Reset

It was -10 degrees outside. Apparently my internal thermostat has reset itself after the week of -30 to -40 and now -10 feels so warm outside I had to have an Iced Coffee to cool myself down. Baffling what us Canadians think is reasonable, isn't it?

Someone who knows me very well pointed out several more ways in which I am like a 90 year old, much to my chagrin. I left that party when it was bedtime for me, which was around 10pm...I think that is a completely reasonable time to leave a party. My sister, while planning an event, mentioned starting at 7pm. Since I thought the plan was to include dinner I said if we started at 5:30 or 6 we could have dinner too....yeah she meant 7pm was to start dinner at 7:30. How could I eat dinner so late?! That's right before bedtime!

I was quite focused this week with the podcasts and knitting so the first of two mittens is about half way done (first of two does actually need to be emphasized because the last time I made these mittens one was lost immediately so it became first of 3 mittens). Hopefully the intended owner of these mittens will be more careful.

Mittens continued....made from Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool and the WW2 pattern. Pretty soon I will start the finger part and you will be able to see how they are rifle mittens. I think it's cool.

One of my friends just had a baby girl! So she will get the little purple and pink girl sweater from List minus four projects. That was a perfect baby sweater to knit, super fast and easy and only one button to sew on. You can find the pattern on Ravelry at May Baby Sweater.

Hmm....I'm not sure how I feel about this pattern. I followed the measurements but the hood part came out pretty big. Babies have big heads and all but adult size big, not quite....unfortunately the hood part fits me. It's going to make the baby look like yoda.

I am starting to worry a little bit about my upcoming graduation, namely whenever I learn something and think, "hmm shouldn't I already have known that? It seems important..." This week I learned that smokers need a special formulation of Vitalux (if they are using such drops) without beta carotene because the beta carotene puts them at higher risk of lung cancer. Lung cancer is about as serious as it comes...so then I stop and think, have I ever put someone on Vitalux? No, thankfully, because I would not have known that since I just learned it. I think the bombshells will just keep coming, that's what the upper years told me anyway. Avoidance is probably not going to be the best strategy for this. Back to studying.

Oh to be young again

I came to a very disturbing conclusion last night while counting sheep (which clearly doesn't work or I would have been sleeping instead of having the following conversation with myself).

How I am unlike a 90 year old woman:
?

How I am like a 90 year old woman:
1. I knit
2. I don't understand pop culture
3. I drink fiber every day and the only thing I want to talk to my family doctor about are my poops
4. My vitamin D tabs are soft chocolate chews
5. I say things like "When I was young... (we used warfarin instead of dabigatran and squirmed in our seats when being pimped rather than surreptitiously consulting an app)"
6. I went to a party on the weekend and I was one of the first to leave because it was bedtime (I was one of the chronologically youngest people there)


So 6 to 1....it's not looking so good.


On the more hilarious side, here is a picture of a knitted object from my women's health elective:

It's a vulva

I haven't progressed much on my own projects except for the baby wrap, it's almost done. Too bad it's -30 out and all the babies are concealed in snowsuits all the time right now...no babies for playing with!

Time to try and think of a youthful thing to do.

When all else fails...verbal diarrhea

I guess I never got around to putting up the pictures of my cast-on frenzy. Here are a few:

Using some random cotton yarn I found in my stash this will magically transform into A Hooded Baby Wrap which is a nice free pattern from Lion Brand Yarn 

Another Lion Brand Yarn project, although the patter is for Rifle Mittens for he who shall not be named (I've been watching the Harry Potter movies for study breaks) and I cannot post a link because it is from a World War II pattern book a very good friend gave me. They might be a present for the 2013 holiday season so their actual destined recipient will remain in the dark.

Nice King Cole Bamboo Cotton yarn will be made into a cardigan for a little one with this free Ravelry pattern Silver Cardigan

The knitting has taken a back seat to a few marginally more important projects, such as studying for the licensing exam, so the projects are not much further along. Also more important is the first day of a new block; despite going through this every 4 weeks, I still get a bit nervous before rotations where I don't know what to expect. Rotations I have gone through before don't have an effect, not surprisingly it is only the new ones. I study the weekend before so I at least have some random facts I can verbal diarrhea when all else fails, but I still get nervous. There is no real point trying to work on this issue since I only have 2 more new rotations, and after today just 1. Yea!

On a side note, I love and hate the new $20 bills. They frequently stick to each other, which is bad for counting them and looking in my wallet and thinking I only have $40, but great when I feel through them and discover I have $60! Then I go buy potato chips.

The Post Holiday Hangover

So my sister does read this. Apparently I must thin of another way to hide future ink stains.

Cast over hangover, that is what I have today. I went on a casting on binge and now I have way too many WIP's. Rather than headache and emesis though I feel tense and edgy. It's quite tempting to stay up late knitting but I have an out. The project I most want to work on, the monkey socks, are at the perfect point (heel flap) for brainless knitting and I have a friend coming over to knit on Sunday. Thus I am saving them for that.

Monkey Socks made with Indigodragonfly merino sock yarn

(No one knows the monkey socks were supposed to be a Christmas present for someone...they are now magically morphed into a birthday present. This gives me until March. It'll be our secret).
I found a new way to embarrass myself at work the other day, that's always fun. Turns out when they say hand wash only on your favourite front clasp bra they mean if you repeatedly wash it in a machine it will weaken the clasp. This will cause said clasp to give way while you are bent over examining a 4 month old. And of course, this was the only baby I've seen brought in by the father, I feel like it would have been much less awkward if it was just the mom. Running out the door while mumbling something about drawing up the vaccines was also not the graceful exit this situation required. The bra has been retired. I am considering writing a letter to the bra manufacturer.

Test, Test

So I know some people are actually reading this (or at least telling me they are). One of those people is my brother; he is very loyal. My fiance reads it whenever I ask him to, which I don't do very often because he is subjected to my endless chatter on an almost daily basis and has likely heard everything in here already. My sister...well I'm not too sure about her. Rather than just ask her, I am going to test her. I am going to confess something here and see if she finds out. Here goes:

I spilled printer ink on your new beige carpet. I am not saying when, where or how much of it came out (although there is only one printer in the house so with your strong powers of deductive reasoning you may just figure out where).

Let's see what happens.

In other news, I have decided to use the ugly pink acrylic yarn someone donated to my stash to make a dog sweater. I should probably make dog booties since the poor little things are getting salt stuck in their paws and then they walk all antalgic like and I find it really pathetic to watch. There's something about a limping dog that tugs at the heartstrings (limping children for some reason don't have that effect, one reason I never went into paed's). I made a cute little mouse for a certain cat I know to play with:

The first monkey sock is finished and in order to avoid second sock syndrome (it's a real thing) I started the second one right away. Pictures to come soon.

List Minus Four Projects!

A few things were finished. Most weren't, but that's ok. In the end everyone will still get a present.

Why does it never look like the photo on the pattern?

I stopped the ponchette a bit shy of the 53" long mark because I couldn't take it anymore...I don't think it's any worse because of that. Hopefully its destined owner will still like it.

Due to factors completely beyond my control I substituted a scarf for mittens and voila, the basketweave scarf

The picture makes it look like some other textured pattern but trust me, it's basketweave. I know because last night when trying to finish it I was drinking a beer and every fifth row (where I reverse the pattern) I had to tink because apparently 1/2 a beer is my threshold for being able to knit without making recurrent mistakes. Damn Innis and Gunn.

Thanks to my lovely mother visiting two other projects were finished (i.e. Buttons! Normally I outsource this part. It's right up there with ironing on my list of things I need to be bribed with potato chips to do).

I was extremely fortunate to be put on an outpatient clinic rotation during the holidays so I have more than the expected time off. Lots more knitting (and a bit of studying via podcasts) will be accomplished. Given the bombardment of snow recently I have been reminded of the numerous employees who won't have Christmas Day off work. No matter what holiday you celebrate, it sucks being the one left behind. So thank you to all the hospital staff, fire station staff, police station staff, tow truck drivers, snow plow operators, 911 call centers, and everyone else working this holiday!

I'm having way too much fun

I got a swift and a ball winder for Chanukah! My internet has been very slow the last week (maybe someone has hacked in, I'm not even sure if it needs a password) so I have stayed off the computer for a little while. It's actually good for my studying anyway, although now I have fun new toys to play with. I'm a little worried about damaging the table I mount them on/off of but a coaster seems to do the trick for protecting the wood. I of course had to get new yarn so that I could practice using them and now have more sock yarn than I can knit with, given how not any further along the monkey socks are. The ponchette is only about 8inches away from being finished. The only thing that can stand in my way now: starting a paediatrics rotation during RSV season....gah