Sally the dog, 2005-2020

Sally, our gorgeous Pointer Lab mix (we think), died yesterday afternoon. She was 15.5 years old (at least) and was suffering from kidney failure. She was uncomfortable and not eating or drinking anymore-it was time. She was at the vet to be examined, but when we arrived, she wagged her tail and let us know—she was still ready to leave right away. (She hated the vet!)
**
Sally was alert, loyal and the perfect nanny. Although our twins arrived when she was 6, she adopted them right away. She told us about every dirty diaper and kept everybody from falling off beds or couches. She chewed up anything sharp or plastic (toy) she found on the floor, and left it for me on the bed to show she was ever vigilant, keeping her small humans safe. Sally was born in Kentucky (we think), we adopted her at about a year old, and she became a Manitoban. No day was too cold for a walk, and she kept us all on schedule. RIP to a truly special dog.

This is mostly a repost from my Instagram account.) I do have more things to post in a long format here, but we've been nursing a sick old dog, keeping a young dog busy, and home schooling/keeping twins busy.  It's been hard to find time to write cogent posts about much of anything.  Stay well.

You take care now, y'hear?

This time of year, my household does a lot of hibernation.  It's a busy time for those who celebrate Xmas, but for us, it's much quieter.  A time to play at home and focus on each other as it gets cold.  It's really cold this week, which apparently will have some very cold windchills...-36, last I heard.

The Jewish Independent in Vancouver ran my article last week called:
You take care now, y'hear?

(Just in case you need some reading from a friendly voice over here.)

In other news:
Sadie the dog has gotten so used to having someone with her that when we leave her at all, she breaks out of all the childproof gates and has gotten into some messes.  Last week, she ate all the high end dog training treats (like eating your way through a steakhouse, frankly) and got into our kitchen trash.  Although we compost and clean most everything that goes into the bin, she still managed to stain the front hall somehow with the trash.  I've already washed it three times.  It's hard to be a dog around here...?!

Happier 'making' news: I have finished a huge undertaking, a wool jumper I made, with a lining, based loosely on the 100 acts of sewing dress no.1.  I lengthened the dress, put in the lining, skipped the bias tape, and it took a while to do.  I'm looking forward to wearing it this week during our cold snap, though!

We've also done some weaving at home.  It was a good weekend to sit near Mommy and the fireplace and hang out.  (This kid has big plans to make things for his teachers.)  The handknit sweater modeled by this kid is Freestyle Super,  with a colour scheme he helped to design.

Finally, since someone has recently asked me...is there a way to buy my Yarn Spinner collection of patterns and stories,  Three Ply ---without buying it through Amazon?  Answer? Absolutely!

Support Ravelry, a small business (and me, as Amazon takes a big cut) by purchasing it through Ravelry right here.

Stay warm and safe!  Hope you're having a great December!

The ups and the downs

Right after I posted last time, I had an article come out online--for a Vancouver publication:
Generations struggle together
I also had a series of experiences which, all told, have left me sort of exhausted. On Friday morning, early, I was out walking my dogs and I fell on the ice.  There was no one on the entire block and it hurt like crazy.  I am very lucky, I was able to get up again and get home.  I have really severe bruising on my right shin and knee...

And of course my muscles are sore from the move, but the dogs stood by patiently and waited while I gasped on the ice and got up.  They were so good.

However, I had a big day planned so I put some ice on my bruises (oh, the irony). I drove downtown to do a three hour spinning/fibre arts demo for the Manitoba Crafts Museum’s “Made in the Middle” curated craft show at the Manitoba Hydro building.  Keeping moving ended up being a good thing and it was lucky I was wearing dark wool tights.  (It looks like a changing purple, navy, red and pink silk screen,  it is gross.)  This, by the way, was definitely the very best part of the day!

I get myself home and have a coffee and pull myself together... as my kids are just about to get off the school bus and come home.  So one twin, who had been acting weird, tells me he had felt bad all day and nobody let him call home.  And then, he walks into our front hall and starts vomiting like crazy.  So, you know, I am cleaning up vomit and trying to calm the other kid down (He starts screaming over the whole thing, it was a scene) and oh, my goodness. Poor kids.  Throw-up everywhere.

And then I threw up my hands, let both kids eat the banana and other snack I had out for them, and we watch the prerecorded Macy’s parade while I try to pull things together again.   Shabbat dinner for four was oatmeal. And some challah and grape juice.

 Then I was already in my pjs, ready for bed, when the vomiting started again, all over the bed, at 9:30.  He got better, but obviously we were not able to go to services on Saturday, either.

We had dog training Sunday AM and managed it, but even the dog was not doing too well at regular stuff and got into a tussle with another dog at the end of the class.  (All my fault, I let go of her leash while putting on my coat.) 

When we got back, my stomach decided to rebel ...so that was most of the day today!  (stress? Something I ate?  Some version of the virus? Who knows.) And the other twin started having stomach pain and gas tonight so who knows what that may mean...maybe round two of the stomach bug.

It has been a crazy weekend.  Lots of sitting around interspersed by crazy health issues.  And my leg looks horrendous.  Thank goodness I can move around normally though...

I did get out to support our local yarn store and may have purchased some stuff.  Cause, sometimes you need to find something distracting and positive... (now, what to make for dinner for a household with this many sensitive tummies....)  Here are two hole-less buttons from Purl and Hank, some locally made toffee for people who wanted to eat it, and...some yarn.  Cause who doesn't need some purple/cranberry alpaca and wool? 

Catching up

I'm a little behind over here!  Ok, here is the summary.  We've had some warm weather, some time off of school (yes, already, there was a teacher-work day right after school began) and I just chose to give in to playing outside and decide to catch up later.  In Winnipeg, we need to enjoy warm weather while it lasts!

In sad news, we seem to have lost a Worry Bear somewhere along the way.  Since one of my kids needs his every day, I made a new one ASAP.  Same yarn, same ribbon...and I launched it on my brand new Instagram account, @yrnspinner.  (Yes, this is news...please follow me!)

My class last Friday at the Manitoba Fibre Festival was just fabulous.  I had a lot of fun teaching and my students were all eager to do more recycling and reuse.  We had fun.

I managed to take my twins back to the festival later in the weekend and we came home with this outstanding fair trade basket, handmade in Ghana, and sold by Big Blue Moma.  My kids knew the basket would immediately be pressed into service for spinning on the front porch and argued over who would get the amazing blue bead on the label.  (We're negotiating about that.  Luckily, I have other beads for the other kid.)  I took some time to myself to do some hand carding on the front porch while the Professor and twins were out on an adventure.  It was an amazingly rare and quiet moment!

All my columns and other writing work during this time has had to be done while kids are asleep or finally back at school, etc.  The Jewish Independent has recently run two columns: Apple-picking and tzedakah (tzedakah roughly means charity, although not an exact translation) and Concern over what to share.

In between play dates outside with Sally (almost 15 year old Pointer mix) and Sadie (our young Gordon Setter mix), I have also begun to post my patterns for sale on a new website called PatternVine...as well as my old standbys, Ravelry and Lovecrafts.com.  I'd love to hear if you've used PatternVine yet...it's new but comes well-recommended.

Here's to enjoying the warm days while they last!

Together on path to freedom-& cleaning

My piece on Passover and Reconciliation came out on the Jewish Independent's website on Friday.  Please read it! 
Together on path to freedom

On household topics:
So, I wanted to post a cheerful photo here or some knitting, but honestly, it is snowing here today, right around freezing, and very mucky. (we had bright sunshine and lots of playtime on the weekend though I forgot to shoot photos then.  Oops)  I could see nothing outside today that would be inspirational.  Inside, well, I have been very busy with kids and Passover/spring cleaning preparations.  Knitting opportunities have been limited.  With the springtime muck outside, it does feel like two steps forward, one step back.  Or in more specific terms, I clean up the muddy paw prints from the hallway, and then someone goes outside (kid or dog) and I have to do it all over again!

One thing that has helped?  OK, this is a little strange, but I'm just going with it.  A very small, portable vacuum.  I think ours looks most like the photo here, but here's a cheaper option, if you're shopping.  I believe ours is a Bissell. (Note, ours is a different color, but I am really not sure that matters in terms of function!) We have always had an old style, heavy duty Hoover which really works...but it is heavy and big.  This little stick vacuum doesn't clean up everything, but it sure has helped with the endless dog fluff and kid detritus that seems to accumulate.  Best yet, it is very lightweight and one of my twins likes to use it.

In the middle of this, we have quietly celebrated Sadie the dog's one year anniversary with us.  She has added such joy into our lives...along with a lot of muddy paws!

I'm not into cleaning as a rule, but it does has to be done to stay healthy and I feel calmer when things are not totally chaotic.  I'm making slow inroads into cleaning up at home, but the emphasis is on slow since I am fitting it around taking care of kids, dogs, and my work life.  I think the key is to get buy in from everyone in the family to help. (...and when the Professor is away for a work trip right before a holiday, it means everyone else needs to help.)  As soon as I figure out how to get the dogs to help out more, I'll be sure to let you know!

Sunshine, Sales, and Charitable Give-aways

There's one last chance to take advantage of the "Making, Not Buying" Sale!  The sale ends at midnight, Central Time (US&Canada) tonight, November 30th.
Get 25% off all my Ravelry knitting patterns with the coupon code:
Making

If you'd prefer to buy your patterns right along with the yarn, Loveknitting.com is having all sorts of great sales. Nearly all my patterns are available for sale there, and most are linked right up with the right yarns for knitting the patterns.  Instant, easy gratification!

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT!
If you're a knitter who donates her/his work to charity, Yarncanada.ca is having a special yarn giveaway.  Enter your information here to be eligible to win a huge amount of yarn for your good deeds!
The home front:
We've had a challenging week.  One twin decided it would be fun to hide and disconnect all the landline phones, for instance.  (Things got fixed after Mommy freaked out and pointed out that no one could call out in case of emergency this way...)  And yes, I have a cell phone, but you're also inferring that it would be on my body, turned on, and I'd be able to focus to speak on the phone...none of which were the case at the time!
I wanted to snap a photo of my homemade cast-iron skillet cornbread.  True, we ate some slices for snack...but I could have still posted a photo as it continued to cool, on top of the back of the stovetop. However, I did something crazy and trusted my husband, the professor, both boys, and two dogs to behave themselves and manage the situation while I (ahem) went to the bathroom.  When I returned?  It looked like a bad news pie eating contest, gone horribly wrong. Most of the cornbread was gone. Crumbs everywhere.

Sadie the dog was making weird coughing noises. (Hint, this is what happens when you eat half a skillet of cornbread without benefit of butter or a glass of milk...) And no, I am not giving my dog butter or milk to wash down the cornbread she ate while no one was looking...  AHHH!

A day later, she decided to open her plastic container of dog treats with her teeth, and eat those, too.  Her tummy is maybe a little upset now.  Just a smidge.  And Sally, our old dog, is not 100% better yet herself.  Fun times.

I've just made a fudge brownie pie and an apple cake--we're going to Shabbat dinner at a friend's house.  I took precautions.  Sadie is locked in with me on the third floor-thank you, baby gates- and I sort of barricaded in the desserts with heavy jars, etc. so they could cool in safety.

OK, I am not going into anything else, it's too long a list!  Here's a quick look at the sun light pouring into our dining room after a big snowstorm passed.  Winter sunlight is the best, it really lifts my spirits!

On the making front here, well, it hasn't been the best week for wild bursts of creativity.  I've done the basics--written and edited some articles.  I'm knitting a solid black cardigan for myself (boring but necessary) so there's nothing to see there!  I'll leave you with this multi-colored piece of art, produced by a kid at our house.  (OK, he was kept inside for recess due to some seriously bad stuff he did at school, but whatever.  The art came home....)

I'm wishing you a peaceful weekend.  With lots of cake.  Maybe some snow, colorful art, and umm, did I say peace?  Yeah, please pass me some of that as well.  In the interim, I might just need more cake.

Welcome Sadie!

We brought home our new Gordon Setter mix dog, Sadie, yesterday.

  She is about a year and a half old and weighs around 60 lbs (27 kilo).  She's just gotten fixed so is requiring a fair amount of attention, as any new dog should!  Winnipeg Animal Services Agency said she was a stray.  We know nothing other than a birthday,which may be a guess.

Potty training--yes, I think she was, but I do not know what words were used. I tried all the likely English ones and a little French. She could have been trained in Cree, Ojibway-Cree, or Mandarin, for all we know.

Crate training was clearly not a strong suit.  She has already bent some wires, torn up sheets and puppy pads and raises heck when crated. She even sings (not just barking) like an opera singer. (Common bird dog trait, especially in young lively ones.). She does settle down eventually.  We did not sleep a ton last night. :)

She is quiet and clingy when loose in the house with us.  She wants to be near her humans and cuddling with them all the time.  I am the top favorite, but she definitely likes her male family members. too.  Sally, our 13 year old pointer mix, is mostly ok with things.  She missed Harry, our dog who died, and seems glad for company.  She does get annoyed occasionally (who wouldn't!?) and lets Sadie know it.

Sadie is currently resting next to me in my office...she is extremely worried about losing me (entirely understandable, given her recent shelter experience) and stays close all the time.  Last night the Professor had a dinner meeting.  I bathed both boys in the bathroom by myself with the new dog in the room, too. Crowded!

She is a gorgeous big dog, very gentle, and really loving.  Not good at all walking on a leash yet, that is something to work on.  It's hard to see in these photos, but she is very narrow, tall and long.  A 42" crate was the right size.  

After the boys were in bed, Sadie helped me do chores in the kitchen.  She helped move around a dish towel that we used to clean up after she had a big drink of water and dribbled everywhere.

It was very hard work.  Here she is,in the middle of our (not very big) kitchen.

Please join us in giving Sadie a warm welcome home.

Running for Harry

Harry the dog: 2004-2017.
Harry died on Friday, September 29th.
Rest in peace.

Harry was a laidback, playful, loving and opinionated member of our household, much like his namesake, from the movie "When Harry Met Sally."  To read more about our beloved bird dog, you can find him throughout many of my blog entries.

While caring for Harry, who died last week at 13.5 years old, after suffering from lymphosarcoma, we found ourselves becoming Canadian in many ways.

On September 26th, the Professor and I became Canadian citizens.  We're now dual citizens (US & Canadian) as our twins were all along, since they were born in Canada to parents who are U.S. citizens.  Or, in their words as they explained it to a vet tech friend at the animal hospital,
 "On Tuesday, Mommy turned Canadian."

On Friday, I went to school early to pick up the boys to be with Harry. We all wore orange for Orange Shirt Day to support reconciliation, because every child matters.

I participated in the boys' Terry Fox Run, which helps raise money for cancer research.  I walked, holding hands with several kids who needed a breather as we went around the school fields.

Every kid wore a sticker.  This is what one of my boys wore.

Thank you to everyone who has ever laughed at Harry's antics here on the blog, or played with him in person, or greeted him at our front door---for helping us celebrate Harry's life.  We miss him very much.

Focus

I'm still here.  I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed lately.  I've got too much 'on my plate'--still not feeling too well and taking antibiotics for Lyme.  The latest info I've learned is that even after I finish taking the antibiotics, it might be six months to a year before I really feel better.  Of course, there are the usual things, too: two little boys, work deadlines, and some volunteer obligations I took on before I realized how much time everything took.  Oh, and the news.  It is a bit much, the news these days...
On Friday, I took some time to listen to an audio book and produce lots of food...or what I thought was a lot...

Here are some "cauliflower bites" made with two heads of cauliflower, cheese, eggs, and seasoning.  I thought they were fine, healthy snacks.  Two out of two twin kindergarteners disagree.  I froze half, and now I suspect that I have to eat through the rest on my own...I have not even heard the Professor's opinion! (He's not a big cauliflower fan in the first place)

 I made three big loaves of challah, and I froze two.  I'd been coasting by for a few weeks on some kind "gift challahs" from a friend, and bread machine challah (it comes out in a rectangle, which no one likes).  This buys me a couple more weeks!

The best way to catch up on your work?  A little at a time.  It boosts productivity if you have good company like Harry the dog.  He follows me up to my office to keep me company, and hops into my warm spot if I get up.  He's helpful that way.  I have been working at night when I can stay awake--I have a couple of great editing jobs, but they require a lot of focus.  I can only do it for an hour at a time before I need a break.  Harry is happy to provide breaks.

The subject of this post is this: one of my twins gets overwhelmed, and his teacher taught him to pause, put his hands on his chest, and take deep breaths.  He then waves his arms around and says "Focus!  Focus!"  It helps.  I am trying to do the same.

Otherwise, we continue skating onwards towards March.  (literally skating, the boys are learning to skate, although the ice is very bumpy from our weird warm weather.)  What's going on with you?  Do tell.

Passover snapshots

The last few weeks have been a real blur.  Two weeks without preschool, a major Jewish holiday, a really helpful and valued visit from Didi and Bop (grandparents) and a few medical issues, too.  Here's a shot of our table, all set up for the first Passover seder.  This year, we hosted two seders.  They were not big or lavish, and it certainly was a lot of work!  However, both of my boys had a fabulous time.  They recited the four questions and were fabulous participants.  They loved the seders and were truly disappointed when the first two nights were over.

I have a love-hate relationship with Passover, but here's a link to my Jewish Post & News column about that:
Culture Clash, Pesach, and Why We Do It

Note: Yes, there are two cups on our seder plate.  They are both Elijah's Cups because both boys made one at preschool.  There's only supposed to be one cup, but I have twins.  Oh well.  Maybe next year one will be for Miriam instead!

Didi and Bop came to visit and brought lots of beautiful handmade gifts.  Didi wove me a new shawl for winter out of some of my handspun.  (I spun it and gave it to her so long ago that I cannot remember it...but then, I don't sleep much since having twins and can't remember anything anyway!)  She used her triangle loom--I love these shawls, this is my second. I aired it out on the porch in the sunshine.  Warm sunny days are such a novel thing right now that everyone has to be photographed and enjoyed...

We had lots of fun outings, good food, and playtime with grandparents, and both boys were thrilled.  Having the extra adults around has been very helpful for us, too!  We will miss you, Didi Bop!



Over the last few weeks we've had a bunch of medical stuff, and it has reminded me of the respite we had this winter.  (thank goodness for breaks in this stuff, it is stressful.)  The good news is that everything is fine.  I've had a couple of growths removed from my arm--resulting in a pretty big Frankenstein scar that the boys remain vigilant about.  Sally the dog has now racked up about $2000 in vet bills--she also had a growth removed, plus what seems like an ear infection.   She is doing ok, but it is a little reminder that our dogs are getting older.  We need to take care of them now; they take very good care of us.

Finally one of our twins had a minor surgery.  He is doing very well and started right back at preschool this week.  Hurray!

Last but not least, I came across a couple of really good articles on parenting.  One is about twins, and while our situation was not so severe and our twins were not born premature, it expresses a lot of the struggles that we have faced...and it is a beautiful piece of writing that includes bugs, the professor's favorite, so here it is:
The Loveliness of Ladybugs

Here's the second.  This is a very good analysis piece about mothering and its depiction in the media.  It's particularly relevant to me because many people have urged me to write more about my experiences.  Yet, when I do, I can't get anyone to publish it.  It seems as though nobody actually wants to hear about the real nitty gritty when it comes to any difficulties in twin parenting.  This article indicates that I am really not alone...and again, it's a good read.
Glass Half Full

Hope you are enjoying sunshine and some signs of spring!

Dog days

I want to thank everyone who left a comment or mentioned to me that they still read my blog.  Thank you...I clearly needed to know that this was still worth doing.  As a thanks to the knitter folk who have hung in here with me, I wanted to let you know that have a 20% off pattern sale for the dog days of August going on until the end of the month…this applies only to the patterns available on Ravelry.
The Ravelry coupon code is:
dogdays2014

This is a good deal on some of these downloadable patterns!

  In order to honor one comment, most of the photos of this post feature Sally, my pointer-mix.  She came to us at around 8 months-1 year in 2005, which makes her 10 this year.

Remarkable. 

Sally has always been hard to photograph.  She is a very bright, skittish, high energy and loving dog.  Since my boys were born, the dogs get less time to laze about outside...because if the dogs get to barking at people beyond the fence, neighbors could complain.  So, we call them in quickly most of the time.  (and juggling 2 3 year olds and 2 dogs in August, by myself, has sometimes been tricky.)
Sally likes to sunbathe, and she likes to roll in the grass or snow to clean herself.  She comes in smelling good, either way, and watching her relax and roll is a real pleasure for those who know her.  (She's wary of ever being caught in a submissive pose.)

Most of the time, she is "on guard."  When my boys were infants, she would act as a dog nanny, guarding them.  She'd also rush over to their diapered bottoms and bark when they needed changing.  This wasn't ideal; it sometimes woke the boys up, but mostly it alarmed anyone who was trying to help me with the babies.  Sally did not really trust the nervous, non-dog people who tried to help, and she let them know she was worried about her babies.

Sally had to be taught a new command--"upstairs"--so she would have a way to be off duty and rest on my bed while others were over.  This summer, both boys have been home alone with me a lot, or with one or two other people Sally trusts.  As a result, she's often right near by these days, and I feel like she's back where she belongs, resting on a rug in the living room or patrolling the yard as we play.

Although I am really worn out from being on constant "mom" patrol with few breaks, I did have a couple of surprises.  One is that when there is no one to help, I HAVE to sit around with the boys in the playroom or in the yard.  I have to be the one who takes them to the park or the wading pool.  As a result, I've had more time both outdoors and sitting down--time to "rest" as compared to rushing about behind the scenes to get things done for the household or my work.  I often bring my spindle out to the yard to spin...and it can be surprising to see how much yarn gets made while they play in the sand box.  (nothing sweater-worthy, but better than nothing!)

In other news, we are in the midst of transitioning to "big boy beds."  These are really toddler beds, but the amount of chaos twin boys can cause when loose in their bedroom, alone, is unreal.  We have created a sleep time chart (color coded for boys who don't read!) and they get stickers and prizes when they settle down to sleep quickly and quietly.  That means--no yelling or sitting on or hurting your brother, no taking apart the furniture or destroying your bedding...you get the picture.  Naptimes go smoothly, most of the time.  We're still working on bed time.  As always, sleep is still a challenge here.  I am still up with somebody 1-4 times a night.


Making food in August has been hard.  With no summer camp and only a mother's helper some afternoons, it is difficult to find 20 minutes to make a meal.  I have developed a loving relationship with my slow cookers and Stephanie O'Dea's books...
365 Slow Cooker Suppers and

 Make It Fast, Cook It Slow: The Big Book of Everyday Slow Cooking. 

These two books have enabled me to throw together a lot of dinners in a hurry, and everyone seems to like them.

Last but not least, I succumbed to something I swore I would never do.  I started baking bread as a 12 or 13 year old, and when I went to college, my mom bought a bread machine "to replace me."  I really love the process of baking bread and miss it dearly.  However, it is really hard to manage rising times and a hot oven between the competing needs of two very different preschoolers and two dogs while by myself.  Also, flour is very cheap in Manitoba (on sale, I can get 22.5 lbs of white flour for $6.50 CAD, and whole wheat is not much more), but decent wholegrain bread with no preservatives is expensive by comparison.  So, I got this bread machine on sale, and it has been churning out 2 or 3 loaves a week for us.  I was lucky; my bread baking experience meant I concocted my own whole grain recipe straight away and have been innovating since.  Sometime when I have more time, I will post some of those recipes.

I posted this marathon blog entry on a rainy Sunday morning while the Professor took the boys out to visit with the turtles and fish at the Assiniboine Park Conservatory.  This is the first time I have been alone, without twins, for any length of time, in 16 days.  I shared it with you.

Found

...One pair of Due North Mitts. Finally. We've had an abnormally warm winter in Winnipeg. It's been lovely, really mild...with temperatures over freezing on several days recently. Apparently I wore a gray maternity jacket one last time during the fall and left the mittens in the pockets of the jacket. I looked in the jacket pockets on a whim and, after weeks of searching? Found those mitts. Finally. I thought I'd lost my mind with lack of sleep when I realized I'd misplaced those mittens.

Also finally found some time today while someone was helping with the babies to upload photos from my camera. Some of those shots dated all the way back to November.

Here are a couple of recent photos of the babies. They are, of course, sporting knitwear that I've managed to make for them. You may notice that the sweater has enormous stitches. Yes, I knit on #13 needles because there just aren't many spare moments for knitting these days.

I designed this sweater. It's a one off and my version of a traditional "college man" cardigan sweater. It fits Leo well right now and Sam will get to wear it next. In our house, this sweater would be sized 8 months. That's now, and it fits.

The other thing I've managed are one pair of bright yellow knee socks. These wool socks are designed to be worn over a pair of regular socks AND their sleepers for when they go out on cold days. Then, they usually are wrapped up in a fleece sleeping bag in their car seats. They even have sleeping bags for their double stroller...you need it at -20C or colder still. ( -4F) The ribbing is purely to keep them from pulling off the socks. With effort, Leo can still pull these off.

Continuing the "college" theme, the next pair of socks will be navy. The mustard yellow and navy are U. of Michigan colors; one of my mother's alma maters. (sp?)

In any case, we are now entertaining two young gentlemen who sit up, roll over and look very close to crawling. They are both doing pre-language babbling. There is a lot of noise here, lots of yelling and cackling, including words like:

dadadadaada

mehmehmehmeh meh

dididididi

Hey or Hi

and some sounds that actually sound an awful lot like Harry and Sally's barking.

I guess we won't need to teach Dog as a second language here.

I'm off to bed. I "found" these moments by staying up later than the babies....and I'm sure to regret it tomorrow. Just dropping by to say hello, celebrating finding some precious mittens, and show off a new project or two. As Sam and Leo say, with big smiles:

Hey.

new sweater!

I finally finished my Tilted Duster sweater. These photos aren't so good--I was trying to do them myself and used one of the mirrors in my house. The mirrors are on the (original) doors and therefore are about 100 years old. This means that no matter how much you clean them, they are still a bit distorted and spotty at times.

Caption: Sally mainly watched the activity at a distance while I did my photo shoot...

The professor declared my photos "artistic" which was a nice way of saying they weren't that good...sorry about that. If you liked this pattern, you could buy a download of it here. Every so often, I try to knit someone else's design from start to finish to learn from their writing and design ideas. I find it particularly interesting if the design has an interesting construction or if I really respect the designer. (I really respect Norah Gaughan. Her designs are so innovative!) In this case, I used Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran yarn, which is now discontinued. In fact, Jo Sharp yarn is now no longer available in North America, for the most part. Very sad. Some of it was purchased in Australia when we travelled to Brisbane in 2004.

Of course, it is hard for me to restrain myself, so I went into this thinking I'd just knit a black sweater and ended up making changes anyway. The collar and sleeves are knit out of a purple color called "quartz" and I lengthened the ribbing on the sleeves and shorted the sleeves themselves as well. (I have short arms.) The sweater took way too long for me to finish, largely because knitting has been hard with my sore hands. The professor helped me choose the perfect buttons from my large button stash. (The button collection is mostly inherited from his mother and grandmother, but I do frequent building of stash to keep things interesting!)

We looked at gray mother of pearl buttons with a purple tinge, which came in at a close second. They were very dressy and gorgeous, but maybe a bit too flashy. I bought those mother of pearl buttons at an antique shop to match my -second hand-winter coat in the fall of 1991, when I was a freshman in college in Ithaca, New York. When the winter coat finally wore out, I cut the buttons back off again--they've been waiting for the next right garment ever since!

We looked at purple buttons (not a great match) and silver and black buttons (also a bit flash). In the end, we chose some plain black plastic buttons that looked as though a thrifty relative had cut them off of an outfit long ago.

Before I began sewing them on, I blocked the sweater. I usually block things by handwashing and pinning them out to dry. That seemed like a long time to wait and a lot of heavy damp material in this case, so instead, I used a steamy iron to block things. The collar flopped down immediately into a sailor suit collar, and when I put that on, I saw it suited "the big belly" far better than a high collar. I'm saving the buttons for later on, and for now, a pin will do. Temperatures are now reaching into the 50's (10-15C) here so it is a perfect outdoor sweater. I've taken to wearing this frequently now.

See, every so often I do talk about fibery things... I'm now trying to refocus my efforts on the last sleeve of this red sweater, which I first talked about last September. It's a good thing I'm also creating twins over here, because the sweater production sure has slowed down!

I want to thank everyone who left me a comment or sent me an email saying they were sending good vibes in my direction. I really appreciate it. I've felt a bit isolated lately and your notes have been very cheery. I am also expecting to have a very low key celebration this Passover ...very different than the travelling to see family or complicated holiday meals I've made at home in the past. It feels a little strange but as Nina mentions in her comment, "it's all good" --it will all work itself out. (It doesn't seem to be a good time to exert myself in the cooking and cleaning department!)

constant renovations

I'd meant to include knitting photos in this post, but honestly, renovation has been on my mind. Every day, we have some new surprising change. We haven't been up in my sunny office on the 3rd floor to work in a week--the plasterer was working up there so I relocated the laptop to the first floor to avoid any stinkiness or dust.

Meanwhile, on the first floor I can actually answer the door when people arrive without rushing down 2 flights of steps. This is fine except that Harry really misses going to work upstairs with me. Instead, every time there is a stranger trying to work in the house, the dogs have to go to their crates in order to avoid bad run-ins with fur/plaster/paint or other messes.

This morning, we were surprised to find a forklift in the backlane, delivering our shingles. They were deposited on our back yard path here. This is not a small delivery...you can see our (tall) fence and my car beyond it for a sense of scale. At the same time, the roofers are a bit concerned about the weather prediction for tomorrow (flurries and/or rain) so the insulation will happen tomorrow and the roof work will perhaps start on Thursday. Did I mention that tomorrow the painter arrives to work inside for the first time?

My bad postal service karma seems to be continuing. I still haven't received the yarn I ordered at the end of February (the seller is trying to track it down) and no big dresses have arrived yet to offer me enough for a week's worth of twin maternity clothing. I know it is just me because anything the professor orders arrives promptly. I am trying not to take it personally!

In the meanwhile, I present this wacky photo of my belly. It's not the best angle for seeing the whole thing....but last I measured, I was 45" around where there used to be a waist. For comparison --for those of you who know the professor in person? That is several inches bigger than his waist size. The mirror in the kitchen is a bit old and wavy so the best photo of my belly is streaky. Here it is on the left.

People say some mighty quirky things at this time...I'll be 30 weeks' pregnant on Thursday. I'm this big because I'm carrying twins--I don't have a cute little basketball bulge like the full-term folks in my childbirth class who are just expecting one kid. It's more like an old-fashioned watermelon!

I've heard everything from "Gosh, she's pregnant? I just thought she got really fat!" (gee, thanks, you look great too!) to "Oh, you're not that big, I was bigger" (Said in a disparaging way, like if I just tried harder, I could lug around an even bigger belly!) The test was going out to dinner last week. I just looked at what the other customers' expressions were. If I had to guess, it was something like "Oh my gosh, I hope she doesn't go into labor right here while I'm eating..." Of course, I still have roughly a couple of months before these fetuses are full term, so I will be even bigger then.

I meant to tell you about the dyeing I did today as well as some knitting and sewing stuff, but I imagine that will wait for another post. In the meanwhile, you might understand why taking a nap with Sally is top on my list for afternoon activities. I am not going out much anymore--I don't really enjoy the commentary I get all the time. Sally, on the other hand, says very little and curls up with me every day to be sure I am cared for. There is something to be said for the dog as nursemaid. Peter Pan's Nana had it right.