dandeliondreamers's Xanga

Writing and Drawing

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 01:10:48 GMT

Today Dom's therapist came to me at the end of his shift to bring me his art from the afternoon. On one, he had drawn a happy triangle all by himself. Drawing shapes is something he has been working on for probably a year now.

Then she also gave me a picture he had colored and he wrote his name at the bottom of the page! She said she didn't tell him to do it. Her back was turned and he said "Look! By Dominic!" She thought maybe it was something we had been working on with him. He's been able to spell his name for a while now by typing it on the computer. I had no idea he was able to write it. He just learned how to hold a pen correctly last week. I'm so proud of him. :D

Thumbs Up

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:16:53 GMT

Dom's last day of preschool for this school year was last Thursday. He's going to be doing another year of preschool next year (hopefully at the same school - still waiting to hear from the school district about that!). There was a little performance from both preschool classes. They had to stand on risers and sing a couple of songs with hand motions. Dom spent most of the time in the very back row checking out the ocean mural that was on the wall. He was supposed to be in the front so we could see him since he's such a shorty. By the time the class started the last song, he'd decided that singing would be fun after all and made his way up to the middle row where I could partly see his forehead. lol After the singing the kids had to sit on the floor in front of the risers while the teachers called them up one by one for an award. Dom was called near the end, but he sat very patiently and clapped for the other kids. As soon as his name was called he jumped up and ran over to his teacher to get his award. I told him to smile for the camera and he gave me a thumbs up. Well done, Dom. :)

Pomatomus Socks

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:37:29 GMT

I started these socks a year ago and finally finished. Yay! I love these socks. They hug my feet and the yarn is so soft but feels really sturdy. Love. Love. Love.

Pattern: Pomatomus by Cookie A.
Yarn: Zen String Bambewe Fingering in Truffle (sock club exclusive colorway)
Needles: 1 1/2

Baby Gift

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:09:15 GMT

One of my childhood friends just had her first baby a couple weeks ago. This yarn was slotted for socks for Mike, but I thought it'd make a perfect cardigan/booties set. He's a little upset about it, but I think he'll get over it. ;)

Pattern: Offset Wraplan and Perfect Little Booties
Yarn: A Swell Yarn Shop Duet Sock Yarn in Army Guy
Needles: 3's for the cardi and 5's for the booties

I didn't make any modifications to either pattern. The cardigan pattern had some errors when it came to the collar. Definitely check the math before you begin that part. The designer just repeated row 1 of the body for row 2 of the collar, but that makes it backwards and the math is wrong. There should be 98 sts if you do it the way the pattern states, but you only pick up 90.

Row 2 of the collar for size 0-3 months should say: k1, k2tog, pm, ssk, k14, k2tog, pm, ssk, k26, k2tog, pm, ssk, k14, k2tog, pm, ssk, k19

For row 4 of the collar, do not decrease before the first marker - k those 1st two sts of each RS row. Decrease normally over the rest of the sts.

The bootie pattern turned out very cute. The short rows for the top of the foot were a little confusing at first, but I figured it out on the second try. It's helpful that I'm familiar with short rows.

Felted Sock Project Bag

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 16:07:31 GMT

Look! A crocheted project! ;)

Pattern: Marvelous Fulled Mini Tote Bag
Yarn: Little Turtle Knits 3-ply Farm Yarn in Plum
Hook: K hook

This was a very simple and quick project. I made it for a sock kit swap I'm participating in. I think it only took about 2-3 hours total. The yarn did fade quite a bit when I felted it, but I still love the color - it's just a bit more muted now. The yarn felted up well enough. I did have to stick a couple pairs of the husband's work pants in with it in my top-loader, though.

Juliet

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 23:33:25 GMT

Pattern: Juliet by Zephyr Style
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Pure Cotton color 39011 - approximately 400 yards
Needles: US 8
Size: I followed the instructions for the medium, but since I used a thinner yarn it fits like a small.
Modifications: I made quite a few changes to the pattern and I just love how it turned out. I didn't want to use

a bulky yarn for this since it gets really hot where I live, so I used an aran weight yarn. I also didn't want to have the top part done in garter stitch because that just feels so warm and thick to me, so I did it all in stockinette instead, with the exception of the first few rows of the neckline, the last few rows of the cap sleeves, and the first and last 3 stitches of each row.

I wanted the raglan increases to be done with yarn overs instead of the method used in the pattern because I thought it would go nicely with the lace pattern on the bottom. I also did one purl row right before I started the setup row for the lace to add a sort of border to it all.

When I got to the setup row I decided I didn't want it to be ruffly as the pattern intended - not really my thing - so I evenly increased only 6 stitches for that row to make it the right number of stitches for the lace pattern.

I'm super pleased with the way this turned out. I found buttons that match perfectly and I really like the crochet method of adding loops to fasten the buttons instead of buttonholes. The yarn is very nice - so soft. I love cotton.

Gothic Leaf Lace Stole

Sat, 15 Mar 2008 17:25:05 GMT

Pattern: Gothic Leaf Stole by Sivia Harding
Yarn: MadelineTosh Sock in Maple Leaf - 2 skeins
Needles: size 5
Modifications: I only knit 5 rows of garter stitch for the side edges and I knit 19 pattern repeats instead of the 24 suggested. I also knit it all in one piece instead of grafting it in the center.

I really liked this pattern and the yarn. The chart was very easy to read and memorize. The yarn is very soft but still warm, even with the lace pattern.

Happy Birthday, Beth!

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 15:04:58 GMT

The day Beth turned six, Dom woke up with pink eye. Go figure.

Beth is having a lot of fun with her Clover Wonder Knitter. It is extremely easy to use. She took to it naturally and didn't want to go to sleep that first night. She said "I just want to knit forever!" And about 20 minutes after she was sent to bed, she called out, "Mom! I can't sleep! You'd better bring me my knitting!" lol

Preschool

Sat, 09 Feb 2008 13:53:00 GMT

Dom just started a Head Start regular ed preschool on Tuesday (they are required to take a certain amount of special ed kids) and he loves it. I was really worried about it because we don't really "do" preschool and I was afraid that the other children would know that he was different and make fun of him or be mean.

He's not able to tell me about his day, but when I ask his therapists about it (his therapists go with him to school and are by his side the whole time to help him participate and keep him on task) they all tell me that he's doing great and he loves it and there are tons of little boys who love playing with him and get this - he is talking tons at school and doing lots of pretend play!!! They said they've never seen him so interactive with other kids before.

I know he likes it there because he runs inside as soon as we get there without even a glance back at me and he doesn't want to leave when I come to pick him up. lol

He's also answering some questions now.

"How old are you?"

"Foah."

"What's your name?"

"Dom-nic."

And get this.....

"What's your mom's name?"

"Patti."

*tear*

And last night I was sitting with him in my lap and he was singing the theme song to Signing Time and then quoting random parts of some of the movies. And he said "Leah's Farm" which is the name of one of the DVDs. So then I asked him "What kind of animals live on the farm?" totally expecting him to not answer because he can't really answer any questions that he hasn't been taught to answer. But he said and signed "Cow." I looked over at Mike to see if he heard that and he was looking at me surprised. So then I asked "What else lives on a farm?" and he kept responding with a different animal each time!

Oh, one more thing! When I ask him where his owie is, he can point to it now!

Good times.

23/52

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:59:23 GMT

I finished Mike's Xmas socks - and only a week late! I'm getting better. ;)

Pattern: Just Yer Basic Sport Sock (pdf)
Needles: size 2 dpns
Yarn: Duet Sock Yarn in Mr Roper
Modifications: I cast on 72 to make these big enough for Mike's size 12 feet. I only had a yard left of the solid color - I was a bit worried I wouldn't have enough for the 2nd toe.

And look at me! I'm magic looping a sock!