Of Knitting and Nurses

I nearly put "of knitting and nursing", but figured that folks might believe this to be a breastfeeding blog....and, while I'm all for breastfeeding, having never had a child OR fed one, I doubt I could be of much help. No, the truth is that I am a 40-something returning college student, wannabe nurse, and acute yarnaholic, hoping to document my travels from here to nursedom.

In my area (and I suspect all over the country), getting into nursing programs is getting harder and harder--not enough teachers, too many applicants. The net result is that the hurdles are becoming more and more numerous, until I wouldn't be completely surprised if they added a swimsuit comptetion (Dude, I am SO out of there if that happens.....neither I nor my thighs need a job that much.....). So I'm taking prereqs and angsting about whether or not I'll get in, as I compete with 20-somethings that look 12 and wonder how I got to be this old.

Then there's the yarnaholism. I've been a knitter for about 20 years, which means I started with acrylic, straight needles, and plain sweaters. I've updated recently, to wonderful fibers, circular needles, and multiple projects, and I'm trying really hard to resist the urge to learn to spin (yeah, good luck with that--if I could own an alpaca, I already would). On the needles now:

Pink cashmere sweater for my mother; the center panel looks lacier in person

Pink pomotamus sock--I'm probably the last person in knittingdom to still be working on these, but has anyone else noticed that doing anything --ANYTHING--else while working on them leads inevitably to tinking, frogging, and creative profanity?

A shawl in Frog Tree 100% alpaca--so soft I can hardly stand it. I'm having faith the final product, once blocked, will look more like a lacy shawl and less like a pile of teal green Top Ramen.

There's also the toes of a pair of newly cast-on gray wool socks for hubby, but I haven't managed a good photo yet.

So, this is my first ever blog and I will almost certainly screw it up 100 times. Hints, suggestions, etc. are all welcome. I'd also love feedback from nursing students and wannabes like myself, and any and all fellow yarn addicts. Next post: Part 1 of the saga of how I went from corporate director to knitphile and student.