J, my son, had to have minor at home surgery this morning before school. Here is the background. 5 days after A was born, J decided to use our 10 inch chef knife that my hubby keeps extra sharp to remove the core from an apple rather than the small knife that he is allowed to use. In addition, he decided not to put the apple on the cutting board but to hold it in his hand while cutting. Needless to say this was not a good idea as he cut through the apple, through the nerve, tendon and artery of one finger and into the next finger. Hubby took him to the emergency room and a week later he had reconstructive surgery on the finger. This involved sewing a button onto his fingernail to provide an anchor point to attach the tendon to so that it would not contract. Then there were several weeks where he could not get the finger wet while his arm was in a splint to prevent him from moving the finger with physical therapy exercises every hour. Next we moved to no splint, could get finger wet but had to blow dry it, and physical therapy every 2 hours. Now we were at getting finger wet, blow drying it and physical therapy 3 times a day. Back to this morning. While massaging the scar to reduce the amount of scar tissue he told hubby he felt it "pop". Hubby investigated and realized that the finger had become infected. Per the surgeon's directions we removed the button and then had to clean and disinfect the finger. Poor guy doesn't have the button anymore to gross his school mates out with! Any ideas on what to do with the button? I can't just throw it away after all this. This injury, combined with the weak eye that requires him to wear an eye patch for 4 hours every day sure made him the talk of the town for a while. Of course if you saw this:
wouldn't you talk too?? So that is my day so far. I have to pick up K from school in a few hours to take her to get her second Gardasil shot. Hopefully hubby will decide to do dishes while I am gone. I HATE doing dishes! In the meantime, here is a pattern I designed last year for charity donations. If you choose to make it, please consider making one for charity as well. I make mine to donate to God's Tiny Angels ( http://www.godstinyangels.com/ ) Danette is a wonderful woman and does great things. This is not a registered 501C organization, but it is legitimate. Danette started the group many years ago and it has grown much bigger than I am sure she thought it would. She often pays for shipping costs, materials etc out of her own pocket to ensure that items get to where they need to be.
Shells and Vines Sweater
Pattern copyright 2007 by Ginny Blankenship
pattern updated 2014 (changes in bold)
Size 0 to 3 months
You will need:
4 oz Red Heart Baby sport Pompadour yarn or an equivelent yarn that will yield the correct gauge
Size G hook
6 small buttons
Gauge: 6 rows in hdc - 2 inches and 7 hdc = 2 inches
**BPDC is a back post double crochet
**FPDC is a front post double crochet
**Shell is 2 dc, chain 1, 2 dc all done in one stitch or space on the previous row
** hdc decrease = yarn over, insert hook in stitch and pull up a loop, yarn over and insert hook in next stitch, pull up a loop, yarn over and pull through all loops on hook
Ch 42
Row 1: hdc in 3rd chain from hook and next 5 chains. 3 hdc in next (corner made), had in next 6, 3 hdc in next, hdc in next 12, 3 hdc in next chain, hdc in next 6, 3 hdc in next chain, hdc in last 6 chains.
Row 2-5: ch 2, turn (ch 2 does NOT count as 1st hdc) 1 hdc in each stitch, putting 3 hdc in each corner.
r 2 = 7, 3 in corner,8, 3 in corner, 14, 3 in corner, 8, 3 in corner, 7 for a total of 56 stitches
r 3 = 8, 3 in corner, 10, 3 in corner, 16, 3 in corner, 10, 3 in corner, 8 for a total of 64 hdc
r 4 = 9, 3 in corner, 12, 3 in corner, 18, 3 in corner, 12, 3 in corner, 9 for a total of 72 hdc
r 5 = 10, 3 in corner, 14, 3 in corner, 20, 3 in corner, 14, 3 in corner, 10 for a total of 80 hdc
Row 6: chain 2, turn, hdc in first 12, ch 10, skip 16 stitches, hdc in next 24, chain 10, skip 16 stitches, hdc in last 12. ( 48 hdc and armholes made)
Row 7: chain 1, turn. Sc in each hdc and chain. (68 sc)
Row 8: ch 2, turn. dc in first, skip 3, * (2 dc, ch 1, 2 dc) in next stitch (shell made) skip 4, repeat from * 12 times. Skip 2, dc in last stitch. (13 shells and 2 dc)
Row 9: Chain 2, turn. Dc in first dc, shell in center of the shell on previous row, * dc in space between shells of previous row, shell in center of the next shell. Repeat from * 11 times. Dc in last dc. (13 shells and 14 dc)
Row 10: Ch 2, turn. Dc in first dc, shell in center of next shell * BPDC around the dc of previous row. Shell in center of next shell. Repeat from * 11 times. Dc in last dc. (13 shells, 12 BPDC and 2 dc)
Row 11: ch 2, turn. Dc in first dc, shell in center of next shell, * FPDC around post on previous row, shell in center of next shell. Repeat from * 11 times. Dc in last dc. (13 shells, 12 FPDC and 2 dc)
Repeat rows 10 and 11 alternately 4 times
Edging begins at the end of row 19
Ch 1, working up the front opening of the sweater work 35 evenly spaced sc to neck line. Ch 1 and turn to work down the front.
Sc in first 2 sc, ch 1, skip 1 stitch to create a button hole *sc in next 5, ch 1, skip 1. Repeat from * 4 times. Sc in last 2 stitches.
Ch 1 turn, sc in each sc and space placing 3 sc in last stitch.
Now you are working across the top of the button band and the neckline
Work 7 sc which should bring you to the first corner of the neckband. Work 2 sc in this corner, then sc in the next 6 stitches, 2 sc in the next, sc in each of the next 12 stitches, 2 sc in the corner, sc in the next 6 stitches, 2 sc in the next 5. Place 3 sc in the last stitch of the neckline.
Work 33 sc down the left side opening of the front. Place 3 sc in the last stitch at the bottom edge. Working along the bottom of the jacket, place a sc in each stitch and space. Fasten off when you reach the end of the bottom of the button band. Weave in ends and sew buttons on to match button holes.
Sleeves:
Join yarn at underarm with the neck edge closest to you.
Row 1: ch 2, hdc in same space, work 27 hdc evenly around armhole and join to first hdc. turn. (28 hdc)
Row 2-5: ch 2, hdc in same and each hdc around. Join to first hdc. turn
Row 6: ch 2, hdc in same stitch. Work hdc decrease, hdc in next 12, hdc decrease, hdc in remaining stitches. join to first hdc and turn. (26 hdc)
Row 7-9: ch 2, hdc in same stitch and each stitch around. join and turn. (26 hdc)
Row 10: ch 2, hdc in same stitch. Work hdc decrease, hdc in next 11, hdc decrease, hdc in remaining stitches. Join to first hdc and turn. (24 hdc)
Row 11-13: ch 2, hdc in same and each stitch around. Join and turn. (24 hdc)
Row 14: ch 2 hdc in first stitch, hdc decrease, hdc in next 10, hdc decrease, hdc in remaining stitches. Join to first hdc and turn. (22 hdc)
Row 15-18: ch 2, hdc in same stitch and each stitch around. Join and turn. (22 hdc)
Row 19: ch 1, sc in each stitch, join and fasten off. Weave in ends.
Repeat for second sleeve
Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of theis pattern, but there may be errors. If you find one please let me know!
Shells & Vines Sweater and Hat by Ginny Blankenship is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
I will post the pattern for the hat next time. In the meantime, enjoy!