Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Tracking

I've installed a stat counter. Karl always kept one on fulcrummonkey, and was a little obsessed with seeing who his readers were and where they came from. I thought, even though I expect far fewer views, I might add this to his tracking account just for kicks.

Elliot's starting to watch movies a little. He showed some interest in Toy Story and Wall-E (his first show in a theater, but now we have the DVD).

M&D came by this morning. D mowed the lawn, and M watched Elliot while I made waffles. Mmmmm. Waffles. I don't get the iron out as often as I'd like.

Fin's still not housebroken. I've cleaned up 4 messes today, 2 RIGHT after bringing him in from a trip outside. Grrr. Dr. Kelly suggested a little more kennel time, and I'm thinking I'm going to try it, because nothing else is working.

Hard to be consistent with so many distractions. He's great otherwise tho - got come, sit, down, and stay pretty well down pat. I'm thinking about an obedience class after vacation. Yippy!

Speaking of distractions, toddler's getting into trouble. Gotta go.

Friday, July 24, 2009

nubby circle in a square

This is from my blog archive. I was asked about it on Ravelry, so I'm reposting it and correcting the link. Cheers!

nubby circle in a square
jescope
Jul 4, '08, 5:23 AM
Ok. I’m working on an afghan for my step mother, and i need 9 different 6” crochet squares. I found a pattern for the first one, then couldn’t find anything I liked as much for the second. So I’m going to maybe design the rest myself. The first one uses a little nubby stitch that may have a real name or may not - I just kind of made it up, but I’m sure i’m not the first to do so.

I've never written a pattern before, so sorry if it's not great, but here goes:



6" Variety Square (working title :)

Requirements:
Fingering wt. yarn
Size E hook

Stitches:
6Nub - (yo, slip hook behind post of last dc formed, yo, draw loop forward) 6 times. (13 loops on hook) Yo, pull through all loops. (1 loop on hook)
5Nub - (yo, slip hook behind post of last dc formed, yo, draw loop forward) 5 times. (11 loops on hook) Yo, pull through all loops. (1 loop on hook)
Post - Insert hook in next ch3 sp, yo, draw loop forward (2 loops on hook), draw yarn through one loop(2 loops on hook), draw yarn through both loops
Chain 4. Join with sl. stitch.

Round 1: Ch 1, 12 sc in loop, join to first sc. (12 sc)

Round 2: Ch 5, (tr in next sc, ch 1) 11 times. Join to ch 5 in 4th ch from bottom. (12 ch1 spaces)

Round 3: Ch 1, (sc, ch 1, dc, ch 1, sc) in each ch 1 space. Join to first sc (12 petals)

Round 4: Sl St into first dc. Ch 1. Sc in same st. (ch 3, sc in next dc) 11 times, ch 3, join with sl st to first sc. (12 ch 3 spaces)

Round 5: Sl St in previous ch 3 sp. Ch 3, *dc in next sc, 6nub, post in next ch 3 sp. Post, Nub, Post formed. 3 dc in same ch 3 sp. Repeat from *10 times. Dc in next sc, 6nub, post in next ch 3 sp. Post, Nub, Post formed. 2 dc in same ch 3 sp, join with sl st to third loop in ch 3.

Round 6: Sl St in nubbed dc, ch 6, *3 tr in same st, ch1, sk next 2 st, dc in next dc, ch 1, sk next 2 st, hdc in next nubbed dc, ch 2, sk 2 st, sc in next dc, ch 2, sk 2 st, hdc in next nudded dc, ch 1, sk 2 st, dc in next dc, ch 1, sk 2 st, 3 tr in next nubbed dc, ch 2. Repeat from *2 times, 3 tr in same st, ch1, sk next 2 st, dc in next dc, ch 1, sk next 2 st, hdc in next nubbed dc, ch 2, sk 2 st, sc in next dc, ch 2, sk 2 st, hdc in next nudded dc, ch 1, sk 2 st, dc in next dc, ch 1, sk 2 st, 2 tr in next nubbed dc, join with sl st to 4th loop in ch 6.

Round 7: Sl St in ch 2 sp. Ch 4, *3 dc in same sp, ch1, sk 1 st, dc in next dc, ch 1, dc in next ch 1 sp, ch 1, dc in next ch 1 sp, ch 2, dc in next ch 2 sp, dc in next sc, 5nub, post in next ch 2 sp, ch 2, dc in next ch 1 sp, ch 1, dc in next ch 1 sp, ch 1, sk next st, dc in next dc, ch 1, 3 dc in ch 2 sp, ch 1, repeat from *2 times. 3 dc in same sp, ch1, sk 1 st, dc in next dc, ch 1, dc in next ch 1 sp, ch 1, dc in next ch 1 sp, ch 2, dc in next ch 2 sp, dc in next sc, 5nub, post in next ch 2 sp, ch 2, dc in next ch 1 sp, ch 1, dc in next ch 1 sp, ch 1, sk next st, dc in next dc, ch 1, 2 dc in ch 2 sp, join with sl st to third loop in ch 4.

Round 8: ch 2. 4 hdc in ch 1 sp, *hdc in next 3 dc, 2 hdc in next 3 ch 1 spaces, 3 hdc in next ch 2 sp, hdc between next dc and nubbed dc, hdc in nubbed dc, hdc between nubbed dc and next dc, 3 hdc in next ch 2 sp, 2 hdc in next 3 ch 1 spaces, hdc in next 3 dc, 4 hdc in ch 1 sp. repeat from * two times. Hdc in next 3 dc, 2 hdc in next 3 ch 1 spaces, 3 hdc in next ch 2 sp, hdc between next dc and nubbed dc, hdc in nubbed dc, hdc between nubbed dc and next dc, 3 hdc in next ch 2 sp, 2 hdc in next 3 ch 1 spaces, hdc in next 2 dc, join with sl st to third loop in ch 3. Finish.

looking back

I've been looking through my old blog's archive tonight. I never really kept up with it much, but there are entries now and then about important things. Over the next few weeks, I hope to catch you up with life before Elliot, and his first few months. I don't want to dwell too much, and I'll try to look forward too.

And not to forget to live in the moment, either, of course..

My first real post about being Mommy

Here I Am, the Milk Giver
jescope
Oct 11, '07, 10:27 AM
So I was warned that the first three months would be mostly me sitting on the couch with my shirt up. It isn't really. Sometimes I'm on a chair or pacing around the house or lying in bed with my shirt up. This child likes to eat. He likes to eat a lot. I'm starting to make progress - I'm actually 4 ounces ahead of him right now. Finding time to pump is difficult because as soon as I put away the pumped milk he wants to eat. There's nothing left in me to feed him, so he keeps getting the bottle. So far there has not been any trouble with him latching on - nipple confusion or whatever it is when they decide they like a bottle better. Worst case I could pump exclusively, and I'd rather that than formula when I go back to work in January.

In other news, Elliot's baptism is tonight. I need to give him a bath, or at least wash his face and his feet.His eye is still gumming up when he sleeps. His skin is flaking around his ankles again, and it looks a little gross. We want a clean baby for God.

What else? He's growing like a weed. He's learned to fuss. He's very noisy when he poops or passes gas. In fact, right now... ah - daddy's got him. We're getting better at some things, like changing and night feedings. But as he gets fussier sometimes it feels like we're getting worse. We go to the pediatrician on Friday - perhaps she will have suggestions on making his bowels more comfy...

Well, best go get ready. Oh, and there's new photos almost daily at Flickr - here's a teaser with a link:

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Yesterday,

Elliot was getting over-active, and I decided to calm things down a bit with a movie. We usually watch his movies on my laptop, since that's the only "tv" on the first floor. I slid in the DVD, and 15 seconds later, it spit it back out.

Huh. Well, lets try again... Slide in the dvd - it loads, sits for a minute, spits.

Ok. Clean the DVD. Back in. And back out.

Change disks - opt for "Bonus Material - Disk 2." Still no luck.

Search internet for "Macbook Pro DVD eject" Find 50 pages on how to remove a stuck DVD. Nothing helpful on keeping it in.

Email my personal mac genius, who is on vacation in Mexico.

Head upstairs (with laptop) to watch movie on TV. Tip laptop on side to carry it.

Penny falls out of DVD slot.

Shoot toddler the evil eye, put in movie, settle down to relax.

Then, the power goes out. But that's another story.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Home again..

I'm completely unmotivated. The house is a disaster, and my niece is coming to visit Wednesday. I need to clean. I need to get the bedroom upstairs ready. I need to teach the dog not to pee in the house. I'm not getting any of this done. Instead I'm on the computer. Not Good.

I did post a video of Mel and Lou being couch potatoes at the lake... For some reason my camera doesn't want to send the earlier footage (of me) to the computer. I'll work on it.

Right. Clean the house. I'm all over that. ok.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Still not Packed

No surprise, right?

I should be packing. Or at least cleaning the kitchen. How does it get so messy? There's only the two of us here, and I'm the only one who can reach the counter, so it must be my mess, but truly I don't understand it - or believe it. I swear there are gremlins.

Anyway, right, supposed to be packing. Cleaning. Preparing.

I got a big task done today - transferred the title on the truck. A small step, but it's always hard to walk in to an 'official' place, and say "My husband died. I'm trying to sort out all the peripheral crap. Where do I need to sign?" Sigh.

He should be here - we should be rolling our eyes at each other - he'd be thinking I'm packing too much for the baby, I'd be complaining that he's packing too much food... they do have a grocery store there.

Brad sent pictures of the giant inflatable sofa-raft we got him a few years ago, after my first trip to the lake. It was on clearance in the AB catalog, and everybody pitched in to get it as a thank you = then it promptly got buried in storage. It's resurfaced, and I'm looking forward to the ride.

If I ever get packed.