Monday, December 06, 2010

Teaching... It's what I do.

I've been a teacher since I was a little girl. I think I fought against it. And then when I was in my late 20's and announced to the family I was going back to school for my Master's in education, Absolutely NO ONE was surprised... I was surprised, but that didn't count. I think my father sat back and said, 'At last, she has come to her senses!'. He seemed a lot more relaxed at any rate. So I teach all the time, but not necessarily for money and often not in a formal setting. Life is more or less informal until we try to wiggle around it. The opportunities to teach however are caught in life's everyday 'teachable moments'. Catching them is an art even more so when you catch them and teach yourself.

I have been shying away from teaching trying to see if I was someone else or something else and guess what... I'm coming back. I love teaching kids, grown-ups, teenagers (you know the kid-quasi adult person). And I miss teaching. I want to teach more so I am pursuing that goal.

+ January 29th in Southern CA, I will be teaching at the Griffin Dyeworks Fiber Frolic on (kind of a belated Roc Day celebration -- very in-expensive, loads of fun, classes, some vendors, & great fiber people!!!). You can take classes or just take in the atmosphere of Fiber Community and spin, knit, weave all day! I will be teaching two classes (one on Cochineal and the other on Silk). (Registration is now open for the Fiber Frolic).

+ Starting January 24th I will be teaching a 12 session set of classes to a local Home School Co-Op. 'Sheep to Tapestry', starting with making their own spindles and moving on to spinning, dyeing, weaving, mixed with a bit of History, chemistry, and lots fibery goodness.

+ In April I will be teaching a Silk class again for an Historical Re-creation group.

+ At the end of June I plan on teaching at the Griffin Dyeworks Fiber Retreat in Castaic, CA.

That's is all that is scheduled for right now, but I am looking for more teachable moments in the fiber world!

Go Olympiads GO!!!

I am not a competitive person by nature. I really despise 'contests', but when Ravelry held the Ravelolympics even though I didn't sign up on a team; I had to participate along with myraids of others doing textile type activities around the world together while we watched a common thing and cheered for the blood, sweat, tears, and joys of the Olympics. It is fun being part of something larger than myself. Sooooo I got out a troublesome project that I'd been working on for a year (almost two now, but I have only 6 inches left). The selected project is a cardwoven band using a variation on one of Guntram's patterns based loosely on the theory of the Egyptian diagonal. In February of 2010 here is what I worked on with fellow Ravelry Enthusiasts .






Yes, there are some serious errors and the warp being wool is very sticky. I have six inches left to go. Hoping to finish before the first of the year, because really this is ridiculous. It's just another UFO hanging around NOT getting done and cluttering up my loom (that has new projects WAITING!

And that is one of the things I did in February (that immediately come to mind). ;)

It's been awhile...

For some fun I will post this photo that I love. Corrupt them while they're young.


Time is a problem... not having enough of it, ever. I always need just one more day even when I'm doing well on time management. The fact that my time is not really my own means that at any time any thing can happen... and often does. And then there is FaceBook... and I have a farm on FB with sheep of my very own (and some llamas, reindeer, and assorted chickens... and a dog) well, a fair number of critters, but please, it was not having sheep of my own that did me in. The area I live in will not allow a sheep or chickens even if I hide them. If they find them on your property it is a $500 per day fine and they aren't messing around. Hence my somewhat obsession with my farm on fb. And I found out that I could communicate with loads of people I care about, but just don't have time to call and ask, 'how are you doing?'. However, you can hang out there for hours and hours wasting precious time. It is addictive and one has to police one's self (and one's children).

Here I am pining away for my blog and all the fibery goodness I can spill out onto its ethery pages. So I am stepping a little bit away from the obsession with FB (I will still take care of my sheep). I need to focus my goals for myself and my own work and figure out some things ... like.. what do I want to do when I grow up or perhaps when my children grow up??? And when will that be? I need to lay some groundwork now. I need energy and I need focus. I am hoping to find both in quantities greater than I have now.

Tomorrow I will post some of what I have been up to this past year... since the year is quickly coming to a year.