Classes Start Tuesday

Christmas break is over and we're back to school this week. The adult ed knitting class I teach starts up again on Tuesday. With all the state budget cuts, I guess I'm lucky I still have a class to teach. We all got letters from the principal about class size and minimum attendance. So, I have to have at least 20 people sign up and at least 20 people show up each week. We will have to take 80% pay if we don't make those numbers.

I don't have a problem with sign ups. I have 21 pre-registered and usually can count on at least 5 more the first night of the class. The problem is attendance. How do you get people to keep coming back? I can average 15, but 20 is a lot.

New Bike!

My husband and I got fancy matching bikes for Christmas and we just can't wait to hit the road! Mine is going to need a few more baskets before it's road-ready, though, and I should probably knit an appropriate riding sweater to match...

Christmas Stocking/Sleeping Bag

Axl loves his stocking! Hooray! We couldn't help trying it on for size on Christmas Eve, though we stopped short of hanging him on the mantle.

Neighbor Gifts

This year I made Irish soda bread, apple butter, raspberry jam, then paired it with 1/2 a dozen eggs from my chickens and a Christmas tea towel. I thought about what to do for weeks. Ended up getting the best reaction from the neighbors who don't celebrate Christmas but celebrate winter solstice.

Happy Christmas

Baby Axl's felted Christmas stocking.

Here's baby Axl in his new robot t-shirt I made.

Rebel Rebel

Urban Knitters Spin Yarn into Graffiti

It's called Yarn Bombing and it's all the rage with knitters in Austin, Portland and all over the world. While I haven't OFFICIALLY yarn bombed SLO, I've knit so much this year that my creations are busting out of our little house and may soon be showing up on the streets like all this stuff!

Not Feeling the Love

All right, I didn't realize this until today, but some people really don't like crafts. I had a woman today say that crafts and anything crafted may not come into her house. She said her kids are past the point of making things in school and now they aren't allowed to craft or bring home anything crafted. I think that her kid probably wasn't very good at whatever they were making in school. Probably ate the glue too.

So this all comes from the fact that I've been working on the school's Christmas Boutique. Hours of work go in to this one day event where all the kids from the school come in and shop for home made items for Christmas presents. They can buy things for parents, siblings, grandparents, friends or pets. They shop, pay and then everything is wrapped to take home to put under the tree. All presents cost $1. The money raised is then donated to a charity the kids vote on. I've put hours in to this event for the last 5 years. I'm not lying, HOURS.

So now this one comment from this one parent has me going crazy. Is this pointless? Should the kids go out and buy "real" presents? Is this just a bunch of crafty crap? Honestly, I would buy some of this stuff for real. It's pretty cute stuff.

It worries me that I don't have any perspective on wether or not what I'm making is appreciated by the people receiving it. It worries me that one day I'm going to be that person who crochets toilet roll cozies. Then I gift them to everyone I know. Then I'm the old aunt who sends a box at Christmas filled with homemade book marks, hard inedible cookies and holiday door hangers.