Continental Knitting

It was requested that I make a video of myself knitting. Not wanting to be one to dissapoint my audience, I got to thinking on how I can make this possible.

How, I asked myself, am I going to record myself knitting, get it into a digital format and then upload it to the internet?

I do have a camcorder. However the device is ancient and records on a VHS tape. And while this is fine and good for recording birthday parties, its not gonna cut it here. I have no way of getting the video in a digital format that the computer likes, so this is out of the question.

I also have a webcam that was a Christmas pressent last year. Do we use it? Not really, but it sure is fun when we do.

This got me to thinking. If its possible to share live video coverage of myself over the internet, then I should be able to record a video. So I reviewed the owners manual and sure enough it is possible.

I fed and bathed the kids, kissed them good night and sent them to bed. Then I got out the webcam, some knitting, and made a video. Afterwards, I had DH help me with the video editing.

So here you have it, a video on how to knit Continentally!

The Loot

Once a year the girls from the chat site exchange gifts. The only rule is that everything has to be hand made. This in and of itself brings on a whole new set of insecurities. Will mine be good enough to give as a gift? Will people like my creation? Did someone already make it? As you can see, one can get quite the complex before even signing up.

This year I made lavender and lilac scented soap and body scrub. Not the melt and pour kind. I consider that to be cheating and besides, I like putting my college education to good use. I paid a lot of money for that little piece of paper!


The excitement, the anticipation when I arrived at home to find a little white box on my doorstep. Knowing that I can't open it until after the chores are done. For if they are not, I will be bombarded with screaming kids hungry for their dinner. Following dinner is cleanup and then baths and then stories and then bed time. An entire 3 hours slide by and still an unopened white box beacons. It is usually a good thing that this is the natural progression of events because I know that I will want to play with my treasures once opened.

This year was fantastic. I got:

1. A great bath mitt and washcloth set
2. Another washcloth
3. A heart shaped shawl pin
4. A rose quartz bracelet
5. Sewing scissors with a beautiful beaded hand holder
6. A furry roving sheep that I'm gonna turn into a frig magnet
7. A set of beaded votive candles
8. Some stitch markers (not pictured because I have already started using them)
9. Orange scented fireplace sachets, and
10. A felted blue and yellow bag that had some body wash from the Body Shop inside.


Thanks everyone! Everything here is staying with me!

Dominic

I heard this song a last year and fell in love with it. I hope you like it too!

"The Spa"

A couple weeks ago I came home from work with excruciating pain. Pain so terrible that I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. By the time Saturday rolled around, I was doubled over and DH bundled up the kids and took me to the ER. From there I was admitted to "The Spa".

The Spa was equipped with all sorts of lovely amenities like movable beds, and IV pumps that kept on beeping, and roommates that like their TV turned up full volume. It also had the usual amount of pampering you would find at the finnest of establishments. Pampering in the form of nurses who would draw your blood at 4 am, and doctors having their students draw the workings of your insides to you. Very encouraging. Also, there was no shortage of student nurses who were all too eager to poke you with very sharp objects. And last but not least is the food.

**Insert picture that is still stuck on the camera phone and I have no idea how to get it off.**

My diet consisted of very hearty portions of the 2L IV bag filled with 0.9% C6H12O6 and 0.5% NaCl and a splash of K. In a nutshell, they pumped me full of sugar water that was enriched with table salt and some potassium. My roommate got to eat cheesecake. Rich, creamy, cherry topped, graham cracker crusted, cheesecake. So not fair.


**Insert picture that is still stuck on the camera phone and I have no idea how to get it off.**


Turned out that I was having a pancreas attack caused by a gall stone. The gall! So I sat in the adjustable bed for 2 days waiting for my pancreas numbers to get back to normal. Then they carted me off to the operating room, removed the offending gall bladder, stitched me up and sent me home.

I did manage to get a crazy ton of knitting done. Each time the nurses would check in on me they commented on the project at hand. Then the next time, they would say "Wern't you working on something else the last time I was in here?"

"Yep"

"OH, What are you working on now?"

"a boob"

blank look ... "a what?"

"a breast"

again, blank look.... "um OK", "Thats nice dear"

For all of their medical training I would think that they would know what a breast was. So I explained about a friend with breast cancer that is loosing her breasts and I though that she needed something and decided to knit her a boob.

This was usually followed by "Those sure are nice colors", or "how creative".

All in all, as nice of an experience as I had, I sure would like to stay clear from there for awhile!