Monday Morning

It's Monday and I don't know what I have done over the past few days.  Oh, I know, I was gardening and have managed to put my neck out.  When I was a kid I was knocked down by a car on a pedestrian crossing.  It was a surreal experience.  I don't remember seeing the car before it hit me but I must have because I jumped up into the air and didn't go under the wheels.  I do remember being in the air and thinking,

"you are going to do a backwards flip, you have never been able to do one of these before.  You are going to come down on the median concrete strip, tuck your head in and roll.  Also, I'm going to wreck my school blazer and my Mother will kill me."

All that in just a few seconds.  I did tuck my head in and roll but I fractured my skull and cracked a bone in my neck along with hurting my leg.  Now that I am getting older these things are coming back to haunt me. My neck is the worst and I am usually pretty careful but I got carried away with a new hoe I bought at the hardware store.  

The soil in my garden is terrible.  Someone must have put down a plastic layer and then added lots of gravel in an attempt to break up the heavy red clay.  I need to break it up and get the plastic out.  As we live by the sea I also have to contend with the wind and salt air.  Behind the house is sheltered but over run with ferns.

  I have more I want to do in the garden but will have to put it off for a bit while I recover.  I think pots will be the best option. 

I now actually have some flowers I can pick from the pots.

So I have been stitching.  Some samples for a new "Introduction to Kogin" class. 

One thing a teacher has to have at the forefront of their mind when teaching beginners is that you have to think like they would.  Now, once you reach a certain level of compentancy this isn't easy to do.  We all remember that Math teacher who couldn't understand why we couldn't see it.  He couldn't explain it at a beginners level. Technically what happens  is that our learning has switched into the automatic, like when you know how to drive a car. We don't have to think about it we just know.  But the beginner hasn't got here yet and is still at stage 1.  It is not easy to switch your brain out of that automatic mode.

  So, that is what I have tried to think about when planning this project.  I am trying to keep it simple but have some challenge in there as well.

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Comments

[Queeniepatch.blogspot.com]

That is too bad about your neck. Old injuries make themselves reminded when our bodies are beginning to age. Follow the signs and slow down.
All your Kogin patterns are interesting and I am sure each student will find one to fall in love with. It is a good idea to add another colour like in the last example, it takes the 'bordom' out of the stitching and keep us from making careless mistakes.

[Carolyn Foley]

Thanks Queenie the neck is improving but I had better keep out of the garden for a while. I am in the process of putting these Kogin patterns into a rice bag. I made a mock up, perfect, but I have done something wrong with the final piece. So it is back to reverse sewing for a while. Once I get over this obstacle I think (hope) the bag will be alright.