Yay for socks!
Well, as you can see from the sidebar, the Sock-A-Month Knitalong is already rolling along! Since there are quite a few of you, I'm going to ask that you e-mail me when your socks are posted to your blog. If you don't have a blog, e-mail me a pic and I'll post it here. I know quite a few of you mentioned that you have socks done or close to it for January - make sure you e-mail me when they're done so you get your bonus credit!
Also, thanks to Amanda for the great button (it's up in the sidebar for your swiping pleasure - please host on your own server, yada yada yada)! And please go visit your fellow sockers' blogs! I will be mulling over the prize for the next few days and will post some pics next week (I hope) to get y'all extra motivated. I lurve socks!!!
So my sleepless night didn't come to a very good end last night... After I got done posting about the knitalong, I went upstairs and was trying to get back to sleep when I heard Sydney crying. She and Bill were up and she was all hot and feverish (again). She was also complaining that her back hurt. Well, overly paranoid mother that I am, I immediately thought meningitis. I was misdiagnosed with it as a teenager, so I know all the symptoms, one of which is a sore back/neck. We tried to get her to touch her chin to her chest, but she wouldn't do it. Not surprising at 1 am while sick and crabby, but we called the doctor anyway. After about a 15-minute conversation, the doctor recommended we take her in to the emergency room, just to be safe. It's one of those things - we knew that there probably wasn't anything wrong with her, but if we blew it off and there really was, how would we forgive ourselves? So Bill bundled her into the car and off to the hospital around 2 am. I had to stay home with Owen, even though it almost killed me.
The diagnostic tool for meningitis is a lumbar puncture, where they stick a small needle into the space around your spinal cord and draw out some fluid, which they then send off to be tested. I've had one lumbar puncture, one epidural and one spinal, so I know how horrible it can be. I was left at home to try to sleep, knowing my baby girl might be undergoing the procedure that very moment. And if Sydney had meningitis, did that mean we would need to get Owen tested, too? It's generally more dangerous for babies... Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep.
Since they got to the hospital so late, there was only one pediatric doctor still on duty, and they apparently had a bunch of traumas come in while Bill and Sydney were waiting. They got in to see the doctor around 5 am, finally, and they ran a bunch of tests and basically determined that she was just suffering from the remnants of her awful cold. It was a huge relief, but so frustrating at the same time since they could've been home sleeping that whole time. They got back around 6 am and went straight to bed. Bill had to leave for work at 7:15, so he got about 20 minutes of sleep. He has to go out for a work dinner tonight, too, so this was about the worst possible night this could've happened. But again, better safe than sorry!
I am taking a community education class at PCC, which starts tonight, on the History of Fashion. It's 2-1/2 hours, and I'm not sure how I'm going to stay with it all that time! I sure hope it's interesting...
I did get another little bit of good news today. I got a call from the publisher of a couple of grocery-aisle books that are coming out in the next year called Quick To Knit Gifts and Nursery Knits. I almost didn't submit anything to them because of a huge brouhaha on the Knit Design e-mail list that I belong to (basically everyone there was all up-in-arms because this publisher is only offering $150 per pattern and takes the copyright forever). But I reconsidered and whipped up a few super easy things and sent them in. Well, they want to buy one design for each of the books, and they're going to be deciding on the other designs this week. We also discussed what other things they're looking for, and I had a few ideas that she's really interested in.
I'm glad I ended up submitting because the publisher is really nice, she got back to me very quickly (unlike some of the knitting mags where your submissions basically disappear into a black hole for months...), and I'll get some free advertising for my website. I'm hoping that, since these mags are sold in grocery stores, I'll be able to get some traffic to my website if people like my designs. I'm planning to have some patterns up for sale by the time the books come out, so it might drive other sales - at least that's what I'm hoping. And even if it doesn't, $150 is $150! That will buy a few skeins of yarn, anyway.
Also, thanks to Amanda for the great button (it's up in the sidebar for your swiping pleasure - please host on your own server, yada yada yada)! And please go visit your fellow sockers' blogs! I will be mulling over the prize for the next few days and will post some pics next week (I hope) to get y'all extra motivated. I lurve socks!!!
So my sleepless night didn't come to a very good end last night... After I got done posting about the knitalong, I went upstairs and was trying to get back to sleep when I heard Sydney crying. She and Bill were up and she was all hot and feverish (again). She was also complaining that her back hurt. Well, overly paranoid mother that I am, I immediately thought meningitis. I was misdiagnosed with it as a teenager, so I know all the symptoms, one of which is a sore back/neck. We tried to get her to touch her chin to her chest, but she wouldn't do it. Not surprising at 1 am while sick and crabby, but we called the doctor anyway. After about a 15-minute conversation, the doctor recommended we take her in to the emergency room, just to be safe. It's one of those things - we knew that there probably wasn't anything wrong with her, but if we blew it off and there really was, how would we forgive ourselves? So Bill bundled her into the car and off to the hospital around 2 am. I had to stay home with Owen, even though it almost killed me.
The diagnostic tool for meningitis is a lumbar puncture, where they stick a small needle into the space around your spinal cord and draw out some fluid, which they then send off to be tested. I've had one lumbar puncture, one epidural and one spinal, so I know how horrible it can be. I was left at home to try to sleep, knowing my baby girl might be undergoing the procedure that very moment. And if Sydney had meningitis, did that mean we would need to get Owen tested, too? It's generally more dangerous for babies... Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep.
Since they got to the hospital so late, there was only one pediatric doctor still on duty, and they apparently had a bunch of traumas come in while Bill and Sydney were waiting. They got in to see the doctor around 5 am, finally, and they ran a bunch of tests and basically determined that she was just suffering from the remnants of her awful cold. It was a huge relief, but so frustrating at the same time since they could've been home sleeping that whole time. They got back around 6 am and went straight to bed. Bill had to leave for work at 7:15, so he got about 20 minutes of sleep. He has to go out for a work dinner tonight, too, so this was about the worst possible night this could've happened. But again, better safe than sorry!
I am taking a community education class at PCC, which starts tonight, on the History of Fashion. It's 2-1/2 hours, and I'm not sure how I'm going to stay with it all that time! I sure hope it's interesting...
I did get another little bit of good news today. I got a call from the publisher of a couple of grocery-aisle books that are coming out in the next year called Quick To Knit Gifts and Nursery Knits. I almost didn't submit anything to them because of a huge brouhaha on the Knit Design e-mail list that I belong to (basically everyone there was all up-in-arms because this publisher is only offering $150 per pattern and takes the copyright forever). But I reconsidered and whipped up a few super easy things and sent them in. Well, they want to buy one design for each of the books, and they're going to be deciding on the other designs this week. We also discussed what other things they're looking for, and I had a few ideas that she's really interested in.
I'm glad I ended up submitting because the publisher is really nice, she got back to me very quickly (unlike some of the knitting mags where your submissions basically disappear into a black hole for months...), and I'll get some free advertising for my website. I'm hoping that, since these mags are sold in grocery stores, I'll be able to get some traffic to my website if people like my designs. I'm planning to have some patterns up for sale by the time the books come out, so it might drive other sales - at least that's what I'm hoping. And even if it doesn't, $150 is $150! That will buy a few skeins of yarn, anyway.
posted by knittinmom at 1:26 PM
7 Comments:
Good luck with the submissions! It's tough out there, but persistence and thinking outside the box seem to be key.
What a scary night you had - I'm so glad Sydney is not suffering from anything serious. I totally agree with the better safe than sorry attitude. I hope your whole house is able to get a good nights sleep tonight.
Happy New Year, Chrissy!! Holy raccoon, I've sure missed a bunch here at Knittin' Mom! Are you still accepting people for the sock KAL?? I would definitely love to play! Congratulations on all the design submissions! You're getting so famous, it's hard to keep track of all your different publications. ;-) I'm so happy for you!! And on a serious note, I'm very glad to hear that all is "well" with Sydney, relatively, anyway. Stinky was hospitalized with meningitis at 6 weeks old, and it was the scariest thing in my life, ever. I felt that sick knot in my stomach as you recounted Sydney's ER visit, remembering our whole saga. Hope everyone feels well soon...take care! :-)
Congratulations on the submissions, and the success of the KAL! I am super excited about it. Is the publication a periodical? Do you know when it will be coming out? I want to get it, since I know one of the designers! :)
Glad Sydney is (relatively) OK. Hospital trips are soooo scary. ::hugs::
When my youngest was six-months, she had a febrile seizure. I knew what was happening because my brother used to have them, but the emergency room did a spinal tap to rule out meningitis because it can cause seizures in infants.
Then a few weeks ago, my oldest was running a high fever and complaining of a sore neck. I knew I was being paranoid as well, but meningitis kills people so quickly that I wasn't about to say "What if" if I didn't take her. They didn't have to do a spinal tap, but taking blood was bad enough.
I hope Sydney feels better. You really can't mess around with kids' health.
Congratulations on getting published. That's really exciting! I am so sorry to hear about your night, I can really relate to being a paranoid mother, and taking care of your kids. I am glad Sydney is alright and it's just a cold.
Congratulations on your submissions. $150 is $150 and you never know who might see them and want more of your designs (including other publishers).
Sorry to hear about the long night with Sydney, but glad she's ok. Hospital visits are scary at any age, but so much more so with kids.
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