Our first ambulance ride

I ask you... does this look like a sick kid?
Ok, what about this...

A few weeks ago I took Piglet to Urgent Care because he was having difficulty breathing and his rescue inhaler wasn't working. After about four hours they decided that his breathing was not returning to normal in the correct amount of time and he would need to be hospitalized. The catch... our little hospital didn't have the facilities to care for him so he needed to go to the Naval Hospital at Portsmouth - about 20 miles away. I had a choice to either leave my car there for the night and ride in the ambulance or let my baby go in the ambulance alone. Guess which one I didn't do! Thanks to good friend MaryAnne my dogs were fed and pottied for the two days we were in the hospital and my car was delivered to me. Piglet was ready to go home the next day but his doctors didn't agree. Personally, I think he was so cute and entertaining they decided to keep him.

We have an appointment next week with a pediatric pulmonary specialist to make sure we are on the right track for controlling his asthma.

In the middle of everything I decided to start selling my memory boards. I opened a little Etsy shop. There are a few more boards that need to be added but with Piglet home from school the past week, I haven't had the time.

Annabelle is doing much better. The prednisone is working so they are moving her to another immunosuppressant that has fewer side effects but works a little slower. She will have another CBC next week to see how she is progressing. She is definitely feeling stronger and has even tried wrestling with Baby Baxter. Unfortunately she is still starving and has been known to chase Piglet around for a cheese stick. Last week I told Big Boy that if I had to dole out medication to one more person in this house I was going to have myself committed just for the rest and relaxation!

Speaking of Big Boy. Only 90 days left until he heads home!

I'm Sizzling... NOT!

I can't believe it has been a month and a half since I posted. This has been one wild and crazy summer. Piglet and I took a trip to Orlando to visit the parents. It was... well... like any visit with family. Shortly after returning we discovered that Annabelle, our 11-year-old Great Pyrenees mix, was very sick. We knew she was very anemic but it took several mortgage payments to figure out why. Turns out she has Immune Mediated Anemia, which, along with severe hip dysplasia, has made her extremely weak. She is now on Prednisone every day along with painkillers and glucosamine and Omega 3 fatty acids in hopes of getting her back up to speed. Our goal right now is to help her be comfortable until Big Boy gets home in December. Sadly, she was the only dog who would play with Baxter so now he is desperately in need of a friend. We decided it was either send him to “camp” every week or get him a puppy. Today he is off frolicking with new friends at our vet clinic’s daycare program!

The title of my post really does have a meaning. Last I posted I was working on Sizzle. It is finished… but I do not feel sizzling in it. The back portion is too large. Actually, it probably isn’t, but I tend to wear things that are more form fitting so I feel like it is. Last night at SnB we discussed a number of ways for me to fix this problem (without frogging) and most of them required a skill I do not have - sewing! I have to wonder if I should just stick to making blankets and scarves!

In the meantime I started two new projects. Reid is going to be a gift for Piglet’s half-sister for Christmas. It is done in light blue for the body and dark blue for the trim. She has the same blue eyes as Piglet so the blue will be beautiful on her. Of course as soon as I purchased all the yarn, the cashier at Michael’s handed me a coupon for 25% off my entire purchase this weekend. So, I returned all the yarn and will re-buy it on Sunday.

February Lady Sweater is the second project I cast on. The Superwash Bamboo from Elann is sooooo soft. I just hope the darn thing fits. It is top down construction so I get to try it on as I go. So far I am trying on each inch!

Lastly, I completed a sweater for Piglet. It is very cute. A little big, but cute. I have to make it big because the boy is growing every month. I just wish his head would stop growing, but I guess it is housing a big brain. He is coming up with new words every day and learning new stuff that scares the bejeezus out of me. His new favorite toy is my old cell phone. I never thought I would see the day when I had to tell my nearly two year old that he could not have his cell phone at the dinner table or take it to school.

Only 107 more days until Big Boy gets home… but who’s counting.

Buttons, Buttons... Who's Got The Buttons?

My Tangled Yoke is complete (and all the details are in my Ravelry page) and is just waiting for me to drag my happy ass over to the JoAnn’s and buy some buttons. I would like to say that there is no hurry and the sweater wearing days are over for a few months, but around here, one never knows.

There has been knitting and un-knitting (I believe you professionals call it frogging?) ‘round these parts. I sent the Lady Eleanor packing and in its place I have Montego Bay - a pattern that is simple to memorize and will take 1/4 of the time. It looks pretty and I think I may make a second one in a stashed yarn as a gift. As it turns out, Amy had this in mind all along when she bought the yarn.

I also started Sizzle a few weeks ago. And, just to keep my fellow SnB’ers laughing, I frogged it. It was justified. Really, it was. I used Main Line and found it was just too heavy for the pattern, and the summer. Of course I would have known all this if I had done a little research on the yarn and pattern before just diving in.

It has been a crazy few weeks here in the Knotty house. I need a t-shirt that says “I survived the Grandparent invasion of 2008”. My parents came to help out with yard work and Piglet (‘cause the two do not go well together!). Of course he managed to get sick while they were here and I lost my “parent of the year” badge because I refused to take him to the emergency room for what ended up being two new teeth. Sigh Then Big Boy came home. His second training was cancelled and he will be here until May 18. After that though, we are on our own. The not so little Piglet has been keeping us hopping. We have new words and skills every day (well, if you can call trying to throw your sippy cup in the toilet a skill) - his words this week are “school”, “ow”, “out”, and “uh-oh”. Of course he doesn’t use any of them in the correct context but at least we have more variety than “hi” and “gogogo” a million times a day.

Last week Big Boy’s parents arrived to drive me nuts visit with Piglet. They seem to be under the impression that I would enjoy visiting them while Big Boy is gone. I hate to burst their bubble but I have no intention of even answering their phone calls for the next six months, let alone hopping on a plane with kid and baggage!

And speaking of nuts… knitting seems to be full of them. I have now managed to read all 10,000 posts in the MCY thread and am waiting in anticipation for the day the undead Danielle is finally caught. Add to that the great Mystery Lace mystery of 2008 and you have yourself one hell of a train wreck. What can I say, it is better than anything on television these days!

So, what is next on the knitting calendar? I am going to do a sweater for Piglet in these colors from Cascade 220. I plan to do an all-over pattern from Vogue Stitchionary but I haven’t decided if I should do a v-neck or a hoodie.

I Need a Talent!

I am totally talentless. Ok, I knit. But that isn’t really a talent. It is the ability to follow directions; a skill learned at age five that will, supposedly, keep one out of prison. I can’t play the piano; I know, I tried for many years and frankly, I sucked. I can’t design bows like Rachel. I can’t scrapbook; again, I tried and royally sucked. What can I do? Well, I can shop and feed myself without having to change clothes after. Not exactly skills that will earn me some $$$. Well, shopping might but here where I live the average income does not allow for hiring a personal shopper to pick up your unmentionables at Wally World.

Ok, so by now you are probably wondering why I am droning on about my inability to do much more than turn oxygen into carbon dioxide. Well, because Big Boy leaves on Wednesday and will not darken our doors for another nine months. I need something that will occupy my hours besides keeping Piglet out of the toilets. In April, Piglet will start “school” three days a week and I am afraid that I will have nothing to do. What will occupy my evenings once the television season has ended? What will occupy my afternoons if Court TV doesn’t have a decent trial? I will have SnB on occasion but I can’t subject them to the whining of a toddler on a weekly basis - it just wouldn’t be nice. Last time I made it through by working, taking class and volunteering nearly full-time. Now, my time will revolve around nap and lunch.

Truth is, this deployment is harder because of Piglet. I know how much Big Boy enjoys spending time with him and it breaks my heart that he will miss so much. He gets such a thrill from teaching Piglet new things and I’m afraid I won’t have the patience or energy to take up the slack.

I guess I should talk about happy stuff. We had a nice, short vacation to Florida. We stopped along the way to visit with Susan and her family. I wish we had had more time because Piglet really liked Boogie. She was showing him a little of his future by having him hold her crayons while she colored. From there it was on to Orlando to visit with my parents. We didn’t get to do a whole lot because it was so freaking cold. Then it was on to Ft. Myers for a Red Sox game. Sadly, it was during that time we found out that Big Boy would not be coming home in April as originally planned. So, we headed home a day early. Leave it to the stupid Army to ruin a perfectly good vacation.

I know some of ya'll really enjoy the cool weather but I hope you will humor me and pray for sun and warmth from now until December. I am like a plant - I need direct sunlight to survive!

Snow and Waves

Snow and waves... how can you have both? Well, here in Knottyland we managed both over the weekend. First, I finished the Print O' The Wave stole. Yes, I still have to weave in some ends. This little lacy thing took me six months to finish!


Details:
Needles: Size 4
Yarn: Alpaca Cloud from Knit Picks, in the color stream
Pattern: Print O' The Wave from Eunny Jang
Mods: I worked this in one piece instead of doing the center graft like the pattern calls for. I also blocked the body and then picked up my stitches based on the length simply because the pattern does not leave an edge stitch and I had a hard time figuring out where to pick up. I have quite a few mistakes on the border - not my finest work!

Now, for the snow. We had snow on Saturday. Only about an inch but that was more than enough for me! Big Boy went out with the camera and got this great shot of perfect little Baxter footprints. He had never seen snow before and wasn't too sure about this cold stuff under his toes.

My piglet was equally unsure about this cold stuff. Here we are making a snowball. Shortly after this pic was snapped he plopped down in the snow and was not happy about the cold stuff creeping through his pants. As you can see, he is standing on his own - at least for brief moments. He will occasionally take steps on his own too but once he realizes what he has done he will plop back to the floor.



I decided I needed a quick knit to work on so I started a pair of Fetching. I am holding two yarns together to get an Aran weight and make these guys warm and toasty. They are going to a young girl with more pairs going to her teen brother and sister. The next set will be in purple and the boy's will be in a tweedy brown. The mitts are really fun to knit but I don't like the way the picot cast off looks.

Family Shamily

Well, I survived the familial invasion. It was a stressful time mostly because our families are so different. In fact, they are so different that we have managed to go 12 years without them meeting!

• My parents watch TBN-my in-laws watch PBS and ESPN;
• My parents read the Bible - my in-laws read War and Peace;
• My stepmother loves to shop - my MIL still wears the same clothes she wore 40 years ago (I’m not kidding! REALLY!) and prefers to go to museums on her vacation instead of a mall;
• My MIL likes to ask a million questions - my father likes to talk about himself;
• My parents want a brand new house - MIL doesn’t know why anyone would build a new house when there are perfectly good shacks out there that just need a little update, like electricity and plumbing (in-laws have 30 year old carpet in their bathroom. ACK!);
• My MIL likes to drink wine, beer (in the can with a cozy thank you very much) and martinis - my parents don’t believe in getting liquored up (it makes for a long visit);
• My MIL views Piglet as an educational experience - my parents just like to play with him, and;
• My in-laws have money to burn and have helped with Piglet’s college fund - my parents are living on my dad’s social security (don’t ask where the retirement fund went - it is a long story).

During my parents visit I had to keep sneaking into my bedroom to check the Verdict Watch on Court TV. Five months of testimony and the jurors still have to deliberate his guilt or innocence. I didn’t even see the whole trial and I know he is guilty! The verdict needs to either come in before the end of this week or wait until the end of next week because I will be away from the television. Now Court TV has moved on to the Warren Jeffs trial. I can’t believe I am saying this but I think the charges are a little far reaching. That isn’t to say that he isn’t guilty of being a sex freak! Frankly, the girl’s mother should be brought on charges for letting her 14-year old daughter get married to her first cousin! And State of Utah - 14 is waaaaaaayyyyyyy too young for anyone to get married.

Coming tomorrow... Tomato will be blocking and I will be playing with swatches. Stay Tuned!