Kickin' It Up for Kenya!

Have you ever had one of those moments where you are just incredibly proud to be part of something so cool, huge, and amazing? Well - as teachers, we often get to share such moments with our students - watching them grow from timid, insecure freshmen to strong, opinionated, and well adjusted seniors. It's quite the journey! Last night I had the opportunity to watch a group of students pull off an incredibly generous event.

I teach in an alternative program which provides students the opportunity to take charge of their educational journey while promoting community service. Well, last night, our students put together an event to raise funds for the Kisumu Orphanage in Kenya. Their goal was to raise $2000 via a spaghetti feed and silent auction. These students ended up making over $3500! Very cool! However - the best part for me was that this event was TOTALLY planned and executed by students! I am so totally proud to have been a part of these students' lives - they are the future of our world & a great example of what great things teenagers can do.

Knitting update.... new sock started using the Elongated Rib Stitch from the Sensational Knitted Socks book. I'm using Koigu KPPPM yarn in a purple & size 3 needles. Very soft - can't wait until it's finished. I chose to use the two circular needle method since I discovered I purchased a 24" #3 circular instead of the 32". The 23" seemed a bit short to do the magic loop - perhaps next time. The heel is turned, gusset finished - all left to do is the foot & the blasted grafting together of the toe. On the next pair I'd like to try a toe up pattern - I think SKS also has directions for those.

Can't believe it's been soooooo long since my last entry. Hmm... well, Spring Break is over & we're back to work. After the birthday trip to Girdwood, the hubby returned from CA and we headed out to my parent's cabin on Fish Creek. Getting to this cabin requires a 50 minute trip by snow mobile. Very fun - the weather was incredible (for March in Alaska) - clear skies & lots of SUN. Of course - clear skis also mean cool weather until summer.... I think the highs were in the low 20s. My dad reported that the morning after we left the temps dropped to 14 BELOW zero (can I get a Holy Cow that's cold!)

The cabin is a perfect place for knitting - no phones, laundry, or other errands stealing away the precious time. Most of the sock was completed while at the cabin - now if I could only find time to get out there again soon, the 2nd sock would get done faster! Now that I think of it - most of my knitting projects have been finished when I'm at the cabin. Perhaps if I just loaded those orphans onto the snow machine and spent some time (like all summer...) there, they'd actually get done.

Ciao