You've Gotta Read This!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130144061675_

I don't know what happens once auctions aren't current, but read this one NOW!. If you are thinking of having a second child, or a third, or more....read it! It is hysterical. Did you know the word hysterectomy is rooted in the word hysteria? Just saying....

I Made a SSC!!!

SSC=Soft, Structured Carrier. Like an Ergo, a Beco, or, for the more mainstream, a distant relative of the gastly Bjorn. A cross between a Mai Tei and a Bjorn. LOL.

Funky, eh? I bought that canvas at Wal-Mart. They had a few different, similar patterns, but I just had to have the pink one. I have wanted to make this style for a long time, but there is no one, single, pattern on the internet. In the Yahoo Slingsewing group there is a sketch and most measurements to make a 'psuedo-Ergo', but there aren't detailed instructions, and a few of the measurements are missing, or open to variation. In the DIY forum at http://www.thebabywearer.com/ there is a bit of a fuss about copying commercial carriers (like the Beco), and posting the measurements. One woman had made an awesome carrier with a similar fabric, based on her Beco. She had said she' d post instructions, but it's been a few months now. So, I gathered up all the measurements I could find from different posts, and all the different tips, and created my own!!! I am so incredibly proud of doing this. There are a few issues, but overall, I can't believe I planned, designed, and constructed this! Me, who two years ago, didn't even know how to cut a long length of fabric to half it's width, LOL.

I can't believe how skinny my legs look, and how big my boobs look! LOL. You're supposed to wear it lower, but Megan likes being up high.

For those of you who don't care about the sewing details, you can move on now ;) For those of you who are hoping to find a step by step instruction page, well, I'm not quite going to post that. Much of making this is similar to a regular MT. I will share some of my tips that I figured out, and if anyone wants more detailed info, email me at TracyKM at yahoo dot com.

I took all my measurements and made a sketch. Then I took a roll of paper we had gotten at IKEA (I would actually recommend not using rolled paper if possible, even though it laid flat, it has a weird grain to it, making the pieces be ripply once cut out), drew out my pieces to full size, and did NOT include a seam allowance. I wanted to be able to use the tracing around the shape as my sewing lines, so it wouldn't matter too much if my seam allowances were cut a bit wonky. I laid them out on my fabric, traced them, and cut them out. I did notice some errors with the paper parts as I was cutting them, and tracing them on the fabric, but I did still end up cutting the shoulder straps wrong. Not a big issue, the fix is actually an improvement.

The first thing I realized was that if I wanted something sewed to the outside of the straps, or the waistbelt, I had to sew it to the top layer before sewing the sides together. So, I wanted D rings on the shoulder straps, to hold keys, or a pacifier, I cut a piece of webbing, folded it in half with the D ring in it, and sewed through the webbing. I figured that I didn't have to have both edges flush together, the bottom layer of webbing could be slightly inwards. That improved the look a bit, but I figured out with the waistbelt a different way that looked even better.

I wanted to pad the straps with three layers of Fun Foam, wrapped in fleece. I thought perhaps I could sew the fleece to the inside of the strap when I sewed the side seams. That worked, but made for a bulky seam, and there was NO way to insert the Fun Foam. So I unpicked that one, and asked the engineer what to do.I sewed the strap seams, and turned it right side out. We inserted the webbing through the small end, and pulled it through the other end. I wrapped the Fun Foam with fleece, and used my zipper foot (!!) to sew really close to it, and sewed the webbing to the end of this package. Then I pulled the package into the strap by pulling the webbing at the small end. This is how you pull electrical wires through walls, LOL.
Then I pinned the straps to the two inner layers. Yeah, I used two layers of white twill; it's pretty light stuff. Then the engineer and I had a 'discussion' on how to layer the body pieces to sew the straps in and the four body pieces together, and have the right side of the straps with the outside layer of the carrier, because the inside layer is pink Ultrasuede! He was certain I had messed up. I have done several reversible MTs and I have this same discussion with myself each time. I even made a diagram after I got the first one right on the third try, but I've since lost that. I've made another diagram!

I was most worried about the waistbelt construction. Other DIYers use camp sleep foam mats, or yoga mats. I asked on Freecycle twice, and finally got part of a blue sleep mat last week. All I knew was the width should be 4", and there should be two pieces of foam in the middle, and one piece on each side. Some people like it totally curved on bottom, some just slightly curved. I wanted to make it wrap all the way around and overlap at the front because I had the pink webbing, and it came in 1" width only, same with the white buckles. I didn't know how to sew it together, but get the foam in, and sew inbetween the foam pieces so they don't slide around. And before I did all that, I had to figure out where to sew the webbing on for the buckles, and the two D rings! I was almost overwhelmed. I really had to exercise my brain on this one, and in the end, it was actually pretty easy. I realized that you leave the top of the waistbelt open, and it's extended up a few inches to sew over the bottom of the body. THe middle, doubled, piece of foam is the same width of the body. BUT, that one doesn't have to go in first! Duh! I put one side piece in, then used my zipper foot to sew close to it. Then, on the other end, I used two layers of Fun Foam. The ends of the waistbelt were to overlap and I didn't want 1/2" foam on both ends, overlapping (most SSC don't overlap the waist. That would make for MUCH easier construction, but I didn't want a 1" pink stripe across my waist, digging in as well). THen I sewed close to the Fun Foam. This was tricky because it was right near the webbing for the D ring you see on the left side of the waistbelt in the picture below. Then I put a piece of the 1/2" foam mat in for the rest of that side, and sewed close to it. I was left with the middle section open for the double layer.

However, before I actually did all that sewing it in, I tried it on and decided that the end of the webbing holding the adjustable buckle end needed to be moved back. I needed to wear it as tight as it would go, and if I ever lose weight (ha ha), or more likely, sell it to someone smaller, they'd need to adjust it tighter. So I picked off the D ring and webbing, and the X-box holding the end of the buckle webbing. Turned that end inside out and unpicked the seam around the end. Folded the top layer back, and re-sewed the D-ring webbing. I went to pin the buckle webbing, and realized I sewed the D ring upside down. Unpicked that, and did it, and the buckle webbing again. You can still see all the little thread bits in that photo, on the left!

I don't have any pictures of sewing the waistbelt on. It was tough. First you have to fold the edge under (you could sew it down, that might make life easier). Then you slip the lip over the bottom of the body, and sew it with a couple rows. Uh huh. Well, there's one inch of foam in the waist band, and about two to three inches of 'lip'. While holding it in your hands, you can center the foam fine. But when you place it under the presser foot of the sewing machine, the bottom side is flat, and the top side is stepped, pulling the lip towards the waistbelt, making the lip on the top only about an inch, but still 2 inches on the underside. Not a huge deal, but it did make it tricky to sew. It might be better to cut the front lip an inch longer to accommodate this.

And the Ultrasuede does not slide on the sewing machine. I'm sure there's a way to lower the feed dogs, but my solution was to grab a piece of printer paper, and lay it between the Ultrasuede and the machine, basically sewing it to the carrier!

My little helper and tester. We went for a short walk around the block, and when we got home, she didn't want to get out! We tried it again today, and again, she was very happy and wanted to stay in longer. There are a few issues regarding the buckles rubbing under my arms, and it's hard to pull the carrier up over her back because of the Ultrasuede, but we're working on fine tuning all that.

There's a shot, trying to show the side buckles. I don't know if the webbing holding the end to the body is too long, of if the body is too wide, so the buckles sit right under my arms instead of towards my back, or what. And, she sort of sags over the waistband, the fabric under her bum is ripply and not pulled tight. I think that's related to the Ultrasuede issue, or to the fact she wants her arms over the top. Does it come up high enough? It could be pulled higher, if I had someone other than a 7 year old to help me. But, come September, it will be just me and her! It's tricky to put on, I'm not sure I'm doing that right either. I like the feel of the waistband, but I'm not sold on the shoulder buckles. Which sucks, cause the next one I want to make, I don't have enough fabric to make the traditional long ties of a MT. Well, I might, if I didn't make them as long as what I have done....

I Don't Crochet

I've said it before, I don't crochet. Well, I may crochet, but I am not a crocheter. Here's another reason why:

This is a WHITE baby bonnet. It was doomed right from the start. Poorly written instructions, no clear photo of the finished bonnet. I struggled through until near the end and there appeared a fatal error in the instructions. It sat for a bit, then Lucy got paint on the table and it seeped over to the hat. Then, Megan got a hold of it and unravelled a row or two. I thought I could still fix it, then a couple days later, she got tangled in it and it quickly unravelled even more. So, I gave up. Yup. Tried to wash the paint out as best I could, and rolled it back up.

Then I tried a knit baby hat, from a pattern on the Internet. The pattern said the stitch pattern is in Interweave Knits Winter 2007. Which I have. The pattern is NOT in there. I figured I could pick a close match from my various stitch dictionaries. But it was not a very close match. So I just picked another one that I liked and started again. I was going to give it to Rob's co-worker, but Rob neglected to tell me that she was leaving on Monday (although I had initially thought when I started it that I would have it done by Monday morning). So, it's sitting sadly on my desk while I work on other things. Like, another tank from the http://www.clearwaterknits.com/ pattern!

Babywearing meets Knitting!

Remember this little number, knit a couple weeks ago? We were cleaning up on Saturday evening, in prep for a visit from Rob's parents and his aunt and uncle, visiting from England. We were in my room, and I threw on this wrap, mainly cause I didn't know where else to put it. Megan was playing around, and suddenly looked at me. She patted herself, and pulled me down to the floor. I sat on the floor trying to figure out what she wanted. She climbed on my lap and was trying to climb up me! Then I realized that she thought the wrap was a sling! We'd just started using a pouch again. She was rather upset when I showed her there was no way it could hold her! Back when she was a newborn, there was someone who knit pouches out of cotton....Tickle Turtle Pouches? I tried it on the knitting machine, using short rows to shape the curve. The knitted fabric needed no extra stretch room, making it tight to put on. It was hard to size it as it stretched quite a bit with her in it. A pouch made out of Patons Katrina would not be very good either, snazzy, but way too stretchy, LOL.

Green is the New Brown

Uh huh. Did you know that? Combining colours is not my fav thing to do, but I thought I could read at least.

It seems that if I find a pattern I like, I don't have the yarn. When I finally get new yarn, I can't find/remember/don't fit the patterns I wanted. One tank I have wanted to make for awhile is the 'W' tank from http://www.knitty.com/ (look it up in the archives heading, choose 'tanks' from the drop down menu). It's really clever, sideways, short-rows, garter st vs stockinette st. Not something that would be easily altered, at least not without knitting it the way it should be first. The yarn is 16st/4" and the one listed is 100% wool, handpainted, exclusive type yarn. Now, I know the nomads wear wool, but I don't think I want a chunky gauge tank top in 100% wool. Cotton would be okay (because of the stretch of garter st), but chunky weight cotton? It'd weigh a ton. A blend would be nice. But I can't find anything I like/afford/can buy here.

But I was dropping into Wal-Mart the other night, and can't not stop by the yarn row. I found ONE bag of three 100g balls of a yarn by some unknown Canadian company.

It's slightly textured, cream strand and a beige strand with a binder strand. A little boring, especially since the sideways nature of the W tank would be lost. It's cotton/viscose with about 15% acrylic. Perfect for dyeing with RIT type dyes!

So I drag the kids to the mall, to see if Zellers happened to have this yarn too (they had just re-arranged the store, not got rid of the yarn!). No, so off to the other end to the dollar store where they sell fabric dye. Tintex. That's a name brand, right? They had "Brown" which, although a little boring, was the best option. I bought another colour too that I thought might add some splashes of colour.

First thing, set up the giant skeins. A thing to do during Megan's nap time. Unfortunately she is sick and not sleeping much (day or night).

Obviously, I was not about to start dyeing until ALL the kids were in bed (and it took forever and some Motrin to get Megan asleep). I open the box, read the instructions. It says for colours like brown to use two boxes (doesn't say that on the OUTSIDE of the box). One box normally for 1lb (454g) of fiber, my yarn was 300g but I was only dyeing portions of it, so I figured I was safe. I tear open the packet and pour GREEN crystals into the pot. It's okay; brown is a mixture of many colours, maybe it's like blonde hair dye that goes on purple. Just to be certain, I hang a strand of white, 100% cotton over the edge. After awhile, it could pass for brown, but it shows green where it seeped up the yarn strand. The paper towel I rest it on turns green. I put the bits of yarn in. (Kind of looks like two long ponytails hanging over the edge, doesn't it?)

They turn green. I leave it, come back and stir now and then. Where it seeps up the wet yarn, it shows almost blue. After awhile I decide it's rinse time. Looked pretty green to me. But it's still wet, so what do I know. The box says 'Brown'.

I arrange the yarn again for a second dip in different spots. I leave it in extra long. It's getting late. Finally take it out, rinse out green water, and leave it draped over the divider in the sink and go to bed.

The dark green areas are from the first dip.Here, you can see a slight variation in colour/sheen between the cotton and viscose portions (I'm assuming the acrylic is the binder thread, but the yarn feels a little acrylicky). Hopefully a few more rinses and that'll show better.

I'm going to knit it up anyway. The garter stitch nature of the pattern will change how you feel about any yarn. However, I don't think even garter stitch will be able to make green turn brown. If I don't like it after knitted, I can re-dye the whole thing in the other colour I bought. What colour could that be?

Green.

Did you Hear That?

Did you hear it? About 8:30pm, Tuesday evening? A big, long, groan as I came to the conclusion that I would not have enough yarn to finish ANOTHER baby blanket attempt for Rob's co-worker?It's a square, using short rows. The blue is the waste yarn at the cast on. I need to make that last triangle at the top meet up with the blue. Uh huh. I had originally started with 45 sts and KP 35, but decided it would be too small and the gauge was too tight. So I went with KP 45 and 50sts. The gauge is much better, but it did come out a little big. I don't think though, that going back to 45 sts would have given me enough yarn to finish. I bought this bag of yarn several years ago at the Spinrite tent sale in Listowel. I have never seen it in Patons or Bernat's line up. I don't know if it was a trial yarn that never got marketed or what. They had it in shades of pale blue, pale green, and tan (which was a little orange). It's all chenille, the dark and light pink are thick, velvety, and the shiny light pink is much finer. At least now I can re-wind all the balls so that the colour striping will be the same direction for each ball!

So, another plan. I made this blanket back in the spring. Click that link and scroll down to see the issues I had near the end of the blanket! Last year I bought a GIANT skein of this Baby Sport from the Spinrite tent sale. It was $2 and was giant. Not like a skein of sock yarn, or a skein of Fleece Artist, it was probably 2' long (but very thick). It was originally about 2 lbs.The newborn baby sweater was made with the same colour, but from regular balls; just there to show comparison. If I had known how the colour repeats were going to work up in a blanket, I would have started it at a different point. You can see the blue outlined triangle near the bottom gets repeated further up. A little dizzy-ish when laid out like that, but not too bad in real life.
So anyway, I had started to crochet around it, but didn't know just how to finish it off. All my crochet books are British, and that leads to terrible confusion! I did a simple 5 tr shell and got it finished late last night. Washed it, dried it, and even gave it a steam with my new iron!. Kept me up a bit late last night, but I'm impressed at how quickly crocheting an edging can go. I think it took me only 2 months! LOL. Anyway, it is off to Rob's co-worker. Not the blanket I wanted to give, but then again, we're not friends or family. Rob has enjoyed working with her and wanted something to give her (besides the Moby D wrap I bought, and the pink and white pouch I made, because she apparently got 5 carriers at her shower recently. And I TOLD Rob back in May to take the Moby D in to her, but he wouldn't cause he was holding out for the blanket).

We're having quite a laugh in the Machineknitting group about headless knitters on the internet, and how we're known by our boobs. Since I've had my surgery, that's the internet knitter's equivalent of a face lift, LOL! For those of you who do really want to see my face, click on March 2007 in the archives, and scroll through the month. You'll find some pretty scary pictures of me!!

Yes, I Knit!

After the demise of the white baby blanket, I was feeling a little frustrated with my Singer 327. When I first got my first machine, I was making 'real' things right away. Maternity tank tops! I've had the Singer since the end of March, and what have I really finished? A pair of socks. One Angel Baby blanket that still needs edging. Swatches. Suddenly it seemed that every pattern I want to do is for the other machines. Or, none of my cones of yarn seem 'right'.

Then I thought about the tank pattern at http://www.clearwaterknits.com/. The gauge is 7sts/inch, which I could have gotten in handknitting, or the LK150, or even the KnitSmart. But I have all these odd cones of fine yarn. I picked a green I didn't really like, and a very fine brown boucle. The green reminds me of old artificial Christmas trees.

Here's the amazing thing. The size large is to fit a 36" bust, finish size 38". I'm about a 39" bust right now. I TOTALLY forgot to do a test swatch! I casted on the 134 sts, and realized that I had no idea what size it would be or the tension to use. Based on my limited experience, I figured the tension in the pattern (8 1/3) would be too loose, so I went with 6 1/3.....I think, LOL. I figured the worse that could happen is that it would be see through and I'd rip it out.

It turned out to be 36" and has negative ease, but I like it. The boucle thread makes it look like it's gone fuzzy, from a distance.

but up close it's okay. I still don't care for the green, but the brown really helped to tone it down. It doesn't go with anything I bought recently (all shades of olive green), and my brown shorts are missing the waist clasp, but I MADE SOMETHING WEARABLE.

I decided to try another yarn, same pattern. I had a cone of a gold brown that I got from a Georgetown guild member who has/had knitting machines. She said it biased, so be careful what I make. I had done a swatch, and actually washed it. It did bias. The Yahoo group for machine knitting suggested running serger thread along with it. That seems to have worked!

You really can't see the thread, as the yarn had enough texture already. After washing, this yarn had fluffed up quite a bit in the swatch, but not so much with the tank. I may have also 'read' my swatch wrong and chose the wrong tension. But it still worked!

This time I added about an inch of short rows for the bust. I made the large size again, using T 8 1/3 like the pattern says. And, it's almost 40" so it's a much looser feel. Laying it here on the floor and it does not look nearly as long as it does in that picture!

I had Rob take that picture and said "Don't include my head." He asked why, and I said that knitters are headless, LOL. Lucy took the one of the first tank. The self-timer feature is tricky as the self-focus light comes on as soon as you press the button, so if you're not in position, you won't be in focus, but if you have someone there to press the button for you, why would you use the self-timer?

I have enough of that gold yarn to make perhaps a cardigan. I'm not a twin-set type, but it'd still make a nice cardigan.

It's been hard finding time to blog with the kids home. I tried to keep to a routine, and that worked the week Huey was at day camp, but it's not working now!

I Did It!

Thanks Z! I had no idea you spoke HTML, LOL. At first, I changed the bit in the < $BlogItemComment..... >and that did something funky. Then I saw the word 'comment' by itself after that bit, and changed that instead, and it seems to have worked! It's tempting to go through and see what else you can play with, but with my luck, I'd mess up everything. In high school, I got banned from using the new computers in the drafting lab; they seemed to freeze everytime I had my turn!

Stay tuned for some actual knitting photos!

Sidebar Links

I added somethings to my sidebar, under links. And the font changed to that larger size. Can anyone help me get it back to normal? And recommend a good book on HTML? LOL. I'd like to change on my template, where it says 0 Comment(s) so it says something cool like other blogs. Where in the template is that? I see the word "comment" in MANY places!

You Win Some, You Lose Some

This is a wrap from Family Circle Easy Knitting, Spring/Summer 2005. Made with the recommended yarn, Patons Katrina. Of course, the yarn is discontinued. I was able to get some recently on a really nice trip to Lens Mill in Guelph. However, this was the only colour that they actually had 3 balls in. I don't like most of the colours that it came in anyway, but I thought it would be nice to make a pattern, as written, for once, LOL. What do I do with half a ball of Katrina now though? The two things I did do differently---I used my KnitSmart machine (c'mon! It was 287 rows of stockinette!!), and I grafted the seam instead of casting on/off and sewing it. I used KP 40 and I think my gauge was a little tighter than called for (the recommended gauge in the pattern was 16st/4" and the yarn gauge is 18st/4"; I think I got 17st/4"). I did have to unravel about 2 inches of the 287 rows. I haven't steamed it, I'm afraid of it growing too much if I do, but it could use a light steam to soften. It is a very stretchy yarn so you can really pull it down on your arms, or up on your shoulders. Nice for clingy tops, if it weren't slightly (very slightly) scratchy. I don't know if you can see it in the picture, but it has quite a sheen to it, giving it a more dressy look than most of my life requires. And I think I like it better with the twist at the back, LOL. Like my new shirt and pants? I've done a bit of shopping this week!

And this sadness.....almost half a baby blanket on the Singer 327, using Elann's Baby Lace alpaca/merino laceweight. I was having some issues and pursued it a little further than what I really should have. One issue was Megan 'helping' and when I came to work on it the last time, there was a mess in the lace edging that I just didn't have the patience to fix, knowing that I was already unhappy with it. (The red is waste yarn from the casting on process.)
Here, you can see the long strands underneath from when the yarn kept getting caught on the gatepegs at the short row end. This blanket is made by doing 16 wedges of shortrows; you cast on half the diameter, work the wedges, and graft the cast on to the cast off to make a circle. There was also a knot in the yarn, and the yarn broke once or twice, and a yucky spot in the yarn. All those long ends would need to be woven in, defeating the purpose of the 600yd ball.

You can also sort of see the line connecting the inner most points of the lace sections, making a stockinette triangle bordered by the lace. The line is from a bent gatepeg. Gatepegs are metal points sticking up between each needle latch on the machine bed. The separate each stitch, pulling the fabric tight so the carriage can knit. A bent one causes the two sts on each side of it to be slightly out of alignment compared to all the others, meaning that the yarn bar between the sts is slightly longer than all the others. Does that make sense?

Here you can see the ends of the short rows going up along the top left corner. In the center is some messed up sts, and other yuckies. I have one needle with a sticky latch I think, and it doesn't always knit, causing the yarn to pass behind the stitch, but it usually gets knit on the next row, with the stitch. This is technically called tuck stitch. When you DON'T want it to happen, it's called "That TUCKING stitch!". As close to swearing as I come, LOL.

Here's another view of those messed up stitches, and you can see the vertical line from the bent gatepeg. That might have gotten steamed out when blocking, but messed up stitches remain forever.

A close up of the edging, which forms points along the edge. I learned alot from that! There was something wrong with the pattern (did you actually think I created this myself?!), and I tried to figure it out, but it resulted in three plain rows where the edging goes from angling in to angling out again. I thought it would act like a border or something, but it just looked wrong.

And there you have it. I kept working on it, hoping the messed up stitches weren't too noticeable, but knowing it was way less than perfect. But in the end, I just knew it was past the point of acceptable and I unravelled it all.

Now, what to do with the yarn? Unfortunately, because of the knots, and the breaking, it's no longer a 600 yd ball. I was thinking of dyeing this yarn, should I re-join it all, so that I can do a long skein of two strands so I have two balls the same? By doing a long skein (ie---set two chairs up about 15ft apart) with two strands at the same time, and dyeing them together, they will come out exactly the same. But what colours? I have some nice blue laceweight, and some rusty mohair laceweight, and some pink I want to overdye....what else would I want, considering I don't wear shawls?

Having A Ball

Things are going interestingly on the knitting end of my life. So lets dwell there for a change.

This is a knitted ball, a baby gift for Rob's co-worker. It's a Sirdar yarn I used to make a cardigan for Lucy before Megan was born. I tried to alter the pattern so instead of grafting the last row to the cast on, I did a sort of pick up one from cast off, three needle-bind off kind of thing. But I guess I did it from the wrong side as there aren't the garter stitch bumps for that row! Oh well. I put some macaroni in a pill container for the rattle. I used to use squeakers for pet toys, but little babes can't make them squeak, so what's the point? I love making these balls, and I was very surprised when they didn't sell at a craft show. Okay, I was very surprised that nothing sold.....





I'm still working on the crochet baby bonnet. It appears to be much larger than newborn. But I think there is an error in the pattern. Yeah, I would pick the one pattern in the book with an error. I need to look it up on the Internet, see if there is an errata list somewhere, but I seem to be stalling.





Here's a bit of non-knitting adventures. I'm doing some clothes shopping lately. I know in the US, sizes have gotten larger, but has it happened here too? I'm wearing size 10 pants. Years ago, when I first wore size 10, I was about 15lbs smaller, and much of that is in my belly. And, what's with all the padded bras in 36C? When I first hit that size years ago, I was bummed to be in a C cup. I know the smooth look is great for with t-shirts now (and years ago t-shirts were no where near so snug as now), but does smooth have to mean padded? But you want to know what is the coolest thing? I put on the bra, and I have the same shape as without it!!! I don't have to hike anything up, squish it in, re-arrange during the day. So cool. LOL. But here's another bummer. Last year or the year before? there were all these cool summer dresses I really wanted, but were usually halter necks and I couldn't wear them because of the weight around my neck. Now, I can't find anything that doesn't look like it came from the far back of my mother's closest (sorry, ma! I know you don't wear them, but just having them....). Where's the cotton? Why is everything looking like my toddler painted it? I just want a simple, cotton dress to wear on those days when I tired of shorts. I though Old Navy would be the ticket (especially since we have a gift card from Christmas!), but the one dress they had did not fit. Everything was either jersey (TOO clingy on the belly) or too maternity looking (Fine if you're 16 and NOT pregnant, but when you're 36 and LOOK pregnant even when not, these new 'baby doll' tops and dresses suck!).





This isn't knitting, but it's one of the bright spots from the last week. It's a pouch sling for Rob's co-worker. I hope it fits. I asked my online slingsewing group if anyone was tall and skinny, LOL. He wouldn't ask her to measure herself because I had already bought a Moby D for her. It's an embroidered stretch poplin, backed with a soft, dark pink, Ultrasuede. Not as cool as I was planning for summer, but she said she likes pink, and when I saw the Ultrasuede, I just KNEW that was it (especially since the price was great!). The pink shows through the white a little, but it softens the white (I just make a pouch that's white twill and a blue print, and the white is VERY white).


Here's a close up of the embroidery. Originally I had made a ring sling, and used an embroidered gauze for the tail, but I never really liked it. I had already Freecycled the leftover of this fabric (DARN!) or I would have just made it two layers of the same. I REALLY like this pouch. It looks good with either side as the outside, it has some stretch (The poplin is 3% lycra and the Ultrasuede is stretchy). Megan and I tried it on, LOL, but it's too small for us :( I hope she likes it and uses it too. I think baby wearing is one of the best things you can do with your newborn. Sure, you don't have other kids to chase, and perhaps you don't get a baby that needs to be held alot, but it still helps to ease the transition from womb to world, and babies should be held by people, not things. What do you want your baby to hold in 30 years? Things or people they love?

Anyway, that's most of the good stuff from lately. Tomorrow you can read all about the death of a baby blanket that never got fully born. Or maybe I'll continue writing about how my husband has misplaced priorities and an arrogant attitude? Mmmmm....choices.....

And Crochet Too!

I am not a good crocheter. Although it turns out even and even nice looking, I have a hard time with directions, and a harder time with gauge. But I do like crocheting summer hats with mercerized cotton!

First I made this one:

Which was supposed to be for Lucy. I worked alot on it on a sunny Sunday and got it done about 20 minutes past my bedtime. It fit Lucy, but fits Megan better. So I started another one for Lucy, and it took me over a week! I kept adding a couple rows, taking out a row, getting hooked up to IVs, etc. It ended up a little big on Lucy. Mostly, it's too tall; this picture really exaggerates it!

I used Cantata DK cotton in two different purples, and Butterfly Super 10 for the pink. There wasn't much left of either purple, but I did crochet up a flower for each one, to hold the brim up a little. Very cute. I'll get pictures of them on later. I managed to get the stitch gauge, but my row gauge was way off.

I'm working on a little crochet baby bonnet right now. I know my yarn is a little thicker than the pattern calls for, but I'm hoping that remedies my too tight crocheting, LOL. I find crochet patterns very inconsistent. The bonnet is done in a two row pattern, the second row is double crochet. At the start of the book, in the instructions for dc it says the ch3 turning chain counts as a stitch. In the bonnet pattern, they don't tell you otherwise, but the turning chain does NOT count as a stitch. I had to start it several times, but it's going good now. I have to ribbon shop, and then attach the ribbon. Argh. I hate doing that. Any advice?

On another topic....would anybody be interested in a yarn dyeing day? Maybe bring your kids, bathing suits, yarn.....I've done some dyeing before and really enjoyed it, but just can't seem to find the time now. I've used Kool-Aid, Easter egg dyes, cake decorating dyes, and food colouring. Everything BUT 'real' yarn dyes, LOL. I'm thinking of ordering the dye sample pack from Knitpicks and some sock yarn (I do have some lace yarn already). Maybe others would like to order too and we can combine an order to save on shipping? Let me know!

Oh, Z....I have a question about 'Krista' that I'm sure you can guess but I don't want to ask here so I'll email you :)

Yes, This IS a Knitting Blog

Hello....is there anybody out there?

(I went to a Pink Floyd concert at the old Exhibition Stadium. Remember those old, ROOFLESS stadiums? It was cold! We were up in the bleachers, way up, a few rows down from the top, in front of the speakers. It was one of the most fragrant concerts I went to....).

Yes, I do knit. I took a day off after the surgery, then started up again. On the way to the surgery, I started a sock. I got the first sock done on the weekend, so a little over a month.

This is Austermann Stepp, with the aloe and jojoba oil in it. It's very soft, but I did have problems with splitting. The colours aren't quite what I was expecting, and perhaps not what I'd do if I were striping this sock on my own, but that's the fun with this type of yarn.

The foot is plain, and I decided to do cables up the leg. I started with 3x3 cables separated by two knit stitches I think it was. I realized quickly that it was pulling it in alot. I thought of keeping the same cable, but do them randomly or when the colours changed. But I like predictability, LOL. So, I kept the 3x3 cables around the ankles, then 'walked' the outer two knit sts of the cable out (over the purl st). That left me with a 2x2 cable, and more ribbing. I did this for a ways, then did the same thing with the outer two knit sts of the cable, leaving me with a 1x1 cable.This picture is a little blurry, but I think you can see what I did. I ended with some ribbing at the top. I wanted to start the second sock at a different place in the yarn pattern, so I did the ribbing until the beige yarn ended, LOL.

I got started on the second one, I hope I remember all that I did (like, adding some short rows to the top of the heel to give a bit more depth to the heel). I'm not good at remembering things. We took the kids to see the fireworks on Sunday night, and Megan has not slept well since! I can't believe I felt like this for over a year!

The Last Post!

Hopefully, this will be the last post (for awhile) in the Breast Reduction category.

Tuesday was my last visit to the ER. The first nurse to come in was an older nurse, still wearing the white cap. The IV lock in my left arm was not looking good so she started a new one in my right hand. The first attempt didn't work so she had to do it again in my hand. It was pretty high in my hand so I was hoping it wouldn't be staying in. Then another nurse (same one as Sunday night) came to un-dress the wounds and suspected I'd need more IV-AB. The doctor came and took a look and said that we could stop with the IV-AB but keep on the oral AB and come back in on Saturday night to have her take a look again. Saturday night of a LONG weekend?! Sure, it's Sunday that's the holiday, but really.

Wednesday I went down to see the PS. He was his usual ADHD self, speaking in run on sentences with "uh huh" "sounds good" "Alright then" "Okay" being most of what he said. He was about to leave when I finally got to spit out some of what's been happening. He barely looked at my breasts, just very quickly, I don't know if he even felt the swelling and abscess. He says it's the stitches which are causing the problems with the open wounds, and to pull out any knots or threads I find. But does this mean that I might have trouble with other surgery? Why did I get the skin infection? Did the skin infection cause the wounds to open, or did the icky scabs cause the skin infections? Or did I just get lucky twice? LOL. I still never got the chance to ask how much weight was taken off!

And today is the last day of school. I feel like I've just gotten back to routine and now it's all over! Lucy had her VERY last speech therapy today too. Wow. Huey started with Liz in September 2003, so it's been almost 4 years! I'll probably get a year off and then Megan will start, just before she turns 3, just like Lucy did. One night there was a happy, babbling baby at the ER and she sounded so adorable. Such a range of sounds came pouring easily out of her mouth. Looking back, I don't think any of my kids were like that, especially Megan.

I promise, back to knitting posts tomorrow. Posts with pictures!! Unless Rob ticks me off again like he did on Tuesday night. He said that I was the one who chose to have the surgery now, it should be me that arranged to have someone do all the stuff I do. I said that it should be him doing (some of) it--he's supposed to be a partner and participate in the family. That didn't go over well. If I were him, I'd be ashamed to tell someone what he said, what his attitude has been. "Why is your house so messy/why are your clothes wrinkled...." "Oh, my self-centered wife wanted surgery and expects me to pick up the slack and I refuse". Somehow, even though he's a little socially inept at times, I don't think he'd actually say that to his boss/co-worker/Mom......

Getting Better!

Things suddenly turned around last night and hopefully I'm on the upside of this battle. So lets back up.

Friday. The redness and swelling were just as bad as on Wednesday when I started the oral anti-biotics (henceforth known as oral AB). Rob was set to leave to go to his parents so he could leave there early Friday morning for the charity motorbike ride. I said, I need to go back to the hospital. So I went. Not much wait, but poor Collin, the teen aged boy in the curtain area beside me. He got hit in the eye with some sort of object (I think it was a ball, the doctor said if it had been a baseball he would have been fine). They had to 'conscious sedate' him to take a look, and the dialogue from the doctor: "This does not look normal. There's a lot of crap coming out of it. No, not good. It looks like his globe is burst and the iris is against the cornea. He won't have much, if any vision, left". He went to the OR to get it cleaned out further, but they were shipping him down to Toronto for further evaluation on if his eye could be saved. It was funny though listening to the nurse trying to get all his piercings out. Small town life--a cardiac nurse is stumped by the earring of a teen boy.

Anyway, the doc comes in to see me, I give the little spiel about the surgery and the infection. She says sometimes this things take awhile or get worse first. But after examining me she left, and the nurse finally came back saying I was getting some IV anti-biotics (hereafter known as IV-AB). After it was finally done, the nurse comes back, saying I have to come back on Saturday night, and Sunday night for more IV-AB and then back on Monday for assessment!

Rob was not happy. He played the victim, etc. I told him at least I wasn't admitted!

Saturday I went back and it was not busy again, was in and out in 90 minutes (for a 30 minute procedure, LOL). Oh, wait, yes it was busy, but the triage nurse took me back instead of putting me in the waiting area so there wouldn't be any wars when she would have called me back before others waiting for much longer :)

Sunday....remember the scabs that had come off. I took off the band-aid. There was a big (in my mind) jagged opening with FLESH showing! AAAAAHHHHH!!!! Wound dehiscence happens in 25% of patients! It can take 6-8 weeks to heal! It's summer time! It HURTS! Like, getting 'road rash' from a wipe out. I've never had more than a badly skinned knee after falling off my bike. Even when I rolled my little car (and the airbags didn't go off), I was pretty much fine. The pain from this open area is what I was expecting the post surgical pain to be like. You know when you get a little flap of skin peel off next to your fingernail? Much worse. But, it's a chronic pain, and I can deal with chronic pain :)

So, I get to the hospital, and it is BUSY! Finally I get through triage and tell the nurse I also want to see a doctor this time. Yes, I was prepared to wait for that. But the idea was to get the IV first, or at least while I waited in the cubicle for the doctor. I finally got taken back. Not given a gown or anything, just dumped in the room. Finally the DOCTOR came. It was a little confusing for him, LOL. He said that when incisions open up, they don't stitch them back closed! He felt the infection was not responding quickly enough to the IV-AB and continued the order for Monday night as well. Then he left and I had to wait AGAIN for the nurse to come with the IV. She didn't like the looks of my hand around the existing lock, so put a new one in my arm. On Sat. it had dripped so slowly, when the nurse came back it wasn't anywhere near done, so she sped it up. It went quick after that, but probably too quickly and irritated my vein. While the IV was running the nurse cleaned the open areas and re-dressed them. Finally I could leave (three hours), but I had to go get groceries. I was SO tired.

Monday. What a day. First thing in the morning was a workshop on raising kids with challenging temperments. Lucy and Megan went in the babysitting room. I could hear someone crying, and after Lucy said Megan cried a lot. When I went out finally to get them, Megan was so excited and laughing when she saw me! I never get that response, LOL.

Then we were supposed to go straight to the school, but I had forgot the camera so we stopped by the house and were late for Huey's class picnic/mini-concert. But we got to see most of it. I had put my name in to help set up for Lucy's graduation, but they didn't' need me. So I wasted a lot of time with Megan until the graduation. We should have just gone home after Huey's thing. Lucy's show was great. The JKs don't 'graduate' from kindergarten, but were part of the show. Then we had a bit of time to waste again till Huey got out, then we trucked on home and I just about collapsed on the couch.

Rob finally got home right as I was running a bath for Megan, who desperately needed a bath. I desperately needed to wash my hair (I hadn't figured how to protect my arm in the shower, when the lock was in my hand, it was easy with a latex glove). I was going to wash my hair while she was in the tub and hope she found the shower funny finally. I took my shirt off and notice ALOT of blood on my bra, on the left side--same side as the infection). I took my bra off, and gooey blood came gushing out. I'm running around like a crazy person trying to find something to sop up the blood, while trying to keep Megan in the tub, and Rob gets mad that he has to interrupt his dinner to wash Megan's hair and get her out of the tub. I only had one pack of gauze left, so I stuck an Always pad on the spot, LOL. Hey, they're designed for blood, LOL.

I went to the ER a little bit later, but it was BUSY! The triage, the waiting area, the treatment areas. Only one doctor working! Finally saw the triage nurse, and she arranged for me to get the IV while I sat in the triage waiting area (it had emptied out), but I did have to wait to see the doctor. And wait. So many non-emergency situations. I listened to a tired mom tell her tired young kid she was a moron and stop being so annoying. I listened to a 19 year old boy register because of a larger lump on his butt that feels like a tumour and several people in his family have cancer. He's had the lump for 3 1/2 months and finally comes in on a night he'll have to wait possibly 5 hours. He had no health card cause he had been living in Florida for 7 years and had just moved back (so no family doctor either). How does the triage nurse stay so mature? LOL. She did tell him that although the waiting area was fairly empty, every treatment area was occupied and it'll be a long wait.

Finally the doctor comes in. This is the 4th doctor I've seen at the ER during all this. She takes a look and says it's a good thing! Because the blood is gooey, ooey, icky, it's most likely the abscess draining. All on it's own, it's found a spot to drain! Good little abscess! While I had been waiting, I started getting horrible pains in that breast, in the abscess area. Now, I have had three natural labours. This hurt worse! (Okay, I think a paper cut hurts worse too, but these pains were bad because they were intermittent). The doc does some prodding, and squeezing and pushing. Slightly tender, but I'm still pretty numb. Out comes lots of ooze and blood. Even one of the small scabs around the areola starts bleeding a bit. Finally she declares that it's slowed down enough to stop.
She sends in a nurse to clean me up and re-dress the areas. Nurse Sara had a reduction in 1989 when she was 19. She knew she never wanted kids, so she had it done then, and had no problems. Back then, she had the compression bra/bandages for 10 days. We had a nice chat, and she packed me up good. Even sent me home with a loot bag! She reminded me alot of the girl in the room beside me in residence, in 1990/91, named Sara who was in nursing. Same haircut/colour. But Nurse Sara is taller. Or seemed that way from my position, LOL.
So, that visit, last night, was 4 hours. That is long for our hospital, although I hear people talk all the time of waiting 5 hours or more. I'm usually in and out in 3-4 hours.

Today, I secured a newspaper bag (the plastic bags the paper gets delivered in) to my arm, and had a LONG shower to loosen the tape, and finally get cleaned. Not much bleeding over night, and the bad pains are pretty much gone. Except, there is an area about the size of a pea, on the areola scar in the infected section that looks like a blood blister, and it hurts! OW! It did stop hurting today, so maybe it drained. The swelling has come down, but as of last night, there was still a lot of redness, and firmness inside. Hopefully I won't need the IV-AB tonight. We'll see, 5 treatments is normal.

So, wow. What a week. I'm so glad that this type of infection doesn't affect the rest of you. I couldn't cope with all this if I felt like crap too. Tomorrow I go see the PS. Won't he be in for a surprise, LOL.

No News Is NOT Good News

Just a quick post to say that things are still not great. The infection was getting better, but...oh, I haven't filled you in on my Friday night trip to the ER. Well....I've also been there Saturday night, and Sunday night, and am going again tonight. I've also had some spots (where the gross looking scabs were) that opened up. As in, I can see my flesh. And guess what? They don't re-stitch those areas.
But Megan is having a late nap and it's time to get her up and make dinner!

Family Circle Easy Knitting Spring/Summer 2005

Do you have that issue? I know some of you do. I know that Tobi made both the cover project and the crochet hat. I gave up on the crochet hat, but I want to make the cover project--a ribbed top, off the shoulder short sleeves. Made in Tahki Cotton Classic. The pattern calls for 100g balls that are108yds/100m. I would need 6, which would be 648yds/592.5m. I want to use Super 10 Butterfly, which is 125g/251yd/230m so I would need 2.6 skeins.

BUT....on the Tahki website, the Cotton Classic is listed as 50g/108yds/100m (well, actually, 108yd is 98.7m). In that case, I'd need 6 skeins. So there's a mistake somewhere. I've looked for corrections, but haven't found any regarding this issue. Does 648yds sound logical for a ribbed top with short sleeves? Tobi? Do you remember? It'd be nice to make a top for myself with only 3 skeins of the Butterfly! Even at regular price, that's not bad for me, but of course I never buy yarn at regular prices, LOL. AND Sharon says it's the yarn of the month at Len's Mill!! So, the stuff I have already says it was $11.99 regular price. I wonder what the sale price is?!

I went back to the ER last night. Anybody know a teenage boy named Collin with pierced eyebrows, lip, and one ear? Poor guy. More on that and me later!

No pictures from me!

I have nothing new to show of knitting things. Well, I do have the crochet hat, but no picture yet. I've been a little pre-occupied taking pictures of my breasts. I knew the digital camera would be useful for something. And I'm so NOT going to show those pictures to you! Haa Haa.

Things are not going so well with the boo-boo boobies. Scabs are pulling off leaving unhealed holes. In just about each scab area, I can see the ends of a knot (stitch). Aren't they supposed to dissolve? I read that some can take months to dissolve, but it's slowing the healing, having it embedded in a scab. I got annoyed with going through so much gauze that last night when one of the scabs pulled away with the gauze, I put a band aid on. Charming. At least it's a plain one and not Mickey Mouse or glow-in-the-dark. But I think it's the only plain fabric band aid in the house! And I don't think I can put a band aid on the spot underneath because of all the puckering of the skin (normal) and because it's in the fold. But it's bleeding now.

And the cellulitis? Yup. I went to the ER on Wednesday night. Breezed through the triage quickly, and only a few people ahead of me in the waiting area. I overheard someone talking about a stabbing victim/mother-daughter domestic dispute brought in. No one got taken back in over an hour, and then suddenly it picked up. Triage at 8:59, cubicle at 10:40. Discharge at 11:10. Overall not too bad! Except for not taking enough yarn for Lucy's hat, which was a mixed blessing because the band was too short anyway and I ripped back what I had done of the brim.

(I thought Megan was quietly watching Sesame Street, and I just went to check on her, and she's asleep on the floor. She's not feeling well. But what do I do about nap time? Lucy's not feeling well either. I'm snuffly too.)

So I have a skin infection on the left breast. Quite red, warm, and swollen. The doctor couldn't tell if it's still post-operative swelling, or an abscess. He gave me a double dose of an anti-biotic, and a double dose for the morning, and I've been taking reg. doses every 6 hours since 1pm yesterday, so it's been 4000mg over 32 hours. And it's still swollen (even a bit more) in an uneven way, firm underneath, which indicates a large likelihood of an abscess as they can be hard to treat with anti-biotics (I looked up the drug on the Internet and found that it is derived from a fungus that was found near a sewer in Sardinia. Uh huh.). My family doctor doesn't work on Fridays, my PS office is closed.

The pain is less today though, although maybe the two Tylenol 3 I took late last night are affecting me. I gave in to the pain last night after someone at Knit Night mentioned that I looked like I was in pain. I've had fairly chronic arthritis pain for the past 3 years. I enjoyed one month on Vioxx before it was recalled. You learn to live with it as a backdrop of your physical being. I do believe I am a wus when it comes to acute pain though, and I realized last night that perhaps giving in to the pain would help. Regular Tylenols hadn't helped, or ibuprofen, so I tried the T3s. Took two, and a Gravol. Got woozy, told Rob to get Huey up for pee duty, and went to bed. Rob comes in later and although I am technically awake (I can hear), I am so stoned that I can't even open my eyes, giving the impression, I thought, that I actually was asleep. Rob starts a conversation, without asking if I'm awake, about whether I got the blood out of his pillowcase. DUDE! Then, this morning, like many mornings, he comes out of his shower and starts talking to me! Go away!

I came to a realization of why I've been reluctant to ask for help during all this. MY friends should NOT be the ones doing what my HUSBAND should be doing. And it's somewhat embarrassing to have a husband that doesn't care enough about my recovery to do the things that are not totally essential to daily life going on. Yes, he cleaned up the kitchen Wednesday night while I was at the ER, but a messy kitchen and no clean dishes, is one of his big peeves. The house is often messy, although I usually try to keep it so that a quick run around would make it presentable enough for friends and family. But it's getting past that now, especially the actual cleaning of things like floors and bathrooms.

I just put a blanket over Megan and it woke her up. Darn. I highly doubt she'll go for a nap this afternoon now (it's 11:45). Oh well, it's survival mode here.

I want to thank everyone that has been reading these past few weeks. Not much knitting content, although I do have a lot I want to say about knitting, LOL. Not many pictures, although I took some today (my mystery plant outside) but it takes too long to quickly add them. Hopefully everything works out over the next week because I refuse to look at negative outcomes until those bridges need to be crossed!

Somethings Never Change

Today is Huey's "Play Day". He thought he'd be inside playing all day with all the stuff he hasn't been able to play with because grade 1 is too much work. No, it's an outside Play Day with teams, etc. I pull up just before lunch to take Lucy to JK. The primary kids are out on the pavement, standing in a big group, fairly still.

Except for this one whirling blue dervish spinning and hopping around. Uh huh, that's my boy! He's been like that since birth. It was one clue to his Sensory Integration Dysfunction. He is underresponsive to vestibular motion. That means, his brain needs extra motion to register that he's moving, and also to calm other areas of the brain. His daddy is a knee bouncer/pacer, I am a knitter. With Huey, it is essential that he gets movement. He's worn out several mini-trampolines, and gets to sit on a gym ball instead of a chair in his classroom. The unfortunate thing is, Huey is also gravitationally insecure. His inner equilibrium is easily unbalanced. No roller coasters for him (or me!). He needs to feel secure that he won't tip over. Many kids don't like to fall, but he is different. One Christmas, "Uncle Steve" was picking up the kids and throwing them over his shoulder. All the other kids yelled "Stop" in a way that meant "Keep going!" but the look on Huey's face, the fear in his voice, indicated that he felt threatened to the deepest parts of himself. We won't go into his tactile issues....I hadn't planned on writting about SID today!

Last night Rob wanted to take his tires into the bike store in Toronto. I didn't really want to go, but didn't want to stay home with three kids, so we went. Lucy went in the store with him, and apparently picked out her own little KTM dirtbike. She told me she'll make sure to wear her bike helmet. I said "You'll be wearing more than just your bike helmet!" She says "Why? It's just a motorbike." OMG. Just a motorbike. She couldn't remember how to use the brakes on her two wheeler as she rolled down the driveway towards an oncoming car! I'll be wrapping her in bubble wrap before putting on all the gear!

I think I spoke too soon yesterday. The pink area started getting warm. And pinker. It's not bright red, or clearly defined, and I feel fine. However, this morning I noticed that while the right side has lost the swelling for the most part, the left side is significantly swollen looking (compared to the right, it's not anymore swollen than it was previously). Even with my t-shirt on, I can notice it. So I look on the hand outs from the PS, and there's a possible complication called Cellulitis of the breast. The handout says it's an inflammation that may require antibiotics. Well, imflammation doesn't need antibiotics, so off to Google I go. Indeed, cellulitis is a skin infection found near wounds/bites/punctures creating swelling, redness, and warmth while the patient usually still feels fine. Uh huh. My family doc is booked today and tomorrow and off on Fridays, so it's off to the ER for me tonight! Hope I take enough knitting, LOL.

Oh, Nan....you can direct anyone you meet on Facebook to here! I have heard horror stories of how Facebook sucks you in and makes time evaporate but somehow doesn't evaporate your chores or responsibilities. Some day I'll check it out. I'm not sure I want to go down memory lane with Jen Hillman....after all, you know, she STOLE my boyfriend, on a bandtrip! Left me broken hearted and crushed while I had to share suite with her! And Lori Nevin. Oh, the misery! The scar on my adolescent pysche! It's all her fault we broke up and then years later he got M.... pregant and disappeared.....!! LOL!!! Oh man, is there any teenager that doesn't feel that the future success of the universe depends on their boyfriend staying with them? Just kidding to all this!! I actually did like Jen! Other than stealing my boyfriend, I liked the fact that she didn't sleep around with all the guys in the group!

Update

I've been getting requests to give a boob update. Do they mean my boobs, or the one I'm married too? LOL! More on him later.

The swelling is going down. Things are getting softer and movable again. Hope they don't settle down much lower, it's kinda nice not having to hike them up to put on a bra! I get these bizarres moments of pain, like a twitch, or a contraction, or something. And now that the swelling is not holding everything together, there is new discomfort. You know how when you're really pregnant and you start to feel like the baby might just drop out? LOL. Or, after birth, you have that big belly that's not supported by the baby anymore? It's like that. Driving HURTS. Coming into the school's driveway, and our driveway is bumpy, and HURTS! Walking hurts sometimes too. I just want to wrap my arms across my chest and confine them, but I can't do that while driving, LOL. Back years ago, you used to be given a surgical bra, or be wrapped with a tensor bandage. I think they should still do that!
I have some gross scabs still. The PS said to keep using Polysporin, but I think I might stop. The scab edges are gooey. I'm not bleeding anymore, but keep getting this yellowish goop from the scab edges. I had this happen before once when I fell off my bike and got a bad road rash on my knee.
Yesterday I was feeling pretty good--I felt stronger, capable, and less pain. Then I bumped my knee into my chest. Sigh. I'm not clumsy, I'm proprioceptively challenged. Now that area is pink and tender and swollen a little.

But Megan? The poor girl. Sick again. She woke up a day or so before the surgery (I keep thinking it's 3 weeks post partum, LOL.) with a runny nose. She got rid of that, then it came back this weekend, and now she has diarrhea. I opened her door this morning and nearly fell over. She may look like my family, but she inherited her odour genes from her daddy! So she's cranky again, not sleeping great, etc. I don't understand why she gets sick so often!

And....last but not least, my marital boob :) Let's go back to Mother's Day. Megan woke up at 5:30 (she did go back to sleep) and who got up with her? Uh huh. Then he spent the day fixing the toilet that had been broken for two months while I looked after the kids and made breakfast lunch and dinner. So Sunday was Father's Day, and Lucy and I tried to get him a present on Sat. but it didnt' go well. Anyway, although his attitude and behaviour had been much improved, I decided to give him a little taste of his own medicine. Now, I'm not much of a talker, so he knew right away what I was up to. I guess the smile didn't help either, LOL. He could tell it was in jest, but I think he got the message by dinner time, he wasn't laughing too much by then.
However....this weekend he wants to go away for two nights to go in the "Ride for Sight" a charity motorbike ride that he had participated in years ago with the street bike, and now there's a dual-sport version. Having a congenital birth defect affecting his eyes and vision, he feels partial to this charity, even though he's not affected by the particular illness they're raising money for. So, I don't want to be the wicked wife and say no way. I will definitely be slacking off Sat/Sun. BUT! The house is a disaster, there are mountains of laundry in all stages of life cycle, and between soccer on Wed, and going to Toronto on Thursday for new bike tires, and leaving Friday after the kids go to bed....when is he going to clean up the house? I mean, it is getting to that gross stage. I don't mind picking up some dishes and toys, but I'm not mopping the floor or vacuuming the stairs, especially. If he doesn't do his chores I might have to ground him! LOL.

I'm way past my personal time limit for blogging and have much more to say. Like, I haven' t given my Daddy Father's Day greetings!! And knitting? Well, I crocheted a hat for Lucy on Sunday but it fits Megan better. I get the stitch gauge good but am WAY off on the row gauge! So I'm making a bigger one for Lucy and it's probably going to turn out too big!