I finally have a chance to sit down at the computer! I’ve been using my snatches of time to catch up on your blogs and read my emails, so this is the first time I’ve had a small block of time where I can actually post. I’m not going to catch up any more, because, quite frankly, my days are boring and just blurs of more errands and more taking care of Jakob. I’ll still post photos, because if I didn’t I wouldn’t have anything to blog about!
We did do something different and special last week, though. On Friday we had Jakob’s first music class. There were about 25 or so moms and kids, ranging in age (the babies) from about 2 months until about a year. The class was hosted by a guy with a guitar, I think he called himself Loony Lorne or something. It was like “Sing-along with Raffi”…he played songs and sang and we all sang along and “danced” with our kids. At one point they all got toys and Jakob shook a maraca while I tried to keep it out of his mouth. Each week has a theme, and this week’s theme was the Beatles which was funny because we’d just seen the Beatles’ movie two days earlier, and Jakob really seems to like their songs.
Mommy with Jakob at 19 (!) weeks. Like his shirt? It says “I Only Cry When Ugly People Hold Me”. :] Here’s my progress on the Montego Bay scarf. Since Yannick is sleeping in the other room and I’ve been tired lately, instead of watching TV until late, I’ve been getting into bed as soon as Jakob is down for the night. I loaded up my iPod with some new podcasts, and have been knitting like mad until my eyes get too heavy.
All that is left of this to knit is that little ball hanging below the needle holder. I’m going to try and finish it today, because I have this Smooth DK that needs swatching! I’m going to try to beat the clock and knit Jakob a Hallowe’en costume this year. Any guesses as to what he’ll be dressed as?
On Saturday I spent my time crocheting to have the face/wash/dishcloths done in time for our dinner Saturday night, as they were a hostess gift for my mom’s friend who was having all of us over. I managed to finish 4 in time.
I used worsted weight Bernat cotton from Wal-Mart and a 4.5mm crochet hook for all of them.
This Brick Wall dishcloth was inspired by the one in the Mason/Dixon book. The free pattern can be found here. I followed the pattern but added a row of single crochet around the outside to finish off the side edges nicely. This one is called the Chain-8 cloth and the free pattern can be found here. I really enjoyed this one, and plan to make more for our house. This is a closeup of the cloth. What is really cool is that you knit the cloth much wider, with these chains of 8 chains wide on every row (hence the name). Once you are done your height, you use your fingers or a crochet hook and link the chained areas up in exactly the same way you would hook up a dropped knit stitch. As a variation you can give the loops a twist first before linking them up. I did. It gives a nice raised line that would work well for scrubbing. This is the Diamond cloth and the free pattern can be found here. Instead of working to 21 rows then doing a fancy border, I did only 17 rows then a row of single crochet around since I had to leave for the dinner. This is the Sunshine cloth and the free pattern can be found here. If I knit this one again I would make one of 3 alterations: I would either do it all in orange or yellow, or I would do the last row before the border in the border color, or I would do it the same as I did it, but I would do the border through both loops not just the front one. Doing it as the pattern states leaves a clear “front” and “back” whereas any of the other ways would have it reversable.
We had a nice dinner to break the fast (not that I fasted) and Jakob was a big hit, being passed around from person to person and behaving wonderfully.
Sunday we had my friend’s daughter’s first birthday party, and again Jakob was scooped from my arms the moment we arrived, and only given back to me to feed him. My friend had moved to Toronto and the guests were all of our old high school friend and her family, so even though most of them were people I have known since I was 12, none of them had ever seen him before and it was great to show him off. Everyone was amazed at his smiling, bubbly personality, and especially how, when it was time for his nap, he fell asleep in my arms (even though I was sitting on the floor in the middle of a crowded room while everyone talked and laughed and the birthday girl opened her gifts and cried and screamed).
On our way home from the party we did an impromptu stop- I bought a Nintendo Wii! I was talking about it with Yannick and next thing I knew we were in front of the store…and it is mine! We didn’t set it up because we had planned a date to go out and celebrate my birthday. My sister and her boyfriend came over to babysit Jakob and Yannick and I went for dinner and a movie. Dinner was great ‘cus we got to watch football at the restaurant, and I had a really yummy steak sandwich. Then we saw Good Luck Chuck which was a very cute movie. Also very wrong…in a few ways LOL. Penguin pr0n. That’s all I’m saying.
When we got home it was still early so we hooked up the Wii and played some Big Brain Academy with Laura and Mike.
Monday Yannick babysat while I went to have an old root canal worked on a bit (over a year later and the tooth still hurts), then I spent the afternoon both tidying up the house and playing on the Wii some more. When Yannick got home we challenged each other in the bowling and golf games that came with the system.
Tuesday I went into town to hang out at Robyn‘s house. I didn’t get any knitting done, but we had a good walk and some lunch then watched Knocked Up together. I found it cute but hard to catch all the jokes with the kids playing, so I’d like to watch it again with Yannick once Jakob’s asleep.
And finally today I took Jakob to the movies with Robyn, Sean and my aunt. We saw Across the Universe- the movie with all of the Beatles songs. I really enjoyed it, although it was REALLY trippy. Now we’re at my mom’s for supper then will be heading home later. I plan on putting Jakob to bed then knitting while I watch CSI:NY so hopefully I’ll have some knitting progress to post by tomorrow.
It is. But I’m tired, and taking a break from knitting ‘cus I’m bored with repeating the same 4 rows over and over.
Today I took Jakob for his 4 month vaccinations. My big boy is 14 lbs 2 oz and 25″ long! He was great and didn’t really cry, but between the shots and his teething, he has been really needing extra cuddles today.
I went to Toys R Us on our way home to buy a gift for a friend’s daughter’s first birthday, which is coming up. While we were there I decided to buy Jakob a Gloworm. I like thinking that he’ll enjoy toys that I used to play with, but I was really disappointed to see that they changed the design! This is the GloWorm I remember. I’m also having vague recollections of a TV cartoon…or am I crazy? Oh- speaking of cartoons, anyone remember The Racoons? Did it air outside of Canada? Anyways…this is the new GloWorm: It’s cute, but totally not the same thing. It does play a few different lullabies though, so I guess there is some improvement. I’m going to wait until Yannick is around to give it to Jakob and see what his reaction is. It’s rated for ages newborn and up, so we’re good.
When we got home there were more boxes waiting for us! I think there is only one more package to go, and then I can open up all my books. Woo hoo! 🙂 Tonight starts a holiday called Yom Kippur. It is the Jewish Day of Atonement. You’re supposed to fast until sundown tomorrow, but I’m breastfeeding so I get out of it. I got out of it last year too ‘cus I was pregnant. (If Jews had hell, I’d be SO going for saying I’m “getting out of it” LOL). We went to dinner at my mom’s for the traditional “eat before the fast” meal, and tomorrow will be going to a friend of the family’s for the “breaking of the fast” meal. As a hostess gift I’m making her a few crocheted dishcloths. (As many as I can do by tomorrow night). Here’s my progress on the first one:
Finally, for Tara, I will tell you what yarn I used for the hat, but only once I remember to bring up the ball band so I can tell you. 🙂
This morning we went for a stroller walk with Robyn & Sean, and a mom (Bonnie) from my Thursday playgroup. We walked for around an hour and a half and it felt good to get in even a minimal workout!
Jakob woke up towards the end of the walk and once we were done we put the strollers side by side so he could see his cousin. He was in such a great mood! He didn’t stop giggling and talking…its too bad that we had to upset him again today.
We decided that Yannick would give him a bottle every day at the 7:00pm feed. That way Jakob would (eventually!) get used to having a bottle, but it wasn’t the last one before bed so he’d still get a good feeding to help him sleep. Unfortunately Yannick has bowling on Tuesdays, but so that we wouldn’t miss a day, he came home at lunch time to do the lunch time feeding. It didn’t go well. After an hour of crying, resisting and passing out from exhaustion, Yannick had to go back to work and there was still 1 oz of an original 3 oz of breastmilk in the bottle. What little he had drunk was by accident as it spilled into his mouth and he swallowed so he wouldn’t choke. He finally calmed down when I held him and I got him to at least accept the bottle in his mouth. He didn’t drink it, but he chewed it like it was a teething ring, and ended up getting the rest of the milk without realizing it. It’s going to be really tough until he takes it, because his crying is really hard to take. He looks and acts as if we don’t love him and are torturing him. I think tomorrow night I will physically leave the house when Yannick tries to feed him, both so that he can’t smell me (or the milk) and so I won’t have to hear him cry. I might give Yannick a new pillow to rest him against and have him sit somewhere different so he won’t have the familiarity of my usual breastfeeding pillow and spot with the unfamiliarity of Yannick giving him the bottle.
Robyn brought me the Jitterbug I’d eyed at Effiloche. I *must* stop buying yarn! I couldn’t resist this one though, the colors just catch my eye. It reminds both of a bird of paradise flower, and those glowing neon Tetra fish you see at pet stores.
Isn’t it pretty? I think these will become just plain stockinette stitch socks for me me me. I think the colors stand out enough that I wouldn’t need anything fancy to have some pretty funky feet! (Uh…that’s funky in a GOOD way).
Look- I have been knitting! This is the progress so far on the Montego Bay scarf. I decided not to frog it after all (thanks Maaike!) and am slogging away. It’s a very easy pattern to memorize and I wouldn’t have to pay too much attention to it except that I’m knitting it on addi turbos and the points aren’t sharp enough to do the k2togs without looking. I’d advise someone else knitting this to use a sharper needle.
Something about Jakob’s pose in that photo just cracks me up. It looks like he’s saying “hey- check ME out!”
My aunt Mimi came over before driving back to Toronto today, and she brought Jakob a really soft sweatsuit. We put it on him to see if it fit and couldn’t resist giving him a cuddle while he was so warm and snuggly. Could you resist this face?
Now I’m done. Fini. Caput. I’ve done laundry, exercised, showered, taken care of Jakob, fed him and he’s currently crying is bum off in bed. I think I’m going to take him out and let him sleep in my lap until the next feed at 10:00 while I watch Big Brother and Law & Order. I’ll try and get some knitting in, then can’t wait to hit the sack!
Update: see end of post for information about a downloadable pattern pdf
Hey guys! Even with my hands usually full of baby lol I managed to finish and write up a pattern!
After my son Jakob was born I told my husband we had no choice but to buy a new camera. Our existing camera was huge- larger than an 80’s cell phone! It was the kind of camera I couldn’t even bring to social events like a wedding or shower as it would have required its own carrying bag and I would have looked like overdressed paparazzi. Now that we had a child, I insisted, we needed a camera small enough to keep in the diaper bag or in my pocket. There was no way I would miss those special first moments!
Buying the camera didn’t solve all of my problems, however. The camera didn’t come with a case- only a thin tufted slip of paper that it fell out of easily. Friends and family of mine have knitted themselves camera cozies, but all had the same basic design; a tube with one closed end and one ribbed end. While you could knit it as tightly as you’d like, there was nothing to officially stop the camera from falling out.
I was determined to remedy that. Buttons and Velcro were out. I knew the camera would end up in my pocket and with my luck the flap wouldn’t be properly closed and the rough Velcro side would scratch the screen, or the button would cause worse damage. There had to be a better way…
And there is!
Elphie!
Presenting Elphie– a camera case that will fit any flat camera. Don’t worry about knitting to a particular gauge- this worksheet will accommodate any yarn and any size needles. The case has built-in, double-layer protection over your camera’s exposed screen area and a cover that stays on and CAN’T come off, all without any snaps, ties or Velcro. Oh, and did I mention that it’s seamless? Mine were designed to fit my Canon Digital Elph camera- hence the name.
Want to make one for yourself? Here’s how!
The first thing you’ll need to do is measure your camera, so get a measuring tape and paper and pencil/pen. And the camera of course! On the paper write “A”, “B”, “C”, “S” and “R” with a dash after each. We’ll be filling in those values as we go.
Step 1
Measure your camera and fill in the values for A, B and C on your paper, in inches.
Knit a 4″ x 4″ gauge swatch with your desired yarn and needles. Measure the swatch and figure out the number of stitches (S) and number of rows (R) for 1 (one) inch. Fill in the values on your paper.
Step 2
Multiply your stitch gauge by the width (C) of your case.
S_____ x C_____ = CO_____ sts. (If this results in an even number, add 1 to get an odd number of sts.
Begin knitting:
The case starts at the flap, knitted flat in Moss Stitch, then stitches are cast on for the body of the case which is knit in the round in ribbing.
Cast on the resulting CO value you obtained above.
Multiply your row gauge by the depth (A) of your case.
R_____ x A_____ = D_____ rows.
Work in Moss stitch for half this number of rows (D_____/2).
Next row: work in Moss Stitch until halfway across the row, BO 2 sts, then continue in Moss Stitch (paying attention to the pattern as established) to the end of the row.
Next row: Work in Moss Stitch until the gap created by the bound-off stitches, CO 2 sts, then continue in Moss Stitch (paying attention to the pattern as established) to the end of the row.
Continue working in Moss Stitch until your knitting reaches the length of A+B+A.
A_____ + B_____ + A_____ = _____inches.
Multiply your stitch gauge by the full measurement of your case.
Adjust this new number to the closest lower number that is a multiple of 4. AM=____
(For example, if your M = 28, the closest lower number below that which is divisible by 4 is 24, so your AM would = 24).
Subtract the number of sts you cast on from the adjusted measurement.
AM_____ – CO_____ = _____
Place a marker at the beginning of the next row, work in Moss Stitch across the row, then CO the resulting number of sts you just got after the last equation. Your total stitch count should now equal AM_____
NOTE: if you prefer a snugger case, subtract 4, 8 or 12 from the number of sts to cast on in the previous instruction.
Join in the round, being careful not to twist. Your stitch marker will serve as the beginning of each round.
Work in 2×2 rib until the tube portion of the case measures the length of B and half of A.
B_____ + (A_____/2) = _____ inches.
Make sure your stitches are evenly arranged on 4 needles, with 1/4 of the sts on each needle. (For example, if your AM = 24 sts, then you would have 6 sts on each of the 4 needles).
Decrease round: Ndl 1: ssk, k to 1 st before the end of needle, BO 1 st. Ndl 2: BO 1 st, k to 2 sts before end of needle, k2tog. Ndl 3: ssk, k to end of needle. Ndl 4: k to 2 sts before end of needle, k2tog.
Next round: Ndl 1: k to the end of the needle, CO 2 sts, Ndls 2-4: knit across
Continue in stockinette stitch until, counting from the decrease round, you have knit 2 rows less than D_____/2.
Finishing
Turn your work inside out and work a 3-Needle Bind-Off on the remaining stitches. Weave in all ends.
How To Use
To place the camera in the case, pull your camera’s strap through the hole at the bottom. Insert camera fully into case positioned so that the long flap folds over the screen area of your camera, providing it with a double layer of protection. Pull the camera strap through the hole in the flap to secure the flap shut.
And there you have it!
Feel free to knit as many of these as you like, and you can even sell items made from this pattern as long as you credit me as the designer of the pattern.
This pattern is provided free above, but if you’d prefer an easy-to-print PDF version, I have made it available here for a very small fee. The PDF includes the full instructions in an easy-to-follow worksheet, the definition of all abbreviations used in the pattern, yardage requirements, as well as instructions on the Moss Stitch, Ribbing and 3-Needle Bind-Off used in the pattern.
Ok, truthfully my birthday started at midnight, when I opened up my first card. I was confused because there was no name on the outside, but it was all explained when the card turned out to be from our cat, Sam. He didn’t write my name on the outside of the card, since, DUH, cats can’t write. (Silly readers).
I signed up with a stroller walking group and since it was raining outside they were meeting at a local mall, so I packed up Jakob and went for some much-needed exercise. We were finished right about the time the stores were opening, so I went to go visit my brother at his work.
He took this lovely photo of us. Ignore my crazy-flat hair…I’d been sweating up a storm. Still…this is the only photo taken on my birthday that has ME in it, so here you go. For the first time ever I took advantage of my brother’s managerial discount to treat myself to something for my birthday. I keep hearing people praising Crocs (the real foam ones, not plastic knock-offs) and had been admiring the Mary-Jane style, so I picked up a pair of them in black. They are SO comfy! I wish I’d bought them earlier in the summer!
From Fairview Jakob and I went to the video game store to trade in the sucky game we’d bought that Saturday night a few weeks ago. I traded it for the 2 games I’m missing in the SpongeBob SquarePants series. Don’t laugh- the one I already have, The Battle For Bikini Bottom is a lot of fun, and not too hard that I can’t play it on my own. I picked up SpongeBob SquarePants: the Movie Game and Lights, Camera, Pants!. The first one is supposed to be similar to the one I have already, the second one is 30 mini-games that you can compete against others for “auditions” for a movie being filmed in Bikini Bottom.
We came home and spent the afternoon sewing in ends on my Knitty submission. (Well, I did. Jakob didn’t really help that much). Yannick has bowling every Tuesday so I didn’t feel guilty going to my first Knitting Guild meeting of the year. I didn’t think to ask my mom to babysit, so Jakob came with me.
He helped Norma teach the proper way of doing an SSK…
…and obediently modeled my Montego Bay Scarf-in-progress.
We left in time to put him to bed, and just as I’d sat down on the couch to relax, Yannick walked in with a little treat for me:
A Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Blizzard cake from Dairy Queen! YUM. As much as I can’t wait to dig in, I DON’T want the temptation of eating the whole thing, so we put it right into the freezer and will cut it Wed night after dinner at my parents’ house.
We watched the Big Brother episode that I’d taped earlier (bye bye Jameka!) and FINALLY saw some footage from the Jury house! I’d been wondering when we were going to see the evicted houseguests again…
In sad news, we tried the 2 SpongeBob games, and the Lights, Camera, Pants! one was defective. 😦 Yannick will return it for me on Wed and pick up something new.
I keep having so many design ideas but have no time to do anything about them! I keep filling pages in my notebook with knitting plans…and ask me if I’ve ever knit anything of my own design. Well, ok, I have knit a few things, but I haven’t really pushed to publish anything. I think that will be my goal for the new year (and by new year, I’m saying “starting in September, at Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year”)-to try and make something from my knitting, if not money then at least recognition.
I don’t think I would charge for my camera case design, I think I’d rather offer it for free. So far I have 2 free patterns available in my sidebar, the Knitting Game and the Bowling Socks, only one of those (the Game) that was of my design. The Knitting Game was in the 2006 Pattern-a-Day calendar and I have a new (never before seen, even on this blog) pattern being published in Stitch ‘n Bitch’s 2008 Pattern-a-Day calendar.
I think I’m going to try to expand and see what happens. I’ll try to offer up a few more free patterns, like the Sweetheart Mittens I designed a few years ago. I’m also thinking of submitting a few things to Knitty.
The only real thing holding me back, and I think I’ve mentioned this before, is the sizing issue. I feel confident to say that I can design anything and make it fit me. Where I have a problem is making sure it will fit you. I know that it is not a simple case of applying the same changes to all measurements (like adding 20 or whatever). I will have to take into account stuff like the fact that arm lengths won’t change that much, but shoulder-to-hip lengths might change more when going up in sizes. Or whatever. I’m scared to try and work out the math without actually knitting a sample in every size and having someone of each size try it on. I know that real designers don’t do it that way. I just need to learn how they DO do it. Is it all just using software, then designing in the details? I know there is design software out there…and that there are just as many flaky ones as there are good ones (or maybe more sucky ones).
I don’t know. I have to work on this. I think I’ll start by making up a few designs for me…I can always offer the patterns in my size only. 🙂
This morning I took Jakob for a walk in his stroller. It was really hot out and the sun was very strong, so I got to play the “I Get to Embarass You While You’re Young” mommy card and have Jakob in his safari hat and sunglasses. I was going to walk him over to a nearby government building to sign him up for a Social Insurance Number card, but we stopped at Maaike’s house first to pick up the sock needle holders that she’d received for us (we’d placed a joint order) and to borrow her Heart to Heart sling. I have a Snugli for Jakob but want to see if he might prefer the sling instead. It was so hot out that I gave up on the rest of our walk and came home to relish in our air conditioning. I am SO not a summer person! Give me a cool, breezy, rainy Fall any day!
After Jakob’s first afternoon nap he woke up in such a good mood I decided to try working on his sitting. He’s not tall enough to see over the bars but he was able to lean quite well without slumping over. He is really good at leaning backwards to sit against something so I thought I’d give this a try. It’s probably not a skill he needs but I thought it would make a cute photo. I love the little feet sticking through the bars!
Finally I brought Jakob to my parents’ house so they could babysit while Yannick and I went to see Stardust, for real this time (unlike Friday’s cancelled date). Jakob was so tired by the time we got there that I was able to swaddle him and put him on his Elmo sofa/bed. This thing is so cute, it folds up into a couch and folds down like this for the bed.
Yannick enjoyed the movie, it is very much like The Princess Bride in spirit but with better special effects. I didn’t get any knitting done but I did finish typing up my camera case pattern! I’m really happy with how it came out and I am just working through it once myself before having it test knit. I’m glad I decided to work it myself first because there are some things that worked in my head that didn’t translate too well onto paper. By following the pattern step by step I can find things I forgot to elaborate on because I’d assumed it would be done, and make any changes I need. Then I’ll edit the pattern and sent it out, and if it works well I’ll offer it up here.
It should be cool…it’s a camera case pattern worksheet, which means you can use any yarn and any size needles you want. You can use it for any size flat camera and it even has built-in double layer protection around the exposed screen area. Plus a cover that stays on and CAN’T come off, all without any snaps, ties or velcro. Oh, and did I mention that it’s seamless?
I don’t know where the time goes. I blink and it is a few days after I said I would post. Sorry, loyal reader(s)! 🙂 On Wednesday my mom, her friend Esther and I took Jakob to go see the movie Stardust. I loved it! They took a while to get the story, but I caught on right away and thought it was amazing. If you like The Princess Bride, you’ll like Stardust!
That afternoon we were supposed to have a playdate with Maaike and her daughter, and Robyn and her son, but they both cancelled on me so Jakob and I spent the afternoon making beef jerky for Yannick with our food dehydrator. I like beef jerky too but this time I used the “hot and spicy” spice mix, and it is WAY too hot for me.
On Thursday we spent the morning play around in bed.
We worked on some tummy time, which he is getting much better at. He’s always been good at holding his head up, but usually starts to fuss after a few minutes. He is now able to go much longer before getting frustrated or sore (holding up his head).
Thursday afternoon we were invited to join a friend’s playgroup. It was so much fun! Her daughter is only 1 day older than Jakob, and they were the two oldest kids there. There were 11 moms and kids total, and the youngest baby is two-and-a-half weeks old. I gave that mom great “props”- I certainly didn’t have the energy to go out that early! It was a riot watching all of these babies- just imagine all 11 together once they start to crawl! Right now they’re not doing much, but it is more for the mommies to get a chance to socialize. After the playgroup a few of us took our kids out with their strollers for a walk, then I went to the pharmacy then to my parents’ house. I had invited myself, Jakob and Yannick over for supper because I was going to go to my friend Jackie’s to watch Big Brother at 8:00pm, but Jackie had to cancel so I made sure I was home in time. I fed Jakob and spent the night working on the JCA project some more.
Friday we played around some more then went and did a few errands. I wanted to exchange one of the breastfeeding tops I’d bought at Thyme for a different one that was more flattering, and also wanted to return a toy I’d bought for Jakob since I wasn’t happy with it. Luckily both stores were in the same mall so I didn’t have to run around too much. Friday night we brought Jakob to my parents’ house to babysit and Yannick and I were going to see Stardust (I knew Yannick would love it) but last minute something came up so I came home alone to get a good chunk of knitting done, and Yannick went to help my parents clear out their backyard for a pool they are going to put in. (Yay!) The other good news is: I finished the JCA project! I just have a few ends to weave in, but those suckers are done! I’m very excited because I want to start new things already!
Today we went to Robyn’s dad’s store and I got my new digital camera. It is the Canon PowerShot SD1000 Digital Elph and I am so excited to finally have a camera small enough to throw into my purse or diaper bag. Our current Canon (PowerShot S2 lS) is wonderful but SO bulky! Robyn’s sister, my (wonderful, amazing, awesome, great) cousin Amy was working that day and not only gave us great service but made Jakob laugh and smile. After the store we had a playdate walk in the park with my grad date of all people! He had married his high school sweetheart (we had gone to grad as friends, with her permission) and they’d moved to the West Island and had a daughter just 2 months before Jakob was born. We went to Centennial Park and hung out at the dog park for a bit before going to sit by the lake and catch up. I can’t believe it- I haven’t seen him in 13 years! We found each other on Facebook of all places.
From there we went to my parents’ house for a short visit, then came home. We just finished supper and Jakob is napping so I’m going to weave in those ends so I can start working on my next project:
That’s the Montego Bay Scarf from this summer’s Interweave Knits. It is scarf 1 of my (hopefully) 3 items that I will be donating for my friend’s fundraiser auction.
This photo sucks but shows the color of the yarn a bit more true to life. Each strand of color is plied with black. I can’t wait to see how it turns out.
I can’t believe it. Today my baby sister, the youngest of us 4 kids, is 20 years old. We are 10 years apart…which means I’m going to be…30 next month. Man.
When did she get to grow up? Why isn’t she still playing with dolls and letting me stick colored dot stickers all over our faces and letting me put garish makeup on her and dress her up?
Happy Birthday Laura!
Jakob had a rough night last night. He went from 9:30pm to 8:00am without eating, but he woke up at least 5 times through the night. Each time he’d be folded in half almost flipping onto his stomach again. I’m guessing that he is getting bigger and the dose of Zantac we give him for acid-reflux isn’t strong enough for his current weight. I left a message for his doctor to find out if we can raise the dosage. I’m pretty sure that it’s his poor tummy hurting that keeps waking him up.
I took him to the movies again today, we went just the two of us and saw The Simpsons. It was a great movie! I like the cartoon, so I really enjoyed the movie. Lots of inside jokes and bits of sly humor (although the one part I can’t stop repeating was shown in the commercials…”Spider-pig… Spider-pig… does whatever a Spider-pig does…” He slept through the beginning of the movie and I had a chance to knit up a swatch I needed to have done. My LYS was clearing out some yarns and had a heavy cotton/acrylic blend on sale for about $2 CAD/ball so I bought them to make a sweater. The LYS owner told me she’d use her computer program to design me a pattern and I needed to have the swatch done for that.
After the movie I brought Jakob to the LYS and had the pattern made. There wasn’t enough white for a whole sweater so I bought some navy too and will have to get creative with the color.
Later I brought Jakob home and fed him, then changed him to bring over to my parents’ house for my sister’s non-surprise surprise party (her friend leaked the news but Laura pretended not to know, and didn’t know that we knew she knew).
Like his tank? Can you read it? It says “Dad thinks he’s in charge”. 🙂
We had a great barbeque over at my parents’ house and Laura had a blast showing Jakob off to her friends. It was weird seeing my sister and her friends hanging out, surrounded by cigarettes (not hers) and beers (also not hers). My mom had provided wine coolers and sangria, and they thought it was quaint. Instead they drank down their beers. I watched them all horse around and can’t help but remember hanging out with my friends at that age. You feel like you have no cares and your whole life ahead of you…and now I’m almost years older and feel like I have a lifetime behind me.
Ok, enough melodrama. I just put Jakob to bed and will go knit while Yannick reads the next chapter of Harry Potter #7 to me. (Yes, we read out loud to each other when we want to share the same book, we’ve been doing it since we started dating, although I usually end up reading since Yannick’s reading out loud isn’t the best. No, I haven’t read any spoilers online so if you know who dies or anything DON’T tell me!)
p.s. Today is also my brother-in-law’s birthday, so Happy Birthday Mathieu!
This post was originally just titled “over the weekend” but I got delayed in posting and now have an extra two days to catch up. I don’t know where the time goes but I can’t seem to get anything done!
On Saturday morning I awoke to hear Jakob crying in his sleep…sort of “fussing”. I know that sometimes he rolls around and winds up with his arm or legs hanging through the bars of his crib (I almost typed “cage” LOL), so I thought maybe he’d rolled around and gotten stuck. I went in to take a peek…
…he’d rolled onto his stomach! In his sleep he’d managed to roll onto his stomach then realized he didn’t know what to do once he got there, so he started to cry. I immediately rolled him back onto his back. He was still crying and I knew if I took him out of bed he’d want to be fed, so I went to the washroom first to wash my hands. I heard him fussing again and when I came back he’d rolled back onto his stomach! I called for Yannick to come, and to bring the video camera. Thank gd he didn’t question why- it was around 5:00am! I rolled Jakob back over and as we watched he promptly rolled right back onto his stomach. We managed to catch it on video. Unfortunately Jakob still didn’t know what to do on his stomach and began to cry in earnest so I took him out to feed him.
I spent the morning with him at a brunch and old friend threw as a sort of “reunion” for lost friends. Over the years we’ve all drifted apart so she set up a little group on Facebook and invited everyone from her friends list who lived in Montreal. I didn’t know most of the people but I hadn’t seen that friend in a long time so I went. Jakob was such an angel- he slept the entire time! He was so good that I was able to take him to the knit-out in the park that was also scheduled for the same day. It was a bit disappointing because only 3 other people were there. I’d gone at the very end, just for a half hour, but they were the only ones who had shown up all day. Then Jakob and I went to FutureShop to pick up my repaired Palm. I was very bitter because Palms aren’t supposed to be repaired, they get replaced and I’d received MY original unit back (I’d marked it).
Finally Jakob and I wound up at my parents’ house where Yannick was doing some brick work for them. Julie came over to see us then my parents took us to Jade Palace for some Chinese buffet for supper. Yum! Once again Jakob was behaving himself like a perfect little guy and slept the entire time.
When we got home I was worried about how to put him down to sleep. We had been swaddling him but I was afraid that if he rolled onto his stomach he might find a way to get the loose fabric into his mouth. I remembered that I’d bought a sleeping blanket that time we were at Fairview, so I took it out to try it.
It’s like a soft flannel sleeping back with shoulder straps. I knew Jakob would be a bit fussy because he liked to rub the blanket against his cheek, but safety is the priority so we’re trying out the sleeping blanket now. I will still swaddle him during the day when I’m able to check on him, but not for over night.
Sunday was spent running around doing errands. First we went to Walmart for a few things and to have lunch at McDonald’s. Then we went to a really cool gift store in Pointe-Claire. Yannick had bought me a charm for my bracelet to commemorate our son’s birth, but I was afraid the little emerald birthstone might fall out, so I wanted to find out about their warranty. When we left there we went right back to FutureShop since my Palm had died again over night. I complained and said it wasn’t easy for me to run around with a newborn, and they were really nice and exchanged it for me right away. My Tungsten T5 wasn’t available any longer so they switched it for a Palm TX which came with a cool wireless keyboard and built-in wifi. Finally we went to Fairview because Yannick needed some socks and running shoes, so we went to see my brother Mike at Sports Experts.
Sunday night we went to Yannick’s sister’s house for cake and coffee for William’s birthday (last week) and Alex’s birthday (at the end of the month).
We dressed Jakob in this cute little outfit. It had a special meaning- it was part of Brigitte’s gift to us at my baby shower. That night I heard Jakob fussing again and finally went in around 6:00am Monday morning. The little stinker was folding himself in half again but was too tired to roll all the way onto his stomach so he’d make it to his side then pass out. The little cutie. 🙂
Yannick’s parents had to move his grandmother into a new residence and in the process were helping her empty her old place. They came across this framed cross stitch:
This was my first ever attempt at cross stitch. Back in 2003 I was trying to find a gift idea for Yannick’s grandmother for Easter since all the cousins brought her gifts but everyone usually brought alcohol. I wanted to be different and found this in a magazine. I loved the image and had Yannick’s mom help me change the quote into something in French. I bought all the supplies, did the stitching and beading and had it framed for her just in time for Easter. Now that she’s not as well they gave it back to me so we could keep it.
Later on Monday Yannick and I took Jakob back to the Shriner’s Hospital. Good news- there is nothing wrong with his hip (last time it looked under developed) and he’s just fine. Yay!
Today my mom and I both went to have our hair done so one could watch Jakob while the other was occupied. He was such a little cutie and flirted with all the girls there. We brought him to surprise my dad at work too, then went to Loblaws for some dinner groceries. The little guy woke up when we got there and didn’t stop talking out loud the entire time. After dinner with my mom and Yannick, we came home and I had just enough time to feed him before he passed out. I’m going to follow his example now, since we have another busy day tomorrow.
Here’s my progress on the Montego Bay scarf. Since Yannick is sleeping in the other room and I’ve been tired lately, instead of watching TV until late, I’ve been getting into bed as soon as Jakob is down for the night. I loaded up my iPod with some new podcasts, and have been knitting like mad until my eyes get too heavy.
Smooth DK that needs swatching! I’m going to try to beat the clock and knit Jakob a Hallowe’en costume this year. Any guesses as to what he’ll be dressed as?
This morning I took Jakob for a walk in his stroller. It was really hot out and the sun was very strong, so I got to play the “I Get to Embarass You While You’re Young” mommy card and have Jakob in his safari hat and sunglasses. I was going to walk him over to a nearby government building to sign him up for a Social Insurance Number card, but we stopped at 
for Jakob but want to see if he might prefer the sling instead. It was so hot out that I gave up on the rest of our walk and came home to relish in our air conditioning. I am SO not a summer person! Give me a cool, breezy, rainy Fall any day! 
After Jakob’s first afternoon nap he woke up in such a good mood I decided to try working on his sitting. He’s not tall enough to see over the bars but he was able to lean quite well without slumping over. He is really good at leaning backwards to sit against something so I thought I’d give this a try. It’s probably not a skill he needs but I thought it would make a cute photo. I love the little feet sticking through the bars! 
jeloca.com 