Summer and Swimming!!!

We had our first foray out to the pool today – summer has officially begun! 

Both my boys, S (7 y.o.) and E (5 y.o.), have autism.  They are a great living example of how differently kids on the autism spectrum can present.  S is extremely analytical, with a brain that never shuts off, but is not much interested in his peers.  E, on the other hand, is incredibly social, but remains uninterested in the academic portion of school. 

 Both boys, however, love swimming!  One of the family treats during the winter is to drive over to LaVale, MD, and spend a night in a Best Western hotel there that has an indoor swimming pool.    Last summer, E broke his foot and was in a cast in most of the summer – up until Labor Day weekend when the neighborhood pool closed.  So, we were thankful that it was in the 90’s yesterday and today, so that the pool would be tolerable temperature-wise. 

The water was a little chilly, especially since we went before lunch, but the boys were very happy to have an hour to paddle about. 

We’re also working on bike riding – the boys each picked out new bikes at Toys R Us last weekend.  And I figured that it would be another summer like the past two where we try to get them out and riding, but with little success.  This is year is different, however – HOORAY!  We have been out riding each night since I picked them up on Wednesday (I decided it was worth the 6 hours of my time it would have taken me to assemble both bikes to simply pay the $20 to TRU to assemble them).  S has hand braking down, and E has finally grasped the foot brakes.  With their issues with hypotonia, we are so happy that it looks like we can add bike riding to our outdoor activities. 

Sunday Morning & Needle Sizing

Sitting here and the kids are actually being quiet – amazing for a holiday weekend morning! 

I wanted to remind everyone that Mosaic Yarn Store is taking crocheted and knitted 8×8 squares in burnt orange, maroon, black and white to join into afghans for VT victims and their families.  Here is a link to their blog with all the pertinent info:  http://mosaicyarnshop.blogspot.com/2007_04_01_archive.html    I was able to get six squares to them earlier in the month.

 

I’m working my way through learning how to knit two socks at a time on two circular needles.  I’m using a discontinued color from Opal – in the summer line – and I love the yarn.  I’m struggling a little with the two at a time on two circs, mainly because Cat Bordhi’s Socks That Soar book and Charlene Schurch’s Sensational Socks books (where I get almost all of my patterns) both just deal with one at a time and I tried to redistribute the stitches as recommended when I came to decreasing the gusset and then back again after the decrease.  Clearly, that is possible when knitting one at a time on two circs, but not two.  I had to get out my dpns and actually take one sock off the circs to make it work.  

 Anyhow, when getting the one sock off, I came to the realization that Addi has its own system for sizing that is not standard.  It is .25 mm larger than the industry guidelines for their smaller needles.  I first found this out when I had to get out my size 3 dpns by Pony to get the same diameter as my size 2 Addi Turbo circs (3 mm), because my size 2 Pony Pearls were 2.75 mm.   I thought that Pony must have been off, given Addi’s stellar reputation.  But then I checked my plastic needle guage and they had 2.75 mm as size 2’s.  And then I pulled up the industry guidelines (http://yarnstandards.com/hooks.html).  I then looked at the insert in my Addi envelope that lists the sizes along the side and a number of the smaller needles all run “large” when they convert them to US sizing.  

 Moral of the story:  if at all possible, forget about US sizing for sock needles and stick to mm, since the popular brands do seem to be different in how they convert to US sizes.