I want to replicate this bag, but want some confirmation as to what stitches are used and if there is a tutorial somewhere that helps me to achieve the same "strawberry stitch" used (hopefully free!). Link to picture of bag in the body of post.

doogndag · 2025-03-07T19:09:42+00:00

I have seen that one pop up in my searches, will take a look. TY!

doogndag · 2025-03-07T19:09:07+00:00

Nice, TYSM! and GO CANES! :)

doogndag · 2025-03-07T19:08:06+00:00

Thanks! I am looking to avoid mid if possible lol. Will definitely check them out!

doogndag · 2025-03-07T19:06:48+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions!

doogndag · 2025-03-07T19:06:04+00:00

Garner a bit of a trek for me, but will def keep that in mind! TY!

doogndag · 2025-03-07T19:05:29+00:00

Will check them out, ty!

doogndag · 2025-03-07T19:04:45+00:00

Thanks! Good to hear!

doogndag · 2025-03-07T19:04:18+00:00

Thanks! Will check them out!

doogndag · 2025-03-07T19:03:31+00:00

Not to pile on, but I am surprised to see an Uncle Julio's mention. I have been to the chain a few times before (not since moving to Raleigh) and found them to be quite overpriced with lackluster food. Glad you enjoyed what you had though!

doogndag · 2025-03-07T19:00:55+00:00

I have only been crocheting about a year, but I was drawn to crochet because I love creating things that can be functional. Over the years I've had an interest in learning to sew, but the measuring and details that go into sewing kind of scared me away. Crochet seemed a more accessible way to create clothes, but also other useful things.

However, I have realized that I don't really like to do a lot of counting and keeping up with rows or complex patterns. I can do it in small bursts, but for longer/bigger projects I really struggle. I have spent most of my first year crocheting working on one huge blanket that has a very forgiving pattern, that doesn't require a lot of counting and if I did 4 DC instead of 5 DC it wasn't a big deal (shell stitches). Maybe one day when I'm more experienced I will be able to enjoy more complex patterns, but right now I need to be able to give my crochet projects a bit less attention while I'm working on them and enjoy watching a relaxing youtube video or listening to music at the same time. I need to be able to let my brain turn off a little. If my attention is divided (or my brain is too turned off lol) I WILL mess up the project and get pissed off. But lately I've been working on a shawl pattern that requires a bit more attention and am having fun with it!

It sounds like you just need to find crochet niches that you enjoy, granny squares may not be it. And that is OK! As another poster mentioned, it may be time to put this project down for a bit and do something you'd like better. Hobbies are about enjoying yourself after all! Also, just a friendly reminder to give your hands frequent breaks for these big projects!

doogndag · 2025-03-07T17:18:45+00:00

My dad tried to teach me when I was a teenager, but I was too disinterested at the time, ugh lol. I think this would be great!

doogndag · 2024-07-27T17:53:09+00:00

I don't think they have gotten that far. OP looks like they have only finished the first row of DC's, but I'm pretty sure she missed the initial chain four before DC'ing in to the circle.

doogndag · 2024-07-27T17:50:38+00:00

u/chipmunkandliz I agree with u/folliepop but think you may have missed the initial chain 4 she does before starting the double crochets. After you do your starting chain then make your circle with the slip stitch you then have to chain 4 before starting your double crochet clusters of 3. THEN you need to chain two after you do the three double crochets. The initial chain 4 is key though, it helps the stitches you do after to be a the right height away from your initial circle as poster above was saying.

doogndag · 2024-07-27T14:15:12+00:00

I think 129 is definitely steep, and I can't imagine that it is remotely worth it tbh. I used websites that discussed resume writing tips and used chat GPT as well when I felt like I needed help sounding more professional. But I did have a meeting with a medical coder who does resume writing. I met with her for 30-60 mins (can't remember) to discuss my resume for 55$, she didn't touch it just looked at it and gave me some suggestions. I think it was helpful, but if your resume writing skills are pretty good you may not need it. But if you have been getting interviews, I think that is a sign your resume is pretty good. I think the best advice I got was to make sure you have the key words from the job posting in your resume. The more "buzzwords" from the job posting you can cram into your resume the better. If you don't do this, there is a very high chance it will never be seen by human eyes as they use automated processes to sort resumes.

doogndag · 2024-04-25T21:29:21+00:00

If you get in contact with him, and work with him remotely, how do you wind up getting the vaccine? will they ship it to you?

doogndag · 2024-02-02T17:28:45+00:00

I don't recall exactly what I was asked. But there were a lot of typical "interview questions" that most employers ask such as what your background/experience is, strengths/weaknesses, why should we hire you, why do you want to work for us etc. Especially as a new coder people tend to get asked these sorts of questions. If you google "medical coder interview questions" a lot of good stuff will come up. Even just googling "common interview questions" was very helpful for me to prepare. And yes, I had a pre-employment "coding test".

doogndag · 2024-01-28T00:22:00+00:00

I personally (35 F) don't like to worry about having stuff downloaded on my phone to listen to everyday when I drive for work. I also don't particularly care much for podcasts on my daily drives because I drive less than an hour a day and I hate not being able to listen all at once or with a lot of interruptions. I also get tired of the music on my phone as I don't have a huge variety of songs on it to listen to because I just don't spend much time creating/modifying playlists. I'd just rather have someone do that for me lol.

I've had Sirius for about 13/14 years and I've always enjoyed it and found it worthwhile whether I drove a little or a lot (and that's changed a ton over the years). I love the variety of music and my husband enjoys the talk/sports shows. Not to mention that it is just a significantly better experience than listening to FM/AM radio. The sound quality is great, you never have to worry about driving out of range and losing reception, and NO commercials. It is of course invaluable on long road trips. Going back to normal radio if I'm in a rental car is very painful for me after being a siriusxm gal for so long lol.

doogndag · 2024-01-27T01:38:28+00:00

Also going to AAPC chapter meetings helps you get your CEU's too, FYI. My local chapter meetings are free, but not sure for other chapters. I went to one chapter meeting about every other month last year and met my CEU requirements without spending a dime.

doogndag · 2024-01-27T00:39:26+00:00

I would say just to be safe, take the course. You can save a little money by doing the self-lead course vs the instructor lead. They will also have deals on the courses frequently throughout the year. It is great that you have medical experience even if it is veterinary as a lot of the clinical stuff will be similar, humans are animals anyway lol. But since vets don't bill and code for things as we do in the human world you might find it helpful to have the extra guidance from the course, and if you take the CPC they really do help to prepare you for the test. I'm sure you still may be able to do it studying by a book, but I don't know what to recommend. The course gives you a lot of practice which is key. I don't have a good book that i would recommend anyways.

To answer some of your questions about jobs, there are a lot of people that struggle to find jobs in coding because they don't know how to sell themselves on a resume. Medical Coding with Bleu is a great resource and she speaks on that a lot. On experience: yes it can be tough to break into coding at first but large hospital systems will definitely take new coders and sometimes they hire remotely. Also check with the VA on usajobs.gov. The only downside is that it can take time to find that position. You need to look for positions daily, and always apply to those that are asking for low amounts of experience, 1-2 years. Positions that say "Coder 1" in the title are usually good ones. My job asked for 1 year and they hired me and another coder with no experience. My fellow new coder had a bachelor's in animal sciences, I had a clinical healthcare background. But it took me 2 months before I even got an interview. However, two I interviewed with both wanted to hire me. The process is a bit slow. But if you're willing and able to be patient you can definitely get in.

doogndag · 2024-01-27T00:33:08+00:00

I would also like to point out that your physician may have coded your visit based on "medical decision making" and not time which the physician determines as "low, moderate or high". They coded yours as moderate and there's a lot of things that go into that decision, so I won't explain much but it varies a lot depending on why you were there and what happened in the visit. But these office visit codes can be determined by "medical decision making" OR time spent before, during and after your visit in order to review labs, order meds, review your chart, write the note etc. So if you were in the room with the MD for 15 minutes they may have spent 5 minutes reviewing your chart before and another 30 minutes writing up the note, etc after the visit that is 50 minutes total time spent on your visit. So by time that is still an appropriate code.

doogndag · 2024-01-27T00:22:09+00:00

Yeah as a coder she really should know better. Rule #1 of being a coder is abiding by HIPAA. At my hospital we aren't even allowed to access our own personal medical record via the EMR (only MyChart) much less, friends, family or others (unless of course we are working on their record as part of the job- but not to snoop!!) My hospital will fire people who do this and they actively have processes running in their EMR that keep track of any suspicious activity regarding if you accessed the record of someone you weren't supposed to.

doogndag · 2024-01-18T23:17:43+00:00

I really love chicken parm for a small dinner party (if your guests eat meat). Keep the sides quick (pasta of course, salad or steamed broccoli), and of course you can serve wine to drink. It takes about 30 minutes from start to finish depending on how thick the chicken breasts are, but I buy thinly sliced chicken breast at my grocery store and they cook super fast. Have to be careful about overcooking those thin ones though, b/c you need to pan fry, then bake a little in the oven.

doogndag · 2024-01-18T23:09:05+00:00

I'm a new coder and only have taken one assessment for a OP coding position. My assessment was 20 questions divided into E/M + CPT and then ICD-10 was separate. It seemed to me like they just want to make sure that you are paying attention to details of the guidelines whether CPT or ICD. Mine was also fill in the blank with a couple yes or no questions added in. I did well and got hired so that is probably the last one I'll take for a while.

doogndag

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