Tuesday, October 02, 2012

More things to know

I have no essay in my head.  I learned some stuff at knit night.  If you want to skip the funny stuff and go straight to the "I know knitting I can help" section of this post, jump down to ***

1.  Armadillos are the primary source/carrier of leprosy.

2.  Necrotizing fasciitis (flesh eating disease) is treated with penicillin which is sometimes hard to come by when there is a syphilis epidemic.

3.  While herpes is more prominent in the northeast, syphilis is the main STD in Florida.

4.  There is a reflex test that doctors give to newborns which involves lifting a baby resting on a table up by the arms and letting go of them to watch their arms flail to be sure they have the instinct of catching themselves.  (the baby is not completely lifted just up at the arms.)

5.  It's fun having a friend in medical school.

6.  Trying to pick up provisional stitches in laceweight yarn sucks.

7.  When a knit night friend suggests a pre-field trip adventure, you feel like Sally Field- she likes me, she really likes me- so busy being happy about the possibilities you remain blissfully ignorant of how pathetic your life must seem.

Some school adventures for anyone who might come here for that.

My favorite moment this week occurred in 5th grade where we sang The Lion Sleeps Tonight and accompanied ourselves on xylophones.  There really is no way to describe the looks on kids faces when they hear chord progressions/harmonies that they are making (presumably for the first time for most.)  I can only imagine that it is something similar to the cavemen discovering fire.  For real.

My most hilarious moment of the day was all about me not remembering names.  When we get this far along in the school year the progression usually looks something like me calling a kid by the wrong name and immediately realizing I was wrong (often by the crestfallen look on a kid's face) and then immediately calling her by the right name.

Today, however I was given a break.  After I inadvertently referred to Emily as Elizabeth and corrected myself, Emily said, "you probably called me Elizabeth because we have the same shoes."  I felt like I dodged a bullet on that one when I said, "You're absolutely right."

And hey- if I haven't said it lately, thanks for reading my blog.

***the stocking is in the design mode.  The tractor pattern dictates that I have 80 stitches around.  As I see it, in order to make the sturdiest sort of stocking I can either a) use worsted weight on a size 5 or 6 needle, or b) use two strands of worsted weight on say a size 10 needle.  I will eventually test out both of these methods but if you have any opinion or knowledge to share, that would be great.



3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I always have an opinion, but will not share because I really have no idea. And, kids are such a hoot!!!!

kmkat said...

I made worsted weight Christmas stocking for my boys when they were little. Didn't pay attention to what the finished size would be -- they were delightful stockings with an intarsia dancing teddy bear --but about three feet long. I was grossed out. That's waaayyy to big.

Becky said...

Was there a med student at knit night this week? Or an infectious disease doctor? Now I'm afraid of armadillos.