Haven't been blogging because I have class

...two classes, to be exact. I've been taking Biology and Chemistry plus labs for each and both have been going a lightning speed. Chemistry in particular is bending my brain in all kinds of strange ways, especially since we have an overview that includes Organic Chemistry for the last half of the semester. Functional groups and reactions...oh, my. I have my second Chemistry midterm next week, so this weekend I'll be holed up at the library and Starbucks studying until my brain is about to explode. Looks like I'm getting an A in Biology, and possibly an A in Chemistry if I really work hard between in the next few weeks. Then I go on to Anatomy & Physiology next semester (insert the sound o f doom: "dum dum DUM") which will be far more challenging. And I have to get an A there, both for my GPA and because I really need to understand anatomy so I can give the best possible patient care once I'm through. But at least it's the only class I'll be taking, so I should have a little more breathing room. All of this as part of pre-requisites to get into nursing school and then get a Master's degree so I can become a Nurse Practitioner. Long plan, but I can't wait!

I'm doing just fine, just insanely busy. Add in two trips last month, a dress to sew for a wedding last month, Halloween costumes to make, and the news that my baby sister is pregnant for the first time (knitting her a Mommy Snug - only have the arms left to finish) and there's just no time for blogging, much less sleep. I keep trying to even get on and *read* blogs, my email, anything, but just haven't have time with studying so far. I feel so bad for my poor neglected blog, but you have to have priorities, right? Looks like I'm getting an A in Biology, and possibly an A in Chemistry if I really work hard between in the next few weeks. Then I go on to Anatomy & Physiology next semester (insert the sound o f doom: "dum dum DUM") which will be more challenging. But at least it's the only class I'll be taking, so I should have a little more breathing room.

Hoping I'll have a chance to be a bit more social starting in January :-)

Pink baby set finished

Finally got around to finishing the sweater and matching bonnet for my soon to be born niece. The sweater is Elizabeth Zimmerman's sweater on two needles from Knitter's Almanac. I knit the sleeves in the round instead of flat, eliminating some seaming later on. I used Plymouth Encore in a really pretty heathered pink for the yarn and some mother of pearl buttons to add a bit of sweetness. The bonnet pattern I found here, changing the stitch pattern from feather and fan to gull wing to match the sweater. I really like the end result and hope they'll keep my niece warm and toasty once she's here.

Life is slowing back down again

Arden had another trip to the ER on Tuesday for a round of IV fluids and some nausea medication, but since then he's slowly been getting better. His cheeks are starting to fill out again, though his legs and arms are so very thin and slight. He hasn't been back to school yet, but has his pediatrician's OK to go back on Monday with no PE for another week. He's starting to feel better enough to want to play and ride his bike, which the Ped says he can't do for another two weeks (the movement and potential for falling could pull or tear things internally while he's healing). Poor sweetie - he's in that in between place where he feels sooo much better, but still tired and sick and cranky. But he's smiling and laughing and giggling and back to very close to his old self, which does my heart good.

Now to get myself back to being productive. Have I knit, sewn, cooked much beyond survival fare, gardened or done much of anything besides read and watch TV in the last week and a half? Not a heck of a lot. I've picked green beans, crookneck squash and cucumbers, and I did cut out some pajamas for the boys, but nothing else at all. Time to catch up on sleep and get going before I start classes on the 24th.

Jane, stop this crazy thing!

This is what I've been thinking off and on for the past few days. Life has been a crazy, crazy ride lately. We spent Labor Day weekend running around, looking at potential cars. Learned that there are some good dealerships nearby and some really scary ones we will forever avoid (Jay Lee Honda on McLoughlin, for those in the Portland area). Finally ended up with a brand new to us 2006 Subaru Outback, which we all love.

Tuesday morning the boys went back to school. They were both so excited and grinning from ear to ear when we got there. Arden couldn't wait to finally have lunch at school, and Ryan was happy there were kids he knew in class this year. Both came home with lots to share. Meanwhile, I ran around like crazy doing errand after errand since I had time sans children. Ditto on day two for all of us - many smiles, much busyness on my part, fresh start of school feeling all around.

Then came dinner. Arden ate just a tiny bit of cereal and milk, then suddenly looked pale, said "I feel full" and vomited all over the floor in an enormous gush. This went on for hours, until finally we were able to get him to bed. But the vomiting continued and he wasn't even really waking up - he'd start retching while on his back and not move at all, which really scared Dan and me. Around 11:30 I called the nurse line and they told me to take him to the ER, which I was pretty much expecting at that point. He just didn't seem right at all in any way.

I'll fast forward through a lot here. Diarrhea added to the mix at midnight. Older nurse who stuck him three times trying to get an IV in and actually had the gall to get mad at him for it. Around 3:00 am on Thursday were were told that Arden had appendicitis and that he needed to go to the local children's hospital. Quick ambulance trip and we were there. Fever started a few hours later. Surgery later that morning. Bad, bad reaction to the Versed they gave him before the surgery. He shook and clenched his whole body while grunting like an animal and looking terrified for over an hour :-( Still vomiting and some diarrhea that day and even small sips of water came right back up. They think he had a virus or bug on top of the appendicitis. Friday consisted of trying to get him to try clear liquids and hopefully get him out of bed. He managed a few saltines and some soda and a trip to the play room. More throwing up, but less. By Saturday he was ready to come home, and by 1:00 he was here. He's eaten a tiny bit since then - two bottles of Ensure, an animal cracker, and a quarter piece of toast - but ultimately none of it has stayed down.

Arden looks like a little old man right now. He has no strength and has lost weight that he didn't have to lose. I called in to the doctor on call and the thought now is that his reflux was untreated since Wednesday and that, combined with all the vomiting, means everything is irritated and raw right now so nothing is staying down long. So we're trying to keep a bit of food in his stomach and get his reflux medication down as well.

I keep seeing Arden bouncing and jumping on Tuesday morning and hoping I see that little guy again very soon. We're seeing small flashes - a smile or a laugh here and there -so things are slowly getting better.

Once he's feeling fine, can I please ask the world to slow down for a moment so I can catch my breath?

Random Tuesday

I'm over the mange! And I've been working on a few random things. No pictures, though. Slap me on the wrist - I'm a terrible blogger.

Saturday I hung around with a few PDX Knitbloggers for a wee bit over at Abundant Yarn, rounding up a skein of the prettiest sock yarn. Mmmm.....those are going to be Cat Bordhi socks of some sort very, very soon. The plan was to do a yarn crawl of four (five?) yarn stores, with a nip over to Pix for some dessert along the way in honor of the lovely Judy's birthday. I only had time for the first leg of the trip, but got to hang out and talk and generally have a good time before getting more errands done.

Having one car is a bit inconvenient, but mostly just involves more planning. I did grocery shopping on Saturday and grabbed some things at the fabric store as well. I was working on a muslin for a dress to wear to a wedding we're going to in October. So very glad I decided to make a muslin first. There were some big problems with the pattern pieces. Nothing that can't be fixed, but I'm glad to have worked them out in practice with lots of time on my hands.

Sunday we went to a picnic at Dabney State Park with a group from PortlandFood. The park is gorgeous and the weather was perfect: sunny but not too hot at all. The food was delicious, as it's bound to be with a bunch of foodies, and wonder of wonders - all the children got along! That was a thing to behold. Couldn't have asked for a nicer afternoon.

We got home in time to drop off the boys at "Grandma Camp" and then promptly looked at each other and said, "Hey, we have no children! What should we do about this?" The plan had been to get back later, drop off the boys, then drive the half mile back home with Dan's car and my MIL's as well. I had an MRI scheduled for early yesterday morning* and we all figured it'd be easier that way. We decided to go see a movie since we rarely get a chance and quickly drove off to catch a showing of Stardust.

LOVED that movie! It's a perfect fairy tale: action, adventure, some dark moments, hope, love, incredibly funny bits, and the most gorgeous scenery. By the end most of the audience cried just a little, but they were good tears. If you like The Princess Bride, you have to see this movie. We'll definitely own it once it comes out on DVD.

This week is count down until school starts next Tuesday. The boys are nervous, and Ryan has an especially hard time each year because of all the changes: new classroom, new grade, new teacher, new classmates. When you're autistic, new is not your friend at all. So I'm trying to help both of them with a lot of talking and hugs and reassurance. I go back to school on the 25th, so I'm a bit nervous as well but at least have more time to get ready.

There - all the news that's fit to print. I promise pictures of the baby sweater (almost done) and the muslin from #$%@ next time.

*I still have the tremor and other odd things going on, so I got an MRI of my neck and a bunch of blood tests - 13 vials of blood. Bleh. I can now say I hat MIRs of all sorts, and especially hate the contrast dye they use. It all feels really strange and uncomfortable and icky and I don't want one again, please.

I have the Plague

Well, not the actual Plague, but it sure feels that bad. The whole house has been sick since last weekend, with high fevers, lots of vomiting, and piercing headaches and fatigue all around. We've been living on congee and soups, soft scrambled eggs, dry toast and lot of tea and watered down orange juice. The boys and I are going stir crazy since neither of them has been well enough to play outside and have been too contagious to hang out with Grandma. I've been morosely trying to knit here and there on the couch (a February Sweater from Elizabeth Zimmerman for my soon to be born niece), but have mostly been resting and waiting for this to blow over.

Even my car is sick. Scratch that. It's essentially in it's death throes. We took it to the mechanic yesterday for a tune up and a check of a few things that haven't seemed right for a long time, and the list of things that are wrong is over two pages long. Official diagnosis from the mechanic? Get a new car. This is an unhappy surprise, since the plan was to limp this car (which isn't even that old - it's a 99 Saturn) until I'm out of school and bringing in another paycheck. So much for that plan. At this point, fixing it just so it's safe to drive NOW would cost $1,700, which is crazy since we know we need to replace it as soon as we can. So in the meantime we're running on one car, with me driving Dan to Vancouver in the morning and picking him up again with boys in tow on days I need to drive, and staying home on days I don't. We're racing to figure out what kind of car to buy: something inexpensive, good gas mileage, safe, reliable, one that *actually* seats 5 (instead of that pie in the sky dealership "seats five!" that really means three supermodels might fit in the back seat comfortably), ideally with a hatchback or good cargo space in back. Nothing fancy, just something I can drive for the next 5 years or so until I'm working again and we can afford to be picky. Edmunds is now my friend.

I was supposed to be posting about meeting Cat Bordhi, which was amazing. She looks at the world in such a different, beautiful way. It's not just intelligence, which she has plenty of, but an almost childlike wonder at the world around us and how it all works, something she shares with scientists and people who create things most of us can hardly fathom. On top of all of that, she's a genuinely nice and approachable person and gives a really interesting talk. And can she ever knit! It was an inspirational night in the truest sense of the word, and I'm happy I went. And thankful to my friend Vicki Jean, who guided us to a fun sushi place for dinner before and showed me the ropes of the MAX system.

Also never thought that bringing a plastic fork would win me a prize! I was making an amulet pouch for a friend of mine and wanted a nice, smooth cord instead of a crocheted strand. I've always wanted to learn how to use a lucet, but didn't happen to actually have one around. Hmmm. What could I use? Immediately rummaged through the "party supplies" box until I found a strong plastic fork, broke the two inner tines off, and voila, a home made lucet! Now, to learn how to use it. I roamed all over the web, finally coming across these instructions. Studied them, swore a lot, then finally got the idea and I was cording like a mad fool. Well, slooooooowly cording like a mad fool. It takes a lot longer than making I-cord, but the end result is so much nicer. Smooth, firm, a bit stretchy, and perfect for this project.

I took the fork along with me to Cat's book signing since I figured it was a pretty nifty trick and wanted to show my PDX knit buddies. I had just finished showing them what I was using it for when Tina from Blue Moon announced games....with yarn prizes! Oh, joy! I've never, ever had a skein of Socks that Rock in my life and desperately wanted to get my hands on some, but sadly they weren't selling any that night. I perked right up at the mention of yarn prizes, and what do you know, the very first one was "most unusual thing in your knitting bag". I waved that fork high in the air, and next thing you know I was up front, explaining what the heck I was using it for and selecting my very first ever skein of Socks that Rock. It's medium weight "Hollyday", and I'm beyond thrilled. I keep petting it. And I gave my fork and a good long strand of the cording to Cat, since she was so tickled at the whole idea :-)

Bobbie gave me two pairs of Groucho glasses to try to cheer me up. It worked - it's incredibly hard to be down when you're wearing goofy glasses and a fake nose. Here's the picture of the boys wearing them once I got home:

Sockapalooza socks - mine!

My wonderful and talented sock pal, Mandy, sent these well within the deadline (unlike me!). I got them last week on a day that was feeling really lousy,and they literally made my day. I promised myself I wouldn't post until I was finally done with the socks I needed to send out (motivation), but now I can share.

Tiny box full of riches! Note the socks, the sweater stone (I really needed one of these), the postcards, the delicious hand dyed sock yarn up in the left hand corner:
I loved the notes attached to everything: "Made especially for KATHY by Mandy", "extra yarn and washing instructions" (this last one is a big help, let me tell you). Also note a picture of my sock casually hanging out near The World's Largest Chest of Drawers. Along with what appear to be some of the world's largest socks. Mandy tells me this can be found in High Point, North Carolina should any of you wish to go take a pilgrimage there. I love the picture!

And last, but certainly not least: on my very thankful feet. This is where I like to sit best, in a glider rocker and ottoman that are sooo incredibly comfortable. As are the socks! They fit perfectly, are soft and stretchy, and the colors are a rich blend of deep reds, purples, with a wee flash of deep green from time to time. The yarn is WildFoote in "Ragtime", and I'll have to search some out and play with it on my own sometime.

Many, many thanks, Mandy! I love the socks and the whole package made me smile.

Sockapalooza socks, finished

Thank you all so much for all of your support and comments. They all warmed my heart and made me smile, which helps more than I can say. I still miss Tabby in all kinds of odd moments, but I'm feeling a lot better.

As proof, I finally finished my Sockapalooza 4 socks! I know, there hasn't even been a mention that I was working on them, but I was. Rather late. Way back when this fourth sock exchange started I did a little mental math: hmmm, due in August, which is after my sister's wedding....no problem. Several weeks before the wedding, I stared in shock and horror at the finish date for this SP round: August 2nd. My sister's wedding? August 3rd. Sure, I could finish up the shawl and get the socks done on time, aside from another teensy fact: I had a major test to take a few days before we left for the wedding. Studying and knitting may well go together for those talented few who can read and knit at the same time, but not for me. Then Alison amended the finish time to August 7th. I could do this! No problem! I started the socks right before we left for the wedding, figuring I'd work on them while in CA and finish once we got back. No time at all while we were there, though I did do quite a bit of knitting during plane trips. Then we got back and finally mourned properly. Which also doesn't seem to go well with knitting. I emailed my sock pal, apologizing profusely, and she was incredibly sweet and understanding.


Pattern: Rock And Weave
Designed by A. Karen Alfke
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock
Color: Spanish Moss
Buttons: purchased at The Yarn Garden (don't they look just like the cosmos I have growing in the garden?)
Needles: size 5 for the linen stitch cuffs, size 1 1/2 for the rest of the socks
Modifications: None, really. The pattern was really easy to follow and the socks were fun to make up. I've been itching to try this pattern for a very long time and was thrilled that they seem to fit what my pal wants really well. I'll have to make another pair of these for myself very soon!