I was going to knit a lot…

Five reasons I have no really impressive progress to show you.

1. A good chunk of my knitting time was sucked into the “housekeeping, feeding your family, celebrating family milestones and earning a living” trap. I can’t believe I keep falling for that.

Sammegpie167

It was good pie though.

2. I went to the dentist again. I have not yet figured out how to knit while in the chair, and I was in the chair for a long time. (I will spare you the absolutely pathetic story of this visits panic attack. I assure you that I am normally a very tough lady and that the completely pathetic behaviour I exhibit at the dentist is a rare anomaly that is best forgotten by all parties concerned.

3. I have suffered the worlds most minor injury.

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Sadly, this incredibly insignificant cut on my finger is in the precise position necessary to interfere with knitting. I can still knit, but this makes me slow. (It also makes me knit with my finger sticking up like I’m trying to make a point. Very unbecoming.)

4. Megan got an Eye Toy and Kinetic game for her Birthday.

Now, I’m not the biggest fan of the playstation out there. There have been a few terrible incidents involving several days of my life lost to The Sims (I do really love being in charge) and the kids (and the adults) have some pretty sharp limits on how long and when they are allowed to play. As a result, the black box of inactivity had gathered a layer of dust around here. Then Meg’s buddy Maddy walks in here last night and sets this thing up. It’s a little camera that plugs into the playstation, and the Kinetics game starts and the camera puts you on the TV and you go through all of these virtual games and workouts. You follow a glowing ball with your hands, kick a virtual ball away from a target you protect… the thing really, really gets you moving and raises your heart rate. The kids were all fighting over the privilege of getting to play and the grown-ups were having a good time too. You can watch a preview of how the thing works here. I had no idea that these virtual games even existed. It’s a very good time and leaves me, as a mother, wondering what the rules should be on a video game that’s a workout. Thoughts?

5. Ted (The Oracle) sent me yarn. I usually don’t blog gifts between friends, because I think them private matters, but this was simply to stunning to not tell you about.

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Ted spindle-spun this 100 grams of finn laceweight, and it is so beautiful that huge swaths of my day are falling away as I sit and stare at it.

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No photo can show you how complex and lovely the red/orange is. It makes me want to pitch everything I’m knitting now and sit fondling this one skein for all of my days. Mercy.

As compensation for the lack of knitting projects, I leave you with these pictures of hatty success. Remember when I asked knitters to help support breastfeeding by sending fruit and Veggie hats to WIC offices for Breastfeeding week? Knitters are maniacs. Jeanne received 400+ hats, and Ilene got more than 100. That’s incredible to me.

Here’s tons of hats…

Babyhatsjoanne1-1

only a small sampling of the hundreds that arrived in California at Jeanne’s WIC office.

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Hats on tables,

Morehats

hats on breastfed babies.

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Hat’s in Brockton at Ilene’s WIC office.

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Read more about it here (and make sure and look at Mary’s fruit and veg hats with ladybugs on the stem.) I can’t thank you all enough. Breastfeeding is such a cheap, easy way to change the lifelong health of the babies who get it and the mothers who do it, and makes such a tremendous difference to the economy of the family, that I get all choked up when I think about knitters using their wool and their wits to change the world.

Next stop…world domination through wool.

138 thoughts on “I was going to knit a lot…

  1. Yep, those games are definitely addicting. I just didn’t bother reinstalling them after my computer died so that I wouldn’t be tempted to play instead of doing more important things, like knitting.
    Time to get to work on those little hats, which I forgot all about thanks to summer vacation.

  2. Try Krazy Glue on the cut. Just make sure it is a smooth thin layer and not a blob. I’ve been using it for years on the cracks that develop on my fingertips in the winter, and it works like a charm. It was recomended to me by a doctor, and is apparently used in surgery all the time. Just don’t knit or play piano till it dries.
    Doris

  3. Last December (peak Christmas knitting time!) I sliced open my thumb with one of those kitchen gadgets that slices and cores apples. I had to keep knitting, put the cut was right in the spot on my thumb where I push the needle along as I knit. So I would be knitting away, knit knit knit OW $*%&%&&#@&!!
    I can lose hours, days, weeks to the Sims. I haven’t played for a few months because the computer they live in is in pieces and I have to say that I’m getting a little twitchy.

  4. Oh no, you have a boo boo! I feel for ya. I’ve had exactly the same thing happen. Boy do ya feel silly, but at the same time, it HURTS! Especially if you keep poking at it with a knitting needle.

  5. Yay babies with fruits on their heads!
    My injury is a little more severe but does not inhibit knitting. I broke my ankle saturday.
    I was drunken dancing. Apparently that should be left to the Mcphee Family:)

  6. I too have lost valuable knitting time to the Sims 2, so I feel your pain. It’s definitely the fact that I can micromanage their lives…plus, they have way more money than I do. (Life, sadly, does not have a “kaching” cheat code.)

  7. WOW! Those hats rock! Knitters are cool, aren’t we? Band-Aid sells a glue product here in the states–maybe you can get it there too? Good luck with knitting while injured…..

  8. hahahaha was having a crappy day but now it’s over, since seeing one of my orange hats actually on a baby head, made be practically giddy
    (side note- since I made all those baby hats that didn’t fit my eight-year-old, I’ve had to go back and make one to fit him, an apple, and he loves it, but says he will NOT wear it to school. oh well)

  9. Ted? Are you reading this? Will you marry me?
    Steph? You have the power of WDTW, as you surely have figured out by now. Just tell us, your faithful minions, the next step in your grand plan.

  10. Awwww! That baby’s beautiful! But, aren’t they all? I think a video game that promotes activity should have less restrictions than your average video game. Not unlimited access, though. Maybe allow it more in the winter months. World domination, indeed!

  11. That’s ALOT of hats.
    Oh my, that is some gorgeous laceweight yarn. Kudos to Tom for spinning that.
    As for that “video game”. I would think that that wouldn’t fall subject to the standard video game rules as it isn’t about sitting around with nothing more than the fingers getting any activity. Haven’t done PSP yet, but I do admit to having the Gamecube timesuck in my home.

  12. Personally, I love my Dance Dance Revolution (you know with the on-screen arrows and dance mat) for my workout. I’ve done lots of cardio hours with that one. (Hey, I’ve lost 10 pounds since I started using it a couple of months ago.) My kids are young still, but like trying to do it as well. It is very hard to argue with a video game that actually makes you move:)

  13. I second the comment about glueing your cut. It works great! Also, don’t go to the bathroom before it dries…I’m just saying.

  14. We’re trying to work out the rules for video games and kids (when they show up) but I plan on letting them play all the Dance Dance Revolution they want. DDR is fantastic for venting energy when it’s too hot/cold outside for play, it’s easy and addictive, and it isn’t likely to be played for hours on end.

  15. I was wearing a bandage in exactly the same spot on exactly the same finger yesterday. But, um, mine had Spiderman on it. DPN kept getting stuck in it though, so the sock knitting was out.
    And Steph? You know I love you and only wish you good things (even though it would seem that I enjoy watching you implode more than the average bear) but I have to admit it wouldn’t be safe to let me near the Tedspun laceweight. Damn that’s gorgeous stuff.

  16. We got one of those Eye-toys for christmas (or rather, the kids did) and Yes, it is a legitimate workout. Is exercising to a workout video any less exercise because it involves TV? and the videogame is more fun.
    The hats are amazing, and the laceweight is inspiring. thank you for sharing!

  17. At last an actual use for one of those brain-sucking boxes. I will definitely considering getting one now. When the mercury hits 30 below or less, setting foot outside on purpose, is generally not on my list of things to do. Exercise in a fun way inside without leaving home, I’m all for that!
    Awesome yarn. Ted is amazing getting that from a spindle. Love the colours too.
    All those hats rock! Now, I’m even more pissy about being stuck up in the middle of far from the nearest boondock. My yarn didn’t come in, in time for me to get them there for Breastfeeding Week. Ah, well, I have it and the addresses for next year.

  18. What!? Doesn’t everybody spindle-spin laceweight yarn?
    Hellova place on the finger to get a cut. I use surgical tape: I can mold it right to the topography of the finger. Much better than a bandage.
    Man: that’s a lot of hats.

  19. I watched that kinetic commercial and am not even sure what I saw… really feeling old here (at 48). On the other hand, exercise is good so if it accomplishes that (without product placements or other distractions) then I’d give it a try I guess… if I had a playstation or tv. Of course, if you don’t have that stuff then its a non-issue :~}

  20. I knit some of those hats that went to Ilene. It felt good to do something on behalf of breastfeeding. Since my baby is going to be 14 in 3 weeks and breastfeeding isn’t something I get to do anymore. 😉

  21. I have diabetes and I religiously avoid using my index fingers for sticking for blood glucose monitoring–that could really screw up my knitting!

  22. I can picture those hats on those sweet little heads, and it warms my heart to no end. Way to go, knitters. Thanks Steph for letting us know how we can help. I’m all for wool domination through wool (another tshirt, Rams?). I’m not so sure about putting Crazy Glue on one’s finger though….

  23. What are you going to make out of that georgeous yarn? I would, if it were mine, cast on with it instantly. But what to make? Can’t wait to see what you decide to do with it.

  24. I hate going to the dentist, too. I have to bribe myself with a Starbucks Caramel Frapuccino afterwards (which I never get – too caloric – so it’s a good reward for dentistry.) I hope this was your last dentist visit for a good long while.

  25. I take karate but wanted another fun way to help get in shape and got the kinetic game for Christmas. I love it. I’ve been able to achieve some of my goals with this game and it tracks your progress too. I’d say encourage them to do excercise while they still think it’s fun. There is not one game on there that isn’t good for you. Count it differently than other video games.

  26. I will spare you the absolutely pathetic story of this visits panic attack. I assure you that I am normally a very tough lady and that the completely pathetic behaviour I exhibit at the dentist is a rare anomaly that is best forgotten by all parties concerned.
    You too, huh? I got nitrous yesterday and I’ll tell you what I didn’t give a rip that I was at the dentist getting my tooth drilled out. Until after. When they stopped the happy gas and my chest started tightening up into panic attack mode just like usual.

  27. Oh man… The Sims… I am sure I have lost WEEKS of my life to that game. It is evil, they should re-name it “crack”.

  28. You might want to look into the Nintendo Wii system (soon to be released!). It has a fascinating controller that is motion sensitive and allows you to conduct virtual orchestras, shoot arrows and wield swords, even play tennis. As a long-time fan of Dance Dance Revolution, I have only positive things to say about video games that get kids off of their bums and moving. The workout plans that people stick to are the ones they enjoy – and while it’s silly to think that playing virtual tennis is more fun than playing actual tennis, there’s some truth to it, too.

  29. I don’t think there should be a time limit on the virtual workout. They could be doing worse things, like loitering at some sort of shopping center. At least with this, the heart is pumping. And you won’t get a phone call from the friendly police officers.

  30. >>Breastfeeding is such a cheap, easy way to change the lifelong health of the babies who get it and the mothers who do it…<<
    Oh, AMEN. I think my 3 year-old son was cursed with a lousy immune system — he developed a passing lung infection during birth, went through the whole ear infection saga later, and now has mild asthma and allergies. I nursed him for 15 months, though, and I can only imagine how much WORSE his health concerns might be without that extra help that I was able to give him.

  31. Spindle-spun?!!!! All I can say is… Wow. That is impressive. 🙂
    Yay for all the baby hats! I’m so glad so many of us participated… We definitely need a blog button or t-shirt that says World Domination Through Wool – I love it!

  32. Oooh, ladybugs!
    My 2 cents on the video game/workout… limit it to whatever you think an appropriate workout is, and then you can decide how often that’s an acceptable workout (over oh say bike riding?).

  33. I think if the kids still do homework and chores and other daily functions like sleep, then the amount of ‘game time’ is fine. I don’t have kids, but that is how I judge my own gaming time!
    Also, consider when something is new, usually it’s really interesting for a week, then the obsessive thrill is gone. Unless it’s Sims or Everquest, that is. 🙂

  34. I REALLY hope my dentist’s staff doesn’t read your blog. Because I LIED to them today – I got out of an appointment by telling them I had thrown up – I only *felt* like throwing up, I hadn’t actually done it. Isn’t that awful? But I’ve been going every other Wednesday lately, getting childhood fillings replaced, and it really kicks up my PTSD, and I’ve been really good and gone when I was dreading it every time, and it’s awful the whole time I’m there. I just couldn’t face it today.
    Breastfeeding is awesome. I breastfed my first son, but my milk wouldn’t come out with my second – they said it was because of badly located fibrous cysts, and scar tissue from pre-cancerous lump removals. We got him milk from the Mother’s Milk Bank in Denver – we still owe them about $13,000 – we just pay it off little by little. His allergies would be MUCH worse if he hadn’t had that milk.

  35. My dentist actually has to give me laughing gas to calm me down for a normal check up. I think this abnormal fear stems from a cavity I was getting filled once. They didn’t give me nearly enough novacaine (is that how it’s spelled?). Anyway, it obviously wasn’t a pretty visit. So I can totally relate.

  36. thanks for posting a follow up about the baby fruit and veggie hats. i was hoping mine got there and that they had a nice amount. it looks very successful. what a fun way to promote breastfeeding.

  37. The hats are awesome! And not only is breastfeeding good for moms and babies in so many ways, but it’s perfect for the forgetful or unorganized (I’m both!) mom. You always have everything you need with you! What a brilliant design that is!

  38. Lets see here–I found PS2 and Sims annoying, DDR is for the kids cause I keep tripping over my own feet (this is from a former 7th place cheerleader), but I found that I can lose hours and DAYS when creating and destroying ancient civilizations (playing Civilization III). Civ3, nearly as addicting as, say, knitting?
    Happy birthday Megan (my baby will be 17 in 3 weeks 🙁

  39. Hey, I see two of my hats! In the Hats On Tables picture! YAY!
    That is some damn fine laceweight.
    Video workouts are all well and good, as long as they’re still getting their vitamin D outside!

  40. We have Eyetoy Kinetic as well. My favorite activity is Equilibrium…trying to balance while popping those barrier things. Then the screen flips upside down or mirrors to confuse you.
    Personally, I prefer video games to outside..

  41. I’m with Cheryl on the button….let me tell you, it. is. happening. On the eye-toy…how long is a good work out? 30 min to 1 hour? why not? It’s good for them (although I’m pretty sure your girls are not couch spuds). It’s good to hear that many hats were made…they were lots of fun to make, I have pics of the ones I made on blog…
    19 days…..

  42. Wow, that spindle-spun is amazing, and one of my favorite colors. I’ve only just completed my first two skeins, a bit over 100g, and it came out chunky weight. That color is gorgeous, and look, it’s plied, too! Now I have a gorgeous example to use as a goal.

  43. Wow. I am a relative newcomer to harlotsville, but I think you may be my new best friend forever. Anyone who can combime two of my great passions (knitting and breastfeeding) and hates dental work just as passionately, well, You must just be a lovely girl. Here’s a cool story. I work as an L&D/mother baby nurse and we have had a baby in our nursery who is withdrawing from opiates and being adopted by a lovely family. This mom, in spite of never having delivered a baby from her body, has breastfed all four of her adoptive daughters. It is a real pain in the ass but great for those kids. The baby they are adopting now has not been set down ONCE since she was delivered. The parents (or their friends) are there to love her 24/7. Cool, huh! Every baby in the world should be so loved. Sorry about the tangent-great work Ms. Harlot, I’ll be back.

  44. I always have a Lemon pie on my birthday and prefer it to any cake.Good for you Megan.
    Oh oh Stephanie. if that cut finger has slowed you down , better not start another project right now till it heals. Ted’s lace yarn is absolutley beautiful , no wonder you showed it. All those hats for babies is astounding don’t you think ? Knitters are great people.Oh as for vidio games —none in the summer unless it’s raining out. Nice outdoor weather goes by too fast to spend it indoors.

  45. That’s so awesome about the hats! They all looked so adorable out like that, how wonderful! (I’m a big proponent of breastfeeding too… hopefully next year I’ll be able to make a hat!) And as for the game? Let them play it as long as their little hearts desire…because in a month it will pall, and they’ll never touch it again…

  46. OMG!!! My hat is in the picture! (Sorry. had to stop, breathe, and call my husband at work so that he could see my hat.) I’m better now. It is astonishing what knitters will do when called to do it. Thanks for the opportunity.
    Also, the spindle-spun yarn? Ted is my new hero. Seriously, he is the spinner that I hope to be someday. And on a spindle!
    I have had several cavities filled without novocaine because I hate the needle/injection more than the pain of having a cavity drilled without novocaine. So, I totally understand the panic attack at the dentists office.

  47. Awesome hats! Perhaps we actually could take over the….one skein at a time, kid! One skein at a time!
    Sorry about your finger…perhaps now is the time to knit Continental? The cut is in the perfect position to allow you to extend the forefinger as a yarn guide! 🙂

  48. The hats for WBW/WIC are so. f-ing. cool. I wish everyone had the support needed to breastfeed through any problems that might come up – it’s been a good experience for my kids and me.
    And what’s the deal with not coming to the Twin Cities? That used to be on your calendar, but now you’re going to Eau Claire? Are you going to be coming here at all?

  49. Love the hats!
    Don’t worry about being viewed as a wimp about going to the dentist. I know what you are going through. Since July, I have had three root canals, three crowns, and have to go tomorrow for crown number four. A word to the wise, if your dentist says that they want to do more than one crown at a time, just remember Nancy Regan, and JUST SAY NO. My appointment where they did the three crown was at 9:45, and I did not get back to the office until 3:30 and the dentist is only 15 minutes away! They had me tilted back for so long that the room would spin like mad and I almost passed out in the ladies room. So I feel that just by showing up, we deserve a metal and some nice yarn. By the way, I do take my knitting with me, I just take something that I can knit by feel and has an easy remembered repeat.

  50. Isn’t the Sims great – but you do truly lose many many days! It’s sims or knitting. Choose knitting.

  51. That is some of the most beautiful yarn I have ever seen! I wonder how he fit even 1 ply of it on a spindle (or are there several spindle’s worth in there)? Also, did he dye it or is it from a prepared roving? I would love to get my hands on something like that, you lucky girl you.
    SO many hats! Congratulations to everyone who participated.

  52. Beyond the Eye Toy games, there’s also DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) which requires a “mat” to play on. You stomp your feet to the beat, and even includes a workout mode.
    And, of course, there is Guitar Hero, which Joe will probably fall in love with. A special controller shaped like an electric guitar, and you have to chord and strum in time with the music on the screen.
    Its amazing how long a 3 minute song can feel when you either have to dance to it or play it.

  53. He spindle spun that!?! Beautiful! And just the right color for me. Why can’t I have friends like that?
    Oh, and the wool/world domination thing? I’m on it! I’ll work on the US, you find someone to take over the operations for Europe, Asia and South America ok?

  54. There is a woman in my town who is a double amputee (possibly quad, I forget) who knits. I think her name is “Deedee.” She has the LYS cast on and do the first two or three rows for her and then she knits and knits until its time to cast off and then the LYS does it for her. I figure if she can knit, I can knit even with both hands in braces cause I fell and at the minimum sprained both wrists.
    I managed to get one brace off last week, but still have the other one on. My doctor thinks I might have broken or at least cracked a metacarpul bone in my hand under my pinkie and that’s why that finger is numb, especially when I knit.
    Its annoying, cause that’s also the pinkie I keep my tension on.
    Knitting with bandaids on is easy. Knitting while holding the needle between two fingers instead of using your thumb – that’s hard. But because “Deedee” does it with her prosthetics, even though I’m slowed down to a crawl, I knit.
    And I’m just as scared on the dentist’s chair as you are. More so. But I figure if I can knit a simple 4.5mm sock yarn there and it keeps me from screaming bloody murder while he does things, I’ll fix the mistakes later. 😉

  55. I knew there was more than your knitting antics that made me read your blog! My family are big with La Leche League. My Aunt is a big shot at the headquarters in Schaumburg, IL. My oldest breastfed for 18 months, and was supposed to be this sick little preemie! Perfect health! He never went to the Dr. for anything other than a well baby checkup until he was past 2! Go breastfeeding!

  56. Wonderful blog, as usual. Just wanted to offer a quick suggestion regarding the owie on your index finger. Try that “second skin” stuff–it’s expensive (and is probably just clear nail polish with an antibiotic in it) but it works to seal the cut and smooth it so it doesn’t get caught on the yarn. Another option I’ve used it to cut the little finger off a latex glove and slip it on the index finger (since it is a little bit smaller than the other fingers on the glove it tends to “stick” onto your index finger better. It will make your finger hot and sweaty, but smooth. Hope this helps.
    Marlyce.

  57. LOL – I have a personal rule about video/computer games… I avoid them at all costs! Days, weeks, months of my life lost to Mario, Tetris, & Tycoons. I actually deleted Spider Solitare from my computer in a desperate attempt to get some time back. Oh, but wait, I bet it’s on my new laptop here… Gotta go…

  58. That is amazing yarn! If it is even more impressive “in person” I don’t think I could stand it! It’s just about my absolute favorite color combination…can’t wait to see what amazing things you make with it!
    love,
    r

  59. I’m so sorry to see your inconveniently placed boo-boo. I can certainly sympathise with you. I was baking a birthday cake for my friend’s twins last Friday and managed to get quite a nice burn on my pinky and a minor one on my ring finger. Have you ever tried to assemble and decorate a cake with your left hand submerged in cold water? Let me just say that I have the best father-in-law in the world. He mixed the icing colors, held the base and rotated the cake while I decorated it. Next year I’m going to suggest a pie for them.
    I was perfectly willing to suck it up and deal with the cake issues, but then it occured to me that helpful Father-in-law or no, my injuries were going to seriously impede my knitting. Fortunately the next day, my bandaged finger felt much better and I was able to knit without it. I did get some odd looks as I knit with my pinky extended (I knit continental so it was quite obvious), but I suffocated my sorrows in chocolate and got my mother-in-law’s gift finished before they left.

  60. I Knit at the Dentist! (I knit while walking too… but thats beside the point) I just take something that is cast on and knit in the round on circulars. I can finish a child’s size hat during a cleaning. I used to hate the dentist until I found I could knit while there. With kniting I’m calm and distracted from the whole affair. However, I will admit to one time having almost stabbed the Hygenist with a needle when trying to pull more yarn from the ball… oops.. 🙂

  61. Did you knit a hole in your finger? Cus I do that a lot more often than I like to think about.
    THere is a antibacterial superglue made by Johnson&Johnson (at least here in the US, not sure if they have other brands in Canada) that works well on fingercuts, and lets you get back to the knitting.

  62. What a cool bunch of hats. As another lactation consultant knitting fiend, I really appreciate that you got so many hats together for the wonderful WIC people…who support breastfeeding so thoroughly. I love your pages….. Kathleen, Lactnet listmom, hoping that I can bring my knitting on the plane tomorrow as we leave to visit the inlaws.

  63. All of todays topics pale in comparison to the absolutely… stunning… enchanting… gorgeous… yarn!

  64. What an incredibly beautiful shade of yarn from your friend Ted.
    All those adorable fruit and veggie hats fill me with joy and make me even prouder to be a knitter than I already am. Knitters are so generous with their craft!

  65. Please do show us gorgeous handspun like Ted’s no matter how you get your paws on it.
    Sympathy for your dental woes. When I’m in the chair, I shake uncontrollably, involuntarily. It starts behind my knees and in about two minutes, I’m a human earthquake. Drugs don’t help.
    So you’re really very brave.

  66. Sorry about the finger. I took the liberty and read through all your blogs – exhausting but ever so entertaining and helpful. Come October and a fat paycheck – I am investing in your books. Have a wonderful day. Regards, Petrikke.

  67. Wow, all those hats look great!
    The new video game sounds like fun. I say let the kiddies go overboard with it – if it gets them moving then it can’t be bad.

  68. Wow, thats just amazing. All those hats! That birthday pie sounds really good. mmm, pie!
    Your friendship yarn, ohhhh my goodness is it pretty! Thanks for sharing it. I could spend hours, sorry days just staring at the picture. Lovely!

  69. We recently got a PS2 and are figuring out limits. My daughter’s summer limits are 1 hour of TV/computer/PS2 (total) per day. There will be no PS2 during the school week. But if we had that Kinetic game, I think I’d let her play it for 30 minutes a day during the school week, too.

  70. Doggon it. I’m such a sap that the picture of all those hats made me cry. I must need chocolate or something!
    We have friends who welcomed a baby into their family in March, a daughter named Catherine. It was such a joy during our trip ‘home’ to Indiana to see Catherine’s Mom nursing her while sitting around at our annual Pagan Campout with friends. It seemed so very fitting, a natural event, taking place in nature. Completely beautiful.
    ~Suz~

  71. Stephanie,
    It is important that you remember that time limits on video games exist for more than one reason. Hopefully, video game limitations are accompanied by expectations that other activities will be engaged in as well. Such as chores, social interaction, academic pursuits, etc…

  72. I’m a huge fan of your blog and also a huge fan of Eye Toy Kinetic. I’m a bit of a girl-gamer AND knitter; and I’ve joked that I may be the only one! If only there were some way to combine those two activities, I’d be very happy.

  73. ooops – forgot to say – there is a new Eye Toy Combat game due out very soon. I can’t wait to try it! Tell the girls…

  74. Stephanie, I have been reading your blog for a year, and I am a huge fan of yours. Two things occurred to me when I saw your added tour dates.
    1) It would be really nice if one of your tours brought you over here to Britain one day. It seems unfair to me that we should be deprived of your presence just because of geography (but that’s just me being selfish).
    2) I don’t know what it’s like in Canada and the US, but in Britain, because of the recent terrorist threat, there are new strict limits on airoplane hand luggage. Passengers can only take one small plastic see-through bag on board, and all they are allowed in it is their wallet, passport, tickets/ boarding pass, medication and baby milk. I ask you – what is a knitter to do??

  75. Okay, I know that I don’t fit the usual knitter profile. I eat meat, shave, wear makeup and suits, the whole deal. So my opinions are different on almost everything (that’s what makes the world fun, doncha think!), but on the whole video game thing. . . You have good kids with diverse interests and are active. Good, active kids don’t suddenly turn into chip eating couch potatoes because of video games. We used to have strict regulations on video game time here and it was just a constant battle. We don’t anymore and who knew, our kid is self regulating. Yeah there are times when the new football game comes out and he and his buddies go on a binge, but otherwise no problem. He’ll go days without even touching the thing. We even play some things as a family (like golf, mom can’t do anything that requires little adventure characters to jump). We do monitor the ratings because we don’t want him playing anything that is violent or vulgar. Let them Kinetic all they want, maybe it will keep the last weeks of summer boredom at bay.

  76. Ahhh, the Sims…the most wonderful computer game ever invented. I too spent many many MANY hours playing God with my little Sim-people…

  77. I have finally learned to knit in the dentist’s chair if I have a dead simple garter stitch thing I’m working on that I can knit without seeing. It’s a great distraction that keeps me from reaching up and strangling the dentist mid-procedure.

  78. BABY HATS! Aw, that is so very awesome. Knitting powers, GO!
    Ah, the Sims. Evil. I could spend weeks playing the Many and varied versions of the Sims we own and never get a speck of housework done. Just sit and stare and play. If it were me, I’d allow slightly extended play time for the move-your-butt game so long as chores and homework were done.
    Silly earning-a-living stuff and family time and housework. P’shaw! Don’t let that distr- aw, dang, I have laundry to do.
    And yes, we should totally have “World Domination Through Wool” buttons or shirts! I’m imagining a yarn earth gripped in a feminine hand. Mwahahahahaha!
    “What are we doing tomorrow night, Brain?”
    “Same thing we do every night, Pinky: Try to take over the WORLD! But first, hand me that roving.”

  79. First, belated congratulations to Megan, and a wish for a great year at 15.
    That spindle-spun is truly gorgeous, Ted deserves all the praise he gets.
    It’s too bad you live so far away, or I’d take you to visit my dentist. He’s great, and the only dentist I’ve ever known who doesn’t make me panic one way or another.

  80. I too have the dentist chair panic attack syndrome. Though I’ve discovered a few good things that help me, and here they are:
    1. Get a good nights sleep. Can’t stress this enough – 8 hours is like a killer bee to a panic attack.
    2. Get to the office 15 minutes early. Spend the first 5 of these minutes outside the dentists’ office (a bench is nice), and breathe deeply. Inhale, hold it, and release it slowly. I do this a few times and it helps chill me out.
    3. Spend the next 10 minutes inside the dentists’ office, talking to them. Laughing does wonders. I don’t hesitate to tell my dentist I don’t want to be there – and we have a good laugh about it.
    4. I can knit in the chair (st st, circular needles – a hat makes a great project), but I actually find it doesn’t help the panic much (and I get this sneaking suspicion that they’re watching me knit and not watching my teeth). Best way to try it though, if you want to, is to knit with your eyes closed.
    Hang in there Harlot – we’re better people for taking care of our teeth. Or somesuch Hallmark BS.

  81. I know that hat! The little blue one with the two goldfish kissing is my friend Jolene’s hat! It’s her daughter that I knit TotoToo for! She’s quite an advocate for breast feeding and related causes, and it blows me away that she’s still so faithful to that with all her daughter is going through.
    To knit in the dentist chair, simply bring stocking stitch and work it in the round. A boring sweater body is good for this. If I don’t knit while he’s working on me, my dentist worries that he’s hurt me. (I have a very nice dentist)

  82. I would like to make a suggestion for your wound … use a touch of super glue on it rather than a bandaid. It will hold the wound together but still allow you to knit. Finger tip cuts are so annoyingly painful, but super gluing one shut eases the pain and keeps you going. Just a thought, in case it helps.
    The fruit and veggie hats to support breatfeeding are great. I breast fed both of my children and do encourage expectant and new mothers to go that route for too many reasons to relate. The hats are adorable!
    Awesome you support and promote it.
    ~firefly

  83. Due to my household’s newest member of TAKE (my 8 month old grandchild) I have unfortunately been out of the knitting world loop for the last six and a half months, and therefore just last week discovered your books (and now your blog). First, I must comment on how incredibly much I enjoyed ‘Yarn Harlot’, first because I could relate to it’s contents so very much, and secondly because it was about knitting. I know your writing takes many hours of knitting time away from you, but the rest of us are really enjoying the fruits of your labor! Thanks so much for sharing your talent to write and express your natural witty humor! Now, my question is this: I recently went through my entire stash of seven years (I learned to knit in 1999, hince the screen name knitgirl1999) as I was donating all of my acrylic baby yarn (that was before I knew better) to a lady who knits for hospitals and I discovered that I had a huge pile of left over yarn from projects that I honestly don’t even remember knitting…much less who I knit them for! Here’s the actual question: What would you say the significance of this brain lapse is as a knitter? I’m slighty horrified that I have actually forgotten about past knitting projects! Lots of them too. Not just a couple. I mean, seven years is not all that long! I didn’t even realize that I had knit that many projects! I hesitate to tell you that there are things that I haven’t even experienced knitting yet…like lace…or even socks! I have made baby booties…but i know that doesn’t count. I do live in SW Florida though so one doesn’t really need socks at all here. It’s too flippin hot. Sandals are the shoes of choice. However, I do plan to knit socks someday inspite of not needing them…I mean, who knits out of need? Not me.

  84. Oh, dear. Ted’s laceweight is making me think of digging out my little bottom-whorl spindles a friend’s hubby made for me after I taught her to spin. He got some really fine dowels about a foot long, give or take, that would fit through the hole in plain, disc-shaped wooden cabinet knobs, used for the whorls. The only difference in the two is that one of them has whorl with a larger circumference. He rounded the dowel tips, sanded everything down, and glued the knobs in place – voila. Delicate little spindles that seem to weigh next to nothing. Super cheap, super results. They work beautifully, and when I use either one, I find myself spinning yarn that’s only about 4-5 fibers thick – even when I try *not* to spin that fine! LOL. And it kept happening even with non-crimpy fiber, like alpaca, which you’d expect to tend to slip apart unless you overtwisted. Problem with this is that I don’t *knit* lace. Although if you keep on showing all this gorgeous lace stuff, I may end up doing some. You’ve even got me thinking about socks once in a while, and I’ve *never* had an urge to make those. Not only taking over the world, but taking over non-lace/socknitters, too! Evil. Truly evil. 😉 (Hope your finger heals fast. Minor injuries to fingers, even papercuts, are a real bitch. They hurt way out of proportion!)

  85. As a loyal player of Dance Dance Revolution (which involves – you guessed it – dancing), I would suggest that you limit playtime with the new game to at least 20 or more minutes a day, most days of the week.
    (This limit also known as the recommended amount of weekly exercise for American adults.)
    Exercising in front of the tube will probably take the place of doing other things (like reading a book or leaving the house), but so will exercising in a gym. Or anywhere, for that matter.
    p.s. Whoever designed this game is a geen. I want it I want it I want it! And at least it’s not Karaoke Revolution, you know?

  86. Did he Andean ply this? I need to learn to spin like that! Can I feel it too? Did he dye this himself? I decided to take this photo and put it on my screensaver so that I can drool too! All day long! You lucky dog….. 🙂

  87. I have knit and played Sims at the same time. You can get a few stitches in while they’re on the toilet. Meanwhile, that Eye Toy allows decorating your Sim’s house w/ pictures of you! I haven’t tried it yet, but it sounds pretty funny.

  88. De-lurking here, but only briefly. When I had my first baby, the man and I were living in Salt Lake City, Utah. He worked, I dissertated and joined a weekly LLL meeting to meet other moms and learn all I could about breastfeeding. The LLL leader for that group was this amazing woman/mother/poet/knitter/breastfeeding advocate who made it all seem possible and easy (the parenting thing) while knitting socks at the same time. I waited another three years before asking another woman in another city (also an amazing woman/mother/writer/knitter/breastfeeder) to teach me how to knit. I love the fact that there is a whole web of women out there who support other women, help babies and women live healthy, and knit while doing it. I can’t give a word to this phenomenon but I’m glad I keep running into it. MORE BREASTFED BABIES IN HANDKNITS, PLEASE!!!

  89. The game developers over at The Sims should introduce knitting to the next version – then we could get all our little families knitting away along with us – they’d be less stressed and more happy too if they could knit!

  90. What an eventful post! I suffer deep resentment when I have to sit in the dentist chair. So long to sit, and I can’t even knit? What the heck is that all about?

  91. DO NOT, repeat, DO NOT cast on the lovely handspun laceweight. You have a gansey and a lace shawl already on the needles, which need to be finished within this century. Finish them, first.
    That should give me enough time to get to Canada to steal the laceweight.

  92. What is up with that? I went to the dentist for a procedure this week, too, and OY am I a sissy. It takes forever to get me numb, and then when I am numb, my EAR is numb but not my nerve.
    I spend half the time trying to convince the dentist and the dental hygenist that I am *not* a sissy, that I had my second child completely naturally without any pain medication whatsoever. While they look at me like I’m nuts.
    So, i literally feel your pain.

  93. I have the perfect “I hate the dentist” dentist. He’s very liberal with the nitrous oxide.Also, it doesn’t hurt that he’s a small, round little guy that reminds me of Ziggy. I know I could overpower him if I needed to escape.

  94. I regularly slice my finger right there from holding the yarn the same way all of the time. It seems to coincide with the stiff neck syndrome, and reminds me to take breaks and attend to these things!
    I used to not mind the dentist until I had my first crown last year! The pain! the waiting! the drooling! At least my dentist is really handsome, that does help just a wee bit! So sorry for you all kind of pain!

  95. I learned recently that when they give you novacaine, it has adrenaline in it and that causes alot of women especially to have panic attacks, I don’t know where in the procedure you were when you had yours but being prone to panic attacks as a result of the worlds worst menopause I was cautioned against novacaine.
    It was so much fun to see the hat I sent sitting on the table, its been over 25 years since I breast fed (hence menopause) but It was a great joy in my life! I hope Ileen liked hers too!

  96. This is really, really important! It has to do with your injured finger. I used to work in a violin shop doing repairs, which means that I would end up with lots of accidental cuts. Bandaids, although convenient, are still bulky, clunky, and absorb water in gross ways. Rather than using bandaids, I use super glue for most of the cuts that I get on my hands (that is, unless they are particularly painful and I want a bandaid cushion, unless they are large, or unless they are not a ‘clean’ cut). The largest obstacle is being able to use super glue deftly enough to not glue your fingers together and to not put a bunch of glue in your cut. You just want to put a thin layer on top, enough to hold your cut together so it can heal and enough to cover the cut so that nothing gets in it. That way, you can keep knitting unhindered. 🙂
    (Also, if you’re concerned about being able to clean your cut, I find that the super glue wears off after about a day or two at the very, very most, because hands are constantly moving, getting washed, and renewing their skin. The glue usually wears of by bedtime, at which point I wash it. I leave it open to the air overnight, and I put more glue on it in the morning).
    Also, it’s fabulous to see how many hats were sent in to WIC. Yay!

  97. Super glue really does work. My son is a sheet metal worker and you should see the cuts he can get in the run on the day. He super glues them.
    As for the dentist chair I tune out so bad the that dentist keeps asking if I am all right, as my hands turn white while gripping the arm rests. They think that I passed out.
    The hats are wonderful.

  98. Total World Wool Domination, birthday pie, a batallion of baby hats, breast-feeding, and handspun laceweight that makes me think of Johnny Cash singing “Ring of Fire.”
    Those are perfectly legitimate excuses for not knitting much for awhile.

  99. Yay! Hats! Outstanding effort!
    And you know, I have a friend who almost didn’t finish her Ph.D. because of The Sims. A dangerous game, a dangerous game…
    But the game that is also a workout…that’s a tough one to know how to police.

  100. There’s an ad on the radio here for “Sedation Dentistry” I think it might be the thing for you, Steph. And I can vouch for what Grace said about novacaine. A kind dentist (my favorite, I still dream about him, Dr. Ron, but his name is Dr. Omen…is that a bad sign?) once asked me during a lengthy session how I was feeling and I mentioned the jitters and he said it was the novocaine talking.
    My son, now 10, was breastfed for 2 1/2 years. Then I went away for a week (horrible mom…). When I came back he cried that he couldn’t nurse, but then straightened up and asked “Can I see them?” then he wanted to know “Can I kiss them?”. This went on for a day or two, then he was fine.
    I wasn’t on board w/ your hat campaign, but last year we sent over 250 hats to Afghan orphans, some made by kids in local library knit group. Touch of love for all the kids…

  101. Agree about the panic in the dentist’s chair. Last time I was there and they were scraping and scraping the tartar, my hands were sweating and my toes were curled in my sandals. Then the actual dentist comes in , who I’ve never met and I start to really panic. She starts picking and poking and all of a sudden she spies my handknit felted purse in the corner of the room, “are you a knitter?” she asks “Ywaah, awwr wooo?” I reply. She removes instruments of torture and we discuss her current sock project and the shawl I’m working on. I decide that for a dentist, she’s pretty ok. After that my heart rate slowed down considerably.
    Making fruit and veggie hats is fun!

  102. Thanks for the update on the veggie hats. I enjoyed seeing some pictures of some of the hats that other people made. I also liked to see that there was a nice variety of different fruit and veggie hats.

  103. Yummy birthday apple pie! My devoted mom always used to make me one. Yummy laceweight! I’m hoping to learn drop-spindle spinning this winter–Ted’s gorgeous offering sets the standard light-years beyond the lumpy strings I’ll likely produce–but it gives me hope for what might be possible someday. Yummy fruit and veggie hats! It was a thrill to see the wonderful response for WIC and breastfeeding. I was really happy to be able to send my hat to Ilene’s project, since Massachusetts is my home state and I’m familiar with the poverty and need in her city.
    On a sadder note, I told my college-age daughter, who is afraid of the dentist, about knitting while in the chair to calm her nerves. She said, (brace yourself)”You people are addicts. You need KA, Knitters Anonymous.” And to think I breastfed that kid! AND knit for her! I told her that World Domination Through Wool is the big idea, so she’d better be careful.
    Mitty

  104. Have you seen the webpage about Sock Wars?
    http://yarn-monkey.blogspot.com/2006/07/are-you-ready-for-sock-wars-2006.html
    SockWars is a bloody, international death-by-sock tournament in which there can be only one survivor. On 22nd September you will be emailed a top secret file containing the details of your target and a pattern. To kill your target you must knit them the pair of socks in the pattern and mail it to them…
    I didn’t end up doing the Knitter’s Olympics – but THIS, this I’m signing up for. Whee!

  105. Ah, the hats…THE HATS!! They are AMAZING – Such Knitterly Devotion!! My daughter, who is STILL nursing, would wear one, I’m sure – but that would mean I’d have to make one, and I’m STILL knitting her birthday gift. The one she should’ve gotten for June 23rd.
    Yah.
    The laceweight? OMG.
    The Sims?
    Sigh.
    Oh, right, I was saying something. I’m a Sims addict, and those of us who knit and sim (at the same time, no less) can’t WAIT for them to write the code that will allow the Sims to KNIT.
    Wouldn’t that just be the End-all, BE all for us Simmers? RAH!!!

  106. In passing, it strikes me as amazing that you manage to get any knitting done at all amongst all the rest of the stuff you do: parenting, breast-feeding mentoring, supporting various charities, writing a book a year, maintaining a household, balancing finances, book promotion touring, keeping up with family, supporting friends. Guess it’s amazing that anything increases off the needles at all!

  107. Don’t think of it as a knitting impeding injury, think of it as an opportunity to practice continental knitting! As a continental knitter, that finger is ALWAYS in the air!!!!!
    😀
    ayla

  108. I have horrible dentist anxiety. Horrible. My last dentist drilled on me without ANY painkillers the last time I went to him.
    My new dentist is a wonderful, gentle man who understands “dental anxiety”. I was getting a filling (for the first time, from him) and he walked into the room. I had been shaking the whole ride over. He asked if I would like something to alleviate the anxiety, and I answered with an emphatic and desperate “YES!”
    He rubbed something onto my gums and a few minutes later, I was feeling wonderful and calm. After the appointment, he gave me a prescription for Valium- to take 1/2 hour before my appoinments. It has worked wonders, and I can walk to the LYS (less than a half block away) until the Valium wears off enough to drive home.
    The Valium works better for me than the breathing did (in for four, out for six).

  109. Happy Birthday. Amazing Hand-spun. Ouch for the finger.
    But really, if you have speeded up heartbeat, cold sweats or shaking, ask your dentist to use the verson of novacaine WITHOUT EPINEPHRIN. Many people don’t realize that “regular” novacaine has epinephrin in it to make the painkilling effect last longer. Dentists like it for that reason, which is fine unless you’re sensitive, in which case it gives you really severe “panic attack” symptoms and a heckuva headache. Good Luck

  110. I love the yarn! Have you tried bringing a circular stockinette project to the dentist? That way you don’t have to look at your hands. I like that type at the movies, and figure if it needs to be frogged, so be it, but I haven’t wasted any knitting time!

  111. Oh my a-gah!! I can’t believe your friend spindle spun that GORGEOUS yarn. Well, at least I have something for which to strive (I’ve been improving my spindle spinning in the past month).

  112. Yeah breastfeeding! That was great and I have to say I think lactation consultations are fabulous! I breast fed both my children, one for 15 months and the other 12 months and if it weren’t for my lactation consultant I might have given up much earlier! It is all about support and education!

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