What's Happening Here

There's a lot of this happening these days.

This and lots of other destruction.

She's an adorable menace.

Zig and Zag Pram Blanket

It appears that I haven't blogged in a few weeks. Nor did I knit during that time. We had a flood here in Nashville (thankfully our house was not in one of the major flood areas), Ellie started crawling and we've been on a big push to get our school year finished. I did pick the needles back up early this week, though, and managed to finish this work-in-progress called the Zig and Zag Pram Blanket. I loved the pattern as soon as I saw it on Ravelry and I am so pleased with how it turned out. Great use of leftover sock yarn - just be prepared to weave in lots of ends if you decide to knit one for yourself! I did mine as I went, so I wasn't overwhelmed with it at the end.

I knew I wanted mine to be blankie-sized - not a big blanket. I think the finished, blocked measurements came out to be about 22"x28", which was right where I wanted it to be. If you ever knit this, I would highly recommend considering the sock yarn before you use it - I have so many that bled like the dickens when I made socks out of them, so I chose to not use those in this blanket.

Common Nonsense

I am re-reading the Anne of Green Gables series right now and something Anne says in Anne of the Island stood out to me. Anne is preparing to leave for college and several well-meaning women have come to say goodbye, yet they each "managed to say something that seemed to take the color out of life and leave it as gray and dismal and cheerless as a November morning." Gilbert reminds her that these women have a narrow outlook on life and have a hard time seeing past life in Avonlea. Anne responds:

"Oh, I know. But feeling is so different from knowing. My common sense tells me all you can say, but there are times when common sense has no power over me. Common nonsense takes possession of my soul."

If I'm honest, common nonsense takes possession of my soul far more often than I'd like. Does it happen to you?

Blasts From the Past

I was going through old files today and came across these pictures of Natalie and Ethan, taken in 2006. It's amazing what a difference a few years makes!

Stuck

I've had a few songs stuck in my head lately. I won't mention them by name because some of them you would know and I fear you wouldn't forgive me for planting them firmly in your head, too. One of them, though, isn't so common. Some of you might know it - if you come from a traditional church background. I grew up Baptist and it's not a hymn we ever sang. We sang old hymns, but this one is truly an OLD hymn. Here is the English version (originally written in Latin):

"Of the Father's Love Begotten"
by Aurelius C. Prudentius, 413, cento
Translated by John. M. Neale, 1818-1866
and Henry W. Baker, 1821-1977

1. Of the Father's love begotten
Ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega,
He the Source, the Ending He,
Of the things that are, that have been,
And that future years shall see
Evermore and evermore.

2. Oh, that birth forever blessed
When the Virgin, full of grace,
By the Holy Ghost conceiving,
Bare the Savior of our race,
And the Babe, the world's Redeemer,
First revealed His sacred face
Evermore and evermore.

3. O ye heights of heaven, adore Him;
Angel hosts, His praises sing;
Powers, dominions, bow before Him
And extol our God and King.
Let no tongue on earth be silent,
Every voice in concert ring
Evermore and evermore.

4. This is He whom Heaven-taught singers
Sang of old with one accord;
Whom the Scriptures of the prophets
Promised in their faithful word.
Now He shines, the Long-expected;
Let creation praise its Lord
Evermore and evermore.

5. Christ, to Thee, with God the Father,
And, O Holy Ghost, to Thee
Hymn and chant and high thanksgiving
And unending praises be,
Honor, glory, and dominion,
And eternal victory
Evermore and evermore.

Here is a recording, in case you aren't familiar with this beautiful plainsong chant. The video only contains still images and contains only the first three verses, but it's a lovely arrangement of the music.

Jacobean Pattern

I've had a couple of people ask me for my Jacobean sock pattern lately, but I'm not sure how to get in touch with them since email addresses aren't listed in the comments AND I don't know how to host the PDF of the pattern here. So...if you'd like the pattern, please email me at julie.persinger at gmail.com and I'd be happy to send it to you!

Simple Thoughts

It's a gloomy day here, I have ridiculous sciatic nerve pain shooting down my legs and poor Ellie is a snotty mess thanks to spring pollen, so I'm taking the easy way out and copying this post from a friend (with my own answers, of course - thanks JD, LOL!).

Outside my window...Natalie and Ethan are happily playing with a plastic tub full of mud.

I am thinking...how much I'd love to take a nap right now.

I am thankful for...remembering to thaw meat so I could put dinner in the oven a few minutes ago.

I am wearing...the same shirt I slept in, plus track pants.

I am remembering...what it was like to have good friends who lived in my neighborhood.

I am going...nowhere. Wanted to go to the Y, but don't think I should put Ellie in the nursery since she's a slimy mess.

I am currently reading...the Anne of Green Gables series, currently on Anne of the Island.

I am hoping...that I can get some knitting done soon.

On my mind...finances, wondering when we will be able to move past just surviving.

Noticing that...my house still isn't clean and orderly even though I wish for it to be all the time.

Pondering these words...a quote about Mr. Rogers, "Fred wanted to know the truth of your life, the nature of your insides, and had room enough in his own spirit to embrace without judgment whatever that truth might be."

From the kitchen...tonight's dinner: cube steaks, mashed potatoes, green beans.

Around the house...a lot of stuff I need to take to Goodwill or list on Craigslist.

One of my favorite things...my Sanuk yoga mat flip flops.

To Blog, Or Not To Blog

If anyone is still out there, I do still exist. Having three children, two of whom I educate at home and one small one who mostly wants to be held (by me) all the time, tends to make me a little busy. I expected that, but I kinda thought it might even out a little sooner than it has. Ah well, it's all good.

The big kids are doing well and have grown to love their baby sister, who they sometimes call Queen Baby. Once she started interacting with them she suddenly became a lot more interesting. It's hard to believe Ellie is six months old already! She is now able to pull up on her knees when she has something to hold onto and she is very close to being able to get a foot under her and ultimately pull up to standing. I am NOT ready for that! I've also caught her on all fours, rocking back and forth. Natalie and Ethan didn't do those things this early, so I have no idea what to expect this time.

As for me, I've debated on what to do with the blog. I do enjoy blogging. I just need to get back into the routine...just like I need to do with most other things in my life right now.

The Bravest Tiger in the City

Natalie and I have been learning about the basics of composition in school this week. We've learned how stories need characters, details, a problem and solution, a beginning, middle and end, etc. Today, Natalie's job was to write her own story, using all the skills she has learned. I suspected she would be overwhelmed at first, so we planned everything out first (story mapping) before she actually started writing. I thought I'd share her story with you, but you should be aware that she is currently obsessed with tigers.

*Tigea is pronounced TYE-gee-uh and a "dogamel" is a cross between a dog and a camel.

The Bravest Tiger in the City
by Natalie, age 8

One morning, Tigea was sleeping in her house in Tiger City. Everyone had gone to the cheese stand the day before. Tigea woke up to the sound of people yelling, "Where's our cheese???" She looked out her window, opened her bedroom door, rushed down the hall to the front door and opened it. Tigea yelled, "What is all the noise about??" One of the tigers told her to ride her dogamel to the Evil Lizard's castle to get the cheese back from the Evil Lizard.

Tigea ran to the dogamel's barn to get it. Wearing green harem pants, she rode her dogamel, Emily, into the desert until she couldn't see the city anymore. She passed a pyramid, a sphinx, an oasis (where she stopped to get something to eat and drink, plus food and water for the road), and the underground ruins. She finally got to the Evil Lizard's castle.

Tigea sneaked into the castle. She sneaked past the Evil Lizard in his lab and crept quietly to the room where the cheese was hidden. She opened the door, filled her sack with the cheese and crept quietly out of the castle.

Tigea rode back to Tiger City. The next morning she returned the cheese to the people. They said, "Thank you Tigea!"

The End

Shiny Happy People

Unexpected warm days in late fall + a trampoline in the back yard = happy kids.

Time Warp

I have the best intentions about blogging regularly. But darn it if it isn't nearly Thanksgiving already!! I was trying to calculate the age of a friend's baby earlier today and for several minutes, thought it was still September. sigh

Most of my time is taken up with Baby Duty and school, but I'm managing to squeeze in a little time for knitting, too. People seem amazed that I have time to do it, but I do it in little spurts...a few rows while waiting for one of the kids to finish a workbook page or as I listen to Natalie read...and I can get quite a bit done in the evenings if Greg is able to take Ellie for a while. (They like to hang out together in the recliner and nap.)

Here is one of my recent quick projects. My friend Lisa mentioned she would like a pair of long fingerless gloves to wear while she paints in the winter, so I was happy to oblige. I used Caron Simply Soft Eco since she needed something that was very easy care and fine to go in the washer and dryer. The pattern is an easy spiral rib by Joelle Hoverson and can be found here.

Blissful Slumber

Ellie's Birth Story

**Disclaimer: I realize that not everyone enjoys reading birth stories and some people are uncomfortable hearing specifics about the birthing process...so if you're not interested, don't say I didn't give you fair warning! I have tried to keep Ellie's story accurate without over-sharing. There may be a few unfamiliar terms, such as birthing time (labor) and pressure waves (contractions). I studied and used Hypnobabies, a method of hypnosis for childbirth, thus the different terms.**

Ellie's Birth

My due date was September 8, which came and went without any sign of impending labor. My first baby was induced on my due date due to extremely low amniotic fluid and my second was a c-section on my due date for no valid medical reason - so I had no point of reference for how my body might begin my birthing time naturally. At 41 weeks I asked for an internal exam - 1.5 cm, not very effaced, but my midwife said my cervix was in the perfect position for delivery and the baby's head was extremely low. In the meantime I was trying all sorts of natural induction methods, none of which produced more than a few twinges of pressure waves. Since I was a VBAC, Greg and I didn't feel comfortable going beyond 42 weeks so we agreed to go in for induction on September 22. My midwife was thrilled I was using Hypnobabies and was completely on board with only using pitocin to get pressure waves started and then let my body take over.

When we got to the hospital, we found that I hadn't dilated any more than I was at 41 wks and were also told my cervix was now extremely high and posterior, so we knew it would take a while. We agreed to the use of a foley bulb catheter to help me open up a bit more. I ended up laboring for 16 hrs on pitocin with no pain meds. Hypnobabies was GREAT! My hospital gown had a pocket on the front, so I clipped my iPod to it and kept one ear bud in the whole time to listen to the Hypnobabies scripts. Even though the pressure waves did start to get stronger and more intense, I was able to stay calm and relaxed through them. It helped, too, to think of them as "rushes" - as Ina May Gaskin calls them...I pictured myself riding on the front of a bullet train as each one propelled itself forward.

After 16 hours, I was at 6.5 cm, but the midwives had different opinions on what station the baby was at, so they broke my water, which seemed to be the start of things going off track. They wanted to do internal monitoring and had trouble getting it in. Two different midwives tried, which was extremely uncomfortable and really disrupted my focus. They had turned the pitocin down low (possibly even off? I'm not sure) since I was doing well, but then needed to turn it up again, so the pressure waves got a lot more intense again. I was stalled at 6.5 cm for a few hours and knew I was going to need an epidural to go any longer. While they worked on placing the internal monitors, the baby had a few decel's in heart rate, so that caused a lot of commotion! Even with having the Hypnobabies scripts playing and having Greg and my doula there with constant support, it was very difficult to get back to that calm and peaceful state. While I desperately wanted an unmedicated VBAC, I knew I needed an epidural in order to have the focus to keep going.

Once I got the epidural, the midwives started talking to us about considering a c-section (because the baby just wasn't descending), but there was NEVER any pressure, which we appreciated so much. We had total support in whatever we decided. It seemed like it took forever for the epidural to really kick in, but once it did, I knew it was better to go ahead with the surgery because there was no way I was going to have the energy and stamina to push for very long.

As it happened, the OR's were backed up and it took almost two hours for one to be available - so by the time they put in the catheter and started really getting ready to take me, we discovered I was fully dilated and complete! I know Greg would have liked to encourage me to try to push, but our doula helped him to understand that if I knew I didn't have it in me, his encouragement would likely only make me feel guilty - so I'm grateful she was there. Once we got into surgery, they discovered all kinds of scar tissue from my previous c-section on my bladder, so they had to spend a lot of time cleaning that up. I'm thankful to have a "reason" for the c-section...I never knew there were any issues and the scar tissue could have caused problems in the future.

Eleanor Elizabeth (Ellie) was born September 23, 2009 at 10:11 PM, weighing 9 lbs 11 oz and was 21 1/2" long. While it was not the birth experience I had hoped for, it did produce the outcome I desired: a strong, healthy, beautiful baby. I do believe we made the right decisions based on the circumstances. It was never an emergency situation and I'm thankful for that. The midwives and doctors were all wonderful, as were all the nurses I had. I am extremely thankful for Hypnobabies and how it worked for me, even in a Plan B situation. I know I have learned skills that I can continue to use well into the future.

Success!

As you can see, I decided it was time for a face lift for the ol' blog. I'm clueless about HTML and web design, so I am forced to rely on free templates. I loved this one, but needed to edit out some text and replace it with my own. However, there was no simple editing option to do that, so I had to find a blank version of the image and do it myself in PhotoStudio. It wouldn't be a big deal to many of you, but I'm thrilled that I got it to work!

Now maybe the new look will inspire me to blog more often. In the meantime, there's a hungry baby calling me...

Long Overdue. Literally.

Pregnancy is long, folks. Forty weeks, which is in fact TEN months...not nine. My baby decided that her accommodations were quite pleasant and decided to extend her stay by another two weeks. Women should not have to be pregnant for 42 weeks. While I felt fine physically (apart from being exceedingly great with child), I was mentally and emotionally done and soon began to feel like the proverbial watched pot that never boils. I started to think I would come unhinged if one more person asked me, "Well, aren't you feeling ANY contractions yet??"

Rest assured, the appointed day did finally arrive. It didn't begin the way I had hoped (induction, rather than spontaneous labor), nor did it end the way I had hoped (c-section after 22 hours of labor, rather than a VBAC). It did, however, produce exactly what I had hoped for - a strong, healthy, beautiful baby girl. I even got the added bonus of having our first dark-haired baby! (which was a secret hope of mine)

Allow me to introduce Ellie, the newest member of our family:

Eleanor Elizabeth
9 lbs, 11 oz
21 1/2" long
Born September 23, 2009 at 10:11 PM

Just born:

The next day, meeting Natalie, Ethan and Neena (my mom):
Don't let the picture fool you. The kids weren't nearly as exuberant as this image would lead you to believe. They were a little overwhelmed with the newness of everything, but they are adjusting well now.

Rocking with Neena:
Wearing her first handknits:
Finally home:
It has only been six days, but it's already hard to imagine what life was like without her.

Food For Thought

A quote from the book Ruthless Trust, by Brennan Manning - a book that I have been trying to read for several years now (yes, YEARS).  So full of insight, but the type you need to chew on for a while...

"The great weakness in the North American church at large, and certainly in my life, is our refusal to accept our brokenness.  We hide it, evade it, gloss over it.  We grab for the cosmetic kit and put on our virtuous face to make ourselves admirable to the public.  Thus, we present to others a self that is spiritually together, superficially happy, and lacquered with a sense of self-deprecating humor that passes for humility.  The irony is that while I do not want anyone to know that I am judgmental, lazy, vulnerable, screwed up, and afraid, for fear of losing face, the face that I fear losing is the mask of the impostor, not my own!"

Growing Up

Last winter we decided to get Natalie a duvet to replace the comforter that was on her bed. It was cute and she still liked it, but the seams had split in a few places and it was not a warm comforter. I bought the duvet, but had a very hard time finding a reasonably-priced twin duvet cover that Natalie liked. In fact, I looked everywhere I could think of and we were still unable to find something suitable.

Finally, I decided that if I was going to have to spend more than I really wanted to, it might as well be on something Natalie absolutely loved and would be willing to live with for quite some time. We started exploring fabric options and as soon as we saw Anna Maria Horner's Drawing Room line, Natalie knew exactly what she wanted.
We looked at several fabric options in that line, but all she wanted were the birds. Since the print is so large, I decided to just let the fabric shine on its own and use as much of the aqua version as I could as the main panel. It wasn't quite large enough, so I got the same print in cream and used that as a 5" border all the way around.
For the back, I bought a good quality flat sheet and trimmed it to fit. Since flat sheets have that nice, finished, decorative edge on the top, I decided to use that as the top part of the overlap closure. I still need to get some velcro to help keep it closed, but that can wait. Contrary to how it looks in the picture, I really did iron the sheet!
My girl is growing up. Let's just hope she likes this now that it's finished.

For Baby

When Natalie and Ethan were born, I wasn't knitting yet so I made them quilts. Now that knitting has taken over my crafty pursuits, I decided to knit something special for the new baby. Obviously, this isn't the type of thing that will be used every day like a quilt would, but it is something we can use as a special wrap when she is tiny and then it can be put away and saved until she grows up.

So here it is - the Queen Anne's Lace Shawl - started in May and finished yesterday. The next time you see it, it will be wrapped around a sweet baby girl!

Knitknitknitknit

Just in case you thought I hadn't been doing anything...








Of course, there are other projects currently on the needles, too. Stay tuned.

Why It's Good To Have Children

I dreaded waking up this morning because my kitchen was an absolute wreck. It looked like some scary white trash people lived here! There were dirty dishes everywhere, the counters were both cluttered AND dirty, and the floor was just disgusting. It didn't take me long to fill up the dishwasher and get it started. After that, I hand-washed everything else so it was finished. The biggest issue was the floor. I knew it needed a good old hands-and-knees scrubbing, but I was really dreading it.

Enter one happy-go-lucky 7 year old girl who just happened to be looking for something to do.

Muwahahahahahaha....

In a matter of minutes, she was convinced that not only would she like to try scrubbing the floor, but that it also sounded FUN! I'm not one to waste an opportunity like that, so I gave the floor a good sweep, got her a bucket of diluted Lysol and a sponge and showed her what to do! Of course, it didn't take long for her brother to wander in and want in on the action, too.
All things considered, they did a very nice job for their first time scrubbing a floor! I rinsed it with a mop and clean water and let it dry. There is still de-cluttering to be done and the counter tops need a good wipe-down, but at least there's a light at the end of the tunnel now.