It's about time

Terry Pratchett knighted for services to literature

This is not what I signed up for

There are few parenting tasks that are as hard as administering medicine to a child who doesn't want to take it. Michael's RAD has reared its ugly head once more which means I have to use the big guns - the nebulizer and albuterol. Not only does the albuterol make him wired beyond belief, but he has once again developed a huge aversion to the nebulizer again. There's nothing quite like pinning a 40lb/45" preschooler who is half a step away from complete hysterics while keeping a mask on his face for the ten minutes or so it takes for the albuterol to completely vaporize. Thankfully, his respirations aren't that bad but he's having retractions so skipping it isn't an option and I have no desire to make a late night visit to CHOP if his respirations get high which they have a history of doing.

Because misery loves company, Alex is steps (ha) away from walking so I have the joy of a milestone driven sleep regression on top of the white noise of teething. I hate the triteness of the phrase, but This too shall pass has been my mantra. It won't always be this intense and in the grand scheme of things this period is just a drop in the bucket. Unfortunately, that provides little comfort while I'm in the thick of it and ready to sell my soul for sleep and time alone.

We had a fairly quiet Christmas with lots of pictures which I'll get around to posting at some point. John got me Lego Batman for my Nintendo DS and has been working hard to make sure I get some time to actually play it the past few days. Michael loves his WALL-E and EVE action figures and his Matchbox car case is seeing a lot of use. Alex has a new to him walker/ride-on car which isn't seeing use as a walker yet but he's been having a lot of fun playing with the gadgets on it.

Peace has descended on my livingroom for the moment, so I'll take my leave now.

I have a month's worth of knitting,...

Christmas is next week, I have a half a pack of cigarettes, two children and am chronically sleep deprived...

All that's missing is a cool soundtrack and "unnecessary force"

In all honesty, several presents will be given on Little Christmas because barring time travel (and how I wish I could do it), it's just not possible to do.

In other news, Alex is topping the scales at 20lbs and is just shy of 28" - not too shabby considering three months ago we were looking at a possible feeding tube.

Kids are asleep - knitting beckons.

Prop 8 The Musical

Enjoy!

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Crafts Update

Even with all the tumult, there is still knitting being done.

Finished Items

Michael's Sherwood Sweater

Adapted from Knitty's Sherwood Sweater pattern - rewritten to accommodate a larger gauge and to make it a seamless raglan.
US Size 10 Needles
Cascade Eco Wool

This has actually been done for quite some time, I just haven't had the camera and him wearing it in the same room at the same time - I still don't so you'll have to settle for the perennial laying on the carpet shot. This is my first sweater (well 4th if you count baby ones, but I don't), and I've learned a lot from it. I have to work on my k2tog decreases - individual ones don't matter that much, but a whole bunch of them in a line left a little ladder gap that I'm not too crazy about. I won't even show you the underarms - one of them is done on the wrong side and while a mistake of this magnitude would usually eat me alive until I ripped it out and did it correctly, but I'm sure no one will be examining them that closely so I'm not sweating it. All in all, it pointed out some places where I need to improve my technique and I got a sweater he'll be able to wear for at least two years out of it.

Mittens


Original Pattern
US Size 4 and 8 Needles
Pattons Classic Merino

Michael's needed these for the longest time and while I had these intricate colorwork ones planned, time was of the essence since the cheap gloves we had for him just weren't cutting it anymore. I guessed my gauge and just tried them on him several times while knitting to get the size right.

Snowman


Original Pattern
US Size 1.5 and 3 Needles
KnitPicks Bare Fingering Merino
Davidson Co. Domy Heather

I've been working on several things to put up in the Knitty Keen Etsy shop and this was knocked out over the past few days and I have to say I'm absolutely delighted with the results.

On Going

Swallowtail Shawl


This was started as part of a knit-along over the summer and has sat untouched for months. I only have 3 more rows of the Lily of the Valley chart and then the peaked edging. With luck, I'll have it done for my mom for Christmas

Even Elf Chicks Need to Keep Warm Scarf


It's at least doubled in size sine I last took a picture of it. There is an ever so slight chance I may have it done in time to wear before Spring.

Yes, I do take pictures of them

Although not nearly as often as I should. Here are some shots from last week when we braved the snow flurries to walk to Starbucks so I could get my coffee ('cause there is very little that will prevent us from making a coffee run).

And this last one is courtesy of Michael, who insisted on taking my picture...