Obama's Playlist

CBC Radio is running great programming right now. They are having a contest to choose the 49 songs to put on an ipod to give to Obama on his inaugeration.

They started with 100 songs- pop, classical, Quebecois and had the listeners vote on line. It is so much fun. These are the songs that have lodged themselves in the corners of my memories. The soundtrack of my life. We have lots of these pieces in our very ecclectic CD collection. Surprisingly, some of the good ones aren't there.

It got me thinking to what music I have invested in. I have not been to too many concerts. It's a bit of a drive into the city and I don't really like big crowds and the stadium scene. "Live" loses something when there is a quarter of a mile and several stories between you and the band.

I do like going to the Orpheum which is an old theatre.

My first concert was John Denver in about 1976. My sister Pat spent all her money on the tickets because I was (am) such a fan. I still sing his stuff with my guitar.

Then D took me to Burton Cummings at the PNE in 1980 and to Billy Joel (Glass Houses) in 1981.

At university in Calgary, we had quite a few bands come to the student union. Don't even remember much. I did go to Steve Winwood on a first date.

D and I went to Gordon Lightfoot in one of the summers between highschool and dating again at the end of nursing school. He is a great musician and we had our first waltz to his "Beautiful".

As an adult, I went to k.d.lang three times. We saw the 3 tenors at BC Place on New Year Eve 1994 (?). My MIL bought me tickets to Jann Arden when she opened the hockey rink in Chilliwack a few years ago. I think she's great.

As a family, we have been going to the Vancouver Jazz Festival for the past few years and enjoyed Winton Marsalis, Harry Connick Jr (!!!) and Dave Brubeck. I wonder what's on for this year?
They unveil the 49 songs for the 49th parallel on Tuesday. I'm really excited. It's so hard to vote for just one song. My charity knitting has begun with Elizabeth Zimmerman's February baby sweater. I know it's only January. This is a great recipe. I'm rewriting it in my own words so I can just knit it next time without interpreting. I don't know how many times I've knit this. I still enjoy it. But I really appreciate the work that went into adapting it for the February Lady Sweater. I must contact her and let her know how much I appreciate the work she did.

This is the big UFO in the room. I may have to take this shawl to Mexico with me. I took it to the Caribbean and to Texas as well. See how nicely it fits in a bag? It's just the thistle pattern from Barbara Walker's Second Treasury. But it has quite a few rows of repeat. I blew up the pattern and cut out each row onto a card. Easy peasy. Just not what I want to knit "right now" for about 5 years.

What is your monkey on your shoulder?

Fair Share

We have notable light. This morning, while driving my daughter to early jazz band practice, the pink lights of daybreak came out to join us. This is something to celebrate. Also, I had my job interview yesterday and I have nothing scheduled for today. The first time in a whole year! I started studying last Jan 15.
The job interview was brutal. Patient situations. Whew. It went well. My papers are all in, but my registration doesn't kick in until March 1st which means..... knitting break!
I stopped in at the maternity unit and what they would really like is newborn knitted sweaters and sets. I had an idea they had enough of the hats already. That makes it easy for me and I hope to pass this information along to my LYS.
I was reading "Spin for Peace". blog and had an epiphany. I have been wanting to help my mom with the local fair, the Chilliwack Exhibition. But I hate the fair. How about a class for donation knitting? I have discussed with the knitting group I don't get to go to that we could make a big impact if we all entered the same class (socks, dishcloths, whatever). Now I am going to suggest to the fair board that they have a "Fair Share" class with great (donated) gifts and donate all the items to the needed groups. Chilliwack Community Services would like to benefit, I'm sure.
So I'm going to persue that. As I'm weaving in the loose ends of my nursing studies, I'm doing the same with my Philosopher's Wool Windows sweater sleeves. The main body won't have ends because of (eek) steeks. I may be brave enough to begin those today. But I do have a baby sweater to knit.

I feels like a new year.

It's Over

The blow-up carolling Winnie the Pooh was not a tasteful choice in the Christmas lights. This is just depressing.

This is the snow I have always known. Grey and melting in the gutters. We have had a month of the white stuff with no way of dealing with impassable roads and a state of emergency called with flooding from the thaw. My basement is dry, thanks for asking.

The aftermath of the snowman. I saw about three of these. I like the hand-knit scaf.And why does no one fly south these days? Is it the economy? We have year-round ducks in our river, but we let the dog chase geese. They are dangerous and very messy. They have caused all sorts of social and health problems in the parks of our continent. I have heard them referred to as "Soup Kitchen Chicken". Still the Canada Goose is a beauty.

Bella's mittens in their natural setting. They are just warm enough for our bone-chiling cold.

My first days after finishing my studying: planning more knitting, too much piecing of the afghan (ouch) and coffee with friends and family.

Unphased By Obstacles

Well, not unphased, but able to overcome.

On my last shift in my year of nursing refresher, I opened a letter from the registration college saying my file was so dormant, they destroyed my records. Great.

I went to work to tell my instructor, and then went home and slept 3 hours.

Friday night was Scott's grade 10 piano recital and we had 60 people at the church for music and then coffee and (8dozen peanutbutter, 3 dozen shortbread and 5 dozen chocolate pretzels) refreshments. Whew. I worked that day, only 10 of 12 hours.

After the recital, 20 of the family came back to our house for Emily's 16th birthday cake and presents. Whew. I didn't get to bed until 11 pm.

Woke up at 0545 to that letter.

This is Monday and at 0830 I called Registration Services. It was a mistake. No problem. Just fill out the forms again and fax them to us. Sorry.

I can't tell you the distress I was under!

I helped with Em's girlfriend party, Saturday, which went well into the night and everything was numb.

I'm OK now. But I didn't want to blog my angst when I expected some answers today.

I did knit the Bella Mitts (Mittens, sorry Kristen) and entered them in the Ravelry files. That was fun. Jenny loves them and she can wear them in the car as her husband drives her to and from work.

I then made a second pair because I was having a 'day off' on Friday and Jean and I went to our wool shop. Their anniversary sale is 20-50% off, but you draw from a can. I got 25%, but they give me a discount every day. Not so exciting.

I did buy the pewter wool for the "Real" Bella Mitts for Emily and finished them already lastnight. I am so excited about the careful and symmetrical increases and decreases in this clever pattern.

I'll go to town and fax my papers to the RN college today.

I want to rejoice in my success, but I'm still a bit bruised from the unexpected letter.

Maybe tomorrow.

Starting the New Year

I have decided to knit my nursing preceptor mittens. She loves to ski. In the recent cold weather, she started wearing her ski jacket to work. Her husband drives her to and from the hospital, and I like to wear mittens when I don't have to drive. I hope she feels my wish that her hands stay warm.

However... I couldn't get gauge to knit Jared Floods mittens from the cover of Vogue Fall 08. I kept going down needle sizes and losing time. Plus the tinier the needle, the longer

the project will take. Did I tell you I want them for Saturday? Plus I work Friday and Saturday. The twelve hour shifts that leave no time for real life.

When I made the decision to change patterns and went to Ravelry (yay Ravelry) to research cabled mittens, it was already the afternoon. It may not surprise you that I have an eclectic stash, so any pattern that caught my eye would probably be OK.

There they were: Bella's mittens. I happen to be working with rabid Twilight fans. They are also Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and Star Trek geeks. This is good. I can hold my own. I haven't read the Twilight books, but I have the audio book on hold at the library and my daughter is in the thick of them.

I got gauge with some really (really,really) old stash, but I didn't like the hand of the fabric. Plus she has really little hands. I went down a needle size and finally got going in the late afternoon. I'm thankful to have great wooden dpns in lots of sizes.

The first mitt is now done and the second coming along. This is not just a mitten pattern. It is brilliant shaping, use of ribbing and careful casting off within the cable.
My daughter is drooling and wants them for herself. Thankfully her hands are way bigger than mine and would never fit these smaller mitts.

The beginning of the year can be like the beginning of a project. Beginning time takes longer. You're getting your bearings and finding the pattern.

I have a new scarf. I finished it a while ago, but couldn't block it until the tree came down. I had help with the un-decorating after I packed up the tree ornaments. I needed to weave in the ends, too. This is not the shawl I wanted. But it is a great scarf to brighten up my outer wear in the crappy snowy and then monsoon rains that are continually beyond my door.

Amaryllis update. Even as the old bloom dies, a new one is trying to unfurl. Good metaphor for January.

I wrote the Immortal Memory for our Robert Burns dinner on January 24. This year I researched the scandals. 11 illegitimate children, 3 wives, poems to 80 women. I hope the crowd drinks enough to appreciate this tongue in cheek edition. I actually quote more poetry than in past speeches. I wrote 3, but only got to say one. Last year my sister did a good earnest job. The year before our minister brutalized the evening with such boredom and irrelevant dust. That spurred me on to make it more fun.

Today is my daughter's 16th birthday. We will have cake tomorrow after Scotty's piano recital. She has a big party with friends on Saturday. Unfortunately I work both days. But she is indomitable. Wish me luck on my last 2 shifts.

Time and Space

Unexpectedly, we are still having a p%&h load of snow. My little Civic with the snow tires is perfect for the terrible road conditions, but I'd rather rain and green grasses. This has gone on since I started my practicum and I'm very tired of getting out of the hospital after a12 hour shift to search for my buried car.
Emily made her annual snow(man).
A treat from my MIL, this is a fine book. I haven't even read deeply yet and I am smitten.

On boxing day I made sure that I bought enough wool at the 40% off sale to try some of the patterns in it. This is Berroco Ultra Alpaca. Sort of a light worsted weight.

I love the soft squshyness of this nashua Creative Focus Chunky. I wanted to make the Star Crossed sweater shown, but it only comes in S/M. Lot for me. I did some research and it's an adaptation of an Anthropologie sweater. Another adaptation cropped up- again small. Instead I have decided to use a pattern I had already in the cue,Slouch Rib Cardigan from IK spring 08. I'll turn the ribs into little cables and make the sleeves short because I love the deep neckline and I don't think I can change the neck shaping in other sweaters as easily.

Right now I'm knitting strips of seed stitch. The ultimate in low commitment knitting. My clock is still messed up.

This was going to be my last 2 night shifts and then I could breathe a sigh of relief and collect my "R" (for my RN). But because I had to go to my Grandma's funeral yesterday, I'm not sure when I'm done. I really wanted to have a second day shift so I could use some of my organizational skills on familiar patients and even act like I know what I'm doing.

The funeral was sweet like Grandma. All the 9 kids were there, most of the grandkids and many great-grandkids, including mine. I think my Paw apprecitated it. The Coquihalla Highway was too snowy for my sister to come. She was a great favourite of Grandpa's and the reason we were invited into the family. Today is her birthday and I'll call her and try to give her the story of the day.
I work tonight and have trouble with these stolen days. I will take my charcoal Kathy Zimmerman sweater to work and not this:

The second sleeve is coming along. But I don't see it as a travel project. Too many different balls of colour. I do and don't want to hurry up and finish the sleeve because when I start the body, I am in new territory: steeks.

First I should go back and study everything I have already read about them. Have you conquered this skill? I have learned lots of new things this year. No. It's the third day of this year. I learned lots last year. Steeks will be for 2009.

Joy and Woe

There is always confusion and disruption when there is a death in the family. I am working on a palliative ward and nursing our patients and their families to their last moments. Intellectually I recognize that the behaviors around a deathare all normal in their own way. But it's hard in your own family.
In Sociology (Symbolic Interacionism) we learn that our identity is made up of roles we identify with, many of them in social context. I am a mother and a daughter and a wife and a granddaughter. If I lose my Grandma, am I still a granddaughter? Who am I now. How do I keep myself together? The volleys of deep feelings, unexamined, have been flying over my head while I worked. Doing long shifts and nights is a bit like travelling. You're really not a part of anything till re-entry.
I am sad that we are hurting. But I hope everyone just recognizes that this is supposed to be difficult. Give others some slack. Give yourself some slack. We need the fabric that is our family to not be stretched so tightly.
I had another loss. One of my aunties who welcomed my sisters and I into her house for whole summers at a time. But time has widened the gap between us and for that I am sorry.
What a blessing to be surrounded by the most adorable babies of the cousins. Babies that laugh and cuddle and are not shy eventhough we only see them a few times a year.
Maybe I should go back to working in Pediatrics. Maybe I should be wary. Since my kids were born I found it so much more difficult.
The snow is melting in the warm rain. Time is unaffected by our debaucles.

William Blake
Auguries of Innocence
(as misquoted on CBC by PK Rangachari)

Joy and woe are woven fine
A clothing for the soul divine
And under every grief and pine
Runs a joy with silken twine

And it is right this should be so
For man was made for joy and woe
And when this thing we rightly know
Safely through the world we go.

Merry Making

Emily made a gingerbread house while I worked days on Christmas Eve. I went to my Mom's after my shift to join the family. The roads were dreadfully covered in snow. I watched it come down all day while I worked. It obliterated my car. I was glad to be home and not going back for Christmas day.

We had a quiet morning with french toast a la Scotty. Mom and Paw came over with the biggest presents. This is what was inside for me:

A dress form of my own. I think I shall call her Evangeline. I was sort of named after my Mom's childhood friend, Vangie Taylor. Here she is wearing the sweater off my back, February Lady. Obviously I have to do some dialing up. This is very exciting. I may even do some sewing now.

Carly is feeling better. She doesn't like her Christmas collar. Her tummy is better, so D clipped her nails. She has black nails and it takes a vet. Unfortunately, one was clipped too short and it bled a little. We put her out in the snow. When she came back in, she picked at it and it bled all over the white carpet while I slept. D put on a bandage and she did a heroic job of trying to limp and look pathetic. Now we call her "the bloody dog" with an accent (London, Bombay? Not too good).

We went up Promontory Hill (I know, redundant) to the inlaws for Christmas feast. Snow everywhere. The valley is about 8 miles wide and 30 miles long. A cradle for my upbringing and my life.

This morning Paw called and my Grandma passed away last night. She was 95 and in no discomfort. Death came quietly and peacefully to her side. I'm sad that I don't have my Grandma, but I am not sad for her.

It's going to be a little hard tonight to go to work on a floor where we expect at least one or two deaths. Most of them have had a terrible battle with medical and surgical treatments and need to escape. My Grandma, Annie, just slipped out quietly as she had lived her life.

Bless her soul.

Christmas Hope

In these dark and very cold days, when we are reporting the first wind chill factor I can ever remember here, the bulb yields a flower.This is going to be a real stunner. I don't need the lights and tinsel so much. We have a hydro electrical warning because so many Christmas lights are being compounded with turning the heat up. I like my flower. I alos have some really beautiful fake ones to encourage the real amaryllis to shine her best.
I worked another set of shifts. My instructor asked me if I had been to the lab. I said, "Not this decade, not this century. Did they move it?" I met a few nurses that I worked with in the early 90's. It's fun freaking people out.
The nurses decorated the nursing station and patient lounge with a hodge podge of lights and ribbons. It really looks pretty. But it makes me sad because we have several dying patients, and we lost 3 last week. Now I look in the obits of our Chilliwack Progress and see not only seniors from my church and parents of friends, but people I have cared for. That's the real measure of nursing. There is the one giving the care and the one being cared for. I really like what I'm doing. I'm not getting a lot of emergency work because our patients are doing pretty well. I'm learning good assessment skills and trying toget my organizational skills up to scratch in a heavy workload. But someone will lose a mother, wife, dear friend today or tomorrow. I hope that they can draw on each other, too.
I always buy a flowering plant for someone who has just had a close death.

Yesterday, in the few hours between sleep and return to nights, I swatched some Marks & Katten aran that I can't even remember when I bought. This is for nephew #5. The best pattern for this sweater, from my wish list, is the Age of Aquarius by Kathy Zimmerman and Lisa Carnahan in my beloved Knitter's Stash, edited by the amazing Barbara Albright. As much as I look forward to new books, I have so many patterns waiting for me to explore. As I am returning to my old skills of nursing, I am working with patterns and wool that may have been waiting from that same era. The dark wool is not a problem in the harsh light of the charting station. And the funny stories make me feel closer to the other nurses.

Natural Decorations

Before I started this set of shifts, I wrapped all the gifts. All the gifts. I like to use brown paper because it makes me sad after Christmas when the big pile of coloured paper has to be thrown out. Plus I'm a ribbon fanatic. If I look carefully, I can find it on crazy sale all through the year. Then I can cover the gifts with abandon. It's a typical frugal extravagance.

The snow has come. All the trees are decorated with white. Plus it's great snowman snow.

I had to drive to the hospital in the snow and guess at the number of my parking spot. She snowed and blowed all day. We have computers on the unit now and the nurses were checking Environment Canada and the local highway cams. Some of the nurses live in Abbotsford, about 20 minutes west through the most treacherous Sumas Prairie flats. The highway is often closed in snow. The trip beyond that is usually not too bad.

At noon I had done my basic care and charting on 2 (of my very own) patients when we got a call for a transfer to St. Paul's hospital in Vancouver. Normally that would be a 60 to 90 minute drive, 100km (70 miles) on the #1 Trans Canada Highway. But with the snow and treacherous conditions and blizzard warning, it was no small deal. The patient needed the care of this special cardiac unit. My preceptor nurse was chosen to go because she is highly qualified. So I was going to go with her. Why? I didn't think it would be such a good learning experience. The ambulance was to come in between 20 minutes and 3 hours. What if the ambulance wasn't coming back? What if we got stuck in the city? Get a hotel room? What if we got stuck on the highway? Not so good. What if our patient coded on the way. We would be OK if we could just get there.

At 4 o'clock, she said I was off the hook. The highway was closed anyway. At 5 o'clock they arrive in a hurry and she was whisked away. I had to leave the hospital because she is the only one who can buddy me. I still don't know if she made it back. I'll find out tonight when we go for a night shift. I was disappointed that we didn't get to go at noon and then back before too late. I have done quite a few low risk transfers. Plus I started in the Reserve Forces Medical Corps when I was right out of highschool.

In the mean time, I have missed appointments and deadlines as I try to merge reality with fulltime work/study.

The last aran afghan square is prepared. I will try to make extra notes on my Ravelry site, but really it's just tweleve 12 inch squares of different cable. This one is inspired by Lucy Neatby's Cables after Whiskey and adapted from knitty's Chaos little boy sweater. I love exploring the random. It's pretty challenging for me. This square is just plain silly, but it's one of Scott's favourites. He's always creating games with dice and little cards, so he really got it. I have taken statistics, but I am so not prepared to go into the probabilities of this game.

The Philospher's Wool Windows sweater has been resurected. I even had to rip it out and restart the little bit of sleeve I had finished. I think perhaps it was the hunt that was so exciting about this one. I'll feel closer to it as the colours start to speak. I'm using 2 circulars and having no trouble now. I was raised on dpns and fell in love with the magic loop. This is not travel knitting because of all the different balls of colours that need to be brought. I'll do it with TV viewing. We just finished watching the first season of Arrested Development. What a hoot. Also, this year, D is joining us as we watch all our Christmas videos. I love The Snowman!

Tonight I will bring the silk shawl. I may even finish it in these next two night shifts. It is an incidental knit for me and so has little insistence. Still, it would be nice to have and wear.

I have 2 sweaters for myself in the stash and 2 nephew sweaters which are now not due until next November and December. Did I even try to have #5's done this November? Probably not. If I can do another 3 or four this year, I'll be happy.

Emily is knitting for her friends. I know.

Fine Things

D likes his hat. And none too soon. Artic outflow. We went from about plus 7 degrees Celsius, to minus 10 overnight. It's colder with a windchill. Here's a converter.http://www.metric-conversions.org/temperature/celsius-to-fahrenheit.htm ( it's 14 degrees Farenheit). Brrrr.

ETA We had one inch of snow. Not one inch deep, but one inch wide fringe on the edge of the road.

Thanks to Lara at math4knitters (see side bar under My Blog List) for the recipe. I felt I had chosen the right yarn and needles because I liked the fabric. The pattern adapted for me. He says it is so fine, he can wear his bovine ultrasound goggles with it. Was that what I was going for?

Also, a rat that probably lives under our deck has decidedly chosen a frozen squash that was left just next to our patio door. He didn't even flinch when the flash went off. Normally I'd be a bit creeped out, but it's so cold his germs are probably blunted and he's all fluffy like a big mousie. What is our dog doing to not discourage him (them)?

Count Your Blessings

We have had an exciting musical weekend. The first concert of the Chilliwack Metropolitan Youth Orchestra. I went to both matinee and evening concerts and got choked up a bit with the beautiful strings and my daughter's lovely french horn sounds. Christmas music!

After church we practiced with another musical family for next week's pageant. All of a sudden they are leading the charge, setting up practices and transcribing music for my two trumpets. I'm lucky to play flute- just right out of the hymnal. It's fun, but still a lot of energy after doing children's time and Sunday School.

When we got home with the stash of pennies, I was overwhelmed. Luckily D is a coin freak and helped sort and roll 110 rools. We have twice that to go. I bought simple plastic rollers and have set them downstairs for us all to do during a video tonight. The pennies go to Better Beginnings, a perinatal program for those in need. From children to children.

Sprinkles of Ideas

Quick knit for a baby already born. Most moms are just as happy with sweaters as with my epic blankets, so I'm listening. This is the one with the terrible purling back tension. I have been so very tense with the beginning of my nursing practicum. So I tried to distract the eye with some embroidery. This was a good pattern except for the huge mistake of not having enough cast on stitches (77 instead of 67). That's a pretty big mistake. If you google "baby raglan sweater free pattern", you can come up with some better patterns. I may do this again in the round and learn steeks. Perhaps that's why I have hidden my colour pattern sweater- fear of steeks. Like all other knitting techniques, they're probably easy once you figure it out. But the energy to figure it out is not always available.

Gobs of snow. This is what I woke up to on Friday morning. I got off my second night shift at 0700h and was asleep by 0800. Amazingly, I didn't get jet lag. Maybe this is something I can really do. The work on the unit is physically demanding- a lot of total care and nursing interventions, but the team is really together and the culture seems to focus on the patient. This is what I really need. I don't mind the odd cranky nurse (there are lots) but the patients are not the problem making our work hard. They are the purpose.

Amaryllis update. This sucker really wants to grow. We have a second bud at the base. It was leaning all the way over the pot, but straightened overnight when I turned it.

I was able to do a bit of knitting on night shift. First night I brought the silk shawl. On the second night I brought some of my new alpaca. It's sock yarn and I knit it two strands together for a hat for D. Thanks to Lara at www.math4knitters.com for the hat recipe. I finished it lastnight when I was with my book club. I gave it to him this morning and he was tickled.

We went out for pasta dinner (the restaurant of Michael Buble's auntie) and then back to Jean's for decaf, knitting and some Vicar of Dibley. We exchanged presents. I think they liked the lavender eye pillows. I received a lovely brown shawl and matching bookmark and some very promising homemade antipasto.

Jean gave me light reading for night shifts. What a treat. The intersection of our reading and knitting.

Today is Emily's first Orchestra concert. There is a matinee and an evening. I decided to go to both and bask in the Christmas music. Trying to make up for being absent or sleeping most of the week. Sitting I can do. I'm taking a reluctant Scotty this afternoon and my mom and dad are coming this evening. D is on call and his parents don't support Emily nearly enough. I doubt they'll show. Another reason for me to go. The people are great and the Chilliwack Metropolitan Orchestra is playing with the youth to support them. This is a great new endeavour.

I've cast on the last square for the aran afghan. David Reidy www.sticksandstring.com talks about patience, and this is how I cultivate it. I had a great morning catching up on podcasts and knitting. Hope you can, too.

Long Shifts

Amaryllis update. I am turning it a quarter turn every day. The other plants aren't doing so well.

Fetching are finished. I don't like to use flash, but this is the true colour. A raspberry pink. Serendipitously, my flute teacher picked this colour out of my silk shawl as her favourite. I had already bought the merino/cashmere.

This is the form picture. I loved knitting these again. I loved playing with the magic loop. I can't wait to cast on a pair of socks. Well, I have to wait to buy a stupidly long needle in a crazily small size.

I successfully finished two 12-hour day shifts. Our unit is medicine and palliative. The patients have multiple illnesses in all body systems. But the level of assessment and care is very safe. There is time to include the family, do personal care and assessments and just listen to the patient.I have been welcomed by the headnurse ( an old friend whom I pushed into going into nursing), the nursing educator (very generous with her time though she is juggling many duties) and the nurses on our shift. Now when a nurse asks my preceptor if she can borrow her muscles, she means me.

My nurse preceptor is very sensitive to the bedside environment and has a silence I will never achieve. Days are crazy with patients being admitted and moved from front to back. We have only had one death (while I was in my first report). But if you have a terminal or end-stage illness, and can't manage at home or in our new hospice beds, you'll see me. I started in oncology and I'm OK with this. I'm already fond of one of my families that I didn't appreciate on first impression. I like that there's time for teaching.

Tonight is my first night (in 13 years!) I slept 9 hours last night and hope to lie down from 1-2 pm. It's already coming noon. Better finish the laundry and do my errands. Maybe knitting tonight! I'll bring my silk shawl- easy, pleasant and pretty.

Inconsistent

The squirrels are too fast for my big black dog, but they are cheeky. This one thinks he's hiding.

This is embarassing. On the left is my usual wooden dpn in the round knitting. For the raglan top down baby sweater, I used the metal straight knitting needles that were close to hand. I spent much of the knitting perched on the edge of a bench at orchestra practice. Are there any other excuses I can use? I am so disappointed in the amaturish, inconsistent stitches. But babies don't wait for ripping out. No frogging for little frogs. I will have to swallow the reality. I did manage to embroider a little bird on the fronts to distract the eye. Is this my next challenge? I have avoided knitting on straight needles, maybe that's the answer.

On the other hand, I am loving the magic loop. Everyone else has already played with it and made a decision. I think it is the best kind of game. This is my second set of Fetching from knitty. It knits up so quickly. The Linie 150 deluxe is 80%merino and 20% cashmir. It is very soft and a good price. As well, it's available in my own LYS. These are for my flute teacher. Bonus Christmas knitting that will also be done in time.

Hope your own schedules are acting reasonable.