lots going on

Ok, since the last time I posted I have begun taking 16 credits (7 classes) for my nursing prerequisites so I can apply for a nursing program in April. I had no idea I was going to do that because you're technically supposed to do classes in order. Since I have a science background already and only had one semester's worth of classes that I needed to take, the super awesome adviser lady let me sign up for everything I needed. The nursing programs here are competitive because there aren't many in this area (just 2 in my city) and one only has room for about 30 students! Crazy! So I'm working hard to earn As. And not just 90 As, I'm trying to get as many points as I can so I can keep the A in case I get a bad grade later on in the course. And for the most part it's working. The only class I may have a B in is Nursing 101! One because there's a 7point grading scale so a 93 is the cut off. And two, I got an 88 on the first test, which I had no idea how to prepare for because the teacher did not tell us anything except read the book and look at the powerpoints. Um, ok, your powerpoints are only the headings of the sections in the book, so that's no help. And it'd be nice if you told us that we need to know all of the graphs and tables that have specifics on theorists and names, that aren't detailed in the sections. Ugh, oh well. I say I might have a B because I have As on other assignments, but there are two things she hasn't returned to us and she doesn't use the blackboard gradebook. At least she put our test grades on it so we didn't have to wait a week for our grades.

I am still working over 40 hours a week too. So you can see how I'm a little (lot!) short on time. I've barely knit anything. This week I've been knitting a little bit more because we're studying the bones in anatomy and they make me anxious to think about. But yesterday I got a 101.5% on my microbiology lecture test so I rewarded myself with knitting. So I just finished the Mezquita Shawl by Zen Yarn Garden. It has to be blocked still as you can see from the picture. It's a little smaller than what i was expecting; I followed the pattern and when it came time to bind off I still had a lot of yarn left. I still did it because it was the first shawl I've knit like that and I wanted to see how big it would be without adding to it. So, this morning I started to undo the bind off row so I could add to it and I got about 7 stitches in and was like oh, heck no, I'm not undoing 233 stitches of this. Ha. I kept dropping stitches and it was a mess! I'll find some other use for the rest of the yarn. I need to measure it to see how much I have left. I knit it for my bf's aunt but I want to see what it looks like after blocking....which I'd like to do with some inspinknitty blocking wires.

The yarn I used was Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine which feels amazing knitted up! I just rub it on my face sometimes haha. I was surprised because it doesn't feel that soft to me in the ball. I may knit another one of these for myself. I bought it right after the new year from my LYS for the purpose of using it in a shawl for the intended recipient.