Sweater 3, Knitter 0

I'm getting my butt kicked by this sweater. It the Am'Ran Gra from Knitpicks. If I pickup the stitches according to the directions, the sleeves are way too poofy. If I pick up less, they look emaciated. Gotta figure out something in between.

Life + families + relationships = Who Am I?

Are you sitting down? Good. I wasn't.

A girl I know got pregnant a while back. She was in no position to raise a baby. Her mother adopted the baby, making the baby her sister. Confused yet? No. Keep reading.

Fast forward about 20 years (yes, I said 20). Baby is now having a baby. And that makes the girl (besides an older woman)....

a). An aunt (again, number 13 if she is counting correctly)?
b). A grandmother?
c). Something else?
d). Extremely proud regardless.

No gorey details. They are not important right now. The question remains, who am I? I did not raise this child, although I have been involved/helped/we know each other well. So, I am not Grandma (my mom is Grammy). People keep saying grandma, but I don't know. I guess some very real conversations are in order.

In the mean time, I am starting this.




Because, I believe in heirlooms and starting traditions.

I've been socked...

harmless looking puffy envelope arrived today. I brought it in the house. I'm not dead yet, I thought. I opened the package and was mesmerized by the soft alpaca, a glorious lavender. I'm only dead if I wear them I said. They whispered seductively. 'Wear us, it's safe. You're only dead if you wear us out of the house. No one will know.' I doubted but tried them on. Exquisite, nothing to compare, oblivion, bliss, darkness. They lied.

Photo to follow later.

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The letter

I recieved this letter from my victim's husband today:


Dear Tsarlingfeld:

I am sorry to report the death of my wife by sock at 5:23 this evening. The socks are lovely, i hope you are happy with your self ;-)

Look for an email from my wife soon, she has some grieving to do for a short while!


This is fun. Who's next?

The knitting bomb - Sock Wars - Done

Sock Wars - T+3 hours - I hate Grafting!!!!

Sock Wars - T+2 hours

Sock Wars - T+ 1 hour

Sock Wars - T-1 hour

Sock Wars - training

Sock Wars Taunting:

sock Wars begins

Thanks to Hurricane Gordon, we all got a slow start.

Before:

Some good clean fun!!

Take the game of Assassain. You know, the one where you pass notes, letting someone know they've been offed. As you grow older, cameras are used as proof of the hit. Well, Yarnmonkey has taken it to the next lovely iteration. It's Sock wars. We'll be using socks, handknit of course, and the mail to deliver the blows. This ought to be good.

On to bigger and better things.....

I finished my boards this morning. I looked at each question, thought about them and clicked on the answer. After number 75, the screen went blank. Just went blank. I thought, wow this is taking a long time. Then, please don't let the system crash, I don't want to do this again. Then, no it can't be over, I haven't answered enough questions right, I need more questions. Finally, the end survey came up. It was over - except for the waiting. That's right, I now have to wait to find out if I passed (I think/hope/believe/dream I did). I have a fantasy about showing up at work, only to be told to report to HR, where they give me an ID with RN on it instead of RNIP.

Keep the fingers crossed.......


PS - in light of the above panic, my knitting for the KWC is officially not happening. I haven't touched it in a week, and am at this moment, sick of lace. I'm knitting cables and socks until the Mystery stole 2 in July.

With needles poised...

KWC starts today. Now to add a challenge, I am studying for my NCLEX exam and basic arrythmia class, as well as starting my new job as a nurse. Kick off in less than two hours. The only problem is I don't like the lace pattern I've chosen. I will use the pattern for the sweater that I designed, but now I am feindishly searching for a substitution lace pattern that I can hack away at to get what I want. Oh, and hubby insists on decorating the walls - TODAY! Where is my pattern collection?

I have slain the DSL Beastie.....

and I won't bore you with the details, but waiting for your high speed internet sucks. Big time. Finally got it all together tonight, after a couple glasses of wine and a call to the support center to ask what the required sacrifice was and to which diety it was to be made. (I think I scared him). But it worked, and I have DSL.

Why is this important? Well because the dial up decided last week that my blog was inappropriate or something (has it been reading my blog?), and wouldn't let me access it.

Orientation was today. I am so excited and a bit scared to be starting my new job. I have to keep telling myself that I am a nurse, not a student. So the big question is - when do I get to stop feeling like a student? My first day on the floor is Wednesday. I'll let you know how it goes.

On the knitting front, the swatching went well, and I think this sweater might work. Probably won't finish in time to compete fully in the World Cup. I forgot about the whole NCLEX thingy. It's a bit more important than the sweater right now, being my licsensure and all.

Announcing Nurse Mikki!!!!!

Yes, it's true. Graduation week festivities are over. I am in fact a nurse. A real live nurse. With a job and a stethoscope and scrubs (they're not white anymore) and half a clue. Only half you say? Well, I have learned far too much to think I have a complete clue, that would be just plain silly. I have come to the conclusion that if they had even tried to teach us everything in nursing school, my head would have literally exploded.

I walked commencement yesterday. I cried. We all laughed. It was incredible. Orientation in about 9 days. Wow!!

We are now living strictly in Chico. No more going back and forth to Santa Rosa. Just for the record - air matresses may be fun for a night, but not for 5. Oh, and I probably should not be driving a 26' truck, judging by the pasted mailbox at the old house. OOPS!!

Will post pictures soon.

Knitting World Cup

Do I follow soccer? Nope. Can I pass up a self-imposed knitting challenge? Of Course Not!!! I will be participating in the Knitting World Cup. Cast on to bind off/blocked in 30 days? No sweat. Only I'll be creating my own sweater, lace, based on a shawl pattern, using alpaca clound. Where's the whistle? Now, if I could just figure out where I packed my knitting needles.....

Pinch Me

Apparently, It's not a dream. This is the life you were warned about. The one you get when you put your nose to the grindstone and focust. The one you get when you work your butt off, be good, and eat your veggies. The one you get when you deserve it....

What they don't warn you about is the flip side. Packing. Everything. For one swift (yeah, right) move.

And now, my yarn is calling to me in that 'come hither' voice. It's designing a sweater (details to come, I hope) out of lace weight sage alpaca. Yeah, a lace sweater - in the summer. I'm moving to the central valley for chissakes. Yeah, I'll be knitting it. (Sweater inspired by this weeks Harlot)

First, I have to pack. Did I mention everything? Boxes, must get more boxes.....

Boxes, boxes, and more boxes

I am sooooo sick of packing. We're up to 20 + boxes of books. Just books. Nothing else. And we're not done yet. Two more weeks to the move day. Better get a move on.

Okay, yeah, I Know...

I've been remiss in my posting duties. Well, it's just that life took a sharp turn and I've been holding on for all it's worth.

News to date:
1 - got a job in Chico. Cardiac telemetry. The fairytale. Need I say more?
2 - found a place to live. Again, fairytale, just short of the 'bought a house' tale, but still the same...
3 - half way through preceptorship. only 8 shifts to go (no pressure). On the up side, that little problem of not quite knowing what to do when has resolved or is resolving.

oh, and I am in fact knitting. Hubby giving me LOTS of permission to do so. Apparently I get cranky when I don't. Whiny even. Poor hubby.

Finally...

The theory exams are over. I have a B for the semester, but an A overall for the program. It's done. All that is left are 17 days of preceptorship, one preceptorship luncheon, one IV start lab, one graduation ceremony, a Kaplan review, and an NCLEX exam. No sweat. Of course, to celebrate, today I am knitting.

Specifically, I am knitting this:










Out of this:








Both from Knitpicks, of course.

Let the panic begin....

My final exam is in a few short days. It almost feels as though the walls are closing in. Preceptorship starts on April 3. I'm knitting as fast as I can. One more shawl to go and I have all of the gifts I need to give finished. Wow. This has been a ride. I'll post photos of the lace projects soon

Jumping through hoops...

Finals are in 17 days. Third midterm is today. I'm a bit stressed. It feels like I'm jumping through hoops and now they've started moving. Oh, and every once in a while, someone sets them on fire. I know I can be a good nurse, I'm just not sure I have enough knowledge. It's a bit overwhelming at times. I'm learning so much from being a CNA, things I had not learned before. Now I just need to integrate it all and keep moving forward.

Knitting Fidelity

I actually cast on a pair of socks during the whole sweater thing, only to have my husband snickering at me about the obscene pressure I had put myself under, and the possiblity/probability of actually finishing the sweater, and fidelity, and - well, you get the picture. And then there is the abyssmal test score this week. Apparently, I should have been studying. Cramming didn't work. I passed, but not my best work. But, hey, that is one beautiful sweater! (Priorities????)

Yes, I competed. Yes, I completed. Yes, I did pass my test. Not as well as I would have liked, but damn that sweater looks good. I will do this pattern again. At a saner pace. At a saner point in my life. Thank you Stephanie (aka the Yarn Harlot) for making this possible. I will do it again. Hmmmm, maybe a self designed shawl.....
And here is my gold medal to prove it.....

Finished

It's done. I've finished the Olympic Sweater. What's more, hubby won't take it off!!! I will post photos as soon as they're developed.

Now back to our regularly scheduled semester. Next test, Monday. Yes, as in the day after tomorrow. Nothing like waiting until the last minute...

So much for projections

Yeah, so the sweater is not done. Seems I way overestimated the amount of knitting time that would be at my disposal yesterday. Turns out I got an hour. One measley hour. At least the sleeves are started. Now I need to get my rear on back on track for school. Hubby is recovering nicely.

Wow, what a day.

If all goes well...

I should finish the Olympic sweater for my true love on Tuesday... Just sleeves to go. Unfortunately, he won't be able to wear it, because he'll be in surgery on that day for his shoulder. Oh, well, it will be ready for him when he's healed.

I was sooo bad, and yet so good a the same time

I played hooky from the studying yesterday. Instead of focusing on the topic of seizures, I took a trip. All the way to Santa Clara (100 miles away) to go to Stitches West. This was more than I had imagined, much more. I could have easily spent $1000 there, but I didn't. I only spent $25 on one skein of beautiful yarn from Blue Moon Fiber Arts. I bought sock yarn in the color carbon. I will definitely be ordering from them in the future.


There was just so much fiber everywhere I looked. Next year, I will have a larger budget, much larger budget.

On the Knitting Olympics, I have split off the front and back. I should finish the back today. After I study for a while

Sweater - Stage 1

Boy, was I happy to cast on this sweater. I've been working on it as often as I can. Seeing how it's the weekend and all, I've been able to get pretty far. 12". Not too bad. Only 7 1/2" until sleeves. Wow, this is going to be nice. Now if I can just stay focused.....

Here are pictures of the sweater and the yarn for the Knitting Olympics.

StringAttack

The Knitting Olympics 2006

The games begin tomorrow...

For my project, I have selected this sweater:
http://www.knitpicks.com/Projects/Projects_Display_Yarn.aspx?itemid=50374220&yarnid=5420103

Zig Zag Pullover from Knitpicks
Made from this yarn:

http://www.knitpicks.com/kpimages/Big/23438.jpg
Wool of the Andes, Color Mist – also from Knitpicks.

Am I exicted? Am I anxious? Am I terrified?

Uh, yeah!! I will be attempting to knit this sweater in 16 days, for my loving hubby, who has a 52” chest. To add to the difficulty, I will also be studying for an exam, attending lectures and clincal rotations in my last semester of nursing school.

Why would anyone put themselves through this, you might ask? (Okay, my friends won’t ask, they know better). Well, I just don’t seem to have enough to do, silly. Besides, I need something to do at night when my head just won’t put the words together.

I figure it will take roughly 20 hours of knitting. Heck, I might get that many just on the day Hubby has his surgery. No way I’m getting anything remotely resembling studying done that day.

Wish me luck (or something like it)

Bra Shopping

Bra shopping, that age old experience that ranks right up there with buying new jeans and a mammogram. Good news - I've lost about 30 pounds in the last year. Bad news - bras no longer fit. I've tried bunches. This one's too small (overflow), that one's too big (swimming). Found on in my size, the oh-sohhard-to-find 40DDD (hubby's happy). My boobs were pointing the wrong way!! like out to the sides, 45 degrees from center. I give up. The sports bra looks fine under the bodyshaper.

12 hours and 27 minutes to go......

and then the new semester starts
wish me luck. It's a crazzzzzzy one.