Thursday 19 September 2013

Sudden changes

I have sadly neglected my crochet blog because life has suddenly taken off in an unexpected direction. I was doing so little online tutoring work that I had more or less decided to consider myself retired and I was focusing on the crochet to give me a new purpose in life.

Well... Completely out of the blue, I was offered 9 hours teaching at the local college. Fortunately it's less then 10 minutes walk away -- I don't think I could cope with a long commute these days! -- but even so, it's tiring to be teaching face-to-face again after so much tutoring at a distance. I'm loving it though. It's a challenge because I've never taught these particular courses before, so whilst the subject matter is fine, some of it is a bit rusty and I also need to get to grips with the exam rules and regulations, not to mention all the admin systems. But things are starting to calm down now I'm nearing the end of my second week. Some of the initial learning curve is behind me. I have students! I have a code to use the photocopiers, I know where my classrooms are, I have access to Moodle (the online place where you put course resources). From now on I can focus on planning and delivering lessons... and I finally have time to think about crochet again.

Here is the mitred granny square blanket that I started at the beginning of the month. All the coloured squares are done and I'm in the process of using the granny Join As You Go method to attach the squares together as I crochet the white border. As I have all the ends to weave in as well, it's slow going, but it's wonderfully relaxing to sit listening to a radio play and crochet after a day working in academia.

Joining the squares