The Laneway Dress

I've already posted a photo of this, but I got decent ones on the real camera and I wanted to do a review so I can refer back to this when I do my next one.

Ok, the one I made was a wearable muslin.  It feels comfortable enough, but there are a few issues.  The shoulder and sleeves are a little tight on me but the bust is way too big and the darts are too far apart so I'm going to have to an adjustment there.   The hip is just right, but the waist is a little big.  I chose my size based on measurements and added 4cm in length to the bodice, this needed to be 3cm so obviously I'll change that.  The fabric wasn't a good choice either, it needs something with body, mine is probably a viscose (got it from Stash Rehash so no way of knowing what it was).

The next one will be the next size down I think, which will bring everything in, and I'll do the length change.  I'm using the Liberty Lawn which has more body than this and I might go for the off centre collar.  I'm also ditching the pockets and might add a touch more fullness to the skirt.

You can see here there's too much room in the bust and the darts are too far apart, though how much of that is due to the fabric choice and being too long in the bodice I'm not sure

Definitely too long in the back too

I think it'll sit better without the pockets, but didn't I do well on matching the plaid at the waist?

Doesn't help that I have a low bust either

And a silly photo, why?  Just cos I could!

Edit: Seriously considering a different pattern now, the Chai Dress from Itch to Stitch; I know her jeans fit me well, so hoping the dress will too and it's not as problematic for fitting, plus it's designed for shirtweight fabric which is what I have.

Feeling better

I don't know if it'll last or not but I'm taking it and running with it.  I did have a wee step backwards last Tuesday when I cycled to my surgeon's office for an appointment prior to organising surgery for a rectocele (it's a type of prolapse, if you're interested look it up, I don't want to put people off so I won't give more details).  I came off my bike at speed a couple of kilometers away from my destination due to someone deciding that they wanted to know if Darwin would kill stupid people.  Darwin might, but I'm not prepared to, so I swerved, prayed that there weren't any silent vehicles behind me and came off the bike.  Luckily I missed the stupid person, but unfortunately I took a fair bit of damage and many of my middle pain that had receded has come back.  Had to get the surgeon's nurse to fix up my knee and thank goodness they had a sink I could use to get the blood out of my handknit sock!   Priorities, socks won't heal, I will!
Found out I have another endometrioma which was picked up on the MRI, so the surgeon sent me off for an ultrasound as it was 3 months after the MRI, it's still there and it looks like some of my left ovary is still there too, that was supposed to be removed but I know things were a mess in there so it's probably not a huge surprise if some got missed.  Downside to all this is the appointment cost twice as much as I expected and then the ultrasound added more, sigh.  Had to order some supplements too, so the budget is totalled (again).  Never mind, this is a short term problem and we will get back to normal soon.

I've managed some sewing and some knitting and some spinning, I will post photos for you.  Cleaned out the fridge and the pantry this week too, less dated stuff than I expected and now it's nice and tidy, yay!

First up we have a tote bag, fully lined and with magnetic closure from my hand weaving.  It's got a solid base and is a darned good size.

This is a cat mat, my own design.  Basically using roving, cast on 20 stitches on 15mm needles and knit till it's cat sized.  I knit this after Star kept stealing my fibre, so I knew she loved it.

Horrible photo of my wearable muslin of the Laneway Dress.  It's too big in the bust and underbust areas and a smidge too long in the body (my fault, I lengthened the pattern a touch too much).  I really love the look of the pattern on other people so will try again I think.  I've got some fabric that needs to be the dress and I really hope I get it right since it's Liberty Lawn and I love it! 

And finally here's Maire almost threaded up, just have a few more to put into the heddles and then I can pop the beater on the loom.  This is going to be a very random wall hanging. 

Now the question is, do I get back on the bike tomorrow to visit the library?   I think I probably will if the weather is up to it, need to get fit before the surgery as I won't be sitting on anything like a bike seat for some months post surgery, and with having the laparoscopy at the same time I want to allow a longer healing period than last time, pretty sure falling off the bike 3 months post-op was a bad thing that lead to some of my current issues.

Test Results

Not sure if I mentioned it earlier, but I sent off to get a hair test to check my heavy metals and mineral levels from MediScan via my acupuncturist.  I've got the results back, unfortunately I have a number of problems that were picked up.  The only heavy metal that came back was mercury, which was fairly high, although the others are low, it's probable from my other results that some of them are hidden.
On the minerals side I'm low in all the good guys except Chromium, Cobalt, Phosphorus and Zinc (though zinc is the low end of normal).  Apparently it's not uncommon for the good guys to be low when you have high bad guys as the bad guys fill the positions the good guys should be in.  Might explain the muscle pains, the sinus thing/dizziness and the feeling that something just ain't right! 

So now I need to improve my digestion (my alternative practitioner has already picked up that my stomach is too low in acid production, my spleen isn't working well and nor are my liver or kidneys).  I'm taking something to help with the acid production and something for my spleen, couldn't afford to add the other things yet, not enough money in the kitty. 

So, hoping all this will help, really want to get rid of the side pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, calf pain and headaches.  Sick of feeling like I've got pressure on my throat, feeling dizzy (though this one has improved since replacing my pillow), forgetting names, the palpitations and problems with sleep.  I want to be healthy and full of energy, not feeling like I'm treading water to stop from drowning.  I know my stress levels are high, teenagers don't help, especially when they are addicted to electronics and not very nice when we say no, this would all be easier to cope with if feeling well.

I have been endeavoring to deal with the stress through my craft though.  The loom (Mairi) is now ready to weave on, I hope.  I'm halfway through winding her first warp.   I'm over halfway through the second sock for youngest (not that he deserves it after the way he's been behaving), have got a bit done on my cardigan and have also been cutting out fabric from my last weaving to make a bag.  The pattern idea has changed after finding out how much all the interfacings etc were going to cost (over $80) I decided to go with a relatively basic tote style.  I still had to spend some money, but $10 is much more manageable.

Here's Mairi with her new apron, texsolv tie up and a heap of new heddles, ready to go.