Happy Halloween

Rogue is done...

Trick... or... Treat?

Rhinebeck Day 2...

I didn't take nearly as many pictures on Sunday as I did on Saturday.  We got there early Sunday morning and there were no crowds, so I could actually get into the booths.

First stop, the fleece sale.  I looked around but didn't see any that caught my eye.  Well, that's not true, there was a black fleece that I liked the look of, but I didn't want another 5lb fleece.  I still haven't done much of anything with the one I got at Maryland this year.

Mom shopping for a basket.  She spent quite a bit of time there, but finally found one she liked.

I love his outfit, there is something about a man in a kilt.  You can visit with D. here at his blog.  I'm glad he comes up for the festival, I'm not sure I'll ever make it down his way to visit.  Are there any fiber festivals in Texas?

He also took some great pictures of me breaking down the Holiday Wheel.  The link to his flickr set is on his blog.

Around noon, we headed to the pumpkin chucking contest.  I tried to get a picture of the pumpkins soaring through the air but my camera (or my reflexes) just was not fast enough.  They had a bunch of high school and community college teams competing there.  They had to shoot for accuracy, since shooting for distance in previous years resulted in pumpkins leaving the fair grounds.

Amazingly enough, Rhinebeck is so much more fun when you aren't focused on buying.  I loved taking a class (oh... I forgot to snap pictures of my soap.  Next time).  I think next year I'll try for at least one class and pay more attention to the other events that are going on around the fairgrounds.

Okay, this is funny...

I promise to get around to uploading pics from day 2 soon, but in the meantime...

click here for a great dog vs cat comic.  (sorry, couldn't figure out how to reprint it here... which probably isn't legal anyway.)

ETA: I'm sitting here watching the 10 o'clock news before I go to work tonight and the newscaster was talking about a road that closed in NJ.  Now, she pronounced it two hundred six.  You can tell she didn't grow up anywhere around here.  Rte 206 is pronounced two oh six.  I never noticed that we tend to do that with highway numbers here in Jersey.  2-0-2, 1-95, 2-95, 5-28.  Guess we're in such a rush we even have to shorten the road names.

Rhinebeck, Day One

Hi P.!  We missed you today.

Warning: pic heavy post.

Start of the day... we all know what booth that is.  Amazingly enough, this year, they brought enough stock to refill the shelves and the line continued all through the afternoon.

Everyone else went to the Fold, we all went to Brook's Farm.  Ran into V. and company there.

Yarn pose, just for you P.

M. waiting in line with her STR haul.  She actually was quite restrained this year.

I, however, was not restrained.... See that small wheel on the table?  It was the first year that the creator was showing it, the first show he'd ever been to... and I was his first sale.  Yes, I bought a new wheel.  It will have two ratios 6:1 and 12:1 and packs down into a small tote bag.  I've been wanting a smaller wheel for a few years and when I sat down to spin on this, I heard music (well, not literally)

We kept walking around and ran into J.  You can see I finally got a peanut butter cookie.   I forgot to take a picture of her spindles... sorry J.

J. was on a mission to try every wheel there today.  Here she is playing with a folding Lendrum.

This is N.  She's our sixth house mate this year.  We didn't really know her prior to this weekend.  Funny enough, she fits right in with the rest of us and you'd never know we just met.  She was playing with a Victoria here.

We took a felting soap class, I had to take a picture of their bunny soaps.  They have bunny related names on Ravelry that I forgot to write down..

And the dessert at the end of the night Ravelry party.  It was so crowded we almost left.  Good thing we didn't, J. won three skeins of Yak yarn and N. won a book.

There are quite a few people missing this year... It's not the same without you gals.

Best Bags EVER

As I procrastinate the packing of EVERYTHING I own for a weekend at Rhinebeck, I find myself more in love with the two bags I've bought this year.

1. The bag for my Fricke Folding Wheel

A reminder of how Oliver looks sitting in the bag.  When I bought it, I loaded Oliver in the main compartment.  In the front zipper section (which you can't see in this picture), I loaded four bobbins and a bunch of roving I was working on.  

What I didn't realize at the time, was that I had a TON more room in the bag.  See... the treadle for Oliver is held away from the wheel by a wooden block, which leaves about five inches or so of usable space.  As I've been packing for Rhinebeck, and trying not to carry too many bags at once, I've now filled that area with the knitting projects I'm bringing along with me.

2.  Tom Bihn's Aeronaut

This is a maximum size carry on bag that I bought to replace the luggage that was stolen out of my apartment.  I packed for a seven day trip in it and wasn't too impressed, since I had packed VERY minimally.

Again, as I pack for this weekend, it has swallowed everything I've thrown in.  A man's XL Northface Winter Jacket, with the fluffy liner in it, is laying in the bottom of the main compartment.  In the large packing cube I got, I fit a pair of jeans, 3 pairs underwear, 1 bra, 3 t-shirts, 2 pairs heavy socks, one set of scrub pants, and a worn out t-shirt to wear to sleep.  I could probably get more into that. I've also managed to fit in the main section my dragon scarf, fingerless gloves, ear warmer and will lay my computer between the packing cube and the jacket before I go.

One end pocket is reserved for toiletries and electrical cords (it's pretty much empty)

The other end pocket is holding my Lady Eleanor (10 skeins of yarn worth of shawl), my Shoalwater shawl, and my flip top mitts.

I'm amazed at all it's holding.  I'll have to take pictures of everything laid out once the weekend is over.

I might just make it...

One of my girlfriends from school is getting married this fall.  She liked my Lady Eleanor so much that I offered to make her one for the wedding.   About a month ago, I got her wedding invitation and imagine my surprise when the date was moved up by over a month.  Now... there's a very valid reason for moving up the wedding... but it means that I can't make it to Arizona for the wedding.  It also meant that I had to start the shawl and finish it quickly.  It was originally going to be my October project.

It's amazing what you can do when you have to (and work night shift doing home care).

I sent the shawl off today, via priority mail.  I'm REALLY hoping it gets there before the wedding on Saturday.

Pattern: Lady Eleanor

Modifications: added an extra square to the width.  Changed the fringe.

Needles: Size 10

Yarn: Noro Silk Garden - 10 skeins

T minus 6 days and counting..

till Rhinebeck officially starts this year. 

Anyone want to guess what I won't be wearing this year at Rhinebeck????  Yes, it's still not done.  My Rogue is still sitting in three pieces because I haven't sewn in the sleeves yet.

Sigh...

I might get it done before we leave, but I'm thinking the root canal I have planned for Wednesday and working on Thursday might just keep it in pieces.

Anyone want to come to the house on Friday and help me finish it????  I'll provide pink drinks and s'mores (once you're done).

A few people will be missing this year (I'll miss you P.),  but it seems I can console myself with guys in kilts.  

Weekend Get-a-way

As I sit here waiting in limbo between graduate school, boards and finding my grown up job, I decided that a change of scenery was needed.

So I called up one of my girlfriends from school who is as anti-social as I can be and asked if she wanted to get away for the weekend.

She was more than happy to join me... though I did have to make a detour to Philly to pick her up (no car, and even if she could rent one, she hasn't driven in years)

We headed up to the Jim Thorpe area.  There's a little place up there where I love to stay.  It's warm, friendly and won't cost you a week's pay.

Turns out, this weekend was the first of three weekends to celebrate the fall foliage up in Jim Thorpe.  We drove up Friday, went into town on Saturday and wandered around, then got to make fun of all the people sitting in traffic waiting to get into town (and it was a good three or four miles of traffic) as we drove back to our little haven and enjoyed our outdoor campfire for the rest of the evening.

Bet you're expecting pictures of the fall foliage... yeah, it was beautiful, the trees were all red and orange.. but this is what really caught my eye...

Now, this plate was attached to the most unique car I've ever seen...

No way you miss this car in a parking lot.

Hints on the exam

I've had a few people ask me how I studied for my exam.  I'm more than happy to share my tips, but please remember that we all test differently.

1.  As the school year went along, I tossed all my notes into a box.  I spent four weeks going through that box, pulling out the articles/info I thought was interesting and would be good once I'm in practice.  All that went into a binder separated by system.

2.  I rewrote the cheat sheet I had created to study for the ID section of pharm.  This was very handy for me.

3.  I read through (yes all of it) my Philly Guide.  I spent a lot of time on the ID and toxicology sections.  This is not a book most people seem to have heard of, I suppose you could substitute your Harriet Lane for it if you don't want to spend the $42.

4.  I did the PNCB's exam prep, the health promotion module.  It was $50 and truthfully, I didn't find it helpful content wise, but it was REALLY helpful in getting an idea on how they write their questions.

Another option, that I didn't use is the Mosby Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Review.  It's not cheap, and it covers both the ANCC and PNCB exam which means there is going to be primary care info in there that acute care NPs don't need.  If you search for it online, look for the faculty site.  It will let you look through two of the sections and includes practice questions in the section.

Hope this helps.