A Sweater For Paisley

Today I got an email from Rhonda telling me that the pattern she ordered for us came today. We were looking for a top down sweater pattern for children in worsted weight yarn, she found one on Cabin Fever in just a plain raglan design which is just perfect. :-) I've already cast-on for the project and started the collar but now I have to put it on hold until I get a 4.5mm- 40cm circular, my stitches are starting to slide off my dpns. Unfortunately I only have a 80cm circ in that size and it's a bummer because I'm on a roll. I think it's going to be a fast knit once I get the needle. A few weeks ago Rhonda de-stashed a bunch of yarn to Valerie and me and I ended up with 7 or 8 balls of Patons Cotton in a light pink colour, so this is what I'm using to knit Paisley's sweater with.

My mom's socks are also well on their way to being done. I'm on the heel of the second sock right now, I just ran out of yarn and have to attach a new ball on. They should be finished in no time, I'm planning on making a trip up to see them in a little less then 2 weeks so I want them off the needles by then.

The fact of how much I miss Ron really hit home last night. Around 1am Paisley woke up crying hysterically. I asked her what was wrong and she said her nose hurt and then about a minute later it started bleeding. She's had nose bleeds before, so we cleaned it all up in about 10 mins but she was still upset then she started hacking up nasty clots. This is when I started getting panicky, my heart was racing all I could think of was this isn't right, but is it normal? Should we go to the hospital? We got our gear on to go, car keys in hand and I thought hey, am I over- reacting? Maybe I should call telehealth? I tried calling my mom first because I used to get really baaaad nose bleeds when I was little but no answer, so I proceeded to call telehealth. The nurse asked me a bunch of questions as they always do when you call and she told me that what was happening to Paisley was normal and that I didn't need to worry, (pheeww...that made me feel better) but that she may have a bit of a tummy ache from swallowing blood as the nose was probably already bleeding before she woke up crying. I would have felt kind of silly going to emergency over that, so I'm glad I rationalized myself into calling. I'm a big of a spazzoid when it comes to stuff like this and Ron usually is around to calm me down but I didn't have anyone. I also had to take apart our vaporizer because it wasn't working and of course I have no tools, I don't know where half his tool stuff goes. *LOL* In the garage some where I suppose, so I think I need my own little set of screwdrivers to keep inside the house so I know where they are at all times. The nurse that I spoke with wanted me to set the vaporizer up to add some humidity to the house as the dryness is probably a big cause of the nose bleeds. I some how fixed the vaporizer with all the wrong tools and got it going up in the bedroom, I put it on again for her tonight and I'm hoping it will help because I don't want a repeat of last night. Did I mention that my mom called me back after I was off the phone with telehealth? Ofcourse she told me everything was okay and that happened to me many, many times when I was kid. Who knew? I guess I do now. :-) I sure miss Ron though, he's been gone since last Tuesday night and he probably won't be home at least until the end of the week but I'm not completely sure (I guess that's the life having a trucker for a hubby?). I know I can't wait for a hug though, I need one. :-) It's just going to take some getting used to with having him gone for so long.

A Nice Surprise

After running errands and picking Paisley up from school I came home to a nice surprise in my mailbox the other day. I've been used to the usual bills and such, but not anything really good. The envelope was address to me and was sent by Robyn from Knit & Purl Mama. What could it be? :-)
As soon as I got Paisley into the house and we got undressed from outside, we opened it together. Inside was a cute card that read "Congrats on another girl! Please send girl power our way. We find out soon. Hugs, Robyn" and 2 identical diaper vests (one in 0-3 months and the other in 3-8 months). She and her husband are also expecting their second child about a month after us. I just wanted to send out a huge thanks to Robyn because it really made my day getting that, so thoughtful of you and aren't they ever cute??

I'm still plugging away at my mom's socks. I've completed one sock now and I'm onto the next. With Ron being gone with his new job, it seems like I've had plenty of time to knit and I'm still managing to keep the house somewhat tidy as well. A friend at work also asked me if I could knit her a sweater for her son who will be born sometime in March. I sent her a few patterns to choose from and she chose the Easy Baby Cardigan from Knitting Pure & Simple. I can't wait to start this project!



I've also been doing a little reading, I got the book with a Palmer's Cocoa Butter gift pack that was on clearance at Shoppers last weekend. We've been talking about names and we have a few that we like but nothing we've solidly decided on. At least we're agreeing on names this time. :-)

They say it's a Girl

Just wanted to quickly post that I had my ultrasound today and apparently we are having another little girl. :-) No boys in this gene pool I guess, oh well. Now the quest will be a name..........
They charge for the ultrasound pictures nowadays, $3 for 2 pictures. I was surprised! Ron couldn't be at the appointment with me, so I really wanted to get a picture for him to see when he's home on the weekend, plus too...isn't getting a picture a part of the whole pregnancy thing??

Update on my Christmas socks, they are done. I'm wearing 'em and they're super comfy. I have another pair of the cable twist socks on the needles as we speak for my mother.
I took Paisley out to Gramma & Grampa's tonight so that she could tell them the news that she would be having a sister and I acquired new stash, Rhonda was giving away a bunch of her acrylic and some cotton stuff, a whole green garbage bag stuffed full. Tomorrow while Paisley is at school I will be trying to fit it all into my storage drawers.

Sorry about my rather large header as well, that is a WIP and hopefully I'll resolve the size of it soon. :-)

LOL

Jennifer --

[noun]: A real life terminator

'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap!

For Christmas Paisley got one of those little Disney fish aquariums from her Great-Aunt and Uncle. Ron & I set it up a few days after Christmas and we took her to the pet store and she pick out 2 fancy goldfish and we put it up in her room, we thought we could trust her with them up there. On 2 occasions she was caught feeding the fish and EXCESS amount of flakes so we confiscated the aquarium and put it downstairs. The water got all cloudy and after a week of it being up, Ron had to drain 1/2 the water and put fresh water in it again. We went back to the pet store a few days ago and we got different food for them, some goldfish pellets. Ron thought this may be easier for Paisley when feeding them. I really didn't think they liked them too much, but every morning I would come down and it looked as though they had eaten them all. The water still had a slight cloud, just as it always had but each day it seemed to be getting worse. Last night I noticed that the black bubble eye fish that Paisley named Roxy seemed to be struggling, he wasn't swimming around and just acting strange. I took the lid off and looked into the water and the smell was unreal, it smelled like a stagnant pond, there even seemed to be "things" floating around in the water. After talking on the phone with my mother, she recommended me to check the filter. I pulled it out only to discover that it was CAKED with slim and and food. This stirred up all the grime in the water even more, poor fish still struggling. My next step was to get them out of there and into something clean because the tank needed to be COMPLETELY cleaned!! I found a very large and clean bucket and filled it with water that was about room temperature. Lucky for me from days of working in a darkroom, I had a thermometer so that I could make sure that the water was indeed okay to drop the fish in. Paisley and I searched through the kitchen to find some thing that we could scoop the fish out of the dirty water with and transport them to the clean water. Finally with quick thinking on Paisley's part, she grabbed a slotted spoon which did the trick and we got them in. The black fish immediately started swimming about and acting more goldfish like. They seemed happy again, confused I'm sure but happy! We even got the snail that Aunt Valerie and Dave bought for Paisley into the clean bucket of water. Next was getting that fish tank cleaned and nice again. Using HOT, HOT water and some vinegar (I didn't want to use soap), I scrubbed everything down, rocks and all. There was a thick layer of scum underneath and on everything. I scrubbed out the grubby filter unit and got all the rocks, Ariel, the tree and pump all set up. It was time to transport the poor fish into the cleaned tank. I slowly dumped the bucket of clean water fish, snail and all gently back into the aquarium then I plugged everything back in and got the pump running again, all I had to do was add a little more water just to topped it off. I got the water to an appropriate temperate then added it and it was complete, aquarium IS Clean!! I really wish I had've taken a before picture of this mess. EEAsssh!! :-) Alot of precious knitting time wasted, but innocent lives were spared. Sadly, I really think that Roxy would have died over night, sally (orange fish) was doing better then Roxy but it was still not a good scene. Today I'm on a mission to get them goldfish flakes. :-)

The Cutest Damn Baby Booties EVER!

I've made several pairs of baby booties in my day and never really liked any of 'em, some were too fiddley and some were too old fashioned. I found this free pattern while surfing the next last night and it was perfect...literally, the pattern is called Ruth's "Perfect" Baby Booties. I made these to go with the raglan baby sweater I made for my friend. I'm working on my second bootie right now and should be done it tonight. I'm in search of just a plain hat pattern now too because I think I will have enough yarn left over for one. The sweater is all finished now too and I love how it came out, my picture doesn't do the colour justice though, it's alot more blue then that it acutally looks.
I'm on a roll now, but as soon as I'm all done with the baby stuff, it's back to my socks. I need a new pair to wear!

So Samantha was asking how the baby belly was coming along. So far, so good! It's just really starting to pop out now, I will be 19 weeks on Thursday. Sometime this month I will be having the 20 week ultrasound. Hopefully they will be able to tell us the gender then because I'm anxious to know, I couldn't go through my whole pregnancy without knowing...I'm not good with surprises. Besides, I'd like to think about names before the kid is actually born. Any guesses on the gender?? I will keep you all posted. :-) Almost half over!!




****Update (January 9th): The ultrasound is next Thursday, Jan. 17th, whooohooo! I've also changed the picture of the sweater above, couldn't stand it. Booties (Paisley HAD to pose with 'em) and hat are done too, it's ready to be gifted, I wonder if she's had the baby yet. ****

Settling Down

It was a really busy and eventful month in December for us and now we are finally starting to setting down into the New Year. I hope everyone had a great Christmas & New Years, ours was fantastic as always and nice to be with our families. Santa as well as pretty much everyone else spoiled Paisley. She did VERY well. *LOL*
My sister also had her baby nearly a month early on December 17th, she weighed 5lbs10oz. She had to spend 10 days at the Hospital in London because baby Reece was having some respiratory problems at first and then some feeding problems but on boxing day Reece got to come home. She's as cute as a little button and I can't wait to get a little picture of her up here. As I probably mentioned before I was knitting the Seamless Yoked Baby Cardigan for her but it's going to be much to large (at least for a few months) so I think I need to cast-on for something smaller really soon, I'm just searching for the perfect pattern for her.
For Christmas I got the knitpicks collection of all the sock needles I could possible ever need, cascade sassy stripes sock yarn and some regia sock yarn from my MIL Rhonda. I think I got spoiled too. :-) I started putting the needles and sock yarn to good use by casting on for a pair of my annual Christmas socks. Last year I did jaywalkers with opal yarn that I got for Christmas. So this year I wanted to find a pattern simple enough to show off these so called "sassy stripes". I went through some old patterns and found the Cable Twist Socks from Hello Yarn and remembered that I really wanted to try this pattern and cast-on for it. One sock down!!

I was also thinking about Ravelry the other day and decided to check on my invite, only to find that I got my invite in October and the invite went into my junk email and I never received it. So they immediately sent me another one out and I was all set to join Ravelry. I'm just exploring it all now and getting everything all set up. Alot of time is being spent on it these days, *LOL* but I thought I should probably post on my neglected blog. :-)
Well, I think that's about it....wait...
I cast-on for another baby sweater for my friend's little guy (due really soon, possibly already or if not this weekend for sure). It's called Top Down Raglan Baby Sweater. A very quick and easy knit. I'm already to divide for my sleeves, front and back. The sleeves will be going on stitch holders ASAP. :-) I will be defiantly making this pattern again!!!