spinknit

2007-05-07T20:41:00.000-07:00

Right in the middle of house hunting the transmission on my little car gave up the ghost. Since the car is 10 years old and has almost 200,000 miles on it, we wanted to replace it. We may still repair it, but we didn't want to have to trust it exclusively. Guess what that meant? Yep, a Sunday spent car shopping!

We ended up purchasing a 2007 Nissan Xterra. It's a bit of a gas guzzler (we're getting 20 mpg) and I know I'm supposed to be "green" and all that, but damn it, I liked this one! It's easy to get in and out of, it sits up and I can see over the cars in front of me, and it's solid. When you shut the door it makes a satisfying thunk sound.... it's definitely not an aluminum can!!

We are supposed to be closing on the house this Thursday and getting the keys that day. Then all the major moving begins. I have several loads of boxes all ready to go and WAAAY more than that to sort and pack still! The garage needs to be cleaned out and sorted with lots of stuff going to the dump, Goodwill, and freecycle. The weekend of the 19th/20th we'll be moving the larger furniture and washer/dryer, then the last week of the month we'll shuttle back and forth, doing painting and cleaning here at the rental house.

It's going to be a busy 3 weeks for us, so don't look for a post anytime soon. Once we're moved in I'll take some pictures of the new abode and put them here!

2007-05-06T20:37:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been a loooong time since I posted! Sorry about that, life got away from me for a while, and is going to get away from me again shortly.

On a crafting note, I've done nothing! Well, I've done a bit but not much. I finished up a baby quilt for a friends baby shower. It came out well, just a basic irish chain in baby boy prints. I don't know if I got a photo of it, but if I remember I'll look for one and get it posted.

I'm up to the waist shaping for the Emerald sweater, which is probably about where I was the last time I posted! I admit that it's fallen by the wayside as a project, but I do hope to get back to it before fall.

I picked up two skeins of Sea Silk on ebay a few months ago (what wonderful stuff!) and I cast on for the 1 skein scarf whose pattern was included with my purchase. It's lovely yarn to work with and I've got a few repeats done, but again, nothing to really brag about!

On the life front, things have been really hectic. I've been working, babysitting my grandson, reading a ton of books (fiction, not nursing thank god!), and just living. However, during that time, Rick and I took the plunge and bought our first house.

Yep, we're quite a bit older than your normal first time home buyers. We are both divorced and "owned" homes with our exes, but his was a combination home/shop that was on a seller contract, and mine was a mobile home on a park on a seller contract. The point is, this was the first time we've dealt with the realtor/mortgage broker system.

And what a system it is! To be honest, we have some credit issues. I've been out of work for 8 years and in school for 4 of those years, and my older kids keep moving in and out and having their own financial issues that we end up helping with. Anyway, we couldn't qualify for a regular fixed rate mortgage. Countless time was spent applying with different brokers trying to find one that could help us find financing.

We did find a broker, but let me tell you... think long and hard about this decision. If you use alternative financing you're going to pay a lot of interest on your loan, plus you're going to pay a premium price for the house you end up buying. Since we feel that within 2 years we will have improved our credit score enough to refinance with a fixed rate mortgage we decided we'd go ahead and pay the price now. At least we'll be building some equity instead of tossing it away on rent!

The broker introduced us to a realtor. The first one did NOTHING for us. I got 2 total emails from him in a month, with no suggestions of homes we could purchase. (I should add that with our financing, we couldn't just buy any home. We had to find one where the owner was willing to carry a 2nd mortgage). Anyway, we finally got a new realtor who was awesome!

End result, we bought a house. We're closing this week and starting to move in as soon as we have the keys. Much packing and sorting has been going on, revealing an embarrassment of fiber/yarn/fabric riches! I have a prodigious stash of stuff (as I've stated before) and will do some stash revealing when I start unpacking in my new craft room! The house is 2500 square feet with 3 bedrooms, 3 bonus rooms, 2.25 baths (with the plumbing stubbed into the 1/2 bath for a shower), living room, huge family room, tons of storage, 2 fireplaces, a gazebo with a hot tub, and a large playhouse for Damien!

More on this later, along with the surprise purchase we made in between house shopping!

2007-03-10T19:26:00.000-08:00

Finally, a meme I have something to contribute to!!

Look at the list of books below:
* Bold the ones you’ve read,
* Italicize the ones you want to read
* Leave blank the ones that you aren’t interested in.

1. The DaVinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. The Bible (although I will admit, I probably haven't read every single word, cover-to-cover style)
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According to Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte's Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

Not bad, I've read well over half of the books on the list, and there are several I plan to read. In fact, there are several that are on my bookshelf! On the other hand, there are several on this list that I've started and didn't care for. I do love to read, even more than I love to craft...but if a book doesn't grab me in the first chapter or two I rarely persevere and finish it.

2007-02-27T08:06:00.000-08:00

This working for a living stuff has seriously dented my knitting/spinning/quilting time! I haven't done a stitch of crafting since I started work :( I think I'm having withdrawals! The good news is that starting Thursday I'll have 5 days off in a row, so perhaps I can at least knit a bit more on the Emerald sweater.

I also broke down and joined the Rockin Sock Club for 2007. I know, I know... I said I wasn't going to join but how could I resist when they extended the payment deadline? I can't wait to start getting STR in the mail!

Work is going really well. The people are helpful and supportive, the patients are (for the most part) fantastic, and I'm really enjoying being a nurse! Of course, the paychecks are pleasant too... ;) I finish my orientation at the end of next week and will be officially "on my own". There are still tons of things I need to learn more about, but that will happen when patients with those types of issues come in. I just feel so lucky to have found such a fantastic place to work on my first try! The benefits are A+, I even get 9 or so days of vacation this year, and with the way my schedule works out, I can actually take over 4 weeks off using just those 9 days. You can't beat that!

At any rate, I will do my best to be more productive craft wise and post more often here. Maybe I'll charge the camera batteries and even have pictures! hahaha
Hope you're all doing well and enjoying life!

2007-02-21T18:51:00.000-08:00

Sadness....

My cousin is dying. She's a beautiful person who has only been on this earth for 47 years. She has been battling cancer for several years but now she is losing the fight. We haven't been particularly close since we became adults, but as a child I always looked up to her since she was the oldest of us. I wanted to be just like her, I was envious of her looks, her personality, her "perfect" family, etc. (yep, I was a bratty child/teenager)

Shannon always wanted a large family but was unable to have children. She and her husband adopted two great kids from Korea and have been outstanding parents. Their youngest child is developmentally disabled and requires a lot of care. Both she and her husband have been incredibly devoted to their children and their faith, donating uncounted hours of their time and money to their church mission.

I know that she believes she is going to a better place where she will be with her mother and grandmother, both of whom she loved dearly. I also know that she will be missed every day by those she is leaving behind. Your thoughts and prayers for her family would be much appreciated. ***edit: She passed on 2/22/2007 around 1:45pm PST. Funny how even when something is expected, it can still knock you for a loop. This is the first of my generation of family that has passed away and it has left a hole in my life that can't be filled.***

2007-02-07T23:50:00.000-08:00

This will probably be a long rambling incoherent post but bear with me... I had my orientation for my new job today. Lots of paperwork and a short tour of the unit I'll be working on. I also had my picture taken and was presented with my new badge. Wow! What a feeling, to see that badge with my picture and name, and there below my name in bold letters it says RN. I think the sight of that badge finally brought home the fact that I am a nurse. I'm expected to be knowledgeable, caring, compassionate, sympathetic, and empathetic. I'm the advocate for these patients. It's my responsibility to ensure they are receiving the very best care they can get, and to deliver a large part of that care.

Part of me wants to run screaming, saying "WTF was I thinking? I'm no nurse!" and another part of me wants to put on my scrubs and stethoscope and dive right in. Of course, the evil part of my personality wants to get notarized copies of my badge to send to all those people who never thought I could do it..... :)

I guess what I'm saying is that I'm terrified/excited/exhausted/terrified/elated/(did I say terrified?). I feel almost bipolar, with really big highs and fairly low lows. Now, this may all be partly due to the fact that I'm trying to change my sleeping schedule to up all night, sleep all day... and so far it's not working too damn well! I can make it up till 1 or 2 with no problem, but then I'm wiped out. Last night I fell asleep sometime after 1am, got up at 6 to get Alex off to school and get ready for my appointment. I left the house at 7:15, drove to the county Health Dept. to pick up copies of my immunization records (what happened to my copies is what I'd like to know!) and then to the orientation. From there I drove to a friends house and gave her some advice on studying for the NCLEX, (along with some online window shopping and visiting with her dogs), and got home at 2:45. After homework supervision, dinner making, grandson sitting and American Idol watching it's midnight... and I'm tired now dammit! But, no rest for the weary, at least not until 2am. I have to be able to sleep tomorrow!

Ok, enough whining. I can do this and it will all be fine. I'll relate my first few days in a post as soon as I have some time. Wish me well!

2007-02-04T20:15:00.000-08:00

No pictures today, sorry! Someone (ahem) needs to charge the camera batteries. I never think of it until I want to take a picture....

I've done about 7 inches on the Emerald sweater, 4" or so of 2x2 ribbing and 3" of stockinette. This thing is already heavy! It does hurt my wrists somewhat (all the weight hanging off the needles) so it's going to be slow going, I can only knit 4 rows or so without taking a break. I love the way the colors are turning out though!

Also, I start working on Thursday night and work a lot of days in February. Posting here may be VERY hit and miss for the next few weeks. Of course, by the time February is over I might have some sweater progress for you! I have a feeling that working nights and sleeping days will severely curtail my crafting time, at least until my orientation period is over and I begin working my regular 24 hour a week shifts. But just think of all the stash enhancement I'll be able to do with those paychecks!

And in football news: Hooray for the Colts! I didn't want to see the Bears win (since they beat the Hawks), and I was really happy to see Peyton Manning finally overcome his post season blahs and show what he can accomplish.

That's all for now, folks! (insert pig noises here)

2007-01-30T11:40:00.000-08:00

This is my fantastic Spin To Knit swap package #1. Didn't my pal do a fantastic job? The yarn is smooshy and poofy and I can't wait to knit it up into something! The sock yarn is Lana Grossa and the handmade soap is from Three Waters farm. It smells divine!

And this is my (almost) finished Bejewled scarf. As you can see, I still need to weave in the ends, give it a bath and block it out a bit. Please excuse the rather crappy photo, the camera batteries were dying and I had to take what I could get!

2007-01-27T19:17:00.000-08:00

Lots of news for this post, but no pictures, sorry!

My Spin to Knit secret pal package came today and it is gorgeous! I received a lovely skein of yarn, a sample of the fiber used to spin the yarn, a skein of sock yarn, and a handmade soap! I promise to get a picture of it and post it within the next few days.

The results are in and I passed the NCLEX! Yep, I am now officially a registered nurse. Yippee!! All those years of school will finally pay off! :) Unfortunately, my very good friend who took the test the same day I did did not pass :( She is understandably depressed and I have to admit it took some of my happiness away, as I was hoping to share it with her. But, all is not lost... she can retake the test in 90 days and I am sure she will pass it with flying colors. She just has a lot of stress and life things happening right now which (I'm sure) detracted from her ability to study.

Bejeweled is almost finished, but it has taken quite a bit more yarn than the pattern called for. By the time it's complete I'll have around 400 yards of aran weight yarn invested, but wow are the results gorgeous! Next on the needles will be the beginnings of Emerald by Knitty done in Fleece Artist Country Mohair in the Pinata colorway. More on that later....

2007-01-23T21:34:00.000-08:00

STOP THE PRESSES!!!

I am now officially employed! Yes, Valley General Hospital realized that they couldn't run their business without my services (snicker, snorkle, snark) and, in their infinite wisdom offered me a job! I'll be working nights on their Medical/Surgical/Telemetry unit as a Registered Nurse. Imagine that!

I don't know when I start just yet, the official job offer has to be tendered by their HR department, I have to officially accept, and my orientation has to be set up. Plus, I have to pass the NCLEX.... and I take it Thursday, 1/25.

Wish me luck!

2007-01-14T22:04:00.000-08:00

I think I'm ready to try knitting a sweater. I know, I want to learn to knit socks too, but can't I do both at once? I do suffer from knitters ADHD and get really bored knitting the same thing for ages. At any rate, I have 7 skeins of Fleece Artist Country Mohair in the Pinata colorway coming to me and that would be the exact yardage I need to knit Emerald from the winter issue of Knitty. The pattern looks to be fairly straightforward and it's a style that would work for my body type. The only thing is that I wouldn't have ANY additional yarn. My yardage works out to be 1 yard over the suggested yardage for my pattern size. Oh well, lifes a crapshoot, right?

Nothing else new here, still job searching and hoping someone will call soon. Still studying for the NCLEX, still knitting on Bejeweled. Sheesh, if it takes me 2-3 weeks to knit a scarf a whole sweater ought to take me about a year, huh? hahahahaha

Happy Martin Luther King day!

2007-01-05T09:22:00.000-08:00

Still working on Bejeweled. I swear I am the slowest knitter in the universe! I'm just beginning my second skein, which means I've knitted 200 yards so far. If the pattern is right, then I only have 70 yards more to go... we'll see how I like the length at that point. I still hope to have enough yarn to make matching mitts out of. I can't order more because it's a "non repeatable" color from Sundara.

Now, on to the real meat of this post. I have never knitted a sock. Not one... I've started a few and frogged them due to errors. Socks are something I want to learn to knit. I have books, needles, pamphlets, internet sites and yahoo groups all willing to teach me sock knitting. Once Bejeweled is complete, learning socks is next on my list.

Why is this part of this post? Well, this morning I thought I'd inventory my yarn stash. Scary thought, I know! I didn't get through much, just the sock yarn. But what an eye opener! As I said above, I've never completed a sock, yet I own over 8000 yards of sock yarn! Yes, you read that right. Eight thousand yards. WTF is up with that? Now, in my defense, almost 1/2 of that 8K is Henrys Attic Kona superwash that I bought to dye. Still, I own it and it's sock yarn, right?

I have sock yarn from Opal, Regia, Sundara yarns, Shelridge Farm, Dicentra Designs, Scouts Swag, Koigu and Fly (small local hand dyer). What makes this really funny is that I've been mentally fuming because I simply can't afford to sign up for the Socks that Rock 2007 sock club. I could cough up the money, but right now things are a bit tight and 210 dollars is a chunk of money we can use for something else. Plus, I can always buy STR yarn, right? And not have to come up with all that cash right now, right? And... I already have enough yarn to knit about 20 pairs of socks anyway, right?????????? (can you tell I still want to sign up for the club?)

Anyway, I'm not going to sign up for the club and I am going to learn to knit socks. Maybe once I've halved my sock yarn stash I can go on a spending spree and stock up on STR. Or maybe by then there will be a different "gotta have it" sock yarn out there I can stock up on! :)

Have a great day! ***the photo is of the sock yarn basket, sans the undyed Henry's Attic***

2007-01-01T19:59:00.000-08:00

Yep, this is the beginning of Bejeweled, a lovely pattern from
Shobhana. There's a link to the knit along on the sidebar. It's a great, easy to memorize lace pattern that is creating a yummy fabric!

I'm knitting this in a luscious aran weight silky merino from Sundara Yarns. The yarn... I can't say enough about this yarn! The color (which my pictures do not do justice to) is a deep and shiny greeny-blue and it feels like butter sliding through my fingers.

For needles, I'm using the size 9's from my KnitPicks Options set. I love these needles! The tips are pointy, making those S1K1PSSO's really easy, and the slick finish lets the yarn just slide across the needles. The cables are fantastic and the joins are totally smooth. I'm definitely a convert... can't imagine using anything else for lace work!

If I have enough yarn left when the scarf is finished I'm designing a pair of matching fingerless mitts. The pattern calls for 270 yards and I bought 400 yards, so hopefully I'll have enough!

More later..........

2006-12-31T14:04:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! May 2007 be better than 2006 for everyone :)

DD and I took the tree down this morning while watching the Seahawks game. As usual, everyone commented on the fact that I have "too many" Christmas ornaments. Is that possible???? Just because I have two of the gigantic Rubbermaid tubs FULL of just tree ornaments? Just because 1/2 a tub never ends up on the tree due to lack of room on the tree (must need a larger tree!)? Some people have no sense of stash, you know?

Speaking of stash... did a little organizing in that quarter too. I went to Target and bought 4 of the large under-the-bed rubbermaid totes. They're now full of spinning fiber. Then I emptied one of the 64 gallon totes that had odd bits of fabric in it, and now it's also full of spinning fiber. Two other 64 gal. totes are full of yarn. And umm... I couldn't tell you how many containers I have full of fabric. At least 6 of the large totes and NUMEROUS smaller ones, plus bolts, plus fabric that is just piled in the bookshelf. And I gave away a fairly large box of fabric earlier this year to a down on her luck quilter. Then there's the enormous stash of knitting, spinning and quilting books, magazines and patterns. The bead stash, the thread stash, the knitting needle stash (it could use it's own tote!)....

Something's telling me I should knit/spin/quilt more from my stash this year! Of course, I will buy more... particularly yarn. For that matter, I have some more yarn on it's way from the coop group I belong to. My plan is to shop more from my stash(es) this year though, before I randomly buy fiber/yarn/fabric. I have lots of patterns I'd like to knit, lots of fiber I'd like to spin and enough quilting WIPs to keep me busy for several years.

There's my New Years resolution! Tonight we'll be watching movies, snacking on sausage, cheese, crackers, chips, dip, spreads (maybe I should vow to diet too) in front of a nice fire.... Hope you all have a happy one!

2006-12-27T09:33:00.000-08:00

Now that Christmas is over perhaps things will settle down at mi casa and I can actually take pictures and post more regularly! We'll see...

Christmas here was a very nice day. All the kids were home, (DD#2 worked from 4am till 12:30pm), presents were opened, dinner was good and everyone got along!!! This is an oddity here, let me tell you! I received some very nice gifts including yarn from DS, the Victorian Lace Today book, Knitpicks Options needle set, slippers and a lovely Citizens Eco Drive watch. Needless to say, I'm thrilled :)

Now the job search begins in earnest. I've applied online at every hospital in a 100 mile radius of my house. Today I've printed out resumes and cover letters (on nice paper, of course!) and am filling out hard copy applications to mail out tomorrow. I had begun applying for positions in early October, but dropped the ball a bit when I focused on one specific hospital. Imagine my horrified surprise when I discovered they had already filled all of their nurse residency positions! Sheesh.... never put all your eggs in one basket :(

On the knitting front I have started a basic garter stitch scarf for my step grandaughter. I needed something mindless and quick, plus DS was itching for me to knit something from the yarn he gave me for Christmas. It's just Lion Brand Homespun in a wild pink color (hey, he's only 13 and knows nothing about natural fibers!) so I thought a quickie scarf for Raven would be a nice knit and make him happy!

Hope you're all having a great week!

2006-12-18T07:52:00.000-08:00

Yep, it's another boring post. Sorry! Between graduation and Christmas preparations I haven't accomplished any crafty stuff at all. I did sit down to try and start another pair of Irish hiking mitts the other night, but nothing was going right with them and I ripped out what I'd done and put it aside.

Graduation night went really well! Here's a photo of, (left to right), myself, Anne, Mary and Chanel, 3 other proud grads. The ceremony was nice and I felt it was a fitting end to this chapter in my life.

Now the job search begins in earnest! I've applied for TONS of jobs... just waiting for someone to call me for an interview. In between all that, I've finished my Christmas shopping, put up the tree and a very few decorations, wrapped everything but stocking stuffers and shopped for Christmas dinner. Whew! Now if only the housecleaning fairies would stop by!

I'm also beginning my study program for the NCLEX exam. 2-4 hours per day for the next 5 weeks and hopefully I'll be ready by mid January to take the test. I hope to get some knitting/spinning time in too, but we'll see. Right now passing the NCLEX and finding a job are numbers 1 and 2 on my to do list!

So it's off to the races! Have a great day!

2006-12-04T07:31:00.000-08:00

Interesting, this pegged me to a T!

Your Brain is 67% Female, 33% Male

Your brain leans female
You think with your heart, not your head
Sweet and considerate, you are a giver
But you're tough enough not to let anyone take advantage of you!

What Gender Is Your Brain Quiz

2006-12-03T21:49:00.000-08:00

Just a quickie here...

I DID IT!!! I FINISHED NURSING SCHOOL!

Graduation is 12/12. Till then I'm taking an NCLEX prep course taught by my 6th quarter instructor.

Christmas shopping is almost complete, but they aren't wrapped and no decorating has been done either. I did finish another pair of the Irish Hiking Mitts for my oldest DD and I'm working on another pair for a friend at school.

I'll post a more lengthy and picture filled post later!

2006-11-07T09:46:00.000-08:00

My Lacevember meme answers:

How long have you been knitting?
Since late December 2004

How did you learn to knit?
From a book I received that year called Learn to Knit!

Favorite thing about knitting?
It's portable and you can create fabulous items with it

How long have you been knitting lace?
since March 2005

Favorite thing about knitting lace
The incredible way that a few YO's and K2togethers can create such sumptuous fabric

Favorite lace yarn?
I love it all, but Zephyr and I have a special bond

variegated or solids for shawls?
depends on the pattern. Some cry out for solid and others for varigated

Favorite lace color?
All

Circs or straights?
always circs

Favorite lace knitting trick?
watching those tiny stitches whizz off the needles when I don't want them to!

Lifelines?
Yes

If so with what?
Dental floss

Fancy blocking wires, or just sewing pins stuck in your carpet?
welding rods

Pattern, or can you follow directions
so far only patterns, but I hope to branch out into designing one day

shawls or lacey items?
both

triangle, rectangle, or circular shawls?
Triangles and rectangles so far, but circular shawls are planned

Charts or printed instructions?
charts all the way!

Favorite lace you've knit?
Peacock Feathers

Favorite lace you want to knit?
Heere be Dragone, but right now the pattern is intimidating me

Favorite jelly belly flavor?
cherry

Tell me everything you know about Eric the Red
Umm... he was a Viking?

Coke, classic or with lime?
I quit drinking soda in April 2006, but prior to that it was Classic Coke all the way

Holiday carols, sing along, or wish they would be banned from all public airwaves?
Sing along of course!

What is the definition of irony?
ironing naked?

How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop?
You're sposed to lick em????????

Why is my cat always puking in front of my son's bedroom door?
He's telling your son to move out!

What is your superhero power?
looks that can kill

If the laundry is 9 foot by 11 foot (just dreaming, that's a big laundry room), and the walls are 8 feet tall, and you are going to tile the entire room in tiles that are 3 inches by 5 inches, what color should those tiles be?
Yuck, but if I had to I'd do white with random splashes of wild colors

What's for dinner tonight?
I have no idea

What is clogging my children's bathtub drain?
Hairballs!

2006-11-01T07:59:00.000-08:00

I finally have an FO to show off! These are the Irish Hiking Mitts from http://irishhikingknitalong.blogspot.com They were really a quick knit, and my first time knitting cables! I enjoyed them, though my mattress stitch needs a lot of work.

Still working on the Mystery Stole 2... this will be my Lacevember project. I'd really love to have this one done so I can wear it at graduation on 12/12, but we'll see. I still have the majority of the second half to knit!

I'm headed off to a quilting retreat this weekend in SW WA state. It's with a great group of women from the WASIQ yahoo group and I know we're going to have a lot of fun. I've packed several quilting projects, but I popped in my knitting bag too, just in case I have some extra time!

See you next week

2006-10-20T14:55:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, the first sock has been frogged completely :( I knit the heel flap and started picking up stitches for the gusset, but something just didn't click and I had a giant mess! As it turns out I had somehow also knit the heel flap inside out... well, the stitch pattern on the outside of the sock was the one that should have been on the inside, if that makes any sense. Suffice to say, it's OVER! lol

I cast on with some Regia sock yarn I received in the Hot Socks swap and I'm making pretty good progress with it. Much easier for me to knit with the smaller yarn, isn't that funny? Probably since I have spent the best part of the last 5 months working on a lace project!

School is whizzing along. Next week is midterm! I spent this morning applying for jobs on line at semi local hospitals. I didn't want to work in Seattle, but my instructor says that Harborview has a fantastic internship program, and I found two jobs (1 ICU, 1 OR) that said graduate nurses could be considered, so..... It wouldn't be forever, and I want to work off shifts. With the kind of experience you can get at Harborview, you can go just about anywhere. I also applied at Providence in Everett, Evergreen in Kirkland, and Cascade Valley in Arlington.

The thought of actually WORKING is somewhat scary, but the $$ sure will be nice. I'm tired of scrimping. I want to buy a house, I want to have a life. Go to dinner, lunch, take a freaking vacation once in a while! Hopefully that is all in my not too distant future.

2006-10-13T16:32:00.000-07:00

So here's the promised picture of my first sock! I've done a couple more rows since this picture was taken, but no time to knit today as I've been running errands left and right.

The grandkids birthday party is Saturday and I'm babysitting the grandson on Sunday (also a Seahawks game, Yeah!) so probably little knitting time this weekend. Maybe next week?

On the sidebar is a new button for the Interweave knits handspun sock yarn swap. Sign up and give it a try!

2006-10-11T10:31:00.000-07:00

Hot Socks Swap Bounty!
Please forgive the uncontrolled use of exclamation points in the following post. I couldn't convey my excitement without them!

In yesterdays mail I received the most awesome swap package from Sarah!!! 2 skeins of Regia sock yarn in a delicious colorway, a set of 5 bamboo dpn's from Knotty Girl, a novel by Anne Bartlett called Knitting (can't wait to read it!), 2 Yankee candles with Home for the Holidays scents, 4 peppermint spoons to stir the variety of hot chocolate she sent me, pumpkin spice dipped pretzels (I've already tried one and they are to die for!), snickerdoodle cookies (my favorite!), and a lovely cup and plate set in an oriental type pattern. I feel so spoiled!!!! Sarah had everything wrapped and looking lovely, but I was too excited to take a picture before I unwrapped all the goodies.

Thank you Sarah, this was my first swap bot swap but it sure won't be my last! And thanks to Laura for hosting the swap!

2006-10-07T08:19:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post for today. I promised some pictures of my WASIQ swap blocks, so here goes!

The focus fabric was from the 2006 WA state shop hop. Since these blocks are supposed to represent some facet of WA state, I thought this fabric with the Space Needle, Mt St Helens, coffee, I5, etc. was appropriate!

And here's a shot of the entire block. The blue and green surrounding the focus fabric represent the trees and water here in western WA. They came out well, and I sent 40 blocks to swap. I'll post photos of the blocks I receive when they get here.

Combining this years blocks with a few I've received in the past should give me enough for a full top. I'll just have to work out what fabrics I want to use for sashing and borders.

Hope you all have a great weekend!

2006-10-06T11:00:00.000-07:00

After a hectic week, I finally get a day to do me stuff! I'm knitting away on my first sock and I'm done with the ribbing. I've only added a few rows of plain knit, so no new photos yet. We'll see how far I get today and if it's enough to show progress then I'll post a photo in the next entry.

For this, my very first sock, I'm using 2 circulars (size 2 US) and Zephyr DK weight yarn. I know that it's not optimum, but the DVD on knitting socks that I bought recommended a DK or sport weight yarn for the first pair. After knitting with lace weight yarn for so long, this stuff seems huge! I also seem to knit pretty tightly when knitting in the round... hope that I can learn to loosen up a bit.

In the spirit of Socktoberfest, I'm answering Lolly's questions here on my blog. Here we go!

When did you start making socks? Did you teach yourself or were you taught by a friend or relative? or in a class? I started on 10/1/06! I'm teaching myself using a DVD, books, and internet resources.

What was your first pair? How have they "held up" over time? This is my first pair and I have no clue how they'll hold up! Probably not too well due to the silk content in the yarn, but since they're the first ones they'll be special.

What would you have done differently? I think I'd have started with a fingering yarn and smaller needles.

What yarns have you particularly enjoyed? Even though these are my first socks, I can tell you what yarns I enjoy! I have a bit of a stash already :) I like Socks that Rock, Henry's Attic Kona Fingering, and Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock.

Do you like to crochet your socks? or knit them on DPNs, 2 circulars, or using the Magic Loop method? I'm learning with 2 circs. I've not tried to knit on DPN's (they seem itimidating!) and I didn't have any circs that were long enough to try the Magic Loop.

Which kind of heel do you prefer? (flap? or short-row?) I haven't gotten that far yet!

How many pairs have you made? This is the first!

Ok, it's back to knitting. It's chilly and rainy here today, so I have a little fire going in the fireplace, my grandson is watching TV and we're just relaxing!

2006-10-04T08:45:00.000-07:00

Just practicing putting in a photo. This is a wallhanging that I had made for my Grandma on her 88th birthday. I got it back after she passed away and now it hangs on my living room wall.

Still waiting for the cell phone pics to get to my inbox!

2006-10-04T08:19:00.000-07:00

I'm mailing my Hot Socks! swap box today and I sure hope Kim likes the goodies I put in! Obviously I can't say what's in there, but I tried to stick to her list of preferences as best I could. I put a bit extra in too, cause a full box is a lot more fun to open!

Well, the first two days of clinicals are now over with, and boy do I feel somewhat incompetent! It's amazing how much knowledge you can lose over the summer... I should have taken my LPN and worked I fear, but it's all coming back to me now (forgive me for paraphrasing, Celine). I just keep reminding myself that by the end of the quarter I'll be back up to speed, right? lol

I started knitting my first sock on two circular needles yesterday! Yippee! So far it hasn't been hard, but I did buy a DVD so that I have a reference. Just a bit of ribbing on the needles now. I took a couple of cell phone shots so forgive the poor quality! (where is that damn camera anyway????).

Now it's off to do a case study that is due tomorrow. Had I realized said assignment was due tomorrow I would have started it sooner...... perhaps I should read my syllabus more thoroughly? (or read it at all for that matter!!!!) Have a great day!

2006-09-28T17:24:00.000-07:00

Well, the purses were finished and delivered and well appreciated! The second one went SOOO much better than the first... I hope when I start knitting socks it goes that way too! hahaha

Nothing else new here. The apples, peaches and pear canning is done, though I may buy another box of apples for apple pie filling. I haven't really decided. I also found a great blog on canning, preserving and using produce. You can find it here.

Tomorrow I'll be finishing up my WA state swap blocks and I'm going to learn to post a picture here! woohoo, I'm entering the techy zone....

2006-09-22T14:20:00.000-07:00

Well finally, some crafting content! I promised two of my classmates that I would make them a purse over summer break. I had made myself the Diva Essential Designer Bag last year and they both admired it and requested one. They bought all the supplies and even offered to pay me for my time, but of course I said "No!" "I'll be HAPPY to make you guys a purse!". Hmmph.... sometimes I am such a dummy.

School was out 8/18. I messed around for a week or so, then Grandma got sick and I didn't have time to do any crafting stuff at all. Realizing that school is starting again in 5 days, I thought I'd better get cracking on the purse construction.

Cutting the pieces out went very well. My cutting table is very low and my back tends to really get painful if I bend over it for long. Rick made me a riser to set on top of the table and wow, what a difference! I cut pieces for a couple of hours and no back pain. Yippee!!!

I start sewing. Everything is going great guns. I'm congratulating myself, thinking, "Wow, this really looks professional" (that should have been my first clue!). After dinner I do a bit more, get all the pockets sewn and the lining put together. After I sew the lining together I look at the purse with a bit of a gloating air. THEN I SEE IT.......................... every single fucking pocket was sewn in upside down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sheesh, what an idiot.

I spend an hour ripping out seams and removing 4 pockets from said lining. It's 11 pm but heck, I can stay up a couple of hours. I sew two pockets back in, right side up this time. Then it hits me... those pockets are supposed to be on the OTHER two lining pieces! Needless to say, I went to bed.

7:30 am. I'm ready. I rip the pockets out again and sew all 4 in properly. Whew, crisis averted! I go merrily on my way, fusing batting to pieces, etc. Then I realize that I fused the outer batting to the inner lining... but hey, it'll just be a puffy purse, right? (No more lining fabric so we just MAKE DO!)

Now things are going well. I get the zipper in place and sew it in. (side note: the pattern called for a separating zipper. We couldn't find one in the right color and I chose to get one that wasn't separating but would match the fabric). I'm so very proud and I ZIP the zipper.... and the zipper pull is in my left hand, totally unattached to said purse. 1 hour and MANY cuss words later I finally manage to get the zipper pull reattached and I ZIP the fucking thing off again!!!!

Yes, there are days when I question my own sanity. Heck, I question it every day!!!!!!!! Said purse is now looking good, barring a few extra needle holes in the lining (Ann, don't look at it toooo closely, ok?) and I'm almost finished with purse number 1. Anyone want to make bets on how purse #2 goes????????

Have a great weekend!

2006-09-20T07:38:00.000-07:00

I pity anyone who actually reads my boring blog!!! No new knitting, spinning or sewing content today, sorry!

For the past week, I've been canning and doing a bit of freezer cooking. The canning is going well, thank god. I've done a box of peaches, a box of pears and am now plunging into 100 pounds of apples. The odd thing about the apples is that I'm sure they are reproducing at night! I take apples out, chop them up turn them into applesauce and the next day the box is still full! Whats up with that?

The freezer cooking wasn't planned, but when digging through my recipes I found one for twice baked potatoes. My family loved these (not sure why I quit making them) so I decided to make some up. Of course, I couldn't do them in a reasonable quantity. Hell no! I had to do 20 pounds...... but now they're done and I have ~50 twice baked potatoe halves in my freezer.

Back to canning, I'm trying something new to me this year. Since Rick was diagnosed as a diabetic last April, I'm canning with Splenda. I have to say that it's turning out wonderfully... to my surprise! No one can taste the difference and with my chubby family any decrease in calories has to be a good thing!

So, I'm off to chop more apples. Hope you're all having more fun today than me!

2006-09-12T09:19:00.000-07:00

And yet another 3 weeks has gone by..... though this time wasn't uneventful.

My darling grandmother passed away on 9/5/06. She was 92 and she went quickly so that, at least, was a blessing. She raised me as my parents weren't able to, and she's been the one constant in my very dysfunctional life. I miss her more than I can say.

Needless to say, the vultures (oops, I mean relatives) have been swarming and that too is very upsetting to me, but I have my pictures and memories of Grandma and that is all I need.

On the crafting front, my HA order arrived! What lovely yarns. I couldn't be more pleased and have been busy winding skeins of Kona fingering in anticipation of much dyeing in the next week! I need to get some heavy duty plastic wrap this coming weekend, then watch out!

Still knitting away at the mystery stole. I completed side 1, including my very first knitted on edging, and have now done clue 1 on the second side. Obviously I knit very slowly, but I'm enjoying the process and that is what counts! No recent spinning or sewing, though I REALLY need to get my WA State Swap blocks done in the next week (they're due 9/25). I'm about 2/3 done with 40 blocks so it shouldn't be a problem to finish them up.

That's all for now folks. I'm going to make time to learn to post pics so I can show off my stash, my dyeing experiments and my blocks!!!

2006-08-25T09:25:00.000-07:00

Wow, where does the time go? It's been 3 weeks since I posted last... in fact I forgot my user name and password! What a headache!

School is finally out for the summer. I passed the Statistics class (B+) and now have just one more quarter to go and I'll be a full-fledged RN. Yeah! You have no idea how much I want school to be done for a while. It's been darn near 4 years and I'm tired!

On the crafting front: not much spinning has been done. I'm still working on the Corriedale pencil roving but I haven't spun since the last time I posted. I've been totally wrapped up in knitting the mystery stole 2 for the whole month of August. Now, you'd think that I'd be done with it, but NO!!! Obviously I am the slowest knitter on the planet. I am to clue 6 on one side only, and I've knit it several times but end up ripping it back when I find odd errors. That has made me decide to put a lifeline in every 5 rows for this clue only. I had banished lifelines other than at the end of a clue, but this one is kicking my ass so.....

Quilting wise I've been working on my WASIQ WA State Swap #9 blocks. It's a group of quilters from (or with connections to) Washington state, and we do a block swap every year. Those should be done by the end of next week and sent off. It's been nice to sew again, but right now I'm so wrapped up in knitting that I've had a hard time concentrating on them. How do all of you multi crafters balance your crafting time between obsessions? :)

I've also had my annual birthday (they do come yearly, huh?) and I'm now 45. The birthday itself was fine, Rick and I went out to dinner, I got several cards and some nice sock yarn, needles and a sock knitting book. I also got a huge order of Henry's Attic yarns so I can dye to my hearts content once they get here! I indulged in some Kona Fingering, Silk and Ivory, and Soie Naturelle Petite. You really can't beat the price through the Yahoo coop group and I can't wait for it all to get here!

Now I'm off to the fabric store to help a friend pick out fabric for a purse I've promised to make her. Have a great day!

2006-08-02T20:20:00.000-07:00

So much for posting daily! Life has been busy here and I don't always get a chance to spend any time blogging.
My class received their clinical nursing assignments for our last quarter a few days ago. I will admit to being disappointed, as I wasn't the recipient of a "mentored" assignment, just plain old Med/Surg with a different preceptor nurse for each clinical day.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not so sure that I deserved a mentored position, and I'm not even sure I wanted one! It just felt like I was being "passed over", since I was the only person that was recommended for an independent position 4th quarter that didn't get a mentored position in 6th. And then, as usual, some people who are known to have piss poor clinical skills did get mentored postions.

Oh well, enough whining, I'm ok with it now and either way, once this quarter is over I'm DONE!!!!

I've been knitting away at the Mystery Stole 2, finally got past clue 1 (seriously, I cast that one on 13 times!). Haven't done much more with Seraphim... those stockinette rows are getting really, really boring!

I did start to spin up some beautiful pencil roving I received from a coop with Crown Mountain Farms. It's corriedale in a beautiful pink/red/orange/yellow colorway and I'm spinning it pretty fine. So far, so good!

Tomorrow we are off for a weekend in Eastern Wa visiting relatives. It will be a nice break for all of us, and we'll have plenty of time to swim in the pool!

2006-07-23T22:12:00.000-07:00

Well, this weekend has been somewhat looong and uncomfortable! I don't do well with hot climates. Yep, I'm the epitome of the famous "weather weenie". As I get older, the affliction gets worse. That's part of the reason I live in the great Pacific NW. After all, everyone knows that it rains ALL THE TIME here, right? hahaha

Not so this past weekend. Friday, 98 degrees. Saturday, 97 degrees. Sunday, 95 degrees. Now, if you're blessed with central air, no problem! Unfortunately we're not blessed. We have ceiling fans, floor fans, and table fans. They do a credible job of pushing the hot air around, but that's about it. Right now it's 10:11 pm and 82.6 degrees in our office/family room. 80 degrees in the main hall to the bedrooms.

Ok ok, enough whining. I only did a little knitting this weekend, getting another 6-8 rows of stockinette done on the Seraphim shawl. It's going to be beautiful, no doubt about it.... if I EVER get this frigging stockinette section done!

On a more cheerful note, I found a couple of wonderful bargains at a flea market Rick and I ran across on Saturday. Folk Socks (new!)and Knitting in the Old Way for 75 cents. Yep, total cost for 5 books we bought was 75 cents. Sheesh! Can't beat that!

I also dyed a blank scarf from Dharma trading on Friday. I was going for a salmon color that I've successfully achieved on cotton fabric, but on this silk/rayon scarf it's way more pink than salmon. Oh well, it's a beautiful color and the cut velvet just sparkles. Once I get my Dharma dyes from the coop I plan to order more of these scarves and dye up a bunch... see if I can sell them on eBay or etsy or somewhere!

Ok, back to sweating! Have a good week!

2006-07-20T09:28:00.000-07:00

I have so much fiber here that needs spinning! I spun a bobbin of some hand dyed Romney last night, and have been plying it with another bobbin of the same this morning. Looks like it's a nice sport/DK weight when plyed. I still have a good half a pound of this left, but I think that once these bobbins are plyed up I will dive into some Interlacements silk that I bought through the yarn coop group.

I love to spin silk! Something about the long fibers or maybe its the luster... who knows but I really enjoy it.

OTN I have the mystery stole 2 (hmm, well it WAS on the needles!) I had to frog it yet again the other day and haven't recast on yet. I also have Seraphim going, knit in Fleece Artist Kasula dyed in the Marine colorway. It's going slowly.... those 100 or so rows of stockinette get boring after a while! Soon I'll be at the lace section and it should speed up. I'd like to have it done before my birthday!

Quilting has basically been set aside till school is over. I do need to do my Washington state swap blocks, but I plan to start those once my summer class is finished. I can make any quantity between 5 and 40, so it shouldn't be too hard to get those done by 9/1.

I need to figure out how to post pictures to my blog. Once I figure it out I'll get a few pics of the current projects. I hope everyone is having a wonderful fibery day!

2006-07-19T16:51:00.000-07:00

My first blog post... how exciting! To introduce myself, I'm a spinner, a knitter and a quilter who also goes to nursing school full time. I don't expect I'll be able to keep this blog up daily, but I'll give it my best shot!

I live in WA, have 3 kids (DD, DD, DS), 5 cats and a bunch of fish. My SO and I (yes, we're living in sin, what fun!) love to go yard saleing and do some business on eBay with our treasured finds.

Right now I have tons of unfinished projects! I hope to get some of them completed when summer school is over in August. I'm taking a statistics course right now and it's turning out to be rather fun (who'da thought?)

I should also admit that I'm a stasher... I stash fiber, yarn, fabric, thread, buttons, beads, knitting needles, books, magazines, etc!

More later.........