coming up for air

Monday AM.  A time to grieve the loss of free time.  Usually.  In this case, this morning, it is a time to say ZOWEEE! thank gourds I am done with that crap.

Yeah.  On call again.  OVER!  Yes!

I took a small project with me each day last week.  Not that I got to work on any of it, but I felt better having it with me.

Mitt Envy.  (For the pattern, go here and click on the PDF file.)  Made in lovely Koigu KPPM, in a colorway supportive of my apparent new interest in all things related to ponds and algae (P52657).

As pleased as I am that my week of on call is over, it IS still, after all, Monday AM. 

And I need to get back to work.

(sigh)

 

 

 

 

 

My manias and tics, listed for you

I need to stay calm. I need to stay calm. I NEED TO STAY CALM.

But I got tagged!

Julie at My 45th Year tagged me to list, and I quote, “to tell 6 things about your life which look like manias or tics, and then pass it to 6 other persons”.

Translation (I think). List six things that drive me crazy, to the point that others may wonder about my sanity. Then ask six others to tell me what makes them crazy, too.

So, in no particular order, here are my manias and tics.

1. This one I’ll steal from Julie. Hummers. Hummers are environmentally, ethically, and fiscally irresponsible. Environmentally. Gas. Emissions. So obvious. Ethically. Yes. Let’s glorify a war vehicle, and by all means, let’s glorify our dependence on foreign oil and the very people we’re supposed to be at “war” with. And don’t get me started on the hot pink Barbie Hummers out there. Fiscally. See Ethically.
2. George Bush. If you want to watch me turn into a whirling dervish of frustration and demoralized anger, ask me about W. I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again. We are the laughing stock of the world. Because last time we actually elected that damned fool. At least the first time we had an excuse.
3. The modern culture of work, which seems to include an awful lot of martyrdom. Yes. I’m a hospice nurse. That makes me a caregiver, and a nurturer. That does not make me, however, selfless. Expect me to deal with death and dying for 8-10 hours a day? Then give me my weekends off. And if you want me to work weekends, then give me a different two days off, because it’s not normal to talk about funerals, cremation, autopsies, heaven or the lack thereof, organ donation, morphine vs. dilaudid, bone pain, nerve pain, if your mother’s agitation is caused by medications or her brain mets, and whether angels are in the room or not, for 12 days straight, without a break. (Can you tell I am facing another week on call? Take a breath, Ann.)
4. People that hurt animals. Enough said.
5. Unpleasant (insert any position here). Little in life frosts my socks more than some bored, gum snapping, high schooler with an attitude checking me out at CVS. Or anywhere. (Nothing against CVS. It’s just an example.) But folks, listen. What if we all smacked our gum in boredom, and didn’t give a shit if we did a good job, or not? What if I, as your nurse, didn’t give a shit? You’d have a fit, wouldn’t you. So please. I’ve had a hard day. How hard would it be to smile, take my money without prompting, and thank me for my business? Trust me. Your boss will appreciate it. And so will I.
6. Iceberg lettuce. It’s a nutritional wasteland. Ask my kids. They know. (Because I’ve drilled it into their heads from birth.)

There you have it. Tag you’re it!

• Rima at Yarny Days
• Green Moon Knits
• Hannah at The Interlooper
• Mo at Rooster Hill Farm
• Kimberli at Whacky Auntie
• Kelly at Walking the Wall

My Schaefer cotton Clapotis is coming along.

I know. Boring.

I took that beaded bracelet class out at Let’s Bead last Monday night, and this is what I came home with. (It needs to be finished.) I’m kind of impressed with myself, if I do say so myself.

It’s called a Double Spine bracelet, and it’s made with wee, tiny, delica beads and somewhat larger seed beads, and a lot of patience.

And finally, a new project, taken on very spur of the moment. As many know, Knit n’ Purl is having a good sale, in preparation for moving or closing up for good, depending on which she decides on for sure. I got inspired by this, and had a vision of river rocks and moss and stones and sticks…

It’s going to be a scarf, but a short one. I think I want to accent it with glass and/or stone beads, or maybe wood or shells. Then wear it like jewelry.

I actually got myself over to the Flower City Knitters Ravelry knitting group this morning. And had a blast. I’ll definitely go back.

If you don’t hear from me, don’t despair. I’m just doing the hospice thing. I’ll be back. Don’t worry.

Birds like yarn?

We’ll find out.

I save my random clippings of yarn from weave-ins and fringes.  I save the weakened and slippery bits of roving that just won’t spin right (I have lots of those), too.

As I sat outside this morning to drink my coffee and munch on banana bread, I decided there was no time like the present to recycle my scraps.

In prior years I’ve just tossed the yarn randomly into shrubs, or laid it on the grass.  Who knows where it ended up.  This year, I want to give the birds easy access, so I loaded up an old suet feeder with wool scraps,

and hung it in the tree.

I’m hoping the birds help themselves and enjoy a warm bit of nest for their babies.

Actual knitting content

Holy crap, folks. Don’t push. Don’t shove. There’s plenty of knitting for everybody!

There’s a new Clapotis in town. Schaefer Laurel, yada yada yada, you read it all last week. This is how she’s shaping up.

Now. If you’ll excuse the clash of colors and patterns, the unwashed hair, and the shameless enjoyment of a photography shoot for one, I’ll show you Clapotis The First draped on the actual body. Instead of an actual table. Note I have not bothered to weave in the ends yet, as I evidently have as many issues with finishing a project as I do with starting too many.

Yep. So. Fashion show is over.

I ordered the new Interweave spinning book from Amazon.com yesterday, with a delivery date of Thursday. In the meantime I found Spin to Knit at Barnes and Noble yesterday. I desperately need help with my spinning. I am still getting chunky, thin, no control whatsoever “yarn”. I am having a horrible time with drafting, and all the internet videos in the world aren’t helping.

Spin to Knit has some decent instructions, and I think I picked up a few things. Like, really, really, pre-draft the fiber. Pull it sideways as well as lengthwise. Make it into a fluffy rectangle and then, and only then, draft out your thinner roving to spin.

This is what I’m ending up with.

I guess I’ll keep working on it.

Today was one of those days that just clicked. For instance, instead of chucking the over ripe bananas, I made banana bread. I didn’t have any granulated sugar, so I used brown sugar instead, and rather than nuts (none in the cupboard), I used banana/nut granola. Not bad, and it will taste really good tomorrow morning with peanut butter and a cup of coffee.

I made dinner.

I cleaned the bathroom.

This is big, big news around Chez Purl. Purl does not like to scrub bathtub rings or toilets. Even her own. But I did. And I did it well. (For once.)

And look. I’m disproportionately excited about the counter top. Doesn’t it look sort of spa-like? (No? Am I confusing clean with spa?) Okay. So it’s clean. and neat. I’m happy.

And look! Another photo op for La Clap et moi!

I also raked the patio clean of rotting leaves and sticks. Then I swept in the (sort of) warm sun, and brought up a patio chair. Tomorrow morning I want to sit in the dawn-light and listen to the birds before I get too far into the day. I’ll wear a coat. Maybe I’ll look weird, but I am weird, so no harm there.

In other news, the smoldering, stinking pile of germs that infested me last week have moved on. Germ-boys have found a new home. Yessir. They’re kicking the crap out of the Boyfriend now. Sorry, Boyfriend. Truly, I am. And now you know how crappy I felt.

(Is it wrong that I feel slightly vindicated right now?)

Tomorrow night is a bracelet weaving class at the bead store in East Rochester. I guess I’m excited about it. I signed up for the class on the weekend before my vacation, before I was really sick, and when the promise of a week off seemed like it was going to last forever.

I hope they have good colors to choose from. Since we’re paying $20 for supplies, I’m guessing the bracelet materials will come in kit form.

I have another knitting project sitting on the dining room table. The yarn is ready to be wound. I am trying to decide if I’ve got enough energy in me to wind the balls tonight and cast on, so I can take it to work with me tomorrow (and pretend I’ll have time to look at it during lunch).

Koigu gauntlets.

They’re here…

(For those not from the frozen northeast, these are one of the first signs of spring around here.  Crocuses.  And yes.  I saw my first robin the other day, too.)

And other good things…

100 Things About Me

Thank you. Yes. I feel better. Much, much, much better. That was a nasty one.

In the absence of any real content, here’s 100 things about me.

I’m taking a jewelry class Monday night at Let’s Bead in East Rochester. We’ll be weaving a bracelet out of tiny beads. Several years ago I wove, using peyote stitch, little amulet bags from tiny seed beads and charted patterns. My eyes can’t take that detail work anymore. But I still love beads, so I’m going to give this bracelet a whack and hope good lighting and bifocals are enough to get me from one end of the bracelet to the other.

The cotton Schaefer Clapotis is coming along, and with much more speed and confidence than the first Clap did. Did I mention this is a great pattern?

Pictures this weekend. It’s Friday night and I’m just about ready to collapse.