Note to self

Use the wrap, Jenn! Standing for over an hour with 12lbs of baby being supported by one shoulder is not good for you. Your spine is not supposed to click when you move.

Note to Self

When you are sick and sweat so much that you soak your clothing it would behoove you to remember to drink a ton of fluid so you don't get dehydrated and your supply goes down. Cranky, hungry babe and sick mom are not a pretty combination.

Note to self

As much as it sucks (and it does, whoa does it ever, "like a Banshee" as we would say when I was in high school), my body is definitely trying to tell me something. That something is that I need to spend my time sitting around with my feet up or else get a ride to wherever it is that I want to go. Nasty contractions at home are one thing, they are a completely different creature when you are walking through the middle of town with your three year-old in tow.

Man, this sucks balls.

Just an apology since the blog has definitely taken a "I hate being pregnant" turn in recent weeks. I promise my rants will once again branch out and cover other subjects after next month.

Note to Self - Simple Math

Take heed...

three year-old + silence + not in the same room = trouble

At least now I know how to remove procion dye from carpet, linoleum, walls, and kitchen counters. Thankfully, Michael doesn't seem to mind blue hands - I wonder what the preschool will make of it on Monday.

Note to self

Please remember that it is a good mile walk one way to Trader Joe's from the subway and no matter how much you need the groceries it's probably not the best of ideas to do this at the end of the day when you spent the morning at the zoo.

Note to self

It would be a good idea to actually nap when Michael naps rather than sit in the airless back room surfing on MDC while all of the fluid in your body settles into your ankles and feet.

Off to lay down...

Note to self...

When voting with your button-obsessed son in tow, it would behoove you to make sure he can't actually reach any of the buttons on the voting machine. We went to vote last night and I had Michael in between the two voting booths while John and I were in them. He scooted forward in the stroller and pressed the "VOTE" button on John's machine before he actually got a chance to vote.

My son, the anarchist in training :)

Note to self....

When trying a new technique, it may behoove you to read how said technique is actually done, rather than trying to wing it yourself.

I have now started to knit sock(s) for Michael twice - the reason for the plural is the second time I decided to knit both of them at once, thankfully I switched to one at a time a few rounds into the cuff. I will most likely not be doing this again. Having the insteps and/or cuffs the exact same size when you are knitting at 10-12 rows/inch really doesn't matter all that much to me, and that's saying something given my perfectionism. Nor is having both socks done at once worth the bother of dealing with two balls of yarn at once - I have to concentrate on the way I turn my work to keep them from getting too tangled and I have to switch too often (Michael's socks have a 42 stitch circumference on this yarn). I'll stick with speedier knitting. I am getting sold on Magic Loop though - buying one long needle is cheaper and easier on my hands than working with two 16" circs.

The first sock went fairly well up until the heel. I tried out a new technique for working the shortrows on Misocrafty that Wendy Knits posted in her blog as worth trying for people having trouble with holes in their heels. Almost always up for something new, I decided to give it a shot. I tried it and hated it, this is with the caveat of doing it from memory having read the instructions once or twice. I got a round or two away from starting the ribbing for the cuff and frogged it.

After talking with my friend J, I decided to give two-at-once a try again. I also decided to try out a new to me technique called the Afterthought Heel. The idea appealed to me, having my heel look exactly like my toe and not dealing with shortrows at all after the last debacle could only be a good thing, right? It would have been if I decided to actually google the technique and spend five minutes reading on how to do it. Instead I laboriously knit the insteps of Michael's socks, knowing that time was of the essence since I not only need the yarn but the needles as well for a project that I am intending to sell (and wouldn't you like to know what that is...). I figured that you transfered half of the instep stitches to waste yarn and then replaced them with a provisional/crochet cast-on. In theory, this is a good idea and if I had been knitting the socks one at a time it may have even worked in practice, but the end result was hideous to my eyes, which is to say it was probably acceptable to the rest of the word at large and who the hell is actually going to be scrutinizing my son's sock heels anyways? His mother, that's who.

The moral of this rambling rant filled with way too many parens and run-on sentences is to take the five minutes to google the damn thing before you start so you don't have to frog several hours-worth of work that you've been avoiding, despite needing to finish it so you can do the thing that will make you money.

Take that Strunk and White! Yes, I said it. No appologies here tonight.