Em came through her dentist appointment with flying colors. She’s a little weirded out by how odd her mouth feels from being numb, but she’s dealing with it. Her father has run off to the store to get her some soft treats to eat before he heads to work.
Meanwhile, I have brought out a DVD I had in reserve for just such an occasion. Em is curled up on the couch under a Strawberry Shortcake sheet I had as a girl, which is now old enough to qualify as “vintage.” We are watching Horton Hears a Who. That’s the original version, directed by Chuck Jones and narrated by Hans Conreid. After this, she’s requested the Grinch. Again, the original version. We’ll stick to the classics, thanks.
Want to see Horton?
Part one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtqVXo_80VA
Part two: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1iPOtJ_mbI
Part three: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HzxOb9YSrY
The moment every mother who knits enjoys the most. Em picked these to wear tonight. My child voluntarily chose to wear something I knitted for her.
“I’m going to wear these on Christmas Eve AND on Christmas Day!”
Yes. Totally worth the effort.
Edited to add: It’s the next day, and she’s had the socks on since last night. She’s just gone in to take her bath and folded her socks neatly and put them on her bed. “I’m going to wear my socks again after I take my bath!” I think I may have created a smelly-footed monster.
I do seem to be on a green kick lately. Another skein of Knitpicks Bare DK weight. Dyed in my poor beleagued crockpot. Kelly green, with golden/orange added and then a deep blue concoction. My color wheel, meanwhile, is nowhere to be found.
This is it for me for a few days. I do want to do a pink/lavender one – it was on my to-do list before said anything. 🙂
Em has weak enamel on her teeth. The dentist says it’s nothing we’re doing, it’s just the way it is. She thinks it probably happened in the last bit before she was born or in the first few months after she was born. Sometimes antibiotics in early infancy can have that effect, and Em did have some ear infections.
She doesn’t drink soft drinks or juice, just water. She does eat gummi-type candy sometimes. She brushes after every single thing she eats. She doesn’t like to eat lunch at school, and I wonder sometimes if that’s because she knows she can’t brush right afterward. She HATES going to the dentist. She knows she has to. She tries to be a good patient, but when she has to get fillings, she is just awful. It’s not her fault, she’s just so anxious and scared that she can’t help herself.
So tomorrow, we’re going to the dentist, and she has to get two fillings. One of them is a re-do of one that was previously done, perhaps because the filling contracted a little and more decay crept in. They’re going to sedate her. I’ve explained all about what’s going to happen, and while she does have questions (“what if I wake up while they’re doing my fillings?”) she seems fine with it.
I am beyond nervous about this. However, for Em’s sake, I am playing it very cool, as if this kind of thing happens all the time and is no big deal. The appointment is in the morning, and they say she’ll be good as new right around 2pm, so I’m letting her lay out of school tomorrow. I’ve got a new Christmas video for her and a sticker book so she’ll have something quiet to do while she’s recovering. My husband is coming with us so we’ll have someone to drive while I stay with her in the back just in case she’s ill on the way home.
The bright spot is that tomorrow afternoon we’ll be getting our Christmas tree. At least that’ll be something good to happen.
Pardon me, I have to go “tell a silly Red Riding Hood story with things that didn’t happen in the real Red Riding Hood story.” Parenthood, in all its glory.
One 246 yards skein Knitpicks Bare DK weight 100% superwash merino. Acid dyed using cold pour method, then steamed on stovetop. I used another configuration of my Yarnomatic ™ this time. This skein has long repeats like the Holly Jolly, but the resulting stripes will be of varying widths.
This was dyed for a friend who requested green and yellow stripes (you know who you are!) but if it’s not to her taste, hopefully she’ll let me know. I can definitely find another use for it.
I like this yarn because there’s frost on the ground, and it’s nice to have something bright and cheerful about.
The list as it currently stands, by state/country:
1. MN
2. WI
3. CA
4. Ireland
5. IN
6. AK
7. Need address
8. NH
9. NE
10. OH
11. TX
12. GA
13. Ontario
14. MA
15. TX
16. Australia
I’m working pretty hard to keep the list short for the holidays. In theory these could all be done in four weeks. In practice life gets crazy around the holidays, so I’m not making any promises I might not be able to keep. The estimate at the moment is six weeks for new orders, and if someone’s hat gets done sooner, then it’ll be a wonderful holiday surprise.
MN’s just needs its pompom, and WI’s is halfway done. Back to the Jayne hat mines!
At left: The bad. The crockpot lid broke last time I moved it back into storage. Good thing it only cost two bucks.
At right: The good. It’s never too early for Spring! This should stripe up in an interesting pattern. I’m waiting for it to cool before I unwrap it. Sun Yellow has a tendency to separate, but I think it’s looking good so far.
Tonight is Knitting Guild night, and they’re having their annual holiday bash. They’re doing a white elephant swap. I’m hoping to make it, since I won’t be going to knitting night tomorrow night. After Guild tonight is D&D. So today goes from steaming yarn to burning Dwarves. Should be a nice full day!
FO: Holly Jolly socks
Yarn: Knitpicks Bare DK weight superwash merino handdyed by me
Pattern: Made up
Needles: US3/3.25mm
Gauge: 6.5 sts=1″
Notes:
Dyeing this yarn was a test run for my Yarnomatic ™. It’s basically a bunch of lengths of PVC pipe which I can combine in different ways, Tinkertoy style, to drape the yarn around in various configurations. This was one gigantic hank, longer than I am tall, acid dyed using cold pour and then steamed on the stovetop. I’m pleased with how this turned out. The color repeats are about 3 yards long for the red and a bit longer for the green. It striped up just as festively as I hoped. So festive, in fact, that it’s tough to get a good shot of the finished sock that doesn’t blow out the red and make the green look blue. The “in progress” one probably has the most accurate color.
This was knit toe-up starting with 20 stitches and increasing to 44. The heel was an afterthought heel, great for preserving the pattern in self-striping yarn. These took 160 yards. The ball band calls for a size 5 needle but I’m a loose knitter. I think I could have gotten away with knitting them on a 4, but I wanted them to be sturdy.
My daughter is enthralled with Christmas, so my father suggested this would make something nice for her. She agreed. The bad news is that she has big feet for a kid, at 9 inches long and 8.5 inches around. The good news is that she likes ankle socks. These are very thick and I think they’ll be good for sleeping and lazing around the house.
I’m thinking over what else I might like to do with 84 yards of Holly Jolly yarn.
November 30th, 2008
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A 24″ circular US3/3.25mm addi turbo knitting needle, sadly bent. I put my knitting down beside my recliner, leapt up, and apparently caught the needle between the footrest and the chair body when it slammed shut. Oops.
Another precious addi bites the dust. I’m hell on needles.
Dear Santa…
