Nice Feeling

I logged on to Ravelry last evening to find a message about a comment that someone had made about the shawl I knit recently for a neighbour. It felt really good to A: have someone I didn't even know like what I'd done, and B: have them ask me how I'd done it so they could fashion something similar for someone else. It's a great boost to one's ego/self-esteem when you're in a bit of a low spot.

3hrs of Appointments later

and we still don't have a definitive answer. The u/s was 1.5hrs with both a final year student(who didn't have a very good opinion of u/s clinics) and his supervisor. We think, but aren't sure, that they got everything. Hopefully Dr Shabib's nurse will call tomorrow and let us know, as the report hadn't made it to his office by the time our appointment with him was over. Baby is breech at the moment, but hopefully he/she will turn again before D-day.

On the upside, we got a good view of baby's face, hands and feet. He/she was either practising "breathing" or blowing bubbles, not sure which. My weight and bp were good, and I passed my 1hr GTT, so that's good. Hopefully I'm done with u/s until the 35-38wk one to estimate size.

Well, that didn't take long :(

Kevin gave me some bad news last night right before dinner. Somehow, at some point, my brake band had "jumped" off my bobbin, and the tension knob had been turned to the point where the spring was stretched right out as far as it would go, and it is, unfortunately, kaput. Fortunately for me, I do happen to have an extra. I'm starting my hunt around town to find a place where I could find replacements, or at the very least find an elastic band small enough to do the trick in a pinch. I'm also on the lookout for the right weight of fishing line(or even weed eater cable if I can find some thin enough) to use for replacement brake band when the time eventually comes.

Yet another u/s :(

Got a call from the OB's office this morning letting me know that the last u/s was incomplete, and that he's given up on the clinics and wants me to go to the L&D department @ the hospital for an u/s on Monday morning and then come see him that same afternoon(instead of this Thursday as previously scheduled). Apparently, they still can't see the spine properly. I asked his nurse if I should be worried, and she said no, it all had to do with how baby was positioned, but she didn't sound all that confident(I'm hoping she was just tired/frazzled this morning). Not sure what we're going to do with Caleigh and drop-off/pick-up at school, but I think the best thing would be to just keep her out of school that day.

Tried out the wheel

but just couldn't quite get it going right. That's okay. I fully expect it to take me a while for things to click. I'm going back and re-reading the spinning book I have out of the library(renewed it again so I'll have plenty of time to take notes from it). Just thanking goodness I have some less-expensive fibre to practise with first.

It's up and running!

I got the maintenance kit from the Ashford dealer yesterday, but working on the wheel had to wait until today as yesterday was quite busy. I also got some synthetic steel wool to buff some of the surface corrosion off of some of the metal parts on the flyer. I changed out the guide hooks for some of the new ones from the kit since they were a little corroded. It looks great, turns beautifully without any clunks, squeaks or squeals now that we've gotten some oil everywhere it was needed.

Now all I have to do is just practise/get used to treadling before I start spinning. Oh, and I picked up a Louet fibre sampler when I picked up the kit, too. 4-1 oz packets of different fibres to try, 2 of which are dyed and match each other quite well(I shouldn't have gotten it, but I couldn't resist them, even though the colours are really bright and not what I would ordinarily go for).

Ok, so it took a while

but stuff came up that was a tad more pressing than weaving in ends/ making I-cord/ taking pics. Finally, the shorties are 100% complete, and I have pictures to share!! These are both prior to washing/ lanolizing and blocking.

Keeping Fingers Crossed

This morning was a busy one, which started out with clean up of cat mess in the dining room, then moved on to driving out past St Laurent to get my leg measured for a compression stocking for the nasty varicose veins that have decided to appear all over my left leg(hopefully Kevin's insurance will cover them). Finally, I went and got the 1hr glucose tolerance test done. For the first time ever, I ended up feeling nauseous about half-way through the waiting period, so I hope that I don't end up failing. If I do fail, instead of doing the 3-hr one, I'll see if I can squeak by with monitoring my blood sugars for a couple of weeks at home.

Done!

Okay, so they're not 100% done, but the majority of the shorts are done. All that's left is to make the I-cord for the waistband, weave in any ends, and wash/lanolize and block(which may get left until a little closer to July). The Itchy Fingers Shorties and Longies Pattern rocks! It's so well written and adaptable that I truly found knitting the shorts easier(and way quicker) than a pair of socks. I'll have to take/post pictures later, as I'm headed off to try to get some sleep to fight off this dang cold that got brought into the house.

Happy Early Birthday!

My mil mentioned that a friend of hers who is moving to a smaller home around June, had a spinning wheel that she wanted to sell to help with the downsizing and was wondering if I might be interested in it. Well, I went to look at it last night(Thurs) and it followed me home. It's an Ashford Traditional(circa 1975), single treadle and is complete(all it's bobbins and a Lazy Kate, along with two sets of hand carders) :)! It just needs a little bit of TLC to get it back up and spinning(and a lot of practise on my part, of course).

Have a Meeting Next Week

The behaviourist the school board had come in to Caleigh's classroom was still there today, and both he and the teacher wanted to have a meeting next week before March Break(the teacher really pushed it hard, and I didn't appreciate it). He was getting into his car across the street from our car, and he came over and said he really wanted to get some things in motion before the Break(even though in his phone message he said either before or after the Break). So, now I have to attend this meeting solo, with Aidan, when I wanted to have Kevin there for his input and support, and I just know I will start crying about things.

Going Well

So far, so good. I put the safety line in right at the end of the ribbing for the waist of the shorts, and have so far had no problems with the short rows, except for the fact that there's this funny little loop showing up(the first one was bigger than the last one, and they're on the inside, so I'm not too concerned).

Knit Shorts, Take 2

I had to frog the first run at the knit shorts, and took a couple of days to regroup before trying again. This time around I'm gonna be smart and put a safety line in before I start with the short rows.