I’m back and I’m PREGNANT

Yup, you heard it here first…or maybe on Facebook…LOL  I’m pregnant.  I’m almost 15 weeks and it’s been a hell of a ride so far.  Andrea came to visit back in October and apparently having company was what it took…:)  TJ and I had decided to take a break from the fertility drugs from October to the first of the year so that we could enjoy the holidays without the ups and downs that were involved in the Clomid.  My moods were crazy and the hope followed by disappointment cycle was killing me slowly.  So we were going to stop the drugs and after the first of the year we were going to have our consult at The Fertility Clinic, which came highly recommended by my O.B.  With Andrea here I started to get back into the swing of life, which I really needed.  We went to a knit night and we hoping to make plans to do more things with knitting friends.  Shortly thereafter, though, I started to feel sick all the time.  TJ and I were pretty sure I had picked up some sort of bug and we were trying to ride it out.  When Thanksgiving came and went and I was still sick much of the time and tired all the time, we decided it was time to go to the doctor to find out if God forbid there was something really wrong with me; pregnancy never crossed either of our minds b/c I was off the Clomid and I hadn’t ovulated on my own in years.  So the night before we were going to call for an appointment or go into the ER, TJ suggested I take the pregnancy test that we had left from when we were trying so that we could tell the doctor that we had done the test and it was negative.  I went into the bathroom at 2am on Dec. 5th fully expecting the same negative I had seen every time I’ve taken a home test and was shocked, to say the least, when two lines appeared instantly.  I started yelling “Oh My God…” over and over again and then I ran into the bedroom and started jumping on the bed.  TJ, who was sound asleep at this point, was more than a little startled.  It was a shock and it was crazy.  We went to the O.B.’s office the following week and found out that we were just over 9 weeks pregnant.  No wonder I had been so tired and was sick constantly.  It was thrilling to go from almost giving up on having another child to seeing this baby inside me moving around.  What a trip.

Being pregnant at 35 is MUCH different than it was at 29.  I’m still suffering from severe morning sickness:  no throwing up but I’m sick to my stomach much of the time and there is very little that I can eat.  It’s not that I can’t KEEP food down, I can’t GET food down.  I gag on almost everything that I try to eat.  The only things I have found that I can eat readily are salads from Outback Steakhouse (don’t know what it is about their salads, but they are the only ones that go down easily) and cup of soup from Lipton.  I’ve lost almost 30 lbs since I’ve been pregnant, which is not ideal but the baby is looking good and measuring right on track.  I’m hoping that as I get farther into my 2nd trimester things will get better.  I remember enjoying pregnancy so much with Jacob and this baby is going to be the last one that we have (there is no way that I’m going to go through this again; I’m just too damn old…LOL) and I’d really like to enjoy this pregnancy at some point.  Lots of people have said that the fact that this pregnancy is so much more difficult and that I’m so much sicker means that it’s going to be a girl this time rather than a boy.  I kind of hope that they are right.  I’d love to have a girl this time, but I’d be happy with another boy as well, of course.  The other problem I’ve had with this pregnancy is being so freaking tired.  I’m still sleeping at least 15 hours on a good day and more like 20 hours on a bad day.

We’re hoping that we’ll be able to find out the sex of this baby at my appt. on Feb. 3rd.  We’ll be 16 weeks then.  We might have to wait until the 20 week appt. though.  We’ll see, I guess.  I’m really hoping to be back into the swing of things with having a life soon.  I feel like I’ve become really isolated during the last few years and just as I was trying to get away from that, this pregnancy took over.  I have to find a way to make/maintain friendships b/c I miss that kind of connection.  I love Jake and TJ and being with them is amazing but I need more, I think.  I need friends to spend time with and to have things in common with.  I just have to get past this whole sleeping all the time/being sick thing and then I can concentrate on that.  :)  To all the people who I haven’t seen/talked to in months and months, I do think of you and miss you.  I hope that we can reconnect soon!!!

Spinning

Last night/early this morning – had trouble sleeping b/c of a  tooth ache – I spun woolen for the first time.  I’ve always been afraid of the long draw; something about letting the twist get into the drafting triangle freaked me out.  I guess I just never thought I was good enough to do it.  I was planning to work on the Spirogyra spinning (btw…the name of the fiber is Teddy Bear Trio and it’s a 50/50 blend tencel/merino from dkknits, who makes gorgeous roving/top.) but the little bit of merino/bamboo that came with my newest spindle, a gorgeous creation from Yorkieslave called Monet’s Lily, a beautiful combination of colors that were just like the colors painted on the spindle, with a bit of color-coordinated firestar to go mixed in just called to me.  It was a much smaller project and it wasn’t for a specific project, so I could experiment a bit.

I’ve always gone out of my way to buy combed preparations of fiber b/c, as I said, I was terrified of the long draw, and it just seemed more orderly.  This mini-batt, or mini-batts as the case may be, they seem to be hand carded in small little batts were totally different than anything I’ve worked with before.  I did work with a batt awhile ago, but I did that on the wheel and I spun it worsted with the short draw and a very tight grip on the fiber in front of the drafting triangle preventing any twist from getting past me.  Like I said, this time I was more willing to play, and I loved the effect.  I also learned that firestar really wants to get everywhere and you must have a towel under it if you are going to spin in bed while watching General Hospital (which is great right now, isn’t it?).  I spun about half of it last night and plan to spin the rest into one cop that I will then turn into a plying bracelet and ply on itself – another new technique for me.  I’m thinking/hoping that the finished result will be about a fingering weight two ply; the singles are fairly thin.  I haven’t checked the wpi, which I should, but I’m just having fun.  I just ordered six ounces of the fiber from Sally at Yorkie Slave and I’ll be a little more careful with that since I want to make a shawl with it.

Does anyone have any experience with shawls that have firestar in them?  As I’m spinning the singles, I’m noticing that the firestar has a tendency to stick out all over the place and I’m hoping it will tame down to some degree after plying.  My big question before I plan a shawl and how to spin the big batt is will it be itchy?  Am I better off making something else with it?  What projects lend themselves well to firestar in the prep?  Thanks.   It doesn’t seem to be blended in well, more like it’s sort of sitting on top of the prep just barely carded in…I don’t know much about carding, though, so maybe it’s just the top layer…

Getting Ready for School

Jacob is getting ready to start school on Tuesday.  We went school clothes shopping for him since the Endeavor Academy has a pretty strict dress code.  No jeans, collared shirts and sweaters etc. must be solid colored.  I like that about the school.  No competition in the way of who has what clothing etc.

I added a bunch more yarn pictures to my stash on Ravelry; which is long overdue and I did a little clean up work on my projects page – much too much stuff that I had frogged or had put in hibernation for way too long.  I’m still working on the BFL socks but I needed a break from knitting the simple lace pattern and do something rather mindless so I’m finishing the spinning for the Spirogyra fingerless mitts that I started forever ago.  I started with 4 oz of a merino/tencel blend in shades of brown/purple/blue fading to whiteish at both ends.  It’s called Blue Jean Teddy Bear, I think, or Denim Teddy Bear (I’m too tired to look it up right now).  I split the roving into 2 identical sections and the split them in half.  I fluffed and predrafted the halves together and spun the first section into singles of about 28 wpi, hoping for about 12-14 wpi after chain plying.  I’m starting on half number two of the spinning now and I hope it goes as smoothly as the first half did.  Fingers crossed.

That’s all for now, it’s late and I need sleep.    More later.

I’m still alive

Just a quick little postlette (is that even a word?) to let you all know I’m still here. I’ve been trying really hard to blog more frequently, especially since my little stat program told me that there are a lot of visits from a specific area of Southern CA…anyone related to me reading this, I love you and I’m so glad to know that you are taking an interest in reading my little ramblings. Comment, though, let me know you’re out there.
I haven’t posted much in the last few weeks. That call from the OB office re: referring me to the RE really shook me up for some reason. On an intellectual level I know that it doesn’t change anything really, it’s just moving to a doctor that’s better qualified to deal with whatever problems I might be having, but it feels like a failure to me. I think the most difficult thing for me is not knowing what’s going to happen. I really want to skip this next cycle of Clomid (which of course I won’t) and go straight to the referral. If they tell me that there is nothing they can do for me it will break my heart, I will want to die, but of course I won’t. I will mourn for what will never be and then I’ll move on b/c I have to: I have a family here that needs me to be me and to be the best me that I can be. I’ll keep up with the estrogen supplements if I can b/c they make me a hell of a lot more “normal” whatever that means, but other than that I’ll be able to move on with my life. It’s the constantly getting my hopes up every cycle only to have them dashed when Ovulation doesn’t happen that is killing me.
We have to wait until after the first of the year for financial reasons (flex plan at work) to really get started with anything with the RE, but I want to do the consult before the end of the year; no sense in putting a ton of money into flex if there isn’t any reason for it, you know?!?! During the interim I’ve been thinking that I might like to try some alternative methods of achieving fertility. I’ve heard really good things about acupuncture and as afraid as I am of the needles, I’m more afraid of not having another baby. I’ve also heard that a chiropractor can be a big help. I know you have to be careful not to get hooked up with a quack who just wants your money, though, so I’ll obviously have to do some research. There are also vitamins that you can take that are supposed to help in the ovulation/fertility department and I figure those can’t hurt either. A little homeopathic treatment while I’m waiting for the hard-core drugs (I just pray I don’t end up with quads or quints, although I’d rather have that than nothing – don’t tell TJ….LOL) to begin.
On the knitting front…don’t know if I mentioned it but I finished Krista’s scarf awhile ago…just have to package it and mail it. I’m a lazy, lazy thing once things are done…just ask my mom and she’ll tell you all about me and package sending…LOL It’s like a running joke. I’ve started a pair of socks for TJ in a funky green/black colorway called northern lights by damselfly yarns on etsy…look them up, they have great stuff!!! I’m also working on a simple pair of toe up lace socks for myself using Fleece Artists BFL sock yarn (which smells so much like sheep; I’m in love) in the stone colorway which is simple and beautiful. I have two baby projects that are almost done, but I just can’t bear to work on baby things right this moment. My friend L’s baby was just born and the Anouk I’m making for her is for next spring/summer, so I have time…the blanket I have to force myself to get back to; baby Alison is already six months. My girlfriend Julie also just had a baby girl and she has a naming ceremony coming up in October…I need to bang something out for little Piper. I was thinking maybe some decadent socks and a Baby Surprise Jacket for her. So much to do, so little time…:)
More later…and I haven’t forgotten my promise to post pictures from our trip to the beach, just more lazy on my part….later all.

Infertility Sucks!!

Bad news from the baby doc yesterday.  One more round of Clomid and then he’s pretty much done.  Referral to RE is a hopeful thing but an expensive one.  Our insurance doesn’t cover even one small little penny of infertility treatment so it’s all out of pocket.  The cost of even doing a medicated cycle with an RE seems staggering right now.  Just U/S costs and medication is probably way out of our price range.  I want to curl up in a ball and cry and sleep and rage and hit things and break things…you get the point.  I can’t remember a time where I felt this bad without being in the depths of deep clinical depression.

Things have been so good since starting the medicated cycles in all other respects.  I’m sleeping better, I have more energy, more patience (just ask my mom about me being able to help her with her computer over the phone without freaking out), I just have more everything…more everything that is but eggs, apparently.  No ovulation with the 100mg of Clomid and I’m really not very hopeful that doing another round at the same dose will help either.  I asked the OB to switch me over to Glucophage for the last cycle to see if that would work…nope….then I asked about a higher dose of Clomid…nope.  So he’s basically dooming me to failure from the get go.  At least that’s how it feels.

Happily the Infertility Specialists that they want to refer me to are “one step under God” according to the nurse at OB’s office.  She says if there is any small chance that they can get you pregnant they will and that they are also moral men who will not keep doing unnecessary procedures if they think there is no hope for you.  They will tell you up front if they don’t think there is any way for you to conceive.  This is just so hard.  Getting pregnant with Jacob was so easy.  2 cycles of trying was all it took.  I don’t know what the hell has happened to me in the intervening five years that has made my body hate me so much.  Yes, I’ve put on weight – who hasn’t? – but that only produces excess estrogen (in terms of conception problems) and my estrogen is low, hence the supplement.  So what the hell is it?  If someone could tell me, I’d change it.  I’d do anything at all to conceive just one more baby.  Gonna go now, if I write anymore the rest of the night will be filled with me feeling sorry for myself and crying, eating etc.

Fertility Drugs Can Change Your Life!

Who knew.  Secondary infertility has saved my life!!  Sounds crazy, right?  It’s true, though.  In my last post I talked a little about the meds I’m taking, but more about the side effects etc.  So here’s the deal with the meds:  Dr. Hamilton (my favorite doctor in the world currently) put me on a cocktail of 100 mg of Clomid CD 3-7, 3 mg Estradiol (which is estrogen) every 12 hours CD 8-12 and finally Prochieve gel (which is progesterone) daily from CD 17 until there is a negative home pregnancy test on CD 27 or for the first 10-12 weeks of the pregnancy.  (CD means cycle day, btw).  Since I haven’t been ovulating with any regularity at all for the last 5 years (since Jake was born), my body hasn’t produced any progesterone of its own in most of that time and my estrogen has also been extremely low.  Now I knew that conception would be impossible without those hormones, but what I didn’t know was that those little devils effect a lot more that goes on in your life/brain than just reproductive things.  I’m not a doctor, nor do I play one on television, and I don’t know the whats, whys or hows of it all, but balancing these hormones this past month in an attempt to knock me up has changed my life irrevocably!

People that have met me since Jake was born don’t really know the “real” me, at least not the me I used to be when my body worked the way it was supposed to.  Before Jake was born I was a happy go lucky kind of gal, one who cared what she looked like when she left the house, always wore makeup (unless it was hellishly hot outside and it would just slide off – like today), couldn’t sit at home doing nothing without feeling like she was going crazy, was exceptionally social and happy.  The Shannon people who have known me for 5 years or less that people have known has been slovenly about her appearance much of the time, has never worn makeup – even to things like weddings, has constantly made plans (b/c I genuinely wanted to do things with people that I like) but then cancelled them at the last minute b/c the thought of actually leaving the house and doing something wasn’t just distasteful to her, but was honestly frightening.  This Shannon has been afraid of everything all this time.  I used to spend 6-8 hours a night driving around with my best friend Deniece when we were teenagers, early twenties.  I LOVED being in the car, being on the go.  Now I’ve been terrified of being in the car for any length of time and while I was able to control it to the degree that I could sit in the passenger seat with TJ driving or let friends pick me up (even that was rare, though, and there were only a few people who’s cars I would get into:  Shannon’s, my brother in law’s…OMG those are the only two I can think of…wait, I would let Andrea drive my car with me in it.  I was not, however, able to get myself to drive the car anywhere other than to McDonald’s up the road or maybe the gas station at the corner for a pop, and NEVER with Jake in the car.  It was a full blown phobia, it seems.

A few years ago, I met Spinsanity Shannon and joined a few knitting groups.  I thought that would be the beginning of getting better.  I had met a great group of women who were interested in the same things I was.  I learned to spin, yay, went to meetings and was social for the first time in years.  Even that didn’t last for me, though.  ‘The fears, the laziness, the apathy took back over and it’s been almost a year now since I’ve even seen any of them.  My loss, not theirs.  I keep planning to go back and I always let the fear of not being wanted, not being accepted get in the way.  This is one example of the way that I’ve been self-destructive over the last years.  I feel like I’ve digressed a bit, though, b/c I had to get up to tend to Jacob for awhile.  Back to my point…

Since I’ve taken the meds, I’ve found myself with a completely different state of mind. Where I used to spend 80% of my time in bed either knitting and watching TV or playing on the computer etc.  I’m all about getting my house in order now.  The upstairs is almost done:  our bedroom is completely organized, clean and gorgeous, the office is about 95% there and we have Jake’s room yet to do.  Our upstairs bathroom still needs a lot of work but mostly stuff TJ has to do, so I can’t do it.  I’m doing laundry 3-4 times a week – how the hell do we accumulate so much laundry, seriously?!?!  The biggest changes, though, have been in my fears and my almost pathalogical need to be by myself over the last years.  The last two “weekends” (our weekends are usually Monday night through Thursday afternoon b/c TJ works the early morning shift at Duncan Friday through Monday) we’ve gone up North (I swore I would never go there again after we moved back down here) and I’ve had a GREAT time.  I rode the quads with and without Jake (was TERRIFIED of them before, wouldn’t even sit on one when it was off) and I had a blast.  Going fast rocks!!  I went to the beach (pictures in next post about Jake’s mini-birthday party) and played in the surf and sand (not like me at all, I’ve had a lake/ocean/pond/anything with living aquatic creatures phobia for as long as I can remember) with Jake and loved it.  I even learned how to mud and sand a wall to prepare it for painting.  The big change here is that I enjoyed all of these things and didn’t long to be at home, in my bed watching TV.  My DVR is suffering greatly from this change in me.  Where it used to always be almost empty b/c I watched TV constantly, now it’s almost full b/c I spend so little time with the boob tube.  My knitting has suffered (oh, I just got the Zephyr Options needles from Knit Picks, btw, but haven’t used them yet.  Pretty.) b/c I don’t spend much time sitting around.  Today has been a lazy do nothing day just like yesterday b/c it’s just too hot to move around w/out a/c in the house.  As soon as it’s cool again, though, I’ll be back to chores and getting this house in order.  I tried to work on the living room a bit yesterday but was sweating and dizzy before too long.  It’ll get done, though.

So, long story short, as TJ says, it’s not like my wife has changed, it’s like being married to a completely different person!!  I’m glad when he says that and I like the person I’m becoming.  Still have a long way to go, and I’m still a little nervous re: the social aspects and being accepted by the people I want to be with most after blowing them all off for so long, but I guess even that is a part of growing and changing.  I’m going to have to face it eventually; I’m working on my courage.  Oh yeah, one other HUGE change.  I’m driving again.  All over the place and LOVING it more than I have words for.  TJ is now regularly getting into the passenger seat and having me drive him around…the freedom is exhilerating.  It’s been a real pain to try to schedule everything around when he could drive me or when someone else can.  I’m not usually one to toot my own horn, but GO ME!!!  LOL

The Baby Quest Begins

So today is my first day taking the Clomid at a higher dose.  I took the two pills this morning and I’m waiting for horrible side effects to kick in.  So far so good.  Last time I took Clomid (at 1/2 the current dose) I had some moodiness, lost my appetite almost completely and couldn’t sleep for more than an hour or so at a time for the entire five days.  I took it at night last time in hopes of avoiding some of the bitchier side effects.  I paid with sleep.  So we’ll see how this goes.

I’m really feeling anxious about this!  I want to have another baby so badly I can taste it.  Every time I see a baby on TV or a pregnant woman or someone shopping with a newborn I just want to bawl my eyes out.  I’m grateful that I have the wonderful child that I have and I know there are so many women who don’t even have the one who are going through what I am and even worse, but it doesn’t change the visceral reaction I have to seeing these things.

Having the world’s most hellacious period doesn’t help matters, I have to admit.  I was complaining last week about bleeding heavily for over 3 weeks; yeah, let’s go back to that.  This bleeding is MUCH heavier and the cramps are horrible.  It’s almost like VERY mini-labor.  My hip bones feel like they want to pop out…LOL  So I’m in bed (or on couch depending on the time of day) and I’m playing TV, computer, and knitting catch up.  I plan to (read: hope to) finish the Moderne Baby Blanket in the next day or so.  I have block #10 and the border left and I’m done.  Then I have the 2nd 1/2 of Anouk to finish for my friend Lisa’s new baby girl, Ainsley (isn’t that a beautiful name?)  I have to say that Anouk is one of the favorite projects that I’ve done lately.  I love the yarn – Cascade’s Pima Tencel – it’s so soft and the colors are so vibrant.  I’m using the same colors that are used in the pattern and I love it.  I’d like to make another one in the future using some softer colors as well.  I think it would make a pretty little tunic in pastels. We’ll see.

My 52 pair plunge seems to have plunged itself right down the toilet.  I haven’t even finished the first pair.  I’m getting ready to order the replacement needles that I need so that I can get back to work.

We’re getting ready to leave for a week in Pittsburgh tomorrow.  Wondering how that car ride will go with the cramps?  TJ has to work there and we don’t like being apart for a week if we don’t have to.  It’s fun to get a chance to take Jake to different states and for him to see different things.  Doesn’t look like we’ll have a lot of time this time around to go a museum or an aquarium, but I’m sure we’ll find something to do.  We’re staying at one of my favorite hotels: the Hampton Inn.  I gotta tell you that the beds at this hotel are to die for.  OMG…so comfortable.

Gotta run…Jake wants to play War.  It’s his new favorite card game and he’s pretty good at it.  It’s been great for helping him learn numbers and what number is bigger than what other number etc.  Later folks…

Loving the new Fertility Doctor

I had my appointment with the new Fertility Doctor yesterday.  I was so scared going in that I was going to get really bad news.  Not so much!!!  Yay!  We talked about the period that will not end – he said it was annovulatory bleeding and it could go on for a long time.  The solution to it, strange as it may seem, is to make me bleed more.  LOL  He’s given me a Rx for Provera to make me have a “real” period.  That will be followed by 5 days of Clomid, then 4 days of Estrogen and later 10+ days of Progesterone.  He tells me that this cocktail of meds is twice as effective as using Clomid alone.  He also doubled the dose of the Clomid this cycle. So I’m feeling optimistic for the first time in a long time about having another baby.  With my birthday coming up, I can’t think of a better present than a positive on a pregnancy test.  Here’s hoping…

Finished K’s Multi-Directional Scarf finally.  I started it in Feb. of ‘08 when I was in CA. for a visit.  I put it aside for a long time when I got home.  When I realized that I was leaving to go out there again in May of this year, I got it out and started working on it again.  I worked on it while I was out there and hoped to get it done while I was there to give to her, but I didn’t have the time I thought I would for knitting while I was out there, so I didn’t get to finish it before I came home.  Now that it’s done, I’m let down.  I really enjoyed the simplicity of the pattern; made for great TV  knitting.  So now I’m working full time on the Moderne Baby Blanket for my FIL’s girlfriend’s newest granddaughter.  More easy knitting, but as you get to the end parts, each section takes forever.  I’m almost done with block 9 of 10 blocks and then I just have the border to do and it will be off to the baby.  I need to hurry, though, b/c she was born in Feb. so if it’s not done soon, she’ll outgrow it…:)  My sock plunge is really suffering, but I’ve got to get these things done.  It’s my motivation to hurry so I can finish my Coriolis socks.

I’m having a problem with size five needles, though.  It’s like I’m cursed with these.  In the last six months I’ve managed to snap in half one each of two different sets of Harmony Option size 5 tips and one of the Harmony Straights size fives.  Of course all of my current projects: socks, baby blanket, shawl are all being done on fives.  ARGH!!!  Time for a Knit Picks order.

Back from Cali, knitting socks and staying off my feet…fun times!

Been awhile again since my last post.  I don’t know what it is, but I just can’t seem to find the time or the energy for the computer these days for some reason.  I can’t remember the last time I actually checked my email.  If anyone has sent me anything and I haven’t responded, sorry.  I’m more apt to see something you send me on Facebook or Twitter than I am in an email…LOL  Kind of sad, huh?!?!

So I went to California on June 9th and stayed for 3 weeks.  Seeing my mother is always so great for me; if you know me and my mother, though, you also know that it’s a hugely stressful time for both of us.  We are both very strong personalities and we tend to clash in a lot of ways.  There is so much love there, though, that the happy moments always far outweigh the stressful ones.  This trip was about going to see David Cook with my favorite family member in the world, Krista and taking Jake back to Sea World to actually touch the dolphins.  The rest was all up in the air.  Spending time with Krista is always one of my favorite things to do.  We have the sort of relationship where we don’t really have to be doing anything special, we just like to be together.  One of our favorite group activities is, believe it or not, just sitting around with coloring books and colored pencils and coloring.  We both have these stupidly expensive Disney Princess coloring books that have really high quality paper and we guard them jealously, not letting anyone (no, not even Jacob) color in them but us.  Kind of sick, really, but it’s really so much fun to just stop for an hour and do something so simple and so rooted in our childhoods.  Oddly enough,though, neither of us really color at all when we aren’t together.  Krista gave me another new hobby this trip, though.  The Lakers were playing in the NBA championships against the Orlando Magic and K is a HUGE Lakers fan.  So the first night we hung out together game 4 (I think) was on and she said she had to watch it.  Anyone that knows me well at all knows that I’m absolutely not a sports fan in any way, shape or form.  So we got out coloring books and I got out Mom’s laptop and settled in for what I thought would be a boring television event, but still time with K is so rare b/c of the distance, so any time at all is priceless to me.  About halfway through the game, though, I realized that I was watching the TV almost as much as I was reading posts on Ravelry.  By the last five minutes of the game I had put the laptop down and was watching the action raptly.  By the time the final game rolled around a few nights later, I was all about the game.  I cheered and I booed and I jumped up and down.  I was almost hoping the Lakers would lose so that there would be another game.  They didn’t lose, though, and the victory was amazing.  So now I’m a basketball fan. A Laker’s fan at that.  Looking very much forward to pre-season.  Of course, knowing me, it may not last.  We’ll see.  I was a “hockey fan” for awhile when the Wings won their first Stanley Cup in however many long, long years.  That lasted about half of the next season and then I got bored out of my skull with it all (I think I just committed a sacrilege as far as my mother – a RABID Wings fan – is concerned).

I finally got my own copy of New Pathways for Sock Knitters, so I can finish the second Spiraling Coriolis sock.  I’m about 2/3 of the way done with it, maybe a little less.  I got so excited about sock knitting that I joined the 52 Pair Plunge III @ Ravelry.  Of course I haven’t even finished pair #1 so I’m WAY behind…LOL  I think , though, that once I finish the WIPs that are outstanding gifts I owe to people (the Moderne Baby Blanket for Fran’s new granddaughter and the Anouk dress for Lisa’s new baby due any time now) I’ll throw myself a little more into sock knitting.  I’ve just ordered matching sets of fixed circs. from Knit Picks: one each of the Harmony and the Nickle plated in sizes 0-3 (which is actually 6 needles in each material b/c there are 2 different sizes of 1 and 2 b/c of the metric measurements) in the 24″ length.  I was going to just order the sizes in the Harmony wood in the 24″ and 32″ lengths so that I could differentiate easily when using 2 circs (which I really do like for socks) but I thought that the different materials for the tips would make the distinction even easier and I really have found that I like the nickle more than I thought I did.  I have the Options sets in both materials so if I need longer than 24″ needles I’ve got that covered as well.

I love shopping at Amazon, btw.  I just ordered and received the newest version of the Kindle; it was an early birthday gift from my mother.  LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!!  I’ve already got five or six books and several blogs on it.  So nice to have choices in such a slim and light container.  I always want to take something to read with me, but can’t ever decide what so I end up schlepping three or four hard cover books with me on vacations or when I know I’ll be bored for awhile.  Great for choice, but heavy as all hell.  This is much nicer!!  I also ordered a whole slew of knitting books:

• A Treasury of Knitting Patterns Volumes 1 & 2:  I’ve always wanted to have a great stitch dictionary collection and I like these the best so far.  I’m not big on designing things myself – I’m still too chicken to even play too much with changing elements in patterns that I’m following.  Just looking through these books, though, has inspired me a bit.  I found myself thinking ‘that would make a great cuff or edging on a sweater’ or ‘that would be a great cuff or leg pattern for a sock’.  It’s a step in the right direction.  I WILL get braver with my knitting before the end of year.  My goal is to design one thing, no matter how simple it is – maybe I’ll design the scarves I’m planning to make for TJ and Jake this year rather than following a pattern.
• Elizabeth Zimmerman’s  Knitting Workshop, Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitting Almanac and Knitting Without Tears:  I’ve  heard so many great things about E.Z. and I thought this would be a great time to “get to know her”.  I thought I ordered The Opinionated Knitter as well, but I guess not.  It’s something for the future.
• Lace Style:  You can never have too many lace knitting books
• A Gathering of Lace:  See above….love the lace knitting!!
• The Intentional Spinner, The Spinner’s Companion and Spin Control:  I’ve been spinning for a little more than a year and a half now and I still kind of feel like I’m working blind.  I can spin a decent yarn but I have very little control as to how it comes out.  I’m still not sure about the different kinds of drafting and how to do them.  I’m in love with spindle spinning, which I feel like I have a lot more control with, and I love my wheel, but I feel like I’m always playing catch up when I’m using the wheel.  I rarely, if ever, get the yarn that I expect to get from it.  I want to learn more and to get better.  I really need a spinning class to get me on the right track.  I need someone to teach me all these different “draws” and how they work and what I’m doing wrong…
• Teach Yourself Visually Hand-dyeing:  I love hand dyeing and another book on it can only be good.
• Sock Innovation:  I’m all about sock knitting these days and I’m a big fan of Cookie A.’s designs even though I’ve never knit one.  The chapters on design are really a big selling point for me.

• Toe Up:  This is the WendyKnits book.  I didn’t actually order this one, I bought it at Barnes N Noble while I was in CA.  I found I really like the toe up method of knitting socks and there are really cute patterns in this book.  I’m looking forward to knitting some of these for the “Plunge”

I’ve had a lot of time to look through my book and play with the Kindle in the last few weeks.  Here’s a big TMI warning if you don’t want to know more than you ever dreamed about my cycles and periods….

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I’ve been undergoing the very beginning of fertility treatments since late March.  50 mg. of Clomid from days 3-7 of the cycle.  Only did one cycle and it didn’t work.  I got my period 50 days into the Clomid cycle and it started with spotting that lasted for almost 2 weeks, which was annoying but tolerable.  When I was out in CA the real period finally started and was heavy (which I expect) and irritating – it got bad the same day as the David Cook concert, of course – but it wasn’t unbearable.  Now that I’m three weeks into this period and I’m bleeding like a stuck pig half the time with HUGE clots and not bleeding at all the other half, I’m irritated.  It’s gotten to the point where I have to stay in bed or on the couch most of the time b/c any real activity or straining myself makes the bleeding horrible.  For example I got out of bed on the 4th to hang out at the bonfire in the yard b/c my mother-in-law and TJ’s Aunt Nancy were there.  Just sitting out there, walking around and playing with Jake a bit was the most I did and when I got back inside I ended up having to change my pajama bottoms twice in 30 minutes.  I’ve been feeling dizzy, foggy headed, crampy and just plain yucky since this started.  Saw the doctor today, had an ultra sound and am going to meet with a new fertility specialist tomorrow morning.  So nervous!!  I am terrified that I’m going to find out that I can’t have another baby and that would break my heart.  TJ and I are not necessarily in agreement about fertility treatments.  I’m all about doing whatever it takes to have another child and TJ isn’t sure if he’s on board for getting really into the infertility treatments.  He’s terrified by the though of higher level multiples and he’s afraid that my body won’t deal well with “forcing” pregnancy.  IVF is still a long way away, I hope, but he’s so against the thought and while it’s not my first choice for a way to have a baby, if it’s my only option, I’m totally on board with it.  This is going to be a long process, and it’s going to take a lot of talking and figuring out what is important to us and what our priorities when it comes to family are.  I’m scared!

96 Yards of Handspun lace/fingering weight

I just finally (I actually finished spinning and plying the yarn in December) skeined up and finished the singles that were left after spinning and plying my Girl Insane top.  The colors in the top were light to medium pinks, shades of grey to black, light to dark purples and white. (Don’t have a picture of the top, so here’s the link to the original listing in etsy: Girl Insane Top.  I split the colors into lights and darks, spun the singles fairly thin (I’m still terrible about figuring out things like what drafting method I used or how many twists per inch etc.) and then plied the two together.  It came out really pretty.  When I was through, I had just under 100 yards of singles left from the dark batch, so I skeined it and finished it tonight – it’s drying right now.  Pictures to follow once it’s dry and I get off my lazy ass and take the pics.

Any suggestions on what to do with just about 100 yards of light fingering to heavy lace singles?  I’m stumped, but this came out so pretty that I want to use it.  I thought about plying it with itself after it finishes drying, but then I’ll only have 50 or so yards and I know there’s not a lot I can do with that.  Any thoughts would be much appreciated.

The Coriolis socks are coming out beautifully.  I’m back on track after the frogging incident and I’m really enjoying these socks.  I’m going to buy the book (I’ve had it out of the library for two renewals now and I don’t want to keep it out of the hands of others who might want to read it) before I leave for CA (on Tuesday) and work on the last sock on the plane ride.  It seems like a good, portable project for the plane.  It’s either that or my Clapotis and that thing is pretty big and bulky for a plane ride at this point.

As for my two baby gift projects:  I’ve hit a wall with the Moderne Baby Blanket as the book is still packed up in a box somewhere in this house (I swear we’ll never be fully moved in) and I was able to find the pattern as a freebie through Ravelry, but it’s a scan of the book and doesn’t include the border, so until I find the book I’m kind of stuck.  I know I could just come up with my own border, but I’m just not feeling that creative with this one.  I draw a blank whenever I try to think of a good border pattern for this…again, suggestions are welcome and appreciated.  The Anouk pattern is coming along nicely.  The baby it’s for is due in July and I’ve got the first half done and am ready to start on the second.  The first went really quickly so I’m hoping the second will be as swift.  These are the only projects I plan to bring on the trip, along with some needlepoint that I’ve been working on for awhile on and off.  I figure if I don’t have many choices I can’t get caught up in “startitis” and might actually finish a few things on time…