catching up

OK, it's been quite a while since I've "done" anything to show off, but I am working on projects as well as my EMT training is taking a lot of time. It has become a full time job, in effect, but I get paid in knowledge, not cash.

For a fun photo, here is my 16 yo son, wearing a ball on his head. At least he is smiling under that thing, I think. It was his idea to do this, not mine. I just took the picture.




This is the combined yarn for my Mystic Waters Knit Along. Finally found something I like that was in stash, came up with 2 that I thought would look cool together, so plied them on the spinning wheel-- Her name is Rapunzel because she has long flaxen hair. My oldest son calls her Steve-- Watch Over the Hedge movie, and you may understand. Or not, I don't try to understand college students. The 2 yarns are a BRIGHT royal blue and a teal/brown, when blended together, it's brighter, but muted for a cool deep water color. I'll do the swatch and get started on clue one and try for a photo in the sunlight. My camera chose not to use a flash since we were outside, so it's very shadowed.





This is the beginnings of a lap afghan for charity. It's a silver rayon chenille with a cotton boucle in purple/black/white. The photo doesn't do it justice. It's a cool blend. I like to use large needles, multi strands of yarn to make bigger patterns and make faster projects. This is done in a basketweave stitch.




This is the beginnings of my Secret of the Stole Knit Along. I'm WAY behind everyone, as clue 4 came out today, and I have just finished clue 1. The yarn is white with gold metallic thread running thru it. The beads, which are pretty invisible-- see the nearly clear things just above the needle? Those are my beads. They are clear with an opal lining. I couldn't find a neat gold I liked, and the multi shaded browns I liked, but not the quality of the beads, so passed on those.




This is the beginning of another lap afghan, which is actually nearly completed. I did this stripe in burgundy in basketweave stitch, followed a cream using Angel Wing Lace pattern, and now am about 1/2 way thru a Colonial Blue using a fireman's ladder pattern. I'll seam them together as soon as the blue stripe is completed. This will go to Brook Army Medical Center to one of the soldiers being treated there after returning from Iraq.


So, now back to my studying, I hope to get some knitting time to get into clue 2 of the SotS and finish the plying together of some of the Mystic Waters yarns, so I can start the swatch for that and see how that turns out. One of these days, I'll actually get started on knitting that!

latest newspaper publication!

Local firefighters attend certification training sessions

Members of volunteer fire departments in Sutherland Springs, La Vernia, Eagle Creek, Stockdale, and Kicaster, as well as members of the Longhorn Volunteer Fire Department and Instructor Jason Scheel, commemorate a Phase III firefighter certification-training event in Seguin with a group photo.

Contributed 17.OCT.07
Wilson County had a good showing at recent firefighter training sessions. The Guadalupe County Fire Training Field north of Seguin hosted Phase III training for many Texas-area firefighters. Six Wilson County volunteer departments sent firefighters; most expect to complete their basic firefighter certification before the end of the year.

Basic certification consists of four segments or phases held throughout the year over two weekends each. Phase I was held in Refugio in January and February, and Phase II was held in Beeville during March and April. Phase III was scheduled in Guadalupe County in September and October. Phase IV will be in Port Lavaca in November and December, with a classroom-only option available in late October in Stockdale.

Subjects covered in Phase III are live fire; fire alarms and communications; inspections and public fire education; apparatus familiarization, records and reports; salvage and overhaul; fire cause and origin; and fire protection systems and water supplies.

Wilson County firefighters attending included Leona Barnes, Will Barnes, Leslie Roberts, Gene Roberts, Mike Abbott, and Bryan Crasher from the Sutherland Springs Volunteer Fire Department; Casey Stewart and Tammy Worthington of the La Vernia Volunteer Fire Department; James Roberts, Steve Olsen, and Daniel Jones of the Eagle Creek Volunteer Emergency Services; Brian Deason and Mallorie Deason of the the Longhorn and Stockdale volunteer fire departments; David Rice Jr. and Christa Gelhaar of the Stockdale Volunteer Fire Department; and Bruce Engelke, Rodney Zacek, Danny Zacek, Greg Smith, and Laurel Smith of the Kicaster Volunteer Fire Department.

This is from this week's Wilson County News http://www.wilsoncountynews.com and the article with picture I wrote to go along with our firefighter training series we are doing this year. We start Phase 4 tonight. We will be done with our training by the end of this weekend for the year.

I will have plenty of knitting time, as it's all classroom, so expect to make progress on the lap afghan I'm working on for the soldiers at Brook Army Medical Center. One of the charity groups I knit things for donate to the soldiers who are receiving treatment there.

Anyway, time to get ready to leave, I need to get some pictures uploaded and update on the latest knit alongs I'm involved in. Those are going slow because of schooling and volunteer work. Still making some progress, so I'm OK with that.