Well, it has been a while. A bit of a gap in posts on the blog and, to be honest, a tough couple of weeks with very little time for crafting.
What has been happening? First, a move to a totally new city. The capital, at that – Stockholm. To live in a small, humble flat with a tall, equally humble, Swede. And move there by train. Talk about downsizing. Talk about inventive packing. In my cajon drum, I found the perfect hidey-hole for some of my yarn stash and a double gig bag made taking my clarinet and sop sax possible, the alto sax sadly waiting for another day. Oh, and I took a few clothes and stuff, you know. Toothpaste.
Train was delayed so a very late night arrival in Stockholm. Tired girl next morning, disorientated, unpacked some of her life and paperwork in the morning, then did her best to look presentable enough for a job interview that very afternoon.
I already had a 50% post secured, working every afternoon around schools as a “mother-tongue” teacher of English. This tuition is provided to Swedish children who have one or more parent speaking English at home. It involves working with small groups of children after their school day is finished as an extra subject. This other job interview was a great opportunity to work part-time some mornings as a classroom English teacher.
The informal interview went well and I immediately got on well with the headteacher and her deputy. With the handing over of the Swedish school curriculum and a smile from the headteacher, I realised I had got the job here too! What luck! Better still, my now-second-new-boss-used-to-play-trumpet-headteacher asked how I would feel about starting up two school choirs at her school. Well, that would be lovely, thank you very much. As a qualified music teacher I could now share my passion for music and to work where it is valued as a part of school life. And, as a native-speaking Brit, I seemed to be an attractive solution to the sudden shortage they had in their English department. Win-win-win.
A week and a bit has passed since then and I have been running around sorting out these two teaching jobs. Anyone who has had more than one job will know that the sum is always greater than the two parts. Not much chance, or energy, for this teacher to do any knitting. And the migraine that hit me hard on Friday night has reared its ugly over the weekend and has certainly not helped my cause. Or mood.
But a little knit here and another purl there has happened. The latest project is a simple reversible rib stitch scarf (no real concentration required) for my sister-in-law Roselyn. On her visit to Sweden, my mum gave her a hat that I had spare yarn for so I promised to make a matching item. In fact, there is still some yarn over so maybe a little something for myself next time…?
The reversible rib pattern is as follows:
Cast on a multiple of 3 stitches plus 2 (for the edging.)
Here goes: K1, *K2, P1* to penultimate stitch, K1.
Repeat for every row until desired length.
Cast off.
Simple. Stretchy. Cosy. Tired-teacher friendly.
I added a few tassles at each end to finish.
As I say, it has been hard to fit any crafting in. It is possible, however, that during one particularly long and heavy-going teaching seminar – led in the Swedish language to a room full of native language teachers from an impressive array of nationalities – there was an English girl sitting in the back row, listening intently, but knitting all the same. It was a good way for her to stay awake. Unfortunately, the Polish lady sitting close by had no such strategy. Despite partaking in the coffee-heavy meet and greet, she slept through the whole morning, snored blissfully – and noisily – through proceedings…
The lesson here? Always have your knitting handy.
garnharmoni 