(or fries, pretzels, and Del's)
(YAY!)
Happy Memorial Day, all y'all in the States. The unofficial beginning of summer. I've already had more unpleasant experiences on the roadways today than I had all winter. Yee-ha. We're having a pretty mellow weekend. Usually we have Nicholas's birthday party on Memorial Day, but I decided months and months ago that hosting a big ol' cookout while 4 1/2 months pregnant would not be all that much fun. Instead, we're having a smaller birthday party next weekend, the day after his birthday. So we got tickets to the PawSox for Memorial Day, and I'm looking forward to having that day "off." It's supposed to be a beautiful day--80 degrees (~27C) inland (meaning, it'll be a little cooler at home, but we'll be up "north" where it'll be warmer). Unfortunately, I have no shorts that fit. A couple of pairs will arrive on Tuesday--they were on sale from Old Navy, and I ordered a bathing suit from the Gap, and it's flat shipping from all their stores, so I figured, why not? That won't help me Monday though. I'm actually planning on wearing a dress to a baseball game. It's cotton and casual and all, but still. However, it's either that or broil, so dress-to-baseball-game it is.
It being almost summer and all, I cut off all my hair.
Not me, of course. I actually went someplace and had a professional do it (imagine!!). I'd say I shed nearly a foot of hair. Would you like a closer look at the headband? Here it is while blocking, before I seamed the cast-on and cast-off edges together.
I whipped this up in a day out of leftover Cascade Fixation from Vaughan's socks. It's so stretchy, I figured it would make a great headband. I blocked it widthwise, to open up the lace a bit, but not lengthwise, so it would keep the stretch. I am so much more knowledgeable about these things than I was when I began knitting, that I get a little sense of satisfaction just from understanding how different yarns work (a bit).
This was improvised. It's just a simple lace pattern (#81, "alternating eyelets," from Vogue Stitchonary Volume 1, if you're curious) with a 2-stitch garter border on each side, using US7/4.5 mm needles. Quick knit, and it took just about what was left of one ball of Fixation after making one Vaughan sock. Which means I can make another. I might get a different color instead, though. Not that I don't like the electric blue and all...
We have chicken for the grill tonight, some fresh asparagus (alas, not completely local but from New Jersey; I haven't seen more local in the store yet), and we'll eat a bit later than normal because we got ice cream after visiting the playground. Tomorrow will be an equally low-key day. I need some recharge time. This was a rough week, but Chris is home for three days, works three days, and has another four off before heading on a business trip. Hopefully by the time he leaves I'll feel up to the task of single parenting for a little bit.
If you're in the States, enjoy the three-day weekend, maybe catch a parade, hum the national anthem, remember a veteran. Here's a link to one of my favorite war-remembrance songs, covered by a Boston band, the Dropkick Murphys. Vaughan likes this one, too.
(*It's Thursday, isn't it? Shoot. I've got the days totally messed up this week. Sigh.)
But first, a picture of the yarn I bought while in Vermont: Spinnery Sock Art--Forest from Green Mountain Spinnery.
Isn't it pretty? Soft greens and lavenders and blues? Sock yarn is just the perfect souvenir when you want a bit of yarn but have no projects in mind. Their retail store is tiny, tucked in between an office and the mill, and the entire place smells like sheep. Yum.
Next, Christmas in May. This is the newest Christmas stocking, lacking only a name, which will be added sometime after late October. (Yes, we have names picked out, and we plan to find out if it's a boy or a girl, but we can't truly commit to a name until we see him or her. Suppose he or she looks completely unlike the name we've chosen? We'll have to start all over. With the naming, I mean, not with the baby growing. Just to clarify.)
This knits up really quickly using Lopi and US10/6.0 mm needles. I felt like I was knitting with logs, though. I typically stay at US8s and below. It took five days, and I don't think I knit on it for a couple of them, because the boys were sick. It's a very modified Minnow Knits pattern.
I also finished the third item in my Christmas knitting list, but I can't post it. That's all I had planned, and maybe other stuff will come up, but at least those three are done. In May. HA!
As for in progress, since I'm in a holding pattern until a week from tomorrow, when hopefully I'll know what flavor baby I'm knitting for, I started socks. This is the Hedgerow pattern, using the Socks That Rock that Rose Red sent me, in the Rhode Island Red colorway.
I love it. I like how it's working up in this pattern, I love the colors, it's just the thing to fill the time. That picture is a fairly true representation of the colors. I realize the Rhode Island Red is a chicken and all, and this colorway is inspired by foul, of all things, but as Chris intoned, it is a regal bird. In any case, it makes a gorgeous skein of yarn.
And that's it from me. I've been sort of listless these past couple of days, and the weather isn't cooperating today. I can't really toss the kids out on the deck to play in the sandbox when it's pouring and I just heard thunder. I'll say, though, that the quality of light in this rainstorm is making all the new green stuff glow. That's something.
(Right before I was ready to hit "Publish," the computer died and we lost internet and cable for about fifteen minutes. I heard a tremendous crack of thunder about 20 seconds after the screen went black; I assume lightning hit something somewhere.)
Yep, we went away for an entire weekend and I took no pictures. Vaughan took a few, but I never bothered. I just can't capture the Vermont mountains with my point-and-shoot digital, and instead of stopping to fumble with the backpack and dig up the camera, I decided to just enjoy the view right in front of me. We were staying on Killington Peak in the Green Mountains. The weather was better than forecast, with Saturday and Sunday turning out to be mostly sunny. But the rain was beautiful, too. Clouds clung to the mountains like bits of wool stuck on a thistle--wispy, but seemingly solid enough to stretch with your hand, if you could just reach them.
Sunday morning we walked through Woodstock while completing the quest I'd printed out. The walk got a bit long at points for the boys, but it was a nicer way to walk around the town than just wandering from shop to shop. I saw parts of Woodstock I hadn't seen before, and it's just beautiful. Again, how to capture the tranquility of a mountain river running beside the road, surrounded by green? A photo wouldn't have done it justice. We just looked. Chris and I have visited Vermont periodically over the years (our wedding photos were taken on the Woodstock Green), but always in late summer. Spring in Vermont is green, about a hundred shades of it. It was the very definition of verdant.
When planning this little weekend, I'd failed to take into account the effect of higher elevation on a pregnant body. No, the mountains are not super high--we certainly didn't get higher than 4,000 feet--but I'm prone to dizzy spells anyway. Usually I can get myself to a chair, though. We stopped at the Vermont Country Store on the way up and I got so dizzy that I just plopped down onto the floor, scooching out of people's way as necessary. I sat there a good ten minutes before moving to a chair. I remember reading that a pregnant woman's body, just sitting, is doing as much work as that of someone climbing a mountain. Huh. Stupid me. (Back in the car, I used Chris's phone to Google Dr. Sears, who said as long as I stayed under 7,000 feet, not to worry.) I eventually adjusted; I didn't spend the entire weekend sitting on floors in strange places.
I also sort of forgot about the whole walking thing. We spent all of Sunday walking, first in Woodstock and then, in the afternoon, at Quechee Gorge, although we took the shorter walk out to the hydroelectric dam instead of the longer one down (and back up) the steep slope to the gorge itself. Halfway through our quest I started to limp from pelvic pain; by the end of the day I was walking more slowly than Nicholas. I remember this happening at seven months pregnant with Vaughan, and simply didn't anticipate it at four months. I guess everything is, um, well loosened by now. Dr. Sears (him again) calls this "pelvic sensations." Yeah, right. Sensations. Uh huh.
But despite that, nice weekend. We spent lots of time outside. The boys bought trinkets at the Vermont Country Store. I bought a skein of sock yarn at Green Mountain Spinnery (I'll get a picture eventually; it's purty). I didn't knit, since I never knit on vacation, since half of us go to sleep earlier than the other half, and those of us over four feet tall spend the next couple of hours in semi-darkness. Our hotel offered a continental "breakfast," in quotes because it was pitiful. Cold cereal, juice and coffee squirted from a machine, and sad muffins, you know the kind that look sort of wet on top? Not moist, but wet? Yeah, those. Saturday we stopped for treats at the Woodstock Farmers Market, returning later on to get the makings of a picnic lunch. I love that place.
Sunday we were lucky enough to stumble across the Heritage Deli and Bakery on our way back to the highway. (The kids were up so early on Sunday morning that we checked out of the hotel at 8 am. Yes, 8 am.) We were hoping for muffins and a better coffee for Chris, but lo and behold, they served breakfast! French toast and eggs and home fries--just like the Mallards, we got a second breakfast, better than the first. I could have hugged the people at the Heritage Deli and Bakery. It was so good. I even indulged with a small half-decaf organic coffee, the taste of which brought tears to my eyes. I admit, I miss coffee. I can give up anything for nine months (or even a year, which is how long I gave up dairy after Vaughan was born), and I'm not complaining, as the payoff is well worth it, but oh, that was a good coffee. Anyway, if ever you find yourself in that part of Vermont, you'd be well served by stopping at either of those two places for food. It's amazing how much happier we all were after eating a decent breakfast. I'd happily drive back to Chester, VT, for more of those eggs and home fries.
So that's our weekend. Oh, the boys were well enough, although they had lingering coughs that made people frown in our general direction, and we went through lots of tissues, but overall, yeah, they were fine. Some of you checked in on me--thank you. I know I've been posting more infrequently. It's a combination of lack of energy and lack of inspiration, along with trying to cut down on time spent on the computer during the day. But I'm fine, too: so far, so good. We didn't bring the laptop to Vermont, but I checked in on blogs with Chris's phone, usually while I sat in semi-darkness next to a sleeping kid. So I caught up on all of your weekends, too. (And I must say, most of you had absolutely fabulous weekends--wool in Australia, family outings, pictures of England--excellent reading!)
I'll be back later in the week with some pictures. Not of Vermont, of course. Yarn, and stuff.
* Got the kids up and out the door early (for us) on Monday morning so we could go up to Providence to visit the eye doctor. We were called in right away and done in forty minutes. Amazing.
* Received all my Enki materials.
* Cleaned the bathrooms, kitchen counters, stove top, and vacuumed.
* Changed all the sheets and did uncountable loads of laundry.
* Mailed off a small package (much smaller than I'd originally planned) of baby hats to afghans for Afghans.
* Dropped off some books I no longer want at the used book store, for trade. I immediately used some of my credit to buy The Lorax for the boys.
* Finally bought more packing tape, but still didn't manage to send alala her yarn.
* Felt the first flutters of baby movement.
* Took the kids to the playground, out to lunch, and to the aquarium on Wednesday so that the bug guy could spray while we weren't here, even though Vaughan wasn't feeling 100% well.
* Freaked out Wednesday night over the rash that mysteriously appeared on Nicholas's face.
* Barely slept Wednesday night, as I had a coughing, hot three-year-old draped over me all night.
* Spent all of Thursday on the futon, which was unfolded into a bed, with two feverish, coughing boys. For much of this time, my right arm was pinned under Nicholas, who had to be right next to me at all times. While I attempted to make myself some lunch, he clung to my leg.
* Freaked out about all the childhood viruses that present with rashes and that are also extremely dangerous for a developing fetus.
* Realized I can't do a damn thing about it, and it's impossible to avoid sick children while pregnant if you live with two children.
* Didn't get to take a shower on Thursday until Chris got home from work.
* Still have to make a decision on whether Nicholas will be well enough to go to Vermont this weekend. He's about a day behind Vaughan, and Vaughan seems okay except for a lingering cough. (Again with the lingering coughs.)
* Just in case, put together what I'm calling the "Vermont Garmin," which is simply a sheet of paper with the directions, hours, and admission prices, if applicable, of places we might want to visit.
* Printed out a quest for the town of Woodstock, VT. It's like a treasure hunt. Figured my boys would dig that.
* Read through quite a bit of the introductory foundation guides for Enki.
* Barely knit at all, between the sleepless night and the pinned arm.
* Began to ponder how I can seriously limit my own computer time.
* Ordered Nicholas's birthday present from us and several grandparents.
* Ordered new SPF swim shirts for the boys from Lands End. I even had a free shipping code.
* Neglected to order myself a maternity swimsuit. Avoidance, anyone? It's not that I care so much about looking slightly beached this summer, it's that I have such a hard time finding ones that fit, and trying to do it online (because I can't find any in a store anywhere) makes it even more difficult. Yes, even thin people have a hard time finding bathing suits that fit, okay? My top and bottom are different sizes, and there's no telling what size my bottom will be in, say, August. Not owning a three-way mirror, I had no idea what happened to my ass while pregnant until well into my second pregnancy, when I came out of a changing room and demanded of my husband, "Why didn't you tell me my ass got so big?" To which he replied, "Don't worry, it goes back." Which caused me to screech, "IT DID THIS LAST TIME, TOO? AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME?" At which point he crawled back in between his rock and hard place and refused to talk about the subject anymore.
* Thanked my lucky stars I have a husband who will go to the supermarket at 6 am before work to get the sick boys lemon sorbet and the selfless caretaker more coffee ice cream.
* Miraculously managed not to get sick myself. So far. Knock on wood.
Last week Vaughan asked me how Mother's Day began. I told him the original idea was to gather mothers together for peace, because no matter where a mother lives, she doesn't want to send her sons off to war. (Julia Ward Howe's proclamation can be read here.) One thing led to another, and now we have a holiday perpetuated by card companies, florists, restaurants, and candy stores. I also tried to explain to him that I thought it an odd day, because being really nice and considerate to someone one day a year doesn't make up for indifference the rest of the time. It's wonderful to think of me, I told him, but it makes me happier that you think of me all the time.
Can you tell I'm not a Grand Gesture sort of girl? Saturday we ran some errands at a local mall, saw the crowd at the jewelry store, and Chris and I both started laughing. Talk about the last-minute grand gesture! I don't expect jewelry. I don't want to go out to eat on Mother's Day. I've been on the other side of that table, and trust me, you don't want to eat out that day. Go out the day before, go out the day after, but not the day of. I don't need a "day off" from my usual chores--and in fact, I cooked, cleaned, and did laundry yesterday--but I also know that any time I say, "Honey, could you please?" the answer will be, "Of course." I do not need to be treated like a Queen on the second Sunday in May, because I am treated with love and consideration all year long.
I also, honestly, don't understand the concept of celebrating Mother's Day (or Father's Day) by spending time away from the kids. Without them, I'd just be... who knows? I wouldn't be a mother. I don't idealize motherhood, far from it. It's a tiring, frustrating, dirty, neverending job, and some days I feel like I'm just one spilled cup of juice from going insane. But it's the job I wanted, and I wouldn't trade it for anything, not for some impressive career, not for a bigger (or cleaner) house, not for a nice annual vacation someplace foreign and/or fancy. My first Mother's Day, I was pregnant, but we hadn't told anyone yet; Chris made it special anyway. The next year, I felt as if I should be getting cards and gifts for Vaughan, because thanks to him, thanks to that new little amazing delightful person, I was finally a mother. I felt so strongly that I should be honoring him, not the other way around. I still feel that way, and I'm no less thankful to be pregnant a third time than I was to be pregnant the first.
So, how did we spend yesterday? My little boys gave me cards they'd made themselves, with their beautiful little boy handwriting spelling out "Happy Mother's Day" and "I love Amy" (that one on Vaughan's). Vaughan gave me a box of pottery, wrapped in paper he'd decorated himself. Inside were a pyramid, a little bowl, a candle holder, and this teapot.
Look at the tiny little stopper; can you see how it's stamped with a star? I love it.
Chris and Nicholas gave me this:
A Red Sox t-shirt. That's their closer. I dig him because he's got a bit of crazy about him. Chris quite rightly bought a size that will fit me for the rest of my life, rather than this summer.
Chris also found the perfect card.
Inside, it says, "Happy Mother's Day from the other side of the bed." Anyone who's had a child persistently climb into bed in the middle of the night can relate to this one. He steals my pillow, too.
Later in the morning, all my boys ran an errand and came back with these.
Vaughan wanted to get me purple flowers, because he knows I like green and purple together. (He'd also colored in my card in those colors.) He ended up with tulips, one of my favorite flowers.
Nicholas wanted to get me BIG flowers. Our table looks so cheery with two vases full of blooms.
We spent the day close to home. I wanted to go out for ice cream, so I cooked our dinner around lunchtime. I knew if the kids had ice cream in the afternoon, they'd only pick at dinnertime (they did), so I wanted something healthy in their stomachs before we went. See? Total Mom over here. So we all ate a good dinner, and then we had the best ice cream in the state.
It was a nice, quiet, day. Mind you, both boys had at least one temper tantrum, one of which involved a full-on body-on-the-floor fit, with wall kicking. I told you, it's not a glamorous job. You don't even get your own pillow half the time. But the love. Oh, my word.
I only have one picture for you this week, because I finished another Christmas present (but can't post it), and the baby blanket looks the same as it did before, just bigger. However, I finished the April Baby Sweater, only a few days into May.
Pattern: EZ's February Baby Sweater (Baby Sweater on Two Needles) from Knitter's Almanac
06 April-06 May
Sticks: US5/3.75 mm
String: All Things Heather Handpainted Superwash Merino
Mods: Basketweave (3k, 4P, alternate after 3 rows) instead of gull stitch. That's it. I think it'll work for a boy, no? I also think I have enough yarn left over for either a hat or booties, too. I didn't put in buttonholes as I went, though, and am not sure what sort of closure to use. Any suggestions? I'd thought, in the beginning, I'd sew on snaps and sew on buttons over those, but I don't think the knitted fabric is firm enough for snaps (or, more specifically, for unsnapping). So now I'm up in the air.
And I'm sure you're just dying to know what's with the ticks. Eight days into May and the count is up to three; I yanked one out of Nicholas's scalp last night. All three were deer ticks, and all three were found on days during which we ventured no farther than the grass in our own backyard. I don't think I'm going out on a limb when I say that it's going to be a bad year for ticks. That's just grand; wonderful timing. May I suggest you don't Google "Lyme disease while pregnant"? I shouldn't have. Although, on the other hand, nothing I've ever worried about, pregnancy-wise, has actually happened; I feel somewhat responsible for the abruption because I never thought to worry about it. Perhaps if I'd spent some energy worrying, I could have avoided the whole thing. So maybe it's not a complete waste of my time to get up at 1 am (I may have done this, or not) to check myself for ticks. Again. At any rate, my job requires significant outside time, so all I can do is try to be vigilant and hope for the best. I think the bubble suit will get to be too hot by August.
Incidentally, it was far more traumatic to pull the tick off of Nicholas than off Vaughan, mainly because Nicholas was screaming and crying the entire time. I think he was more upset by the tick being on him--"I couldn't feel it! I didn't hear it! How did it get there?!?!"--than he was by me yanking, although I did get some skin, too, because I'd rather grab some extra skin than leave tick parts behind. Is this gross enough for you yet? I'm thinking of adding a tick counter on the sidebar. Fun times.
Vaughan-a-ghan
