The Post That I Did Not Want to Write

But first, Theresa, asked me to explain PEMDAS which stands for Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally, or the order of operations.

I'll use / to indicate division.

What is 5 + 30 /5?

If you answered 7, you are wrong. So that we always get the same answer for calculations, we have a certain order of operations to follow. Mathematicians like for things to be precise. We do not like gray areas.

According to the order of operations, division is done before addition, so

5 + 30/5 = 5 + 6 = 11

The order of operations is applied in this manner:

Please = parenthesis -- do everything in grouping symbols, following the order of operations, of course!

Excuse = exponents -- apply all exponents

My = multiplication
Dear = division
Start on the left and work towards the right, doing all multiplication and division

Aunt = addition
Sally = subtraction
Start on the left and work towards the right, doing all addition and subtraction

So, why did I not want to write this post. After all, I love teaching math. I am on a one-woman self-appointed crusade to improve the world's attitude about math.

After 20 years of teaching math, I am going over to the dark side and will become an administrator next month. I've been flirting with the dark side and administrative work for some time now by being a department chair. Our school is in transition right now with some key people retiring and I have been asked to take on the role of Associate Dean. I have been promised that I can return to teaching after a year, but right now, all I can think of is the knitting time that I am missing this summer since I will be at work instead of at home in my PJ's.

New Title and Finishing the Last Post

When I started this blog at the first of the year, I tried to come up with a creative title. I couldn't think of anything great at the time, so I just settled for "Aunt Sally's Yarns and Stuff". Well, it recently occured to me that I should have named the blog "Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally" so I changed the name.

Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally is what many of us memorized (or should have) to help us remember the proper order of operations for evaluating mathematical expressions. Since I am a math teacher who is called Aunt Sally (not really my name, see the profile) this seems like a better name for this blog.

The math geek in me thinks that I should include an explanation of the order of operations, but the rest of me says that it is the weekend and I should be knitting. Besides, my mother and Kim read this blog and they don't like math.

And now for the rest of Niece K's birthday gifts:

Once again, I apologize for these annoying spaces. Keep scrolling. Any suggestions?

	Note the $60 lace. No, the lace did not cost $60, but the only place around here to buy lace is Wal-mart and I kept finding other things I needed. The pattern is McCall's 3261. I substituted lace for the ruffles and used top C with bottom D. I can't ever seem to do anything just like anyone else. Not that I'm complaining about that.
	More overalls. The pattern is Kwik Sew #2921. These are made out of Care Bear fabric. Niece K loves her Care Bears and has a large collection. She has assigned "Purple Heart Care Bear" to her daddy. I find it very amusing to see my tough brother (police sergeant) holding his Care Bear.
	I found this rocking chair on clearance. It was white, but needed a paint job. So I changed it to Niece K's favorite color.

So, what did she like the best? Well, I had everything in a big gift bag with the rocking chair on top. She took the chair out and admired it briefly and then returned to the gift bag which she promptly picked up and dumped out. Ignoring all the doll clothes, she went straight to the Care Bear coloring book and crayons that I put in the bottom. Having experienced life with a 3 year old, I was not surprised. She and I did have good time playing with the doll clothes later on in the day.

Niece A was also present that afternoon and she had much fun drawing on the Disney Princess stationary that I had gotten her. So I have decided that next Christmas both girls are getting an assortment coloring books, interesting note pads, crayons, markers, etc. I'll just sew doll clothes when the notion strikes. Its more fun that way.

Birthday Present Finished -- Finally

I give up -- Blogger will not let me finish this post. Hopefully it will let me show the rest at another time.

*****

It seems like forever since I have had a chance to post anything here. In case you have been wondering where I've been, I'm usually at work, on the way to the soccer field, at the soccer field, or on the way home from the soccer field. For example, yesterday we drove 2 hours to the field, stayed there 3 hours, and then drove home 2 hours. At least I got in about 1.5 hours of knitting during the warmups. No knitting during the game since I am the self-appointed team photographer.

The T-man's school soccer team had an undefeated season and won the region championship this week. Now, the only soccer left is a traveling team with the local recreation department. That season is not going so great, but the coach is wonderful and Mr. T's skills are improving.

Somewhere in the middle of all this, I managed to finish Niece K's birthday present. I do not know why I am getting a huge gap after this paragraph, but if I take the time to research the problem, I may never finish the post. Scroll down for doll clothes.

	A simple shirt and short set. The shirt pattern is from Kwik Sew #2830. This is one of the easiest shirt patterns you can use. The sleeves fit in perfectly without have to adjust to fit. It also does not have any facings. I think the shorts are from the same pattern.
	More mix and match separates.
	Purchased bags for niece and doll with patches added.
	A line dress from one of Joan Hinds' books. I'm too frustrated to look for it right now to get the title.

I Was Too Sick to Knit

I felt terrible at work on Thursday, 3/1/07. I thought that it was just that I was tired. Both times Pops had been in the hospital had taken its toll on me and I had worked late on Wednesday. I made it through Thursday and was still dragging on Friday. I came in Friday evening with the house to myself. The T-man was with his dad for the weekend. I went to bed at 8 pm.

When I woke up Saturday morning, I knew that it was more than tired. I was sick. I was so sick that when the T-man came home on Sunday, I sent him to his grandparents' house. I would not let anyone around me. My parents left me little care packages at my door and called to check on me. I stayed home Monday and still was not better. I went to the doctor on Tuesday. After two rounds of antibiotics and a week off from work, I finally started to get better. I remember picking up my knitting around Wednesday and thinking it was just too hard to do right then and I was only trying to knit a hat on a circular needle. I was so sick that even the cat was nice to me. (She and I have a running battle over who is in charge -- I think she is worse than a teenager, but check back with me on that one after I actually have a teenager.)

After I quit running a fever, Mr. T returned home. I really missed him. He must have missed me, because he cooked supper for me one night. We had french bread three-meat pizzas. When he wanted supper a couple of nights later, I asked him what was he going to cook. He responded that the night he cooked was just a "freak accident."

I finally recovered enough to do some things (photos follow) and return to work at about 3/4 time this week. I even made it to the two soccer games (missed the one last week.) I'm proud to report that the T-man's team is undefeated.

Kim knew how sick I was and sent the stitch markers below to cheer me up.

They came the first day that I returned to work. Kim had sent me a picture of one of the stitch markers when she made it, but Mr. T did not know this. He handed me my mail and speculated about the contents. I turned the envelope several ways and carefully inspected it and told him that I thought it was a double loop stitch marker that said "Kelly". The look on his face when I opened the envelop was priceless. I never told him how I knew.

Just in case you can't read that last one, it says "Math Geek". Kim and I are so much alike that its really funny. However, we don't agree on math. I'm working on her. She will learn to see the beauty of math.

As example of how much we are alike, guess what I was working on while she was making my stitch markers?

As I started to recover, I felt like making stitch markers. I started with one with my other name and then just kept going.

Hey Kim, since you met the challenge do you want to pick a stitch marker for your prize?





I was too sick to go to Niece K's birthday party. So, I sent a small gift with Mr. T. I want to see her get the doll clothes, and I want to sew more.


The pattern is from Kwik Sew #2921 and was not hard to make. I believe that Niece K and her parents wear denim overalls, so I think she will really like these.


The overall buckles are made by JHB buttons and are available in the button section of fabric stores.











I finally managed to finish this hat. It (and the hats below) is going to Russia to help keep kids warm.

When I was in the LYS Saturday and looked again at the hat that inspired this one, I realized that I need to start writing things down instead of counting on my memory. I like this one anyway.





Here is a close up showing the green mixed in the red yarn. Both yarns are Cascade 220 worsted weight. I saved the labels, but I don't know where I put them, so I don't know the color names.

Updated: I found the labels. The green is Cascade 220 color #7814. The other yarn is Cascade Quatro color #8440. I've been calling it red, but it really is a mixture of purple, green , and pink.

This yarn is Cascade 128 bulky or chunky -- I don't remember. You guessed it -- I don't know where I put the label. It was great recovery knitting. Super fast.



I am not pleased with these mittens. They do look better when on Mr. T's hand, but he was not available for a photo shoot today. He likes them, so I guess that I am just being too picky. I'm not sure if I just don't like the pattern or if I don't like knitting mittens out of bulky yarn. This set should fit a young teen.






This set should fit a younger child. I did add some shaping to the mittens and am happier with these.





I still had yarn left, so I knitted up a tiny tykes hat.






Finally, I’m working on a pair of socks for me. I’ll probably finish them about the time the cold weather ends. This yarn was a Christmas gift, and I actually have the label. It is On Line sock yarn. The label is not in English, but I think the color number is 886.

I divided the yarn into two roughly equal balls and cast on two different needles. Once the toe was finished on the first sock, I did the toe on the second sock. I’m now alternating between the two until I get them both the point of putting in the waste yarn for an afterthought/peasant heel. I like that heel for self-stripping yarns. Knitting in this manner helps me make them both the same and not suffer from SSS.

Getting Ready for Another Birthday

Niece K is the birthday girl this time. She already has an American Girl doll that she got at Christmas. I'm working on a wardrobe of clothes for the doll. I've got until March 10th and am WAY behind.

Today's model is from the Springfield collection that is available at craft stores.


This shirt is from the Kwik Sew Pattern 2878.

One tip to help with the curved hems:

Sew a line of long stitches on the edge, just like you would do if you were gathering something. Pull the thread to help the hem turn in.




















This fleece jacket is from Simplicity Pattern 5676. It is a very easy jacket to make.

Tip: Around here it is hard to find separating zippers the right length. Use what ever length you can find and cut off the extra from the top after sewing in the zipper.

This sweater was knit from a pattern I wrote. It is currently being test knit. I hope to eventually share the pattern here.

The yarn is James C Brett Marble Amethyst. One ball is enough to knit two doll sweaters.

I used size 7 needles.

Hats for Russia

I'm knitting warm items to send to children in St. Petersburg, Russia. Look here for more information on the ministry and contact me for details if you want to send anything.

I had an awful time trying to get the color to show up good and finally just gave up. Trust me, this is a very pretty purple.

The yarn is Cleckheaton Country Silk 8 ply (Color 4). It is a blend of 85% wool and 15% silk.

I cast on 88 on size 7 and am doing a k2, p2 ribbed watch cap.

The shape on this one looks weird and I started to wait to show it, but I promised the Knitting Wonder Woman that I would show a picture since these colors are a little out of the ordinary for me (OK, a lot out of the ordinary).

The pattern is based on one that I saw in my LYS. A rolled brim, then k2, p2 ribbing.

I had just finished reading "Knitting Rules" by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee and I used her tip to knit the brim on a smaller number of stitches than the rest of the hat. Her book is full of lots of useful information like that and many good laughs.

I've about come to the conclusion that it would be quicker to write my posts in html than to edit what I get when trying to use the WYSIWYG tool.

He got me again.

The T-man is behind on his Accelerated Reader requirement for school. Last night he felt fine when we got home. I like to let him take a little break before having to start on homework, so I let him play his Game Cube. He started homework early enough to have plenty of time to finish and time to read. However, he suddenly started feeling terrible and had to go to bed without any reading.

This morning, I made it very clear that the Game Cube would not even be turned on until he had finished an Accelerated Reader book and done all of his homework.

This afternoon he went to the library and checked out a book that is shorter than what he had left to read in the book he already had.

I have to admit that part of me thinks its funny and is kind of proud of him.

Hold all other knitting...

The T-man requested a hat for soccer. The day I finished it, he thanked me twice and wore it inside until he went to bed. Today after showing it off to friends who were impressed he said "I love my hat! I love my hat!". It was too warm to wear in the game today, but he proudly wore it after the game and all the way home.

His team won the soccer game today. This was his first game on a school team. He played most of the game. Part of the time he played goalie and the rest of the time he played defensive positions. This was new for him, but he did a real good job. Not bad for a 6th grader on a team mainly composed of 7th and 8th graders.

The pattern is the Team Support Beanie done in his school colors. I did find an error in the pattern. I have written the company about the error and have gotten a nice message stating that they are looking into it. If you have the pattern, or if you purchase the pattern, contact me if you want the correction.

Updated: E-patternscentral.com has now corrected their pattern. If you have the following in your directions, you should have the correct version:

page 3: Rnd 16: With C, knit.
Add:
Rnd 17: Purl.
Rnd 18: With A, knit.
Rep Rnds 1-18.

Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash, black (#815), really red (#809), and white (#871)

Needles: size 7, 16 inch addi turbo and double pointed needles for the top. Note to my mother, you could do magic loop here if you want to knit the hat. Actually, you could do the whole thing by the magic loop method if you don't have a 16 inch circular needle. Note to myself in case I knit this one again: I cast on 88 stitches. The stitch pattern is a multiple of 4 so it could easily be adjusted for other sizes.

This was very good hospital knitting -- mindless enough that I could do it under the circumstances, but enough changes to keep it from being boring.

Yes, this was another weekend of hospital knitting. Pops is back in the hospital. To make a long story short, he had some sort of infection. Hopefully he and Bebe will come home soon.