Knittipig's Knatterings

Knittipig's Knittibits Open for Business

2008-03-16T16:56:00.000Z

Woo Hoo!!!

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5650905

Go take a look and tell me what you think.

Bad week - but improved at weekend

2008-03-16T16:46:00.003Z

I had a bad week this week. Managed to get into school on Monday but not quite sure how. Just as expected, the lads were skyhigh and everything was a struggle. What made things worse was the pain I was in and the fact that the lurgy had decided to strike as well.

One year 11 decided he was going to make a phone call during my lesson - when everyone was supposed to be practising a GCSE question under exam conditions. He refused to give me his phone at first, then reluctantly handed it over. He then continued to disrupt the lesson and at one point got his lighter out and threatened to burn the lad opposite him. I used the system and got "On-Call" to see to him - but they allowed him back in the class after he'd handed over his lighter. At the end of the lesson he refused to leave my room. I felt very intimidated. He was demanding his phone back. The school rules state that if caught using a phone it is confiscated and goes to the office and parent(s) have to pick it up. I have another rule, if a phone is handed over to me straight away without any fuss (sometimes they do go off by accident) then they get the phone back at the end of the lesson/day. If they refuse or make a fuss, then I follow the school rule.

I had to leave the room and fetch my Head of Department to remove him. When we returned to my room he was searching through the drawers of my desk. I left HoD with him - as he was now arguing with her about leaving - and went to my class outside and tried to calm them down before coming in. Thankfully HoD managed to get rid of him.

Unfortunately, at lunch he came in again. I was lucky that there was another member of staff who had just popped in to say hi and two lads doing work in the class. I kept calm and asked him to leave but he refused and became more threatening. I left and fetched the Achievement Co-Ordinator to fetch him. He'd disappeared before we got back.

As you can imagine, my stress levels were sky high. I was in a terrible state. I got no sleep Monday night which made Tuesday awful from the word go. DH refused to let me go to work. I think this was the right idea - especially as I had no voice at all. So, I've spent the week trying to rest and recuperate ready for next week.

Saturday morning was wonderful though. I received loads of interational mail. I belong to the Random Acts of Kindness and Cards for all Seasons groups on Ravelry http://www.ravelry.com and received wonderful cards and gifts. It really made my day.

Trying to be positive

2008-02-26T11:44:00.002Z

I'm trying desperately hard to be positive in all aspects of my life. At times it is difficult, but I am the one who can make a change to MY life. I'm a strong believer in if something is meant to happen it will, and things happen for a reason. At times I get really despondent - especially when my depression is out of hand. But I always try and remember how lucky I am.

Knitting really helps me. One day I will make something for myself - but not sure when! I've bought some lovely New Lanark wool http://newlanarkshop.co.uk/shop.php?view=page&page=43 to make myself a felted bag - maybe I'll cast it on tonight. After I've decided on a pattern of course.

Grennie's Birthday scarf is almost finished. About 10 rows left before Bind Off, so hopefully tonight. Luna Moth is still hibernating. So is the digestive system. Maybe some personal knitting time is needed.

Sad but Happy day

2008-02-17T18:41:00.002Z

Today has been both a sad and happy day. It didn't help not getting home till twenty past one this morning - but we'd had a lovely time visiting my mommy and then Julian and Val. Very tiring for me and my body doesn't like late nights anymore.

I managed to get a lie-in till 9 which was good. Then it was downstairs to check e-mail and start food preparation. Made a bolognesey thing and an Italian Winter vegetable soup. After a bath I went out to spend time with the piggies.

Paula, Marcus and Milly arrived at lunchtime as they said they would and decided on a boy and a girl. I had to tell Milly a lie though. She wanted my baby, and I had said from the outset that she wasn't up for grabs. She was the runt of the litter and I spent a lot of time with her handfeeding for the first couple of days. She's the only one of the litter I named (Lavender). Before they got here, I marked Lavender with some paint. Milly, of course, wanted to know why. "It's because she's poorly" I told her. "We don't want to give you a poorly pig so we marked it out".

Catching them wasn't too bad. Banjo (the boy - and named by Milly after Grennie's banjo) went straight in the cage after a carrot, and we managed to corner Blossom (named by Paula as it's a nice name!) and get her in as well. Paula's rang and they're all settled in well, so we're two piggies less. It makes me happy that they're going to a good home, but still sad to see them go.

This afternoon Dawn and Julian came to recollect their kittens Celia and Howard. We had taken them over on Monday and they brought them back Friday as they were going away - so they had a bit of a holiday too! It was nice to see them again. Taking some use to calling them Celia and Howard and not Sushi and Sooti.

This evening will be spent eating soup and knitting the scarf for Grennie's birthday or crocheting. It's back to school tomorrow, so I need to get an early night.

So very very bad at updating this...

2008-02-05T21:32:00.000Z

I have actually written several posts - in my head - but haven't got round to actually typing things up. It's been a very hectic start to the year, and not really a happy one.

One of DH's ex-students committed suicide, and as is usually the case it was the one who was the friendliest, cleverest, the one he'd kept in touch with, the one who really should have had a long life. Unfortunately, she suffered with depression (we now know) and just couldn't cope with this planet anymore. She made a very brave decision and is going to be missed by everyone whose life she touched.

My mom's husband got made redundant. Just called into the office one Wednesday morning and told he has no job anymore. Well, I say made redundant... He had to go for an "interview" with them on the Friday and they told him he hadn't worked long enough to get redundancy pay. So he's looking for a job.

I've got one friend who's suffering with an unrequited love like a teenager, it's his first and somehow it seems acceptable hearing all the woe woe is me coming from a 14 year old - it's not so acceptable when he's 30 and is going on about how his life is over and he'll never find another love... I've another friend who's just had a major operation and looks like Sweeney Todd has been at him. Definitely lost a lot of sleep over that one, hoping that he pulls through the anaesthetic, that the surgeon doesn't mess up, etc. Another friend has had a small stroke and is in hospital too.

And me. How am I? Well the specialist finally agreed to a hysterectomy. Am on the waiting list and it's going to be about 18 weeks. I'm trying to deal with it practically. At the moment I am in so much pain, not just once a month but practically every single day. Therefore having everything taken away will be better for me. I mean, it's costing £20.55 a month for meds at the moment - and that's not counting pain killers and heated back wraps.

That's a good point I guess. I've also taken time off school. The pain makes me incredibly cranky and the lads were getting too much for me. I came down with a cold, lost my voice so took nearly two weeks off. I usually just go in and cope, but this time I couldn't. I tried to go back and lasted half a day - I really thought I was going to end up killing someone. I've been so wound up that I missed Imbolc...

On the plus side, I managed to knit a Swallowtail Shawl for my mommy in 3 weeks.

I'm hoping February improves with every day.

Start of the year

2008-01-01T23:14:00.000Z

Well today I've had a pyjama day. And it's done me good - very little pain today which has been wonderful. I also finished off the Heart Pillow (front and back images can be seen to the left.

Glad to have finished something so soon in the year, bodes well for the coming months! Have been e-mailing friends the different bits as they've been made to see if they can guess what it was - nobody got it till I posted the two finished pictures. Can't wait to see Charlie's face when I hand it over to her when I go back to school on Monday.

I've also managed 10 rows of the purple mohair Luna Moth shawl - so up to row 60 now. Tomorrow I'm going to have another go at the Shawl of Protection.

Yuletide Blessings

2007-12-22T11:02:00.000Z

Well the promise to myself to update on a daily basis was broken quickly! But I guess I have had reasons. The PCOS and Other Illnesses (to be known as OI from now on) has been getting me down, and we've had the end of term. So, at least I'm now at home for the next fortnight. Should have more time for knitting and knattering.

Update on what's happened then. On Wednesday the Koigu KPPPM arrived from Simply Sock Yarn. Absolutely brilliant. And I've been a good girl and not started to ball it or Cast On for the Shawl. Same day Knit 1 arrived too. That has been read!

Thursday school finished at lunchtime. Went to the pub and the alcohol mixed very nicely with all my meds and I actually had a couple of hours without pain - what it's done to my insides I don't know and don't care. It was blissful not to hurt for a while. If all it takes is a glass of red wine and 2 pints of Guinness then that's what it'll have to be. Unfortunately it had worn off by the time we reached DH mother in Derbyshire. Sigh. She's still not listening to anything we say and continuing her own conversations. Her classic of the evening was to DH when he was talking about his Bakelite collection "And what will you do with it all if you don't manage to have children?". He only told her last week about me having to have a hysterectomy... Maybe she's still hoping he'll get rid of me and find a woman more of her standards!

So, that's about it really. New issue of Simply Knitting has just arrived with a lovely shawl pattern in it which I'll need to add to my queue. A nice restful day of reading and knitting will hopefully follow.

No knitting today :o(

2007-12-18T15:36:00.000Z

Sigh.

Forgot that it's "Achievement Evening" tonight... That means staying at school till probably 10 o'clock, not getting home till 11 :o( Usually I have something with me, but not today. No knitting for me.

Sigh.

Just got my Ravelry invite!

2007-12-17T19:37:00.000Z

I know I'm a bit of a slow starter, but hey, I'm finally there! Am just setting it up now. Just as I'm setting up this and Flickr. And it's nearly time to break-up from school, so I can spend the holiday adding to everything.

I'm currently an English teacher at an all boys secondary modern school. In the past I've also been Head of ICT, Head of Performing Arts and Media Studies, Head of Citizenship, and a plain bog standard English teaching. I took the decision in May 2006 to quit management and go on supply due to health issues. Liked the school that kept employing me, so agreed to be their full-time History cover for two terms. Then, decided to take on the English post. It feels good to not have responsibility for everything!

Enough rambling already. I have Yuletide gifts to wrap for the 28 boys in my form, a Luna Moth Shawl in purple mohair to work on, and a digestive system to knit. Oh, and the winter edition of Spin Off arrived today...