Mrs. Beaumont's Class (with some knitting thrown in)

I've moved

2007-02-02T07:08:00.000-05:00

You can find my new blog (using the new Blogger) here. Check it out.

Snow Day!!

2007-01-30T13:11:00.000-05:00

This is our second snow day in two weeks. Considering last year we didn't have any last year, this is kind of a treat. I'm especially glad to have a day off today because yesterday Gavin woke up with strep throat, which is apparently going around. Four other kids in his class were out with it, too. These two extra days at home have allowed me to get some grading done and to finish up a pair of socks I was working on.

These are the Lacy Mock Cable Socks in Brown Sheep Wildfoote in the color Sonatina. I really liked knitting this pattern and the socks turned out very nice. Here is a close-up of the pattern:

As for school stuff, the novel essays are looking pretty good.

They're coming along slowly but surely.

Hope you all are enjoying your day off, too!

Back to school

2007-01-02T14:26:00.000-05:00

Christmas vacation went fast again as usual. I can't say that this was the greatest vacation, either. The holiday and gifts were good, but my husband's grandfather passed away on Christmas Day. It was very unexpected and we had just visited him on Christmas Eve. We were shocked to say the least. We still took the kids to Great Wolf Lodge last week, which was fun. We stayed two nights. We drove up to Marblehead but found everything closed for the winter. We did get out to look at the Lighthouse and to take a walk around the shore. It was a little windy, but otherwise the weather wasn't too bad. The kids and I wanted to take Bob to see Mystery Hill, but it was closed, too. We went last summer and I don't care if it is a hoax. I felt motion sick and got a headache from being in the house there. Supposedly, it's a spot where there's no gravity or something. There are several places like it in the U.S. Water seems to run uphill and balls go uphill. I don't know what it is, but it's freaky. There's a similar place in California called The Mystery Spot, for which Wikipedia explains the "absence of gravity."

We drove past A Yarn Shop, which I had seen over the summer when we were here. It was closed the first time we passed it. Luckily, the second time the owner was putting the open sign out. Hooray! We stopped and I bought a book, Not Just More Socks, five balls of Crystal Palace Taos in Two Gray Hills, and one skein of Schaefer Anne in a pinky, purply, fuschia colorway. I can't find a name for it. It was a big splurge at $24 for a skein. It feels very soft. I can't wait to knit with it.

On Friday we went to Grandad's funeral. It was a nice service.

Since then, we've been recovering from all the activities. And I've been working on grading papers. I think I'm just about caught up. Hope so. We go back to school tomorrow. How time flies... See you all in the morning.

Finished Objects-Yea!

2006-12-25T21:30:00.000-05:00

I've been working on different projects for a while and finally have some of it done! First is Gavin's Buckeyes scarf. I don't know what kind of yarn it is. It is acrylic--easy care for a kid.

Next are my roll-brim hat (no pattern) and mittens. I haven't knit mittens in a year and last time I didn't do so well with the thumbs. These turned out much better. I used the basic mitten pattern from Family Circle Easy Knitting Fall 2005 issue. The yarn is Plymouth Galway Marl 600, which is navy blue, green, and pink, even though in the picture it looks purply.

And finally, I've started the Lacy Mock Cable Socks in Brown Sheep Wildfoote SY-800 Sonatina. I really like this pattern so far. It's easy to memorize. And as long as I have a stitch marker at the beginning of each pattern repeat, I don't even have to regularly count stitches. I tend to lose track of what I've done if I don't count. That makes the knitting go so much more slowly.

Extra Credit Question for week of Dec. 18

2006-12-18T09:22:00.000-05:00

This week's extra credit question is ...

Someone has graciously offered to make you and your entire family a Christmas quilt. It will be made up of many quilt squares, each one representing a different family member. What specific design or image would you want on your square?

Answers to this question need to be posted by Friday, December 22.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Have a happy and safe holiday break!

Jumping on the memewagon

2006-12-13T20:41:00.000-05:00

Eric P. insists that I share something about myself, so here goes. My first meme...A holiday meme...

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Egg Nog
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Wrapped, of course.
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? Colored lights all the way. White is too boring.
4. Do you hang mistletoe? No
5. When do you put your decorations up? Usually the first weekend in December.
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? I love green bean casserole.
7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child: Getting Monopoly when I was in 4th grade and learning to play it with my dad.
8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I don't remember.
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? No, but we used to when we were kids.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? Each family member picks out a new ornament each year. Usually one that has a personal meaning. My kids pick out ornaments like Scooby-Doo and The Grinch. I picked an Eiffel Tower ornament one year.
11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? I love snow when it first falls and is pure and white. (Snow days aren't bad, either!!)
12. Can you ice skate? Tried it once in college. Didn't like it.
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? It would have to be a tie between the photo collage and poem my sister wrote and framed for me or the quilt my grandma (who passed away last year) made for me.
14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you? Family.
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? Gingerbread with a dollop of Cool Whip. Also made by my grandma--just for me.
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Writing letters to Santa with my kids and then reading what he writes back.
17. What tops your tree? A red and gold star
18. Which do you prefer giving or Receiving? I love giving presents. Usually I'm too excited to wait for Christmas and end up giving them early.
19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? Wow, that's tough. I love O Holy Night and Greensleeves, but Vince Guaraldi's Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack is excellent, too.
20. Candy Canes? No, thanks. I'll stick with chocolate.

I will tag Eric now. What are your answers to these questions?

I want to know...

2006-12-05T15:39:00.000-05:00

Why don't you bloggers who are listed in my sidebar add to your blogs. I check them out periodically but don't see anything new. What's up??

Bonus for the next two weeks

2006-12-04T11:41:00.000-05:00

The bonus for the next two weeks is canned food. We, as a school, are collecting canned food once again for the Salvation Army. You can bring in 20 cans for 20 points. The deadline is Thursday, Dec. 14. Bring cans to my room. Maybe we'll collect enough cans for a movie on the 19th!

Bonus question

2006-11-28T07:10:00.000-05:00

Here is your bonus question for the week of Nov. 27. The response to this question will be due on Sat., Dec. 2, by noon.

List two reasons why you think writing is difficult for you sometimes.

I hope everyone had a good holiday weekend. The weather was great. Christmas will be here before we know it!

Bonus question for week of Nov. 20

2006-11-20T07:03:00.000-05:00

This week's bonus question is....

Think about your best holiday celebration ever. Write an essay to tell about this celebration and why it was your favorite.

This question, since it requires actual writing, will be worth more points. Possibly 10. This will be due ON PAPER on Tues, Nov. 28, our first day back after Thanksgiving.

In knitting news, I had to give up the Jaywalker socks. I turned the heel on the first one and tried to try it on. I really did not fit. I couldn't get the leg up past my heel. This is the first time I've ever had to worry about gauge and measuring my foot. Instead of casting on 76 stitches, I'm going to cast on 92, which adds about 2 inches around my instep.

I have one more stripe to do on the Cleveland Browns scarf. I hope to finish that today.

I have done absolutely nothing on my Lady Eleanor. I'll post pix tomorrow.

Accents and Bonus question

2006-11-11T09:49:00.000-05:00

The bonus question for the week of Nov 13 is a little early, but....
Josh M. and I were discussing yesterday how we pronounced certain words and what kind of accent each of us had. I told him about an internet quiz I had taken about the same thing. Here's the link to it:

http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have

Take it and email me the results. Tell me what kind of accent you have.

My accent was about 80% Midland.

More knitters...

2006-11-07T20:27:00.000-05:00

Lauren and Kylie

Ann

Breelle

CHS Knitters

2006-11-07T17:23:00.000-05:00

Knitting Club had an awesome turnout today. Everyone has been moving right along on their scarves. Katie has been a knitting machine and is on her 5th (I think) scarf in just a couple of weeks.

Here is another one of her creations that Michael is so kind enough to model for us.

Chelsie's scarf is turning out great, too. I LOVE the colors of the yarn she chose.

I'll post pix of the other knitters later.

Bonus question for week of Nov. 6

2006-11-06T07:08:00.000-05:00

This week's bonus question for the week of Nov 6 for all my English classes is...

Tell about a time that you did something that took a lot of nerve, a time when you didn't follow the crowd.

Answers to this question should be posted by Sat. Nov 11 at 12 noon.

A new pair

2006-10-31T19:36:00.000-05:00

I cast on for a new pair of socks over the weekend. This time around I thought I'd try the Jaywalker pattern by Grumperina. I'm using Plymouth Sockotta yarn colorway 502. So far, I really like how it's turning out. I know I'm a little behind on trying this pattern, but what the heck! I'm a slow knitter with a lot of projects I want to try.

I just finished a pair of socks I'm giving as a Christmas present, so no posting pix for that! But I used Socks That Rock for the first time and I must say I LOVE the way it feels. I'll have to get some for myself.

I'm also still plugging away on the Lady E Stole from Wrap Style. I haven't taken any pictures, but this project is taking forever, it seems. I've been working on it since the beginning of July.

I'm so proud of my knitting girls at school. One has finished two scarves in just a couple of weeks. That's so awesome! I'll be taking pix at the next Knitting Club meeting.

Bonus question for week of Oct 30

2006-10-30T11:48:00.000-05:00

This week's bonus question for the week of Oct. 30 for all my English classes is...

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

Answers to this question should be posted by Sat. Nov 4 at 12 noon.

Bonus question for all classes

2006-10-23T07:18:00.000-04:00

The bonus question for the week of Oct. 23 is:

The nicest thing anyone has ever done for me was...

All comments should be posted by Saturday, Oct. 28. Remember that you must put your display name in the format we talked about in class. All classes (General and College Prep) can answer this week's question.

Socktoberfest

2006-10-22T09:53:00.000-04:00

I finished my Soctoberfest socks that I started about a month ago. Thanks, Lolly, for the lenient rules. It's hard for me to finish a pair of socks, especially with a pattern to follow, in a month. Anyway, the pattern is Knit Picks' Almost Argyle with Knit Picks Essential yarn. I used size 2 needles, but I should have used size 1. The pattern would have looked better with size 1s. Knit and learn, I guess. I'm trying to find sock forms or stretchers. I saw Fiber Trends makes them. Now I just have to find them. Stuffing my finished socks with Kleenex isn't going to work anymore.

On a school note, good job to those of you who did the bonus assignment. The end of the nine weeks is this Friday.

Knitting club will meet again this Tuesday right after school. Hope to see you there!

My first knit-along

2006-10-19T19:57:00.000-04:00

I finally joined a knit-along. Lolly's Socktoberfest seemed perfect to break the ice. We had our first knitting club "meeting" today and things went pretty well, I thought. You girls did great for just starting out. Hang in there. Knitting takes patience. Breelle, I know you can do it!! See you all at the next meeting on Tuesday.

Reminder...

2006-10-19T07:13:00.000-04:00

Only two people have turned in the extra credit assignment. Don't forget it's due tomorrow (Oct. 20).

Also, I'm excited that so many of you have expressed an interest in knitting. It's going to be fun!

General English 11 and 10

2006-10-16T07:11:00.000-04:00

Bonus question for the week of Oct 16, 2006:
What is your most indispensible possession and why?
You must respond to this question here under "Comments" by midnight Saturday, Oct. 21, in order to receive bonus points.

Bonus assignment For CP English 11

2006-10-12T07:04:00.000-04:00

Go to Wikipedia and do a search on the author of your novel for the nine weeks--Golding, Christie, or Du Maurier. Write down three facts about him/her and turn it in by Friday, Oct 20. Make sure you put bibliographic information--the date the site was last modified (at the bottom of the page) and the date you visited the site.

Testing out uploading photos

2006-10-11T18:59:00.000-04:00

Of course now that I've started this, I'm going to play with it. I took one of my knitting projects from earlier in the year to test out uploading pictures. I made these socks in June. I couldn't even tell you what kind of yarn or what pattern I used unless I looked back at my notes.

Would anyone like to learn how to knit?? I would like to start the knitting club again. Let me know.

It's finally up and running

2006-10-11T17:25:00.000-04:00

I have been trying to decide since last summer whether to try to maintain a class blog and I finally took the plunge. After taking Mrs. Borton's very informative and helpful blogging class today, I'm ready to try it out. I haven't yet decided how I'm going to use it for class, but that will come with time and practice.