Why???????

Why can't I do what I know I need to do? Why can't I stand up on my own and speak my mind? I am a good nurse, I take the best care I can of my patients. I can stand up for them, so why not myself? Why am I so afraid of hurting others to the point I don't talk? Or I beat around the bush and don't even adress the issue I really want to/need to talk about? Why?

Stuff and "Purely Decadant"

Well, about 30 minutes ago R left to go back up north. He has a really long day ahead of him, about 20 hours of driving. Overall, it was a really good visit. We went to San Diego to visit with some of my family. He got quite a few "honey do's" done for me that I didn't ask for and wasn't expecting to happen, so that was nice. I would get up for work and he would tell me "I did this and that for you while you were asleep" Was really nice. I do miss being with him, but I know that he made a decision to help out his mom. I will like having the house back in some kind of order as it is like a small tornado went through the house whenever he is here.

He did bring down some "yogurt" for me to try. There were two kinds of yogurt, a soy based one and a cocout based one. I actually prefer the coconut based one more. The consistancy and flavor is more of what I remember what yogurt having. Really very good. He also brought me some "ice cream" made by Turtle Mountain. This was their Purely Decadent made with Coconut milk ice cream. Also very good. He brought me Chocolate, Vanilla, and Cookie dough.
The chocolate and the vanilla taste just like ice cream without any obvious coconut taste. The Cookie dough did taste like coconut ice cream with cookie dough pieces in it. Not really appealing. At least I now know that there are products that will satisfy my cravings for dairy without actually eating it. Now I just need to find out it I can get my local grocery store to either carry it or at least order it for me!

Nutrition and Life

About a year ago I learned through trial and error that I am either allergic to dairy or have an intolerance to it. I am not lactose intolerant. Here is a list of symptoms of lactose intolerance. I don't get any of those. Also, I cannot eat yogurt. Appartently some people who are lactose intolerant can, as the good bugs in the yogurt eat lactose. What I get is hayfever-like symptoms. And a headache. I start to have breathing issues in about a hour after consuming dairy. Not fun! So, I have been trying to delete dairy from my diet. That has been a real challenge. Not only do I crave it about once a week, it is also in just about everything premade! So, I take Zyterc daily and Benadryl when I need it. I also have been doing a lot more cooking at home lately.

I have also been very interested in Once A Month Cooking. It is basically what it says. You cook once a month, stock the freezer up, and eat off that for the month. You then only need to buy fresh produce as you need. I have done something similar before but only two week intervals. I found that I didn't cook enough variety, so I was eating out. This week I have been making staples, i.e. shredded chicken, meatballs, cooked bacon, cooked ground beef, that kind of thing. Freezing those staples, that way I can make several different things. Two things that I did make up as complete foods is chili and burritos. Those things I know that I like and will eat as is. The chili I could eat as chili, or put it over rice or noodles. The burritos are more for work, just take out of the freezer into the frig at work, then microwave when I get hungry.

So I will see how this new way (for me) of cooking will work. At least it got me to clean out the feezers!

Venting!!!

Warning - this is a venting post. Also a VERY biased view. MY view. Please just bare with me.

There has been a lot of family stuff going on around this house. Stuff I am not really happy about. R left yesterday to move OUT OF STATE to take care of his mom. I know, it sounds all great humanitarian and all, but it's not. The woman needs a husband, not a son trying to take care of her like a husband does (not in that way though, get your head out of the gutter!) You know, honey do stuff.

Granted, we were going to move up to that area (two hours away) after I pass the Nursing Boards. We were going to move TOGETHER at ONE time, not separate and twice.

So, R is on his way up there yesterday and today. A thousand miles away. I am so sad.

eh

Sorry for the lack of regular posts. Just haven't felt up to it.

R is out of town, was supposed to be back yesterday, but something came up and he won't be be back for at least another week. I was upset when he told me why, but now it is to "whatever". I haven't been feeling all that great. I am moody. I really don't want to talk about it over the internet, but I had to say something to someone.

I have startistis. I have started a crochet shawl and knitted scarf thing. The shawl is being made up as I go, trying to see if I can make what I see in my head. The scarf is "My so called scarf" in sock weight on size 10s. It looks pretty good. Nice an airy without too much. I thought about blocking it out when done, but when I dry block it, I don't like it. Loses all stitch definition. It isn't curling too much right now.

Thank you for listening to me vent. Thank you.

Hello, Hello

Hello. Work and school combined has been really busy. I am loving having a job! There are quirks and stuff like that with this job, there are quirks and stuff at all jobs. There was a lady that I thought had died on me when I was doing rounds. But she responded to me. Thank goodness! I am sure that will happen someday, but I would like for that not to happen too soon!

Yarn. I got Yarn!! And Fiber! And Spindles!!! Oh, I almost forgot, and Needles!!

Yarn. I finally broke down and ordered from Knitpicks. I got Cotlin in the color Kohlrabi. The color is pretty true from the web site from my screen. I got four skeins. The plan is to make something for this winter that isn't wool. Most likely a scarf. I also purchased a skein of their Bare superwash sock yarn. I think that I will only buy superwash yarn for socks from now on because I made R a pair of socks recently that are already felting. And I wash all our handknit socks in Soak.










I also made a Loopy Ewe order. I ordered GK Sock Twitter Pated and ShiBui sock yarn in Autumn. Both of these are for my socks, as I has at least a dozen sock yarns stashed for R.











Fiber and Spindles. I found on Ravelry ( such an enabling place!!) a fiber and spindle subscription from Butterflygirldesigns from Etsy. R found out and ordered a subscription for my birthday! I recieved the first month about a week ago. She sent me Carnivale for the fiber and this spindle. I am so excited! Then, for my birthday, I got me a Golding spindle!! I got the 2" Solid Lignum Vitae RingSpindle. It spins like a dream. I was disappointed at first because I like a longer spindle shaft, but then I spun it. Heaven! Yes, I wrote on it. I did that for my own sanity. I get in the grove and if I don't have that little reminder, I will spin it the opposite way one time and the spindle will drop. Then I get all frustrated and upset because I then can't remember which way I was spinning it. It is just for my sanity. Butterflygirldesigns from Etsy

Needles. While brosing Knitpicks, I saw that they now have 40" and 47" sock size needles in the new wood. So I ordered some. I alos ordered some of the same lengths in the nickel plated finish. In the wood, I ordered the 40" in 2.0mm & 2.25mm, same for the 47". I also ordered the same lengths and sizes in the nickel. I want to learn how to do two sox at a tim, toe up, magic loop method. Wood is on the left and the metal ones on the right.










I have a test today, so I need to go eat a good breakfast. Happy Knitting!!

AUGGH!!!

The other morning I noticed that one of my skeins of yarn was missing. It was one of a pair that was gifted to me by a friend. I had wound them up and set them prominently on my yarn shelves so that I could admire them and pet them as I walked by. Well, that morning, I noticed that one was gone. I looked on the floor, under the bed, etc. no pretty little cake of yarn. I told R to please keep an eye out for it as the puppy loooooves my fiber. Yarn, fiber he looooves it. R and I went running errands later, and when we got back I found this:















This is the other one:














and this is the puppy:















"I didn't do nothin'. I'm just layin' here on your pillow bein' good!"

Employment!

I am now employed!!! It feels really good to say that. It feels really good to know that I be having some money coming to help offset the bills.

I am knitting and crocheting. Not much spinning though. No pictures lately. Two of my classmates are pregnant, so I am busy making baby blankets for that. I am also working on a quilt for R's mom. It is a pinwheel alternated with solid squares. All the different fabrics are cats or dogs. It is really cute. It is to the point now in the piecing of the top that it is getting very large! Some of the points are not coming out right, so that is frustrating. It is in the corner while I decide what to do with it.

My aunt just sent me some very cool pictures. One of them is a horse dusted with snow. I will have to ask her if I can put that one up here.

Talk to you later, and happy knitting (and quilting!)

Please go look at this!!

This is so cool!!! Go check it out! Please.

Free Rice started early last month. It is a game that increases your vocabulary and for every right answer, they will donate 10 grains of rice to help relieve hunger. Cool or what!!

I take my boards for LPN TOMORROW!!!! I have to go to San Diego though, as there isn't a testing center in my town. Ah shucks - I have to go to San Diego ;) I will go see my mom today after we get there as she is still in the hospital. She got an infection in her foot and the doc had to remove part of her fifth metatarsol. 2.5"!! So, Uncle D will take R and I to go see her theis afternoon. Going over today as the test is at 8am in the am. I just hope that my dogs don't bark all night as they will have to stay outside since we won't be here. Can't leave them inside for 24+ hours.

Knitting. I have been knitting. Just not very much. Blocked some pieces but no pics yet. I will be taking some mindless knitting with me on the trip. I am finding that I really like stockingnet. I don't have to pay attention to it too much and it is very relaxing to me. I realized that if I have something that I have to pay a lot of attention to, then I get frustrated with it in a matter of minutes. But if I have stockingnet, it relaxes me instead of adding to the stress that I already have! So, no lace knitting for me right now even though I am in two KALs.

Until next time - Have a wondeful knitting weekend!

It's Wednesday

Ok, I couldn't think of anything else to put as the title. I have been knitting, and I have pictures of most of it. They are still on the camera though. I haven't been feeling good lately, I think I slept 36 hours out of the last 48. Don't know what it is, just feel crappy. Thank you Anne for the kind comment about KittyBoy. School is going well, at clinical on Monday, I started FOUR IVs, out of 5 tries. I am so proud of myself!!!! I have always had a hard time with starting IVs. And, someone said that I look like I was 19. I'm 29! Other than feeling crappy, I am on cloud 9! Anne may be sending me some roving to spin for her, so I am excited about that. I am get some other that I have spun up and sent off to some friends. I have about 1/3 of the Alpaca washed, but hardly any of it combed. I am hoping that I get a drum carder for Christmas. We will see. If you hear me squeal back East, Chan and Anne, that means I got one! Well, I have to get ready for a SNA (student nurses association) meeting, so I have to go fight the parking crowds. Happy Knitting!!!

a FO and decisions!

I finished Uncle M's Christmas present today. Here is R modeling it for me.









Meme's triangle shawl is about half done. It is hard to guess because it keeps getting bigger, but about half of the yarn is gone. It is turning out very nice. No pictures yet.

I took the first test of the semester, and I got a 83!!!! I am so proud of myself. Now, I just need to keep doing what I have been and keep getting 80's and over. I am very happy with a "B" grade.

That is all for today. Now, I just need to figure out if I want to cast on another project or finish Uncle D's sox. Decisions, decisions.

Hello

Haven't really been able to chat. Getting ready for school that started yesterday (yeah!!). I did finish a sock but am going to have to frog some if not all. I am NOT happy about that. Why is it that you can follow the same instructions for the second sock and it comes out smaller!!!! I don't have enough yarn, so it probably will sit. I did work on a shrug and got it almost finished for class. My classroom is almost always too cold. So, four days before class started, I started a shrug. Really cute, basically a rectangle with cuffs on it. Used alpaca, and didn't have enough gray, so I used lavendar with it. Came out very cute. I think that I will frog the one completed cuff because I think that the gauge is too small for the item. Pictures will come later, I have to go read for class. Take care!!

not so arugh!

My last post was about a sock that didn't want to grow anymore. I did rip back the heel stitches a few rows and tried to complete it with the yarn I did have. As I am on a strick yarn diet, I knew that I couldn't just go and buy another skein of yarn. Good thing that I like anklets. The first one is finished. This is how much yarn I had left:








This is the sock on my foot. The front is rolled down because it is longer than the back. And the toe to the mate is also pictured.



I really, really like this yarn. I just now know to buy three skeins of it when making sox for me.



I did finish half a Christmas present. It is for someone in my family with really large feet. I hope that the sox fit, as I am guessing at the shoe size. The yarn is Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted. It is being knit on Brittany's sz4.








I did start the other sock but had to frog it because I started the toe too narrow. I guess that is what I get for not taking notes.

I didn't knit any today because of this:
It started out that R and I were at HomeDepot, and they had some faucets on clearance. I saw one that had all the things on it that I wanted. So, we got it. Along with the rain showerhead that was also on clearance. (why is it that we never can seem to leave with only what is on the list?) I tried to take the faucet off the kitchen sink. And found out that someone had glued the last faucet to the sink!!! So, the sink that has been lying around to be put in got put in. And new lines and P trap and such. So, nine hours later I have this:


The blocks are to hold the sink down while the caulk sets.




So much for only replacing the faucet!

I forgot to show you! I spun up some yarn last week. Take a look at my new pretty:








And a close up:







It is wool samples that I get from the Bellwether. For I think $16 a year, they will send you samples of their rovings 4 times a year I think. Wonderful stuff, I didn't know what to do with it. The samples sat around until I had 3 envelopes full, and decided I was going to spin it up. The cream is merino. The colors are wool. Some of the samples have silk blended in them. I have found that I really don't care for silk noils in my yarn. I like a smooth yarn. The cream spun up beautifully. And the hank was a balanced ply! That makes me really happy, becuase I am not very good at plying. This is going to be a gift. I am going to smooze and give it to one of my professors at school that knits. I hope that she likes it. No, I don't know the twist or anything like that. I just spin the singles and then ply. So far, it has worked out.

Until next time, Take care!!

Good Morning!

Good Morning!

This is amazing for me. Up this early on a nonwork-nonclinical day! And I have been up for a hour. Ok, onto other things.


Finished my teacher's hat last night. Washed, blocked, and dried. It looks waaaaaaaaaaaay too big! Maybe I blocked it too big. I will tell the teacher that if she has a smaller bowl to rewet it and reblock. The color is more true in the two bottom pictures.



















The dogs are Katie (the puppy) and DeeO.Gee (dobbie/german shepard mix)

They and DeeO.Gee's sister are going with us to WY. Fun. Two big dogs and a puppy in the back of my Bronco. Doable but cramped! We pick up the rental truck this afternoon. I am going to try to pack it this evening, but may have to finish in the AM.

Well, my final is today. It is a computer test. The only problem I have with it is that the company that the school contracts with for the tests and practice tests don't tell you what you missed on the practice tests! So, you really don't know what you got wrong. That is my only gripe. I studied as best as I could. Once I pass the final, then I can apply for the state boards to take the NCLEX for LPN.

Ok. I'm off to eat my Wheaties! Wish me luck and Happy Knitting!

Stitch markers

I got my stitch markers from two people! Very cool. Don't know where the camera is at the moment, so no pictures. Sorry. Thank you again to Sulah and Kathy! Still trying to get ready for the big trip to WY and study for my final on Monday. Such fun! Until next time, happy knitting.

p.s. finished one sockapalooza 4 sox and almost done with the other. then I can start on the second pair!

I'm still here!!!

Very, very picture intensive!!!!!!!!

I'm still here! I have been busy though. I have been in summer school. I have also been knitting but on things for my secret people, so I cannot really show you stuff. Well, maybe I can show you bits of stuff. Ok, here we go.

ok, subtitles:
Red hat - baby alpaca just because I liked the color. Gave to a classmate
Pink, orange, yellow knitted fabric - Sockapalooza 4 socks for my pal

Brown, green, & pink - Sox bag for a pal
Stitch markers - made 2 pair for each pal in the swaps I am in. 5 pals = 10pr.











Motor and Katie

Like I said, I have been busy. School, work and sleeping. And some knitting. I am glad that I can sit in the back of my class and knit. The teacher has commented, but hasn't asked me to put it away. I still got some yarn in purple (her favorite color) and I am going to make a knit hat for her. This is her last class that she is teaching. She is going on to be a NP (nurse practitioner). Cool, huh. Well, this note is a long one, so I will go ahead and say that until next time, happy knitting!!!!

Hello again

Hello, I know that I haven't written in awhile. That is because of life. And knitting that I really cannot show because it is for the swaps that I am in. I go to visit my mom on Monday, and there is a yarn shop there. The ladies let me ball my yarn from other places as long as I buy something from them. So, I really haven't started on my sockapalooza4 sox yet. I have the pattern and the yarn, but the yarn is still in skien form.

Spinning. I spun some the other night, and for the first time, the ply was balanced! I was so excited! R didn't really know what I was excited about but he was happy for me. It was some roving from Paradise Fiber that I koolaid dyed. The roving was dark brown, and I dyed it red and purple, but it came out dark burgandy. Still very cool. it is going to go to one of my swap spoilees. I got my wheel for my birthday. She is an Ashford Traveler Single Drive with Scotch tension. She doesn't have a name yet. She is unfinished. I know, I know, I need to have her finished. While we are in Wyoming, maybe I can have R finish her for me. Here is a picture of her.














And here is the spun roving.











The picture is dark but is pretty true to color

R took some pictures of C.A.T. She is R's outside cat. She is part Saimese.

I CAN'T SLEEP!!!!

This sucks. I don't get insomnia very often, but when I do, I only sleep a couple hours. Maybe. I just can't seem to shut the mind down and relax. Thank goodness I don't have to work tomorrow.

I can give you updates though. I have started the decreases on the baby blanket I am making.










I see a corner!











I do have a few more rows done. This is for my nursing student friend. She is due in June. But babys don't always follow the doctor's schedule. I hope that the baby can wait until AFTER her final on Monday!

I like the blanket, but I really, really don't like garter stitch. I thought to myself when I was planning this blanket, I don't like garter stitch but this won't be that bad! I probably would have had this blanket done a long time ago if I had done another pattern, one that kept my attention better. It makes for really good movie knitting.

Katie. Katie went to the vet and got a clean bill of health. That night she started to cough. And the next night. R took her back to the vet on Saturday. She has kennel cough. Got the pills and cough syrup. She likes the syrup, I think it smells like meat, maybe that is why. She is coughing less now, so we can get some sleep. Well they can.

Ordered some yarn from the Loopy Ewe. Hopefully it will get here tomorrow, well today. I haven't ordered from them before, so I am excited about that! I hear that they have good service and excellent products. I signed up for the Summer of socks2007. You can find it here. I signed up for the design contest. One of the requirements was to order the yarn from one of the sponsors, and Loopy Ewe was a sponsor! I am so excited; I haven’t ever designed a knitting pattern before.

I am sending out a treat box to my sock4 pal later today. I guess that would make her a treatee? Sounds good to me. I hope that she likes it, I have been blog stalking her for some ideas.


I found out today that I was accepted into the LPN program at our local college. I have two semesters of Nursing school done, so I was able to apply.

I go and pay for that tomorrow. It is going to feel weird going back to school, as I have had a whole semester off. It has been a really nice break.


I have to (well, I don't have to but it needs to be done eventually) take my Bronco into the shop for some work. Nothing major major, just a bunch of little things. I take her in on Monday. I like the place I go and they have decent prices, they just take forever. So I probably won't get her back until next Thursday. That is ok though, because then she will be more fixed than before. I need her to do a 1,000 mile trip in about 2 days and then back home a few weeks later. So, she is going to the shop. They quoted me about $900.00 for all the work I am asking for. I was excepting a higher price. Now, if they can just stay within that price.


Well, I am going to knit some and then try to go to sleep. I really don't like taking Benadryl even though it works for me. I am groggy the whole next day if I take it this late at night. Ah well, I guess could try meditation some more, but it just hasn't been working well lately.


I leave you with pictures of Katie.

Good night and sweet dreams to all.