Basic sweater pattern

Sizes, to fit chest 41cm,16in. 46cm,18in. 51cm, 20in. 56cm,22in. 61cm, 24in. 66cm,26in. Remember that these measurements are for double knitting wool. So if you use aran wool for example you would use a smaller size and thicker needle.

For example For my 7 year old I use double knit yarn with a 4mm needle and cast on 75st which is for chest size 61cm,24in. For my 12 year old I use aran weight yarn with a 4.5mm needle and also cast on 75st as well.

Back:
Using double knit yarn and 3.25mm needles cast on 51[57:63:69:75:81] sts .
Rib for 8 rows. You can do any rib you choose.
Change to 4mm needles and proceed as follows,
1st Row. Knit.
2nd Row. Purl.
There 2 rows will now be referred to as st-st. Working in st-st
continue until back measures 13[14:15:17:20:23]cm,
(5.25[5.5:6:6.5:8:9]in) or the length you want, ending with a purl row.
Shape Raglan
cast off 5 sts at beg of next 2 rows. 41[47:53:59:65:71]sts.
Proceed as follows,
1st Row. K1, slip 1, k1, pass slipped st over(psso). Knit to last 3
sts, k2tog, k1. 39[45:51:57:63:69]sts.
2nd Row. Purl.
3rd Row. Knit.
4th Row. Purl.
Proceed as follows, 1st Row. K1, slip1, k1, psso,knit to last 3sts,
k2tog, k1. 37[43:49:55:61:67]sts.
2nd Row. Purl.
1st and 2nd rows set raglan shapings. Work these two rows until you
have** 19[19:23:23:27:27]sts left.
Slip the remaining sts onto a stitch holder.

Front:
Work as for back until **27[27:31:31:35:35]sts.
Shape Neck
Next Row. k1, sl1, psso, k6, turn, leave rem 18[18:22:22:26:26]sts on
a stitch holder.
Working on these 8 sts only proceed as follows,
Next Row. Purl.
Work 3 rows dec 1 st at raglan edge as before in next and foll alt row
AT THE SAME TIME dec 1 st at neck edge in every row. 3sts.
Next Row. Purl.
Next Row. K1, S1, K1, psso. 2sts.
Next Row. Purl 2tog. Fasten off.
With right side facing, rejoin yarn to rem 18[18:22:22:26:26]sts and
proceed as follows,
Next Row. Cast off 9[9:13:13:17:17]sts knit to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1. 8sts.
Next Row. Purl.
Work 3 rows dec 1 st at neck edge in every row AT THE SAME TIME dec 1
st at raglan edge as before in next and foll alt row. 3sts.
Next Row. Purl.
Next Row. K2tog, k1. 2sts.

Sleeves:
using 3.25 needles cast on 33[35:37:37:41:45]sts, work 8[8:8:10:10:10]
rows in the same rib you used before. Change to 4 mm needles and
working in st-st inc 1st at each end of 5th and every foll
10th[6th:4th:6th:11th:13th] row to 39[41:45:45:53:57]sts.
For 3rd and 4th sizes only.
Inc 1 st at each end of every foll [6th:8th] row to [51:51] sts.
All sizes
continue without sharing until sleeve measures 15[17:20:24:29:33]cm,
(6[6.5:8:9.5:11.5:13]in) or length required, ending with a purl row.
Shape raglan
cast off 5sts at beg of next 2 rows. 29[35:41:41:43:47] sts.
Proceed as follows,
1st Row. K1, S1, K1, psso, knit to last 3sts, k2tog, k1. 27[33:39:39:41:45]sts.
2nd Row. Purl.
3rd Row. Knit.
4th Row Purl.

From 1st to 4th row sets raglan shaping.
Work 8[8:4:16:16:20]rows dec 1 st as before at each end of next and
every foll 4th[4th:0:4th:4th:4th] row. 23[29:37:31:33:35] sts .
Proceed as follows,
1st Row. K1, S1, k1, psso, knit to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1.
21[27:35:29:31:33:35] sts.
2nd Row. Purl.
1st and 2nd rows set raglan shapings. Work until you have 11[11,
13:13:13:13] sts. Put there sts onto a stitch holder.

Western leopard toad

Last week-end Caleb and I went on a Junior Rangers Camp at the Silvermine reserve. The leaders had felt that the Junior Rangers had worked hard all year and deserved a nice week-end out. Hannah and Sheth joined us in the day but went to sleep at granny's house at night with Greg, their dad.

We arrived at the camp late on Friday evening in the pouring rain. It was dark and cold. Supper was being served so Caleb ate straight away. It was a brown soup - vegetarian. The meals for the week-end were terrible! It was white rolls with all the meals. For lunch each day it was a white roll with margarine. Yuk! ...and palony! Double yuk! There was no lettuce or tomato to go with the rolls, or any other vegetables for that matter. It can not get worse than that. Breakfast was Cornflakes or Nutrifix. Caleb enjoys Cornflakes as we never have it at home. What I have learnt is that I will have to provide food for Caleb on the next camp.

This is a River Click Frog
found on one of the hikes

The rest of the camp was great! We did two fairly long walks, and one serious hike! We did an evening walk which Greg joined us on. We walked to the Clovelly Golf Club. This is where we were hoping to see the migrating Western Leopard Toad. Well we did! We found the males in the ponds and found two females walking across the greens of the golf course. We also sat and listened to their calls. It was fantastic. I think Caleb and Sheth enjoyed it more than anyone else. This comes from the fact that kids between 14 and 17 are more interested in the opposite sex of the human race than in the mating of the Western Leopard Toad.

Facts about the Western Leopard Toad:

• Their name is Western Leopard Toad or August Toad
• They move in the rain
• They move up to 5 km
• They are nocturnal so move at night
• They move on a waxing moon
• The male has a darker throat than the female
• The female's throat is almost a lemon colour
• The male is smaller than the female
• If the female toad has a predominantly triangular shape, then she still has eggs in her
• She has 1000 to 2000 eggs in her
• The male toad jumps on the female's back and gets into the Amplexus position. He has nuptual pads on his hand that help him hold on to her
• If a female gets into the water without a male on her back she will be marked and drowned
• The female lays strings of eggs which are black. The male then puts sperm over the eggs to fertilise them
• Their eggs take about 2 weeks to turn into tadpoles
• It takes about 3 to 4 months to grow into a toadlets
• Baby toads are called toadlets
• The toads burrow into the ground, to sleep during the day. They share their burrows with other toads
• Toads walk and hop
• Frogs can only hop
• Every Western Leopard Toad has its own special pattern on its back
• The Clovelly Golf Club has Koi fish in their ponds. These Koi fish are eating the Toads eggs, tadpoles and toadlets
• The Western Leopard Toad is an endangered species

For more information on the Western Leopard Tod go to www.toadnuts.co.za or www.leopardtoad.co.za

South African curriculum

In Waldorf, in each grade, we study certain things. So in grade 1 it is Fairy Tales. Grade 2 Nature Stories and The Saints. Grade 3 Old Testament, clothing, fibre and housing etc.

As we live in South Africa we will study our local tribes and history instead of Native American. When the children are older we will study Native Americans. I think it is very important to learn about one's own country - to understand our roots.

I have bought a South African curriculum called Little Footprints. The age suggestion is 4 to 8. I think it is way too academic for that age and use it, spread it out over grade 2 and 3. I do not use it as a stand alone curriculum, but use it as local geography and history blocks. The story books are fantastic.
For grade 4, 5 and 6 I bought Footprints on our Land. It is a very good curriculum. The draw back is that it is very expensive for what you get. The books are all "home" printed in black and white. The covers are a very light weight cardboard, that pick up stains and dirt easily. The teachers guide is also black and white. The cover has a plastic sheet to keep it clean. It is not much more expensive for the producers to have laminated the front cover instead. The binding is also inferior, so you have to be very careful when using your teachers manual. For maybe R20 more the producers could have used the metal ring binding and laminated the front cover.

But after all that I would still buy the Footprints on our Land curriculum for the content alone. The curriculum is a literature based curriculum. It consists of 24 books. I do the first 8 books in grade 4, the next 8 books in grade 5 and the last 8 books in grade 6.

I will be buying the Footprints into the 21 st Century for grade 7 and 8.

Winter crafting

This year was a very fertile year as most of my friends are pregnant.

My best friend just had her third baby, a boy. Another close friend is having her first baby in August, she is having a girl. And one of my oldest friends' wife is also having a baby in August, also a girl.

So to get, make the right gift is very important. My best friend has a beautiful home, a fully fitted nursery and a mother in law who does the most fantastic crafts, she crotchets, quilts, fabric paints, does woodwork and makes ceramic dolls. So I chose to make her a quilt, knowing the style her mother in law does, I made my style quilt!

How I made the quilt

1. I decided on the size I wanted to make it.
2. I decided on the pattern, design I wanted to use.
3. I got the measurements together. The actual finished measurements.
4. Now I added on seam allowance, 0.75mm on each side.
5. I chose my fabric. I always use cotton.
6. I cut out my quilt pieces.
7. I stitched it together using a sewing machine. I prefer hand quilting but this was a project I needed to get finished rather quickly.
8. I sandwiched the top, batting and bottom fabric together with a basting stitch.
9. I machine quilted it all together.
10. I finished it off around the edges with bias binding.

And voila! It is finished.

My close friend is very healthy and will not use disposable nappies so I bought her pre-made toweling nappies.

My oldest friend, and his wife are Jewish. They have the most fantastic support system. They have everything they need and more!

Therefore I have chosen to crotchet them a baby blanket. Their pram is pink, baby carrier is pink and most of everything else, so taking that cue I chose a mottled pink acrylic wool. I normally do not use acrylic, but because our winters are wet and I know what it is like having a newborn baby I got a yarn that washes in the machine, dries quickly and the colour will not fade. It is also 100 percent acrylic sticking with the torah - the torah states that we should not mix different types of yarn. According to my friends this is to keep the purity of the yarn.

I am not very advanced with crocheting so I used a very basic pattern. And, this is what I ended up with.

The Vagaries of Language

This is why it is so difficult to teach the English language!

From an email:
A newspaper reader sent in this lament on the vagaries of the English language:

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes
But the plural of ox becomes oxen, not oxes

One fowl is a goose but two are called geese
Yet the plural of moose should never be meese

You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice
Yet the plural of house is houses, not hice

If the plural of man is always called men
Why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?

If I speak of my foot and show you my feet
And i give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?

If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth
Why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and there would be those
Yet hat in the plural would never be hose
And the plural of cat is cats, not cose

We speak of a brother and also of brethren
But though we say mother, we never say methren

Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him
But imagine the feminine: she, shis and shim !

Let's face it - English is a crazy language.

There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger;
neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren't invented in England.

We take English for granted, but if we explore its paradoxes we find that
quicksand can work slowly,
boxing rings are square
and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing,
grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?

Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends but not one amend?
If you have a bunch of odds and ends and get rid of all but one of them,
what do you call it?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

Sometimes I think all the folk who grew up speaking English should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.

In what other language do people recite at a play and play at a recital?
We ship by truck but send cargo by ship.
We have noses that run and feet that smell.
We park in a driveway and drive in a parkway.
And how can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,
while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language
in which your house can burn up as it burns down,
in which you fill in a form by filling it out
and in which an alarm goes off by going on.
And if Father is Pop, how come Mother's not Mop?

There's no simple answer. You see, Engllish is a hybrid language. There were the Angles and the Saxons. Then there were the Vikings. Then the Norman-French, who were French but not quite French because they also had Norse in them. Then there were the Vikings again. They all brought their languages. Then there was Hollywood. Then the Australlians colonised England. It's an ever-evolving proces.

Perhaps another practical example of the vagaries is appropriate.

A Frenchman is complaining: "I am playing poker wiz two Englishmen and an Englishwoman.
One of the Englishmen wins a hand and his compatriot says : you lucky dog!
Zen ze ozzer Englishman wins a hand and ze first responds ze same: you lucky dog!.
Zen ze Englishwoman wins a hand and I say : you lucky bitch!
Zen zey all want to punch me on ze nose.
Inexplicable ! Les Anglais ! Zut ! Alors!

There must be many more of these interesting observations of the English language.
Hope you had a smile out of one or more.
Have a great day

Quote of the day

Each of us tends to think we see things as they are, that we are objective. But this is not the case. We see the world, not as it is, but as we are - or, as we are conditioned to see it. When we open our mouths to describe what we see, we in effect describe ourselves, our perceptions, our paradigms.

Socks age 7-12

This pattern is for age 7 till they grow out of this size, then you would use the adult pattern, or use a slightly thicker knitting needle.

When you are knitting socks a slightly thicker needle gives a softer knit, and of coarse a more stretchy sock. This makes it easier for children to put on.

Socks age 7-12
Materials:
50g sock wool.
Set of 4 needles, 3mm.

Method:
Cast on 54 st. Put 18 st on each needle.
Knit in the round.
Do 6 rows of rib. Your choice of rib will do.
Change to knit.
Knit 40 rows.

Heel
Knit 12 st from needle 1.
Slip last 13 st from needle 3 onto same needle as the 12 st you knitted. (25st)
Put the remaining 29 sts onto two needles.

Working on the 25st.
Row 1. Pearl.
Row 2. Knit.
Row 3. Pearl.
Repeat row 2 and 3 ten times.(21 rows)
If you want a reinforced heel then on every knit row do slip one, knit one etc. till last stitch which is a slip stitch.

Turn heel
Row 1. Knit 15, K2 together in the back of the sts. Turn.
Row 2. Slip 1. P5. P2 together. Turn.
Row 3. Slip 1. K6. K2 together in the back of the sts. Turn.
Row 4. Slip 1. P7. P2 together. Turn.
Row 5. Slip 1. K8. K2 together in the back of the sts.
Row 6. Slip 1. P9. P2 together. Turn.
Row 7. Slip 1. K10. K2 together in the back of the sts. Turn.
Row 8. Slip 1. P11. P2 together.
Row 9. Slip 1. K12. K2 together in the back of the sts. Turn.
Row 10. Slip 1. P13. P2 together.
15 sts left.
Knit 8.

Knit 7 on needle one. Pick up 12 sts along side of heel. (19 sts).
Knit 29 sts on needle two.
Pick up 12 sts along heel, knit 8 sts on needle 3. (20sts).

Shape heel
Row 1. Knit.
Row 2. Knit sts on needle one till last two remain. K2 sts together.
Knit sts on needle two.
On needle three. K2 together in the back of the sts. Knit till end.
Repeat row 1 and 2 till 54 sts remain.

Knit length according to the child's foot.

Shape toe
Needle one must have 14 sts.
Needle two, 27 sts.
Needle three, 13 sts.
Row one.
On needle one. K to last 3 sts. Knit 2 together, knit 1.
On needle two. K1, K2 together in the back of the sts. Knit till last
three sts. K2 together, K1.
On needle three. K1, K2 together in the back of the sts.
Row two.
Knit.
Continue with last two rounds till 20 sts remain.
Graft sts!

Happy knitting.