Yeah, that was me. I got a stomach virus instead...for the whole family (except my husband--the one time working all the time actually works out). My parents won't even come over--and I agree with that. Yesterday, Mom was at Barnes & Noble and picked up some things for the kids and said she was going to drop them off at the front door. I asked, "What? Are you going to ring the bell and run?" And sure enough, the bell rings, my husband opens the door (I'm snoozing in bed) and I hear Mom shouting to him from the car in the road. We're set back at least 50 feet from the road! Seriously!
It started with Baby Girl in the middle of the night on Monday. The most plaintive and unusual cry of "Mommy" at 2:30 a.m., so perplexing to me that I went running in without my glasses. I can't see without my glasses. Pretty much blind. Really. So in my half-asleep and blind state, I made the mistake of reaching into the crib without looking. Enough said. Five minutes later, I had her in the bath. She was better by Tuesday night, and we were all in the clear until Thursday night, when I was felled by the bug. I spent the night on my cold, cold, tiled bathroom floor. I came to in the morning with blocks of ice for feet (mental note: when feet become ice, try sportweight instead of fingering weight hand-knit wool socks) and back and knee pain. I croaked to my husband, "You must stay home today." He took care of school drop-off and pick-up. Fortunately, I had an extra babysitter Friday afternoon, and my nanny was pre-scheduled to stay through Saturday morning because my husband had a meeting and I was supposed to make up my last sewing class. (Oh well, looks like I'm teaching myself how to sew a tote bag.) The bug hit Boy E at 4 a.m. on Saturday, Boy J at 9 a.m. on Saturday, and Boy M at 10:30 p.m. Saturday night. I am an expert at late-night bath. And the saddest part: Boy M had missed me so, he was happy to be sick and getting a bath alone with me at 10:30 at night. That is, he was happy until he got sick again. And again. And again.
The good news is everyone is on the mend and is bouncing back better than me. Unfortunately, I have to be off my GI meds until Friday, and I have to call my primary care doctor to see when to restart my antibiotics for the burgeoning sinus infection I was so proud about nipping in the bud last Monday.
Suffice it to say, I don't have any knitting content to report. I just have not been up to knitting, for obvious reasons. I did catch up on my blogging today, though, and just bought this awesome sock kit at Unwind thanks to Lime & Violet's Daily Chum:
“The Red Thread” refers to this Chinese proverb:
“An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet,
regardless of time, place, or circumstance.
The thread may stretch or tangle,
but it will never break.”
Those simple lines have come to be the heartstone of many families adopting children from China.
The owners of Unwind apparently adopted their daughter from China, and 20% of the retail price will be donated to an organization that provides training for orphanage workers in China. How could I resist?
And for Lici: Yo Gabba Gabba is on Nick Jr. at 11:30 a.m. (I think) and this weekend was starting on Noggin (I didn't catch the time for obvious reasons). We TiVo it on Nick Jr., and my only issue is that the TiVo captures commercials, real commercials, which I don't like the kids to watch; there's no real commercials on Noggin (I don't count sponsorship messages or commercials for other Nick Jr./Noggin shows). Also, I may be taking liberties, but check my comments and email the Minister of Sparks and Lightning if you want to be on the blogger email list.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Thursday, February 21, 2008
And for the rest of my day...
So, by about 2:30 p.m. yesterday, I was mostly recovered from my gym experience--still freaked out by it, but pretty comfortable I wouldn't pass out on the three-minute trip to pick up the triplets at nursery school at 3 p.m. I left the house at 2:50 so I wouldn't be rushed and to account for high-school traffic (it's about halfway between my house and nursery school), and as I drive down my street, I'm muttering to myself about all those reckless high-schoolers speeding down our side street and swerving out of the middle of the road (again, feeling old, but this time, not in a bad way). As I'm sitting at the stop sign opposite the high school driveway, looking right and waiting to make my right turn, I hear the punch of a collision and look up to see a white car hurtling toward me. I was speaking to my mother on speakerphone and shouted, "There's an accident, I have to go" and braced myself for the collision with my car which, fortunately, did not happen. What did happen is that the teenager in the white car shot out across the main road and did not see oncoming traffic and was broadsided.
I called 911 and then debated whether to hop out of the car or try to get to nursery school on time. I checked on the teenager, she was crying, on the phone with her mother, and the driver in the car behind her was sitting with her. I told her I called the police already and head back to my car, only to see a very elderly lady, limping, get out of the other car. Fortunately, she wasn't injured (apparently the limping was unrelated to the accident), but she wanted to see the other driver--oh, and she said her heart was racing. Great. No way I could leave before the police arrived. I kept trying to get her to wait in the car but she insisted, and when I crossed the street with her, another driver almost hit us--I had to pull her jacket to get her out of the way. Are you kidding me?!
Anyway, everyone was fine. The police were there in about two minutes, and the officer let me go once I told him I had to pick up 3-year-olds. And of course, I was freaked out all over again. As was my mother, who thought I was in an accident, although I did call her once I got clear of the scene.
Fortunately, I had my knitting to rely on. I'm really enjoying my Woolgirl Valentine's sock kit. It's more White Oak tv yarn in sport weight--great colors and a fun pattern. But I've noticed that despite knitting the cuff shorter than called for in the pattern, I seem to be running out of yarn. Check this out (and please excuse the poorer-than-usual picture quality--I had to use my iPhone because my camera memory card is full).
Sock 1:
and Sock 2:
And not really related to the topic, but irresistable to include: the socks in my super-cool Piddly bag from Piddleloop:
Back to the socks. I clearly do not have enough yarn to knit the remaining 5-6" of the sock and have been lying to myself for days. I didn't want to contact Jen at Woolgirl because the same thing happened to me with the Halloween kit, except that time I used a pattern other than the one in the kit, and I finished the socks with about three yards left in the skein. But Jen is the coolest! She said that someone else had the same problem and she was having the dyer dye more yarn, but it would take a few weeks. Hooray! Now I'm freed up to start my Rockin' Sock Club socks (already swatched), unless I go for the Woolgirl Sock Club February sock--Zen Yarn Garden and a cabled heart pattern!
And then, tonight, I had my latest freaky experience. I ran out to Target after putting the kids to bed, anticipating that the predicted snow tomorrow will make getting out nearly impossible, and of course, our need for a new iron and ironing board is so desperate we cannot wait until the weather clears (that's what an afternoon playdate spent printing Yo Gabba Gabba iron-on transfers and trying to transfer them to t-shirts with a lukewarm iron while six Yo Gabba Gabba devotees aged three and under are waiting teaches you). I had additional items on my shopping list, so while cruising the toy aisle for birthday gifts, I reached for a toy and grazed my hand on the underside of the shelf above it, and felt something wet. I snatched back my hand and saw blood, and immediately started to freak yet again--now I had someone else's blood and blood-born illnesses seeping into the very dry skin on my hand. I went racing to the opposite site of Target looking for anti-bacterial hand wipes, trying not to bean anyone, especially myself, with the large ironing board in my cart. In no time at all, I was vigorously wiping my hand, trying to remove all traces of the contaminated blood, only to discover...it was my own blood. I can't even explain how relieved I was (except when I began to worry that there wasn't enough alcohol in the wipes to kill any germs because the cut, actually, a skin split, didn't sting when I wiped it). I then went across the street to Nordstrom's and bought Kiehl's hard-core moisturizing lotion...in the 8-oz jar.
I think I need a vacation.
I called 911 and then debated whether to hop out of the car or try to get to nursery school on time. I checked on the teenager, she was crying, on the phone with her mother, and the driver in the car behind her was sitting with her. I told her I called the police already and head back to my car, only to see a very elderly lady, limping, get out of the other car. Fortunately, she wasn't injured (apparently the limping was unrelated to the accident), but she wanted to see the other driver--oh, and she said her heart was racing. Great. No way I could leave before the police arrived. I kept trying to get her to wait in the car but she insisted, and when I crossed the street with her, another driver almost hit us--I had to pull her jacket to get her out of the way. Are you kidding me?!
Anyway, everyone was fine. The police were there in about two minutes, and the officer let me go once I told him I had to pick up 3-year-olds. And of course, I was freaked out all over again. As was my mother, who thought I was in an accident, although I did call her once I got clear of the scene.
Fortunately, I had my knitting to rely on. I'm really enjoying my Woolgirl Valentine's sock kit. It's more White Oak tv yarn in sport weight--great colors and a fun pattern. But I've noticed that despite knitting the cuff shorter than called for in the pattern, I seem to be running out of yarn. Check this out (and please excuse the poorer-than-usual picture quality--I had to use my iPhone because my camera memory card is full).
Sock 1:
and Sock 2:
And not really related to the topic, but irresistable to include: the socks in my super-cool Piddly bag from Piddleloop:
Back to the socks. I clearly do not have enough yarn to knit the remaining 5-6" of the sock and have been lying to myself for days. I didn't want to contact Jen at Woolgirl because the same thing happened to me with the Halloween kit, except that time I used a pattern other than the one in the kit, and I finished the socks with about three yards left in the skein. But Jen is the coolest! She said that someone else had the same problem and she was having the dyer dye more yarn, but it would take a few weeks. Hooray! Now I'm freed up to start my Rockin' Sock Club socks (already swatched), unless I go for the Woolgirl Sock Club February sock--Zen Yarn Garden and a cabled heart pattern!
And then, tonight, I had my latest freaky experience. I ran out to Target after putting the kids to bed, anticipating that the predicted snow tomorrow will make getting out nearly impossible, and of course, our need for a new iron and ironing board is so desperate we cannot wait until the weather clears (that's what an afternoon playdate spent printing Yo Gabba Gabba iron-on transfers and trying to transfer them to t-shirts with a lukewarm iron while six Yo Gabba Gabba devotees aged three and under are waiting teaches you). I had additional items on my shopping list, so while cruising the toy aisle for birthday gifts, I reached for a toy and grazed my hand on the underside of the shelf above it, and felt something wet. I snatched back my hand and saw blood, and immediately started to freak yet again--now I had someone else's blood and blood-born illnesses seeping into the very dry skin on my hand. I went racing to the opposite site of Target looking for anti-bacterial hand wipes, trying not to bean anyone, especially myself, with the large ironing board in my cart. In no time at all, I was vigorously wiping my hand, trying to remove all traces of the contaminated blood, only to discover...it was my own blood. I can't even explain how relieved I was (except when I began to worry that there wasn't enough alcohol in the wipes to kill any germs because the cut, actually, a skin split, didn't sting when I wiped it). I then went across the street to Nordstrom's and bought Kiehl's hard-core moisturizing lotion...in the 8-oz jar.
I think I need a vacation.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
How to feel old
So, a group of my college friends are turning 40, and we are taking a celebratory trip in April...to Las Vegas (I'm slightly younger, but they thought I should be included anyway). For the past six months, I've been meaning to get myself to the gym on a regular basis, and thought, hey, we haven't seen each other in years (holiday cards don't count), why don't I get a jump start and work with a trainer. I've had to cancel twice (you know, kids), and today was my first day...and I almost passed out about 10 minutes in. I mean, for real pass out--sweating, slightly nauseous, laying down on a weight bench, drinking Vitamin (sugar) Water--and enough so that the trainer didn't charge me for the session. Crap.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Happy feet!
Nothing like a new pair of socks to cheer you up after a colonoscopy!
I'm ok, but still kind of shot, so here are the details:
Yarn: Vesper Sock Yarn in Dragon's Blood
Needles: KP Harmony dpns in 2.75 mm
Pattern: Knitting Pure & Simple Beginner Mid-Weight Socks (7 sts/inch)
The yarn is a treat, so soft and cozy. LOVE the color! They are a little loose, so next time, I think I'll use a pattern for 8 sts/inch. The pattern is really easy, and I wanted a mindless stockinette so I could enjoy the color. I think I'm going to keep a stockinette self-striping sock in the works in my bag--perfect for the doctor's office, etc.
We're doing another family project for a friend's baby, a baby blanket. I think it's from Natural Knits for Babies and Moms, but I could be wrong. I was assigned the two stockinette squares; the consensus was that I would be most likely to mess up knit/purl patterns (I've been known to fall asleep knitting and to mess up stockinette when I'm too sleepy). I took advantage of my post-anesthesia state to start one of my baby blanket squares and will finish square one tonight.
I've started my Woolgirl Valentine's sock kit, and also want to dive into my new Socks That Rock kit, even though I have lots of projects still on the needles. I'm just not in the mood to pick up those projects. In fact, I spent some of yesterday culling my working project basket in my bedroom, and sent a lot of things to the attic. I'm actually thinking of destashing, but I've got to get to it. In the meantime, I'm not buying any yarn. My exception is Wollmeise, but I didn't make it through the Loopy Ewe update, so I broke down and ordered direct from Germany. I think I ordered sport weight, but I'm not sure. How bad could it be?
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Where does the time go?
It's been a month since I last posted? Well, let's see...
We thoroughly enjoyed our first family vacation. I brought along this project:
It's Vesper Sock Yarn in Dragon's Blood. I'm using Knitting Pure & Simple's Beginner's Mid-Weight Socks pattern, a basic stockinette pattern, so that I can enjoy the self-striping of the yarn. I'm knitting on Knit Picks Harmony dpns 2.75mm. I'm actually liking the wood needles and TSA didn't blink an eye. The yarn is wonderfully soft and I'm not bored (yet) by the stockinette. I think next time I use this yarn, I'll drop down a needle size for a slightly firmer fabric; it feels a little loose in the hands, but when I try it on, it just feels wonderful! I definitely need to drop down a needle size for the ribbing, though.
I stuffed it into this Piddleloop Piddly bag I was fortunate to score when the first Piddly bags were posted in November (I bought it using my iPhone, what a trial, the wifi connection kept dropping):
Now, don't be fooled by all this progress. I cast on right before the flight, and did not even finish the 10 rows of ribbing at the top until after we got back. Seriously, what could I expect, traveling with three three-year-olds and a two-year-old? Though they were just delightful on the flight down to Florida--they slept!
The other distractor was a garter stitch baby blanket that is another group project for a pregnant friend. My mom and sister Elizabeth roped me into knitting a strip of seven squares, but something happened when I did not do an official swatch. Rather, I cast on and started knitting, and Elizabeth checked the width, and it didn't match the other strips. So I dropped down a needle size. It still didn't match. So I dropped down two needle sizes--good to go! I then spent half the vacation knitting four of the seven squares in the strip (definitely beating Elizabeth in the race to the finish), only to find it was too narrow! It must have been sabotage! Suffice it to say, we ripped it out, the three of us took turns knitting my strip; I knit maybe 1.5 squares of it and mom and Elizabeth finished the rest because Elizabeth seamed it while she was in Florida. Maybe I'll be able to get a picture.
We all enjoyed our vacation so much, we're working on making plans to go back. The children loved the opportunity to play outside and at the beach, and everyone was happy and tired every night. I was able to put the boys in camp at the resort. Boy J missed two days of camp due to a fever, and then we had to pull him out because of some toilet-training regression--UGH! But the boys and Baby Girl all got quality individual time, too, with Grandma, Grandpa, Daddy and Mommy (me), and Titi (Aunt) Elizabeth. We had family dinners, even in a restaurant! We're getting somewhere, I think, on this going out business.
We would have never made it there and back without my parents and sister. They flew down with us, and then stayed on after we left for their vacation (yes, you need a vacation from the vacation with us), but came with us to the airport for the return flight and helped us to the gate. The flight home was good as well, except Baby Girl and Boy J can no longer sit together: the two of them poked at each other for nearly the entire flight (two hours!), and Baby Girl knows just how to get on J's nerves. But we lucked out--our flight arrived 35 minutes early! And on the return, I didn't have to install 4 car seats in a rental car!
So now that we're home, and my babysitters are on winter break, I can get some time to myself. I've made a lot of progress on the Dragon's Blood sock. I'm also thinking of not buying yarn for a while and winnowing down my stash. I'm sticking with the Woolgirl and STR sock clubs and didn't renew my others. I'm also thinking of destashing, but I haven't even put the children's summer clothes in storage yet, so I definitely don't have time go through the stash yet.
In the meantime, I do have unblogged knitting acquisitions. Here is the yarn I got for Hanukkah from my mom:
It's PennyRose Yarns in City Socks. It's nowhere near as dark as it looks in my picture; try looking here.
What else do I have going on in yarn? here's the latest installation from the Woolgirl Sock Club
and STR
Oh, and before I went on vacation, I picked up the Tulip cardigan again. I must have been really foggy to not be able to think through navigating the corner with the applied I-cord because it was easy and fun! I'm now working a sleeve:
Here's another Piddly bag that was a gift from Mom, stuffed with (I think) sKnitches Syncopation self-striping sock yarn in Wicked from my stash (I actually thought I might finish the Vesper socks and need to start another pair for the flight home).
And just arrived, fresh out of the shipping box, is yarn I purchased at Stitches from Karida of Neighborhood Fiber Co..
They are three of the biggest yarn cakes I have ever seen! The shipping weight was 5 lbs.! Of course, when I took out the pattern I bought the yarn for (a cardigan for me), the pattern is misprinted and is missing page 2 of 3, which page must consist of instructions for the right front. So, right now, other than the pattern info (yarn weight, gauge, etc.), my pattern instructions begin with: "LEFT FRONT: Work as for right front, reversing all shaping." Not particularly helpful. Fortunately, the other sister bought the same pattern, so I have a call into her.
Other updates:
1. The stolen earrings were returned, unannounced, by being deposited in a flower pot by my front door. Are you kidding me?! I'm just glad to get them back.
2. Boy J got a clean bill of health. No evidence of a hernia, but if he has one, it will show more as he grows because these things don't heal by themselves.
And remember those Woolgirl Halloween socks? Here they are!
Happy new year, everyone!
We thoroughly enjoyed our first family vacation. I brought along this project:
It's Vesper Sock Yarn in Dragon's Blood. I'm using Knitting Pure & Simple's Beginner's Mid-Weight Socks pattern, a basic stockinette pattern, so that I can enjoy the self-striping of the yarn. I'm knitting on Knit Picks Harmony dpns 2.75mm. I'm actually liking the wood needles and TSA didn't blink an eye. The yarn is wonderfully soft and I'm not bored (yet) by the stockinette. I think next time I use this yarn, I'll drop down a needle size for a slightly firmer fabric; it feels a little loose in the hands, but when I try it on, it just feels wonderful! I definitely need to drop down a needle size for the ribbing, though.
I stuffed it into this Piddleloop Piddly bag I was fortunate to score when the first Piddly bags were posted in November (I bought it using my iPhone, what a trial, the wifi connection kept dropping):
Now, don't be fooled by all this progress. I cast on right before the flight, and did not even finish the 10 rows of ribbing at the top until after we got back. Seriously, what could I expect, traveling with three three-year-olds and a two-year-old? Though they were just delightful on the flight down to Florida--they slept!
The other distractor was a garter stitch baby blanket that is another group project for a pregnant friend. My mom and sister Elizabeth roped me into knitting a strip of seven squares, but something happened when I did not do an official swatch. Rather, I cast on and started knitting, and Elizabeth checked the width, and it didn't match the other strips. So I dropped down a needle size. It still didn't match. So I dropped down two needle sizes--good to go! I then spent half the vacation knitting four of the seven squares in the strip (definitely beating Elizabeth in the race to the finish), only to find it was too narrow! It must have been sabotage! Suffice it to say, we ripped it out, the three of us took turns knitting my strip; I knit maybe 1.5 squares of it and mom and Elizabeth finished the rest because Elizabeth seamed it while she was in Florida. Maybe I'll be able to get a picture.
We all enjoyed our vacation so much, we're working on making plans to go back. The children loved the opportunity to play outside and at the beach, and everyone was happy and tired every night. I was able to put the boys in camp at the resort. Boy J missed two days of camp due to a fever, and then we had to pull him out because of some toilet-training regression--UGH! But the boys and Baby Girl all got quality individual time, too, with Grandma, Grandpa, Daddy and Mommy (me), and Titi (Aunt) Elizabeth. We had family dinners, even in a restaurant! We're getting somewhere, I think, on this going out business.
We would have never made it there and back without my parents and sister. They flew down with us, and then stayed on after we left for their vacation (yes, you need a vacation from the vacation with us), but came with us to the airport for the return flight and helped us to the gate. The flight home was good as well, except Baby Girl and Boy J can no longer sit together: the two of them poked at each other for nearly the entire flight (two hours!), and Baby Girl knows just how to get on J's nerves. But we lucked out--our flight arrived 35 minutes early! And on the return, I didn't have to install 4 car seats in a rental car!
So now that we're home, and my babysitters are on winter break, I can get some time to myself. I've made a lot of progress on the Dragon's Blood sock. I'm also thinking of not buying yarn for a while and winnowing down my stash. I'm sticking with the Woolgirl and STR sock clubs and didn't renew my others. I'm also thinking of destashing, but I haven't even put the children's summer clothes in storage yet, so I definitely don't have time go through the stash yet.
In the meantime, I do have unblogged knitting acquisitions. Here is the yarn I got for Hanukkah from my mom:
It's PennyRose Yarns in City Socks. It's nowhere near as dark as it looks in my picture; try looking here.
What else do I have going on in yarn? here's the latest installation from the Woolgirl Sock Club
and STR
Oh, and before I went on vacation, I picked up the Tulip cardigan again. I must have been really foggy to not be able to think through navigating the corner with the applied I-cord because it was easy and fun! I'm now working a sleeve:
Here's another Piddly bag that was a gift from Mom, stuffed with (I think) sKnitches Syncopation self-striping sock yarn in Wicked from my stash (I actually thought I might finish the Vesper socks and need to start another pair for the flight home).
And just arrived, fresh out of the shipping box, is yarn I purchased at Stitches from Karida of Neighborhood Fiber Co..
They are three of the biggest yarn cakes I have ever seen! The shipping weight was 5 lbs.! Of course, when I took out the pattern I bought the yarn for (a cardigan for me), the pattern is misprinted and is missing page 2 of 3, which page must consist of instructions for the right front. So, right now, other than the pattern info (yarn weight, gauge, etc.), my pattern instructions begin with: "LEFT FRONT: Work as for right front, reversing all shaping." Not particularly helpful. Fortunately, the other sister bought the same pattern, so I have a call into her.
Other updates:
1. The stolen earrings were returned, unannounced, by being deposited in a flower pot by my front door. Are you kidding me?! I'm just glad to get them back.
2. Boy J got a clean bill of health. No evidence of a hernia, but if he has one, it will show more as he grows because these things don't heal by themselves.
And remember those Woolgirl Halloween socks? Here they are!
Happy new year, everyone!
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Forget NaBloPoMo
(This post was actually published on December 4, 2004, but I don't know how to correct the date. Oh well!)
As if I were a candidate for NaBloPoMo. I posted once in November. A good portion of this post was saved as a draft on November 17th. And, I don't think my life is even that interesting. I spend half my day in the bathroom helping my (semi-? partly? mostly?) toilet-trained boys (they generally can get themselves in but need varying degrees of help wrapping up), or asking them who needs to go. Can you post from a bathroom? How about having at least one boy who needs to check out the bathroom at every place we visit? And, if we're not in the bathroom, I'm traveling to various doctors for various issues.
By the way, if you're looking for anything remotely related to knitting, skip the next 8 paragraphs, please.
So here's how my week of November 12 began. I was basking in the joy of my completed Halloween socks (don't even ask for pictures, not a chance). They turned out really well, if I do say so myself, thanks to Caroline Schurch and that little tidbit from Lucy Neatby about making the sock length approximately 1/2 inch less than the length of your foot. I'm thinking: boys will be in school from 9-3 on Monday, Baby Girl will be in school from 9-11:15. I can take a few photographs then, no problem.
And then Monday rolls around, Boy M's cough is really not better (he'd been to the pulmonologist twice already and had a course of steroids), so Monday morning, I drive him the the pulmonologist, who's about 30 minutes away. He doesn't like the way Boy M sounds, so he sends us for x-rays. I fight with the insurance company over referrals to the pulmologist and radiologist (don't even ask about my problem, I used to represent insurance companies who were sued by policy holders, and yet, this problem cannot get sorted out despite the involvement of various representatives from my husband's employer, both doctors and the employer's insurance broker), and I'm totally stressing about what's wrong with Boy M. Which turns out to be nothing more than some asthma (what a relief our radiologist is our friend).
Tuesday, I got to take everyone to the pediatrician because I HAVE HAD IT with all this sickness (Boy M wass just along for the ride because he'd already been seen and was on antibiotics). Four children under four years old at the pediatrician is not my favorite way to go. Boy E had a sinus infection. Boy J was holding is own and was able to avoid antibiotics. Baby Girl was being felled by allergies, not illness, so she got antihistamine. I created a major chart to track all medications.
Wednesday actually began as a quiet day, because I was able to drop the boys at school and actually go to my gastro appointment, which is the only appointment I ever refuse to cancel, especially because I have had several flare-ups with my GI issues in the past month. Of course, the antibiotics for my upper respiratory infection did me no favor except to nearly cure me of the upper respiratory thing and make me otherwise so sick that my GI miracle drug no longer works. I rationalize taking care of myself by reminding myself that if I'm sick, I can't take care of the children. After school, I take the boys to my so-generous parents. After a few hours of quiet play, Boy M complains of pain in his right arm when I incidentally touch it gently. There are no marks, no swelling, no memorable incidents, no crying, so we let it go. Until after bath, when Boy M gets hysterical when we put his pajama top on and take it off again to examine the arm (the thing is practically skin-tight due to fire-safety regulations for children's sleepwear). Again, no marks or swelling. I call my should-be-sainted parents, who have whatever upper respiratory thing we all have, to come over and check out the boy, and we make a joint decision to skip an all-nighter in the ER in favor of a trip to the pediatrician in the morning. Forget about any thought of the discovery that my babysitter, the daughter of one of my husband's clients, regularly visits my bedroom when I am not home and the dawning realization that she has stolen a number of items, the most significant being the earrings I inherited from my grandmother. But back to Boy M.
The next morning, in response to his pain on palpation of the arm, the doctor forestalls further examination in favor of an x-ray. Of course, our friend (and anyone else we know there) is away, so we don't get the results until we return to the pediatrician. He tells us it's broken. What??!! When I broke my leg at 14, the pain kept me up all night. The kid doesn't even cry unless you touch a certain spot. I'm killing myself with guilt. I shook that arm to get the pajama top off and the arm was BROKEN! At this point, after spending about six hours between doctors, we get an orthopedics appointment for the next morning and head off to the drug store for a sling that will fit a three-year-old.
Now, understand, I live in the small town I grew up in. I have been getting prescriptions at this pharmacy all my life. I'm in at least two times a week for the children. I know them and they know me. So we go, and everyone is so kind and helpful, but they have to bring in the sling from somewhere else. Boy M is fried, uncomfortable to a certain degree, and finally throws a full-out tantrum, on the floor, kicking, screaming. I'm shot myself, exhausted and nearly overcome by guilt because I don't even know what happened to him and his arm is broken. Then this woman standing there looks at me and says, condescendingly, "I think he's tired." I didn't even have it in me to say something, I just gave her this 'are you effing kidding me?!' look, and bless the pharmacists, they gave her a dirty look and say that he's had a hard day. Sometimes, people really surprise me. Like the woman who saw me out with two boys and asked me if they were twins. When I replied that they were triplets and one was home, she gave me a dirty look and stalked off. Did she think I was being smart with her? I mean, I didn't even tell her about Baby Girl!
But back to Boy M's arm. Of course, I'm so wound up, I don't sleep well. We go to the orthopedist first thing, and guess what? The arm is NOT broken. In fact, it's FINE. He's not even favoring it! What looked like a fracture on the x-ray was a combination of Boy M's anatomy and the angle of the x-ray. The conclusion is that Boy M's elbow popped out and at some point, popped back in (perhaps during the fateful tantrum). Go figure.
Since then, everyone's been ok, except for a minor adult medical scare that occasioned a morning in the ER, gave everyone terrible anxiety, but apparently has turned out to be nothing. The kids are working through colds, and our big cold snap has triggered Boy M's asthma cough again, but I'm on him like a hawk.
And knitting. I am finding my projects unsatisfying. As much as I love my Woolgirl sock club, which is the best yarn club I've been in, I'm struggling with the project. The pattern calls for gauge on 2.50 mm needles. Unfortunately I need 2.00 mm (US 0) to get gauge. Apparently, I'm knitting more tightly then usual (is it any wonder?). On top of that, I had defective US 0's (nicks in the finish) and had to wait for the replacement set to arrive. I've knit maybe 7 rows of k1 p1 rib using the new needles and already one is starting to warp. I don't mind small needles, but I think I'd rather not knit with US 0's. And I always find the ribbing at the beginning of a sock to take too long. I think I'm just impatient and want to jump into the pattern stitch. But I'm giving it a go, sort of.
My Blue Sky Alpaca sweater? Well, I screwed up the ribbing and since I hadn't knit more than six rows, I ripped it out. Except when I tried to slide the yarn off my needles--my brand new needles from Knit Picks Harmony Options set, received as a gift--the needle came out of the join. Not the join separating from the cable, but the wood coming out of the metal that gets screwed into the cable; I saw the glue and everything. I stuffed the needle back into the join and haven't touched it since. I haven't even gotten to call Knit Picks, because it was a Sunday when it happened, and I put it aside.
I did pick up the "Clap" and enjoy it when I get going, but my hands are so dry, they spontaneously crack and bleed, and then catch the yarn. I'm not in the mood to bleed all over yarn, especially a silk and wool blend.
I have apparently lost my Summer Solstice socks. Tell me how a whole project bag disappears. Just tell me. And it's my first and much-loved Piddleloop bag. I'm sure it's around somewhere. Maybe my ex-babysitter took it when she took the earrings I inherited from my grandmother. Again, that's another story for another time; suffice it to say this was all going down while we were dealing with Boy M's asthma and arm injury, and now I don't have a babysitter. But back to knitting.
I decided to swatch my Lanas Puras Melosa yarn for the "Cabo Hoodie Sweater which I bought, I think, last spring. First, I actually had trouble winding the yarn with my swift and winder because the yarn was, well, sticky. Then, I didn't have the right needles, as if that's possible. I've been knitting for twelve years. I have tons of needles. But it's a top-down sweater, and I need 16-inch circulars to knit the neck/collar and then you join and knit in the round, and I don't have the two or three sizes I possibly need to get gauge. I just haven't been able to sit down and figure out what I need to order or raid from my mother's needle cache. Ridiculous!
What else? I realized that my mother and I were both delinquent in knitting winter hats for the children. So about two weeks ago, she gave me one of Jacey's monster hat kits (they were custom-made for my mom), told me not to bother with gauge and use whatever size needle to knit whatever hat size she told me. Suffice it to say, I've ripped it out three times for being too big, and don't have the heart to swatch just yet, even though the yarn is fun and fast to knit, and the felted monsters (or pirate-ish faces in our case) are totally awesome! (Yes, I'm a child of the '80's, and I slip sometimes).
I haven't been in the mood to start up again with my Rosie's Popover Mitts. Baby Girl's doll languishes too. It's clearly not going to be a holiday gift--maybe I'll finish it for her birthday in August? I never even cast on for the projects I bought to knit for holiday gifts, and Hanukkah is upon us. That's kind of pathetic, since I planned some of the gifts almost a year ago, and had all I needed to make the gifts purchased by June. In fact, I should be clearing off my dining room table for tomorrow night's holiday dinner. Which takes place just after we get back from NYC for Boy J's surgical consult for the hernia we thought we saw six weeks ago and have never seen since. And even the Hanukkah gifts I ordered may not arrive before the end of Hanukkah. And I have to pack for our first family trip before my nanny takes her 2-1/2 week vacation. Ugh. I think I need to go upstairs, go through my stash and find something to wind and swatch. You think?
As if I were a candidate for NaBloPoMo. I posted once in November. A good portion of this post was saved as a draft on November 17th. And, I don't think my life is even that interesting. I spend half my day in the bathroom helping my (semi-? partly? mostly?) toilet-trained boys (they generally can get themselves in but need varying degrees of help wrapping up), or asking them who needs to go. Can you post from a bathroom? How about having at least one boy who needs to check out the bathroom at every place we visit? And, if we're not in the bathroom, I'm traveling to various doctors for various issues.
By the way, if you're looking for anything remotely related to knitting, skip the next 8 paragraphs, please.
So here's how my week of November 12 began. I was basking in the joy of my completed Halloween socks (don't even ask for pictures, not a chance). They turned out really well, if I do say so myself, thanks to Caroline Schurch and that little tidbit from Lucy Neatby about making the sock length approximately 1/2 inch less than the length of your foot. I'm thinking: boys will be in school from 9-3 on Monday, Baby Girl will be in school from 9-11:15. I can take a few photographs then, no problem.
And then Monday rolls around, Boy M's cough is really not better (he'd been to the pulmonologist twice already and had a course of steroids), so Monday morning, I drive him the the pulmonologist, who's about 30 minutes away. He doesn't like the way Boy M sounds, so he sends us for x-rays. I fight with the insurance company over referrals to the pulmologist and radiologist (don't even ask about my problem, I used to represent insurance companies who were sued by policy holders, and yet, this problem cannot get sorted out despite the involvement of various representatives from my husband's employer, both doctors and the employer's insurance broker), and I'm totally stressing about what's wrong with Boy M. Which turns out to be nothing more than some asthma (what a relief our radiologist is our friend).
Tuesday, I got to take everyone to the pediatrician because I HAVE HAD IT with all this sickness (Boy M wass just along for the ride because he'd already been seen and was on antibiotics). Four children under four years old at the pediatrician is not my favorite way to go. Boy E had a sinus infection. Boy J was holding is own and was able to avoid antibiotics. Baby Girl was being felled by allergies, not illness, so she got antihistamine. I created a major chart to track all medications.
Wednesday actually began as a quiet day, because I was able to drop the boys at school and actually go to my gastro appointment, which is the only appointment I ever refuse to cancel, especially because I have had several flare-ups with my GI issues in the past month. Of course, the antibiotics for my upper respiratory infection did me no favor except to nearly cure me of the upper respiratory thing and make me otherwise so sick that my GI miracle drug no longer works. I rationalize taking care of myself by reminding myself that if I'm sick, I can't take care of the children. After school, I take the boys to my so-generous parents. After a few hours of quiet play, Boy M complains of pain in his right arm when I incidentally touch it gently. There are no marks, no swelling, no memorable incidents, no crying, so we let it go. Until after bath, when Boy M gets hysterical when we put his pajama top on and take it off again to examine the arm (the thing is practically skin-tight due to fire-safety regulations for children's sleepwear). Again, no marks or swelling. I call my should-be-sainted parents, who have whatever upper respiratory thing we all have, to come over and check out the boy, and we make a joint decision to skip an all-nighter in the ER in favor of a trip to the pediatrician in the morning. Forget about any thought of the discovery that my babysitter, the daughter of one of my husband's clients, regularly visits my bedroom when I am not home and the dawning realization that she has stolen a number of items, the most significant being the earrings I inherited from my grandmother. But back to Boy M.
The next morning, in response to his pain on palpation of the arm, the doctor forestalls further examination in favor of an x-ray. Of course, our friend (and anyone else we know there) is away, so we don't get the results until we return to the pediatrician. He tells us it's broken. What??!! When I broke my leg at 14, the pain kept me up all night. The kid doesn't even cry unless you touch a certain spot. I'm killing myself with guilt. I shook that arm to get the pajama top off and the arm was BROKEN! At this point, after spending about six hours between doctors, we get an orthopedics appointment for the next morning and head off to the drug store for a sling that will fit a three-year-old.
Now, understand, I live in the small town I grew up in. I have been getting prescriptions at this pharmacy all my life. I'm in at least two times a week for the children. I know them and they know me. So we go, and everyone is so kind and helpful, but they have to bring in the sling from somewhere else. Boy M is fried, uncomfortable to a certain degree, and finally throws a full-out tantrum, on the floor, kicking, screaming. I'm shot myself, exhausted and nearly overcome by guilt because I don't even know what happened to him and his arm is broken. Then this woman standing there looks at me and says, condescendingly, "I think he's tired." I didn't even have it in me to say something, I just gave her this 'are you effing kidding me?!' look, and bless the pharmacists, they gave her a dirty look and say that he's had a hard day. Sometimes, people really surprise me. Like the woman who saw me out with two boys and asked me if they were twins. When I replied that they were triplets and one was home, she gave me a dirty look and stalked off. Did she think I was being smart with her? I mean, I didn't even tell her about Baby Girl!
But back to Boy M's arm. Of course, I'm so wound up, I don't sleep well. We go to the orthopedist first thing, and guess what? The arm is NOT broken. In fact, it's FINE. He's not even favoring it! What looked like a fracture on the x-ray was a combination of Boy M's anatomy and the angle of the x-ray. The conclusion is that Boy M's elbow popped out and at some point, popped back in (perhaps during the fateful tantrum). Go figure.
Since then, everyone's been ok, except for a minor adult medical scare that occasioned a morning in the ER, gave everyone terrible anxiety, but apparently has turned out to be nothing. The kids are working through colds, and our big cold snap has triggered Boy M's asthma cough again, but I'm on him like a hawk.
And knitting. I am finding my projects unsatisfying. As much as I love my Woolgirl sock club, which is the best yarn club I've been in, I'm struggling with the project. The pattern calls for gauge on 2.50 mm needles. Unfortunately I need 2.00 mm (US 0) to get gauge. Apparently, I'm knitting more tightly then usual (is it any wonder?). On top of that, I had defective US 0's (nicks in the finish) and had to wait for the replacement set to arrive. I've knit maybe 7 rows of k1 p1 rib using the new needles and already one is starting to warp. I don't mind small needles, but I think I'd rather not knit with US 0's. And I always find the ribbing at the beginning of a sock to take too long. I think I'm just impatient and want to jump into the pattern stitch. But I'm giving it a go, sort of.
My Blue Sky Alpaca sweater? Well, I screwed up the ribbing and since I hadn't knit more than six rows, I ripped it out. Except when I tried to slide the yarn off my needles--my brand new needles from Knit Picks Harmony Options set, received as a gift--the needle came out of the join. Not the join separating from the cable, but the wood coming out of the metal that gets screwed into the cable; I saw the glue and everything. I stuffed the needle back into the join and haven't touched it since. I haven't even gotten to call Knit Picks, because it was a Sunday when it happened, and I put it aside.
I did pick up the "Clap" and enjoy it when I get going, but my hands are so dry, they spontaneously crack and bleed, and then catch the yarn. I'm not in the mood to bleed all over yarn, especially a silk and wool blend.
I have apparently lost my Summer Solstice socks. Tell me how a whole project bag disappears. Just tell me. And it's my first and much-loved Piddleloop bag. I'm sure it's around somewhere. Maybe my ex-babysitter took it when she took the earrings I inherited from my grandmother. Again, that's another story for another time; suffice it to say this was all going down while we were dealing with Boy M's asthma and arm injury, and now I don't have a babysitter. But back to knitting.
I decided to swatch my Lanas Puras Melosa yarn for the "Cabo Hoodie Sweater which I bought, I think, last spring. First, I actually had trouble winding the yarn with my swift and winder because the yarn was, well, sticky. Then, I didn't have the right needles, as if that's possible. I've been knitting for twelve years. I have tons of needles. But it's a top-down sweater, and I need 16-inch circulars to knit the neck/collar and then you join and knit in the round, and I don't have the two or three sizes I possibly need to get gauge. I just haven't been able to sit down and figure out what I need to order or raid from my mother's needle cache. Ridiculous!
What else? I realized that my mother and I were both delinquent in knitting winter hats for the children. So about two weeks ago, she gave me one of Jacey's monster hat kits (they were custom-made for my mom), told me not to bother with gauge and use whatever size needle to knit whatever hat size she told me. Suffice it to say, I've ripped it out three times for being too big, and don't have the heart to swatch just yet, even though the yarn is fun and fast to knit, and the felted monsters (or pirate-ish faces in our case) are totally awesome! (Yes, I'm a child of the '80's, and I slip sometimes).
I haven't been in the mood to start up again with my Rosie's Popover Mitts. Baby Girl's doll languishes too. It's clearly not going to be a holiday gift--maybe I'll finish it for her birthday in August? I never even cast on for the projects I bought to knit for holiday gifts, and Hanukkah is upon us. That's kind of pathetic, since I planned some of the gifts almost a year ago, and had all I needed to make the gifts purchased by June. In fact, I should be clearing off my dining room table for tomorrow night's holiday dinner. Which takes place just after we get back from NYC for Boy J's surgical consult for the hernia we thought we saw six weeks ago and have never seen since. And even the Hanukkah gifts I ordered may not arrive before the end of Hanukkah. And I have to pack for our first family trip before my nanny takes her 2-1/2 week vacation. Ugh. I think I need to go upstairs, go through my stash and find something to wind and swatch. You think?
Monday, November 5, 2007
Just in time for the Fall chill...
The Lobster Claws are done! Here are my usual bad photos:
Pattern: Mac & Me Lobster Claws
Yarn: Lobster Pot Cashmere in Salt Rose
Needles: 4.0 mm (short) and 4.25 mm (long) --you need two sets of needles (as the pattern is written) and that's how my US 6's converted
Buttons: Moving Mud
The mitts are fun to knit, although there were a zillion ends to weave in because you have to pick up stitches for each finger. The next time I make these, I would pick up two extra stitches at the base of each finger and then decrease on the next round in order to avoid holes that I stitched when weaving in ends.
Also, I spent a lot of time working and re-working the fingers. The pattern calls for the last three rows of each finger to be knit as follows: rnd 1: k1p1 to end; rnds 2 and 3: knit; rnd 4: bo.
Initially, I couldn't get the fingers to roll down to the k1p1 row like shown in the picture with the pattern, plus the k1p1 row made my knuckles look deformed. So, I knocked myself out with all sorts of variations which were not appealing, but the final judgment (thanks to the knitting committee) was to stick with the pattern and roll the ends down myself.
Oh, I also finished one Halloween sock and have cast on the second. (I know, Halloween's over, but I'll be ready for next year. And I have never made sock orphans, and am afraid to go down that path). I'll take bad pictures another time.
And here's the best news: I'm an aunt! My niece was born last night! Yay!
Pattern: Mac & Me Lobster Claws
Yarn: Lobster Pot Cashmere in Salt Rose
Needles: 4.0 mm (short) and 4.25 mm (long) --you need two sets of needles (as the pattern is written) and that's how my US 6's converted
Buttons: Moving Mud
The mitts are fun to knit, although there were a zillion ends to weave in because you have to pick up stitches for each finger. The next time I make these, I would pick up two extra stitches at the base of each finger and then decrease on the next round in order to avoid holes that I stitched when weaving in ends.
Also, I spent a lot of time working and re-working the fingers. The pattern calls for the last three rows of each finger to be knit as follows: rnd 1: k1p1 to end; rnds 2 and 3: knit; rnd 4: bo.
Initially, I couldn't get the fingers to roll down to the k1p1 row like shown in the picture with the pattern, plus the k1p1 row made my knuckles look deformed. So, I knocked myself out with all sorts of variations which were not appealing, but the final judgment (thanks to the knitting committee) was to stick with the pattern and roll the ends down myself.
Oh, I also finished one Halloween sock and have cast on the second. (I know, Halloween's over, but I'll be ready for next year. And I have never made sock orphans, and am afraid to go down that path). I'll take bad pictures another time.
And here's the best news: I'm an aunt! My niece was born last night! Yay!
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