incredible!

some days - things happen that I wouldn't have believed possible!

I'd say we are a reasonably well behaved family. I am 46, but I have never been thrown out anywhere. I assume that is because I don't misbehave so badly that people would have to resort to this. I would have said the same thing for my husband - but today we were taught differently! it was parent-teacher meeting today and given that we're having a minor storm today, DH went on his bike without me (it's a good half hour bike drive to the school). when he came back he looked stunned - and told us that DS's teacher had thrown him out! at first I thought he was having me on - but no, she threw him out of the classroom and refused to talk to him further! the reason? apparently you are allowed (and very welcome to) to praise them to the sky, but you are not allowed to utter criticism - even if you do so politely! at first they talked about how DS is doing in school and all was ok. then my husband dared to tell her that our son seems to be bored in school - first mistake! then he tried to tell her that it's not ok to tell kids off, when they have to yawn during lessons. ok, if one child constantly looks tired and yawns all the time, I would consider it the teacher's duty to talk to the parents about this; maybe the child in question does not get enough sleep. but sending kids out to stand outside the door because they yawn seems to be rather weird to me! everybody has the urge  to yawn at times; it's hart to stifle, might have to do with being bored, but also with lack of exercise and oxygen - how can children be thrown out of the classroom for this? DS told us that she tends to yell very often (I hate sreaming women, never mind screaming teachers:((), she tells kids off for not being fast enough (how can you say to a kid, who isn't fast enough at solving maths problems, that this is worse than pulling teeth???)  etc. all in all I'd say that she was so offended because somewhere deep inside she either knew that her behaviour isn't right - or that she isn't able to discuss something like that like an adult. either way - she didn't only throw my husband out of her classroom - she even told the next waiting parent how badly he insulted her! so much for confidential discussions... the only good thing is that DS is doing his last year in this school - we hope that teachers in secondary school in Ballyhaunis might be a bit more adult about taking criticism....

on a lighter note - I spun two new yarns. one was inspired by this photo:

I like HP inspired yarns etc - as long as they are usable after spinning. and I think Jason Isaacs is perfect in the role of Lucius Malfoy. incredibly arrogant and wearing only the finest garments:)) (Malfoy that is, I doubt that Isaacs is behaving like this:))  it had to be something with black and silver for him - for obvious reasons!

 when I saw my bag of black alpaca top, I knew this would be perfect. sleek and smooth, slightly shiny and deep black. I added some burgundy red (his cloak was lined with that colour in one of the films) and white shiny viscose instead of silver. of course the skulls would match his death eater status, but I wasn't sure during spinning what I'd actually make out of this yarn, so the skulls are only added for photographic purposes (I might attach some later:)). it's a single yarn, smooth and looking slightly sinister (and arrogant:)), just like its inspiration. unfortunately I don't have any snake beads in my stash...

my other yarn is this - one of the most idiotic yarns I've ever spun! that happens when I am not thinking about what I am doing... I chose several blue and one pink corriedale top and spun a marled yarn with it. I liked it, but wanted to tone it down slightly and ply it with another colour, slightly less colourful. which is where the grey alpaca comes in. I started plying as usual (watching tv) - and only noticed halfway through that this yarn behaved a bit oddly... the blue/pink was perfect - but the grey alpaca became more twisted instead of less! all of a sudden I remembered that for reasons unknown (more lack of thinking it through, probably!) I spun the alpaca with s-twist, not with my normal z-twist! and of course I had spun the blue/pink z... argh!! well, it was too late to "unply" the whole lot, so I just kept going, tried not to add too much twist and finished the bobbin. I had high hopes that the overtwist might lessen a bit after washing - which it did, in the blue/pink at least:)) I wasn't too sure about knitting with this - but it turned out ok, so I can go ahead with my planned project.... stupid really - that happens when I get too comfortable in front of the wheel and work without putting at least some thought into it! taught me a lesson (puh, the second one today - no criticism towards teachers - and no brainless spinning either:))