Well, it was really bad for a couple of weeks, and I was too discouraged to post it, but here it is now. Feh. Trust me, this is waaaay better than it would have been if I'd posted it last week.
P.S. Thanks for sending me those articles, Grandma Ruthie.
Oh. My. Gourds. This place is WAAAAAY more dangerous than the Dollar Tree b/c they have better stuff. Unmarked stuff is $1.50; everything else is marked. Among other stuff, today I scored a bunch of $1.50 items:
I'm going to have to stay away from this place. Oh, the wrapping paper! Oh, the baskets! Oh, the plasticware! Oh, the Japanese stuff that I have no idea what it is! (BTW, I swiped the picture from Kat.)
This morning in the car, as we pulled up at school:
Me: Hey, Thing One, what does that van say?
T1: Wildlife Associates. Cool!
Me: Yupp. They're doing your assembly today.
T1: I remember when they came before. They brought a porcupine.
T2: Did it shoot porks at you?
Thing Two's class on Tuesday, when I went to spin w/them & do my fiber lesson:
All ready to be wrapped for the party tomorrow....
Nicole's baby shawl before its trip through the washer & dryer:
The kindergarteners at Thing Two's school are learning about farms and farm animals right now, so next Tuesday, I'm going to do a lesson for each of the three classes. First, I'll read Charlie Needs a Cloak. Next, I'll show some photos of fleeces and the different steps in the process, then talk about which animals give us which fibers. Lastly, the fun part: I'll whip out the spindle and some wool roving and have at, giving the kids a chance to "help".
Many thanks to Elizabeth for the idea, which I was happy to snarf.
Of course, despite all the overdue knitting, I had to practice yesterday, so I grabbed the alpaca Zib gave me last summer, and had a little session with the pretty Christmas gift Bobcat gave me. Here are the results:
Well, the docs decided to keep Nicole in the hospital b/c she's got mild preeclampsia. The mild part is a good thing. Though it's a hassle, the "in the hospital" part is, too. She and Miss Mahalia will be monitored 24/7, so they'll be fine. She's 31 weeks now, and they're not going to let her go past 36 weeks, so she's looking at a month or so in the hospital. (For those of you who haven't been pregnant and think in months instead of weeks, that means she'll have the baby at least a month early.) This is considered premature, but not a problem. By 36 weeks, a baby's lungs are fullly developed, and the baby is pretty much just getting bigger, so she should be fine. Also, for black women the risk of stillbirth goes up at 38 weeks and goes through the roof at 40 weeks (full term), so for her to deliver at 36 weeks is also a safeguard against that.
So, now they do the balancing act of weighing Nicole's health and Mahalia's health. They want to keep Mahalia inside till as close to 36 weeks as they can w/o endangering Nicole. This is why she needs to be in the hospital. Meanwhile we, her friends, try to keep her from fretting. She & Q were supposed to move to a larger apartment in their complex within a few weeks, so her parents are coming to town to help out, and we'll all band together to get them packed and moved. Q can't take any time off work b/c he's starting a brand new job as the head football coach for a local high school -- the perfect job for him. He's running back and forth between work and the apartment, sleeping at the hospital in Nicole's room. From what I hear, he's pretty freaked out and worried about her. Hopefully, Hubby will be able to reassure him.
I can't deal with going to the hospital to visit her -- and I know Nicole will understand -- but I'm helping by letting people know what she might appreciate while she's in there, based on what appreciated and wished for when I was in the hospital before Paul was born. Bobcat is probably going to go visit her tomorrow, so I gave her a bag of magazines, a couple of spiritual books, and a little something to help her remember that, even though it's a drag to be in the hospital on bed rest, it's worth it b/c she'll come out of there with a baby, namely Miss Mahalia's Baby Surprise Jacket (the pink blanket will get sent along in a couple of days, as soon as I finish the border and wash it):
Just a pair of random questions I've had on my mind recently:
Discuss.
On a lighter note: I bought yarn yesterday. Not cheap yarn. Oops. I guess I'm failing 
. Uh, yeah. Failing pretty badly. Oh, sure, it was all for gifts, one of which was sort of requested, but still. Still. Anyhow, here's yesterday's yarn haul (I apologize for any off colors; it's a grey rainy day today).
As you can see, I've already knit up some of it. The orange scarf is for the Things' pal Christine, who is having a birthday party on Saturday. I asked her mom on Sunday for her favorite color, and it was orange. Knowing that I didn't have any orange yarn at home, I had to hit the LYS. Yes, it's got eyelashy stuff, but she's turning 10; she'll like it. It's a Gedifra 100% nylon microfiber that I found in the sale basket. Yeah, it's a totally non-natural fiber, but it's SOOOOO soft, roll-arond-in-it-naked-soft. The Encore is for the border on the aforementioned square baby blanket. The Bambino Ull is for another baby blanket.
Note to Self: If you don't see a particular yarn listed on the price chart at the LYS, ask the owner what the price is! You turned down some other yarn for this one, but this one turned out to be more expensive!
This scarf brings the 2007 F.O. count up to...(drumroll, please)...45. I think that's pretty good, especially considering how behind I am (need to do the black & grey sweater, Shannon's waaaaaay overdue and already paid for wristers, Auntie's Sparticle, finish the aforementioned blanket, do the brown blanket by the 14th, do something else by the 21st, do something in purple for Thing Two's pal Ainsley by the 7th, etc., etc.).
