Lessons

One of the reasons I was able to tackle the sock is because of the wrap I have been working on since October.  I attend a "knit-a-long" with other women who are working on the same project.  While the colors we have chosen are different, the project itself is the same.  I have learned much with this wrap, but the most important skill, as it relates to socks, is how to pick up stitches.  The wrap is constructed of various pieces made up of different stitches that are added to each other.  With the exception of one block, no pieces were seemed on.

If you look at the pictures of this wrap, first you'll notice the different colors.  Each color represents a different block.  This is a fun project, but I am getting tired of it.  Further, once the warm weather arrives (if ever), I won't really want to have the whole wrap resting on my lap.

Naturally I have more projects to work on.  I will keep a running journal of the experience.

The Sock

Back in the day, my mother told me that socks were virtually impossible to knit.  This from a woman who could knit an afghan and smoke a pack of cigarettes all while watching TV.  I took her at her word.  After all, I have great difficulty concentrating with my knitting.  I cannot do work that has lace patterns or rows to keep track of when I am doing something else.

I am learning quite a bit these days.  Because I have so much time on my hands, I delight in reading about and looking at pictures of knitting.  When I saw  the book Getting Started Knitting Socks by Ann Budd I decided I simply had to give sock knitting a try.  (Actually, I think my mom's words were always in the back of my head.  You know, tell someone they can't do something and immediately they want to give it a go.)  And it worked!

I did make some errors -- none of which are evident in the construction of the sock itself.  My biggest problem is that while I did knit to gauge, I did not measure my foot accurately.  Hence a sock that is too small for my foot.  But Tyler is game and is excited to receive a pair of hand-knitted socks from his mom.  That the color is a soft celery seems not to bother him in the least (though what should I expect from a kid who wears cowboy boots with shorts?).  Anyway, Julia has also expressed interest in a pair of hand-knit socks.  We picked out a pretty color for her socks and eventually I will have that yarn on my needles.

So, the lesson here is that one should not listen to naysayers.  Give a project a try; ask for help if and when it's needed; and enjoy a fun project that's easy to carry and practical to own.

The status quo

What do you don when you identify a problem, bring in to the appropriate person's attention, then get slapped for seeing a problem?

This is not the first time this has happened to me.  I doubt it will be the last.  However, I realize that apathy is the biggest problem in education today.  Too many teachers don't care because the students don't care and the administrators either don't see the real problem or are too busy worrying about whether or not they will be blamed for the problem in the first place.  

I don't believe we should live the mantra, "If it's not broken, don't fix it."  I would rather we all lived with the belief that we can help and all we need to do is ask how.  The time is now to get up and demand that we not accept what is there because it's always been there.  Now is the time to ask ourselves if the greatest number is being served.  We need to ask ourselves if we can make the things that go well better and if there are things we do that don't work at all. 

Obama has led by example.  Why can't we follow his lead?