Jaycee Bogg's Spinning Art Yarns is the class, and yes this link will apparently earn me something if you click on it and purchase the class, I'd love it if you did as I've earned nothing so far and I may have just bought the class!
I love art yarns and the idea of a class that shows me how to do it properly and gives me some ideas on how to use the yarn just tickles me pink. This is Jaycee's second class and the first one was brilliant so I'm expecting this one to be just as good.
I'll have to wait a little before I get to play though, have some fibre I have to spin fairly soon and I also have a petticoat to make and a loom to warp up. School holidays are having an impact on my time and of course the weather is nice at the moment so the garden is calling.
Tomorrow the plan is to purchase some compost and make use of the boys to help unload the trailer before returning it. They'll earn their electronics time for the afternoon. I also need to do more weeding in the "vege patch", read weed patch. There are some veges in there, broccoli that's flowering, very pretty and some spinach that I can barely see. I need to rescue that for making smoothies so I can use the pineapple I have in the fridge.
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Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Monday, September 28, 2015
Challenge: Brown
What the item is: An approximately 1810's velvet spencer
The Challenge: Brown - to make an item using the colour brown
The Fabric: In this case I've used 100% cotton velvet that's been in the stash for over a decade for the main part of the spencer, and the silk/cotton that I used for the dress is the lining. There is some sew-in interfacing which is quite a strong wool.
Pattern: The Laughing Moon double breasted spencer pattern
Year: Approximately 1810
Notions: Polyester thread and 2 metal hooks
How Historically Accurate is it? I think it's probably pretty good, cotton velveteen was available as well as silk velvet so I think it's a fair assumption that cotton velvet would have been available as well. The thread isn't of course, but aside from that and the sewing being mostly machine I'm pretty happy it would stand on its own in 1810. I'll call it 85% accurate.
Hours to Complete: Who knows? I got knocked back with the flu and a stomach ulcer while making this which meant it took way longer than it should have.
First Worn: Not yet worn, still need to make a bodiced petticoat to wear under the dress to make sure that the skirt doesn't get caught between my legs.
Total Cost: Hard to work out seeing as everything was from stash and left over from other projects. The velvet had previously been used to repair a chair and the lining was from the dress this goes over. Probably around $20NZ though.
The Challenge: Brown - to make an item using the colour brown
The Fabric: In this case I've used 100% cotton velvet that's been in the stash for over a decade for the main part of the spencer, and the silk/cotton that I used for the dress is the lining. There is some sew-in interfacing which is quite a strong wool.
Pattern: The Laughing Moon double breasted spencer pattern
Year: Approximately 1810
Notions: Polyester thread and 2 metal hooks
How Historically Accurate is it? I think it's probably pretty good, cotton velveteen was available as well as silk velvet so I think it's a fair assumption that cotton velvet would have been available as well. The thread isn't of course, but aside from that and the sewing being mostly machine I'm pretty happy it would stand on its own in 1810. I'll call it 85% accurate.
Hours to Complete: Who knows? I got knocked back with the flu and a stomach ulcer while making this which meant it took way longer than it should have.
First Worn: Not yet worn, still need to make a bodiced petticoat to wear under the dress to make sure that the skirt doesn't get caught between my legs.
Total Cost: Hard to work out seeing as everything was from stash and left over from other projects. The velvet had previously been used to repair a chair and the lining was from the dress this goes over. Probably around $20NZ though.
Friday, September 25, 2015
Crafting and the result of seeing the Gyno.
First up I thought you'd like to see the finished socks for Ian, he loves them and wanted to wear them again yesterday but I had to say no as they need to go to guild tomorrow to be displayed
I think I need to learn how to do jogless stripes next time.
On the sewing front I'm working on a 1810's spencer in brown velvet and made the silly decision to line it with the dress fabric. I'm regretting that now as the fabric is too soft , but it's too late to change it so I'm adapting as I go. There will be photo's once I finish it.
Weaving - I've almost finished winding the mohair warp, just 44 wraps to go, but the spencer has a timeline so that needs to be finished first. I do want to get it ready to go fairly quickly though for just in case I can't warp for a while.
Ok, if you're only reading for my craft stuff you may want to stop here, we're going to get into medical things now which some of you might not want to read.
As you know I've got endometriosis, I had to postpone my gyno appointment due to the flu, but I went yesterday morning with Dh to meet with Micheal East. I took my colonoscopy pictures and a list of my symptoms as well. He took a look at the colonoscopy photos and said he didn't think it was mucosal tissue, it looked like something was coming through the wall of the colon (which is likely endo). Most of my symptoms can be pinned on the endo, that doesn't include the vertigo but pretty much everything else including the bladder issues and IBS, which as he said isn't really IBS, it's endo related bowel issues.
From the MRI he could tell it was stage 4, which is the worst version, stage 1 and 2 wouldn't be seen on an MRI anyway so I already knew it wasn't going to be the lighter versions. He asked me what I was thinking on treatment and I said I was thinking surgery (laparoscopy) seeing as I can't take NSAID's anymore and hormone treatment isn't somewhere I want to go.
He agrees, and then told me what he thought. There will be a bowel resection to remove the portion that's been invaded, add to that the excision of all the endo and a hysterectomy; I didn't expect the last part but he said that I will have Adenomyosis and even if they get all the endo I will still have pain and will more than likely come back later to remove the uterus. I'd rather get it all over and done with in one surgery so I'm going to get it done. I'm keeping my ovaries, or at least that's the plan until they see what's in there so my hormones will continue to be produced which is good, and there will be no more periods, yay!
Recovery won't be fun, from the bowel resection it can take up to 9 months for the nerve pathways to heal properly apparently and I forgot to ask how long I'll be unable to drive and how long the hysterectomy takes to heal. It'll all be done laparascoply though which should make things go a little faster. I asked a lot of questions, but there's always something you forget. I don't have a date yet, the surgeon needs to talk to the colorectal surgeon who I was seeing prior to this to find out if he does laparoscopy or not, if he doesn't then it'll be a different colorectal surgeon. Once that's sorted they'll give me a date and I'll reorganise my life to suit. Thank goodness I have health insurance, it means I'll get surgery earlier and I got to choose who I use for the endo side of things, which is important as I wanted someone who was experienced in using excision rather than ablation. Excision is much better at getting rid of endo long term, with ablation it often comes back.
I will keep things updated on here as things go, wish me luck!
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| Not the best photo, but he put them straight on despite not feeling well at the time and kept them on all day |
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| and here they are keeping company with my pair in the same colours. |
On the sewing front I'm working on a 1810's spencer in brown velvet and made the silly decision to line it with the dress fabric. I'm regretting that now as the fabric is too soft , but it's too late to change it so I'm adapting as I go. There will be photo's once I finish it.
Weaving - I've almost finished winding the mohair warp, just 44 wraps to go, but the spencer has a timeline so that needs to be finished first. I do want to get it ready to go fairly quickly though for just in case I can't warp for a while.
Ok, if you're only reading for my craft stuff you may want to stop here, we're going to get into medical things now which some of you might not want to read.
As you know I've got endometriosis, I had to postpone my gyno appointment due to the flu, but I went yesterday morning with Dh to meet with Micheal East. I took my colonoscopy pictures and a list of my symptoms as well. He took a look at the colonoscopy photos and said he didn't think it was mucosal tissue, it looked like something was coming through the wall of the colon (which is likely endo). Most of my symptoms can be pinned on the endo, that doesn't include the vertigo but pretty much everything else including the bladder issues and IBS, which as he said isn't really IBS, it's endo related bowel issues.
From the MRI he could tell it was stage 4, which is the worst version, stage 1 and 2 wouldn't be seen on an MRI anyway so I already knew it wasn't going to be the lighter versions. He asked me what I was thinking on treatment and I said I was thinking surgery (laparoscopy) seeing as I can't take NSAID's anymore and hormone treatment isn't somewhere I want to go.
He agrees, and then told me what he thought. There will be a bowel resection to remove the portion that's been invaded, add to that the excision of all the endo and a hysterectomy; I didn't expect the last part but he said that I will have Adenomyosis and even if they get all the endo I will still have pain and will more than likely come back later to remove the uterus. I'd rather get it all over and done with in one surgery so I'm going to get it done. I'm keeping my ovaries, or at least that's the plan until they see what's in there so my hormones will continue to be produced which is good, and there will be no more periods, yay!
Recovery won't be fun, from the bowel resection it can take up to 9 months for the nerve pathways to heal properly apparently and I forgot to ask how long I'll be unable to drive and how long the hysterectomy takes to heal. It'll all be done laparascoply though which should make things go a little faster. I asked a lot of questions, but there's always something you forget. I don't have a date yet, the surgeon needs to talk to the colorectal surgeon who I was seeing prior to this to find out if he does laparoscopy or not, if he doesn't then it'll be a different colorectal surgeon. Once that's sorted they'll give me a date and I'll reorganise my life to suit. Thank goodness I have health insurance, it means I'll get surgery earlier and I got to choose who I use for the endo side of things, which is important as I wanted someone who was experienced in using excision rather than ablation. Excision is much better at getting rid of endo long term, with ablation it often comes back.
I will keep things updated on here as things go, wish me luck!
Thursday, September 10, 2015
I really don't like this bug
Further to my last update, later that night Ian's temperature went up to 40.2 degrees according to our dodgy ear thermometer (I've just ordered a better one) and he was most unwell. A bit confused and coughing still and at some point in the night he also vomited. I got T to ditch judo halfway through to go and get Pamol as we had none in the house, by the time he got home with it Ian's temp was back under 40 and I monitored him for several more hours.
Unfortunately it was all up to me, normally T would help, but he had an early flight out to Auckland and needed his sleep; I got to bed at about 11pm and got up several times to check on him.
He was lower in the temp yesterday, but still pretty sad, today he's been better in himself, though still has an extremely nasty cough and the nose bleeds! One last night, wasn't too bad, just his usual. This morning's one though lasted for an hour and he's been having them on and off all day. From what I've seen on Facebook it's part of this bug, but not a part I'm enjoying at all. The doc pretty much said we've got to ride it out.
I've also got it, so far it's just the cough, but I've been hitting it with Olive leaf and I'm hoping that'll stop it getting too bad, I'm also taking Vitamin C, but I can't get him to take any of those things.
Tonight T is back, and he's going to be on duty as soon as he gets home from judo, I will be wearing my earplugs and hoping like hell that he doesn't cough enough to vomit again. If I'm going to be bad it should be tonight going by Ian, but so far I think I'm doing better than him. So tired though, ugh.
Oh, and incapable of working, I tried, but I failed to do much at all, have emailed work to let them know. I also did the groceries online; possibly not the best idea when not well, got twice as much toast bread as I wanted and no sandwich bread at all, also the tinned corn was the wrong size; not the supermarket's fault, it's all me.
I have got a little knitting done though, almost up to the toe on Ian's second sock, hopefully I'll be able to give that to him as he comes right.
Unfortunately it was all up to me, normally T would help, but he had an early flight out to Auckland and needed his sleep; I got to bed at about 11pm and got up several times to check on him.
He was lower in the temp yesterday, but still pretty sad, today he's been better in himself, though still has an extremely nasty cough and the nose bleeds! One last night, wasn't too bad, just his usual. This morning's one though lasted for an hour and he's been having them on and off all day. From what I've seen on Facebook it's part of this bug, but not a part I'm enjoying at all. The doc pretty much said we've got to ride it out.
I've also got it, so far it's just the cough, but I've been hitting it with Olive leaf and I'm hoping that'll stop it getting too bad, I'm also taking Vitamin C, but I can't get him to take any of those things.
Tonight T is back, and he's going to be on duty as soon as he gets home from judo, I will be wearing my earplugs and hoping like hell that he doesn't cough enough to vomit again. If I'm going to be bad it should be tonight going by Ian, but so far I think I'm doing better than him. So tired though, ugh.
Oh, and incapable of working, I tried, but I failed to do much at all, have emailed work to let them know. I also did the groceries online; possibly not the best idea when not well, got twice as much toast bread as I wanted and no sandwich bread at all, also the tinned corn was the wrong size; not the supermarket's fault, it's all me.
I have got a little knitting done though, almost up to the toe on Ian's second sock, hopefully I'll be able to give that to him as he comes right.
Tuesday, September 08, 2015
Ugh, bugs
Had to pick youngest up from school yesterday due to a cough, it started when he got up that morning, but I had my doctor's appointment and it wasn't bad so....
The doctor's appointment resulted in a referral for further investigation of my endometriosis and I now have an appointment with a private gyn surgeon for next week which is good, very quick response time! I'm expecting that will result in another claim with the health insurance, but that's why I've got it, right?
A bit before lunchtime (after the doc, but before the call from the gyn office) school rang to ask me to pick youngest bear up from school as his cough was worse and he now had a sore throat and headache. Apparently his TA had the same thing last week and the class is full of it, hence why he now has it too. It's been a very bad year for bugs unfortunately.
Kept him home today, aside from a quick trip out for a new charger cable for his iPad (yes, it's a necessity) and some more juice from the supermarket. Finally made him take some cough medicine around 1pm cos he was coughing so much it wasn't at all nice, that's improved things but he's definitely not well. Plus he has a sore tooth, and I've checked and there is the beginning of a hole in it, so he'll probably end up back at hospital for that one.
If he's not improved tomorrow with the cough I think there'll be a doctor's appointment for him too, he's not keen, but sometimes we have to do things we don't want to.
Upside is I'm now doing my work during the day so I might finish it tonight, downside is I'm not out in my studio sewing the 1810's spencer. I did at least get it cut out between the weekend and yesterday morning, and I've got past the gusset on youngest's latest sock.
The doctor's appointment resulted in a referral for further investigation of my endometriosis and I now have an appointment with a private gyn surgeon for next week which is good, very quick response time! I'm expecting that will result in another claim with the health insurance, but that's why I've got it, right?
A bit before lunchtime (after the doc, but before the call from the gyn office) school rang to ask me to pick youngest bear up from school as his cough was worse and he now had a sore throat and headache. Apparently his TA had the same thing last week and the class is full of it, hence why he now has it too. It's been a very bad year for bugs unfortunately.
Kept him home today, aside from a quick trip out for a new charger cable for his iPad (yes, it's a necessity) and some more juice from the supermarket. Finally made him take some cough medicine around 1pm cos he was coughing so much it wasn't at all nice, that's improved things but he's definitely not well. Plus he has a sore tooth, and I've checked and there is the beginning of a hole in it, so he'll probably end up back at hospital for that one.
If he's not improved tomorrow with the cough I think there'll be a doctor's appointment for him too, he's not keen, but sometimes we have to do things we don't want to.
Upside is I'm now doing my work during the day so I might finish it tonight, downside is I'm not out in my studio sewing the 1810's spencer. I did at least get it cut out between the weekend and yesterday morning, and I've got past the gusset on youngest's latest sock.
Wednesday, September 02, 2015
A finished object for school
Last year youngest's school found out I sew, so they now ask me to do stuff from time to time. Last year it was snake hoods and furry tails. This year it's been a quilt to show off some class artwork and today I finished it and handed it back.
I did make some suggestions when asked, the original plan was to have the artwork framed in cream fabric, the same as the background for the paintings; I strongly suggested black would make them pop and thank goodness that suggestion was taken on board.
This is the result
I got loads of knitting done on Friday, mainly due to spending the day in SARA ward of the hospital. Thursday night severe abdominal pain, went to after hours at about 1am, inflammation levels high, liver numbers also higher than normal plus a temperature. An ultrasound ruled out gall stones and the pain reduced to twinges so I was sent home Friday evening, but not until after finishing one sock and starting yarn chicken with the other
Luckily I have managed to source more and it's on its way.
On the health front I went back to the doctor on Monday as still not feeling well, more blood taken and the doc presented the opinion that it was viral going by overall symptoms. Results ruled out the viruses she was half expecting so it's some random thing, luckily I'm now feeling better and I was well enough yesterday to keep my MRI appointment.
Got another call from the doctors rooms about the results from that, apparently there's endometriosis in there, might well be an explanation for all sorts of ongoing issues such as IBS, pain (though not Thursday night's episode) and the issues I went to the colonoscopy guy for in the first place. I have an appointment for Monday for more bloods to check liver function again and to talk about the endo.
Have spent some time googling local treatments, the pain killer one won't work now that I can't take NSAIDs (give me a sore tummy), so possibly might be looking at laparoscopy. Wish me luck!
I did make some suggestions when asked, the original plan was to have the artwork framed in cream fabric, the same as the background for the paintings; I strongly suggested black would make them pop and thank goodness that suggestion was taken on board.
This is the result
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| Isn't it gorgeous? The black frames them nicely, I'm really happy with how it turned out. |
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| I think it's fairly obvious I'm not going to make it with this remaining yarn |
On the health front I went back to the doctor on Monday as still not feeling well, more blood taken and the doc presented the opinion that it was viral going by overall symptoms. Results ruled out the viruses she was half expecting so it's some random thing, luckily I'm now feeling better and I was well enough yesterday to keep my MRI appointment.
Got another call from the doctors rooms about the results from that, apparently there's endometriosis in there, might well be an explanation for all sorts of ongoing issues such as IBS, pain (though not Thursday night's episode) and the issues I went to the colonoscopy guy for in the first place. I have an appointment for Monday for more bloods to check liver function again and to talk about the endo.
Have spent some time googling local treatments, the pain killer one won't work now that I can't take NSAIDs (give me a sore tummy), so possibly might be looking at laparoscopy. Wish me luck!
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