GamecockDoc

Danish Do-over

2008-07-06T13:50:00.003-05:00

While I enjoyed the Danish braid I made for the Junes DB challenge, it's wasn't quite right. So another attempt. This time I warmed the milk and dissolved two packets of yeast in it, letting it get frothy before adding it to the flour mixture. I also left out the orange juice, using extra milk instead. And it rose! This time my braid is fluffy and flaky and wonderful.

For the filling this time I used the same cream cheese filling but topped with my blueberry compote. Even better than the raspberry. This recipe was definitely worth doing over. Time consuming but delicious!

An anniversary and a contest

2008-07-01T13:13:00.003-05:00

Two years ago I began my residency. It seems like no time has passed at all. I can remember it so clearly - walking into the hospital that first day and feeling completely overwhelmed. Making it through the first few days in the NICU felt like such an accomplishment, and I am so grateful to the residents and nurses who got me through it. I remember giving my first narcotic order for a newborn in a ventilator, being so worried that I did my math wrong, standing at the bedside waiting for the nurse to give it. She looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Don't worry, he'll be fine." Even giving Tylenol scared me! And now I'm halfway done. Just two more years to go... truly a frightening thought. So in honor of the day, a little contest. Just leave a comment before 6pm on Friday, July 4, and you could win some yarn from my stash (which has gotten completely out of control).

Last night we had a party to welcome the new interns, and I made a batch of oatmeal chocolate cookies. They were so good! I love the texture of oatmeal cookies - the whole oats, the crispiness - but I also love chocolate. So these were perfect.

1 3/4 cups old-fashioned oats (not quick cooking or instant)
1 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 ounces milk chocolate, melted and cooled
6 ounces (about 1 cup) bittersweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. In a food processor or blender, grind 1 cup of oats until fine. Transfer the ground oats to a large mixing bowl; add the
flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to combine.
3. Put the butter and brown sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat together using medium-high speed until thoroughly combined, about 2 minutes.
4. Add the egg and vanilla extract. Beat together using medium-high speed until fluffy, about 30 seconds. Reduce speed
to low and add the melted, but cooled, milk chocolate.
5. Using low speed, stir in the flour/oat mixture just until combined. Stir in the remaining 3/4 cup old-fashioned oats and the bittersweet chocolate chips.
6. Spoon 2 tablespoon portions of dough onto parchment lined baking sheet, about 2 inches apart.
7. Bake for 14-16 minutes, until tops of cookies are cracked but remain moist between the cracks.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

My first challenge

2008-06-29T20:35:00.005-05:00

After being impressed by the baked goods all over the internet, I joined the Daring Bakers this month. My first challenge was a Danish Braid. I was a little nervous since yeast and I don't usually get along. And I should never do anything requiring kneading. I have warm hands and dough always get really sticky requiring way too much extra flour. My mom never let me help knead for this reason, and I've never gotten comfortable with it. But I went for it anyway.

Step one of this challenge was of course making the laminated dough. This involved making the dough (and learning that the dough hook of my KitchenAid does most of the kneading for me and eliminated the warm hands problem) and the butter block (learning that my KitchenAid can handle cold butter straight from the fridge). Then rolling out the dough, covering two thirds with butter, and folding into thirds. Then came the first of several rests - letting the dough sit in the fridge for 30 minutes before rolling and folding again. After four turns and folds the dough looks like this - see the layers?

After all this folding and rolling, it's time for a break. At least five hours in the fridge to rest; I left it in overnight and resumed the following day. Now to pick a filling. I made a cream cheese filling - super simple with cream cheese, sugar, an egg, vanilla, and lemon zest. After rolling the dough nice and thin again, I spread the cream cheese over the middle third then topped with some raspberry preserves. The comes slicing the sides and making the braid.

After 2 hours to proof it's into the oven and this beauty comes out.

It smelled amazing! And tasted pretty darn good too. My only complaint about this recipe is that it didn't rise much. Remember that yeast problem? It reared its ugly head and my braid didn't double in size during the proofing time like it was supposed to. But this tasted so wonderful that I'm going to give it another shot. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks to Kelly of Sass & Veracityand Ben of What's Cookingfor this challenge. I never would have tried this on my own, but now I realize that it's not so scary. Head over to Kelly's site for the recipe and step-by-step pictures. And check out the other Daring Bakers' work.

My attempt at making blondies

2008-06-09T17:45:00.003-05:00

Back to work today after finishing my lovely week off. Fortunately I'm on elective this month, so I got off at a reasonable time. So I came home and made myself dinner - a hamburger seasoned with oregano, cumin, and coriander eaten in a pita with feta cheese and tomato with a roasted sweet potato on the side. Yum... but no photo since I ate it too quick. And while I ate my burger, I put a pan of blondies in the oven. I do have a picture of those.

Don't they look good? Well, they don't really look too luch like the thick gooey blondies I was anticipating. They have a texture very much like a giant chocolate chip cookie cake from the Great American Cookie Company. (Fond memories of having one every year for my birthday at school.) So not what I intended, but tasty anyway. Recipe from Smitten Kitchen, made with a handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips. The best part about these - made with things I already had in my pantry in less than five minutes. The perfect after work treat.

Still working on my pink elephant sock, but not enough progress to deserve a photo shoot. Hopefully soon. I also was back and bought some new yarn. The Loopy Ewe is evil! I'll have a picture of my pretty new sock yarn for you soon.

2008-06-06T15:01:00.002-05:00

On the anniversary of D-Day, from President Reagan's speech in 1984. To hear the whole thing go here.

Forty summers have passed since the battle that you fought here. You were young the day you took these cliffs; some of you were hardly more than boys, with the deepest joys of life before you. Yet you risked everything here. Why? Why did you do it? What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs? What inspired all the men of the armies that met here? We look at you, and somehow we know the answer. It was faith and belief. It was loyalty and love.

The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead, or on the next. It was the deep knowledge -- and pray God we have not lost it -- that there is a profound moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt.

You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One's country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you.

...We in America have learned bitter lessons from two world wars. It is better to be here ready to protect the peace, than to take blind shelter across the sea, rushing to respond only after freedom is lost. We've learned that isolationism never was and never will be an acceptable response to tyrannical governments with an expansionist intent. But we try always to be prepared for peace, prepared to deter aggression, prepared to negotiate the reduction of arms, and yes, prepared to reach out again in the spirit of reconciliation.

Bridge of Flowers

2008-06-05T14:59:00.009-05:00

Today I went on a little road trip to Shelburne Falls, a little town about 30 miles from here. Shelburne Falls is known for the Bridge of Flowers - an old trolley bridge that is now a pedestrian bridge covered with flowers. I went a little nuts with my new camera, so be ready for a photo heavy post.

That's a view of the bridge from the regular bridge a little ways down the river.

The path across the bridge, flanked by flowers on either side.

Bridge of flowers with mountains in the background. A very overcast day, the completely gray sky is disappointing.

See how much fun I had with my new camera? I bought it with my economic stimulus check :) I spent a lot of time reading reviews online and finally decided on the Canon EOS Rebel XTi. Partly because of the good reviews and partly because my film SLR is an older Canon Rebel and I love it. All I needed to buy was the body of the camera since all my lenses will fit it. So today I played with all the settings and had well over a hundred shots when I got home from Shelburne Falls. Then came the task to downloading and editing, which actually didn't take too long. All I have is iPhoto, so there wasn't a whole lot I could do in terms of editing. I've been checking out a few photography blogs and have been amazed by what you can do with the right software. Unfortunately my laptop is about 2.5 years old and Aperture and Photoshop won't run it without some major upgrades. Anyone use anything else I should look into?

After walking all around Shelburne Falls and going photo crazy, I went shopping. I found the LYS Metaphor Yarns and bought a few things.

Two skeins of some sport weight wool and alpaca blend. It's from Foxfire Fiber and Designs; the yarn is local to the Berkshires in western Mass. Every step from raising the sheep, to sheering, spinning, and dying is local. I love finding small label local yarns in LYS. And I fell in love with this colorway - a beautiful gray with flecks of pink and purple throughout.

And because I can never have enough sock yarn, some Trekking XXL. In orange! I love all things orange lately.

I'm alive

2008-06-02T13:51:00.004-05:00

Wow, it's been ages since I posted. Probably no one looking over here anymore, but hello to anyone who wanders over. I've been swallowed up by work for the past few months, but I'm finally getting a bit of a break. I have the week off and am really looking forward to having time to myself. Time to take a few day trips around western Mass and see the area some more, time to catch up on sleeping, reading, and knitting. Here's what I've been up to today.

Started the day with a yummy homemade breakfast - a far cry from my usual coffee and granola bar while driving to work. I had some leftover sourdough bread from a bakery down the road and a pint of blueberries. So of course I made myself french toast. The blueberry topping is amazing, one of my new favorite things. 1 pint blueberries, 1/3 cup sugar, juice of 1/2 a lemon, 1 tbl butter, and a pinch of cornstarch cooked on medium-high heat until the berries start to split open, releasing their juicy goodness. Today I spooned some over crispy, buttery french toast and dusted with powdered sugar (ahh... heaven). It's also amazing on crepes, pound cake, and vanilla ice cream. This and a tall glass of iced coffee made my morning.

After breakfast I settled in with Indiana Jones and my knitting. Working on this lovely little sock. It's my first time using Claudia's Handpainted, and I really like it. I can't remember the colorway, but I'm naming it "Pink Elephants." I loved the way it was working on the toe, but it started pooling once I finished increasing. Oh well, I still like it. Using the baby cable rib pattern from Sensation Knitted Socks and my new Knit Picks DPNs (love them!). Putting the knitting away for now and heading out for a walk. Spring has finally arrived in New England, so I'm off to enjoy it!

I'm in!

2007-09-21T20:25:00.000-05:00

Got my Ravelry invite this morning, and I'm having fun checking it out. Gotta get my WIPs and stash loaded. And the "so long I'll never get to everything" project list.

For those who asked about the cookies, it's a standard jar of peanut butter. The 17-18 oz one. They were a hit at work and got devoured. You must make some... now!

Completely nonknitting related topic. I'm looking into buying a new digital camera. I love photography and adore my Canon SLR camera. But my little digital camera sucks. The colors are always off, there's huge camera shake, without massive amounts of natural light nothing comes out well. So I'm looking into getting a digital SLR. I've been eyeing the Canon Rebel series since I love the one I have. Anyone have any advice?

Not much else to say as I haven't been doing a lot of knitting lately. I'm in the PICU this month (and the MICU next month... someone must not like me) and I've been so busy. The month is really starting to take it's toll on me. Hopefully I'll get some knitting time in this weekend as it's one way I try to keep my sanity.

Cookies

2007-08-30T20:28:00.000-05:00

I have spent the past year trying to make peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. I had some from Whole Foods and they were amazing, but I haven't been able to duplicate them. I tried Martha Stewart, Food Network, various websites... all disappointing. And today, success. I got a recipe from a friend and tweaked it some. Perfection. Crispy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. So peanut buttery and a little bit of chocolate. My kitchen smells amazing right now, and it's time for a snack and some milk (very necessary with these). When they are all cool, I'll pack them up to share at work tomorrow. And in case any of you need some peanut buttery goodness, here is the recipe.

1 3/4 sticks butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup brown sugar (light, dark, whatever. I used a mixture)
2 eggs
1 jar peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 Tbsp honey
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream butter with sugars until fluffy. Add eggs and beat until creamy. Mix in peanut butter, vanilla, and honey.

In another bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add to peanut butter mixture a little at a time and mix until combined.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Form batter into 1 inch balls and place on cookie sheet 1-2 inches apart. Bake at 350 until golden brown (10-15 minutes). Let cool on baking rack.

Some notes: I used my KitchenAid which did a great job creaming the butter and sugar. And it handles this batter really well since it gets very thick. My baking time varied based on what cookie sheet I used. The regular cookie sheet took longer, about 15 minutes. And my jelly roll pan took only 12 and the cookies stayed a little thicker. Still getting to know all of my equipment! I wound up with 5 dozens cookies, plenty to satisfy my craving and lots to share. Enjoy!

More Hogwarts Socks

2007-08-29T13:50:00.000-05:00

The Hogwarts Sock Swap was such a great experience. My pal sent me the most amazing package. To start, all my goodies were tucked inside this cute box.

And what was inside? A pair of Ravenclaw socks (of course), a cute felted bowl, stitch markers, a sheep tape measure, a notebook (in suitable colors), and a whole set of DPNs. Awesome! I didn't get it in the picture, but the card was great. It has a scarf pattern on it... where did you find it?

Of course the best part is the socks. In film Ravenclaw colors, as requested, and they fit perfectly. I love the stitch pattern and the yarn. Thanks Kathleen!

(Please don't judge me for the tacky linoleum. I know it's hideous.)

I've spent some time this month working on a new scarf that I am completely in love with. It the Chevron Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. Made in 2 skeins of Socks That Rock (shamelessly stolen from another blogger... again, don't judge me). I spent forever at the BMFA page trying to pick 2 colorways and was frozen with indecision. What if the colors weren't accurate on my monitor? What if they looked horrible together once knitted? I basically chickened out and used the colors that Ashley did (imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and all that). It looks awesome and I love the pattern. Can't wait for winter so I can wear it!

The upside of cleaning

2007-08-28T20:59:00.000-05:00

is finding my camera. Woohoo! It was in a purse inside my suitcase shoved partially under a bed. Found during my deep cleaning freak out that preceded my family's visit. It was so much fun having them up here. I made it an opportunity to do some of the cool things available in the area. We spent time wandering the streets of the town, shopping and checking out art galleries. There's a great Dr. Seuss exhibit in one that I love. Then we headed to the Eric Carle (of the Hungry Caterpillar) museum which was such fun. I loved those books. (Heck, who am I kidding? I still do!) I talked myself out of buying wonderful hardcover editions of The Secret Garden and A Little Princess, but I may have to go back and get them. They are reproductions of the first editions with wonderful illustrations. Then we headed to Mt. Tom where we went to the Summit House at the top and took in the amazing view. We spent all day Sunday in the Berkshires at Tanglewood listening to the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It was a Gershwin review and I loved it. Such a fun weekend! But I must admit to some crying when they left. It so hard being 1000 miles away.

Now on to some knitting content. It's been a light rotation, and I spent it teaching another resident to knit. I was checking out my favorite blogs one day and came upon this photo and Grace loved it. So I picked up some number 19 needles and a few hanks of alpaca, and we got started. A giant, purple, fluffy scarf. Pretty good for a first project. And she quickly cast on for another!

And now the promised Harry Potter socks. These are the Hufflepuff socks I knit for my pal. Everyone kept calling them the bumblebee socks, which they really are. But I like them anyway.

Next time, the Ravenclaw socks I received from my swap pal and a much loved WIP.

2007-08-21T06:06:00.000-05:00

And I still can't find my camera. Seriously, my apartment is that unorganized right now. The upside is that my family is coming to visit this week so I'll be frantically cleaning for the next few days. I figure with all the cleaning and organizing I'm bound to find the stupid thing. I wonder what else I'll uncover. I found some sock yarn yesterday while cleaning the guest bedroom - it's really pretty too. Totally forgot I had it, so sad.

I received my Dishrag Tag team's box on Friday and knit mine pretty quickly. Got almost the whole thing done while watching Premonition on Friday night. (Weird movie and I was so unhappy with the ending. Disappointing since I'm usually a big Sandra Bullock fan.) Of course without a camera, there's no picture of my dishrag. But I used this pattern. I liked the lace pattern but it would have looked better in a solid color. Also I completely forgot to put in the garter stitch border so the sides curled in a little and the pattern looked off center. When I noticed on Saturday I opted to go ahead and mail it to the next relayer and keep our team moving rather than start over and hold everyone up till the Monday mail. I'll have to knit Susan a do-over without the mistake.

Accio camera!

2007-07-24T19:42:00.000-05:00

I finally had a day off on Saturday and I spent it reading Harry Potter. Don't worry, no spoilers here. I just need to find some people who have finished it too so I can finally talk about it! All I'll say is I'm happy with the ending, and I did a fair amount of crying. Since I had the day off, I went out to the midnight party at Barnes and Noble. So much fun! I brought my stash of Harry Potter candy left over from the movie and we stood outside the store and waited to be let in. There were so many people there that they could only left a few in at a time as people started to leave after buying the book. It was fun to see all the kids dressed up and with their brooms. We finally got into the store a little after midnight and headed to the cafe for some coffee (I was post call and needed some help to make it through the night). I think the entire staff was working that night because they were speedy at the checkout. I was back at home, curled up on the couch with my book by 1am. After reading a few chapters I crashed and needed some sleep. Then woke up and finished by early afternoon. I was happy to finally have the final book but sad for it to all be over. Now to reread the whole series!

In the waiting time for the book I finished by swap pal's socks (pictures to come in another post when I find my camera with the pics on it). I also got a wonderful pair of socks in the mail (also with pictures to come when I find my camera... really must clean my apartment or learn the summoning charm). I had so much fun making my pal's socks and love the ones I received, so I signed up for round two. Here's my questionnaire:

What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into? Ravenclaw

Shoe size? Foot length? Foot circumference? Size US 8.5-9, Length 9 in, Circumference 8.5 in

List your three favorite sock yarns. Socks That Rock, Lorna's Laces, Cherry Tree Hill

Would you like to try a new brand of sock yarn? If so, which brand? I would love to! I've been stalking The Loopy Ewe and have bought lots of new sock yarn and am looking forward to trying new brands. I would love some Yarntini or Yarn Pirate, but I always miss them.

Do you prefer variegated or solid sock yarn? I go back and forth. I love variegated yarns in the skein but am sometimes disappointed with how they knit up. I really have to find the right pattern. I'm really into semisolids right now.

What colors would you like to add to your sock yarn stash? I have lots of blues and reds, so I would like to branch out. Maybe some green or orange as something new.

What kind of sock patterns do you gravitate toward? Lace? Ribbed? Fair Isle? I haven't tried fair isle yet. I usually do ribbed patterns but I'm trying some cables. Simple lace patterns are fun too.

Do you have any allergies? (smoke, animals, etc.) Smoke, cats

Will your socks be exposed to cigarette smoke or animals as you knit them? Nope

Are you willing to have an international Hogwarts Sock Pal? Sure thing!

2007-07-04T21:12:00.000-05:00

Happy Independence Day!

Wow, a whole month since posting. I'm such a slacker. Finished my intern year (yay!) and now a senior resident supervising an intern and a medical student (scary!) That's kinda taking up all of my time right now. But I have new yarn and projects to share. Not today because I'm exhausted, but sometime soon. For now I'm going to go collapse in my bed.

I'm a heroine!

2007-06-03T10:09:00.000-05:00

Found this fun quiz via Knit the Classics. A few questions and your character in Jane Austen novels is revealed. Apparently I'm a heroine. What a relief, I didn't want to be a scoundrel like Wickham! KTC is reading Mansfield Park this month. It's an Austen I've never read so I'm looking forward to it.

2007-05-31T19:17:00.000-05:00

Courtesy of LadyLungDoc, an interview.

1) What's the origin of your blogger name? The doc part is obvious. And I went to the University of South Carolina for med school, hence the Gamecock. And I like the rhyming.

2) What was the first pet that you ever had? A big fluffy sheepdog named Max. Then he developed a lot of allergies including one to our carpet and starting losing his fur. So sad. But he was still a sweetie. He just needed frequent baths in special shampoo.

3) What do you want to be when you grow up? Um... a doctor. I haven't made any specific decisions yet.

4) Which relative of yours do you resemble the most in either temperament or appearance? Everyone says I'm like my mother's mother. She died long before I was born but everyone says my mannerisms and laugh are just like hers. And she was a knitter too!

5) What is your favourite late night snack? Ice cream... yum. It's become an on call tradition. We have a Friendly's in the hospital that's open 24 hours and we have ice cream runs at midnight.

What fun! Anyone who wants to play, leave a comment and I'll send you your own interview questions.

And now, in other news, I saw the Yarn Harlot last night! What a great time. She is so funny, even better in person than on her blog. Telling great stories about CHOKE (cultural humiliation of knitters everywhere) and how knitters are constantly underestimated. And thanks to getting out to see her I got to meet some knitters in the area who have a group on Wednesdays. Yay! A knitting group! Because I can only go so long knitting all alone. I've tried to make my friends into knitters, but so far I've had little success. Finding preexisting knitters is way easier! I also made some progress on my Hufflepuff sock which is good since the deadline is looming nearer. Can't let my pal down! So all in all, a good night out. And boy did I need it. I have had a horrible week. Some seriously sick patients, lots of family meetings to discuss withdrawing care, and a roller coaster ride with one patient who almost dies then gets a little better then almost dies then gets a little better then almost dies then... you get the idea. It's mentally exhausting.

I've been doing some stash enhancement lately (internet yarn stores are evil) and as an enabler I have to share some great sites. I bought all my Louet and some accessories at the Loopy Ewe. A great site that I'm stalking because it will soon have some Yarntini. I had never heard of it, but my secret pal is dying to try some so I'm trying to find it. The other site is Sonny & Shear and I can't reveal what I bought there yet in case my movie swap pal reads this. But let me assure you, I got some great yarn. Gorgeous! I also stocked up on stitch markers. Some for me but most for my various swap pals. The pictures on the site are way better than I could take so check them out. They are perfect little markers. Pretty but not too big. I hate when stitch markers are bulky or heavy; they get in the way. These are lovely and very reasonably priced. The fun part about shopping from these smaller sites is the little personal touches. Like handwritten notes personalized to your purchase, or a little gift like some yummy tea. I'm always a little nervous the first time I try a new online site, but these were all great experiences. Wonderful products, super quick shipping. Success all around.

2007-05-15T18:52:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post today. Been working hard on the medicine wards and I'm so tired. But the weather is amazing and everything is blooming. Horrible for my allergies and asthma but so pretty. The other day I was complaining about how bad my allergies are and how I need to go to the doctor to get a new Allegra prescription. How am I going to find time off to go to the doctor? Then I had one of those "Wait a second... I'm a doctor" moments and called it in for myself. I love being able to do that!

So in between blowing my nose and coughing I've been getting some knitting done. Working on my Hogwarts sock swap pal's socks and loving them. I've also been shopping for little goodies to put in the package. The candy shop nearby had a whole shelf of Harry Potter candy, so my pal will be getting a nice assortment including cockroach clusters. Then I did some shopping for my Knitflix summer swap partner's yarn online today. Can't say any more yet because it isn't a secret swap. I of course ordered a skein of sock yarn for myself too. It's a brand I haven't tried before and I'm excited to see it. I've also been playing with the goodies my secret pal sent me and learning how to cable. Sorry I've been so slack and haven't posted a picture of my wonderful package. No exuse, just my inherent slackness. Promise to be better in the future and post a picture when I get my act together.

Some big plans for the next few weeks. First the Yarn Harlot is coming to town. She'll be speaking at the Calvin (one of my favorite places in town and where I saw my one and only someone Jamie Cullum live) and signing books at Webs. Anyone in the area going to see her? I don't have any knitting friends in town since I haven't been able to find a group, so I'll be heading over there on my own. Would love to meet up with anyone coming into town. Then in June I get some time off and I'm planning a trip to Maine. Some of my fellow interns are from Maine and keep talking about how wonderful it is, so I'm going to check it out. I figure I should travel New England while I'm up here. So I'm going to spend a few days in Bar Harbor and do a little New England yarn crawl. I'll be scouring the internet to find yarn shops between here and there so I can check them out on the way. Any suggestions?

2007-04-30T18:12:00.000-05:00

So a couple weeks ago I was very bad and did a lot of online yarn shopping. It's finally all arrived!

The three on the left are Socks that Rock in semisolid colorways. The pink on the end is for my secret pal. The two on the right are Louet and slated to be Eunny's Endpaper Mitts someday when I tackle color work.

More Socks that Rock (I seriously love this stuff). The two on the left will become a Chevron scarf from Last Minute Knitted Knitted Gifts. The skein on the right is this month's club shipment. A whole new yarn people! It's called Silkie, is 19% silk, and is so wonderful. Even softer than their standard yarn - I didn't know it was possible. And the silk takes the dye differently and creates a pretty effect. Can't wait to knit it up, but I must wait. I'm still working on my Monsoon socks from the last shipment, and now I have these to work on.

For my Hogwarts Sock Swap partner. As you can see, she's in Hufflepuff. I'm knitting these in Louet Gems. It's my first time using this yarn and it is quite nice. It's knitting up very well at 9 st per inch on my US 1 DPNs, and I love the fabric that makes. I have to put my STR aside until I finish these so they get to my pal on time. And check out the snazzy needle holders I bought. I love them! perfect to hold a sock in progress so the needles don't poke me when I reach in my bag and I don't lose the extra one.

Where is spring?

2007-04-15T13:19:00.000-05:00

Seriously, this is getting ridiculous. The 30 degree Easter was crazy, but this is too much. April should not look like this!

So I'm going to spend the day sitting on my couch, drinking tea, watching Gilmore Girls, and working on my STR sock. It's coming along nicely, and if I spend the whole day working on it I should turn the heel today. I love the way the colors are pooling into perfect stripes.

I've also ordered the yarn to make my Harry Potter swap socks. I decided to try Louet sock yarn which I haven't used before. I couldn't decide on a pattern for the socks; I like the trapped bar design of the Prisoner of Azkaban scarf but just wasn't feeling it. Then I saw Eunny's socks and loved them. So that's the current plan. Especially since I love the toe up sock thing right now.

Hogwarts Swap

2007-04-10T07:37:00.000-05:00

I found the coolest swap. It's a Hogwarts sock swap and you need to go join. Get sorted into your Hogwarts house and your partner will make you house socks. This is a much better way to spend my waiting anxiously for the next book time. There's even ways to earn house points during the swap. This is going to be so much fun! I just need to find out what house my partner is in so I can go buy my yarn.

My questionnaire:

What Hogwarts house have you been sorted into?
Ravenclaw

Shoe size?
8.5 - 9 US

Foot Length?
9 in / 23 cm

Foot Circumference?
8.5 in / 22 cm

List your three favorite double-point needle brands, including size and length.
a. Clover bamboo 7 in

b. Colonial redwood 6 in

c. uh...those are all I've tried

Would you like to try a new brand needle? If so, which brand? Size? Length?
I would love to try a new needles. I've been wanting to try a non wood needles because I've had a bad run lately of snapping my 0 and 1 needles while knitting. I've heard the inox are great and the Knit Picks dpns look nice. I usually use 1 and 2 for my socks knitting and prefer a 7ish inch length.

If you are a RAVENCLAW, do you prefer the colors in the film or the book? Do you have a strong preference?
I prefer the movie colors. I already have all the supplies to make myself a house scarf.

Are you willing to have an international Hogwarts Sock Pal?
Sure!

I've been bad...

2007-04-06T11:30:00.000-05:00

I've been yarn shopping.

Now don't get me wrong, I love Webs. It's big and has just about every yarn you could want. Definitely the place to go when you want to get 14 skeins for a sweater and use their discount. But there's something appealing about a little LYS with yarn tucked into little cubbies. As you go along and sift through the shelves you're sure to find something special. Which is why I've been wanting to go to Northampon Wools. It's actually two little shops side by side - one with all the wool, alpaca and such and the other with the cotton and baby yarn. But they close at 5:00 and I can never get home from work on time. Then yesterday as I was walking to get dinner I saw the lights were on... at 7:30! Seems they stay open late on Thursdays. My lucky day! First I came upon this.

It's Mountain Colors Mountain Goat, and this picture really doesn't do it justice. The colors are so rich and it's more blue than green in person. It's 45% wool and 55% mohair and oh so soft. A few hanks of this for my KTC swap partner; I hope she likes it!

Then I made my way to the sock yarn and found a cubby full of Claudia hand painted yarn. I've seen it all over people's blogs but haven't tried it myself. So squishy and I loved all the colors. I picked up two hanks in this pink colorway.

I love how the pink and grey look together.

I also used my 10% off coupon at Blue Moon Fiber Arts to stock up some Socks That Rock. (See? I knew this would happen!) I got a few skeins of the solid colorways to do some fun stitch patterns. And two skeins to shamelessly copy Ashley. Now here's my dilemma. I'm putting together my first SP10 package; the theme is socks. So a book of sock patterns and some sock yarn plus assorted other goodies. My pal likes pink which is what I was thinking about when I picked up the Claudia yarn. But I also ordered a skein of pink STR. Which to give her? Maybe the STR since I don't think she has tried it yet.

2007-04-04T18:32:00.000-05:00

Wow, am I lucky. My KTC swap package arrived and it's amazing.

I'm really looking forward to reading this book. I adore Arthurian legend novels. And check out that yarn! From dyers in Wales, they are so soft an the colors are wonderful. And quite possibly the cutest card ever. There are also some pretty stitch markers (in the little white bag in the corner) and some Cadbury chocolate (not pictured because, well, I just love chocolate...) Thanks, Sarah! I love everything!

And, by popular demand, my blurry sock.

It isn't this blurry in person. It's also a little longer. So my second attempt went better, or I at least was better at fixing my mistakes. The provisional cast on still didn't actually unzip, but the Wendy method was easier than chaining and picking up stitches. I'm seriously loving Socks That Rock... it really does rock. I'm seeing a lot of this yarn in my future. I'm really enjoying this month's pattern too. The garter stich toe is so squishy; it's sure to be very comfy. And I can't wait to see how the ribbing feels. (For those not in the club, the instep and sole have different ribbing to create arch support.) We'll see if the love affair continues when I try my first short row heel and cables. I'll keep you posted.

2007-03-31T09:55:00.000-05:00

I finally got started on my February Socks that Rock socks and I'm loving this yarn. So soft and squishy and it knits up beautifully. It also handles frogging very well. This month's pattern is a series of firsts for me - provisional cast on, toe up, short row heel, cables. I'm really looking forward to learning all these new techniques. But, me being me, I've run into some problems. When it came time to unzip the provisional cast on, no such luck. Is this unzipping supposed to just come right apart? Becuase it really didn't. And I'm a dork and got the stitches all twisted when I got them on the needles. And somehow in this whole process I lost 3 stitches. I have no idea how. And then one of my needles snapped. Such lovely needles too - my Colonial Rosewood needles, so I'm very sad. Anyone know if they have a replacement policy? So I'll be starting over with different needles, hopefully with better luck this time.

It's Official

2007-03-25T19:25:00.000-05:00

I have no life, and this proves it. Seen over 85 movies? I own more than 85 movies! Feel free to play along.

It’s been alleged that if you’ve seen over 85 movies you have no life. Mark the ones you’ve seen. There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own blog, paste it in and put x’s by the ones that you have seen. Add them up, figure out whether you’ve got a life or not, and post it.

(X) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(X) Grease
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest
(X) Boondock Saints
(X ) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
(X) Neverending Story
() Blazing Saddles
() Airplane
(X) The Princess Bride
() AnchorMan
(X) Napoleon Dynamite
(X) Labyrinth
() Saw
() Saw II
(X) White Noise
() White Oleander
(X) Anger Management
() 50 First Dates
(X) The Princess Diaries
(X) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
(X) Scream
(X) Scream 2
(X) Scream 3
() Scary Movie
() Scary Movie 2
() Scary Movie 3
() Scary Movie 4
() American Pie
() American Pie 2
() American Wedding
() American Pie Band Camp
(X) Harry Potter 1
(X) Harry Potter 2
(X) Harry Potter 3
(X) Harry Potter 4
() Resident Evil 1
() Resident Evil 2
(X) The Wedding Singer
(X) Little Black Book
(X) The Village
() Lilo & Stitch
(X) Finding Nemo
(X) Finding Neverland
(X) Signs
() The Grinch
() Texas Chainsaw Massacre
() Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
(X) White Chicks
() Butterfly Effect
(X) 13 Going on 30
(X) I, Robot
(X) Robots
(X) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
() Universal Soldier
(X) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(X) Along Came Polly
(X) Deep Impact
() KingPin
(X) Never Been Kissed
(X) Meet The Parents
(X) Meet the Fockers
() Eight Crazy Nights
() Joe Dirt
(X) King Kong
(X) A Cinderella Story
(X) The Terminal
(X) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
() Passport to Paris
() Dumb & Dumber
() Dumber & Dumberer
(X) Final Destination
() Final Destination 2
() Final Destination 3
() Halloween
(X) The Ring
(X) The Ring 2
() Surviving Christmas
() Flubber
(X) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(X) Practical Magic
(X) Chicago
(X) Ghost Ship
(X) From Hell
() Hellboy
(X) Secret Window
() I Am Sam
(X) The Whole Nine Yards
(X) The Whole Ten Yards
(X) The Day After Tomorrow
() Child’s Play
() Seed of Chucky
() Bride of Chucky
(X) Ten Things I Hate About You
() Just Married
() Gothika
(X) Nightmare on Elm Street
(X) Sixteen Candles
() Remember the Titans
() Coach Carter
(X) The Grudge
() The Grudge 2
() The Mask
() Son Of The Mask
() Bad Boys
() Bad Boys 2
() Joy Ride
() Lucky Number Sleven
(X) Ocean’s Eleven
(X) Ocean’s Twelve
(X) Bourne Identity
(X) Bourne Supremecy
() Lone Star
(X) Bedazzled
() Predator I
() Predator II
() The Fog
() Ice Age
() Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
() Curious George
(X) Independence Day
() Cujo
() A Bronx Tale
() Darkness Falls
() Christine
(X) E.T.
() Children of the Corn
() My Bosses Daughter
(X) Maid in Manhattan
(X) War of the Worlds
(X) Rush Hour
(X) Rush Hour 2
() Best Bet
(X) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(X) She’s All That
(X) Calendar Girls
(X) Sideways
(X) Mars Attacks
() Event Horizon
(X) Ever After
(X) Wizard of Oz
(X) Forrest Gump
() Big Trouble in Little China
() The Terminator
() The Terminator 2
() The Terminator 3
(X) X-Men
(X) X-2
(X) X3
(X) Spider-Man
(X) Spider-Man 2
() Sky High
() Jeepers Creepers
() Jeepers Creepers 2
(X) Catch Me If You Can
(X) The Little Mermaid
(X) Freaky Friday
() Reign of Fire
(X) The Skulls
(X) Cruel Intentions
() Cruel Intentions 2
() The Hot Chick
(X) Shrek
(X) Shrek 2
() Swimfan
(X) Miracle on 34th street
(X) Old School
(X) The Notebook
() K-Pax
() Krippendorf’s Tribe
(X) A Walk to Remember
() Ice Castles
() Boogeyman
(X) The 40-year-old Virgin
(X) Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
(X) Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
(X) Lord of the Rings: Return Of the King
(X) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(X) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(X) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
() Base-ketball
() Hostel
() Waiting for Guffman
() House of 1000 Corpses
() Devils Rejects
(X) Elf
() Highlander
() Mothman Prophecies
() American History X
() Three
(X) The Jacket
() Kung Fu Hustle
() Shaolin Soccer
() Night Watch
(X) Monsters Inc.
(X) Titanic
(X) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
() Shaun Of the Dead
() Willard
() High Tension
() Club Dread
() Hulk
() Dawn Of the Dead
(X) Hook
(X) Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
(X) 28 days later
() Orgazmo
() Phantasm
() Waterworld
(X) Kill Bill Vol. 1
(X) Kill Bill Vol. 2
() Mortal Kombat
() Wolf Creek
() Kingdom of Heaven
() the Hills Have Eyes
() I Spit on Your Grave
() The Last House on the Left
() Re-Animator
() Army of Darkness
(X) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
() Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
() Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(X) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(X) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
() Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
() Ewoks: Caravan Of Courage
() Ewoks: The Battle For Endor
(X) The Matrix
(X) The Matrix: Reloaded
(X) The Matrix: Revolutions
() Animatrix
() Evil Dead
() Evil Dead 2
(X) Team America: World Police
() Red Dragon
(X) Silence of the Lambs
(X) Hannibal

Well over 100, I really do need to get out more.

SP 10

2007-03-14T17:24:00.000-05:00

Real post with actual knitting progress to come. In the meantime, my Secret Pal Questionairre

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I love all natural fibers - wool, cotton, alpaca. Not into novelty yarns.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
I have a wonderful needle case by Katie. Love it!

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
Been knitting for just over a year. I guess I'm intermediate - doing socks, lace, basic shaping but haven't tried cables or color work yet.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
I do...have to remember how to link to it though.

5. What's your favorite scent?
I like citrus and spicy scents. My fave perfume is Origins Ginger. I also love lavender.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Is this a serious question? Of course! I love chocolate, mint, caramel. I also really like coffee and tea.

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
Not much. I like black & white photography and have been trying out the darkroom.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
Pretty much everything - big band, rock, alternative, some country. Faves of the moment are Jamie Cullum, Keane, and Keb Mo.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
I like most colors esp bold ones rather than pastel. Really like neutrals like shades of brown.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
Single, no pets.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Yes to scarves, hats, and mittens. Must make myself some mittens before next winter. No to ponchos.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
I like knitting small, practical items like scarves and socks. I've made my share of felted bags too. Haven't tackled my first sweater yet.

13. What are you knitting right now?
A lace scarf for my mom (leftover Christmas gift) and 2 pairs of socks.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Of course!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
I use mostly straights and DPNs but my Denise circulars are also great. Started on aluminum needles and I still like them, but I'm loving bamboo and rosewood needles. Searching for my perfect socks needles, thinking to trying out the Addis.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Nope.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
8 months - a pair of socks that I actually really like but for some reason set aside and forgot about.

18. What is your favorite holiday?
Thanksgiving and Christmas because of the family time.

19. Is there anything that you collect?
I don't know if this counts as a collection, but my stash of books and movies is embarressing large.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I don't subscribe to any knitting mags, but I buy all the IKs. I would love any of the Yarn Harlot books.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
Cables.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
Yep and I joined the Socks That Rock club and am looking forward to trying this yarn out. I'm a US9.

23. When is your birthday?
10/29

Happy Valentine's Day

2007-02-14T19:38:00.000-05:00

I'm not really into Valentine's day, as I'm a perpetually single girl, but I got a kick out of this. Now that I've had a laugh I'll spend the rest of the evening knitting and watching the snow fall. Hope everyone is staying warm!

2007-01-31T15:15:00.000-05:00

Wow, almost a month since I last posted. Sometimes I just don't know where the time goes. Thanks to everyone for your comments to my last post. I really appreciate your kind thoughts. Things have improved over the past month. Hanging out on the Pediatric Ward taking care of RSV and gastroenteritis. Getting a few diseases myself - kids are walking piles of germs - but getting through it ok.

Been getting some knitting done, but nothing substantial and worth posting. Working on some socks and scarves. And teaching a friend to knit (how crazy! me teaching someone to knit when I'm a newbie myself!) which has been fun. She's making a baby blanket and we had a fun trip to Webs to buy yarn. When we walked in and I got that crazed look in my eye she couldn't help but laugh. "Maybe this was a bad idea. Kinda like taking a crack addict to her favorite corner." I didn't realize I was that bad. But then I but then I bought 4 skeins of Lorna's Laces, so maybe I do have a problem.

So no FOs to post, but thanks to Gina I do have something to post. My list of UFOs I plan to finish this year.
1. The two pairs of socks that stalled after sock #1 was knit.
2. My mom's lace scarf (so she can get it next Christmas)
3. My dad's socks (ditto on the Christmas thing)
4. Charlotte's Web (This may not happen, have to be realistic. This project and I do not get along.)

And the nonknitting things that I need to finish...
1. Assembling the elliptical trainer that I bought (totally not my fault as the instructions are really complicated)
2. Unpacking the 7 boxes of books that are stacked in my room
3. Organizing the piles of journal articles that are scattered all over my apartment
4. Finishing the half read books that I've gotten a little bored with and set aside
5. Listening to the dozens of podcasts that are taking up space on my iPod

Check out Gina's blog and send her your UFO list to be entered in her contest. And check out Christine's blog for her Podcastiversary contest. Leave her a comment to be entered, post about socks and get entered some more. So now for my thoughts on socks...

I love knitting socks. They are so much fun and people think you're a super knitter when they see you working on them. The variety is never ending - all the different yarns, different stitch patterns, toe-up or top-down, DPNs or circs. So many options! I haven't tried circs yet because I love the DPNs, but someday. Current favorite yarn is Lorna's Laces. I've bought a good supply of it but just started my first pair with it. I love it! The colors are great and it's so soft and squishy. Loving the way it knits up. Hopefully I have some good progress to share soon. My thoughts on Socks that Rock will come along soon since I joined the club. So that's what I love about socks, what do I hate? Joining the first round - I have serious problems and get all twisted frequently requiring a do-over. And ladders... boy do I hate the ladders. For some reason they always show up in the foot but not the leg. What's up with that?! Any suggestions for making these things easier?

OK, enough rambling and contest entering. Enter for yourself and maybe win a prize!

Non-Knitting Post...

2007-01-04T21:54:00.000-05:00

So go ahead and skip right over it. I just need an outlet right now.

I lost a patient today. It isn't the first patient who has died since I started my internship, and it certainly isn't the first since I started med school, but it's hit me the hardest. L was born at 24 weeks and weighed less than 700 grams. It was my first week of residency and I was learning my way around the NICU and the hospital. He was right at the cusp age wise when it's really up to parents whether or not to revive a neonate. His parents are young, unmarried, and fairly uneducated. The neonatologist on call spent a lot of time before the delivery trying to explain the possible outcomes for their child so they could make an informed decision. They decided to do everything available to rescucitate L. During my month in the NICU we fought to keep L hydrated. Being so small and with skin so thin, he lost a lot of water to the air. He was constantly losing weight. He was on a ventilator, under lights because of jaundice, getting IV nutrition because he was too young to eat. He had to go to Boston for heart surgery, but came back to us within a few days. By the end of the month L was off the ventilator and finally gaining weight. His parents were there every day to spend time with him, but never seemed to really understand what we were doing. After I left the NICU I would pass them in the halls and they would tell me how L was doing. I would talk with the residents who had taken over his care and hear about the progress he was making. We started calling him our "star baby" because he never caused any trouble. He was growing like he should, weaning off oxygen, increasing his feeds. Mom and dad started asking about when he would be ready to go home and were shopping for a car seat. By late December L didn't need to be in the NICU anymore. He was transferred to a rehab facility where he continued getting IV nutrition until he could take maximum feeds. In a little more than a week things turned around. He wasn't tolerating feeds and had bloody stools. His blood pressure was low. He was sent back to the hospital and admitted to the PICU. The doctors on call suspected infection and started him on antibiotics. His blood pressure and heart rate kept falling even with medicines to keep them up. After 24 hours of fighting to keep him alive, his parents agreed to stop aggressive treatment. He died in his mom's arms. Tonight, a prayer for baby L and his parents.

Happy 2007

2007-01-01T21:47:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone had more fun for New Year's Eve than I did. I was on call... again. What a night. Things were pretty calm in the afternoon and then blew up just after midnight. Apparently too much alcohol and crack causes chest pain; shocking, I know. But it was my last night in the CCU for at least a year, so that's good news. The rotation itself was good; I learned a ton and it will definitely help out when I go back to the general Medicine wards. Feeling comfortable handling chest pain and reading EKGs will be nice. But the hours are long and the call is crazy. Definitely time for a change. So it's off to the Pediatric wards where I'll get to take care of asthma and diarrhea... yay! I'm preparing to get sick; always do when I switch to Pedi.

To ring in the new year, the obligatory resolutions. I never keep them, but I like to try. Perhaps by writing them down I'll be more committed.

1. Get off my lazy butt and exercise. Must lose weight. Since there's no way I will go to a gym, I saved up and bought an elliptical. Now I just have to assemble the thing and use it. Will exercise at least three times a week. You are all my witnesses; I will hold myself to this.

2. Spend 10-15 minutes a day reading something medical. I few pages of Nelson's, an article in NEJM. Something so I stop feeling so completely incompetent.

3. Keep my apartment from resembling a disaster area. I don't know how I manage to make such a mess when I'm at work 80 hours a week and sleeping much of the rest of the time, but I do. Will not throw clothes on the floor, will not let dirty dishes take over the kitchen, will not let multiple cartons of milk get old and scary in the fridge.

4. Make time for myself to do the things that I like but don't do enough. Go out to dinner/movies/drinks with friends, read novels, knit. All the things I did so much of before the hospital took over my life. Not making time for the fun stuff makes the crappy schedule so much worse. I'm getting pretty bitter and cynical, and I don't like it. Gotta recharge.

There they are. Not a long list, but a substantial one. We'll see how I do.

2006-12-30T16:50:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I sure did. After working 17 days straight I had a week off and got to go home. Flying over the holidays, esp post call and on no sleep, isn't the most fun thing I've ever done but it was great to go South for Christmas. The weather was amazing; it actually hit 70 degrees one day! For contrast, it snowed the day I got back up here. And it was wonderful to spend time with my family. I'm such a homebody and I'm really close to my family, so it's been hard being this far away. Just hanging out cooking and shopping was a real treat. An update on my Christmas knitting... no, I didn't finish. Good thing I had some back up presents. I've decided not to stress about finishing since the past month was so crazy; I'll finish up soon and mail them home. I was working on my mom's scarf at the airport in hopes of finishing it and learned an important lesson - I should never knit after being awake for over 36 hours. I messed up so many times it became funny. I wonder how it looked to all the passersby - sitting on the floor repeatedly ripping out row after row of knitting. I gave up after a little while and took a nap instead. Wanna know what I got for Christmas? Prepare to be jealous!

Isn't it wonderful?! I LOVE this bag. Roomy enough to fit a project, a book, wallet, cell phone, and my on call essentials like a toothbrush and chapstick. Great bowling bag shape and a super cute pattern. This is now my official on call bag. Speaking of on call, I was on last night and got no sleep. Must go to bed now.

I'm a weirdo!

2006-12-20T21:30:00.000-05:00

Is it weird to like being tagged for a meme? Probably, but that's just one of many weird things about me. Since Sarah tagged me, here goes...

THE RULES: Each player of this game starts with the 6 weird things about you. People who get tagged need to write a blog of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says "you are tagged" in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

1. I was born in a car. A powder blue Buick Skyhawk (with bucket seats, as my mom likes to emphasize) to be exact. While going over 60 mph on I-385 (for those of you familiar with the Greenville area, it was right at the Pleasantburg Rd exit). This is a favorite story of my mom's which can last over 15 minutes when you really get her going.

2. I'm a morning person. Not a normal one, a crazy don't mind getting up at 4:45 one. I always woke up early as a kid, like around 6 am, and would go to my grandma's (she had an apt attached to our house) to watch Tom and Jerry cartoons. As I got older I slept later, but never was one to sleep till noon. In fact I spent my high school and college years never sleeping past 9. I always took 8 am classes in college, and have totally gotten used to coming to the hospital way before sunrise. I like driving in with my radio blasting and a travel mug of coffee and getting practically a full day's work done before most people have started.

3. To complicate that whole morning thing, I sometimes forget to go to sleep. I will start reading a book or watching a movie or knitting, and get so caught up that I don't realize what time it is and when I have to wake up. There have been many nights when I never went to sleep at all because I stayed up reading an entire novel not realizing the time till I saw it was light out. Of course there's also the sleep obsession that I've acquired since internship started. I often go to bed before 7 pm because I'm too tired to be bothered with dinner or anything else. I was embarrassedessed about this until I realized that so many other interns do the same thing. Maybe it isn't weird at all.

4. I often break into song or dance at random points in conversations. Not sure why, but I can't stop myself. I also feel the need to pantomime for emphasis.

5. I have no filter. Things go straight from my mind to my mouth without slowing down for editing. This becomes an even bigger problem post alcohol consumption. I put my foot in my mouth so often in college that my roommate gave me a box of coffee filters.

6. I have insanely small and neat handwriting, especially at work. I can fit a patient's entire medical history and current labs in a 2x2 inch space. And my notes in charts are the same way. People are always joking that my notes are written in 6 pt font.

And that's enough blogging for one call night. I'm sure I've broken too many rules by blogging at work, but I just don't care anymore. Before dashing off to save lives (or at least distribute Tylenol) I'm tagging Kaitie Tee, Beth, BBStewart, Katie, Rachel, Colleen.

We have a winner!

2006-12-10T16:15:00.000-05:00

With a guess of 87 skeins (only 1 off of the actual final count of 86) the winner is ... Gina! No picture of the prize yet so it can be a surprise in her mailbox, but I'll post one when it gets to her. I was feeling guilty about my stash accumulation until I saw some of your guesses. 300 skeins?! That would be crazy. Yarn taking over my entire apartment, filling entire closets, spilling onto the floor.

I finished my Handmade Christmas Gift Swap project. Yay! One down, three to go. I learned a valuable lesson in this process... I am a very slow knitter. How is it that a project that claims to take 6-8 hours winds up taking me 6 weeks?

1. Spend a week looking through books and websites looking for a good project idea.
2. Pick a project.
3. Go to LYS and spend an hour walking around looking for the perfect yarn. Settle on the recommended yarn listed in the pattern.
4. Start project.
5. Realize gauge is completely off. Frog and start over.
6. Realize that you hate this project.
7. Realize it isn't the project but the yarn that you hate.
8. Throw project and yarn on the floor and spend 2 weeks avoiding looking and stepping on it.
9. Realize that the deadline for finishing this project is fast approaching.
10. Spend more time looking at patterns. Still like the original project.
11. Return to LYS for new yarn in completely different fiber and weight.
12. Start over with new yarn. Miraculously get gauge.
13. Frantically knit during all evening hours.
14. Block and wait for project to dry.
15. Spend entire day off finishing project. Realize that sewing seams sucks.
16. Assemble swap package.
17. Realize it's Sunday and the post office is closed.
18. Drive to nearest post office with 24 hours DIY mailing center.
19. Celebrate having one Christmas project actually finished.

I'll post a picture once it's gets to Gracie.

Ack! It's December!

2006-12-02T10:42:00.000-05:00

Like so many others, December really snuck up on me. I can't believe the year is almost over. My internship is almost half over... in seven months I'll be expected to teach and supervise interns and medical students. There's no way I'll be ready for that since I can still barely take care of myself on the wards. And in just one month I won't have to have an attending see all of my patients in clinic. For the first six months of residency I have to precept all my clinic patients with an attending - tell them why the patient came in, what I think is wrong, and what I plan to do about it. Then they tell me what's right and wrong about my plan and go see the patient briefly with me. Starting in January I don't have to do that anymore. So if I feel comfortable with a patient, I can just make a plan and send him home. I'm still coming to terms with patients actually thinking of me as their doctor; not having immediate backup scares me.

The other scary thing about December it that I have less than a month to finish my Christmas knitting. This is a disaster of epic proportions. My mother's scarf is only half done. I'm knitting it in two pieces and will graft it together; that way the pretty curly edges will match. My major concern is length... I did 45 pattern repeats and got a piece 25 inches long. This is half of my yarn so I stopped, but I'm worried about the final length. My mom is little - only 5 ft tall - so I don't need a giant scarf, but 50 inches is definitely not long enough. Being lace I'm sure this will grow with blocking, but I've never knitted lace before so I have no idea how much. Any experienced knitters out there who can make some predictions?

Then there are my father's socks. "But Gina," you say, "that's not a sock. That's just a skein of yarn with no actual knitting." Yeah, I know. I started, got through the ribbing, and frogged. Now I have nothing. Two socks, 12 inch long feet, 23 days... yeah, that'll happen.

To make the Christmas knitting frenzy worse, I have to put it on hold. I have knitting for two swap to finish. My Handmade Christmas Gift Swap project isn't done yet. My partner generously gave me an extension, but I really need to finish it this weekend. And then there's the International Scarf Exchange. I mailed my scarf over a month ago but it hasn't arrived. And while it was going cross country there's no way it should take this long. I think I can safely say that the USPS has lost my ISE package, so now I'm frantically knitting a replacement. Of course me being me means I've already screwed up a couple times and started over once, so this is all I've got. This must also be done very soon, like this week soon, so my poor pal doesn't get stuck without a new winter scarf.

To add more trouble, I start my CCU (cardiac ICU) rotation tomorrow. That means 12 hour days, q 4 overnight call, no weekends. In fact, I only have 1 day off between now and my Christmas vacation, and I board a plane for home immediately after signing out post-call on my last day. This could seriously be a disaster. I think it's time to buy back-up gifts.

On a lighter note, it's my one year knit anniversary. One year ago I was driving up and down the east coast on interviews with a skein of Red Heart, some aluminum needles, and a copy of Stitch and Bitch teaching myself how to knit in hotel rooms. And here I am a year later completely obsessed with knitting and with a growing stash of yarn. So in honor of the occasion, a little contest. It's the "guess how much yarn I've accumulated in the past year" contest. I haven't actually counted it all up yet so I can't give a good clue, but it's outgrown the wicker laundry basket it was originally housed in. I blame the close proximity of Webs for my stash; I have no self control. Leave a comment with your guess and I'll post the winner next weekend. You have till December 8. The winner will receive an as yet to be determined selection of yarn from my stash.

I leave you with today's Saturday sky.

2006-11-25T14:15:00.000-05:00

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Literate Good Citizen
Book Snob
Fad Reader
Non-Reader
What Kind of Reader Are You? Create Your Own Quiz

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-23T11:17:00.000-05:00

All alone and far from home this Thanksgiving, but I'm trying to make the best of it. Just spent almost 2 hours on the phone with my family (thank you Verizon-to-Verizon free calling) and now I'm going to make an apple pie to bring to "Orphans' Thanksgiving" - a little get-together of residents that aren't working but couldn't go home. While that's in the oven I plan on watching White Christmas and knitting. All in all, not a bad day off.

Some Thanksgiving seriousness via Happy Catholic...

Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1863

It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God; to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord.

We know that by his divine law, nations, like individuals, are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world. May we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war which now desolates the land may be a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people?

We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown.

But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.

Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.

And some Thanksgiving fun...

You Are Mashed Potatoes

ordinary, comforting, and more than a little predictable
You're the glue that holds everyone together.

What Part of Thanksgiving Are You?

2006-11-18T11:56:00.000-05:00

I'm a sucker for memes. I like reading them because it's a little glimpse of people's lives, and I like doing them because it's an easy post. I'm trying to post more often after my month and a half absence, but there's not much going on in my life or my knitting. So here goes... from Rabbitch

You.
Can.
Only.
Type.
One.
Word.

No.
Explanations.

1. Yourself: quiet
2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend (spouse): nonexistent
3. Your hair: puffy
4. Your mother: giving
5. Your Father: helpful
6. Your Favorite Item: books
7. Your dream last night: scary
8. Your Favorite drink: coffee
9. Your Dream Car: little
10. The room you are in: messy
11. Your Ex: distant
12. Your fear: failure
13. What you want to be in 10 years? confident
14. Who you hung out with last night? residents
15. What You're Not? tidy
16. Muffins: blueberry
17. One of Your Wish List Items: bag
18. Time: insufficient
19. The Last Thing You Did: telephoned
20. What You Are Wearing: sweats
21. Your Favorite Weather: brisk
22. Your Favorite Book: austen
23. The Last Thing You Ate: peanuts
24. Your Life: hectic
25. Your Mood: mellow
26. Your best friend: far
27. What are you thinking about right now? shopping
28. Your car: dirty
29. What are you doing at the moment? sitting
30. Your summer: busy
31. Your relationship status: pathetic
32. What is on your TV? Superman
33. What is the weather like? chilly
34. When is the last time you laughed? yesterday

Feel free to play along.

Christmas knitting - Take 1

2006-11-16T22:27:00.000-05:00

Last Christmas I was a newbie knitter - reading Stitch 'n Bitch and trying to figure out how to purl (ribbing was a tough lesson for me). So this is my first Christmas doing the knitted gift thing. As such, I'm keeping my expectations pretty low. A scarf for Mom and socks for Dad. The socks may turn into a birthday present to give me a couple more weeks since I've barely started sock one and my dad wears a size 12. This could end very badly - frantically knitting on the plane ride home to get them done. But I've made a good start on mom's scarf. I'm doing a simple lace pattern. Simple is essential when it comes to me and lace as I learned in that whole Amazing Lace debacle. (Anyone remember Charlotte? Me neither.) But simple can be good when done in a yummy cashmerino yarn. Isn't it pretty? And check out the needles. What to do when you stupidly snap and #3 bamboo needle in half? Replace it with these gorgeous rosewood needles. These are the nicest needles I've ever worked with - warm in my hands, smooth but not too slippy with the yarn, and great tips for lace. I see more of these in my future for sure.

I don't think the picture does it justice, but it's the least blurry and least yellow I could come up with. It's really hard to get decent photos without natural light, and the sun isn't around much lately. Honestly, if someone had told me that there's no sun in Massachusetts, I might not have been so eager to move.

So that's what I've been up to. I want to finish the scarf in the next week or two and then devote my time to the socks. Picture to come when I've actually made progress. Also to come, info on my one year knitversary drawing.

I love me some Prison Break

2006-11-14T22:22:00.000-05:00

Which Prison Break Character are you?

You are Dr. Sara Tancredi
Take this quiz!

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OK, I totally cheated and deliberately got this result. But I just love Michael Scofield too much. Even if it looks like Sara is in some serious trouble right now.

2006-11-12T16:48:00.000-05:00

From all the "where are you" emails I've gotten, I guess it's been a long time since I posted. Looking back it's been a really long time. Sad to admit that I've gotten very little knitting done in all this time. It's getting cold up here (I just bought a new ice scraper and ordered my snow tires!) and I'm in scarf knitting mode.

On the left is the "Men's Cashmere Scarf" from LMKG that I started months ago. I finally finished it and I love it. It's a wonderfully soft alpaca yarn that I just want to snuggle. I also finished the scarf for my ISE pal. It's the same pattern but in purple. I tried a bunch of different patterns with the yarn but finally just redid this one because it worked with the alpaca better. I of course finished it just in time to mail it and didn't take a picture before rushing to the post office. But it's just like this one, but in a different color. On the right is the awesome scarf I received through the ISE. It's the Rib Scarf from MagKnits in Malabrigo. I've been wearing it nonstop since it arrived in the mail.

I've started my Christmas knitting (my very first knitted Christmas gift) with a scarf for my mom. The pictures were all horrible and blurry; I blame the gray day and the crap lighting in my apartment. I'll try to get a decent shot of it tomorrow. It's a simple lace pattern in yummy cream cashmerino. I would work on it some more, but I just sat on my size 3 needle and snapped it in half. So it's off to buy new needles tomorrow afternoon!

2006-09-28T13:58:00.000-05:00

As promised, some knitting progress. I think I put forth a strong effort in Sock Wars, but my complete lack of free time ruined me. I worked all weekend when other warriors were getting started. Big plans to spend Monday, my day off this week, knitting all afternoon. But before I even got the first few rounds done I was contacted by my assassin. My socks are on the way here and my time in this battle is nearing an end. Only the slowness of the USPS is keeping me alive. I still spent my day off working on my target's socks, as well as a few moments through the remainder of the week. Here's the progress I've made.

I really like this sock so far. Working with DK yarn makes for much quicker knitting, and the Rib of Doom pattern is great. I'm just hoping I've made enough of a start that my assassin can carry on in the war for a bit longer.

I've also been working on my scarf for the International Scarf Exchange. Not much progress on that front though. I've started a few times with different patterns, but I'm not liking anything. I bought two different yarns, a dark blue Malabrigo and a purple alpaca. I decided to go with the alpaca because my pal likes fluffy soft yarns, and while Malabrigo is certainly soft it isn't really fluffy. But I'm not liking how the alpaca is knitting up. My latest attempt is the Dewdrop Scarf. I've done three pattern repeats this morning, and I'm just not loving it. Perhaps the Malabrigo is the better yarn choice, but then what pattern. Ugh...must be more decisive. Any thoughts?

Maybe I'm being too hard on the alpaca and it isn't as horrid as I think it is. I could frog this and try the Men's Cashmere Scarf from LMKG since I love how that is coming along. Can't think about it anymore; time to go to work. Only two more ER shifts and I'm done!

7 songs

2006-09-24T13:46:00.000-05:00

Wow, I haven't posted in a long time. Sorry about that. I've been really busy with ER shifts and my parents coming up to visit. But I promise to post some knitting progress this week. In the meantime, a meme I've seen all over the medical blogs I read. And so I'll share "seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether they have words or even if they're not any good, but they must be songs you'?re really enjoying now." I made this list from my iTunes play count; I didn't even realize some of the songs I'm obviously stuck on.

1. "Bad Day" Daniel Powter - A pretty obvious one right now. I often listen to it over and over on my drive home. I actually have a "Bad Day" playlist with all my favorite life sucks songs for when I want to stay in my bad mood. There's another playlist for when I want to cheer up.

2. "Hallelujah" Jeff Buckley - A great song that I first heard in Shrek. I've listened to all the different versions, but this is definitely my favorite.

3. "Mad World" Michael Andrews, from Donnie Darko - I love this song. The beat is great and it fits the movie ending perfectly. Perhaps "the dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had" isn't the best lyric to listen to on a bad day, but for some reason this song actually improves my mood. Weird.

4. "Everything is Alright" Motion City Soundtrack - This is one of those dancing around my apartment songs. And when it comes on while I'm driving it's hard to contain the impulse. I end up kinda bouncing in my seat like a crazy person. I've actually had someone come up to me at work and say they saw me driving in and I was having way too much fun. It's a great way to start the day though.

5. "Let Go" Frou Frou - From the Garden State soundtrack, this is a cheer me up song. Love it and the rest of the soundtrack. Here's hoping for more Zach Braff compilations!

6. "Happy Song" Mojo Train - A peppy little cheer me up song. And anyone that uses "South Cacalacky" gets my vote.

7. "C'est la Fucking Vie" Ginny Clee - I heard this song on Cast On and fell in love with it. Definitely a song for the days I'm feeling down.

And now to tag seven people (though I'm not sure there are seven people who read my blog). Kaitie Tee, Beth, Gina, Theresa, Katie, Julie, and Rachel.

2006-09-10T20:53:00.000-05:00

"America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from shining.

Today, our nation saw evil, the very worst of human nature, and we responded with the best of America, with the daring of our rescue workers, with the caring for strangers and neighbors who came to give blood and help in any way they could." George W. Bush, September 11, 2001

"I will not forget the wound to our country and those who inflicted it. I will not yield, I will not rest, I will not relent in waging this struggle for freedom and security for the American people." George W. Bush, September 20, 2001

Never forget

2006-09-10T19:27:00.000-05:00

I adore scarf knitting. I know it's not the most sophisticated knitting, but I still love it. I read somewhere that scarves are the comfort food of knitting, and I agree. It's nice to not have to worry about shaping and fit. Just pick a yarn and go. So of course I signed up for the International Scarf Exchange. Now that I've been assigned my giftee, I have to get started. I know she likes blues and purples, and she likes fluffy soft yarns. So one day this week I get to stop by my LYS and pick some yarn. But what pattern to use? Matilda, Rib Scarf, and Trellis & Vine from MagKnits have potential. Wavy from Knitty looks like fun. And Clapotis sure is pretty. Decisions, decisions. Thoughts?

2006-09-09T16:22:00.000-05:00

Thanks for all the supportive comments to my emotional breakdown. I'm feeling much better now; a weekend off will do that. And what better way to spend said weekend off than with a few of my favorite activities - shopping and baking. First came a stop at Target to buy the much longed for KitchenAid mixer. Then a trip to the Christmas Tree Shop (which surprisingly has nothing Christmas tree-like for sale) to buy a little butcher block to put the mixer on. Hey, it was on sale and I can seriously use the extra counter space and cabinet. Then back to my apartment to test my new toy by making a batch of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. Yum! Nothing better to cheer up a sad intern than chocolate and peanut butter!

Plans for the rest of the evening include listening to the thunderstorm, matching a movie, and knitting. I love golden weekends!

It's official

2006-09-08T00:57:00.000-05:00

I hate being an intern. I just had the crappiest day ever. The fact that this crap day comes after working for 2.5 weeks without a day off is just a bonus. A little gift from whatever mean-spirited deity is in charge of residents' lives. So I had my month in the clinic which was going well. Some of my patients are total train wrecks with a dozen problems to sort through, but they are really nice. Then towards the end of the month I got to start to taking telephone call. This is the worst part of primary care...trying to diagnose people over the phone.

"Hi, my baby has a fever. Can you call in an antibiotic?"

"Yeah, I've been having back pain for 4 months." Why the hell is this person calling me at midnight for this? "Can you call in some Percocet?" Hell no, I'm not calling in Percocet. "You have to because I've been buying it on the street and I'm hooked. If you don't give me some I'll kill myself."

"My knee hurts." Dear God, it's 2 am. She can't be serious. "It's been hurting for like 20 minutes." ugh...she is serious. Must get out of bed. "I took some Advil 10 minutes ago and it still hurts." No shit, lady. Now go to bed and stop calling me.

I think you can tell that I started to hate my pager and the people at the other end of the phone. So that ended and now I'm working nights in the Pediatric ER. This hasn't been so horrible until tonight. The worst night of my life so far. The night when I decided that this whole doctor thing might have been a horrible mistake. The night when I could do nothing right. Seriously, nothing. The night when every level of the medical hierarchy yelled at me.

So the evening begins with a 16 year old with blood clots in her legs. They were found 2 weeks ago when she was admitted for swelling and pain in her legs. During her work-up they found a genetic predisposition to forming blood clots. Some digging into her family history revealed that her mother and uncle both died from PEs (pulmonary emboli-blood clots that break off and travel to the lungs). So she was sent home on blood thinners. She came in with shortness of breath and chest pain, classic PE symptoms. CT scan of her chest shows a PE. So I call her hematologist, who says this girl needs an IVC filter (a filter in the vein that brings blood from the legs back the heart) to prevent more PEs. She won't admit the girl and tells me to call surgery. So I call surgery...they won't admit her either. Get pediatrics to admit her, they say. So I call pediatrics. This girls needs more blood thinners and the nurses on the floor won't take her. So I call the PICU. They say the floor nurses should handle her. Somewhere in all this "not it" this poor girl got completely lost. I finally got the PICU to admit her and the surgeons to come see her, but it was a battle.

Then a 10 year old with abdominal pain comes in. We're worried it could be an appendicitis, so I call surgery. I ask the secretary to page the surgery resident for me, but she pages the attending. The attending calls me back and proceeds to yell at me for calling him. When I get the resident to come down, she decides to admit the patient. She writes orders for morphine for pain control and leaves. Then the nurse comes asks for orders for pains meds. When I tell her that the surgeons ordered it already she yells at me for not writing more. I still don't understand this one...there are orders for morphine so give it. Apparently she just wanted it in my handwriting, not sure why.

Next up is a 17 year old who is 2 months pregnant. She's bleeding. I page Ob and they don't call me back. I do an exam, order labs, and get an ultrasound. Page Ob again but they don't call me back. Get results back and the girl has had a miscarriage. Page Ob again and-surprise, surprise-they don't call me back. So now I get to tell her that she's had a miscarriage and then can't answer any of her questions because I know next to nothing about Ob.

To finish my evening, I pick up my last chart at 1am. It's a 2 year old with fever and ear pain. Wonderful. I go in and of course mom doesn't speak English. So my 4 words of Spanish and some pantomime are the way to take this history. Now it's time to look in the kid's ears. They are full of impacted ear wax (some free advice: Q-tips are the devil) so I get the fun job of cleaning them out. So I have Mom hold her son while I jab a long plastic stick with a loop at the end into his ear. He wriggles free, kicks me in the stomach, and jerks his head. In the process I scrape his ear canal with the plastic torture device and he starts to bleed. It's amazing how much an ear canal will bleed. Mom then proceeds to yell at me, in Spanish, while I back away to avoid further kicks from her darling little boy.

There were a lot more patients in my evening, and the others were good encounters. But the bad ones always take over. The good news is that I didn't cry in the ED. I made it all the way to my car before I fell apart and then cried the whole 20 miles home. This is one of those time when I kick myself for choosing to spend the hardest year of the life 1000 miles from home. I know I'm a grown-up now, but I still want my Mom after days like this.

My Secret Pal Rocks!

2006-09-03T10:30:00.000-05:00

Got my last package from my secret pal, Rachel, yesterday and it is awesome. A skein of gorgeous sock yarn from Black Bunny Fibers. It's oh so soft and the colorway if beautiful.

The pattern for Rusted Root and red Cotton Fleece to make it. Love this sweater!

And stationary and a pen in my favorite color combo.

Thanks, Rachel! You've been a wonderful pal. I love everything and am looking forward to getting to work with my new yarn.

2006-08-21T19:57:00.000-05:00

With the lost DPN found I've been working on my sock. It's been a reminder about how much I hate gusset decreases. It's really pretty crazy how much I hate them. It's where I get all tangled up in the extra needles, where I get a ladder forming right in the middle of the foot, where I'm concentrating so hard on not making that stupid ladder that I poke myself with the extra needles. It's amazing how much a size 1 DPN hurts when it jabs into your thumb over and over and over. And now that I'm through them and onto the foot, I'm staring at the sock and not liking it. I did a heel flap, as usual, and I wish I had done a short row heel. I've never done one, but I think it would look so much better in this anklet. The heel flap just looks big and wrong. But I really don't want to frog the whole heel. So I think I'll just live with the heel flap and remember this for future anklets.

Now that I've ranted about my sock, it's your turn! What is your least favorite part of sock knitting?

2006-08-20T11:45:00.000-05:00

Some actual knitting photos. My Malabrigo scarf. This yarn is so wonderful. I must use it more.

Pattern: My So-Called Scarf
Yarn: Malabrigo merino

My current scarf-in-progress is going quite well. With bulky alpaca it's knitting up quickly and it's oh so soft and fluffy. I'm loving this color! The pattern is from Last Minute Knitted Gifts, the Men's Cashmere Scarf. But it's obviously not cashmere and not for a man. But I adore the pattern.

On the sock knitting front, I found the missing DPN. On the fourth disassembly of my couch there it was. Don't know how I've been missing it all week as I looked under the cushions, but now that it's been found I'm back to the sock.

Saturday Sky

2006-08-19T16:19:00.000-05:00

It's a gray day, and it feels like rain.

In knitting news, I finished my pink Malabrigo scarf. It's so soft and fluffy. Then I started another scarf with the bluish green alpaca I bought a couple weeks ago. I know scarves aren't sophisticated knitting, but I love them. Especially since I'm in New England now and will need them in the winter. I also figure they will be good Christmas gifts. I've also been working on my sock, but I've run into a problem. I knit socks on 5 DPNs. So I got to the heel flap where you put aside 1 needle and just use 4. So I did the heel flap and heel turn and now it's time to divide the stitches on the extra needle and I can't find it. Must search my apartment for a size 1 DPN.

Cupcake time!

2006-08-18T07:12:00.000-05:00

I'm loving my month in the clinic. I have a couple half days a week where I'm not scheduled to see patients and instead have "admin time." That's a gift from the program secretary... some time off. Quite nice after a month in the unit. So I have this morning off and have spent it making these.

It's a fellow intern's birthday, so I figured cupcakes at clinic were a good idea. I was lazy and used cake mix for them, but I have a technique for doctoring it that I got from my mom. It works really well and people won't guess that it's a mix. People are always asking for my cake recipe and I'm embarrassed to admit it's just Betty Crocker.

My cake:
1 box cake mix, sifted
1 envelope Dream Whip, sifted
1 cup milk
1/4 cup liquor (whatever you have on hand, I often use Jim Beam for baking)
3 eggs
With electric mixer, beat until combined. Then beat on high for 5 minutes. Pour into prepared pans and bake as directed on the cake mix box.
The Dream Whip and extra beating time makes the cake really fluffy. The liquor gets rid of the sweet artificial taste of the mix. You don't taste the alcohol itself though. It's some kind of magic. It works in boxed corn bread mix too.

I did make my own frosting though; I think it's a better use of my time. The white frosting is peppermint and the brown is peanut butter. The peanut butter tastes just like Reeces Pieces...yum! I got the recipes from Julie.

Peppermint Buttercream
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter at room temperature
3-3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
3-4 tablespoons milk
1/2 to 1 teaspoon peppermint extract
Green food coloring

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until fluffy, 30 seconds. Stop the machine and add the confectioners' sugar, 3 tablespoons of milk, and vanilla. Blend with the mixer on low speed until the sugar is incorporated, 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy, 1 minute more. Blend in up to 1 tablespoon milk if the frosting seems too stiff. If you like, tint the frosting green. (I obviously didn't.)

Peanut Butter Frosting
1 cup creamy peanut butter
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
3-4 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons vanilla

Place the peanut butter and butter in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed until fluffy, 30 seconds. Stop the machine. Add the confectioners' sugar, 3 tablespoons milk, and the vanilla. Blend with the mixer on low speed until the sugar is well combined, 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium and beat until the frosting lightens and is fluffy, 1 minute more. Blend in up to 1 tablespoon milk if the frosting seems too stiff.

2006-08-15T18:19:00.000-05:00

You Are an Espresso

At your best, you are: straight shooting, ambitious, and energetic

At your worst, you are: anxious and high strung

You drink coffee when: anytime you're not sleeping

Your caffeine addiction level: high

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

I don't think I'm too high strung... perhaps my friends wouldn't agree though. What I am lately is overly emotional. And very labile. At lunch yesterday we were talking about movies. A friend of mine had a really bad call night over the weekend, and the next day watched really sad movies. Because why watch a happy movie to cheer yourself up when you could deepen the depression instead? (Although I often do the same thing.) So we were talking about movies that make us cry. Glory, Saving Private Ryan, Swing Kids... And I started tearing up thinking about Tom Hanks dying in SPR. Then later on someone made a joke and I just cracked up and couldn't stop. Laughed until tears were running down my face. And it wasn't even that funny. So I'm seriously messed up lately; I think it's the sleep deprivation.

Free patterns

2006-08-11T16:12:00.000-05:00

Have to share this site with tons of free patterns. via Unfinished Knitting

2006-08-10T20:37:00.000-05:00

The great thing about preemie hats is that they knit up super fast since they are so small. These were my day off project, and I'm quite pleased with them. I'm also very pleased with this yarn. It's Dale of Norway Baby Ull knit on size 3 needles. This yarn is super soft and perfect for baby items. And it has great stitch definition. I love the way the seed stitch border of the green hat looks. The hat patterns are from Bev's Country Cottage and the preemie size looks perfect for a 24 weeker. Each hat took less than half a skein and I'm looking forward to making some more, probably a bit bigger.

Because I have so much time on my hands, I've joined a knitalong. Probably a really bad idea. I see some frantic sock knitting in my future. Here's hoping for a target with small feet!

In other knitting news, I've made some progress on my Blugger socks. Actually I'm making anklets because I love wearing them with my Danskos at work. And I ordered some yarn from YarnBotanika. I haven't taken a picture of it, but you can see it here. Isn't it gorgeous?! Now I need the perfect project for it. I'm thinking lace, but nothing too complicated because then I'll never finish it. Any ideas?

Book meme!

2006-08-05T11:40:00.000-05:00

1. One book that changed your life:
The Hot Zone by Richard Preston. I read this book in high school and became obsessed with all things medical.

2. One book that you've read more than once:
Just one? I'm a compulsive rereader. I think the book I've read the most is Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy. I read it so many times it started falling apart and I had to buy a new copy.

3. One book you'd want on a desert island:
The Complete Novels of Jane Austen OK, maybe it's cheating, but it is all bound as one book. And what better than romance to keep you company on a desert island?

4. One book that made you laugh:
House of God by Samuel Shem. Required reading for all interns.

5. One book that made you cry:
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I fell in love with this book in eighth grade and it gets to me every time I read it.

6. One book that you wish you had written:
Harry Potter - I love these books. Plus I would be filthy rich and able to pay off all my school loans.

7. One book that you wish had never been written:
Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy. I hated this book and was tortured with it for summer reading in high school. I never actually made it all the way through.

8. One book you're currently reading:
Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik. I picked it up because a friend's sister wrote it, but it's awesome. Imagine if Horatio Hornblower had dragons to help fight Napoleon. Pretty freakin' cool.

9. One book you've been meaning to read:
There are so many on my bookshelves... I really want to read Lord of the Rings but haven't been able to do it. But I'll keep trying.

2006-08-03T18:58:00.000-05:00

Wow, she's good. My horoscope from CrazyAuntPurl.

All work and no play makes Scorpio so irritated and tired and annoyed that at any minute ya'll are about to fling off and snatch someone baldheaded. I know that the work you're doing is VERY good, and this whole period from about March onward has been exhausting, and kind of rewarding but still, you're tired, and why can't you just get some peace and quiet already! but you just have to endure a few more weeks of nose-to-grindstone and then you can take a much needed rest. If it's any consolation, this entire Jupiter-infused period of your life has been really excellent for your future financial picture. Does that help? A little?

2006-08-03T17:46:00.000-05:00

My weekend off coincided with some awesome yarn sales. Webs was at the sidewalk sale and Northampton Wools had all cotton for 25% off. So I went a little nuts. OK, a lot nuts. My loot...

Some amazingly soft alpaca. I don't think you can appreciate the color fully in the picture. It's a beautiful bluish green. I've been wanting this yarn since my first trip to Webs, and I finally broke down and bought it. Now to find time to knit it.

Pale pink KidSilk Haze to someday make Branching Out. It's been calling to me. Not sure why since I can't seem to make any progress on Charlotte; I really have commitment issues.

What's a trip to the LYS without some sock yarn?

A variety of colors of superwash merino to make baby hats for the NICU. If anyone longs to make baby hats and blankets but is without babies of their own, I suggest donating to your local NICU. Each baby has a handknit hat and blanket in his crib or isolette. It's just such a nice thing and the parents appreciate it. If you're wondering how big to make the hats, there's a huge variation in size so anything would fit someone. The babies go from big 11 lb babies whose moms have diabetes all the way down to 1 lb premies with a head circumference of 21 cm.

No trip yarn shopping would be complete without some gifts for my secret pal. She loves cotton, so she really lucked out with the current sale. Hope she likes it all.

In other news, I got my Flip Flip Swap package over the weekend. Check it out!

I'm especially excited about Knit Picks Main Line which I've been wanting to try. Thanks, Kathy! I love it!

And now a confession - I've been a bad knitter. Sorry, Gina, I've made very little progress on my Blugger sock. It was my on call project and this is all I got done in 3 calls.

Pretty pathetic, I know. But this is project number one now, so I'll get to it!

Time for a celebratory margarita

2006-08-02T20:51:00.000-05:00

I've survived my first month as an intern. Even bigger, all my patients survived my first month. That totally deserves tequila! So how does the NICU look from this side of the month (with a little bit of a buzz)? Pretty good actually. I realized as the month went on that I was enjoying myself and learning a lot. The schedule was grueling and I've been tired since July 1, but I didn't hate it. I didn't even dislike it. To sum up the month...

Things I will miss about NICU:
- My fave on call attending who lets me make decisions but doesn't mind being woken up at 3am because a kid isn't behaving.
- Going down to the delivery room and not getting in a panic when the baby isn't acting right.
- Going down to the delivery and finding a baby who is perfect, handing him to mom with a "congratulations," and leaving him in the normal nursery.
- Getting called to do a procedure and getting it done right.
- Getting called about a problem and knowing how to handle it.
- Chatting with the awesome nurses during the night.
- Riding in the ambulance to an outlying hospital to pick up a baby.
- Hanging out with the other residents and making the whole thing fun.
- Being able to laugh at the hard nights. "So how was your night?" "It was fine... except all the babies are broken!"
- Being so sleep deprived on a post call morning that everything is hilarious and laughing till I cry over something that isn't even funny.
- Finally sending a baby home after over 2 months in the unit.
- Taking care of the cutest babies, esp Michael who loves to be carried around during evening rounds.

Things I won't miss about NICU:
- Not seeing my bed every fourth night.
- Getting up at 5am so I can be in house by 6am.
- Weekend? What weekend? (Or as one of my fave interns as a med student put it, "Know what today is? Saturday. Know what that means to me? Nothing!")
- Being woken up after an hour of sleep and feeling like throwing up and/or passing out when I sat up to answer the phone.
- Feeling car sick in the ambulance on the way to pick up a baby. (Paramedics are really nice about turning up the AC and handing me a bucket, though.
- Staying up all night changing meds and vent settings every hour trying to avoid sending a kid to Boston for higher level care or surgery.
- Going down to the delivery room and finding a baby who is really sick and having to take him from his parents.
- Being called a liar by a parent who then demands to speak to the attending because I "can't possibly be a real doctor."

Not too bad, though that last one still makes me mad. When the OB record warns of mom's psych history, tread carefully. I think the good stuff outweighs the bad, so I'll have fond memories of this month. And I'm looking forward to doing it again next year (sick, I know).

Knitting content to come.

My Saturday Sky

2006-07-30T12:29:00.000-05:00

A day late, but at least I'm actually posting this weekend. I've missed the sky the past few weeks because I've been at work. But this was the view from the courtyard in front of my building yesterday. Can you believe how blue it is? And not a single cloud.

Golden Weekend!

2006-07-29T13:36:00.000-05:00

I have two whole days off...Saturday and Sunday. I love when that happens. I don't know what to do with all this free time. I spent the morning knitting and watching Grey's Anatomy. I didn't make enough progress on anything to make pictures worthwhile, but I'll be knitting some more over the rest of the weekend. In the meantime, Kaitie Tee tagged me so here goes.

Five things always in my purse (usually a large tote bag or messenger bag b/c I carry so much stuff around):
- wallet
- iPod (but often not the headphones, so not too useful once I leave my car)
- Palm Pilot
- pager
- various little medical books

Five things always in my wallet:
- driver's license
- debit card
- old student ID (b/c I refuse to pay $10 to see a movie)
- at least a dozen receipts from debit card purchases I haven't recorded
- all my life support cards and my organ donor card

Five things always in my refrigerator:
- Brita pitcher
- milk (often past its date)
- good Parmesan cheese
- yogurt
- open bottle of wine

Five things always in my closet:
- stacks of shoe boxes
- purses that I never use
- piles of scrubs on the floor
- luggage
- clothes (duh)

Five things always in my car:
- umbrellas, hopefully not all broken
- directions to various locations stored over the past couple years
- several dirty travel mugs
- chapstick
- sunglasses

Five things always on my desk:
- stack of mail
- stack of journal articles I need to read
- pager, stethoscope, name tag thrown there upon arriving home
- cup full of pens
- jar of quarters for laundry

2006-07-27T23:49:00.000-05:00

Wow, I've been a slacker about posting. Things have just been a little crazy...ok a lot crazy. I'm at the hospital at the moment and things are actually quiet for now. Of course now that I've said that the 29 weeker waiting doawstairs will deliver and everything will get crazy. But until then I'm just checking on my babies every so often and working on a sock. Love sock knitting in the unit! By the miracle of the mandated 4 days off a month rule, I actually have the whole weekend off. That's right everyone, both Saturday and Sunday off to sleep in, go shopping, do laundry, clean my apartment. And watch movies while knitting of course. The big event of the weekend is the Northampton sidewalk sale. All the shops have set up tents along Main St (including Northampton Wools and Webs). You better believe I'll snag some yarn this weekend. Why is it that I feel the need to buy yarn even when I don't have time to knit? Dang it...phone is ringing.

2006-07-17T19:08:00.000-05:00

So, yeah, I'm tired and cranky. This schedule does that to a person. If a doctor is ever short or rude to you, try to forgive him. Just think about 80 hour weeks, 30 hour days, 13 work days in a row... if that doesn't make you cranky you're a pod person. I'm right in the middle of 13 consecutive days without a day off... it sucks. I've had two nights of call in the past eight days of hell and both were rough. Like 31 week twins and a 24 week premie rough. Intubating babies in the middle of the night. Catching an hour of sleep only to be jerked awake at 4am by a phone ringing and a nurse asking how I want to change ventilator settings. Waking up like that makes me physically sick. I got up to turn on a light and almost fell over, my head was spinning, and I felt like I was going to puke. I think in the future I won't even try to nap; it's so not worth it since I feel so crappy when I get up. Then this afternoon I was leaning on the desk at the nurses station listening to my attending talk about a chest x-ray and almost fell asleep standing up. No good. If I can just make it to Sunday. I think I'll sleep through the whole day.

On a lighter note, I got a ton of mail today. Awesome knitting mail. First is my purchase from Katie.

A roll up needle case! I love it! And it matches my living room furniture so it feels right at home. Look how happy my needles are!

My other mail is from my Knit the Classics swap partner. A book about an American doctor in India (really looking forward to reading this), some yummy yarn, and chocolate. I think chocolate might actually be able to cheer me up today! The pic kinda stinks; the color is all wrong. The mohair is this great purple and the soy silk is a wonderful earthy mauve. Thanks, Knittergurl!

So after admiring my goodies and taking some Advil I sat down to a dinner of leftover Chinese food. Mandarin chicken is yummy. And for dessert, my favorite fruit smoothie.

When work is crappy use a pretty glass! I was at the grocery store the other day and they had South Carolina peaches! (The best peaches ever!) So I got a little homesick and bought a bunch. One of my favorite things to do with fresh peaches is make smoothies. My recipe:

1 South Carolina peach (forget about California ones)
1 handful of fresh raspberries
1 container vanilla yogurt
2-3 ice cubes

Crank up the blender and make it smooth. Pour into a pretty glass and enjoy!

This is also a great way to use peaches on the verge of being overripe. Slice them and put them on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Stick the peaches in the freezer and transfer to a ziplock bag once frozen. These will keep for awhile in the freezer. Then use them to make smoothies and omit the ice. I always wind up with bags of peach slices in the freezer because I tend to go a bit overboard at the farmer's stand and buy way too many peaches. After 2 pies, a cobbler, and just eating them fresh I still have some left. ::sniff:: I miss home!

2006-07-17T17:08:00.000-05:00

'What will your obituary say?' at QuizGalaxy.com

This might come in handy because I really do feel like death right now. Tired and achey all over, with a bad mood to top it off. Must cheer up. There's a real post coming, but first I have to pass out on the couch for a while and try to feel better.

New sock yarn!

2006-07-14T17:23:00.000-05:00

I have a serious problem... sock yarn. I can't get enough of the stuff. I don't even have time to knit, but I still have an obsession with the yarn.

This first skein is from Gina. It's Blugger, a dye project gone... not wrong, just differently than planned. But I think it has potential, so let's see how it turns out.

The other is from LuLu's Yarns. I love the shades of blue. And for Beth, one skein as a hank and one wound. I think it's prettier as a hank.

So someday when I have a day off I'll have plenty of yarn to play with!

What sucks about being an intern.

2006-07-13T19:59:00.000-05:00

OK, there are a lot of things about being an intern that suck. Like being a doctor but not really knowing anything about being one, trying to come up with logical answers for things about which you have no idea, not getting any sleep on call nights, talking to patients and families and trying not to look like an idiot. Really, the list goes on and on. But the absolute worst is being called out for doing something that you were told to do. If you ever want to see this happen, just go to Grand Rounds at any teaching hospital. Surgery ones are the worst. I remember one I attended in med school where the intern was getting pimped about a bad outcome. He had prepped before hand and really knew his stuff, but the chair didn't like any of his answers. So after being asked why he had done something one too many times, I guess he snapped. "Because my attending told me to!" he finally called out. Not what you should ever say even though it's totally true.

My fellow intern in the NICU got hit really hard with this today. She was on call last night and one of the babies was causing a lot of trouble. He's on the vent and his blood gases were all over the place - oxygen too low, carbon dioxide too high, pH way too low. There are a couple things you can do about that - like adjust the vent settings or give meds. As interns we have no idea which thing to do in a given circumstance so we ask. So she asked the NP who was on overnight and did as suggested. The attending on for the night had gone to sleep and isn't the type who likes being woken up, and we have frequently been told to ask the NPs what to do when we don't know. So this was a completely reasonable action, definitely what I would have done. So then the intern does what the NP suggested and the baby improved. So this morning the attending emerged from the call room and sees in the chart what happened overnight. And disagrees with how it was handled. And proceeds to go off on the intern for doing the wrong thing and possibly causing chronic lung disease in the baby. All the while the NP just stands there and never says that it was her suggestion, just lets the intern take it. And that is what sucks about being an intern.

It's back!

2006-07-13T19:05:00.000-05:00

Well, mostly. Thank you help boards. Apparently a lot of people had this happen a couple months ago, and fixing it requires picking a new template and republishing the whole site. But all the stuff I had in my sidebar is gone, so I'll have to redo it.

WTF?!

2006-07-12T18:30:00.000-05:00

So something is screwed up with blogger. My posts aren't showing up and my template is all messed up. How did everything disappear? And how do I make it come back? I'm not a complete computer moron, but this is way beyond me.

And for added weirdness, the new posts are showing up on the RSS feed, just not on the normal page. Seriously, WTF?

As you wish

2006-07-12T18:25:00.000-05:00

Which Princess Bride Character are You?
this quiz was made by mysti

Thank you, work hour regulations.

2006-07-09T09:21:00.000-05:00

And thanks to everyone for all your encouraging comments to my last post. I had another night of call on Friday, and this one was even worse. Two of our babies took a turn during the night and had to go on ventilators. No time for sitting down when that's happening. But thanks to the new 80 hour work week and one day off a week rules, I have today off. So nice. I slept until 8 and had a lazy breakfast before even starting my day. Big plans for the day? Seeing Pirates of the Caribbean (yay for Johnny Depp!) and doing some knitting. Hopefully I'll make some progress on Charlotte, enough to make a new picture worthwhile. But first I saw this meme at Me & Mine.

Bold is what I've done.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said 'I love you' and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your cds
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an "expert"
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Had a one-night stand
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror.
96. Raised children.
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Created and named your own constellation of stars
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an illness that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146: Dyed your hair
147: Been a DJ
148: Shaved your head
149: Caused a car accident
150: Saved someone's life

Looking forward to someday doing 51 and 62.

On a completely unrelated note, LadyLungDoc is setting up a Knitting Physicians webring. Check out the site if you're interested.

2006-07-04T17:54:00.000-05:00

I have to agree with Theresa - intern call is nothing like med student call. I was silly enough to think I would have some down time during the night and brought my knitting along, but it never made it out of my bag. It was so busy in the NICU last night. We had 5 transports from other hospitals and 6 deliveries were admitted (including a couple "I didn't know I was pregnant" cases - how the hell do you not realize you're 9 months pregnant?!). My personal favorite - I didn't realize I was pregnant until a month ago (when you were 8 months along?) and this morning I had some cramps and took Tylenol PM. I fell asleep and when I woke up there was a baby between my legs. (Wow, Tylenol PM must be some strong stuff!) Thankfully the baby is doing OK. Had a temp of 85 when he got here because mom had to walk 2 blocks - with baby and placenta still attached - to find a phone and call 911. And she's not sure when the baby was actually born because she was asleep for over 2 hours. So, yeah, crazy night. I didn't get a break until almost 4am when I collapsed in the call room for an hour. And when I say I didn't get a break, I mean it. It's not like I didn't have time to sit and knit or read. I didn't get dinner. It was almost impossible to even get to the bathroom. That was the longest 28 hours! The thing that makes it so much harder than med student call is that everything is my responsibility. Any problem means the nurses call and I'm supposed to handle it. I've been doing this for less than a week and I'm supposed to know what to do when a baby on oxygen gets tachypneic (breathing really fast)? Fortunately NICU nurses are awesome. Many calls entail the nurse saying, "The baby in 4-4 is really working to breathe and I turned up the oxygen. Do you want me to get a blood gas?" Translation: "Hey intern, the baby in 4-4 needs a blood gas. Just write the order."

I had big plans for some lace knitting today. So didn't happen. I got home around 10 this morning and died. I just woke up and am planning on going back to bed soon. Hope to resume knitting soon.

Happy Independence Day

2006-07-04T11:41:00.000-05:00

Just because you can knit something

2006-06-29T22:19:00.000-05:00

doesn't mean you should. This is something that I think all knitters need to recognize. If you don't agree check out You Knit What for countless examples of yarn abuse. I mention this because I saw a real live knitting horror today. A fellow resident showed up in a handknit sweater today. She made a really big deal about it and mentioned it to everyone..."Hi, I'm J. I'm a knitter and a spinner; I knit this." Now try to picture this sweater. It's predominantly blue and green. Royal blue and spring green. Stripes. In a lace pattern. With lots of open space. And nothing underneath except a bra. Which I saw a lot of. As I sat behind her all morning. Seeing it? Not bad, you say? I'm not done yet. Between each stripe of blue and green is two rows of garter stitch. In hot pink. Seeing it better now? With three-quarter length sleeves. And a turtleneck. A hot pink turtleneck. ::shudder:: I'll say it again: Just because you can knit something doesn't mean you should.

2006-06-27T22:49:00.000-05:00

"When I look back on my ordinary life, I see so much magic though I missed it at the time." Photograph, Jamie Cullum

Wow, I love this town. Ignore the hassle of getting settled in a new state (new issues in the whole car thing, but I won't bitch about now), ignore the hours at the hospital, ignore the constant fear of accidentally killing a patient. I love it here. Where else could I take a five minute walk and go see Jamie Cullum perform? I love Jamie Cullum! I got his first album a couple of years ago when it first came out and fell in love with his piano solos and sometimes cracking voice. There's something vulnerable about how his voice cracks a little on the last note of Blame it on My Youth, like he's really sharing a story of heartbreak with you. And then I got his second album last year. Wow...amazing. I was on my way back from an interview in Cleveland and had to drive home in the dark. Now the trip from Ohio to Carolina is fine enough in the daytime, but at night the West Virginia mountains on I-77 are rough. I listened to Jamie for four hours straight and he never got old. That album got me home, and I've loved it ever since. Now after seeing him live, I think I love Jamie Cullum even more. That guy has limitless energy. He's an amazing performer... 2.5 hours of singing, playing, dancing, jumping. His piano solos were awesome, like listening in on jam session. If you haven't listened to him, you should check him out. (Click on "Jamie FM" in the sidebar on his site.) Great interpretations of standards and quality new songs. My current fave is Photograph. Love it! He opened with it tonight with a kickass intro on piano.

It's meme time!

2006-06-26T20:43:00.000-05:00

I love memes. Saw this one on Beth's blog.

Take a look around you. Other than your computer, peripherals, a desk/table, and chair--- what are the five things nearest to you right now?

1. Lois & Clark Season 1 DVD - my entertainment of choice this past weekend.
2. Palm Pilot where I've been updating my address book
3. Pen from the Ambien rep
4. Pediatric Advanced Life Support textbook
5. Glass of water

Exciting, eh? Feel free to play along.

I love W!

2006-06-26T15:17:00.000-05:00

I'm not into posting about politics because it's so divisive, but I'm going to make an exception for the moment. I love the president. This may not be a popular opinion, but I don't care. I didn't vote for him the first time, but I wish I had. I did vote for him the second time, and I don't regret it. I think he handled 9/11 amazing well, and I fully support him in the war on terror. And I really love him when he's angry. This clip is great. OK, all done with that. From now on I'll stick to knitting with the occasional medical story.

Saturday Sky

2006-06-24T17:45:00.000-05:00

Sandy has a neat idea for making Saturdays in blogland a little more exciting...Saturday Sky. So here's the view from my apartment today.

What does it looks like where you are?

2006-06-22T17:56:00.000-05:00

First thing's first...Thank you Secret Pal! I got a package from my SP today, and boy what great timing. I've had... a large week. And it isn't even over yet! I got home from work and picked up my mail. No notice about a package, just a bill and my Netflix movie (What will I be watching?) which is nice but not too thrilling. Especially since I have a package from my mom on its way here. So a little disappointed, I went upstairs. I unlock the door, and what do I find? A box! From my Secret Pal! YAY! (My apt manager rocks...since he left to go home he brought it upstairs for me.) And now, for my goodies.

How awesome is that? Two skeins of sock yarn - will be used for a Christmas gift, recipient not yet determined. A skein of Sugar 'n Cream in perfect colors for the dishclothes I said I wanted to make for my new kitchen. Blocking pins (I've been wanting to buy some for forever!) which will be very handy if/when I finish Charlotte. A cute notepad and note cards. A great pin - possibly to put on a felted bag as decoration or on the lapel of my white coat. A candle that smells heavenly - cinnamon with a hint of a fruity smell, kinda like apple pit baking. And some yummy mint chocolates (I already ate one and the rest won't last much longer). Thanks, SP. You rock!

Now on to some griping...I am so tired! I blame my medical school. Really! I finished my last roation of medical school in February and have been doing pretty much nothing since then. I waited for the Match and then waited for Graduation, but other than getting ready to move I've done nothing. I've been sleeping late, watching movies, reading books (and certainly not medical ones), and knitting for four months. Now I'm expected to jump right into this whole doctor thing. Really hard to do. Just getting up early is a struggle. Thank God for coffee! And then the hassle of getting settled in a new state - new driver's license, new registration, new plates (which I can't put on my car because I don't have a frame on the front end - I have to go to the VW dealership and get HOLES DRILLED IN MY CAR!), new auto insurance (which is way more expensive up here). I'm also working on getting a new cell phone number which has turned into a huge fiasco. Don't believe the Verizon website when they go on about their "EZMove" program. I called the 800 number... I'm sorry, we can't change you to a Mass. phone number because their billing is different than SC billing. You will have to cancel your service and get a new contract in Mass. This will of course involve a new credit check, an activation fee, and an early termination fee of $175 for ending your service in SC. WHAT?! So now I'm being a complete pain in the ass to anyone at Verizon who is unlucky enough to answer the phone or email. Until they give me some way to do this without that fee, I'll just keep my SC number.

OK, moving on because just thinking about Verizon makes me mad. Orientation has started and it's fun so far. Most of the time is devoted to learning all the life support procedures. Since I'm doing Med-Peds I have to do all of them - ACLS for adults, PALS for children, and NALS for neonates. The best but most disturbing part of this has been learning how to intubate (put a tube into the airway to breathe for a patient) for NALS. For ACLS and PALS we learn on dummies, but NALS is different. We practiced on kittens since they are similar to newborns. Good because it was real; intubating a plastic dummy just isn't the same. But it just seemed so mean to do that to little kittens. They were sedated so not in pain, but I'm sure they felt it when they woke up. And thankfully the kittens weren't euthanized in the end - they will all be getting a new home. But it was sad to see them like that.

In knitting news...not much. I've gotten a few rows of my scarf done, but I haven't picked up my lace. Haven't touched my socks. Haven't swatched for my sweater. The hours are just taking a toll on me; I really need to get back into the swing of things. I'm at a point now where I've gotten used to 8 hours of sleep a night, so I'll have to taper that down. Must be ready for July 1 when the real misery begins.

Gina - The pattern for the scarf is here.

2006-06-19T09:28:00.000-05:00

This is quite possibly the coolest thing I've ever seen. Isn't my blog pretty To see what your blog looks like go here. (Shamelessly ripped off from Ann.)

2006-06-16T21:07:00.000-05:00

Beth - I can't figure out how to email you to respond to your comment... The stitch for the scarf is really easy once you catch on. Just reading it didn't make a lot of sense to me, but after the first couple rows it goes quick. Only two problems I had: First, I need really good light to see the stitches. I was working on it at the movies this afternoon and it wasn't light enough so I screwed up a couple times. Second, I had a hard time unknitting to fix my mistake. I got my stitches all twisted and it took awhile to sort out. Other than that, it's going well. And it is so soft in this yarn!

2006-06-16T11:08:00.000-05:00

My last few days before work (aka my thinly veiled trip through hell) begins and I'm planning on spending them knitting and watching Gilmore Girls for hours and hours. Maybe a break to go to the movies, but mostly sitting on my couch watching Gilmore DVDs and knitting. So what am I knitting? My Amazing Lace shawl? My socks? Swatching for my sweater? Of course not! That would make sense. Instead I dug through my stash, found a skein of Malabrigo, and started a scarf.

I seriously need help.

Amazing Lace Challenge 2

2006-06-16T09:29:00.000-05:00

Welcome back, Amazing Lacers! Team Gamecock Doc has made some progress since beginning the challenge. After several setbacks including some frogging and a big move we seem to have hit our stride. But now the real challenge will begin. How do I live life as both a knitter and a Med-Peds intern? Well, it's complicated and I guess a little extreme. It involves serious time management and multitasking as well as lots of caffeine. Every day begins with a large pot of coffee. Charlotte is kind enough to supervise the brewing.

As I rush around getting ready Charlotte patiently waits on the table. She always stays near my "ears" because she knows I never leave without them and she would hate to be forgotten.

Then comes the commute to the hospital. A twenty minute drive provides plenty of time to get some knitting done and some coffee drunk.

Once at work the team has a more difficult time getting together. But progress note writing and work rounds do have a little downtime. Just hide some lace in a pocket and a pattern on the clipboard.

Once rounds are over there is more free time while waiting for new admissions. This is prime knitting time. Notice how well Charlotte goes with scrub pant green.

Once at home the studying begins. Why did I choose a specialty that covers every age group and possible disease? Too many books to study from. But with strategic placement I can read them all, knitting all the while.

Whew, it's been a long day. But there is still work to be done - articles to read, labs to check, pages to answer. Poor Charlotte isn't used to this life, so she heads to bed early leaving me to study alone. I keep telling her that coffee is essential, but she's too worried about stains. Oh well... Night, Charlotte!

I went shopping!

2006-06-15T11:20:00.000-05:00

I spent the morning walking the streets of Northampton and spending a lot of money. I feel it is my duty to stimulate the economy of my new town. I especially feel a duty toward LYSs, and therefore purchased yarn in both Northampton Wools and Webs. Hello, my name is Gina, and I am a shopoholic. So what did I buy?

For a detailed discussion of my purchases, read on.

Two sheets of super cute wrapping paper to wrap the books I ordered for my secret pal. (They haven't arrived yet.) A card for my parents' anniversary (40 years!). And a little notepad to carry in my purse.

Yarn for my secret pal! Her birthday is this month so she has to get a great package! Two skeins of lavender Rowan Cashsoft - quite possibly the softest, most wonderful yarn on the planet. And two skeins of sock yarn in her favorite color - orange. Side note: Cashsoft is the yarn to blame for my yarn addiction. I was a sad crocheter using nothing but Red Heart from Wal-Mart until I bought some Cashsoft in poppy at Northampton Wools when I visited here in November. I made myself a scarf with it and fell in love. Then I decided to teach myself to knit and it's all gone downhill from there.

More gifts for my secret pal! A cute little bag to fill with notions, Eucalan lavender-scented woolwash, stitch markers, and darning needles.

Yarn for my first sweater. The picture doesn't do it justice though. It's a beautiful light heathered brown, and it's softer than a cloud. I want to sleep with this yarn on my pillow! Gorgeous!

All in all I think I was pretty good today. The yarn for my sweater and some needles (one pair bamboo and one pair ebony) are all I bought for myself. I had to drag myself away from a shelf of KidSilk Haze. That stuff is dangerous! It cast some kind of spell on me, and I just stood in a corner petting it until I came to my senses.

Benedict + Apple = Fun

2006-06-14T19:44:00.000-05:00

I love my pope and I love my iPod. But together they are even better. (via Julie)

Where I knit

2006-06-14T14:04:00.000-05:00

I've been seeing "Where I Knit" posts everywhere, and now that I'm settled I'll show my knitting spots. Plus it lets me show off my new digs. And apparently I'm really into blue, so it fits into this month's Project Spectrum theme too.

This is where I knit when I'm watching TV (or one of the many, many movies that I own).

This is where I knit when I'm online. And where I blog. I haven't set up my wireless yet so I have to be here in order to plug into the cable modem. You can also see part my movie collection. I have two 5 shelf bookcases and half of the space is filled with movies. Truly sad...must stop buying movies. Perhaps replace movie buying addiction with yarn buying?

Here's my basket-o-yarn placed for ease of access from either couch or chair.

And where I knit before bed, usually while listening to audiobooks or podcasts.

So that's my place. Lots of blue...I didn't plan that, it just kinda happened. And to complete my current blue obsession, I'm getting a KitchenAid mixer in cornflower blue!

2006-06-13T21:37:00.000-05:00

I am such a dork and keep forgetting to mention how great my secret pal is. Thanks for the cute e-card. I LOVE it and click on the link randomly to make me smile. Thanks, secret pal! Sorry I couldn't sneak you in my trailer, but I'll think of you and send you cosmic fiber love while I wander through Webs later this week.

2006-06-13T20:49:00.000-05:00

I have a small knitting purchase to report. I finally bought the current issue of Interweave Knits. I've been eyeing it since it came out, mostly for the lace article, and broke down today. So I got it home and read it cover to cover. Great issue. The lace article is wonderful and will be my right hand for the remainder of the Amazing Lace. And the patterns are great. I would like to make most of them. I'm eyeing the Marseilles pullover - a nice cable sweater. I really want to try my first sweater and have been checking out patterns for months to find a good one. But I keep chickening out. I mean, I've been knitting for less than a year and am definitely not very skilled. So I read patterns and price yarn but then go back to a sock. A sweater is such a big commitment...so many stitches, so much yarn, all those seams. But I really like this sweater. I must get up the courage to try it. Ignore the fact that I've never cabled. I can knit a sweater...I will knit a sweater!

I've arrived

2006-06-09T08:59:00.000-05:00

So I made it to Northampton and I'm working on getting settled. Most of my furniture is here and maybe half of my stuff is unpacked. I need to be completely set up by the end of next week so that I'll be ready to start work. I won't have much free time once work starts so it all needs to be done. I didn't realize how much stuff is involved in moving especially changing states. New driver's license and registration, new car insurance, new bank, new cell phone. Much to do next week. I also need to get my internet turned on (totally stealing internet from a neighbor right now, bad Gina!). In all the driving and unpacking, I've gotten very little knitting done. By very little I mean three rows of a sock. Pretty pathetic, but I promise to improve. Once I unpack all my yarn and find Charlotte I'll get to work. In the meantime, I need to go back to Webs. I went by yesterday but didn't buy anything. That place is amazing! Aisles and aisles of fiber. I just walked around touching gauge swatches and squeezing skeins. Completely overwhelmed. I really need a plan when I go in there again. I'm thinking a soft bulky yarn for a quick scarf or hat and some cotton or cotton blend for my first sweater. I really want a cotton cardigan like the one from the Gap that I've had for years but it showing serious signs of wear. So I'll think and plan and return another day.

Gina - Thanks so much for my prize. Looking forward to making pompons and the candle smells great. It was my very first mail here! The manager was showing me where the mailboxes are, and your package was inside my box! Yay for mail! Next time you're in town we need to meet up.

D Day

2006-06-02T15:02:00.000-05:00

As in Departure Day. In just a few hours I'll be hitting the road for Massachusetts. I'm planning on driving through the night to avoid traffic and getting there around noon tomorrow. Plenty of time for me to get my key and unload my car and then wait for my stuff to arrive. I totally lucked out with this moving thing. A neighbor is going to visit family in Maine and volunteered to help me move - he owns a truck and a trailer and all my stuff fit in it.

I said good-bye to everyone yesterday. We went for Indian food and then saw X Men (which I though was awesome, by the way). After the movie we had a Krispy Kreme run and then we all set out for home. It was weird how the whole night I wasn't thinking about it being my last night here. Most of my friends are staying in state and a lot are going to the same programs, so they will still be together. And the idea that I wouldn't see them again for at least several months just didn't hit me until I got in my car. It's going to be hard starting over, but I think it will all work out for the best.

I'm going to take a nap before hitting the road. Write you again from my new home!

2006-05-31T20:09:00.000-05:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. I've been busy packing. In fact almost all of my belongings are now boxed and in a trailer waited for departure on Friday. I have two days worth of clothes, my computer, and my iPod to keep me company in my sad, empty rooms. And my sock. I haven't done much knitting over the past few days because of the business. I did get some more of Charlotte done a couple of days ago. I did the second color repeats but can't go any further because the rest of the yarn is in a box. I had planned on sharing pictures of my packing progress, Charlotte, the sock, the laptop case, but my camera is on a box too. I got a little overzealous with the packing on Monday and everything is gone. I also wanted to show you the cute card I got from Katie today. Where did you get it? Ah well, I'll take pictures of everything once I get moved. Of course I won't have internet in my apartment right away, so I'll have to hang out at coffee shops with free wireless for a while. Internet withdrawal could kill me.

I've been listening to old episodes of Cast On while packing and found an episode that I really related to. It's episode 6 - Pulling a Geographic. For any of you who don't listen to Cast On (you really should because it's great) Brenda Dayne is an American living in Whales. First off, I'm totally jealous because I would love to go there. But I could really relate to her essay in this episode. She talked about moving to shake up your perspective and change the way you're living. I really need to do that. I've lived in South Carolina my whole life. I went to college here and medical school here. I was born in Greenville and though I've lived in other cities for school, I wound up back here. I like this city and thought about staying here for my residency. It would have been the easy thing to do - I know the hospital, I like the people there, I have a place to live, I wouldn't have to move. But I need to shake things up. I'm too settled into a life that I don't even really like. I need to meet new people and try new things. Change my perspective and my attitude. So when the time came to make my match list for residency, I looked far. I listed Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and waited to see what would happen. I still get really nervous about the move. I'm leaving behind my family and they will be too far away to visit often. I'll be starting a new job with a whole new set of people. But I can really start over and make my life into whatever I want. So I push the nervousness aside. "Sometimes the best way to get a new perspective on life is just to stand on your head, and nevermind if a few coins spill out of your pocket." Brenda Dayne, Cast On.

Ok, it isn't the lace that's stupid

2006-05-28T21:05:00.000-05:00

It's me. I was pretty hard on Charlotte yesterday, and this disaster really wasn't her fault. I need to take complete responsibility.

First mistake - using dental floss to make my lifeline. I'm not a sewer so thread is hard to come by in my house. I read somewhere that dental floss works, but I later remembered they specified non-waxed. All I had was waxed. This created a big issue when attempting to use said lifeline because the yarn stuck to the floss.

Second mistake - placing the lifeline on the purl row. The floss became all tangled up in the k2tog skpso mess and made it really hard for me to weave my needles back through the stitches.

Third mistake - attempting to knit lace while hanging out with my family who kept asking me questions (like what exactly does my blood pressure medicine do? how is Plavix different from aspirin? do the mashed potatoes need more salt?) Pausing in my knitting/chart reading to talk got me all messed up. I kept losing my place on the chart and getting confused about where to put the yo. I'm just not good enough at this lace/chart thing yet to multitask.

Fourth mistake - not counting my stitches frequently enough. So I'm going along - pattern row, purl row, pattern row, purl row... I didn't notice there was a mistake until the number of stitches didn't match what I was supposed to do on a given row. So then I had multiple rows to go through to find said mistake.

Fifth mistake - attempting to correct mistakes while mad at my knitting. This leads to poor tinking and ruthless frogging.

So after the crisis of yesterday I put down the Koigu and picked up my sock. Good mindless knitting while I made the heel flap. Then today I resuscitated Charlotte. Here's what I learned from all my mistakes.
1. Silk surgical suture make an awesome lifeline.
2. Place the lifeline after knitting the pattern row so that all your doing with it is purling around it. The makes it really easy to follow.
3. Count stitches after each pattern row. This way I find mistakes immediately and they are easier to fix.
4. Remain calm. Do not throw yarn, needles, or pattern across the room. This will not make the stitches magically jump into the correct place.
5. Do not attempt to multitask with this project. Accept limitations to brainpower. Full focus must be on the chart to avoid total failure. Do not converse, listen to an audiobook, watch a movie. It will only end in tears.
6. Listen to great (wordless because singing along will also lead to disaster) music. Today that was the Pride & Prejudice soundtrack. It gave me the patience of Jane, the strength of Lizzie, and the perseverance of Mr. Darcy, all of which were needed in this task.
7. Read and reread wonderful comments of encouragement from fellow knitters. Thanks, guys! I really needed that.

So Charlotte is back to her previous size, currently without mistakes, and quite pretty. All is right with the world.

Lace is stupid!

2006-05-27T17:09:00.000-05:00

See Charlotte. See Charlotte's lifeline. (OK, you can't see it in this pic, but I swear it's there.)

Tinking fails. Lifeline fails. See Charlotte being frogged.

Poor Charlotte.

Stupid Charlotte!

2006-05-27T11:13:00.000-05:00

So I've been doing a lot of packing over the past few days. Very out of character for me to start this early, but I made myself. I'll be loading the U-Haul on Thursday so I really have to get it all done. I'm even packing up all my yarn. Doesn't it look sad as it prepares to be sealed in a cardboard box?

All that navy is for another Harry Potter scarf - this one a Ravenclaw. And this time for me. I'm going to need a really warm scarf this winter. I've discovered that my stash is very useful in this whole packing process. When a box of books is getting too heavy but there is still room left, yarn is the perfect thing to add. It takes up space with very little weight. So now my stash is divided into many boxes.

My mom bought me a book the other day.

I'm really enjoying it. A good mystery with lots of cute knitting parts. The main character comes into town when her aunt is murdered. In between trying to find out who the killer is, she learns how to knit. The descriptions of her first trip into a yarn store and her attempts to learn how to knit are great. Sock and I are really liking it.

In other news, I finally made it to the post office. Katie, your yarn is on its way. During the packing process I've come up with a stack of things to give away - books and movies. I have a hard time parting with those usually, but I'm definitely done with these if anyone in interested. The movies - Monster-in-Law, Cider House Rules, and a season of Sex in the City. I also have a DVD of episodes of Trading Spaces. If anyone is interested, let me know. My books are registered at Book Crossing. I'll be releasing them this week, but will send them to anyone who wants them. They are listed on my bookshelf. And I'm almost done with Knit One, Kill Two and will be giving it away too. If no one claims it I'll be releasing it in a LYS before I leave town.

Have a great holiday weekend!

If I move to Europe

2006-05-25T18:20:00.000-05:00

You Belong in Dublin

Friendly and down to earth, you want to enjoy Europe without snobbery or pretensions.
You're the perfect person to go wild on a pub crawl... or enjoy a quiet bike ride through the old part of town.

What European City Do You Belong In?

2006-05-25T16:17:00.000-05:00

My Secret Pal has been in touch! I'm so excited about the swap, and I love hearing from my pal and reading her comments. So hi and welcome, secret pal!

I finished my mom's socks. I was almost done with them on Tuesday. I actually had only one row to do and then graft the toe but I just couldn't do it. Serious SSS and I couldn't look at the sock anymore. So I set it aside and wove in all the ends of the laptop case-I swear there were 200. But yesterday I finished the sock so I could give them to mom.

Sorry for the horrible picture. I took all my pictures inside so they're dark. But you get the idea. And they match! They came out perfect. My mom put them on immediately (and then 10 minutes later started complaining that she was hot...could it be the wool socks?) and kept saying they would be great sock puppets. Is that a compliment? I'm not sure, but they are good puppets.

And what does a flag sock say then it's a puppet? It sings the Star Spangled Banner of course! And it looks pretty proud of itself too.

I can't stand to not have a sock on my needles, so I started a new one right away with my Sweet Feet yarn in Honey Butter.

That's my Mac posing with the sock. Isn't it pretty? I love the new Mac ads!

What I'm afraid of

2006-05-23T18:38:00.000-05:00

This is a great list from Jen, a new nurse in an ICU. I have to admit that I have the same fears. Some of mine:

The ACLS, PALS, and NALS part of orientation when I inevitably do something to look like an idiot in front of the other interns.

The first time I say or do something wrong and get dressed down by an attending. I am way too sensitive but my mantra will be "Do not cry."

My first NICU patient. That's my first rotation and I'm petrified. Those babies are so little and often so sick. Not a place to be a stupid new doctor.

My first code. The first time I do the intubation. The first time I call for the meds. The first time I'm the first doc in the room. The first time a code results in a patient's death. The first time I have to tell that to a family.

My first night on call. When the pager goes off at 3 am and I'm expected to have an answer for whatever question is posed. When a patient is crashing and I have to handle it.

My first night on phone call. When a new mom calls because her baby has a fever or is throwing up. Having to decide if it can wait till the morning or requires an ED visit.

The first time a medical student asks me a question. I am so not ready to teach them.

Grand Rounds and Pediatric Grand Rounds are up.

Ball winding, take 2

2006-05-23T13:56:00.000-05:00

Last week Gina and I did some training and started getting me into shape. Things didn't go very well, and I ended up a mess. I was in knots and in need of a massage (preferably from someone tall, dark, and alpaca). Gina tried to place the blame on me, like I wasn't cooperating, but it was all her fault. I'm a sensitive fiber in need of time and care, and Gina doesn't seem to be the patient sort. So she blamed me and whined to everyone. Fortunately she got some advice from Beth. And instead of being her usual stubborn self, she actually listened. For this endeavor we needed a new teammate. Murray was quick to volunteer.

He's outlived his usefulness in the fight against allergens and phlegm and really wanted to avoid a trip to the landfill.

Here I am, ready to work.

Murray I and got along very well. He's a sweetheart, though not exactly my type. But I would do anything for him-he's got me wrapped around his finger!

And see how good I'm being? Not a knot or tangle anywhere!

Thanks, Beth. This was an wonderful workout. I'm ready for my close-up.

And now, to the shawl!

Love,
Charlotte

Top 20 list

2006-05-22T21:21:00.000-05:00

Gina H. at Sleepy Eyes Knitting is having a contest this month, and this week's task is to create a knitting top 20 list. So here goes.

1. You Knit What has become one of my favorite sites. I check it daily and have read all the past posts. The projects they post are always horribly disturbing and the captions are hysterical.

2. I'll put these two blogs together because they have a similar style. Written as letters between two friends, they are like a window into a friendship. Mason-Dixon Knitting and Two Sharp Sticks

3. No list of knitting blogs is complete without the Yarn Harlot. Love her sense of humor and traveling sock photos.

4. I stumbled across these blogs via the Amazing Lace ring. Yay for knitting doctors! Stitches and Sutures and the Knitting Doctor

5. Katie from Knits & Grits has a great etsy shop. I love her needle cases and would snatch up the blue one if I had more circular needles. The second Katie makes a straight needle case it's mine. Love her blog too.

6. Another great etsy shop is cafecrafty. I got a sock bag and love it.

7. I'm really into knitting podcasts. They're great to listen to while knitting in public. One of my favorites is Cast On by Brenda Dayne. It's a knitting magazine of sorts with great essays and knitting stories. And Brenda has a great voice.

8. Pointy Sticks by Christine Selleck is another great podcast. Great stories about what Christine is knitting and books or patterns she's checked out. Great music and an awesome theme song. Christine also has a blog-Big Pink Cookie.

9. Another fun podcast is Pixie Purls. This one feels more like chatting with a friend. Pixie talks about what's on her needles and blogs she enjoys. She also spins and talks about that.

10. Estrogen overload? Try listening to It's a Purl, Man by Guido. Get a guy's perspective on the knitting culture and hear about what he's working on. Guido also has some interviews with LYS owners and awesome music.

11. One of my current LYS-the Needle Tree. Good yarns and helpful people. I wandered in there when I was first learning and these ladies were so nice. And if you go on Tuesday their dog is there.

12. My other store is Yarns Forever. Great selection of yarns including some you can't get elsewhere. Recently expanded and has spinning and dying supplies.

13. My future LYS-Webs. Never actually been there but I've spenty many hours drooling over the website. I'm looking forward to shopping there. The other shop isn't online, but it's great. Northampton Wool on Pleasant St was my first real yarn store ::sigh::

14. Now for some yarns. I love Brown Sheep yarns. I've used Lamb's Pride and Nature Spun and they knit up wonderfully. Good quality, no knots, great colors. I hear they felt well and I'll be testing that soon. Just a good, basic yarn.

15. I've just discovered Koigu and I love it. I'm doing my Amazing Lace shawl with it and I really like working with it. It's soft and the colors are gorgeous. I see more of this yarn in my future.

16. I found this great sock yarn through Lolly. It's Hill Country Yarns Sweet Feet sock yarn. Yummy merino wool in awesome colors. I got Honey Butter and Chocolate Covered Kisses-gorgeous! There's also a self-striping version.

17. I love Knit Picks. I've tried a couple of their yarns and was very pleased. And the prices are great. I especially like Shine.

18. I taught myself to knit with Stitch 'N Bitch and think it's a great book. I also like the forum. It's a very active forum and I've gotten great advice there. Click below "Virtual Stitch 'N Bitch".

19. I learned how to knit socks with Sensational Knitted Socks (and plenty of help from Mary from my knitting group). I love this book and see many socks in my future. Basic instructions for sock knitting (on DPNs and circs) and tons of stitch patterns.

20. I'm kinda out of knitting links... in addition to listening to podcasts while I knit, I also listen to audiobooks. LibriVox has free downloads of many works that are in the public domain.

So that's my list. What are some of your knitting favorites?

2006-05-22T15:47:00.000-05:00

I got one pattern repeat done on Charlotte. Actually, I got it done several times, but once it was actually right. Here she is!

OK, I know she doesn't look like much (but don't say that too loud because she's really sensitive) but I'm still pretty proud. I managed to read a chart and get through all the k2tog yo skpo and actually have the correct number of stitches at the end. Woohoo! I'm throwing myself a party. And just because she's so pretty, Charlotte gets to pick the refreshments-she's partial to tequila (shocking, I know).

2006-05-21T20:51:00.000-05:00

I'm almost done with my striped laptop case. Yay! All I have left is to weave in the ends, sew the seam, and felt. It took half the yarn I bought, so I have 3 skeins of brightly colored Lamb's Pride left. I love this project but don't see myself using this yarn on anything else. Any one want to give this yarn a good home?

The colors are darker in person. Just leave a comment and email me with your address if you want it.

I got mail!

2006-05-21T07:26:00.000-05:00

I love getting mail, especially packages. Yesterday's mail contained the sock bag I ordered from cafecrafty. I love it! The fabric is so pretty and it holds my sock WIP perfectly. This bag is perfect for tossing into a larger tote or backpack so your sock comes with you wherever you go.

My sock is loving her new home and wants to say hello.

When the bag arrived this cute card was tucked inside.

How's Charlotte? There is only one thing to say.

I wanted to pass this on from the comments. From Beth:

I do have a tip about winding the yarn. Here's what usually works for me. Hang one end of the hank from a doorknob or something a little higher. You'll be unwinding up and down instead of side to side. Take a small bottle (like a pill bottle or something taller), put one yarn end into the bottle and cap it. Start winding around the bottle then wind at a slant from bottom to top. Slightly turn the bottle as you go. You'll notice that it starts to look like a center pull skein. I got the idea from Knitting Tips & Trade Secrets.

Thanks Beth! I'll try that on the next hank.

I'm Elinor Dashwood

2006-05-20T22:20:00.000-05:00

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