Needle Chick

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I found this on Linn Skinner's blog, and thought it was cool. I hope she doesn't mind if I share it.

             http://metaatem.net/words

Job Interveiw

I was sitting by my phone on Friday, just sitting, probably knitting my second clapotis, and suddenly it rings. I pick it up, and this woman, the director of nursing from the leading wound care hospital in K C is  on the phone. Having seen my resume on careerbuilder.com, she decided I'd be good for their wound care team, so she called me.

She offered me a position with their wound care team, and arranged for an interview on Wednesday. Just out of the blue.

   I have a job. But this is an amazing position.  I have my job down to a science. If I don't get interrupted during my med pass, it should just take me 4 min. per resident. (Which is extremely rude for the resident, cause I can't talk to them, and I feel as if I've just dropped them.) If I get interrupted, it takes me 20 minutes per resident, and takes me over two hours. I usually have 10-12 residents. I do everything, except baths, including wiping butts, which I do alot of. Wiping butts take away from wound care. I prefer to do the wound care, as it's active, and I kind of like it. I do dressing changes if there's time. I like to do wounds. But when staffing is short, it's the first thing I skip. I know which wounds can be alternated, which ones are M-W-F, and  what I can do in minutes, as compared with which takes 45 minutes. I never cut corners on wound care. But I'm not authorized to stay over, I do it, to finish my charts. I don't like getting home much after 4:30. My hours are 6:30-3:00. I never sit down, I don't take a lunch, I only sit down after reporting off, to chart. My feet hurt tremendously. My anti-inflammatory sets off my period. (That's a totally different post. I know, I'll get my doc to prescribe Seasonale. Which he will do. One period every 3-4 months.) I'm wasting my good skills with primary care.

    So, I decided to go to the job interview. It's an incredible opportunity, but I hate to leave my friends, so I might work there one or two times a month. I don't think it pays as well, but at least they have holiday pay, which I don't think we have, now. My health insurance sucks, too. The wound care hospital had excellent benefits. Hours are ten hour days, four time a week, which I already do, unauthorized. I'll be home by 4:30 every day. I've only mentioned  it to a couple of people who won't say anything, and my family knows. Tomorrow I'm getting my hair trimmed, and eyebrows waxed.

How can I tell the people at work? How can I not pass up this opportunity? My present job isn't going to ever change in 5 years, it'll be the same. Wound care changes with technology. I get to work with things I've never done before. Wouldn't you also arrange for the interview? I did the right thing. I've heard there's alot of bickering at the wound care hospital, though, but there's bickering at my job, also. Not as much. Home, daily, by 4:30. 3 days off. No weekends.

I'll post on this after Wednesday, to keep you up on it.

Way To Go, Taylor!!

Way to go Taylor!!! Wheww Hoo!!!!!

4 Hour scarf

I needed a gift, real quick, kind of impersonal, for someone who is graduating from motruary school. So, I had, on hand,, 2 balls of Poof, by crystal Palace. CP suggests using sized 17 needles, but, when I tried, it left the scarf to holey.

I used size 13 needles, casted on 14, and knitted till it was about as tall as I, which is around 60 inches. It takes two balls, and goes real fast. I kept a little of the yarn for myself. I want some sleeves out of it. I'll order a second ball today, from yarnmarket.com, and make portable sleeves, or maybe very long fingerless gloves that will act as either sleeves, or havce an opening for the thumb, hidden on the side.

Pregnant friends

I don't normally prefer to make things babyish, whether it's cross stitch patterns, or knitting.

   Today that changed. I have atleast 4 pregnant friends, one who is having a shower in June. I decided to do some online shopping for booties, cause I was tired of the two-needle bootee pattern on Lionbrand's website. It's cute, workable, and was the first thing I ever knitted, after the furry scarf. (not to say I don't like challenges, but a furry scarf should never be a second knitting project. Ever.) They are pink. I still have them. All my friends are having boys.

I searched the internet, and finally came across these. Which I ordered for the pregnant frien'ds new baby, who is having the shower in June. The people who own this website, are the nicest people I've come across in a long time. They are out of Canada. (Probably why they are nice).

I found this book, but couldn't find any reputable seller on Ebay who had it, so I went to the Yarn Shop in Overland Park, who were helpful, and I bought the book. The patterns are not so diffiicult, except when you have to do the Fairisle, or multi-colored. There's 50 different booties, and I think it'd be kind of fun to make a few. There's a jester booties, for Christmas, that'd look adorable on a tree.

  In the meantime, I started this bootee, from the Berrocco website: http://www.berroco.com/exclusives/bethany_booties.html. I thought they were cute, only, I have, already, two balls of Suede by Lion's brand, and that's what I'm making it with. I don't know what friend will get them. I think they might be a little bigger, only  casue I'm using a size 7 needle, not size 4.

      

   

Mohair and Lace Scarf

                                                   

Noro may not be the correct yarn to use with  this pattern, but after blocking, it should look pretty. I like the way the yarn has a stiffness that cause it to lay like it should, and I love the color. The needles are hand painted. I saw them in Knit.1 magazine, and had to get them.

The Movie everyone is talking about

I just finished watching the Davinci Code with Tom Hanks, and I thought it was a great movie...that could never stand alone without the great book proceeding it.

  Okay, Tom Hanks is not a sexy actor, the kind, you know, you'd like to.... but, he's as good as anyone to play the part of Robert Langdon. In fact, I thought Hanks brought out Robert Langdon's character and hair quite well. Hanks brings out the Christian part of the book (was that in the book?).

   The movie scared the crap out of me in some parts, like, "Who's going to jump out next?" The photography was superb, it makes me wish I'd visited those places. The way Ian McKellon played the part of Teabing made Teabing a much more likeable character than is in the book. http://www.mckellen.com/cinema/davinci/journal/index.htm It also brought out near fiction of what's behind the controversy of the DaVinci Code. I wonder if all these people are reading too much into it? I even began to think, "If Jesus was married, that'd be cool." it's a good What If? book, but, the truth is, the book is fiction...Stephen King writes about places in Maine that anyone can go and look up on the internet or library, and find the places. Is it not okay for Dan Brown to write about things, and draw up a fictitious novel about it, and have everyone read it? Sure, I'll buy the DVD. I might have to read the book again, and by then, the book will be tattered, and I'll have to replace it. But, must we talk about it in Sunday School tomorrow, which I still am intrigued by, can one book make this much difference?

   The movie and book together is phenomenal. Dan Brown is an awesome writer. It'd be cool to be able to research those kind of things, cause it'd be interesting to do, though I've not heard of a female ever researching those kinds of things. You can still be Christian, but still research that kind of thing. I think that's what a character like Robert Langdon is.

      I saw the movie at 3:05, and the theater was full. At 3:05 on a Saturday afternoon, imagine that? I can see 5:30 or 6:00, but 3:05? I'd give the movie 5  stars, but that' only cause I've read the book. I'd say everyone in the theater read the same book. The movie is a work of art. So is the book. It is also a work of  fiction.

  When they got to chapter 55 in the movie, where they  explain about the chalice, and male and female symbols, I almost yelled, "That's chapter 55." We're going to talk about it for the next 4 weeks. If I was one of the actors in that movie, I'd feel very honored to be chosen to star in it.

   By the way, Linn Skinner's "Fibanocci  code sampler" is coming along. It's a tiny sampler, but I ended up learning how to knit lace, when I ended up learning how to crochet, which I don't necessarily like to do. Linn's tiny sampler must be ythis year's American Idol project, which is ending next Wednesday.

MBT Shoes

This is not a stitching post, it's about shoes, mainly MBT shoes, the expensive suckers you can only get at specialized shoe stores. Right now, the selection is basic, if infact dull, but on June 1st, the shoe is going to hit the shelves with colors, like white with tangerine stripes.

          The shoe is partially hand constructed, and the sole is rounded, never flat. It is packedged with an informative DVD on how to walk in the shoe, and other things. The shoe is based on the actions the foot preforms when walking in sand on the beach, and by the foot movement of the Masai tribe in Africa, hence it's name.

         http://www.mbt-uk.com/

I decided I'd try the shoes,  if only for the benefit of tighter thighs, and abs, I also have PF, and when it kicks in, it's a soreness unlike any soreness. It's what feels like when you accidently bite your tongue while eating a Ritz cracker spread with Jalepeno pepper jelly. You are stopped, and you are in pain. Nothing hurts worse.  The man at Comfort Shoes insisted I need not wear my ugly innersole with these shoes. He spoke as if he had memorized a whole selilquial on PF, and sold me the shoes. He also gave me a free pedomemter, which will be interesting to see how many steps I take whiile on my feet  from 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with no time for lunch. I have three other ppedomemters, but it's nivce to have another. I took them home, and watched the DVD. then, I put them on, and walked around the house. The soles feel like your standing on a firm marshmellow surface.

   I did the exercises that came with the shoes, and I then tried walking in them. I also walked up and down my stairs. I must admit, walking up and down my stairs made me feel as if I'd walked up 32 flights of stairs, and not just one. My thighs instantly tightened. When I switched to my New Balance shoes, with their meager arch suppoort, I could totally tell the difference. I remember a time when New Balance use to be very expensive, and they had the best supports. Not any more. I took a picture of my fat thighs this morning, in my shorts, sitting down, and I will take another picture in three weeks. Besides the arch support system, it will be interesting to see the difference, if any, as the shoe claims. I am wearing them to  work tomorrow, but am also taking my NB with me. I don't have the time to switch shoes, but I'll take the time.

    Introducing: my  fat thighs:

         

          

Lace

Scarry, I stopped cross stitching for a bit, and decided I needed to learn how to make knitted lace. I have a ball of lavendar linen yarn, that's not even clean. It even has some of the flax still present. Perfect lace weight, one ply. Will not split. I did 4 triangles of lace knitting, with the linen yarn. I think I might make up the whole ugly ball of yarn into a pretty peice of lace. Don't know what I'll do with it. Here's a link to some free knitted lace patterns.:

                       http://www.internationaloldlacers.org/DianeWilletPOM/dianewillettPOM.html

   I keep thinking, what in the world I'd use a peice of hand knitted lace edging for, that the EGA would acknowledge, as made with threads and needle.

Knitted Lace

I figured out that I must practice lace making, if I want to do it. It's taken me a year in order to do this semi easy pattern:

              http://urbanartsandcrafts.com/patternslink.html

It's the Chevron Scarf pattern. I'm not using the very fine beautiful fiber, not yet. I'm making it with some Caron's Soft, Denim color, I had on hand. It takes 81 sets of the pattern, to make it the length they made it. That way, if it turns out good, then I have a very useful Christmas gift. If I mess it up, so what? I figure, 8 a night- 10 nights. Or 10 a night, 8 nights.

In the meantime, I found this on making knitted lace:

http://www.knittersreview.com/article_how_to.asp?article=/review/profile/020704_a.asp