Basically Stumbling

I am still waiting my paper work to begin nursing. I'm not late yet, but I don't think it'll be ready for me to start on Friday as first planned. I thought I had left lots of time. I'm afraid I have disappointed my head nurse. It has been over a month since I did a shift, and from here it seems daunting.

So I set goals.

Yesterday I worked on Scott's afghan. It's already March and when will I sew it together if not now? I have been sewing and knitting since I was a very young littlest sister. Six, eight years old? Julie and I used to make stuffed animals out of our older sister's leftover velvet. We were corking fools. I still have the first awful bit of knitting I ever did. A blue scarf for my teddy bear, Susie. I just tried to find them in the little wicker suitcase she sleeps in. No luck.

And it looks like little luck in the very unprofessional job of stitching up these squares and seed stitch sashes. Is it the seed stitch? Is is that I don't want a ridge on the back, so I can't make the front look as good as seaming a sweater?

This, as Ann from http://www.masondixonknitting.com/ says, will be my Lenten discipline.

Scotty is encouraging and says it's beautiful.

Then there's stocking stitch. How old was I when I learned this? I can knit lace and cables, and lace into cables. But stocking stitch is really challenging me. My purl back is showing great ridges, unless I carefully relax it. I normally knit loosely, but if I try to compensate, I get stuck with more ridges.

The good news is that if you are mindful in your knitting and focus on every stitch, or tension, or hand movement, in time, you will work past it and develop a new good habit.

I finished a whole audio book yesterday, while I drowned in the afghan, that I started on my 3 hour drive to Kamloops.

I also finished my book club book, A Year of Magical Thinking. Ironically, I feel that reading it has jinxed me and I have to keep better track of my husband until I go onto the next book.

I have other projects that were placed on long lists while I studied and made notes and wrote exams. This is a very different year than last year. I'm also trying to connect with my friends and family who were so ignored in the midst of refresher courses.

We had a lovely baby shower on Sunday with the ladies from my husband's practice. We are so lucky to have such good people on staff and working as vets. How can I connect better with them? If I can learn how to do new nursing skills, I can learn to visit with friends. And I can learn how to do basic knitting skills (all over again).