

Anyway. In a strange way I am impressed that S stayed true to form right to the end - she may have been vile to me but she has a lot of spirit and one day it might be useful. They're all good kids, really. Here they are - induction day, 2004, and last day, 2009.





Next year, I'm taking on a tutor group going into year 11 who are losing their main tutor - which is just as well: I don't think I could cope with the emotional rollercoaster so quickly again!

Tuesday Ten

Ten Material Wants

1. A new phone. A Samsung Tocco, to be precise.
2. More of this nail varnish. I've had the red stuff on since Friday and there are no chips yet.
3. A gardener. It needs weeding. I can't be bothered.
4. One of those growing roof thingies for the garage, instead of the cracked, leaking asbestos we have at the moment.
5. A couple of pretty lever arch files and a clipboard - preferably something in a bright colour, with (guess what) polka dots.
6. A Nintendo DSi. Not a great deal of point in me owning one because I wouldn't use it ever so often - but I would use it on all my travels, which are extensive.
7. A pair of walking boots. This is more of a requirement, given that I'm planning Yosemite hikes.
8. Some more Galatea yarn from Yarn d'Amour, in Skye Blue, so I can add sleeves and less of a daring neckline to the tank top I'm making and wear it as a sweater instead (yarn this soft should be next to the skin, imo).
9. A new easy chair for my classroom, to replace the one the caretaker made me bin after it was covered in smashed window glass last year. These days were made for sitting in the sun on my fire escape.
10. New shoes. Any new shoes will do, as long as they fit and are comfy and pretty. Shoes are always on the wishlist.

Tuesday Ten & UK Rav Day

Ten Good Leisure Activities

1. Knitting...duh!
2. Looking at knitting magazines/patterns
3. Surfing the web (mostly Ravelry)
4. Facebook Scrabble
5. Having a gin and a nap
6. Baking cupcakes
7. Reading historical novels
8. Shopping
9. Blogging
10. Playing MarioKart on the Wii

Marking starts with pre-standardisation on Thursday - and the other team leader for my paper is about to jump ship which increases my workload by 50% (and my money....but still...) - so leisure time is going to be in short supply for the rest of the month, I fear.

I had an awesome time at UK Ravelry Day on Saturday, in spite of having to drive up in conditions which have hitherto only been experience by Noah, imo. I learnt how to knit Faireisle - much, much easier than I thought, especially when I discovered I didn't have to twist the two colours every time I changed....





















...and I did some shopping at the market stalls, where I saw these two very wet creatures...





















...they are alpacas. Their owner said we shouldn't feel sorry for them, since they are from the Andes and cold, horrible weather is what they love.

I bought...

• 3 skeins of aran weight Australian merino from a little Welsh Company called Yarn d'Amour, in such beutiful variegated blues that I want to weep
  
• 1 skein of 100% silk laceweight in dark purple
  
• 5 skeins of DK alpaca blend - 4 turquoise and 1 pale green, for a bit of a jumper with a Fairisle motif
• Some Sock Stop, which you squirt onto the bottom of socks to make them non-stick
  
• Some buttons - exactly the buttons I have been looking for for both the pretty lace cardigan I haven't touched for nearly a year, and the Central Park Hoody which is still awaiting its button band. I have literally been looking for buttons such as the ones I bought for years.
  

...and I got 2 skeins of Blue Sky Alpaca alpaca-silk blend as a thank you from my knitting group buddies who came along in my car. As if the £30 petrol money and cake weren't enough!

Here's the haul....






















I haven't been able to resist the aran merino (which does not look one tenth as amazing in this picture as it does in real life) and am about halfway through making it into a cabled tank top already. Because everyone needs and aran-weight wooly cabled tank top in June.

Tuesday Ten

Ten Summer Essentials

1. Sunglasses. I have four pairs, currently, and am on the lookout for a nice pair of aviators - although since I do that irritating wear-the-on-the-head thing and aviators get caught in my hair, I might just go for another plastic framed pair instead.

2. Hammock. I have spoken of the wondrous hammock before. It is particularly lovely on nights just like this one, when indoors is far too stuffy and the grass is a little too twilight-damp for lying on.

3. Sun cream. I burn with alarming regularity. On the way to Mother Hand's last week I was forced to stop at every shop we passed until I found some for sale, just because the sun was beating down on my arm through the open car window and I could feel it getting ready for red. Also, sun cream is like a conductor for tanning - the higher the factor, the browner I go. Bizarre. I'm the only person I know who starts a holiday on factor 20 and goes UP to factor 30 when a base tan has been achieved.

4. Iced tea. A new one for me, this, but I have to say, those yankees know what they're on about. I've avoided it in the past since I don't like black tea, but then was struck with the idea to make fruit iced tea with the many varieties of fruit and herbal teas I have stockpiled over time. Totally refreshing - even more so now I've weaned myself off adding sweeteners. Not as sharp as diet coke and more interesting than water.

5. Hair clips. This time of year, I start to fantasise about getting my hair cut into a chiselled, cool little bob and feeling the wind on the back of my neck again. At this point, I go and fetch a big crocodile clip and whip the whole messy lot up into a makeshift French pleat, et voila....the long hair survives another year. Mr Z cheers, not remembering that when I have short hair, far less of it ends up in his food.

6. Cool showers with the window open. The window's behind the shower head, so this involves a little curtain-rearranging to protect my modesty, but there's nothing like a cool shower in a breeze.

7. Sun dresses. Like, a whole breed of dress, just for summer. Amazing.

8. Boots Cucumber and Aloe Wipes. I buy them on three for two or whatever offers they have, and keep them on my home desk, my work desk, in my car and my handbag, by the bed, the sofa...

9. Fans. This makes me think of an old 7-Up advert with the tagline, "I don't go anywhere without my fans..." and I know the feeling. I've got a desk fan which I try not to use since I'm quite certain it guzzles electricity like nobody's business, and a smaller, cuter, Bloomin' Breezy which is very handy for work and runs off the USB. This year I intend to get a handheld fan - not an electric one, just a flappy one - for my handbag.

10. Flip flops. I have just splashed out on a pair of Havainas, since my ski trip buddies were all sporting them and extolling their virtues. I had held out, since the not-very-comfy, turned-my-feet-black £2 Chavda pair were still going strong...but then, today, I was running to the exam hall with some glasses my tutee had left behind, when I tripped and fell, and snapped the toe post of said flip flops. So, yknow, I had to order another pair. I will have about 4 pairs now but they are the ultimate summer footwear, if only because they don't create gigantic white bits on tanned feet, like my Birkis do.


I couldn't believe it when I tripped over. In front of three girls, too, who were sickeningly nice about it - to my face, anyway. I then had to walk into the exam hall, and right to the back, with one flip flop on, carrying the other. Luckily I was able to fix it up with a bit of hairy string I keep in my desk for doing floor graphs, so I didn't have to walk around barefoot all day.

Tuesday Ten

(It is still Tuesday because I haven't been to bed yet....)

Ten Things That Have Happened Since Last Tuesday

1. Went to Portsmouth. Went walking on the seafront, and went to the D Day museum and had a good look round the exhibition and the Overlord Embroidery. Spent a good chunk of time sitting in my very favourite spot in the world: Castle Hill, soaking up some surprise bank holiday sunshine.
2. Participated in a charity pub quiz organised by Mother Hand. We came 5th. We were told we weren't allowed to win, in case it looked like a fix - but I don't think we were ever close.
3. Caught up with my friend Graham, who came to make up the team for the quiz. We used to work together as silver service wait staff in Portsmouth when I was at school, making him one of my oldest friends. He usually reminds me of the time I was sitting on the floor resting in a lull at the Royal Sailors' Home Club and the French Maitre d' came over and started telling me off, "Zees ees not Greenham Common! Get up!"
4. Went to see Angels and Demons at the pictures with Mother Hand. A million times better than the Da Vinci Code - but then I rated the book much higher, too. Must have been Dan Brown's first: some people only have one good book in them, I think. Really want to go to Rome now.
5. Booked our flights to the US this summer. The price had come down by almost £100 per ticket so I went for it.
6. Booked one Californian campsite, and found two others and a nice motel. The only reason I haven't booked those too is because I can't be bothered to walk downstairs and get my credit card.
7. Started knitting a new top, in a lovely petrol blue bamboo yarn I bought 10 balls of in a Get Knitted sale. Irritatingly, I got gauge on the recommended needle size when I swatched, but then when I had cast on the 131 stitches and knitted 5 rows I realised my gauge was WAY off and had to rip back. This yarn is about 10 plies and gets looser with every rip so it hasn't been fun reknitting the first bit. It's lovely and soft, though.
8. Went to see Cheri at the pictures with Parpy Jo. I liked the first half but not the second. The sets and costumes were beautiful, and gave me some ideas for the art deco lounge I hope to have one day.
9. Taught my LAST EVER HORRIBLE WEDNESDAY! The next one will be after the year 12 exam and so even if I have to teach all 6 lessons, the last 2 can be something like a video. I really hope I don't have a 6-lesson day on my timetable next year.
10. Achieved a star rating for all of the 50CC Grand Prixs on Mariokart. Now, to do the same for 100CC, 150CC and Mirror class....