Thursday 23 January 2014

Weaving and a New Cup for Tea

These are my weavings so far. I am becoming unable to stop weaving! It is so quick compared to crocheting and a fun way to try out lots of different colour and texture combinations. The little loom is great but limited in that it can only make a piece with a maximum size of about 10x20cm. So I went for an upgrade! It is called a beginner's loom and has the exciting option of being able to make your piece of fabric as long as you want. It came ready threaded so I wove away happily. I was not quite sure about how to thread it up again though I knew roughly. The instructions are not that clear (but are written in a very enthusiastic tone.) I worked out from my mistakes what to do next time though. The other great thing about weaving is that it is using up loads of yarn-some that I have had for years and never touched as it would be a pain to knit or crochet with. You can double the yarns to make lots of lovely effects. It is officially my latest obsession!

 
I have been quite good-in that I have resisted the call of the charity shops for a couple of weeks. But I caved last weekend and found this Coronation mug. I have been kind of looking out for one so was pleased with my find. It is lovely bone china which is my favourite type of cup to drink from. It has survived its sixty something years with only one small chip to the rim.
 In other news, school continues to be interesting. The local authority have told the school that we need to improve asap or we will be in special measures (not the meaning of 'special' that I favour) if we are inspected soon. So, we have a R.A.P. which stands for Rapid Improvement Plan. This translates as a lesson observation of 40 minutes every other week for the next thirteen weeks, and a peer planning and observation programme for the intervening weeks. Oh joy!  I have decided to try not to let it all bother me too much, and it is being done in the spirit of 'we will get through this together' so let's hope that is the case. My classroom has been transformed into a place with less furniture (not more storage-I have just chucked stuff out and had a change around) and with labels on everything I can think of. I am in the middle of completing about five different displays, which should be finished by Tuesday at the latest. My planning has been annotated to death, and the outside planning and provision has been sorted out a little more by the teachers in nursery and Reception  so bring it on! We also, as of today have a working interactive whiteboard. I will let you know how my first observation goes next week. Let's hope I am not still inadequate!

7 comments:

jabblog said...

I am quite sure you are not, and never have been, inadequate. You know the old saying, 'Those who can, do, those who can't, teach'? There's a third part to it - 'Those who can't teach, advise' (or inspect, whichever you like.)

Love the weaving - what a talented lady you are:-)

Elizabeth said...

The weaving looks such fun!
I can see how addictive it could become.
Good luck with all your school inspections etc.
I always used to find them very wearying!

My Coronation mug broke the very day I got it -Coronation Day 60 years ago
I dropped it over the side of my push chair!

Leenie said...

Hi, Sarah, The weaving loom looks like a great way to be creative and use up scraps of yarn at the same time. I can see all kinds of uses for those colorful strips--belts, camera straps, handles for bags--etc. I laughed at Elizabeth's remark about her coronation cup.

I think you've got a good attitude about all the inspecting going on. Bring it on! Roll with it.

A.Smith said...

Oh dear! here we go again with too many cooks but just one who knows best what goes on in her kitchen, whose opinion is almost always ignored until they realized that she knows best her space and how to operate within her kitchen than the weekly visitors...sigh.

I wish they were realistic, with a notion of "if she is in charge she is responsible and either she gets full blame or she gets the full credit" but of course this is my hopeless optimistic side speaking and I know better than to hope for respect from those who only judged what their eyes see, but lacking even a bit of comprehension to truly appreciate what their eyes are truly seeing.

If they were to use all the resources they have at their disposal the first thing they would do, in my opinion would be to give the teachers full go ahead and wait for the results. But we both know that it would never happen when bureaucrats decide what the soup may have and how it may taste even if no one is really going to eat it at the end.

You go, girl! about the weaving you can make wonderful placemats by weaving lengths of the same size and join them together when you have enough to make the size you want your placemat to be.

I had some that were absolutely gorgeous done that way and for Christmas they were green and red and for the rest of the year most matched some of my china and they were fun to make and fun to use. Washable cotton thread or yarn is the best for that. And with your sense of color they are bound to be gorgeous!

Lynne said...

You have been busy on both counts. Love the weaving. Any plans for it?

snoopydogknits said...

Oh dear, school doesn't sound like an awful lot of fun at present. We are supposedly in a state of so called 'requires improvement' too, despite the fact that whoever comes in to offer advice can see little wrong except that......our results are never good enough!!!!! Lovely weaving , by the way; nice bit of brightness! Good luck for the first lesson ons. Ros

Sarah said...

Thanks all! I love the cooking analogy Allegra-just right!