Trenchwork

I’m still here, no worries.  I can’t believe it’s been this long since the last blog, but I am indeed alive and well.  Grab your favorite cuppa, because you’re in for another eclectic update, a gollimosha post.

The job. Is nearly done for the term, sort of.  I need to post a “tips for taking the exam” message for this term’s crop of students, create three exams for that one class (urgh!), and ultimately mark those exams when they’re finally taken, but the assignments are evaluated, teaching is done, and I’m down to working on course and course website development for a new program starting in the fall.  So, how do I think it went?

Truthfully, there are things I’d have liked to have done differently, but I was also limited by circumstance and some things were simply Murphy’s Law while others were simply not in my control.  For instance, I’d planned for the course to handle the material on a chronological basis, but the chaos and incredible SNAFU with the text order meant that plan went out the window; you cannot study that which you do not have.  I gave them context and background for each text as we went, and we spent a few weeks talking about literary movements in American literature, but because we were forced to pull things out of chronological context, they had trouble seeing the big picture and, if I may mix my metaphors, putting the pieces together.  We had to finish with the earliest of our texts, which worked out in that it gave me a chance to put things in perspective for them, but it would have been so much better had we been able to follow the plan.  The course was a short survey course designed to give them a sense of the different voices, issues, and progression of American literature, and I think that concept was also difficult for them to truly grasp until the last meeting.  Only when they were able to look back were they able to see that we weren’t talking about a single theme, or a single issue, or a single type of writing.

The other issue which came up was the obligatory assignment.  I divided it into two parts, with the first part a prospectus and annotated bibliography, and the second part a continuation of the bibliography and an essay of roughly 1000-1500 words.  Most of these students—even though this is their advanced course—have had little to no experience writing a serious piece of literary criticism using formal academic structure and voice.  Even fewer of them have any concept of scholarly sources.  For some, Google was initially their only source, and if they chanced to use Google Scholar, they thought they’d found the key to all academics.  They’d simply never been introduced to academic sources, much less asked to actually use them.  Even more importantly, they’d never been asked to consider themselves scholars and put themselves in dialogue with other academics writing about their topic. While this is an assignment my stateside students would take in stride without blinking—they’ve had more experience in most cases, and have generally been required to write these kinds of essays since high school—it’s a frighteningly new environment for the students here.

But they did it.  And while explaining the requirements, teaching the structure, and helping them find sources took much more time than I’d planned for, I am so pleased with most of them.  They hadn’t thought they could do it, often thought the assignment was too difficult, and there was the usual whining and kvetching along the way, but most of them really put a shoulder to the proverbial wheel and gave it a good try.  And those who actually took it seriously?  Well, I would like to hope that they began to gain a sense of themselves in a scholarly context, and an idea of what constitutes solid academic literary criticism, as well as  how to find it and, hopefully, an idea of how to create it.  Do I think they understand the value of what they’ve done?  In reality for most of them, no.  Not yet.  Many of them may only perceive the assignment as a writing exercise, but I earnestly hope that they understand things better with the benefit of hindsight and a little more experience.

All in all, I think it was a success, although not one without its flaws.  But if I have the opportunity to repeat the experience—and it’s something I’d very much enjoy doing—there will indeed be some changes.

Looking ahead . . . I need to finish the work for the new program which will begin in the fall, and it looks as if I’ll have a bit of work for the university.  What and how much, however, is still up in the air, and I don’t expect answers on that front until closer to September.

On the fiber front, there’s been relatively little activity.  The “comfort” spinning during this past month or so of work has been Happy Hooves Sock batts from Enchanted Knoll Farm, and I think I’m seriously hooked on Josette’s batts.  They are simply wonderful.  They’re superwash merino with personality, glitz, and imagination.

First there was this:

Fiber: Superwash Merino with glitter, Enchanted Knoll Farm batts, “Cabaret” colorway, plied with black superwash single.
Starting Weight: > 6 ounces.
Yardage: 850 yards.
WPI / TPI: Thick-thin, 2-ply.
Spun on: Rose

This fiber taught me two lessons.  The first lesson was an old one:  While you can shock a superwash single to some extent, one which is spung thinly and softly is still not going to hold together.  When I started this spin, I’d intended it to be a two-ply laceweight, but I enjoyed the singles so much that I decided to try and leave the yarn as singles.  That, of course, was a total bust, and in the process of trying to shock the singles to hold them together, the extreme hot water caused some leaching of the colors, and I lost most of the lighter tones; instead of jewel tones and golds, the singles became the stormy sky we find in the South just before or after a frightening storm—full of depth, blues and greens, all overcast with a bruised grey.

When I realized I’d failed with the singles, I put them aside to rest and see if I could come up with a way to salvage them; the fiber was too lovely to lose.  After a while I had a small epiphany, so I dyed up some of my own superwash in a mottled black, span it into a very thin single, added more twist to the Cabaret singles, and then plied them to the black.  It ended as with a thick-thin, slightly bubbly yarn that I must say I rather like.  And I’m decidedly pleased that I was able to rescue what had promised to be a total disaster.

So, what were my lessons?  Well, I was reminded that while you can use superwash singles for some things, they have to be spun at a bulkier weight and higher twist in order to hold together.  And I was reminded that a yarn can nearly always be rescued and turned into something lovely, despite our goofs.

Then there was this:

Fiber: Superwash Merino with glitter and sari silk, Enchanted Knoll Farm batts, “Roses in Winter” colorway.
Starting Weight: > 6 ounces.
Yardage: 439 yards for 3-ply; 26 yards for gold; 57 yards for pink.
WPI / TPI: 3-ply, 20-22 WPI; gold and pink trim 2-ply yarns = 26-28wpi.
Spun on: Rose

I like this 3-ply!  I’m working on remembering how to spin softly, and the final result truly is soft!  The glitter and sari silk add interest, and the muted pink is far from saccharine sweet.  There was enough irregularity in the singles that I ended up with leftovers in the pink and gold, which then turned into 2-ply yarns.  There’s enough yardage of the 3-ply to turn into a rectangular scarf/shawl, and the 2-ply yarns can be used as trim.  That should work.

Of course, that means that I need to actually do some knitting instead of spinning for a change, and I haven’t exactly had the focus for that.

Comfort spinning is just what it says it is:  comfort spinning.  It’s spinning we do when we don’t want to think about mechanics, and often happens in fits and pauses.  For me, that means that I tend to pay less attention to consistency than usual, and just allow myself to enjoy the process of spinning without really thinking about it.  It also  means that the yarns are generally a bit thick and thin, regardless of what I may have intended at the start.

And yes, that’s perfectly fine.  After all, the purpose is the process and the activity, and not necessarily the result.

Etsy/Trenchwork. I’ve finally decided to make it active, hence the badge at the top of the sidebar.  I’d love a new carder, but the fiber will have to help support that purchase.  I’d put those few items in the shop to see how the system worked, but I haven’t advertised it so it has been sitting there waiting patiently for me to decide what to do with it.  There are still a number of things I’d like to load, and now that the semester is winding down, I should actually have time for it.  Let’s see how it all goes.

On other fronts, Stalker Cat is back, and looks the worse for wear.  He’s limping fairly heavily on his front left and has an ear that’s a bit down and that side of his head is missing a fair amount of fur.  He looks like he’s been in a scrap, although I don’t really think he’s been in a fight.  Rather, he looks as if he’s gotten caught in something and had a bit of a battle getting out.  There are no rips or cuts as you’d normally find had he been quarreling with another animal, but he’s definitely bunged up.  We fed him, and I’ll watch for him tomorrow, but I have to say it really ticks me off.  I’m convinced someone has abused this cat—he’s too skittish around feet and reacts as if he’s been kicked a few times—but he’s not wild.  He has no manners to speak of and some serious trust issues which make you need to be very careful and very slow handling him, but if he belongs to someone at the moment, I’m sorry . . . that person should be taken out behind the barn for a very serious life adjustment.

And this whole business of believing cats should be allowed to run free without supervision?  Forget that.  It’s nonsense.  Cats need as much mental stimulation as other animals, but letting them come and go at will and without protection and guidance is irresponsible, puts the cat at risk, is problematic for other people, and yes—I believe it counts as animal cruelty.  We don’t turn loose children, dogs, ferrets, or any other animals.  Why in the world would anyone think turning loose cats in town (we’re not talking about barn cats on a farm out in the country) is ok??  I don’t care what they say; it’s not ok.  Not when it results in cases like Stalker Cat, or worse.

Sigh.  I really didn’t mean to rant, but it bothers me.  Can you tell?

And on yet another front, today was our anniversary.  I find myself a bit amazed that we’ve been married for twelve years, but you’re talking to the gal who had to do basic math a few days ago to remember how old she is.  Somehow, time plays tricks on us.  And no—I wouldn’t trade those twelve years for anything.