Minicia

On Wednesday, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the morning, the time and date will be 01:02:03 04/05/06.

Weird.  I almost want to set my alarm to wake up. 

Edited to add: Go see Laura's perfect new baby and wish her and her family congratulations!  He's soooo cute. 

Before I get too angry, look at this freaking ADORABLE little sweater that I'm knitting. I have two friends in my class who are both pregnant. One is about 12 weeks along, one only 9. The 9 weeker wasn't supposed to leak the information, because as you might know, 9 week pregnancies are not always guaranteed to last, but she was super excited and cracked under the excitement of the other friend's pregnancy. Of course, I was thrilled for both of them, they will make wonderful mommies, and I was thrilled because this meant that I could go to WEBS while home on spring break and buy some cute yarn and a pattern. So I found the ladybuggies. This is a Dale of Norway Pattern, called "Marihone" Number 1005 knit in Baby Ull, which might be my new favorite yarn. The tricky part about this pattern, besides its almost crippling cuteness is the fact that there are rows with 3 colors at once AND long floats. I worked out a system in which I did some fudging of the placement of the dark blue dots and used 2 yarns in my right hand and one in my left. NOT elegant or pretty to watch, but seems to be working ok. The sweater will hopefully smooth out with some blocking action, and I wish I had one of those old-fashioned sweater stretcher boards, but it would need to be in tiny baby size. Funny story: I bought my skinny Addi Turbos in 24" without realizing that a tiny baby might not be 24" around. I returned them, and all is right with the world.

Except for the rage blackouts. I swear, I live with some of the LEAST considerate people that I have ever met in my whole life. If you read a story in the paper about me stabbing someone in the heart with a knitting needle, I promise you that it will have been justifiable homicide. I could go in to details, but it is so exhausting and ridiculous to list it all, that I'd rather not. Just imagine the worst college roomate ever and multiply it by 7.

I've been knitting like mad because I was home for 1 week on spring break, and all I did was knit and watch The West Wing on DVD. That's not quite true, I exercised as well, but still...Here is a sweater. I know this picture blows. Sorry. It will be a cardigan, inspired by the movie Brokeback Mountain. The color is lighter than Michelle Williams' sweater, but it is such terrific yarn (and was in the stash), that I'm really pleased so far. I'm calling it Brokeback Brioche, and it is knit in Peace Fleece "Lena's Meadow." The yarn is pale blue with a darker teal spun with it, with nubs of olive green, dark hot pink and dark teal. It also has a soft mohair halo. I LOVE this yarn. When I said before that Baby Ull is my new favorite, I meant that this yarn really was. I have 6 skeins in an awesome green just waiting for an exciting project...I love Brioche stitch too, and if you would like to try it, Interweave Knits Spring 2005 has a really nice article about the basics, and also it goes in to increasing and decreasing. Very helpful.

Things around here are changing! First of all, I bought this book: Happy Hooker and it turns out, I kinda like crochet! Maybe it is Debbie Stoller that I like. After all, Stitch and Bitch the original was what turned me from someone who liked knitting a lot to someone who thinks about knitting while I'm sleeping! I don't have great pictures yet, but I'm thinking of using my ridiculous Lamb's Pride stash to make some kind of granny square throw, or maybe a cute flowery scarf, or maybe both! I like the way crochet LOOKS more than I like actually crocheting, but it is something that I think I'll work on. My mom is trying to remember her old skills in crochet, so over my spring break my plans are to go home, hang with the folks and crochet with my mom! Yay.

In true me fashion I have actually come to really like Psych! I hope I'm not disappointing all of you medical type supporters who wrote in and told me that you hated it too! Maybe it is because my attending is WONDERFUL. He is so kind to the patients, and is very reasonable in his treatment plans and what he is willing or not willing to do to these fragile patients. He also has that amazing ability to joke around in a way that is stress-relieving and funny, but not at the expense of our patients. We laugh more at the ridiculousness of the situations that we see on a daily basis. It is a protective measure, because although the locked ward has grown on me, it is still a difficult place to be.

I have been knitting a lot, but most of it on a secret project that can't be displayed here just yet. I finally finished the bottom of Eris, but can't seem to get motivated to knit the sleeves! I'm working on this pattern in this yarn, and LOVE both. Pictures soon, I promise.

I have been planning for next year a lot, and electives are starting to fall into place.

Has anyone else seen Brokeback Mountain and found themselves noticing Michelle Williams' knitwear??  I have developed an obsession with the blue cardigan she wears in the scene with the laundry line and while she is washing dishes in the sink.  It is wooly and vintage-y and has a nifty looking rib pattern.  I'm trying to replicate it right now with my Treasury of Knitting Patterns, Vol. 1.  I've found something that I like ok, but I don't think it is the one from the movie.  Anyone have any ideas?  I've tried Googling to get better pictures, because the sweater goes by quite quickly, but have not had much luck.  

I hate to say it, but today while at OUTPATIENT Psych, I found myself yearning for the fun times of the locked ward.  I don't like my outpatient doc too much.  He was one hour late, did not give reason or apology for said lateness, and AGAIN answered his cell phone while in the middle of a patient interview.  NOT COOL.  It actually makes me so mad that I had a hard time concentrating on other things.  During the day I get more and more angry, and start to think about throwing things and hurting people.  Psych is giving me psychiatric disorders.  I came home sad and angry, so my roomate's boyfriend made me drink bourbon and dance around their room with him.  It helped!  

Here is the inside of my recently completed Lopi sweater. I REALLY like the way it looks on the inside, almost better than the outside! I'm just so proud of my stranding work. I think I'll design a sweater that is intentional inside-out Fair Isle...

Psych sucks somewhat less than before. This week I'm with the doc that I'll be with for the next 5 weeks, and he is very nice and friendly. However, the patients all still make me want to cry, so that has not improved.

I had a funny conversation with my boyfriend last night, as I was describing visiting my parents. They are "babysitting" my cousins' guinea pig, who is very cute, but who causes me great allergic reactions after about 3 minutes of holding him. My boyfriend and I have been talking about the "future" a lot, but we often have funny ways of thinking about it. Case in point:

Me: Yeah, so I was really allergic to the guinea pig, I almost had an asthma attack!

BF: Oh no! What happens if you are allergic to dogs? How are we going to have a dog? If you are really allergic, we couldn't have a dog.  That would be really bad, I think it would be all over between us!

Me: Oh, that's nice. Look, I'm NOT allergic to dogs, and I don't think that I'll become allergic. But what if I did? It would be a deal breaker if I was allergic to dogs?

BF: Think of it this way, what if I suddenly became allergic to children?

The red roses are from my boyfriend, he is SO wonderful, and not just because of the flowers. The white cyclamens are from my parents, and arrived yesterday in the FREEZING cold snowiness, which seemed appropriate to me. My roomate and I were trying to remember the name of these flowers, and all she could come up with was "Something that sounds like Chlamydia?" See what med school does to you??

Thanks to all of you for your words of support or "Hey, I've been there too!" This morning I arrived for morning report and one of the nurses started telling me about how many aides had gone to the ER because of Mr. Punchy. I thought that I might barf or cry, but then I was granted a reprieve, somehow, and now seem to be in charge of a nice lady who is suicidal. The ward I'm in is depressing and stressful. At one time today, there were three people all saying "Help Me!" in different but equally distressing ways. There was the guy YELLING it in a very rude way, punctuated by swears. There was the lady barking it over and over again. There was the other lady plaintively yelling it from down the hall.

So far, the folks that I'm the most impressed with are the social workers, who manage the family members' total panic and stress.  I also have to give a lot of credit to the nurses, who have a lot of hands-on contact with the patients, who can be anywhere from meek and sweet to punching and hitting.

The attending in charge of me, as you may have gathered, is not the most attentive towards med students, although she does treat the patients with a lot of care and respsect. I spent a long time today feeling out of place and awkward, unsure of my job. I guess this is part and parcel of third year, which is like having a brand new job every 6 weeks. However, confused and stressed is sort of my baseline in a locked psych ward! I need reassurance! Needless to say, when I was set free I went yarn shopping, then to the gym for some stress relief. And the flowers didn't hurt either! Supposedly the doctor who will be in charge of me for real, who is away on vacation, is great. I am counting the HOURS until he arrives...

Here is some progress on Laralund (Silk Garden was purchased on 30% off sale, so how could I say no!).

I have been dreading psychiatry. I get nervous around aggressive, unstable people, and for some unkown reason I often attract more than my fair share of attention from people like that. They can smell my fear, I guess. Today was my first day at my outpatient site, a locked ward in a small hospital. I walked into the ward, and it smelled like piss and some lady was screaming, "Help me" over and over again. Then, I was assigned to my first patient. Guess what his deal is???

He's been punching people.

Some advice from my attending: "He's slowly getting better. He has not punched anyone in the last few days. You can tell when he gets mad, he gets a dark look in his eyes. Watch out for that look. Also, don't go within arms length of him. And if you wear glasses, take them off so if he punches you, he won't hit them and break them. And take your keys off from around your neck."

Guess which future doctor career I WON'T be choosing?!?!?!

Here is a picture of my newly discovered skill-I can actually do Fair Isle, and I don't have to learn to do it two-handed for it to work!  I'm not sure if this is violating some sort of unwritten law, but I finally saw a picture in this book of how to use my right hand to hold both yarns, and it clicked!!  My sweater has progressed a lot since this photo was taken, but my camera is acting up, so this is the best I can do.  

I've not felt much like blogging lately for a wide variety of reasons, but I have been knitting like mad.  I finished my Kureyon sweater and really like it, except for some wonky parts on the sides that might need a little steam blocking to calm down.  I couldn't get a good picture of it, but I will try to soon. 

I also finished knitting all the parts of Lace Leaf Pullover.  I discovered that I HATE grafting with a bulky weight alpaca blend yarn.  Then I discovered that I had grafted the top to the wrong side of the bottom, and promptly became so frustrated that I put it away in the closet.  Soon I will tackle it again.  The yarn is really lovely, soft and not terribly sheddy, but I just think Teva was crazy to have us grafting with ALPACA.  It doesn't work well.  I actually considered ripping the whole bottom and doing what others have done and knit the lace chart upside down, basically.  We'll see...

Medical school wise I've been having a crisis of decision making, and don't like it.  I'm torn between Pediatrics, OB/GYN and Family Med.  Since the beginning of med school I thought I would do Family Med for sure, and now I'm not so sure at all.  Hm.  Any advice?  I have to make some of these choices pretty soon, which makes me feel queasy. 

Here are my two cute cousins and my uncle Rob (check out his band Boston Blackthorne here and on iTunes!) playing their instruments for us on Christmas day. I adore my family. I adore my boyfriend. Together, they made me so joyful and thankful during this holiday. I had a wonderful vacation, during which I did really nothing except buy yarn and open presents! I also started feeling a little stressed out about my stash, and about my lack of personal exercise motivation. I thought a lot about my goals for this year, and realized that they are analogous. I'm on a food diet and a yarn diet. I need to exercise more and knit more, which should make me happy!

Category 1: FITNESS. Before I started surgery, I was really good about exercising. I wasn't about to run any marathons or win any fittest student awards, but I was in decent shape. Then, surgery hit me like a brick, and I was lucky if I worked out for 30 minutes a week. During OB I was no better, and just a tiny bit better during Pediatrics. Now for 6 weeks I have to report for duty around 9 am. Over Christmas break, I worked out almost every day, and I hope to continue this trend. I'd like to eat a bit better, lose some weight and become toned again. I plan to get up at 6 am and go to the sucky but free school exercise room--hopefully the smelly dude who sometimes is there will still be sleeping! :o)

Category 2: STASH REDUCTION. Seriously, the stash is getting out of control. I knitted a truly heroic number of holiday knits, and somehow managed to give them away without pictures. One mistake rib scarf for my grandfather, a "lacey" pattern scarf for my great-aunt, a ziz-zag scarf from Modular Knits with matching mittens for my sister, Fleece Artist "Favourite Mittens" for my mom, some mittens for my grandmother...you get the idea. It was insane, but all presents were finished more or less in time for the big day. Since then I've made lots of progress on my Eris, and have started two new projects.

Rosedale United:
This pattern and yarn is ADDICTIVE! What you see there is about 1 full day worth of knitting. Most of this was knitted yesterday during a full day of lectures called "Interclerkship." Some more was done today in between orientations for Family Medicine. I forgot how much I LOVE Noro Kureyon. This is color number 162, and even though I can see the ball of yarn and tell which color is coming next, I keep on wanting to knit MORE and more and see what the sweater will look like! I'm almost done with the body and will move to the sleeves soon...Knitting this makes me think about that crazy sweater from Interweave Web patterns knit with Kureyon. Of course, I can't make it until I use up WAY more stash...but I do have the color picked out...maybe.

Lace Leaf Pullover:
From Teva Durham's book, also from Interweave Summer 2005. Ever since I saw this sweater I knew I had to have it. I found the yarn for it at WEBS, it is one of their new lines-Valley Yarns Shelburne. The picture does not do justice to the yarn or pattern, both are lovely. I've finished the lower part of the body and almost both sleeves. Hey, at this rate, I'll have room in my stash in NO TIME.