"A Wonderful End to the Day"

Tonight i had the distinct opportunity to meet Ann Hood, author of The Kntting Circle at a local bookstore. It was a lovely evening, and as a friend of mine put it, "a wonderful end to the day." She shared with the intimate group her experiences with the loss of her child, only 5 years ago. During her time of grief she stumbled upon the wonderful world of kntting that so many of us have found. This knitting world is what inspired this novel. The character is kind of based on her and her expereinces. Mary, the main character, lost her daughter and she ends up joining a knitting circle. The book is comprised of the stories of the members of the knitting circle and how they interact with Mary. She did a reading of a section of the book that was just enthralling. I am just itching to start reading but i am still painfully trying to finish Knitting under the Influence. I will review this one at a later time! All in all it was a wonderful evening!

This week's FOs!

From the pictures it looks like it has been a very productive knitting week but in reality these are just quick projects, which seems to be just exactly what i needed! This first scarf is the twin to the one that i did last week. there was enough yarn for two! it has a bit different ribbon fringe but other than that they are exactly the same. This second scarf is made out of the same yarn as the other two...just in a different color called Hop. I still can't believe that it is Red Heart! i really like it. i would totally work with it again! and i will be since there is enough yarn to do one more like the one below.
This is a bad picture of the dishcloth below. It is the Mid-May dishcloth from the Monthly Dishcloth Along. It was another sort of lacy project. I did it out of Sugar n'Cream white that i had in the stash! All of the latest dishcloths have been for mom as part of her Mother's Day present but she is now saying that they are too pretty to use! Geez mom! Oh well!
Below is the blurry close-up of the dishcloth pattern! I took these pics outside hoping the color would be a bit better but it really didn't help. Sorry they are so dark!
Now for all you lovely people who have found me based on midwifery. I want to see if i can answer some of your questions. I am a Certified Nurse Midwife. I just got my licensure in February of this year. i have not graduated from school yet because i decided to get a double master's degree (i am glutton for punishment i think!). i am currently working on a Family Nurse Practitioner degree as well. i decided to do this all at once because i feel pretty sure that i am not going to want to go back to school. Since i am here and in the midst of school i am glad i did it this way because let me tell you, i will not be interested in going back to school any time soon! I will be finished in August if all goes well! So I am not practicing right now and in the market for a job. i am planning/hoping to find a job as a midwife. i did the FNP thing for a couple of reasons: 1. i feel that many times a midwife can be seen as a primary care provider and i don't think we were prepared for this during midwifery training. i wanted to know more about the common things seen in primary care. 2. one day i know that i am not going to want to take call all the time or maybe at all. the FNP allows me the opportunity to simply work in an office setting one day when i am tired of call!

so i started my last clinical rotation this week! it is in a private practice about 45 min from my house (that part is a big bummer with gas as high as it is!). it has only been a week so we'll see how it really goes next week. more on that later.

A friend of mine and i split an order or new beads a few weeks ago. they finally showed up and i have been beading like crazy! i have made tons of new earrings and stitch markers! i will try to post some pics either today or tomorrow! there is some really great stuff! so fun.

i hope that answers some of you all's questions!

The Knit List

I copied this knit list from http://hakucho.blogspot.com/.

Here are the directions: Bold for things you’ve done, italics for things you plan to do one day, and normal for things you’re not planning on doing. This is really a neat idea to see what you know how to do, what you want to work on, and what you know you are not going to do!

I am adding this to the list...a * is going to indicate that i don't know anything or much of anything about this item! i will always be learning about knitting!

My knit List:
American/English knitting (as opposed to continental)
Bobbles
Button holes
Cable stitch patterns
Continental knitting
Domino knitting (modular knitting)*
Double Knitting
Drop stitch patterns
Entrelac
Fair Isle knitting
Freeform knitting*
Fulling/felting
Garter stitch
Garterlac
I-cord
Intarsia
Kitchener BO
Knitting with circular needles
Knitting with DPNs
Knitting and purling backwards
Knitting smocking
Knitting small tubular items on two circulars
Knitting a circular item using the Magic Loop
Lace patterns
Long Tail CO
Moebius band knitting*
Norwegian knitting*
Provisional CO
Short rows
Slip Stitch patterns
Steeks
Stockinette stitch
Swatching
Textured knitting*
Swiss Darning or duplicate stitch
Thrummed knitting*
Tubular CO
Twisted stitch patterns
Two end knitting*

Knitting with alpaca
Knitting with bamboo yarn
Knitting with banana fiber yarn
Knitting with beads
Knitting with camel yarn (i want to badly!)
Knitting with cashmere
Knitting with cotton
Knitting with dog/cat hair ( this is distrubing to me!)
Knitting with linen
Knitting with metal wire
Knitting with soy yarn
Knitting with your own handspun yarn
Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
Knitting with self-patterning/self-striping/variegating yarn
Knitting with silk
Knitting with synthetic yarn
Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn
Knitting with wool

Afghan/Blanket
Baby items
Cuffs/fingerless mitts/arm warmers
Gloves
Hat
Hair accessories
Household items (dishcloths, washcloths, towels, tea cozies…)
Jewelry
Mittens: Cuff-up
Mittens: Tip-down
Pillows
Purses/bags
Rug
Shawl
Scarf
shrug/bolero/poncho
slippers
Socks: top-down
Socks: toe-up
Stuffed toys
Sweater
Toy/doll clothing

Charity knitting
Graffiti knitting (knitting items on, or to be left on the street) (way too strange!)
Knitting art
Knitting for pets
Knitting for preemies
Knitting items for a wedding
Knitting a gift
Holiday related knitting
Designing knitted garments
Dyeing yarn with plant colors (i have done fabrics but not yarn!)
Dyeing yarn with acid dyes
Dyeing yarn with kool-ade and other food colorings
Participating in a KAL
Publishing a knitting book
Knitting to make money
Knitting for a living
Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine
Knitting on a loom
Machine knitting
Olympic knitting
Resizing patterns
Spinning on a drop spindle
Spinning with a spinning wheel
Teaching a male how to knit
Teaching knitting classes
Writing a pattern
Knitting in public

Whew! that was fun! Knit on!

Another Knitting Day!

well it has been another knitting day. the day started at 4:30am because dad had to be at the hospital at 5:30am! this is too early! i am a firm believer that no one should be up and out of bed before the sun rises! it is just wrong. ok that is besides the point. dad's surgery went really well! he is a trooper and did great! he is sleepy and a little sore but is doing well. drive through gallbladder surgery...we were home by 1pm.

i got a bit of kntting done while at the hospital. i am going to be knitting a a felted knitting bag for myself and i finished the handles while there. i hate working on that much i-cord, which is why i always do it first! i would never finish a purse if i put it off to the end.

i started working on another scarf just like the one day scarf from a couple of days ago. i had enough of the yarn leftover to make a second! it is so pretty. pictures to come when i am further along.

i also started this month's second dishcloth. i started it off all wrong and had to frog day one! oh well...only 9 rows! pics soon!

here is another dishcloth that i made for my mom. it is out of 100% linen twine. it was a little rough to work with but the product is really beautiful. please do not look too closely as there are a couple of mistakes! it was my first real attempt at lace. i even blocked it! i know it is a dishcloth but i wanted to see it all flattened out.

i think it really turned out well! i can't wait to try some more lace!

this is a close up of the pattern! sorry it is a little blurry.

i have also been frantically making stitch markers like i need them! pics tomorrow, i promise!
i can only hope that tomorrow is a beautiful of a day as today was! only 72 degrees with a breeze and only those huge fluffy white clouds in the blue sky! i LOVE days like this!

A Knitting Day!

Today was one of those knitting days that i just love! Since i still don't have a clinical placement, i was able to sleep in this morning. After a shower and some breakfast i headed out to the Downtown Nashville Library for the monthly knitting group with Ann Shayne of the Mason Dixon Knitting book and blog! It is always lots of fun to not only knit with Ann but to see what everyone else in the group is working on. There is always lot of variety from scarves and dishcloths to sweaters and socks! so neat!

Ann and I

Since i just finished that shawl i feel the need for some smaller projects...immediate gratification. i have learned that at the knitting group i can't work on anything that requires my attention since i tend to talk and socialize while there. One of the ladies at church had picked up some funky yarn during a walmart clearance that i thought would make a neat scarf so i gave it a go! i casted on 16 stitches and knitted the first row then did a drop stitch. It was just the quick project that i was in need of! I added multi colored ribbon to the fringe for a little kick. It turned out suprisingly well! Started and finished in one day! i love that!

The Specs:

Start Date: May 14, 2007
Finished Date: May 14, 2007
Yarn: (hold your breath!) Red Heart Rag Doll
Color: Jump
Number of Skeins: 2 and a little extra for the fringe
Pattern: I made it up! Knit one row, drop stitch
Size: 7" x 60" with fringe
Needle Size: 17 straights
Knit For: a teacher at a local elemetary school

I get to start a new project tomorrow! i will update what i chose tomorrow! Knit on!

My First Post!

ok today is the day! i will finally begin posting on my blog. wow that is weird to say. i have been putting this off and putting this off...i am not entirely sure why! oh well. i set this page up months ago and just never began posting (sorry to anyone who has been here and found nothing!).



so for those of you who don't know me...you should! haha! ok, a little about ME! i 23 year old graduate nursing student. i graduated from college in 2005 with a BS in nursing and went straight into graduate school where i am working to complete my second master's degree. the first one was a Certified Nurse Midwife (which is done and you can call me CNM!) and i am currently working on a Family Nurse Practitioner degree. let's just say...it has been a long two years! i am suppose to graduate in August! then it is finally off into the real world!

what else do you need to know about me...

-i love cats and have one...Alley...i know...clever!

-this is important: I LOVE TO KNIT!!!

i learned to knit in high school. it was the cool thing to do...we knitted in class! even the guys knitted. it was loads of fun. there is still a kntting group there at the high school. they are very active and use their FOs to auction off and raise money for different causes. Read this about their auction last december. that is where this craziness began. i have always been facinated with yarn. when i was little i love to go and look in the yarn sections (my mom is a big crafter and we were always in a craft store). i absolutely love playing with the colors...it is just facinating.

-i taught myself to crochet!

-i found my first grey hair this week!

-i have a wonderful network of friends and family, spanning many states, from Delaware to Alabama to Texas and lots of places in between.

-i have recently taken up beading. i am in love with making earrings and stitch markers. you will see posts about this as well! i have been a busy bee this weekend! just wait...you'll see!

-i organized a prayer shawl ministry group at my hometown church. it is a fun group and we have been wonderfully productive.



ok enough about me. onto the knitting:
These are the latest FO!



This is a crocheted ripple prayer shawl for a friend of mine from church who recently decided to spend about 7 months in Germany with her husband because she can! You go girl! i hope to get it in the mail next week...it has to be blessed first!


this is a prayer shawl that started out as a baby blanket. i was not liking the colors i chose and knew i couldn't go on so i stopped it and did a light green crochet edge and am calling it a baby boy prayer shawl. we have had requests for them so hopefully this will come in handy!


i recently joined the Monthly Dishcloth Along and this was my first with this group. it was a little disappointing...it was suppose to be daffodils. hmmm...hopefully the mid month one will be better.

ok in the future i promsie the posts will not be this long. Happy Mother's Day to all those mothers out there (especially mine)!