Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Ding dong the mailman's here

It always makes my day when I hear my doorbell ring between 9:30 and 10:30 in the morning. Like a kid on Christmas morning I perk up, stumble down the stairs, and rush to the door to greet...my beloved mailman. Such a nice jolly man he is and he always bears gifts!

Today, he brought me Peruvian Highland Wool in Ruby which I am planning to use to knit Bristow, a ball of Peruvian Highland Silk in celadon (my wedding colour) to knit some lace photo mats for some wedding pics, and my Olympic calibre knitting equipment: 2 addi turbo circs!

Oh my! I'm getting a yarn headache. You know the kind when you just want to cast on everything at once? It's like brain freeze for knitters: you know exactly what's causing it but it's so yummy and pleasurable that you can't stop yourself.

I've never knit with Elann's highland wool before and really want to give it a go (especially since I just bought 16 balls of the stuff!), plus Bristow looks like a fun knit with lots of mindless stockinette and just enough fancy stitches here and there to keep it interesting. I've been curious about the lace photomats ever since I got the book and wonder if they're doable or too tricky to attempt with a teething baby in the midst. Then there's the Knitting Olympics...I've got the pattern, the yarn and now the needles worthy of an Olympic knitter but I think I should keep my training (swatching) for the day before just in case I'm loving the addis and astrakhan too much to put aside for another 2 weeks while waiting for the flame to be lit.

Of course there's the other matter of the Christmas socks I'm (still) knitting for my sister which I haven't even looked at since the tragic double-wide charcoal stripe incident. I really should get back to those...but I cast on for the log cabin socks instead this morning. I'm knitting them out of stash alpaca and am not sure how that will work out because (a) I don't know if pure alpaca is durable enough for socks even if they are housesocks and will likely never see the inside of a shoe, and (b) it might just be too soft and fuzzy to show the cabling which is, let's face it, the point of these socks.

Then again, I think Julian has other ideas...

Sure he is sleepng peacefully in my lap as I write this (with my left hand...it's real s-l-o-w going, but i'm a dedicated blogger ;0) but his bottom teeth are poised to make their appearance. We noticed a purple bump on his gums last night and he's been wailing lots since. We've tried Tempra which sort of works but only for about an hour and a half at a time leavng an excruciating 2 and a half hours before the next dose. We've tried homeopathic Camilia which doesn't seem to do anything. And of course cool jellies to bite on. No luck. I feel so helpless when he goes into that "painful" cry. He just stares at me with the warm tears gushing from those pretty little eyes in a look that says "MOMMY, why aren't you helping me" and I just feel so helpless. Hopefully they'll be out in the next day or so. If anyone has any tips on what else might soothe him, please share.

7 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:13 p.m.

    pour le mal de dents, Léo adorait grignoter des bâtonnets de pain grissol (sans sel, évidemment)... ca fait beaucoup de graines à ramasser, mais des photos absolument splendides qui ont fait rire toute la famille! sans blague, je crois qu'il appréciait particulièrement les capacités "exfoliantes" des grissol... c'est dur et rugueux, il machouillait sans vraiment manger, mais ça semblait l'aider à calmer ses gencives douloureuses... courage, c'est une phase difficile pour les bébés et les parents, mais avec l'apparition des premières dents, c'est de plus en plus facile...
    -Marie-Michèle

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  2. I love the colour! I have 16 balls of Debbie Bliss Cathay similar in colour waiting in my wool room for something beautiful.
    Can't wait to see the finished sweater.

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  3. Lovely wool!
    As for tips on teething, we used baby face cloths, fold them into triangles dip one end in water put it in the freezer for a while and viola and softer version of a cool jelly that won't be too cold on his little hands and easier to grasp as well. Paisley seemed to like them! Hopefully you find something soon that works for you. :-)

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  4. I was going to suggest the same idea as Jenn did. I worked a bit as a receptionist in a pediatrician's office several years ago and he told me that if any mothers called wanting to know what to do about their teething child to tell them to wet a face cloth (doesn't have to be a baby one) and put it in the freezer for awhile to cool it down but not totally freeze it and then let the child chew on it. It is MUCH safer than the liquid teething rings out there he said. I don't think I'd wet the entire thing as it might be too cold for his little hands. It might not 'stop' the pain, but it does sooth his little mouth.

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  5. Anonymous9:20 a.m.

    Those lace photo mats are cool. I've never seen anything like that before.

    As for the Olympics...Dear me I am getting nervous about them. I tried the swatch for what I am knitting and it didn't turn out well. I am not really understanding the pattern.

    Poor Julian. I have no advice really. My first son didn't get his teeth till he was one. Seriously. SOmehow he didn't go through any real pain getting his teeth either, I guess because they took their time.

    I think the same might happen for Geroge because no signs of theet yet on him.

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  6. My kids were both easy teethers. They always had new teeth before I knew they were even coming. However, I do agree with Jenn, because I know lots of people who used that for their teething babies and it works well.

    Yummmmmmm yarn. I love it when my mailman brings me stuff likt that too. :)

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  7. WOW ! love the sweater. it's going to be gorgeous for you !

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