Wandering Minds

End of year wrap up

2010-12-30T22:24:00.003-05:00

This was my part of my first post of the year:

This year, who knows? I'd like to spin more. I need more socks (when you wear your handknits everyday, they tend to wear a bit faster). I'd like to be a bit more social and get out of the house a bit more. I'd like to loose 50lbs (but I won't hold my breath on that one).

So, how'd I do?

Well, I took a few spinning classes and bought more drop spindles but I didn't really spin more. My fiber stash has grown by leaps and bounds and I haven't really spun up any of it. On the plus side, both wheels are in working condition, I've gotten better with a drop spindle (even if I haven't finished any of the fibers I've started) and both wheels are now downstairs in the living room. I'll keep working on that.

Sock wise. I joined the sock club run by The Loopy Ewe after making a deal with myself that I would knit up everything that came in (preferably for socks). Out of the five skeins, two skeins were turned into socks, one skein into a shawl, one into a pair of gloves and the last is currently sitting with some siblings that may get turned into a shawl. Two other skeins that were hanging out in the stash got turned into socks for a grand total of FOUR pairs. That's really pretty good for me.

Weight wise. I dropped 30 pounds, got tired of having to watch every single bite and stopped being careful. I've gained back 5 pounds for a grand total of -25. I'll take that.

Being more social.. eh.. next year.

Another reason I love my Aeronaut

2010-12-18T10:47:00.003-05:00

Those who have seen me in my recent travels know that I carry an Aeronaut from Tom Bihn. They've probably also heard me talk about how much I love this bag and the fact that I haven't had to check luggage since I've gotten it, no matter how small a plane I was traveling on.

This trip, I thought my bag had met it's match.

The Aeronaut is 22 inches long. The long flat thing is a heddle for my loom and is about 21 inches long. You can see my dilemma here. I wasn't ready to give up though, and I'm glad I didn't.

The Aeronaut is split into three sections but you can undo the snaps to allow the inner wall of the end pockets to collapse.

A view from inside the outer pocket:

All packed and ready to go:

Thanks again Tom Bihn! With both pockets unsnapped, it fit beautifully. I was even able to use the side pockets for smaller items like socks and my 3D clear organizer cube.

Much faster

2010-11-08T10:43:00.004-05:00

Start to finish, one day. Even if it was one day of doing almost nothing else, weaving is still faster than knitting.

Lessons learned:

1. Weft faced fabric does not pull in as much as I'd thought. So don't warp extra to make up for draw in.

2. Woven scarves out of worsted or bulky yarn need to be 5 inches wide, not 6-7

3. This is way too much fun

I don't think it will take away from my knitting time, but I'm afraid for my spinning time. So, for now, the new rule is the loom can only be warped on Sundays and if I finish the same day, I'll just have to spin for the rest of the week.

Now, on to the finished project.

Stats:

Woven on Beka 20 inch Rigid Heddle @ 5epi using a 10 dent heddle with 36 ends

Warp: Patons Classic Wool in black

Weft: I lost the tag, but it was a handspun bulky weight wool 250gm gifted to me in a swap

Final dimensions: 51 inches long by 7 inches wide.

Finish one, start another

2010-11-07T18:29:00.002-05:00

All done!

So not my colors, but even with the hot pink I'm in love. I see many more of these in my future. This one will be flying off to grandma's house to join the knit ones I sent her a few months ago.

So, once that was all done.. on to project two. It took a LOT less time to warp the loom this go around but that might have something to do with the fact that this project had about 1/3 of the ends of the last one.

My first weft faced fabric. I'm loving how it's coming out.

I'm going to go till I run out of yarn. I warped for a six foot scarf, we'll see how far I get.

Quicker than knitting??

2010-11-06T22:01:00.004-04:00

I finished my first weaving project. It's a simple dish towel made of worsted weight cotton. I'll take pictures tomorrow when the sun is out.

It was a lot of fun and seemed to be MUCH quicker than knitting would have been. But as I was talking to my mom about it, I got to wondering. Is it really faster to weave then it is to knit? It took me a week of crafting time from start to finish to weave the dish cloth. That's roughly the same amount of time it probably would have taken me to knit one (I've never actually knit a dish towel this long before).

Tomorrow, I'm going to start my next weaving project with some yarn that was sent to me in a swap. I'm going to actually keep track of the time it takes to see if weaving is quicker for me.

I'm going to use this one for the weft, it's large and bulky, so I'm going to warp my loom @ 5epi instead of 10. I want it to show through.

This one came with it and I'm thinking of using it for the warp. The other option is a skein of Cascade 220 in either black, blue or purple.

Almost done..

2010-11-01T22:19:00.003-04:00

Here's my new toy with the weaving completed. I just need to figure out how to take it off the loom and finish it.

A closer view..

And even closer.

For my first piece, I'm happy with it. The edges are a bit rough but I think that will come with practice. I can't wait to toss it in the wash and see how it turns out.

New Toy

2010-10-31T21:29:00.003-04:00

Well, since no one had a preference, I've decided to show off my new toy.

I found this on ebay after saying again and again that I wasn't going to get a loom. Weaving would just take away from the already limited time I have for knitting and spinning. I had already given up dying yarn (except for limited circumstances) because of time constraints, so why would I want another hobby?

The second part, was of course, the cost of a loom. Even a simple table loom costs around $150 and eventually, I'd want a larger and more complicated one which can get quite expensive.

So, when I found a 20 inch loom on ebay for 1/3 of what it would normally cost, I caved.

It came in the original box from Better Homes and Gardens with the following post mark:

It's a bit hard to read, but the postage was $1.50 and the date was March 6, 1979. The box and loom were in almost perfect condition which makes me think it had been sitting in someone's attic for the past 30 years.

I don't have a warping board, so it took me a few days of creative thinking to come up with a way to measure the warp. I finally measured out the warp for a dish towel and spent FOUR hours today warping the damn thing. After that, even with the pretty combinations you can make on the larger looms, I may NEVER get one.

The other stumper was the paper used in winding the warp. I couldn't figure out why I needed it, but since EVERY book says to use it, I guessed it was important. Without a weaving supply shop, I had to improvise unless I wanted to wait a week for something to get here in the mail. A visit to my local art shop produced a roll of 90# paper that works perfectly.

Here it is all warped up with my first few rows of weaving on it.

A closer view. The colors are not what I would normally use and I'm sure it will be a bit uneven as I get used to weaving. Good thing grandparents like anything made by their grandchildren.

Now.. anyone out there know how to finish it off without fringe????

Long Two Weeks

2010-10-23T20:10:00.004-04:00

Anyone still out there??? I know I've been ignoring the blog, using the easy posting lure that is facebook. However, I now have two weeks worth of yarn and touristy stuff to share and facebook just isn't going to cut it for me.

What would you like to see/hear first?

1. Rhinebeck (with Friday night dinner) - not a very pic heavy post

2. Post Rhinebeck DC visit

3. Driving back to Cincinnati from DC - forgot to take a lot of pics

4. Overview of the Rhinebeck haul (yarn pr0n shots will come later)

While we're waiting.. I'll leave you with pictures of a major milestone in my life.. and yes mom, the speed limit was 65.

Wait for it... wait for it...

My 2000 Honda Civic hit 100,000 miles on this trip!

SP package, part 2. The pictures

2010-09-10T09:47:00.002-04:00

As I opened the box, I see this reusable bag.. it's the perfect size for lunches and stuff.

I'm currently wondering what is so colorful....

So I pull it out and find 250gm of bulky weight yarn. Not something I probably would have picked to spin myself, but the idea of a hat just keeps running through my head. I do love the colors.

Next up is apparently some of my pal's homespun.. but she forgot to label it. Nice to know I'm not the only one who forgets to label stuff. I'll have to run this through the yardage meter that my sister got me for Hanukkah last year.

Not only does she spin, but she makes spinning supplies. A close up view of the drop spindle she included in the package. It's a bottom whorl with no hook so I'm going to have to experiment with it but it seems to spin wonderfully.

There was also some tea and a great purple bag with tassels (!) to keep the drop spindle in. Thank you Courtney!

SP package

2010-09-09T15:29:00.002-04:00

I'm starting to think that about half of my online shopping can be attributed to the fact that it is just so much fun to get mail that doesn't involve wasting paper or paying bills.

Even better, when said mail doesn't leave you feeling guilty for spending money you shouldn't have. If you haven't figured it out, I got my second swap package today. Shall we take a look?

Apparently not.. I've tried to upload the photos three times without luck... will try again later.

Happy Birthday to me..

2010-09-03T17:30:00.004-04:00

Well, not quite yet... BUT... mom and dad sent my present early so I could learn to use it well by Rhinebeck, so... I have a new camera!!!

Now that I'm not limited to my phone, this blog may become more active again.

Here are some of my first shots (all were done on the automatic setting):

You may notice a theme. My grandma asked for some new dish towels when we were on vacation but I had no cotton in my stash. A quick post on the knittyboard resulted in a large tyvek envelope full of worsted weight cotton and a suggestion for a pattern. A search on Ravelry provided the other two patterns. Hope Grandma likes them, this is the first time in six years she's ever asked me for something hand knit.

As you can see, the macro function works rather well on this camera. The great part is that I don't have to tell the camera to use it, if you get close enough to the object on the automatic setting, it will make the decision for you.

Thanks for the new toy mom and dad!!!

Worth coming back for

2010-07-31T18:08:00.004-04:00

I love doing knittyboard swaps. My box came today, and what a box. This is a very pic heavy post and what you don't get to see was my grinning face the whole time!

What I saw when I opened the box:

That cute little purse that is sitting on top:

Outside:

folded up.. the stitching on this is done wonderfully. I'm so jealous of people who can sew a straight line.

Included in this wondrous box of hand made goodies... a kitty cat pouch. I'm having trouble getting this one away from the girls.

The bubble wrap was hiding this... a jar of home made apricot jam. (It's already half gone)

Cute lid:

Second layer of the box:

Yummy alpaca yarn to play with... maybe some nice wristlets.

Some very melted but hopefully yummy candy (it's in the fridge right now)

World's cutest bag/pouch. My current project has already moved in.

Inner view, cute little pocket.

quilted coasters.. already put to use on the living room table. My felted pot holders are glad they no longer have to do double duty.

Cute little note pad, already drafted into use.

Thank you so much Gwendolen, this was a wonderful way to start the day!

What I've been doing with my time

2010-04-10T16:45:00.003-04:00

Dad was here a few weeks ago. Just like mom, he bought me stuff no house can be without. Unlike mom, his gifts generally need power to work. Yes, dad bought me a beginning set of "do it yourself" tools.

So, today I put them to good use. About a week and a half ago, I planted a bunch of seeds for the summer. Now, my yard has at least two rabbit dens and is frequented by deer, so instead of planting enough in the yard to keep them happy I decided to limit my gardening to the deck.

I headed out to Home Depot this morning, and more money than I care to admit later I headed home to try out my new circular saw. I did cheat and have the guy there rip the plywood sheet into 12 inch widths for me, but I did the rest of the cutting myself.

Here are the results:

I custom fit this to an area on my deck that stays sunny till about 4pm. Even took into account the post. I'm rather proud of myself that it all fit together nicely on the dry run and I only had to recut two pieces (and since I cut them too long the first time, I didn't waste any wood).

The bottom piece is a piece of pine, the sides are plywood. Tomorrow, I'll paint them all with an exterior paint and figure out if I want to use my original idea to hold it together or if I want to try brackets. I'll drill some holes in the bottom piece for drainage and use the nice 2x2 pieces I got to raise it off the deck. At 12 inches deep, I'll give it a bottom layer of pebbles for drainage and then add soil.

Hopefully, my plants will be in there by next weekend. The sugar peas are getting a bit big for their starter pots right now.

Not a good way to end the day

2010-03-16T19:35:00.005-04:00

This is so not what I want to see at the end of the day.

2 y/o socks made out of STR: silkie with a slip stitch heel. And the yarn is so felted together that even if I had leftovers, I'm not sure I'd be able to repair it. Not to mention that there are at least two other places that are getting so worn through they'll soon open up.

RIP. I may borrow Bezzie's idea and make these into hanging plant holders. Strawberries maybe??

Water, water everywhere..

2010-03-12T19:36:00.003-05:00

***WARNING, Loopy Ewe Sock club pictures included in this post***

As I sit here listening to the rain come down (with the occasional thunder clap) I'm taking the sock that I've been working on all week to the frog pond.

Why you ask? The pattern that came with this month's sock club kit includes slipped stitches along the top of the foot to break up the striping. The stitches are slipped for two rounds before being knit again. While the pattern is easy to memorize and looks visually interesting, it pulls in your knitting unless you knit _REALLY_ loose. It is pulling in so much that my sock that measures 10 inches long doesn't fit my foot.

Oh well, time to frog and start over. I really like how the bottom of the sock is turning out, so I may do a nice, simple, plain sock.

March sock club selection with the two shawl sticks that came in the package. The non-sock pattern included this month was a cute little shawl/scarf.

The top.

The bottom

New Socks!

2010-03-05T19:42:00.003-05:00

I signed up for a sock club this year. Part of the deal with myself was that I would knit up each shipment as they arrived. I don't have to do the pattern that comes with the yarn, but I do have to knit it up.

My first package shipped today, so I had to hurry up and finish the socks I was already working on... so...

TaDA!

Okay, I cheated and took the pics before I finished the sewn bind off.. but it's done now.

Details:

Yarn: Panda Sox by Dye Dreams - 80% Superwash 20% bamboo. A nice, smooth, yarn. It didn't split much as I was knitting with it and shows off the patterning very nicely.

Needles: KP size 2.25

Pattern: Can't remember which Cat Borhdi architecture I used, but I've figured out that all the toe up ones with a heel flap are basically the same. The only difference is where you put the increases. Since I like heel flaps, it limits choices a bit.

They are very green and I love how they came out. Yarn was bought at Stitches East last fall.

Is pregnancy contagious?

2010-02-27T19:41:00.004-05:00

I've come to the conclusion that working at a large pediatric center means you are going to be surrounded by pregnant women.

I've already made (and given)two baby gifts and need six (I think) more in the next four months.

I found washable wool on sale, so I have 10 skeins of blue, 10 of raspberry, 3 of the green and 15 red (DK weight) in the stash at the moment.

Only two of the women know what sex the baby is, so I need a lot of gender neutral designs. I didn't want to make a BSJ out of worsted weight (the last one turned out huge), so I needed to find a few new patterns.

Here's the first of the six. This one is for someone who knows the baby is a boy.

Close up of the cute buttons I got on sale today.

Pattern: Mitred U Baby Jacket - apparently free on her web site, though I used it out of the 2005 calendar (had to use it sometime)

Yarn: Moda Dea Washable Wool

Needles: Size 5 (and it claimed to be worsted weight yarn)

Mods: Couldn't figure out how to make the edging pretty the way it was written, so I used short rows instead.

Vegas

2010-02-19T18:43:00.004-05:00

Where else can you find "dream" size chocolate candies?

Fountains to entertain?

Tigers made of flowers? (okay, might have been plastic)

An indoor garden decorated for Chinese New Year..

With lots...

and lots...

of pretty flowers to snap pictures of?

If you didn't get the theme, I was recently in Vegas for a week long conference. It was very informative and I'm glad I went both for the education received and the networking opportunities there.

This was my second trip to Vegas. I managed to get out and walk the strip three times during the week including a show one night. Going by yourself is not nearly as much fun as taking a friend along. Thankfully, knitting once again came to the rescue and I had a great companion to spend the last evening wandering town with.

Look what I found

2010-02-14T17:10:00.002-05:00

(I apoligize for the glare, but you don't get to pick where the sun is)

Hrm... what's this?

Smells good.. wonder where it came from.

What do you mean, these are for you?

See Kate, instant cat bed :)

Welcome Home!

2010-02-13T22:51:00.005-05:00

Now, this is the way to be welcomed home. I recognized the address on the package, so I knew this one was from my knitty SP. Thanks Kate!

Open it up... (and I had to use a sharp knife, it was taped REALLY well)

Take off the tissue paper. Now.. I almost stopped here. While most knitters seem to have a basic ability to use a sewing machine, I'm not one of them. I look at a sewing machine and it breaks into a million pieces. I _LOVE_ getting hand sewn (or machine sewn as the case may be) projects. (I did take a pic of me with my jaw dropped, but I've been traveling today and it was just too scary to share)

Goodies that were inside the bag. I need to look up the sugar free peeps. I may actually be able to eat these as they weren't made with nutrasweet or splenda as far as I can tell.

iPhone bag pr0n

MMM.. hot chocolate.

Next bag. I actually resisted looking for the yarn in this package. I was so taken with the wrapping "paper".

Both bags together. See how they fold over on the top to show off the lining. I may hand sew that part down so I can put in a drawstring. I'm afraid if I leave them open, I'll find half a cat in it (whole cat wouldn't fit.. yes, I have a fat cat)

Oh wait... this was a knitty swap, so YARN :)

Now, I'm not sure how Kate knew I had just pulled out a skein of Barefoot to make socks with. I may have to substitute this one, the colors are great!

Yarn pr0n via iPhone. CTH superwash worsted merino. This one might have to be mittens, imagine these colors with my orange coat!

By now, I'm totally in shock and completely awed at my box's contents. Did I even think to look for a card? Nope. But as I went to hide the box from the cats (they like the tape), out dropped an envelope with this in it. Hey Kate, did you make the card too????

Thank you Kate, this was a WONDERFUL way to be welcomed home.

Yikes

2010-02-13T03:09:00.003-05:00

This was found at a store that I will leave unnamed. It looks like something my stash coughed up.

However, for this price, I might actually be able to make money on knitting.

FYI - it was mostly non-animal fibers. Only about 20% of the total yarn was wool and silk.

Busiest place on earth

2010-01-31T19:03:00.002-05:00

Barnes and Noble. Don't ask me why. All I can figure out is that there are a lot of people out there who either:

1. Don't have internet in their home. (every table in the cafe, and it's not a small one, had a laptop on it)

2. Have never heard of a library. (every chair in the place was taken and surrounded by books)

3. Have nothing better to do on a Sunday afternoon (This particular store is in a little mini mall area across from the big mall, so there may have been a large number of husbands hiding out there)

I went this afternoon based on an online calendar that said a group of knitters met there at 3pm. If they were there, I missed them. I sat for 30 minutes and spun since I'd gotten myself out of the house, then gave up and went food shopping.

Yet another reason to love knitting

2010-01-30T15:13:00.002-05:00

If you asked what my two least favorite colors were, I'd say yellow and orange (though I do own an orange winter coat, I didn't buy it for the color)

What else besides knitting could not only bring yellow into my wardrobe but actually get me to spend time and energy to do it?

I hope to finish these soon, I really like not only how they fit but how they look (even if they are yellow)

I may have to convert to a toe up sock knitter. The only thing I can see that will keep me from doing it is that I have the heel turn on a top down sock memorized but with toe up, I still need to bring the book with me.

How I gave up on my yarn diet

2010-01-16T00:25:00.003-05:00

This year I had hoped to manage a yarn diet. That means only buying something if I need it then, there and now or if I'm at one of the multiple events I go to each year. It does not mean no yarn all year (to me, that is a yarn fast).

I think I've fallen off the wagon.

There are 16 skeins of lamb's pride and 2lbs of roving sitting on the recliner at the moment. For some reason, I wanted the blue roving and figured if I was ordering, I might as well get more slipper yarn. Then I figured I'd get some yarn to felt a carry bag for Munchkin. (do we think I'll get to those projects?)

Then it was back to work time. In the past two weeks I've noticed an awful lot of bellies sticking out. I now have one boy and at least three ?'s to knit for in the next six months. I'm sure more will pop up. So... I hear about a superwash wool on sale for $14/bag. Yep, you guessed it, got one bag in boy colors, one in girl colors and three skeins in green to go along with the 20 (now 17) skeins of red that I already had. Knitting everything in red just gets dull.

Up till today, I hadn't bought anything just because it was pretty (well, roving doesn't count). I put my name in the running for a sock club today.

I give up. As long as I can afford it and it makes me happy, I will buy all the yarn I want. That way there's more to share.

kitty new year.

2010-01-03T16:17:00.001-05:00

They look so cute till you want to lay down and go to sleep.

End of year, start of another

2010-01-01T02:47:00.002-05:00

2009 was a big year for me. I started a new job, moved away from my family (again), bought a house for the first time, finished Rogue (that took what.. three years?) bought real furniture... I even managed to buy a blanket so I'm no longer sleeping under my sleeping bag (it's only been about 4 years).

Well, I was going to leave you with pictures of my kitty cats but blogger isn't uploading them at the moment.

WIP update

2009-12-25T12:45:00.003-05:00

I finished another set of squares on the coat yesterday so I thought I'd post some update pics.

I have five of the seven waist level squares done. There will eventually be seven squares on each level, just shows how much work I have left to do.

A better pic of the colors.. though still not a great one. It's a dark and drizzly day here in Ohio.

what to do?

2009-12-23T18:45:00.002-05:00

I have the next two days off... this is the first time in 10 years that I'm not working for x-mas eve and day. To top it off, I'm not close enough to my family to waste the day away with them.

So what to do?

1. Movie - which one?

2. work on long coat

3. work on socks

4. clean house (nope.. got someone to do that for me)

5. eat Chinese

6. hold up cats

7. spin

I'm confused...

2009-12-20T22:59:00.002-05:00

Most sock yarn comes in 100gm skeins and is more than enough for me to make a pair of socks out of.

I discovered tonight that my first pair of Wollmeise socks took up 125gm of yarn. Now it is a thicker yarn and I did still knit it on 1.5's with a gauge of 9stitches/inch but still.

It looks like the second pair will also take up a bit of yarn. The first sock weighs in at 62gm. Both socks are from Cat Bordhi's Pathways book.

So, here is my question.

Is it the sock yarn? Do all Wollmeise socks take up more yarn?

Or, more importantly (since I just destashed all the leftover Wollmeise)

Is it the different pathways in Cat Bordhi's book that take up so much yarn? Will I need to weigh out my skeins into two separate balls before knitting anymore socks from her book?

Socks, socks and more socks

2009-12-15T22:50:00.002-05:00

One of the things I like about traveling is that it seems to be the only time I get any sock knitting done. When I'm at home, I have trouble working on socks while that sweater (or in this case coat) is sitting there with it's 20 balls of yarn that can't travel anywhere because it weighs a ton just sits there looking at me.

I got the new Cat Bordhi book for Hanukkah. I love the concept but find it a bit off putting that the template only works if you have the same gauge (including row) for each pair of socks you make on it. I tend to make four or five pairs a year and with all the different yarns out there I tend not to repeat more than twice a year (if that... I currently have only two sets made out of the same yarn base).

So I decided to go back to her Pathways book for my travel sock. I picked the Foxglove master pattern with my own (probably not my own, but I'm not using a pattern) pattern to break up the stripes/pooling. I'm using a skein of we're different Wollmeise in yellow and blue with green at the color joins and knitting on 1.5s. My first pair of Wollmeise socks are wearing very nicely but I still think the yarn is a pain in the butt to knit with. It is not tightly plied and does split, especially if you're frogging. I may destash the remainder of my 80/20 single skeins when I get home.

search terms

2009-12-13T22:11:00.003-05:00

I've noticed that a lot of people who find this blog are typing "thickest socks" or "thickest socks ever" into the google search.

Are you looking for a pattern or do you just have cold feet?

If you're curious.. the larger size ones take a bit over one skein (I actually think it's 1 1/2) of Lamb's Pride Bulky and fit a women's size 9 foot.

HELP!

2009-12-04T17:36:00.003-05:00

This showed up on my doorstep today. As some of you may know, Warm Woolies is shutting down shop at the end of this year. They have been my knitting charity of choice for the past few years and on one of the ravelry groups, we were asked why we knit for them.

It was supposed to be a contest with one winner, but I guess they have a lot of yarn to get rid of, cause I wasn't the winner.

It's a box full of wonderful yarns (the computer's camera doesn't exactly capture it) that I've never knit with. The Synchronicity hiding in the bag will probably turn into some type of shawl (there are 10 skeins there, which isn't enough for a sweater for me). What is buried under it in the pic are the two circular needles (one a Lantern Moon!), two sets of double points and four pattern books.

What do I do with the Fixation and the Serenade?

There are 17 skeins of the cotton/elastic fixation. I'm not even sure I'll be able to knit a yarn that has elastic in it without turning my hands all red.

There are 12 skeins of cotton/angora Serenade, which I'm thinking of something for my grandmother in Florida, but I'm not sure.

I'm not a huge fan of knitting with cotton, so even the soft angora might not make up for the 70% cotton.

I'm not greedy, if someone has a good idea for some of this, I'm willing to share (some of it). I hate to hold on to it for the next SP swap, could you imagine a box with 17 skeins of blue fixation???

WIP

2009-11-29T12:08:00.006-05:00

First.. I must apologize. While this post will update you on a current project, the WIP I talk about in the title is getting a new camera.

It seems, that my 6 year old Olympus has finally failed me. The LCD screen has been broken for at least the past two years, but since it has a viewfinder I was able to make do. Now, the viewfinder is unreliable and it won't fire the flash unless the batteries are BRAND new (yeah, one flash shot per set of batteries). My cell phone is almost as old as my camera, so the pics from that are less than visible.

So, my first apology goes out to Knitherapy, my most recent SP. She sent a wonderful package that I think I got partial and blurry pics of, but since the camera won't download them.. well, I'm not sure. I promise to get to CVS this week to see if the card is still good.

My second apology is for anyone who is actually trying to figure out if they should make the long miter coat. I tried to use the laptop's camera to get a shot of the WIP....

They are rather blurry and I don't think you can see the colors well but hey, it's something.

For those playing along at home

2009-11-22T09:20:00.004-05:00

I just placed a rather large knit picks order to make the swing coat out of.

First, my colors. It's a bit hard to see, though I think the pic is pretty close. My color A is Merino Style in Dusk, B is Eggplant and C is Storm. I ordered a single ball of the other blue in the Merino Style to see if I like that one better but it looked more turquoise on the web site.

The color choices were a bit limited if I didn't want to spend a fortune. Knit Picks doesn't have a lot of choices in DK weight.

first two miters

I ended up having to go up a needle size after making my gauge miter, so these were done on eights.

What else is between VT and CT?

2009-11-14T21:00:00.002-05:00

Come on.. who can guess???

Yes, that's right. WEBS.

I'd be in serious trouble if I lived anywhere close to that store. I thought I took pics, but I guess not. We wandered through the warehouse, played with some new yarns and explored their interchangeable needle set.

I've decided that I'll stick with my knitpicks ones, they still have one of the best cables I've seen and I can handle the occasional broken needle/cable.

I did finally buy some yarn to make a February lady sweater. One bag for me, one bag for mom. No pics of mom's yarn.. cause she is getting it for Hanukkah (she knows she is getting it, just not quite what color it is)

It's a nice heathered blue.

So here's my issue. I have three large projects I want to work on. Which one comes first?

1. February Lady - warning: PDF file

2. Renaissance

3. Swing Coat from Swing, Swagger and Drape - click on 5-8, it's the long red/purple coat.

Though there is always another

2009-11-12T19:16:00.004-05:00

The another this time being Stitches East. This was my first year getting to go (Baltimore just wasn't worth the trip for the past few years)... but first, the trip there.

As true fiber fanatics, K and I planned our trip from Vt to Ct to hit a few yarn shops and some of the other fiber related businesses in the area.

Imagine my surprise when by going the way I thought I should (doesn't mean I was right..) instead of listening to my GPS, we drove past a place with a purple sign.

Yeah.. totally by accident, we found Golding's studio. Hadn't called, hadn't emailed, yet was welcomed by Tom himself (not to mention his guard llama and a few alpacas)

We got to go into his workshop, where we got a tour that included a completed loom, spinning wheels in various phases of completion, his wall of spindle rings and drawers and drawers of spindle tops. (sorry, no pics I feel able to share. I wouldn't want to see my half done wheel on someone else's blog)

Once we were done in the shop, we went up to their studio where K and I got to wander through a forest of spindles (none of which had been at Rhinebeck, those were still packed)

Now, I've been spinning for three years or so and I have NEVER been able to get a consistent yarn with a drop spindle. I've gotten so discouraged that I didn't even go to Golding's booth at Rhinebeck this year. Meanwhile, as K was having fun trying out spindles (she just learned to spin), it was suggested that I try it.

I tried it with a lace/fingering weight spindle.

I loved it.

It came home with me.

That is all. Munchkin was quite jealous.

Rhinebeck is over...

2009-11-10T16:58:00.004-05:00

what's a girl to do? Well, K and I packed up the car and headed north. We eventually ended up in Manchester, Vermont and decided to look for a place to stay. (and yes, the song from Hair has been going through my head for weeks).

We ended up at a nice bed and breakfast a bit out of town. Town itself was rather expensive. Seems that Orvis has a fly fishing school there, there are outlets where the sale items start at $150 for a 3x4 change purse and a resort.

What did we do? Besides a bunch of relaxing? I started spinning up one of my mystery bumps, K finished off her gator scarf and we went wandering.

Our first day of wandering led to a nice little yarn shop where I didn't get anything but K was drooling over the loom she had set up.

Our second day of wandering led up north and we found the most amazing and friendly yarn shop where this came home with me.

It's mink! well, okay, it's only 70% mink, the rest is cashmere. Whatever it becomes will be worn next to my skin... hmmmm.

Our third day of wandering, wasn't so much wandering as it was amazing. That was the day that I got to participate in an intro to falconry (though I used a hawk). Sooooo cool!

Meet Tavish.

We interupt...

2009-11-07T20:28:00.001-05:00

the yarn frenzy to say:

@whee!!!!!!!!

The blanket from h*** is done (well, okay, I have a few ends to weave in.. but still)

Pics will be forth coming.. the blanket is a deep purple and it is dark out.

Last of the Rhinebeck Haul

2009-11-05T23:19:00.002-05:00

I can't keep posting one skein a day.. I don't know about you, but I want to see it all... and I want it all now :)

Today, my haul from Brook's Farm. I didn't get there till lunch time on Saturday and the orphan racks had been pretty picked over at that point.

First up.. their superwash worsted weight wool. Soon to be a new pair of heavy duty winter socks. My last pair is wearing wonderfully.

Next up.. two skeins of Solo Silk (50/50 wool/silk). These are actually matching skeins (same dye lot and everything), so these will probably become a shawl.

Final up.. I was going for as much solo silk as I could find, but there was very little left. Another skein of solo silk, this one will probably be a scarf.

There is one more skein of solo silk, but it is meant for someone else.. if I could find her address. Hey J.. send me your addy??

STR part two

2009-11-03T16:29:00.002-05:00

I thought to save a bit of time, I'd just post the other two STR skeins together.

I truly have no idea which colorway these were supposed to be.

I thought this one might be Fire on the Mountain but I'm not so sure.

Either way, more socky goodness... as soon as I knit them up.

Halloween..

2009-11-01T11:50:00.003-05:00

I was all ready to do this great Halloween post.. I even took pictures of my candy bowl before I went outside to hand out candy.

Turns out.. this year was a bust. The town allows trick or treating from 6-8pm. It was a nice night, I took Munchkin outside and sat next to the bowl of candy. I even managed to fill my bobbin. What I didn't do was give away all my candy.

It was mostly younger kids, I don't remember seeing a single teenager.

Oh well, lots of candy for work.

Which color to buy?

2009-10-30T22:57:00.002-04:00

Notice anything about the two pictures??? Apparently, I really like blues and browns. It didn't dawn on me till I saw them together (after buying them) that I think I got the same color in the two different weights. One has more blue, but that might be what makes them mill ends. I think they might be "The Witching Hour". The lightweight seems to match that colorway more than the medium.

Okay, forget all that... a bit more research onto Blue Moon's site leads me to believe that the lightweight is "The Witching Hour" and the medium weight is "Strange Brew". Guess I didn't buy two of the same ones after all.

Close up of The Witching Hour

Un-Spun Sugar

2009-10-28T19:34:00.004-04:00

I won't call it spun sugar till I actually spin it... and since it's a pound of fiber, that may take me a while!

The ladies at Decadent fibers sure named their business well! It's a pound of Corriedale roving all dyed up in my favorite colors.

Have a peak inside...

Now for the big question... a pound is not enough for a sweater (for me) and there wasn't any more available. I do have a white Corriedale fleece that is sitting around waiting for me to comb, card and spin.

So... Options:

1. Spin up a pound of each and ply them together to get a DK/light worsted, then try to get a sweater out of it for me.

2. Spin up the pound of pretty and however much of the white I need and make a striped or otherwise two separate color sweater

3. Give up on the sweater idea and come up with something else that uses a pound of fiber.

Ideas?

Stash Enhancement - Rhinebeck Style

2009-10-26T16:58:00.004-04:00

Rhinebeck was fun this year... it fell just short of "blast" status because so many people weren't there this year.

I took a class on Friday and Saturday which I thought would limit my shopping, but apparently not.

Meet this year's Rhinebeck haul. One of the skeins in the picture isn't for me, I saw it and thought of a friend who couldn't make it this year. So as soon as I find her addy, it will be sent away.

Close up shots in later posts.. I'm going to try to post more often, but there isn't a lot happening in my life for the next few weeks (except work). I don't see a lot of projects getting done, so I'm going to draw out the Rhinebeck/Stitches posts.

Wanderings at WEBS

2009-10-23T23:34:00.003-04:00

I apologize to those of you who don't follow along on facebook. I've been posting stuff there but haven't updated my blog in a month now...

I've been wandering around New England for the past week and today, the wanderings took me to WEBS.

I got my hands on their interchangeable bamboo set of needles. I will probably stick to my knit picks for now. The cables included in the kit are hollow plastic tubing (think thin O2 tubing, or slight stiffer IV tubing). The cable was totally pliable, but I can't see going back to such a thick cable. It was the one thing I didn't like in the Denise set.

Besides the thickness of the cable, the needle tips screw on nicely. The screw on the cable has a small round ball at the end that is pushed into the tubing and gives you a place to hold the cable. Could they come undone? I think you'd have to pull rather hard on an assembled needle to pull this out.

The bamboo tips were nice and smooth and short enough to make a 16 inch circ... so if you don't use a lot of 16's, the tips were a bit short.

There was a rosewood set that had just arrived, but they didn't have an open one for me to play with.

When I'm back on my own computer, I'll post some of the pictures from this past week... I'll also try to remember to take some tomorrow at Stitches.

Update on George..

2009-09-26T13:47:00.002-04:00

George went to go live on the raffle table at the International Transplant Nurse's Society conference.

George got lots of comments about how interesting he was.

George got _NO_ tickets in his bag in the first 24 hours.

I decided to place my tickets in there.. no way was I letting him go home with someone who would throw a ticket in just to win something.

George is coming home with me.

I'm debating where to hang him... my office at work, or my bathroom at home?

This is why I love knitters....

2009-09-20T18:40:00.004-04:00

We come in all types... including those who have a sick and twisted (but normally functioning) minds.

Meet George II... (he's the second one I've made)

This is a wonderfully written pattern by CraftyHedgehog. She thinks up some of the neatest stuff.. go look at her etsy site if you want to see all the wonderfully twisted patterns she has.

She was also kind enough to allow me to use her pattern to knit up George II as a donation for raffle.

Now... I went NUTS looking for a small cork board to pin him to. I didn't want to use a real dissection tray (they kinda stink, even brand new). I finally, (after about three weeks of hunting) had an epiphany and made my own using a cork tile and a 8x10 picture frame.

I need to make one of these to hang in my bathroom.

Is this still on...

2009-09-12T18:24:00.003-04:00

I've been rather bad about posting here lately. Seems that facebook is slowly killing the blog. I wonder if it is just me or if other people are noticing this as well.

In the knitting world.. I'm almost done with my first ever sock made of Wollmeise 80/20. The yarn is soft, the colors are intense.. but I do find that it's not plied tightly and splits when I'm trying to tink back or pick up stitches after frogging a few rows. Guess we'll see how it wears.

How smart is a bird?

2009-08-03T21:12:00.002-04:00

I find myself wondering how smart your average back yard Cardinal is....

For the past few nights, right at dusk, a male cardinal has come to sit on my deck railing. Where he proceeds to chirp... and chirp... and chirp. Eventually, I give in and go lay some seed down on the deck railing. As I step outside, he flies up to the tree and then comes back when I step inside.

He doesn't eat the seed... he may pick at one or two but then he goes right back to chirping.

I think this bird likes torturing my cats.

I love the zoo...

2009-08-01T16:24:00.002-04:00

I love going to zoos... I really love when the zoo comes to me...

Look who I found waiting for me today. All the way from St. Louis.

He came with some friends.. though I think the giraffe looks more like a pencil.

He did bring some alpaca with him... I should have realized the included needles were for rounding up the alpaca, but I'll admit, it took me a bit to figure that out.

Alpaca with a twist sock yarn... a blend of alpaca, wool, bamboo and nylon... OMG... I think I'm in love.

What do you make with this wonderful yarn???? I need the perfect sock pattern for it.

Thanks Pal! (and yes, you're still secret.. which is driving me nuts)

Is this what I think it is?

2009-08-01T16:12:00.006-04:00

Did someone really double knit this sweater????

Here's a closer look at Pooh bear...

This is the inside of the sweater

A closer look at the inside by Pooh's bottom half.

Anyone have any idea what the blue yarn is? It needs one small repair. Not that I have anyone who can fit in it, but I can't imagine letting this much work go to waste. If anyone wants it and will repair it, I'll ship it.

When nostalgia hits..

2009-07-17T22:52:00.002-04:00

When I came out to Cincinnati to interview, one of the many nice women I've met on knittyboard picked me up at my hotel and took me to one of the local yarn stores. This place looks like it has been in business since I was born... and to prove the point, I found the same exact sock yarn that I had used five years ago to make my first pair of socks.

Now, that first pair is still going strong. I was highly proud of them at the time (and still am) but they wouldn't pass muster today. I prefer to knit all my sock weight socks somewhere between 9-10 stitches per inch and the originals are at seven. It's odd how going down a few needle sizes can change the look of the finished project.

Original sock on the left foot, new one (with the ends not yet woven in) on the right. The stripes are about two rows less and I used a bit more yarn. I don't think the change is that drastic though so I'll have to either be careful about which pair I'm grabbing for or retire the originals to a shadow box and hang them on the wall.

An off the feet shot. It's harder to tell here which is which... but the original is right and the new one is on the left.

New Oven

2009-07-04T12:17:00.004-04:00

Now... one of the reasons I bought this house was that it has a gas stove. I love having gas burners for my stove top work. One of the disadvantages is that the oven itself is huge and heats up the whole house every time you turn it on. (okay, that might be an advantage come winter) So, when mom was here, we stopped at Costco and I found a convection toaster oven. It's large enough to fit a frozen pizza, so I shouldn't have to turn my oven on unless I'm cooking a turkey or some other huge meal.

Today, I used my toaster oven for the first time.

As you can see, one didn't make it to the photo shoot. These are Jesh's famous peanut butter cookies. One of my co-workers is gluten free and no one ever remembers to bring stuff she can eat when we do work events. I figured with a brand new oven there is no chance of cross contamination, so I'd make her cookies.

They don't taste quite the same as Jesh's. I don't know if it's because I didn't get them as flat as she does, if I ate it while it was too warm or if I added too much sugar. Either way, they're still yummy.

Thanks for the recipe Jesh!

Why I don't see more movies

2009-06-07T18:47:00.003-04:00

$17... that's what it cost for me to go to the movie (and I caught an early price one), get a medium popcorn and a medium drink. That's insane.

But... I wanted to see Star Trek before it left the theater. As someone who spent most of high school and college deeply involved in the Star Trek fan world, I just had to see it. I had heard that it broke canon (and boy did it.. but they managed to do it with an explanation) and I wasn't sure I'd like it. Well... I did enjoy it. It's not one I'd go see twice in the theater but it was worth the $17 afternoon.

Here's my question... are they setting us up for something? Now that they've basically changed the whole universe is this going to end up being a series of movies or even a TV show? Anyone know?

On the kindness of strangers

2009-06-05T17:08:00.003-04:00

As a single woman, I'm always leery about placing or answering an ad on craigslist. Granted, having a loaded 9mm helps a bit.

Today, I placed an ad for free carpeting, hoping to get rid of the carpet that I had pulled up when I moved into the house. I couldn't get it down to the basement by myself, so it's been sitting in the kitchen.

I got ten replies in about two minutes. I picked the one that sounded the most normal, left a phone number and could be here quickly. He got here as quickly as he promised, but we discovered a flaw in my plan... I had over estimated the size of the piece and it wouldn't work for him. Now... not only didn't he get upset, but he helped me carry both pieces down to the basement and wouldn't take anything in return but a soda.

It's nice to know there are still good, kind people out there.

For mom

2009-05-17T10:56:00.002-04:00

who has yet to join facebook so she can see what I'm doing there, my life in a nutshell.

I moved into the house on Saturday. Packing the cats took longer than packing up the car. They knew something was up and were hiding under the bed. No amount of treats could get them out. Oddly enough, it was sitting on the bed watching TV that did it. They are so eager for attention that once I normalized the situation, out they came looking for love.

I had an unexpected trip to the apple store because the case on my laptop cracked. Thankfully, I have applecare on this thing, or that would have been a $180 repair.

I could live at Lowe's... except for the crummy selection of strawberry plants. I got a few bird feeders, a hose and some stuff to kill the wasp nest in the window. I also scored a half price aerogarden, so I'm going to have lettuce or tomatoes all winter... I haven't decided which one yet. I may just go back for a second one.

I mowed my front lawn for the first time yesterday. It started raining before I could do the back.

I slept in the house last night, on the floor. Why I didn't pack my hiking pad is beyond me. Today, I go to Ikea and buy a new mattress. I'll probably use the setup that is currently in NJ for the upstairs.

I still need to buy a washing machine. I also just signed up for internet access, so that will take at least a week. I've decided against cable for now. Most of the shows I like are online, so I signed up for the highest speed they offer. It will probably be cheaper for me to buy itunes versions of the shows I like than to have cable for the year.

I will not be getting a landline, so my phone number will stay the same. I also have a cell from work, so if anyone out there wants an Ohio number to get a hold of me, let me know.

My life in a nutshell

2009-04-24T23:01:00.002-04:00

As of Thursday at 1:30pm, I will be a home owner! I'm very excited, but totally scared at the same time. For some reason, they left it till today (who expects people to get stuff done and call you back on a Friday) to tell me they need more info. To top it all off, I've changed the source I'm using for my downpayment (rolling over old retirement accounts is NOT a quick event) so I'm not sure how/if that will change things. I'll be spending next weekend pulling up carpeting and praying the hardwood floors are in decent shape.

I love my job, but I really wish I could do it already. On the plus side, I have a LOT of time to learn the hospital, unit, patient population, etc.... on the minus side, I'm getting antsy. The nurses on the unit (most of my patients are all on one floor), in clinic and in the transplant office are great. They've been really good about including me and making sure my orientation is very thorough, but I'm ready to play more on the medical side.

Knitting wise... well, I finally gave in and started a Branching Out. It will be my gift to my preceptor (I'm pretty sure she doesn't know about this site). My socks are languishing in "I don't wanna finish" land and the baby sweater needs a sleeve but I'm not a fan of cotton (even if it's a cotton blend and not painful on my hands).

This weekend, I'll head up north to a fiber festival, so I don't go through total withdrawal before Rhinebeck this fall. Of course, Brooks Farm won't be there... so I'm not sure how well this plan will work. Anyone want to send me some from MD? Mas Acero, two skeins... the one skein I had didn't make a very large shawl (I actually turned it into a short sleeve shrug).

Button Collecting

2009-04-06T19:34:00.003-04:00

Some people collect campaign buttons... I collect thrift shop buttons. I've been treating myself to a weekly trip to the thrift shop.. usually on Monday when everything is on sale. So far, I've built up quite a new button collection.

The neutrals... though the round blue ones could be considered boy.

His... I never realized how hard it is to find buttons that aren't floral.

Oh yeah... flowers. I hope the gals at work are having girls. For some reason, a lot of the sweaters here only had four buttons, so I guess I'm making a lot of slippers.

More her's. The ones in the back are shiny red hearts, the ones in the middle are brass colored hearts with a flower design on them.

On the house front. I'm meeting the home inspector tomorrow to take a more in depth tour of the house. Cross your fingers it all goes well.

On the job front. My license is now pending, so I figure it should be a week or two till I'm officially an Advance Practice Nurse in Ohio.

Weekly update

2009-03-29T12:50:00.002-04:00

Housing: I went to look at three places on Friday... none of which really worked for me. One was this HORRID pinky/purple color throughout the whole lower level. Now I know that's fixable.. but it also had a wet basement and vinyl on most of the floors... not to mention that the kitchen was one of those where you can stand in one spot and reach EVERYTHING. I'm going to look at 10 more on Monday and we'll see how that goes.

Job: Love, Love, Love... not much else to say except that the state of Ohio still hasn't processed my license application.

Knitting: I really thought my stash would have joined me by now... but it hasn't. So in desperation, I placed a knitpicks order. I got 4 skeins of Shine Sport in Green Apple to make a baby sweater with and 9 skeins of WotA bulky to make a Warm Woolies sweater with. Once again... knitpicks is very generous with their needle size recommendation. I'm using a 3 and getting 6 stitches/inch. I do like how it's knitting up and the seed stitch part looks rather nice. I'll try to take pics when there's more to see besides a collar and the sun comes out.

Bah...

2009-03-21T21:13:00.002-04:00

I'm working on designing a project. I wanted a REALLY soft merino for it (okay, I really wanted malabrigo) but ended up with a merino/alpaca blend since it was all the yarn shop had at the time that wasn't $20+ a skein. I forgot that alpaca can be quite itchy. When I tried it on the back of my neck, no problem... cheek, no problem... throat, UGH.. ITCHY.

sigh... I'm soaking it now, but I think I'm going to have to find some malabrigo. I'll use the rest of the merino/alpaca for something... eventually.

I'm allergic to Ohio

2009-03-20T18:34:00.003-04:00

Yep... seems I moved to one of the worst allergy towns in the country. No one seems surprised when I tell them I've been having sinus headaches. Modern medicine makes life much better (at least for me...)

On the housing front. I spoke with the mortgage person today and it seems I can comfortably afford a mortgage that will let me buy in the area I'm looking. Unfortunately, the no down payment programs have disappeared. It seems I'm going to have to loan myself the money out of one of my retirement accounts. Fortunately, the government will give me a $8000 tax credit for buying a house if I amend my 2008 taxes, so I should be able to pay back my retirement account in short order.

I extended my reservation at the hotel to cover myself in case buying a house takes a while and it turns out the rate goes down even more if you're staying here for more than 60 days... so it's a bit cheaper than I expected.

The part that sucks... is that I need access to some stuff I left in NJ, so I'm going to have to send dad on a search and rescue mission this weekend to find it all for me.

Yes mom... this post is for you.

Opal

2009-03-15T17:52:00.006-04:00

I'm still looking for a place to live, the first two weeks of work were the usual hospital orientation with a slight twist.. but it all goes away when I come home to this.

Seasa hasn't been as cooperative as her sister about laying down in a spot with a good picture background. Actually, she's been burrowing into my jacket and using that as a bed.

All worked out in the end....

2009-02-27T17:02:00.001-05:00

I am now a RN in the state of Ohio.

phew.. that was close.

Not going back to Jersey

2009-02-27T11:06:00.002-05:00

Most of the people who I've been updating via email read this blog... so I decided to update you here instead of sending out a ton of emails.

I talked to my recruiter today and she is going to try and work it out so that if my license comes through Monday or Tuesday I can start nursing orientation and then go back and do HR orientation.

If that doesn't work... I'll start in two weeks (if my license doesn't come through by then, I'll probably go postal) but won't do nursing orientation till April. I'll still be able to orient on the floor without going to the nursing orientation.

I can't tell you how happy I am not to have to drive back to Jersey. The cats were okay in the car, but I wouldn't want to do that again anytime soon.

Now... I just need to figure out all this paperwork. How do you fill in a home address when you're living in a hotel?

Thickest.. socks.. ever

2009-02-19T08:06:00.002-05:00

One of the nice things about knitting for Warm Woolies is that they want everything made out of bulky wool. This means, that instead of 80 stitches and size 1 needles, I used 32, 36 and 40 stitches and size 8 needles. I really should go up to size 9's so I'm not putting so much wear and tear on my hands, but so far they haven't complained. I finished these three (and a fourth pair not shown) in the past two weeks.

The pink ones are big enough to fit my size 10 feet.

All socks made out of Lamb's Pride Bulky. At one point, I had bought a grab bag worth of it from an online store and so I ended up with a bunch of odd balls. Though I seem to have more odd balls than I can account for using that grab bag, so I must have picked up the others along the way.

So far, I've used up six skeins from the stash.

Pending...

2009-02-18T08:34:00.002-05:00

That word is my new best friend.

My license in Ohio is now officially "pending". I might actually get my license before I need to start work.

(insert happy dance here)

On the knitting front... I'll try to take a few pics today. I've been on a warm woolies kick and have made three pairs of heavy duty socks in the past week or so. There's nothing like charity knitting to get you out of a funk (and use up some stash).

Alice goes to Ohio

2009-02-16T14:43:00.002-05:00

I've been a bit quiet lately, because I wanted to wait for the official offer before I posted this.. but enough steps have been taken in the right direction that I figured.. why not?

I am shortly (very shortly, which is another issue) moving to Cincinnati, Ohio to take a position at Cincinnati Children's. I'll be a (so far, the only) NP working with the Intestinal Failure Service. I do, however, get to share an office with the other inpatient GI NP who (from our short meetings) is just my type and I think we'll get along wonderfully.

Am I excited? Oh yes... this is a new position that will allow me to grow and help shape my responsibilities. It's a new city to explore and I can't wait to get to the zoo and the old train station turned museums.

Am I worried? Very... I'd like to start on March 2nd (the next orientation). If I don't start then, the next opportunity isn't until the middle of April. In order to do this, I need my Ohio RN. I applied, sent everything in, know my transcripts were sent... yet I'm still not in the system. I check every day at 6pm to see if I'm there. Worse... I had to reinstall firefox on my laptop because their verification system doesn't work with Safari.

Am I freaking out? Slightly... I've decided to find a temporary apartment/long term stay hotel to move into instead of trying to find a place and move in with what I can fit in my car.

sorry... just talking to a guy from the corporate housing company. Hrm.. this is not going to be cheap.

Alice Goes to the Airport

2009-01-29T15:21:00.002-05:00

Okay... maybe not Alice.. but still. I think I fell through the looking glass yesterday.

As most of you are aware, a large winter storm worked it's way across the mid-west earlier this week and left in it's wake lots of snow and ice. This is the background to our story.

This story doesn't include the fact that the airline had cancelled every one of their Cincinnati to Newark flights the day before... or that they cancelled all the flights but one on Wednesday. See.. I was scheduled on the one flight they didn't cancel, so unlike the rest of my fellow passengers my story starts around 2pm on Wednesday afternoon.

I made it to the airport without too much drama... so we'll leave that part out.

We'll also leave out the part about going through security, changing out of my interview clothes and the salad from h*ll I had for dinner.

Let's start this story around 4pm....

I'm sitting in the waiting area at the gate, reading a book but listening to the people around me who are praying that this flight actually takes off and gets them vaguely close to where they were supposed to end up. The nice lady at the desk announces that due to a FAA airspace delay, our flight wouldn't be taking off till 6:15pm.

Now... that's not a horrible delay for me, I'd only been there for an hour or so. Feel sorry for the guy next to me who was supposed to take off at 8am that morning. I do, however, look into who is going to pick me up (dad can't, Mom doesn't want to... ) and look into the alternative of flying into Allentown if this flight is cancelled.

6 o'clock rolls around and we start boarding. Again, I get lucky and the seat next to me is empty. See... after the delay, quite a few people decided they didn't trust this flight to take off and had the airline rebook them on other flights to other destinations.

6:20pm... we push back from the gate and head over to a de-icing pad. Again, I say, this airport is huge... it must have taken at least 15 minutes to get there. A brief stop and we start moving again, leading me to wonder if we were driving to Newark.

6:40pm... we hit a second de-icing pad and the pilot explains the other one was unavailable because of mechanical issues. So they de-ice the plane and we start moving again.

7:10pm... we take off. Now... I stop paying attention after the first minute or so... but something wasn't right.

7:15pm... the pilot tells us that the nose landing gear won't retract, so according to the checklist we have to go to the nearest airport, which is Cincinnati.

8pm... we're on the ground and back at a gate. The counter people are saying they will either try to fix this plane or will get a new one for us to board at the original gate. I'm hungry at this point, but we have no idea how much time we'll have till we board.

9pm... they gave up on fixing the original plane and we board a new one. This time, we de-ice on the first try, take off with no problem and put away the landing gear.

11:45pm... land in Newark. Alice is home.

Cincinnati

2009-01-25T21:59:00.003-05:00

I flew to Cincinnati today so I could have a few days to look around town before I interview at Cincinnati Children's.

Besides the plane taking off late (they found a mechanical issue while doing the pre-flight), the flight was wonderful. It was a smaller commuter plane, two seats on each side of the aisle. I was a bit afraid my Aeronaut wouldn't fit in the overhead compartment, but it fit with a bit of squishing. Best part of all???... there were only six passengers on the flight. It was the quietest most comfortable flight I've ever taken.

If you've never been to the Cincinnati Airport (which is in Kentucky.. btw), may I suggest wearing REALLY comfortable shoes. That place was HUGE (plus, I totally missed the tram/monorail cars that ran from terminal B to terminal A)

From there.. my cousin picked me up and took me to Skyline Chili. I had the veggie option and all I can say is YUM! I could see that quickly becoming a favorite place to eat.

We drove around a bit and she showed me the hospital and surrounding areas. I'm going to need a map to get from one end of that hospital to the other. Not to mention that I'll probably need a GPS to find my way around town. Cincinnati seems to be laid out like central jersey (roads that go every which way and that you can only navigate if you were born there).

After dropping off my gear and meeting her doggie, Zack.

We headed to Graeter's for ice cream and explored a few of the local thrift shops. I'm going to reserve judgement on Graeter's. They ran out of the flavor I wanted and I'm not sure I really liked the one I got.

Dinner tonight was at the Montgomery Inn. I had the most delicious beef ribs there. Joining us for dinner was a friend of my cousin who works at Cincinnati Children's and was able to tell me more about the hospital.

This was a very nice day and I'm grateful that my cousin and her husband were willing to host me and show me around. He even took tomorrow off so he could play tour guide and really show me around Cincinnati.

LOL

2009-01-21T00:29:00.002-05:00

Okay, I'll admit it. I look at the I Can Has Cheeseburger and I Has a Hotdog sites almost every day. I usually smile, but I very rarely find one that makes me laugh. I've never found one I wanted to share before... but this one...

Growing up..

2009-01-13T18:53:00.002-05:00

In the past, I left behind all my family and friends and moved to a strange land for a new job in a different role. I'll never regret that move.. heck, I'd move back up there if I could.

I once again find myself looking for a new job... that first job in a new role. For some reason, I find myself more cautious about the location this time. I guess I'm getting more cautious as I get older.

A picture worth more than a thousand words.

2008-12-28T17:50:00.000-05:00

Still haven't learned...

2008-12-24T17:10:00.003-05:00

Yep, the blanket is not done. As of 5pm today, I have ONE more horizontal join to do between rows 4 and 5. I lucked out and had three skeins of cascade 220 in black hiding in the stash, so I used black to crochet it together. The only problem is that now, since I've already missed my deadline, I want to crochet around the whole blanket to give it a finished edge.

Why is that a problem? Well, I only had three skeins to start with and that's how many it took to join the rows together. So... now I need to either 1. buy more (oh yeah.. it's Christmas) 2. trade for it (which will probably take too long) 3. Use a different black (I have one that is slightly lighter than the one I used) 4. Not edge it and just deal with it or 5. Not edge it now, but give it to sister and edge later.

Meanwhile, I gave my sister a polar bear stuffie last night so I had something to give her at the family celebration. She now wants baby polar bears. Anyone know of a sport weight or fingering weight white yarn that felts?

I never learn

2008-12-21T07:40:00.002-05:00

Once again, Hanukkah is upon us and I'm scrambling to get together a fish blanket. This time is even worse, because I'm being a total perfectionist and keep changing things. In the past few days I've dyed up a skein of yarn to make the last three fish (I didn't have enough of the same color to finish the row), I've over dyed three other fish (there wasn't enough variation in the purples), I've laid out the blanket five times (each time thinking I should change something, but then leaving it how it was originally).

Good thing we're doing the family Hanukkah on Tuesday. Two more days to get it all done. Now I just need to decide if I'm sewing it together with blue or black... if it's black, I need to go find it in my stash.

Clogs 3 : Me 1

2008-12-17T00:30:00.002-05:00

I have made numerous pairs of felted clogs. Till today, they have all been fun and easy projects that delighted the recipients. Today, I met my match.

Two of my father's friends wore through the clogs I made them a few years ago, so I agreed to make new ones. Yarn was bought for one pair, but I couldn't find yarn I liked for the second. So... I went into the stash, pulled out three skeins of lamb's pride bulky in a white color and went to dying.

Strike 1... the colors did not come out as I planned, nor was it the "colourful" my father wanted.

I could live with that. The person who these were meant for would love them no matter what colour they were.

I wound up the yarn and prepared to make the clogs.

Strike 2... I can't find the pattern. I thought I left it out when I packed, but apparently not.

Fine, I went out and bought a new copy. Not so bad, they changed the pattern since I bought it to make the clogs narrower, which works out rather well for F's foot.

I knit them up, and forgot to count... so I ended up one stitch short and frogged a whole slipper. This doesn't count as a strike... I still got them done in one night.

Strike 3... Felting. Last night I went to my mom's and got ready to toss them in the washer. I invited F over to get a perfect fit. Yeah, right... 3 hours later, I finally had one slipper felted enough to fit her foot, but it was no longer full of red colors... it was now pink. All the dye ran in the felting bath and there was very little left on the slippers. Not to mention that it took 3 hours to felt and then one was larger, so I had to toss it back in by itself. Well, it continued to bleed, so is quite a few shades lighter than it's mate.

How did I get one point in this whole mess? Easy... Two slippers of the same length are currently sitting on my mom's dryer to dry. I won a battle, but seriously lost the war. I'm considering making F another pair and turning this pair into a dog toy.

Look what I did...

2008-12-10T11:29:00.003-05:00

In my attempt to avoid the use of patterns and mass produced items, I've collected (okay, they were all gifts) the Barbara Walker series of stitch pattern books. My sister gave me the Mosaic one this year for my birthday.

I like how the book walks you through the "rules" to mosaic knitting and offers patterns. My only issue (and this is my issue, so please no flames about it) is the large number of patterns based on an old cultural/religious symbol. I briefly considered trading away the book now that I've figured out how to do the technique, but that seems a bit extreme. I'll just hide it on the back of the bookshelf.

I like stranded knitting. I like how the colors interact and the patterns create a focus for your eye. That being said, I usually don't like how my knitting turns out when I strand... mostly because of tension issues. Mosaic knitting fixes that.. well... mostly. I had a few tension issues when I was slipping more than two stitches at a time, but I think I figured it out by the end of the hat. The only other difference, that I've found so far, is that you can't do just one stitch in an alternate color with mosaic, it will always be two stitches high.

The yarn is Valley Yarn Amherst (I think, I already lost the labels). It was the give away at the Ravelry party this year at Rhinebeck. Mom gave me her skein and the two skeins have just been sitting there waiting for me to do something with them. It's a very nice merino. I was very pleased with how soft and bouncy it was.

Close up of the mosaic pattern. I'm very pleased with how this came out. The hat fits my head, though I look horrible in watch cap type hats. I suppose it will find a home eventually.

Kitchen fun

2008-11-29T14:01:00.004-05:00

One of the problems with moving, is that I don't have easy access to all my stash. It's not that I can't get to it, it's just not as easy as it was.

So, what to do when I can't find the color combination I want and don't want to buy new stuff?

Dye up the old!

I've been doing some food safe dying lately. It has to be food safe because my acid dyes are packed along with all the extra pots and pans I bought to avoid poisoning myself.

This batch started out as white lamb's pride bulky. It's going to be a pair of felted slippers. I wanted long repeats so the color would be more than one or two stitches, so I wrapped the hank by using mom's dining room chairs. There are three colors, though my dad thinks the colors are too close together. The orange is cherry&orange, the red is tropical punch and the not-so-bright is black cherry.

This one is still wet, so is a bit harder to see... I couldn't find grape kool-aid at the supermarket today, so I decided to buy a set of food coloring. It came with red, blue, yellow and green. The original color is what you see knit up... it's more gray than purple. The background yarn is what I did today. It's more of an overall purple with some really bright spots here and there. These two skeins will be fish in the blanket. I already made six fish out of the gray/purple, and while I need to repeat a few colors to have enough fish, it wasn't one I wanted to repeat. I figured it would be easy enough to over-dye.

New Toys

2008-11-25T17:13:00.003-05:00

I have a few new toys to play with.

The first, is a new stuff sack from Tom Bihn. They already make a smaller version that you get with the Swift or can buy separately. This one is still a prototype, so I'm giving it a good testing.

Not even half full with a scarf made of 300 yds and an extra ball of yarn.

Inside view. That red thing on the right is a yarn guide. It snaps open and shut so you can take the project out without having to cut the yarn.

The bottom is about 6 inches in diameter.

A comparison with a monkey bag for size. The monkey bag was stuffed full with the scarf.

Next, just as small and portable... my new wheel!

Kitty added for scale. Yes, the wheel really is in that box.

Not only was it in the box, but it didn't even take up the whole thing!

All the pieces.

And all together! Norm made a few modifications since Rhinebeck. The treadles now slide onto the guides in the base, so they don't come off while you're spinning. He also added a screw to hold the treadles to the wheel instead of using the pin and cap that he had on the previous model. The 12:1 ratio really does spin fast. Like all new toys, she and I need a bit of time to get used to eachother.

TV rant...

2008-11-20T17:39:00.002-05:00

Can someone please explain to me when hunting ghosts, scaring people for money and chasing people through a park became science fiction????

I am highly disappointed in the Sci-Fi channel lately. Mind you, Sanctuary makes up for some of the issues, but wrestling????

Finished a few things..

2008-11-18T19:58:00.003-05:00

I went over to my mom's this afternoon to borrow her washer. It's just so much easier to felt in a top loader, especially when you don't know how the yarn you're felting will react. While I was there, I borrowed her sewing needles to finish off a few projects. I can't wait till I can unpack all my boxes, I have no idea where the pouch with my finishing supplies is packed.

I was flipping through the Interweave felt and found a polar bear pattern. This pattern was the ONLY reason I bought this issue, and I can't tell you how glad I am that I did.

Here he is pre-felting. Before I put his legs on, my father thought he looked like a rat.

Here he is after felting. You can still see the stitch definition, but I'm very happy with how this one came out. I might put in a bit more stuffing on the next one.

Pattern: Polar Bear Stuffies - Interweave Felt 2008

Yarn: SWS - less than 1

Needles: US 10

He took me less than a day to knit up. I may have to make more of these. He's destined to join a 3 year old who is getting a new sister soon.

Also finished, a sweater for the new sister.

I forgot to put in button holes (the pattern calls for ties) so I just crocheted loops onto the edge for the buttons when it was all said and done. Next time, I'll add in button holes.

Pattern: Easy Baby Cardigan (free pattern by Diane Soucy)

Yarn: Plymouth Jellie Beenz - 2 skeins

Needles: US 8

This was a very easy, very quick knit. Not a bit of sewing anywhere on it. Gotta love a sweater with no seams!

I finally added buttons to the neck warmers I made. I can now say that making one lengthwise doesn't work unless you find a way to draw in the top and bottom stitches a bit (ie, garter or ribbing). The one I made according to the pattern works well and hugs my neck, the one I did lengthwise flops open.

My Holiday Wheel

2008-11-15T23:43:00.001-05:00

I'm so excited! I got a message tonight that the wood working is done on my new wheel and they are going to start the finish tomorrow. I ordered an extra bobbin, so I can do three ply yarn if I want.

Norm has a new web site... go look here!

Warm socks...

2008-11-11T19:45:00.004-05:00

I finished these last night. Nice, thick, warm socks!

Yarn: Brooks Farm Solana (Rhinebeck 2008)

Needles: Size 3

Pattern: Widdershins

Mods: altered the toe increases and the increases for the gusset to get the look I wanted.

Cuff: 2x1 rib

I think this is the quickest I've ever knit up Rhinebeck yarn. It's less than a month since I got it.

I love how the heel on this pattern turns out. I need to sit down and figure out the generic formula for the heel. Right now, it only works for my worsted weight socks. I can't imagine knitting fingering weight socks at 7 stitches/inch.

There has been forward movement on the fish blanket, but since my sister has requested no previews and occasionally reads this, I have to send you to the Ravelry page for it if you want to see. I apologize to those who don't have access to Ravelry. I'm afraid you'll have to wait till I give it to her to see the blanket. Any suggestions on fish layout would be more than appreciated.

Lots of semi-FO

2008-11-02T16:03:00.004-05:00

This one is really a WIP. I started them last night. I love how the heel turns out, though I modified the toe and the gusset increases to get them to turn out how I wanted.

Pattern: Modified Widdershins from Knitty - Summer 2006

Yarn: Brooks Farm Solana

Needles: Size 3

Next up... a project that's taken me almost two years to finish. Well, most of that time involved me procrastinating. I just don't like to seam. I still need to block this a bit. I'm hoping it doesn't grow too much. On the advice of a friend, I made the sleeves longer than called for and then already reach to just above my thumb.

Pattern: Rogue

Yarn: Jaeger Shetland Aran (80% wool, 20% alpaca)

Needles: size 8

These weren't on the needles nearly as long as Rogue, but I did start them back in February. I guess I hit a sock block.

Pattern: 2x2 rib sock

Yarn: Ellen's Half Pint Farm wool/bamboo

Needles: 2.5mm

I continued the ribbing down the foot because I'm not sure how much the yarn will bounce back once stretched. Guess I'll find out as I wear them. I REALLY like how the colors mixed together when knit up.

A few weeks ago, I bought a skein of Malabrigo. I have a skein of the worsted in my stash, but haven't knitted it up yet. One of the problems with living somewhere temporarily is that my stash is still packed up. I've been limited to knitting with the yarn that I've recently bought (hence using yarn I got at Rhinebeck '08 already). A search of what to do with one skein came up with a neck warmer. These aren't finished yet, I've decided to add buttons since pulling anything over my head causes instant friz.

Pattern: Ilean

Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted

Needles: Size 8

This was knit out of the leftovers, so I knit lengthwise to make sure it would fit around my neck but used the same stitch pattern.

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T21:55:00.001-04:00

Rogue is done...

Trick... or... Treat?

Rhinebeck Day 2...

2008-10-24T20:56:00.003-04:00

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...

2008-10-21T22:06:00.002-04:00

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

2008-10-18T22:21:00.005-04:00

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

2008-10-16T20:30:00.002-04:00

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...

2008-10-14T17:01:00.003-04:00

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..

2008-10-13T17:36:00.003-04:00

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

2008-10-12T17:30:00.005-04:00

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

2008-10-05T16:27:00.002-04:00

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.

Results...

2008-09-26T21:36:00.002-04:00

For those who are keeping up with my life.. I took my boards today.

When you finish, they hand you a piece of paper....

Mine said:

YOU PASSED.

I am now officially a PNP-AC (Pediatric Nurse Practitioner - Acute Care)

Thank you to everyone who talked me off the ledge in the past few weeks.

Staying busy...

2008-09-24T14:44:00.002-04:00

After much soul searching, I've decided to keep my exam date for this Friday. If I pass, it's over. If I don't... well... I can always take it again after studying some more.

In the meantime, I haven't applied for any other NP positions since the one over the summer. There are three online that I'm interested in, but at this point, I've decided to wait till I pass the exam.

To keep myself busy, and make some money, I've started doing pediatric home care. I'm only working two or three days a week right now (mostly because of the holidays coming up and trying to get used to working again). So far, I've done one shift. My patient is totally adorable. It's a total reversal though to have the parents asking if there is anything they can do for me, instead of me asking that question. I have another 12 hour shift with her overnight tonight. I'm getting an amazing amount of knitting done while she sleeps. I'll have to post another pic of the fish I've managed to finish.

I do still knit...

2008-09-20T14:01:00.003-04:00

I've been in a bit of a knitting funk lately. I haven't been enjoying it nearly as much as I used to. The warm summer just makes me never want to look at wool again, and it didn't help that I had two projects that have been just lounging around forever.

#1: No picture, because they're not done... the pair of socks I started in FEBRUARY!!!! UGH, I'm just not in a sock mood lately.

#2: A gift for my preceptor. She ice skates and wanted very fitted leg warmers. So I took her measurements at her ankle, at the bottom of her calf and the top, plus the length of her leg and designed these...

Not the best yarn choice, but I needed something warm and in a DK weight. There aren't many of those in my stash, so I chose this one. It's Decadent Fiber's Pulled Taffy that I bought many years ago from their orphan bin. I knit these two at a time from the same center pull ball via magic loop. What I soon noticed, and what you can kinda see in the first picture, is that the yarn on the outside of the ball was a much lighter pink than the yarn on the inside. I'm going to soak them for a bit and see if the dark one fades a bit. My first try at a knee height "sock". I need to find a better way to increase, but other than that I'm happy with them. Actually, I'm happy they're done, by the middle of the project, it weighed a ton on the needles.

#3: Still working on the fish blanket, it's going faster now that it's colder out.

Getting excited about Rhinebeck!

2008-09-11T08:40:00.003-04:00

Rhinebeck is going to be bitter sweet for me this year. My girlfriend from school is getting married on the same weekend in Arizona. The wedding was originally in November and I was really looking forward to going, but there's no way I can get it together for October.

On the plus side, I finally signed up to take a class. This will be my first ever class at one of the sheep and wool festivals and I'm excited. Oddly enough, it has nothing to do with knitting or spinning. J. and I are taking the felted soap class on Saturday afternoon.

Which mostly means that I'll have to make sure to hit Brooks Farm early in the morning and worry about everything else on Sunday. Since I'm still broke and unemployed, this may be a good thing. $45 for a three hour class, I could spend WAY more than that in three hours.

I'll be sharing a house with my mom and some friends again this year. Plus, I'll be up there early on Friday (so I can get to the CIA and get my apple pie). I may have to invite a few people over on Friday night to celebrate all that has happened since August (I'm taking my boards Sept 26th, so I'm being a typical superstitious nurse and not saying anything else).

A few more vacation shots... (since all my yarn is packed)

The trainer threw a football for the dolphin as a treat after doing what he was supposed to do. I was happy to get this picture, my camera doesn't have the fastest shutter speed.

Midnight buffet on the cruise, I love the carving and decorations... didn't eat a thing though.

Where we went for the dolphin adventure in case any of you are ever down in Nassau and want to go.

My mom with the dolphin, isn't that CUTE????

Towel Animals

2008-09-04T21:47:00.003-04:00

Since the pig was so popular, I thought I'd post the rest:

First, the piggy again. If you leave your sunglasses out, they use those. We never left any out though.

I have NO idea what this one is supposed to be. My guess was a giraffe because of the long neck, but who knows.

This one was so cute!

Sorry for the bad picture, this one was from my camera. Great walrus though.

On the nursing front. I got my authorization to test and now need to pick a test date. I'm thinking the end of September. I've also signed up with a local home care company to work a few shifts a week so I'm not totally broke for Rhinebeck. No news on the job front, there are two jobs I'm interested in that have yet to be posted.

Vacation

2008-08-31T02:48:00.003-04:00

I still don't have a job, but at least I got to take a vacation. My mother, sister and I took a five day cruise around the Caribbean. It was a great trip, with no thoughts of school work or the socks that I haven't finished (I started them in Feb). We sailed on Carnival to Grand Turk, Half Moon Cay and Nassau. This was basically a sit on the beach cruise, as there is NOTHING else to do in Grand Turk or Half Moon Cay. Don't get me wrong, they offer the typical excursions in both ports (snorkeling, scuba, kayak, etc...) but the excursions were more money then I was willing to spend. Nassau is a fun island, with quite a bit to do. I've been there around ten times and can still find something new to do when I go. This time, we went swimming with dolphins. Also not a cheap excursion, but my sister paid for it as a graduation gift for me.

Swimming with the dolphins. We were with a group of ten people and each got a chance to hug them, dance with them, feed them, kiss them and rub their backs and bellies. At the end of the program, we got to slide across the lagoon with the dolphins pushing on our feet!

I bought a waterproof, digital camera for this trip. All the pictures were taken with it. As you can see, it works pretty well. I'm much happier with the pictures I got from it versus the disposable I used last time.

A shot of the ship and a tender at Half Moon Cay. Half Moon Cay is a private island. The beach is great but there's NO shade and I managed to burn myself rather badly.

One of the things Carnival does really well. The room stewards are fantastic (Thank you Jun!). They also leave you cute little animals on your bed each night.

Mom, me and R. after the dolphin swim. I don't have a lot of pictures of me during the swim, but that may be because I was the one with the camera.

All in all, a great vacation. The ship's Captain managed to avoid the storms and we had wonderful weather the whole trip. I met someone the first day of the trip and he was a large part of why it was so much fun.

Moving sucks..

2008-08-22T16:48:00.003-04:00

Ever wonder where all the junk in your house comes from? I've been packing away for the past few days and I'm amazed at how much I've thrown out already. Six large black trash bags have found their way to the dumpsters and I still have one bag of clothes and two boxes of books to donate somewhere.

What I can't figure out is how to clean the apartment while I'm doing this. So far I've done the bathroom from top to bottom and the closet in my bedroom, but everything else just has too much stuff blocking the way. I may have to ask my father to take the truck and meet him at home after I clean up. I'm trying to get back as much of my deposit as possible, though I'll admit, if they would just say "the cleaning fee is $xxx" I might have left it. But they don't tell you what the cleaning fee is, and they say anything like changing light bulbs will cost at least an hour of time.

I need to go pack up my dishes. I've been waiting all day for them to dry.

I made a decision today..

2008-08-20T22:19:00.002-04:00

Many of you know of my current conundrum. I'm at a point in my life where it's time to find a new job and a new place to live, but how to choose. Do I find my dream job and live wherever it takes me or do I find my dream location and take whatever job is there?

I spent today at my friend's house in Hellertown. He was kind enough to give up his hammock so I could have somewhere to dry the fleece that I washed out in his bathtub. While doing all this (and after I was done), I spent a good six hours out in his backyard watching the birds and enjoying the fresh air.

I've finally realized, that I need a back yard. You spend more time at home then you do at work (or at least you should) I'm not talking about a 10x10 area with some grass, I'm talking at least 1/4 acre (preferably 1+ or a smaller one backing an undeveloped area). Since I don't like long commutes, this effectively limits the areas I can look.

I think Hershey is moving to the head of the list, though Minneapolis is still a possibility. I'm not sure about Rochester since it's been a while since I visited up there, but I think that it could still be on the list.