My first Frog, ribbit ribbit

I recently (ok well probably not SO recently) began knitting my first non-scarf object. They were Sarah's Arm Warmers from Ravelry. I knit the first 16 rows properly. I was confused about my first time cabling so I asked around. I thought the pattern that read "repeat cable pattern 5 times" meant I should repeat the last row which included the cable 5 times. After about 3 rows of repeating the wrong row, I realized my knitting was inside out. Shortly afterward, I realized that I wasn't supposed to cable every row, only row 8. :(

It was at that moment when I realized that I could not simply pull it apart stitch by stitch on DPN's (or could I?) and I had to pull it all apart. :0(
RIBBIT, RIBBIT, RIBBIT
I will start again soon. I'd post pics of my frog but who wants to look at a gray skein of yarn?

Tele Health

TK hasn't been feeling well over the last several days. Her throat has been hurting which means she's barely eating and she's lethargic. Today I called her doctor to make an appointment but I couldn't get in before they closed at 4. They offered me an appointment tomorrow (Saturday) or this evening at a Tele Health Clinic. That didn't sound great but I wanted her to get in to see someone.

Tele Health Clinics are set up in random places and open after hours. You call them and let them know the problem and set up an appointment almost immediately. Since they are in a lot of small places they are close. One was 5 minutes away from us, and closer than the hospital. It didn't look attractive. It appeared to be the break room of a small company that is known for it's participation in the community. It reminded me of something you would see in a poor country who managed to get some supplies. I was introduced to two assistants who told me how this worked. They would take our information, do the basic check up type of stuff, take some pictures, then email the pics to the doctor who is on call. The doctor takes a look, calls back and does a phone conference with all of us and we have a diagnosis.

Everything went well until the laptop did not want to work. So the conference was off but I did speak with her on a cell phone. She confirmed the strep diagnosis that the assistants gave us. She'd sent the order for the prescription in to our pharmacy and gave the normal doctor's advice. Fluids, meds, rest AND popsicles, lol. TK loves the last part. I let her pick out the type of popsicles she wanted.

The staff was efficient and very nice. I love the concept but as all good things do, they may not be around after the end of the year because it's paid for by a grant. People don't know about these places and are not showing up. Too bad, I really like it. It's convenient, they even wrote the letter that the school will need to know that she has been treated without my asking.

Where will technology and medicine take us next? Perhaps Skyping with your physician or nurse for a diagnosis?

Christmas Scarves

It took a little longer than I planned but here are the pics of the scarves I made the kids for Christmas. I took these pics on Christmas Eve in a mad dash to get everything together. I gave them their gifts early. Since everyone has begun knitting, they each received a tote bag that contained several skeins of yarn, three pair of needles and a scarf that I made them. They're knitting like crazy so it won't last long. I have to figure out how to satisfy all of our yarn cravings soon.

The pink and red scarves are simple drop stitch scarves. It is the Instant Gratification Scarf pattern on Ravelry. The grey scarf was the Scrunchable Scarf from Ravelry. The pattern was k,k,p in threes which I understood. I did not understand the extra stitches on either end meant for "selvage" so I just knit them. It looks fine to me.

Almost forgot, that is my youngest daughter modeling someone elses scarf before I got it packed up. I still have to make her a scarf, I feel bad that I have knitted one for almost everyone else except her. She's next (after the fingerless gloves I just started).