Alyssa B

I am cleaning out my yarn stash and am overflowing with the stuff. A lot of it is mine, and some I received from another knitter a couple years ago. I'd like to donate it to a group or something that puts it to good use. Does anyone have any recommendations?

I have recently switched from a metal platform bed to an older, full-sized bed with headboard, footboard, and side rails. I am new to the whole concept of a box spring. I have a full-sized one that I bought, but it's a little small, width-wise for the bed frame. I've been reading that a box spring is supposed to take the place of bed slats, but I don't see how the box spring could be supported without it. Could I use slats to help support my my box spring? Will it ruin the bed?

The gears on my bike keep slipping, and it's really annoying me. About every two feet, it sounds like the chain is changing gears (though I'm not), the pedals slip, and my foot falls off the pedal. It used to happen just going up hills, now it's happening all the time. And if it's relevant to why this is happening, when I push the pedals backwards, they no longer catch and stay when I let go--they fall forward. I really know nothing about bikes, so I'm not sure if I'm explaining this right. Help? I love biking, but this is really getting on my nerves.

I keep getting harassing scam phone calls at work. They're all from the same man claiming to be from a company that represents banks, accusing me of check fraud and saying I'm going to jail if I don't pay a certain amount of money. Besides knowing that I don't owe money to anyone like that, I've looked up the phone number and the website he gave me. The phone number is from a cell phone and the website is for another company that deals in something entirely different (it makes software programs). Unfortunately, knowledge doesn't stop the phone calls. This man called 5-8 times in one hour at my workplace today. I don't have my own phone line at work, meaning these all went through my boss. Very embarrassing and unprofessional. I filed a complaint with the FTC, but I don't know where to go from there. I really want these calls to stop. Help?

I've been trying to cut highly processed food out of my diet and use more natural fats, so out went vegetable oil and shortening. This has been fine, except when I make pancakes. Usually, I'd use vegetable oil to grease the pan, but since that isn't an option, I've been trying other alternatives. I've tried butter, olive oil, even lard, but they all smoke and brown before one side of a pancake is cooked. And I don't crank the heat up (I use low-med heat on an electric stove). Does anyone know of a good alternative? I love pancakes, but this is driving me nuts.

So, driving to work yesterday, something flew up and put a small chip in my windshield. I'm getting it repaired as soon as I can, but "as soon as I can" means on Saturday. Is there any way I can protect the chip from getting larger until then? It's not very big (a dime would easily cover the whole thing), and I suspect it looks worse than it is. Given how cold it's been getting at night (below freezing), I don't want it to get bigger, or worse, turn into a crack. I haven't been using my defroster or running the heat very high in my car, but is there anything else? I drive about 45 miles a day to work and back.

So, for the past couple of days (since about Friday), I've been feeling sick. Symptoms include:

1) Wet cough/chest congestion

2) Sore throat (most of this is, I suspect, is from coughing)

3) Severe coughing

4) Body aches

5) Chills, but not severe.

6) No fever that I know of (I don't have a thermometer).

7) Fatigue

I'm at school, and I'm going to see the medical center on campus if this gets worse, but they tend to be alarmist. Last time I went there for fatigue and loss of appetite, they sent me to the hospital for a battery of tests, which revealed nothing. Since that went away over break, I suspect I was just run-down. I'd prefer not to go there if it's not anything serious.

Anybody have any ideas?

I'm sewing a McCall's pattern for little girl's sundresses, and I was doing just fine until I got to one part I didn't understand. There is a lining on the inside of the chest/straps area that is applied with fusible interfacing and stitched to the dress along the top. I was then told to clip the seams to a 1/4" seam allowance. Which was fine. But then it says:

"Understitch facing as far as possible."

And now I'm lost. I've tried to look it up online, but I just can't seem to get it. Can anyone help me? I'd like to get this finished before the child I'm making it for outgrows it! :) Here is what the pattern looks like, if anyone has done it themselves and can help that way (McCall's M5416):

http://mccallpattern.mccall.com/m5416-products-878...

I have an 18-month-old sister, and babysit her often. My grandparents, where I babysit her, have a large backyard pool that is now just open for the season. Since it's been in the 90's for temperatures here for the past few weeks, it's gotten me thinking about taking her into the pool this summer. She's obviously too little to swim, and so I've been looking at flotation devices to keep help keep her safe in the pool while she's in there with an adult. I can take her in there without anything, but I think it would make her (and me) feel a little more comfortable to be buoyant. I've run across baby inflatable floats, water wings, live jackets, life preservers, even baby wetsuits with foam in them. For parents who have gone through this, what do you recommend?

My 18-month-old sister, for the past few days, has started throwing up in the car on the way to daycare and spiking a low-grade fever. She's also more fatigued (she's napping as I type this, two and a half hours before her usual nap time) and irritable. We called the pediatrician, who told us they'd call back with a nurse who could helps us. When she called back, the nurse told us it was car-sickness and nothing to be worried about. I know she's not too young to have motion sickness, but wouldn't this have shown up before now? She's never had a problem before this week with the 40-minute car ride from her house to daycare. And what about the fatigue and fever? Could it be that she just doesn't like daycare (she started last week)? And if it is car-sickness, what to give her to alleviate it? I get motion-sickness myself, but the medicines I use couldn't be good for an 18-month-old. Help?

Has anybody else experienced grand-parental favoritism? Where the grandparents prefer one grandchild over another? I'm going through it right now, and it's so irritating.

I have an 18-month-old sister, who I babysit about twice a week while her dad does odd chores for my grandparents. She's a perfectly sweet little girl, and very shy. We have a 9-month-old cousin who lives next door, and he and my sister get along great. The problem is my grandparents' reaction to the kids. Both kids get toys and things when we go shopping for them, but it's more the emotional repsonse to the kids that bothers me. My cousin is doted upon with love and affection by my grandparents, while my sister is all but ignored. This is especially bad with my grandfather, who is so sickeningly sweet with my cousin that it makes me hurt for my little sister when he brushes her off. Especially since she adores him. She runs to see him when he comes in the door, waits for his truck to pull into the driveway, and will walk around the house wearing his giant sunhat pretending to be him (it's adorable). But he comes in and gives her a passing glance or doesn't acknowledge her at all. Usually, he barks at me to make sure she doesn't get into something she shouldn't. When he does acknowledge her, it's either to demand that she do or not do something, or about how she doesn't want to give him hugs or kisses. I've told him before she's very shy and that she's intimidated by his size (he's 6' 3", she's 2' 7". He's a giant to her) and that he shouldn't take it personally, but he doesn't listen. My grandmother is a smaller offender than her husband, but even she prefers my cousin. I'm not saying they should prefer my sister over my cousin, but it should be more equal.

I think at least half of this has to do with the kids' parents. My sister's and my mother is a recovering alcoholic and has battled with mental health issues and the law for the last twenty years. Recently, she screwed up again and has been ostrachized from the family. My cousin's parents are normal parents who have a lovely little apartment and have normal jobs (at least, my aunt does). I'm of the mind that just because my parents are idiots doesn't mean the baby should suffer.

A good example of what I'm talking about is when both kids leave the house for the evening. My sister always leaves in the early evening, since it's a long trek back to her house, and my grandfather will either simply say goodnight to her or not say anything at all. Not twenty minutes later, my aunt and uncle decide it's high time my cousin was in bed, and all of a sudden, my grandfather is all over it. He'll not only say goodnight, but lavish him with hugs and kisses, calling him "sweet prince" or "tiger". Or he'll comment on how my cousin will be a pitcher in Little League in a few years. When I point out that my sister could also be in Little League (she's got a heck of a throw herself. Though she prefers hitting me with the ball to laugh at my pain), he'll brush it off with a wave of his hand and change the subject. This isn't sexism: he coached my own Little League team when I was younger. The same thing happens with other things; my grandmother and I got the kids Red Sox caps, since we're all fans, and he gushed over my cousin's little red and blue one. I showed him that we got one for my sister, too, but he brushed it off.

I honestly don't know what to do. Don't get me wrong, I love my cousin. He's adorable and a blast to play with, not to mention incredibly personable. But I feel bad for my sister. My grandparents are the only grandparents she has, and I feel it's unfair that they favor my cousin so much. I mean, I lavish her with affection when she's over, but a big sister isn't the same as a grandparent. I want her to have good memories of my gradparents, but I don't see how that can happen when they ignore her like this. I've confronted them, especially my grandfather, before on this matter, but it doesn't seem to have made any difference. He changed for about two days, and then was back to his old ways. Does anybody have any suggestions? Because after yet another week of my sister being brushed aside, I'm at the end of my rope.

This might seem a silly question to more experienced quilters, but I'm making a quilt for my baby sister and was thinking about putting an appliqued ladybug in the center of it, since she loves them. But my mind is blanking on how to quilt an applique. Do I put it on and then quilt? Or quilt and then applique?

I'm making a toddler quilt for my younger sister (18 months). It's not going to be used as a bed covering, just more of a throw. Anybody have suggestions on how big it should be?

My 18-month-old sister is like the Energizer Bunny. Go, go, go, go all morning without stopping, and by afternoon she's more than ready for a nap. The only problem is, she won't sleep at Grandma's house (where I usually babysit her). Her dad says she's cut out naps at home, but I think this is more due to the fact that they spend nearly all day in the car and she sleeps whenever and where ever while they're out. The only way we (Grandma and I) can get her to sleep is to put her in the car and drive around, but we don't want this to become a bad habit, as Grandma isn't always available to drive her around for a nap. Help?

For the past week or so, I have been sexually aroused physically, but not mentally (if that makes any sense). I have no interest in sex or anything involving sex. My sister says that this is normal, that it happens to every woman, but I'm concerned. A week? And there seems to be no end in sight. I just want to feel normal again. Help?