First things first…I finished a PAIR of socks. Sure, I’ve finished a lot of single socks in this lifetime, but Second Sock Syndrome and my own insecurities, obsessions etc. have stopped me from finishing a pair. It’s always been: ‘The first one isn’t quite right’, ‘I’ll just work on something else for a little bit and then start #2′, or something like that. Very self defeating. With the Toe-up Fleece Artist BFL sock pattern I was working on, I actually sat on and broke one of the circular needles I was using and have yet to replace it, so the second sock sits there, barely even a toe yet, waiting. But I persevered and I finished the Monkey socks I started in Feb. Yes, it sadly took me just under two months to finish the pair (I thought socks were quick…LOL) but I don’t have the time to knit that I used to. I barely have time to sit down and catch my breath these days it seems, so if I get three hours of knitting time a week in, I’m lucky. I made myself a goal of getting a pair of socks made for each day I’m in the hospital after my c-section (that’s four pairs total) and I started in Feb. with the Monkeys. Clearly I’m not going to make that goal. I had the Coriolis socks that I started in STR in the Hot Flash colorway (One was completely done and I had very few rounds left on number two) but when I looked at them, they were odd looking. I misplaced one of the cakes of yarn I had made from the skein and thought I had a LOT less than I did, so they were very much anklets only even shorter and I really didn’t like the way they looked. The colorway is so bright and pretty that it seemed a shame to have a pair of socks that I would probably never really want to wear made out of them. I frogged them the other night while watching NCIS Los Angeles and sobbed a little. 🙂 I have the Toe-Up diagonal socks made with the BFL sock yarn from Fleece Artist in the Stone colorway (gorgeous, btw) that is a little over half done; going to order the needles this week and get back to work on number two. I hope to get those done in a few weeks after starting. That would give me two pairs finished. I don’t see two others getting completely done in the time I have left. My section is tentatively scheduled for July 13th or sometime that week anyway. We’ll see what I get done.
My Monkeys, though, are gorgeous; and comfortable! I had planned to wait until the hospital for the first wearing of each pair, but couldn’t wait. I used Monkey Toes yarn from Crazy Monkey Creations in the Mixed Berry colorway (pictures to follow when I get the camera back from a friend who borrowed it to take pics of the kids’ Kindergarten Vocabulary Parade – more on that later). They are bright and kind of crazy colored and I love that about them. I can totally understand now how and why sock knitters get addicted to wearing handknit socks. They fit like nothing I’ve ever worn before. I used to wonder how people could get so involved in knitting socks, but I get it now. I am converted! I don’t see myself ever not having a pair on some needles somewhere no matter what other “big” projects may come and go in the future.
Today was Jacob’s Vocabulary Parade at school. I felt like I had homework last night while TJ and I were working to put together the sandwich board that he was to wear. We started out with the word Shark (the Kindergarten kids had to choose a word that fell within the animal kingdom catagory) which was what I expected from Jacob as he’s shark obsessed. I had pictures of the different sharks we’ve seen at Sea World picked out etc. but at the last minute he decided that “shark” was too basic and he wanted his word to be Megalodon. That complicated my picture plan since the darn thing has been extinct for millions of years. LOL So we printed a drawing that he colored of what they (the great “they” that we always hear/talk about…) think Megalodon looked like and compared its length to a bus (which Jake colored and glued onto the board) and then its width to three African Elephants (also glued and colored by Jake) on the board. We finished it up with a cool 8×10 of Jake standing in the middle of a replica of what an open Megalodon jaw looked like from our last trip to San Diego and he was good to go. Unfortunately, I wasn’t there for the parade – contractions were getting the better of me today along with lack of sleep, hence the loaning of the camera to our friend to take pictures of the kids at the parade. Kindergarten is so much fun. I’m going to miss a lot of these projects next year. I’m sure there will be more fun to come, though.
In Connor news. I took my glucose tolerance test yesterday. That’s always a good time…not! I’ve been pretty much off sweets this whole pregnancy and haven’t gained weight excessively, or at all really, so I was pretty sure that I wasn’t going to be subjected to the horror of the three hour test. I was right. Unfortunately, the reason I’m not taking the three hour test is b/c my sugar level was so high on the one hour there is no need for the three hour. The diagnosis has been made. I have G.D. (Gestation Diabetes). Next step is some more lab work that will determine what my blood sugar has been like over the last three months and then off to a consult with a maternal and fetal medicine doctor for education and a game plan for controlling this for the remainder of the pregnancy. I guess that explains why my belly is so HUGE this time around. I’m trying to stay cool and keep it all in perspective; I know it hasn’t been bad for long b/c I haven’t been spilling sugar in my urine etc. but it’s still a really scary diagnosis. I’m worried about the potential effects on Connor and, to a lesser degree, on myself. I just want this baby to be healthy and happy and to stay in here until he’s ready to be born. Over the last few weeks I’ve been having horrific contractions that have been more painful than any Braxton-Hicks that I’ve ever had before, but they aren’t regular and they aren’t changing my cervix at all, so that’s good. Combine that with the G.D. though, and my natural tendency to panic kicks in. I keep having to tell myself, forcefully, to calm down and breathe. I know we’ll make it through all of this, though!! Only 11 1/2 weeks to go!!
Knitting for my Sanity 