PolarGrrlPurls

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

I realize that this blog has been woefully neglected for months and I have been having serious discussions with myself as to whether I should continue on, or take it down. Having at Typepad means that I pay a modest fee for it, but since the fee includes my cooking blog (which I have no intention of taking down any time soon), it seems like the fee for this one is pretty much a non-issue. I also was thinking that this blog is a handy way of referencing where/when I obtain new yarns and what I end up knitting with them, as well as the end results and who winds up with the finished objects, and so I guess it would not be such a terrible thing to keep on blogging. And who knows? There may still be the 1 or 2 straggling devoted readers who are aware of my tenuous foothold in the knit-blog world...and they may find my ramblings and commentary useful, entertaining, or enlightening. Maybe. Maybe not. *shrug*

By way of a very brief recap of the past several months:

In early July I graduated from nursing school and passed my licensing exam and am now a Licensed Practical Nurse. An unemployed one, at that. Needless to say, I'm job hunting, which is in and of itself a job - a job I hate, come to think of it.

Marikal and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary in June and the 6th anniversary of our first date this past weekend.

I still don't have my driving license, but I've been practicing and Marikal agrees with me that I am much improved and not away from taking my road test.

I have spent thhe last half of the summer (in addition to job hunting) knitting socks for myself (I'm up to 3 complete pairs and 3 singles awaiting mates) and contemplating the possibility of a few quick gifts for the winter holidays and baby stuff as one of my colsest and longest friends has been trying to concieve and may have been recently successful...shhhh! No one is supposed to know yet! ;)

Tomorrow I will upload a bunch of pictures and you can see the progress of the most recent knit blanket and the socks and the summer's additions to the stash.

Coming Up For Air

I'm halfway through my current nursing course and I've finally had a moment to come up for air and think about something other than care plans and nursing interventions and surgical complications and pharmacology for all the various illnesses known to man. I expect it will be a brief opportunity, what with the final on March 4th and all, but I'll take what I can get. I have been knitting in the off moments, though I must admit to buying more yarn than I've been knitting. This has changed rather abruptly, what with Marikal's recent layoff, however.

I had put aside blanket #2 (Spiral Squares) for a bit when I ran out of Eco Wool and discovered that it was no longer a regularly stocked item at any of my LYS. I ended up ordering a bunch more from Snow Goose Yarn, though, and have finally been able to pick the project back up this week. I finished knitting up the 5th skein of Noro Kureyon #188 just last night and paused to measure the blanket and dound that it came out to approximately 32" square (give or take a 1/4"), making it approximately 1,024 square inches. If I want a 6' square blanket, then 1,024 sq. in. constitutes roughly 20% of the whole, meaning I will need roughly 20 more skeins of Noro and I don't know how much Eco Wool. I currently have 2 skeins of the EW in stash along with 1.5 skeins of the Noro. Obviously, I'll need to buy more Noro, but other than that I think I'll just knit until I run out of EW and see where I am size-wise at that point before ordering more.

I knit myself 2 hats this winter - the Diamond Head Beret and the Crumpet Beret, which I'll post photographs of just as soon as I can corral Marikal, the hats, a free moment, and a sunny day together at the same time. Yeah...so, like in July or something. ;)

That's about it for knitting. If anyone knows of any great human services jobs in the Boston area that are hiring, let me know...or small businesses looking for bookkeepers, for that matter. We can use all the paying work we can get around here right now.

Since I'm Late Anyway

I woke up late this morning, but Marikal is in the shower and since I must wait my turn and I'm late anyway, I thought I'd take advantage of a few "spare" minutes.

This past Sunday I went to Snow Goose Yarns with the idea of getting a few more skeins of Kureyon in color 188 and another hank of Cascade Eco Wool, both for the second blanket I've started knitting. Alas, they had neither. This, however, was made up for my the fact that I stumbled accross a store-wide Halloween sale. Woohoo!

I picked up 2 more skeins of Manos for blanket #3 (in the planning stages at the moment, but I could really cast on at any time):

A skein of Malabrigo worsted in Sweet GRape that I intend to use for a new a winter hat for myself:

A skein of Malabrigo sock in a color called Solis that I got just because it was way too pretty to leave behind:

And four skeins of Debbie Bliss Merino DK that was on clearance (at $3.25 each!) because it has been discontinued. I plan to hunt around for more cheap skeins of this and use it for some small color wok projects.)

 

A Bunch of Knitting And Other Stuff

Eight weeks into nursing school and I'm happy to say that I have passed my first clinical evaluation, my first practicum (like a final exam for hands-on skills), and I went into the final exam yesterday with a 90% average. I don't have my final grade for the class yet, but I'm feeling good about things overall. I'll get my grade for the class tomorrow, I think.

I have the day off today (thank goodness! I was desperate for a little down time!) and I'm spending it cooking, knitting, blogging, and....I admit...studying. So, not a total day off, but at least I was able to sleep in and I don't have to be anywhere or even get out of my pajamas if I don't feel like. I've finished the February Sweater and the matching booties, which aren't sewn up yet because I want to sew in a little elastic band at the ankle to help them stay on. I also haven't yet found the right buttons for the sweater, but I'll be making a trip to Windsor Button soon, so I'm hoping to remedy that in short order.

 

I keep meaning to start the matching hat for the baby sweater, but I have been distracted by the new blanket I'm knitting. I'm using Noro Kureyon color #188 that was given to me "free" as part of a very generous swap with another knitter and I'm alternating it with Cascade Eco Wool in a natural gun metal grey. So far, I've spent $15 on the whole project, though I will be spending more as I'm getting to the end of the 5 skeins of Noro I had on hand and the skein of Eco Wool that I bought for this. Having said that, I am trying to spend as little as possible.

 

I don't know what it is about blankets, but I'm already hatching plans to  use up some of the Manos yarn that has been in my stash forever. I've really been enjoying knitting blankets the past year or so and I have to admit that I love the gentle, light weight warmth that wool blankets provide.

Apple Picking

This past Sunday Marikal and I went apple picking with another couple and their 2 year old son, Ramsey. We lucked out with mild weather and warm sun and it was a very relaxing afternoon for everyone, I think.

Got the Uniforms!

Here is a craptastic picture of me in my brand new nurse-in-training uniforms. I haven't got the school emblem and name patches sewed on yet. Also, please pardon the mess in the background.

Pretty Pretty!

Over the past several months, I have been creating some textile pieces that are purely art. I have been using them as a therapeutic process to deal with stress and a bumpy ride through childhood. The projects have mainly been centered around photographs, both from the net and those I've taken myself, printed onto transfer paper and ironed onto fabric pieces that are then pieced together or appliqued onto other fabric.  I had almost run out of white cotton to use as backing for the transfer images and so made a quick trip into Winmill Fabrics to pick up some more. While I was there, I noticed that they had restocked their collection of batik fabrics and took a few extra minutes to explore the possibilities. I liked quite a few of them, but found that I could not leave the store without this one:

I also bought the chocolate linen shown below. It is deliciously soft and has a beautiful hand. I'm thinking a gored skirt...

Where The Hell Have I Been?!

I have been utterly enmeshed in the drama of getting into nursing school. Maybe you would not expect there to be drama, but there is/was. First, I was wait-listed, then I had 50bajillion forms and health screenings and vaccinations to get done plus the always wonderful Financial Aid Tango. After that, the peeps that run the program decided that they needed to meet with the university president, vice prez, program dean and chairwoman to decide if I could actually join the program, what with having 1 hand and all. Yes, I know there was some serious descrimination and not a few ADA violations there. No, I'm not persuing it legally. They let me in. That's more important than being right. At least at the moment.

In the mean time, I've also been systematically burning through 20 credits of prerequisite credits in 3 months. Because I'm certifiably crazy. I've been knitting but haven't gotten it together to actually photograph anything (natch). My most recent projects have been white socks to wear with my nurse-in-training uniforms.  That's it, really. I'm off to take a test in my anatomy lab. Better save this post before my lappy battery quits. Ta.

Everybody Gets a Treat

On this holiday, I leave you with this:

 

This is a piture of a bear at the Buenos Aires Zoo and there's food inside that mock bunny.

A Trip to the Aquarium

Yesterday I had the good fortune to spend a few hours at the NE Aquarium with T and the Cutest Baby in the World. In addition to some very blurry shots of a 16-month-old-boy in motion, I managed to snag some neat pictures of the jelly fish and other marine life.