Finally... an update...

Recently, I mentioned I haven't even had time to send an email to friends and family. I no longer feel guilty as I took care of that today.

As you pretty much already know about weather topics and my knitting excursions, I thought I'd share the school highlights with you.
;-)

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The update parts about school:
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Actually, I do have some schooling “landmark” news: As of 2:30 p.m. on 7/29, the Transcription portion of the training program is done. [All 918 reports! Whew!] Because the Assessment Exam instructions given at the end of the section indicated that it should take 3-5 hours to complete, I opted to take the exam on Saturday 7/30. I’m glad I didn’t try to do it on Friday as it took me 6.25 hours (clocked) to complete. Well, that was when I finally gave up trying to fill in some blanks that I simply could not understand, even after stepping away a few times. [It also does not count the breaks taken to clear my head, a very nice walk to get the blood circulating again, and lunch.] Like the other assessment exams, it will be a week before I get the results back.

As it turned out, this was not just a test on the last section of the transcription training as I expected. [I had already had prior assessment exams for both Clinics and Basic Acute Care, so why not expect one for Advanced Acute Care?] This exam was actually a “dry run” for the Final Exam. It was presented in 2 sections. The first section was objective stuff, multiple-choice questions. The second section was straight transcription, grouped into 4 subsections (Clinics/History & Physical, Discharge Summaries, Radiology, and Operation/Procedure) and each subsection had 2 dictations to complete.

[All of them had... shall we call them... challenging... speakers. Not totally unexpected, but they really shoot down my confidence about the resulting grades. So, I’ll keep hoping I did well, but I’ll not be holding my breath. Besides, all through college, I often did better on an exam if I didn’t actually feel very good about it. I know, strange, but it worked out that way.]

I will officially begin the Editing portion of my training on Monday 8/1.
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I guess in many ways this update is a praise. It is also a prayer.

I really want to do well on the assessment exams (even if they don't count in the grade books). They are a window into how I would do on the Final Exam, which is the ONLY grade that counts in this course. I do imagine that there will be another assessment exam at the end of the Editing training, but I really don't know. The way the course is set up, we don't get a 'preview of coming attractions' until you turn the page and find it.

Thanks for listening!
Have a relaxing Sunday, for tomorrow... is a school day!
:-)
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God bless & Godspeed

More puttering...

When it gets hot inside the house (we don't have air conditioning), the brain doesn't concentrate on school very well. Right now, it's about 85-degrees in the house.  Not to worry. It's over 10 degrees warmer than that outside. So, I thought I'd share some additional play-time with you.

Over the weekend, I started digging into boxes to find knitting & crochet patterns and things to encourage my brain to play a little. [Not to mention finally getting everything into one location, and it's still not all done!] In that foray treasure hunt, I found little proto-projects (i.e. sample patterns) that I'd entertained over the years for making toys or gifts. I also found bags with left-over yarns from completed projects.

As the hunt continued, I found a bigger knitting project that I had started back in 2005 during a particulary rough onslaught of funerals that Mr. Squirrel and I endured (which included the passing of both of our fathers... within 33 days of each other). The knitting project was just an extra wide scarf in the most uncomplicated stitch (knit one row, purl one row). No patterns, no nothing. It was a baseline sanity saver; something to let my hands work when my brain was so numb I couldn't think on anything, or a retreat when I simply didn't WANT to think on anything. I actually worked on it for several months and probably got 75% of it completed... then life kicked back into full speed... and I never touched it again.

Fortunately, with my recent re-ignited love of knitting, the little tug-of-war with myself that happened when I rediscovered the unfinished project didn't last long. The battle for finishing it outweighed the memories that it brought to the surface. [Thankfully, enough time has passed that the memories coming to the surface are more fond than they are sad.]

So, Sunday afternoon, it began -- again. Picking up the needles and the yarn, I found that I actually had to go back to the books and relearn how to knit, how to purl, and how to cast off. That much time had passed, and unfortunately, I tend to hold the yarns differently than anyone else I've encountered, so first I had to figure out how "they" do it. Then, I could go from there and rediscover how I used to do it. That hurdle behind me, it all came back with the incredible ease.

The only bad news: After a few hours of working the rows, I found that I really didn't want to finish such a boring (if beautiful) piece (monotonous pattern, monotonous color). At the same time, I also didn't want to start working on a new project when I had a perfectly good one in progress. So, creator's perrogative: I changed the plan.

The original plan: An extra wide scarf, long enough to put pockets at the ends for hands to tuck into at football games.

The new plan: A hooded scarf/cowel.

Although my hands always get cold, and the scarf with pockets might have been the better idea, this was a faster finish. So, here is the final product.

[I'm also quite glad that my first SCA helmet -- the closest thing I have to a human head -- doesn't mind the hot temperatures and makes a reasonable display

The current length allows me to wrap both 'wings' around my neck to meet in the back, like a bulky cowel. I may eventually crochet more rows onto the ends to make it longer (purples and reds would be pretty). However, right now, it may be better for wearing underneath coats, so length may not be necessary. [Not planning to test that until the temperatures drop again!]

Luckily, this blue is in fact darker than the blue in the slippers. I can get by wearing this color better than the other (and the white crochet border helps, too -- added to tame the natural curl of the knitting, an oopsie in the original plan that I hadn't allowed for).

Although I think a warmer color would have been a better choice, I had a huge 1-pound skein of this very soft yarn gifted to me... with the unknown size of the original/final project, it was a no-brainer what color I was going to have to use! 

But for an experiment, it turned out not-too-bad.
 ;-)

Saturday musing...

Why is it that when you finally think you're getting ahead in the game, you suddenly realize that everyone else is about to lap you?

As I sit down in preparation for yet another school day, I am amazed at the passage of time. Things have gotten crazy-busy instead of settling down. 

I just want to ask: "Where is the pause button?"

I haven't even been able to make time to send out update emails to friends and family.  [I am such a snail.]

For those who check this blog, here is a quick snapshot of the chaos:

1.) Happy news: I am less than 20 reports from completing the transcription portion of my training (that will be 918 reports in total). When that is done, I will take the assessment exam for this last section (Advanced Acute Care). After that, I begin the Editing portion of the training.  I am hoping that it will go more quickly and smoothly, but I have underestimated this course at every step so far. So, we'll just have to wait and see what happens when I get there.

2. Happy news: Thanks to the rumor of some pending visitors, the living room has FINALLY been completely set up (...and how many months ago did we start this?). So, even if the guests are unable to cross paths with us, we have a very nice living space again!

3. Happy news: Mr. Squirrel has a job! He's been hired on with a local fellow to do some part-time carpentry work. I have no idea how many hours/week that means (for the start he will be REALLY busy), but he still has to leave some time to mow his mom's property (designated Mondays) and still work on his sermons.  I am praying that it all shakes into a workable schedule, quickly. This current job-project should last for at least a few weeks, and hopefully there will be more work after. [Mr. Squirrel is also researching some work-from-home computer support-type jobs, as well as some additional local work options... maybe God will provide something that would mesh together well for him.]

4. Transitional news (somewhat stressful): With Mr. Squirrel working again, I am faced with taking back some duties that I had thought I'd handed off. I'm just not sure how to juggle it all back together again, but it has to be done.

4. Transitional news (somewhat stressful): My unemployment benefits will be drying up very shortly and we are going through "assistance review" this next week. I'll be making an appointment on Monday to go in to see our caseworker. Hopefully, she can schedule me for a day when Mr. Squirrel can be there. He's better at explaining some things than I am. 

Fortunately, Mr. Squirrel's first paycheck should be available about the same time that my funds end.

God is good in His timing, but these faith-stretching exercises can be killer sometimes!

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God bless & Godspeed

Added a search function...

I don't know about my readers, but the longer time passes, the more I notice when I try to locate something I've written, I simply can't find it. That's kind of wild considering that it is my own blog!

I did something this morning that I haven't done in a VERY long time, I prowled through the blogger gadgets. I was happy to find a searching feature. [Actually, there are several...  Wow, I really need to look deeper into those gadgets!] The search function I've added is under the 'basics' section, first page of listings.

Now, I can find my chipmunk stories, or anything I've mentioned about yarn... just by typing the word! So much less frustration and time loss.

Hmmm. I will need to share this information with Mr. Squirrel... His blog is WAY bigger than mine and I can't find things on his blog, either!

Have a nice day, all :-)

P.S. The search function is set to look within 3 areas (shown in tabs after you submit your initial search word(s)): 1. My blog. 2. Sites that I have linked to from my blog. (Warning: This can get some wild results because I've linked to dictionaries, the Bible, Snopes.com and many other vastly searchable sites with nearly unlimited topics. If it gets too noisy, or people let me know that it is going to inappropriate places, I may switch that one off eventually. It currently has a moderate filtering setting.). 3. The blogs that I follow. 

Typing in a word will do searching for all three options... but it can take a little time for it to load.  For now, I didn't link the search to the web, but it is an option to choose (toggle switch) if I want to add it later.

P.P.S. Unfortunately, as I play with it, it seems that posts/articles that come up in the box are not sorted by date.  I'll have to play with it further to see what it actually is sorting by... and whether or not I can influence that.  [In my spare time, of course.]

The promised photos...

Here are my completed slippers! These went faster than Mr. Squirrel's... because my feet are smaller. [The pattern and hoop are identical, but the length from heel to toe is almost 10 rows shorter.]

Because of the oddity of the final color blending, I laid them out across white and black fabric to ask the question:

What color do these look like to you?

To me, the pale green and blue combination sometimes looks green... or blue... or almost a purple depending on the light.  [The eye can come up with some interesting 'translations' where color is concerned!]


Here is another photo showing one of the finished slippers with the source yarns as a comparison for the true colors. [Neither of the colors are very good for my 'winter' skin tone, but I find (for my tastes and attitudes) slippers can be ANY color!]


Part of this effect is caused by the fact that I allowed the threads to twist naturally on the loom. [I don't let them twist between the skein and the loom, though.] There are ways to make sure that colors do not twist on the loom, but it takes more time, and for slippers, I find the twist makes the final product a bit more durable. [Note: Not allowing the threads to twist would make one color dominant, with the second color being a 'highlight' behind the first. A hat I made a few years ago was done this way... I'll have to see if I can find the photo.]
 
Up to this point, I've been using what I would call "compatibly contrasting" colors. However, I'm thinking that I may need to play with the ideas of intentional color-blending for some future projects...

Have a nice day, all :-)
Godspeed!

P.S. Thanks to a comment a few posts back, I wanted to link my readers to a republished source for the Knifty Knitter pattern for these slippers. Immediately below the post heading is a link to a free download via Ravelry.com (it is a PDF document):

http://yarngear.blogspot.com/2005/03/knifty-knitter-socks.html

Cheers!

[Added notes:]
1. I've been using cheap worsted-weight acrylic yarn.
2. Modification of pattern: Cuff is 16 rows instead of 10 (prior to hat-brim fold procedure... instructions for hats come with the round looms).
3. Future modification to pattern: Trying to figure out how to add additional thread, or thread material, to the heel and foot pad parts of the slipper to help slow down or prevent blow-outs.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Squirrel

Here are the completed slippers as worn by Mr. Squirrel.

And thanks to a road-trip to town (about an hour going one way), I've also started working on my own pair. The road-trip allowed me to get about 1/2 way done with the first slipper.  [Note: The two colors I've chosen from the "donation basket" are really going together BEAUTIFULLY, much better than I ever expected!  Pictures will be posted, I promise!]

I suddenly find that I have to be careful, though. I'd forgotten that long stretches of knitting tend to stiffen up my fingers and wrists. Right now, and probably for the far future, and I need to save fingers and wrists for typing... So I just need to do smaller stretches of knitting in any single setting.  [i.e. No more than the equivalent of one really long movie, or two shorter ones.]

;-)

A wild hair... and some fun!

First: Happy Independence Day! I pray for everyone to have a safe and happy day!

Sunday afternoons are typically a time for relaxing. This often manifests in going for walks, playing games on the computer, watch movies, or puttering on little things (like laundry) that need to be done. [School days don't often lend themselves to maintaining things like housework.]

Yesterday, I was struck with a wild hair that brought back to mind one of those "sanity-saver past times" that I mention in my profile description... and have not done since I started school. This one is knitting! Although I can knit with needles, I've taken to knitting smaller projects on my Knifty Knitter looms because they are easier on my hands.

After church, I was suddenly taken with the idea of starting a Knifty Knitter project (or two), most likely inspired by the cold-floor mornings we've been having. Cold floors = cold feet. I still need to replace my slippers and Mr. Squirrel blew his slippers out again recently. His slippers are like mine, not much there to repair anymore. ;-)

I'd forgotten how fun Knifty Knitter is to use... and how easy!

I wrapped up slipper #1 for Mr. Squirrel this morning. The "donated" yarn colors ended up being bright green and gold (If you are familiar with the SCA, they are perfect "Kingdom of the Outland" colors). The gold was originally going to be part of a House Griffindor (Harry Potter) scarf, but the maroons all got used for Grizzly gear projects in the interim. [The University of Montana football team colors are maroon and silver.]

Although I'd love to just knit the day away, I've got school work today, so I'll work on slipper #2 in the evenings. If all goes well, Mr. Squirrel's slippers should be done for his birthday :D

Side note: I really don't have yarn that I've purchased. I've got a large basket of yarns and yarn-remnants that I've accumulated from former knitters and people just "getting rid of stuff." As I use them up, I'm trying to save the colors that I can actually wear (winter-color basics like the reds and blues) for clothing or hat/scarf projects. Slippers tend to get the colors that I can't wear (because no-one is going to see them in a public setting). However, I still try to put colors together that look good ;) The slippers I'll be making for myself (this time around) will be a mint-ice-cream green and a pastel baby blue. [In the right light, they almost look like the same color... but neither are good colors for me... but they do look OK together!]

Most of the smaller bits turn into granny squares and eventually into afghans... random various colors can live nicely in that setting :D

OK. I need to get back to school. Have a nice day, all!
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God Bless & Godspeed!