One of Those Things

This is one of those things that only a mother would do.

My Husband and Chiquita are going to Arizona for a weekend with some of my in-laws. They will be watching a couple of baseball games for Spring Training. I've gone before and it's a lot of fun, but I don't do well in the backseat on car trips. It usually has to do with the carsickness and inability to sleep do to all the talking/music.

I knew if I went this time I would really hate the car part of the trip. Being pregnant, uncomfortable and hungry (there must always be milk and cereal nearby) I would be extra crabby on top of the pregnancy pissiness. Then when we got to AZ, I would only want to lay down and eat cereal. I would hate eating at restaurants because there are no seats that recline and I wouldn't be able to order what I really want (cereal). We went out with friends the other night and I got all cramped from sitting in the chairs, which made me unable to eat. I was so glad to get home and lay down.

Basically, I wanted everyone to have a good time on the trip and knew I wouldn't. I didn't want to ruin anyone else's good time. So, I elected for a quiet weekend at home, maybe a couple of yarn shops tomorrow and to actually take time to clean the fish tank. So far so good.

Here is where the motherly part comes in. Poor Chiquita in the car for 8 hours driving to Arizona and a missing Nintendo DS. I loaded up the car with books, coloring books, DVDs, but the best time killer for her is the DS. So I searched for 1.5 hours last night.

I looked in the toys boxes, dirty laundry, car, garage, bookshelves. Used a flashlight under the couches, beds, behind things. I even crawled under her bed to see if it had fallen between the wall and the bed. There are a few random old blankets and a train set under there so I had to actually crawl under the bed. A bed with a wooden frame that is only 8 inches above the floor (I measured). It really hurt my extra sensitive boobies and then I got stuck for about a minute. Go ahead laugh, it is kinda funny.

I got up this morning to help them off on their trip and spent another half hour looking. This time I had Skizye lift the couches to look underneath them. Dug around in all the same places. Looked inside every purse or toy that it could be inside. I even called my Dad at 6am, he was already up, to see if we had left it there. He woke up my brother because he had no idea what a DS looks like. They were pretty sure it wasn't left behind.

Finally, I said goodbye to my video gameless family and went inside to clean up the mess I had made. I figured I'd start with the fun mess and hook the Wii back up first. We had taken it to my dad's and hadn't put it away yet. Here is where this bookshelf comes in.It's the Nintendo shelf. The knitting books live above it and the hamster lives below. It's at the perfect height to dump all your stuff when it is empty because all the games and controllers are in a bag next to the TV. So, I picked up the basket there, and dumped all the papers that had been tossed in onto the couch. And there is the DS. I swear it had been 45 seconds since I said goodbye to my family. I then tore through the house looking for my phone to call Skizye to have him come back and pick it up. Thankfully they were only two minutes away.

You should of seen the look on Chiquita's face when mommy gave her the video game. Because only a mother would spend 2 hours making a mess that will take her 4 hours to clean up, so that her child can play with a piece of plastic that has a computer chip in it.

And the damn thing was where it belongs the whole time.

Ernie-Bert Mitts I & II

I know all of you were expecting some really great baby knits that I have been hiding from you, but you are not getting that today. I still need to show off my FOs from 2008. These are Ernie-Bert Mitts. Named after your favorite PBS roommates and designed by Senora Fuerte. There isn't a pattern written up. I copied what she was doing, just in a smaller stitch count to make kid sizes. But you can read all about how they were named, etc., here.

I made these for my best friend's kids. We'll call them Valley Girl and Tank. They live in cold country and are spending their Spring Break at Disneyland, so we spent a day with them on Sunday. Valley Girl LOVES Southern California. She announced a couple of years ago that she was going to college somewhere here. She loves Cali-Beach fashions, Hannah Montana, the JoBros, and if she only said "like", "you know" and "the walls in the mall are really tall" more often, she really would be a Valley Girl. She already has the blonde hair - blue eyed thing working for her.Then there is Tank. I call him that because he plows through everything. My little brother used to be called Tank when he was younger for the same reasons. Tank just loves Disneyland and living out of hotel rooms because that means he is not at home bored. I can handle being around Tank for a little while and then I start thanking God that I am having another girl. Boys are loud... and active?

Pattern: Ernie-Bert Mitts I & II (Kids size)

Source: Senora Fuerte - no pattern avail. Sorry
Yarns: Pink - Rio de la Playa Sock in Slate Rose
Blue - Dream in Color Smooshy in Deep Seaflower
Black - Dream in Color Smooshy in Black Parade

Here he is after hanging out with us for half a day. This nap lasted for about 10 minutes and he was none stop until I went home that night. .....active! Sorry all of the pictures are taken in the car. I seem to have a thing lately with giving away my knitting before taking a picture of it. In fact, that is the real reason I'm not showing off baby knits. I made the cutest baby socks and gave them to my MIL before taking a picture. I am going to have to wait until Easter to get a picture to show off. In the meantime, I guess I'll have to make something else for the little banana.

My Big Secret

So, I have been lying to you. Okay, omitting information. I've been using that line a lot lately.

Remember way back when I mentioned that I hadn't been feeling well. I was trying to make it seem like not a big deal, but everyone must like me, because it seems to be the one thing that got caught everyone's attention. I guess it should have, considering that my past feeling ill is now getting it's own blog post.

In short, I was sick about three months, hence all the not blogging. There were a doctors visits and a few test taken. Urine collected, blood drained, even an ultrasound. Turns out that I have a parasite in my belly. The Homosapien type. hehehe. I actually got a friend pretty well with that line.

Yes, I'm pregnant and three months of morning sickness really sucked. But I am feeling a lot better now. Actually, freakishly a lot better. If it weren't for me going back to the doctor to hear the heartbeat, I wouldn't believe it myself. Though I am getting little random reminders whenever I feel the baby kick.

I have to apologize that I kept this from all of you for so long. I'll be 19 weeks on Sunday. What!!! That is a week shy of half the pregnancy! It's so nice to know that I am almost halfway there.

I kept it a secret for so long because I wanted to wait to tell my Dad on his birthday. (Which was really killer. My SIL and I threw a huge surprise 60th birthday party. We had guest driving 6 hours to attend and he was completely clueless. We surprised him with family members, a new grandchild, and all his co-workers and church friends for a dinner that night. He is never going to trust me again. Not really sure if he ever has. Like I said, I've been "omitting" information from people a lot lately).

But my Dad's birthday was the first weekend of March. I had barely started blogging again and didn't want to start with that. Plus, if I kept it a secret for so long, why not wait two weeks until the next ultrasound and share the news from that, too.

Yesterday was our ultrasound and we are having another girl! It's going to be so much fun. Chiquita is so excited. She came to the ultrasound with us. It was a little funny actually. She was hoping for a little brother. So, when he told us a girl, I kinda looked at the doctor liked "really?" I had wanted a girl, but was hoping for a boy for Chiquita. I was really bummed because she was so bummed.

Once we went back to school and Chiquita told her class, she was really excited. Tonight, she got to feel the baby move for the first time. When I ask her about it, I get the "geez Mom" role of the eyes and shake of the head. I can't wait until we start shopping and she gives me her opinions about decorating the room and baby fashions.

Well, that is my big secret. Not really a double life, but definitely a big change to our lives. The baby is due in mid August, if you are wondering. No, we have not picked a name. Even when we do, I'm not sharing it. Sorry family members. And because I reserve the right to be a pissy pregnant woman. Muah ha ha.

Blogging Bundle

Okay, so here is the actual Blogging Bundle.

This morning on my Google Reader I learn about another pretty cool website. Thanks Tienne.

It's called Shelfari. It is a little like Ravelry for books. I immediately set up a profile. It's pretty fun. I don't own a lot of books and hardly remember what I have read in the past. I had to look up the books I read last year in the sidebar. Really bad, I know. But it was fun to add all the book series I've read that were borrowed from the library. Too bad the library doesn't keep a list of everything I've checked out since becoming a member. Another cool thing is that they had all of my knitting books in the database, also. Fun!

So, if you are already a member, friend me. Or be like I was and start an account. Then go crazy with books. If only my fifth grader self could see me now.


In other news, I will be going code. I'm not the only one that does it. In fact, I'm one of the few that doesn't. But, the people that I blog about in my life will no longer be addressed by their names. My daughter will now be known as Chiquita. Mostly because I call her a banana. But Chiquita also means "little [chick] girl" and the whole FreeRangeChick thing. It just goes together. My husband will be Skizye, and name he picked up a gazillion years ago. Friends and family that blog, I'll call by their blog names. Everyone else will just get named as they get blogged. It just seemed like a wise move. I've had 187 individual visitors since I started watching my blog traffic in Aug '08, five to thirty visits a day. Some are from friends and family, some from Ravelry, but really I don't know who these people are.


In the meantime, I've caught Startitis. I'm trying to use it to either get rid of all that stashed yarn, promised Christmas projects that never were CO, sewing in ends. So, far I've cast on the second Fascine Braided sock that I started back in early November. I'm almost done with the gusset decreases. I also cast on a pair of fair isle mitts for a friend of mine coming to visit next weekend. They probably won't be done, but I hope to finish one enough that they can be tried on for size. I had to increase a needle size for my hands and I have small hands. Then there are various sewing of ends and blocking that needs to be done. I'm trying really hard to not cast on a pair of fair isle fingerless gloves for myself. But the yarn is sitting there looking at me as we speak.

Well, that is a ton of blogging compared to my usual rate. I have laundry washing and a pile on the bed that needs to be put away. Along with the fish tank and hamster begging for attention. Then there is the rest of the house and knitting group at 1pm. I haven't even taken a shower, yet. So, I'm off. See ya'll around. My secret double life post is next. Oh, the suspense.

(15 minutes later..... I just remembered all the books in my hallway bookcase. There are a ton of books in there.)

Say What

I originally named this post Blogging Bundle because there is so much going through my brain this morning that I decided I needed to blog all the little/urgent things together or they may never get blogged about. I had to change the title though because I talked about the first topic more than I thought I would.

It started this morning when I checked my Google Reader. Shock and dismay. One of my favorite bloggers has been kicked off of Ravelry. Seriously. I can't believe it. Last year being an election year, there were a lot of political groups popping up. She was a member of one called the Bunker. It was a very conservative group that, from reading a lot of other blogs, the liberals complained about to Jess and Casey a lot. So, J&C shut down the group a few weeks ago. Okay, so what is an organizer of a website suppose to do in a situation like that. Then, last night, J&C deactivated everyone that was a member of the group. Whether they ever posted or not.

This I think was going a little too far. The group had already been deleted. But it goes further then that. No one can access any of the information they have on Ravelry, some have published personal patterns, and other contributions to the website. But it went further then that. To keep the banned people from making new accounts, the computer ID numbers, what ever that techie stuff is, where banned. This means that if I were in the deleted group, if I were banned, my co-worker would also be banned. Because we both sign onto Ravelry on the work computer. One mom was banned and her step-daughter was kicked off also for sharing the home computer. She was never in any groups, never posted anything. She basically just queue things she wanted her mom to make her.

I hope that Jess and Casey figure out a fair way to resolve this. If you are going to ban one political group, then there shouldn't be any political groups. Just ban the problem posters. Or at least give everyone fair warning to make sure they have a backup of all of their pictures, project stats, friend's emails, etc.

I just know that I store a lot of stuff, like modifications notes, on my projects that I don't have written down somewhere else. I'd be seriously pissed if I got banned for association to a group. I joined a lot of groups to show off my personality, but I've never posted a single comment in some of them. Mostly TV shows or movies, but still. If someone causes problems in say the 24 group for some political move on the show and everyone got in trouble, I'd be mad.

Well, enough about that. But, I hope you get back on Shawna.

This will have to be it's own little post because I ranted so much. I guess I'll be posting twice today. Now that is shocking.

Dogwood I & II

These are the Dogwoods. I designed this pattern to make a couple of hats for my nephews. I had picked out the yarn back in February of 2008 while visiting San Fransisco. I had no idea what I was going to make with it, but I bought it anyways because I figured I would make something for my sister. Then somewhere down the line I decided that I wanted to make cabled hats for my nephews. I then got creative and decided to design them, also.

Pattern: Dogwood I (Baby's Size)

Source: My Own Design
Yarn: Joseph Galler Inca Cotton in Ecru

Pattern: Dogwood II (Kid's Size)

Source: My Own Design

Yarn: Joseph Galler Inca Cotton in Ecru

Pretty cute hats, huh. I guess the kids are cute, too. My nephews.

The zigzag is actually a cable. I tried lots of different cables, but nothing really looked right. The yarn is thick-n-thin looks funny when the cables are overlapping each other. I finally found this zigzag and it works because the yarn doesn't overlap itself on the right side of the pattern. Then it was knit without any decreases and cast off. I came up with the name Dogwood for a couple of reasons. First, I made the hats for my nephews. Nephews by definition are little boys and little boys like to climb trees. I thought that I could call the call TreeClimbers. Then because of the square shape of the hat, the top flaps look so cute (as seen in kid's version). They reminded me of dog ears. Then I thought Dogs?, Trees?, isn't there a tree named like a dog. And that is where the Dogwoods came from. It's tough naming a pattern.

I'm working on a third one in a different yarn chose and hopefully be able to share a pattern with you soon.

Coming Attractions

So, here I am trying to blog again.

I thought that I would make up a little checklist of everything that needs to be blogged.

The 2008 FOs

• Dogwood I and II -done
  
• Ellen Cowl -done
• Bert and Ernies I and II -done

The 2009 FOs

• Lace-Edged Cuddle Blanket
• Secret Socks
• Dogwood III (WIP)
• Poppa's Sweater Blanket (WIP) -partly done

The Stash Enhancement

• Various socks yarns
• Books from Christmas

The Goings On of Life

• My Dad's 60th Birthday - My SIL and I threw a killer surprise party for my Dad and it went off without a hitch. Mostly because I threatened everyone under penalty of death. -done
• My Super Secret - I have a double life. I'm finally able to share it with all of you and I can't wait. -done
• Going Code - Without really knowing who is reading my blog, I'm going to be going code with the names of the people in my life. Now accepting suggestions for those of you I feel are important enough to blog about. -done

So, let us cross our fingers and hope for another blog post soon.

Drop a Dime

(Man is it hard to get back in the habit of blogging when you haven't for a while. It's taken me a week to write this post.)

A good friend of mine read the last post and then called me up on the telephone. She was wondering if I was feeling pissy much lately. Me? Pissy? Never? (Said with great sarcasm). I admit that I have been a little pissier than usual. We are talking about "at the drop of a dime" pissy. Really. Drop a dime, I dare you. See what happens. It's probably because I've been extremely nice to people I don't like, lately. I have to get it out my system somehow.

So, I will try to be more positive in this post. Enter my Dad's sweater....Oh, I didn't make this sweater. It's a store bought, 100% cotton, on it's way to Goodwill when I stole it, sweater. That I then promptly took apart. (Man, I have issues.) When I saw this, the first thought that went through my mind was, "Look at all that free yarn!" I'll be making a Poppa's Sweater Blanket out of it. My Dad's new house is really cold and an extra throw on the couch would be very nice. I'm thinking a pinwheel blanket, since I don't know how much yarn I actually have and I'll be able to knit until I run out with out worrying about it being too rectangular.So far I have got both of the sleeves frogged and mostly knit up. It really stinks (see, being nice, no swearing) frogging this thing. Apparently, it is a large piece of knit material that was cut to size. Every row that I rip has to be tied to the next row. Thank goodness for the square knot. I'm hoping that it will give the blanket a look.

It's nighttime around here and the blanket is on circulars, so I don't think that I will be able to get a decent picture. Ya'll are going to have to wait for that. The only thing that bums me out is that I don't think I will be able to finish it by my Dad's birthday next week.