Thanks for the chance to process.
I did decide I want to pursue this, as respectfully and non-disruptively as possible. I actually added a page to my blog to try and make it easier for people to find the addresses. If you want to help, please go here to get all the deets.
Thank you everyone for showing Keegan so much support. We both appreciate it very much.
Thank you!
Woo dog, it’s been awhile since I posted one of these. I can’t tell you how annoying having my education interfere with my life can be. I’m sure you understand. Let’s get right to it, shall we? OH WAIT – my sister sent me the title of a book the other day that she would like me to review. (It will be on the next IBB, sis.) If you have a book you want to know a little more about before purchasing but don’t have time to get to the library, hit me up and I’ll see what I can do. Ok. Now on to the show.
BUY. Holy adorableness. Liberty of London has been around for over 100 years. We are actually talking about them in my History of Design class right now, which is a weird and awesome coincidence. Anyway, their experience really shows. I’ve found I look for 3 things in a sewing/knitting book: good projects, skill building tutorials, and muse to take their projects to the next level. This book definitely has all three. And a peacock pincushion that I cannot wait to make. Adorbs.
Buy used, maybe. Yes, this is absolutely a comprehensive and well illustrated embroidery stitch guide. And yes, it’s probably not going to be a great borrow, cause it seems like you never know when you’ll need one of these things. BUT, this little book costs $115 at Barnes and Noble. I found it used on Amazon for a little less than $30 which is more in line with what I would be inclined to spend. I will probably purchase this book because I am about to do some design work and I think I’ll get my monies worth. If you won’t use a book like this practically daily, I would skip it and use the internet.
Ignore. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – if you are going to write a craft book in this saturated market, you better be on top of your game. The projects in this were supposed to be sassy but were really kind of lame. And the skills were way basic. Meh.
BUY. So adorable. No for real. And I think this may be the first fiction book I’m recommending you buy, so that’s saying something. Keegan and I went to the library last Saturday morning and I got this book. I started it waiting in the drive-thru at the bank on the way home. We got home and I did nothing else until it was finished that night. It was just really sweet, and really good. And it made me laugh. I say buy because I will probably want to read again some day, and I would totally loan this book out to my knitting friends.
Borrow. I really like this book. And I may try and make one of these bags over Christmas break. The patterns look a little tricky though, so you may want to really give it a good gander before you part with your $28. If you only want to do one project, borrowing may be enough. I will say that there are excellent directions for all of the skills. And the projects are super cute. I just think it may be a little complex for your average crafty sewer.
Check out previous posts to read more reviews:
The verdict is no. The superintendent said he’s standing by his principal.
I’m sorry for the late post. We just got home. And I didn’t get a call back from the superintendent until 7:45 anyway. How weird is that?
I’m really unsure what to do next. I know I said I wanted to do a letter writing campaign, but I’m worried about how that might effect Keegan’s day to day. Not necessarily retaliation from the principal, which surely would not happen, but will this pull focus for an already unfocused kid? Keegan’s had a bit of a rough start this year and his priority needs to be Physical Science, not knitting (and not girls, despite what he thinks). Is all this going to go to his head?
I also worry what him seeing me not pursue it will do. What kind of example am I setting? And what am I saying about art and craft? What about my obligation to art itself? I am an artist. That’s an integral part of who I am. I believe that making things makes you a better person in many, many ways. How can I not pursue it?
Parenting is not for sissies. And neither is art.
Here’s what I’m proposing – I’m going to think about it. And let Keegan think about it. And I know I promised you all addresses but I’m going to give it the weekend. And if anyone has any suggestions about a more subtle approach, I am all ears.
Also, I absolutely cannot believe how many people have read my blog today. And the comments have been amazing. Truly. Thank you for caring.
Hi!
Holy yarn over, people. Never underestimate the passion of knitters for their craft and their fellow knitters. I REALLY appreciate the support. Thank you.
I spoke with the Superintendent. Ummm…it was okay. Here is a basic summation:
Me: “Your principal told my kid he can’t knit. That’s stupid.”
Him: “I support the principal. You’re kid is a smart ass.”
Me: “Duh. That’s why I taught him to knit. To distract him when he might otherwise be acting like a dumbass.”
Him: “Oh. Clever.”
Me: “Yeah. I thought so. And you can’t really decide a school wide policy based on my kid.”
Him: “Hem. Haw.”
Me: “You know knitting needles are allowed on planes. And he can just use pencils if it bothers you that much.”
Him: “Er. Huh. I guess I’ll go talk to the principal and call you back this afternoon.”
Me: “Word.”
Yeah. I may have paraphrased. That’s basically where we stand, though. I’ll update again later. I’ll either tell you Keegan is now allowed to knit in school or give you names, phone numbers, emails, and addresses so you can show your ass too.
Tomorrow I will be back to my regularly scheduled boring old posts. I’ve got a kick ass library review in the works.
In the meantime, check out this AMAZEBALLS pinterest board of real knitting crimes.
Today it’s knitting. Tomorrow it’ll be cocaine and hookers. This is a slippery slope.
And just in case you’re late to this party, try this post and this post for a little more back story.
Created by my good friend and facebook supporter Ginna.
***Update 10/29: Please GO HERE to see how you can show your support for Keegan and knitting in his school. Thank you!
This is so crazy.
So the other day, I mentioned that Keegan’s principal told him he was not allowed to knit in school. Sad but true. Since I posted, there have been two major developments. I have spoken with the principal and Keegan has gotten suspended from school. For knitting. Yeah. I just wrote that.
The principal is absolutely not budging on the knitting thing. He was very nice and listened to me blather on for like an hour but he is absolutely sticking by his guns. He was even nice enough to transfer me to the Superintendent’s office when we agreed we had reached an impasse. I think he might just be misguided, not really malicious. I am 100% pursuing this, though. I just can’t believe they can tell my kid not to knit. That’d be like saying you can’t have a sketchbook or study a language in your free time. WTF?
So meanwhile, while I’m trying to be all high road about this, Keegan decides to take his knitting back to school. Per the principal, Keegan was knitting in Enrichment (which is study hall for smart kids) during his free time. This was apparently offense enough to suspend Keegan for 3 days. Granted, Keegan tends to be a clown and can get a little mouthy (I have no idea where he gets it from) so this is not his first infraction this year, though this is his first suspension. None of the other things he’s gotten in trouble for have been fights or anything like that. Keegan is in all pre-AP classes, ROTC and FFA (Future Farmers of America for any yankees that might be reading this). He attends a small, relatively rural school. This is not Stand and Deliver. THERE IS NO REASON TO DROP THE HAMMER ON MY KID FOR KNITTING. That being said, and after much consideration, I am siding with the principal on this. We all have to follow rules. Even if they’re stupid. If you don’t want to follow the rules, get them changed, don’t just ignore them.
As it stands now, I am waiting on a call back from the Superintendent. All my friends on facebook are demanding that I contact the local news but I don’t think I’m quite ready for that. And poor Keegan is grounded until he turns 18. Meanwhile, I’m teaching him to crochet.
I think I’m going to request that I be allowed to present my case (which is why kids should be taught to knit) to the Board of Education and then offer to teach knitting to Keegan’s enrichment class. If you know of any legit studies that show the benefits of knitting I would love to be pointed in the right direction.
Happy birthday to me!
I turned the big 3-4 yesterday. I’m wondering if I’ll ever reach an age when I am not dissapointed by the lack of parade on my birthday. Probably not.
Anyhoo, I got some running shoes and some sparkly nail polish (which my husband applied for me) and some money which I promptly spent on yarn and knitting needles. All in all a very successful birthday.
My sparkly fingers. Don’t hate.
My birthday brought on a lot of self-reflection, though. Le sigh. I think it probably has to do with my impending graduation, too. I’m running out of excuses to not feel like a “real grown up” and everything that I’ve decided that entails. I feel like I’m doing okay for the most part, but I was really hoping I would have outgrown my flaky tendencies by now. I have not. Boo.
That brings me to what this here little post is all about. A lá Elise “I’m so productive” Cripe, I am issuing myself a birthday challenge. (Of course, my birthday was yesterday. This is just another example of my flakiness. Whatever.) I’m calling this:
Catchy right? The little banner is a work in progress, but you get the idea.
Anyway, I made a list of all of my UFOs (unfinished objects). It wasn’t pretty and it filled up a whole big page. I picked 35 of those projects, some dating back years, and I’m going to finish them and get them out of my brain before I turn 35. Simple, yet hopefully effective. I will post the list of projects soon. I am all up in the middle of my semester right now so I’m even less on top of things than usual. It will average out to about 3 projects a month, and of course I’ll have extra time during school breaks. It will also help that these are all projects that I have already started so they should be relatively simple to finish.
In the end, I just really need to be done with a lot of things. I need this out of my space and out of my brain to make room for new and exciting things, you know, like final projects and starting a business.
Be sure and check back tomorrow for an update on the continuing saga of Keegan and his right to knit. There is duh-rama, ya’ll, and I just don’t know what to do about it.
I am fired up.
My sweet, adorable, wildly eccentric 9th grader told me that his principal took away his knitting and said, “School is for learning, not knitting.”
This is quite possibly the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard for many reasons.
All that and I was only on the second page of google. I think it’s pretty freaking obvious that knitting will calm teenagers down and give them something to do with all that free time. You know, like instead of drugs or knocking people up. Here’s a really interesting article written by Cat Bordhi about her experience teaching her students to knit and allowing them to knit during class.
I’m calling his school on Monday to find out what the principal’s principle objections are and then I’ll go from there. What really sucks about this though, is I have a terrible sinking feeling that if my little he had been a she, I wouldn’t have to make that phone call tomorrow.
Maybe this is what the principal was afraid of.
