News and Packages!

So I definitely haven't been around much.  But for a good reason:  I've (sorta) got a job!  A teacher in (my favorite) school had to have surgery at the end of March and the principal called me to be her leave replacement.  She was supposed to be out for a month but it continually gets extended.  Officially, I'm in the classroom until the end of May, but it's looking like it will be for the rest of the school year.  It's so nice to know where I'm going ahead of time and having the same group of kids to work with.  But it's also overwhelming!  I have so much work to do and am barely planned ahead of time.  It's a pain that I can't have the classroom working the way I would (still following the teacher's routines until we know for sure whether she's coming back or not) and things are certainly not organized.  But it's a job!  The only downside is there's no pay raise- so I'm spending almost every free moment doing work for this class and getting the same pay as regular subbing.  I just have to keep telling myself it's a good resume builder.

Because of this, though, I haven't been knitting much.  Well, make that I've been knitting simple stockinette or garter stitch projects.  Right now I'm working on a Silk Top from Debbie Bliss and a couple simple baby blankets just to pass the time.  My brain doesn't have the energy for anything more.

I also got an awesome tax refund this year, so I finally had enough money to buy a spinning wheel!  I bought a Ladybug, which will be here sometime the beginning of June (I hope!).  Which is a good thing since I had my drop spindle bag behind my seat at Knit Night and someone stepped on it and broke the dowel.  Now, I have the second cheapest drop spindle out there, so I'm not heartbroken.  I can easily go to Home Depot and buy a dowel to replace it.  Just last weekend I noticed the glue wasn't exactly doing its job anymore and  the whorl was sliding around anyway.  And I have a spinning wheel on its way :o).  BTW, the cheapest spindle has to be the CD spindles you make at home.  But mine is just a step above that.

In other news, I sent and received packages for the Downton Abby Swap hosted by the Subway Knits podcast.  Surprisingly, my partner for sending and receiving was amydoth both times!  I didn't take pictures before sending to Amy, but I took plenty of what I received:

All my contents!

Chocolate

 I put the lip balm on almost immediately.  Very nice!  My lips needed some lovin :o)

This flower is a clip- can be put in hair, on my knitting, on a bag...  A portion of the proceeds from Pinup Posies goes to a dog rescue foundation.

The Side Slip Cloche from the cover of Boutique Knits

MmmMMmm coffee and cookies :o)

Fiber for my wheel :o)