Long Time

Yes, I've been a bad blogger again.  Partly due to health issues, partly due to losing my sewing chair (it's now my son's homework chair) and partly just me forgetting to blog.   I've been knitting and spinning and I'm trying something new as well.

The reason I don't have the sewing chair is that the chair my son was using started attacking him; it was originally my gran's chair and I decided to refurbish it.  Unfortunately I don't have a before photo, but I'm documenting as I go.   I first of all took off the disintegrating fabric, and took out the innards which had not been done correctly; they'd stapled the springs to a piece of wood on the bottom!

At this point I'm almost ready to put the new springs in, it'll be quite a high crown on the seat but the frame is quite short so it needs to be higher in order to be comfortable to get in and out of.  I've torn out the silly timber on the bottom and remade the back from scratch due to some major cracks in the original.  I've also learned how to use a compressor and put webbing on the bottom (after making a webbing stretcher) and also on the back.  The original back had 2 pieces of webbing, total!

The newly webbed chair, I'm pretty pleased with this.  You can see the original frame colour is brown too; this is being updated.

The new back, sides are made from an old loom and the rest is new timber.

The last few days have been spent sanding the chair and today I put on two coats of the new colour.  I will need to sand again tomorrow and put at least one more coat; I'm using a gloss spray paint.

This is after 2 coats so you can see there's a few spots where the wood is still drinking in the paint.  Hopefully a good sand and another coat will fix that.

Pathfinder Vest in Boiled Wool

I've finished my Pathfinder Vest by Twig + Tale using the gifted boiled wool and cotton elastane from For Fabric Sake and I'm in love! The pattern is wonderful with great instructions and the fabric is perfect for it. Boiled wool is lovely to work with, because it's a stretch knit it's very forgiving and being wool adds extra forgiveness, it doesn't need prewashing and won't fray either. Only thing to be aware of is when pressing be sure to use a press cloth or else it will go shiny; this is normal for wool, however that's a small price to pay when you consider how well it reacts to pressing in the first place; unlike polyester it plays very nicely with heat.

Pixie hood!  And embroidery :)

It's beautifully warm and it's going to be a staple in my wardrobe this year. The colour in the worn photos is more accurate.

You can get an idea of the lining here; unfortunately my phone didn't want to focus properly for some reason

I do love how the hood sits when it's down

See, embroidery!

And the lining is peeking, so pretty.

I made a couple of adjustments to the pattern, the main one was dropping the bust point due to Mother Nature attatching my breasts a little lower than pattern companies design for and I also graded between sizes since I'm best described as non-standard.  I have to do these adjustments with almost every pattern I use.  I top stitched around the hem and fronts so that the lining can't roll around; it wasn't actually trying to, as I said wool takes pressing very well but I don't like to take chances and I love how topstitching looks so...


In the interests of full disclosure I was given the fabric for this project by For Fabric Sake, I bought the pattern a while ago. Although I was gifted the fabric my opinions are not swayed by that in any way. If making the same outfit yourself I'd probably go with a slightly heavier weight lining or else use a woven fabric as a lightweight knit can be a little tricky unless you're used to them, but in this case the print went so well with the wool that I'm glad I put the effort in.

Sewing and knitting

I've got stuff cut out, but the weather has now turned cold and it's all summer stuff; it'll now be put on hold till next spring in the hopes that I'll be feeling healthier and that the fit will be better too due to my new diet I've lost a little weight.

I have done some sewing though and some knitting, I've finished 2 pairs of socks for Sock Madness and cast on a 3rd, and I've made Dh some undies.  Unfortunately the pattern doesn't suit him well, the cuffs are too tight (tree trunk legs from judo) and the top band isn't firm enough and rolls down.  This was the SUAT Mens Boxerwear pattern, I'm going to try a Jalie one next.  Much as I love SUAT's women's undies, my shape is rather different from DH's and not all pattern companies work for all body types.

Excuse the wrinkles, they'd been stuffed in a drawer; he won't be photographed in them so this is the best I could do.

On the knitting front here's the socks so far.

Smock Madness for Ian's enormous feet.

Demogorgon's Lair (fraternal socks for me)

Echoes with help from Ray

Yesterday

Yesterday something awful happened in Christchurch.  Someone attacked people at prayer, people who had done nothing to deserve it, people who were a part of our community.  I feel for those families and their friends as well as the people who are now helping them and who were first responders. 
If you are upset about this you should be, if you are angry that is also fine, but please don't take it out on anyone else.  Don't give the person who did this airtime, don't reward the behaviour; give your time to those who were affected instead.  Let us pull together as a community to support eachother in our grief, reach out your hands in love, do not give in to hate.

Doesn't look like it is the suppliments

I've been off both of them now for 2 weeks I think and no improvement.  Now looking at a gastroscopy to check if my hiatal hernia has decided to get worse and cause diaphragm issues, if it's not that then my doctor and I are both stumped and I'll have to ask for a referral to someone who specialises and hope they can work it out!

In the meantime I'm knitting and sewing and doing more house cleaning/tidying.  Kon Marie is happening and I'm also challenging FODMAPs.  I've determined that lactose is definitely an issue in larger amounts (up to 1/2 cup yoghurt is ok) and garlic (fructans) is too when over 1/2 clove; we're not sure how much over 1/2 a clove due to Dh forgetting the need to be exact, we need to rechallenge that.  He's now aware of that.  Honey (fructose) also seems to be ok so far, though I had the last challenge on that today so I may find differently in the morning.

I've also done knitting, which includes finishing 2 handspun hats with a commercial contrast; both using the same pattern.

And I'm still working on my cardigan with the foxes on it.  7 rows to go on the hem and then I can pick up for the sleeves.  The end while not in sight, is at least able to be contemplated.

Side Effects?

The question mark is because it might just be coincidence, I won't know for certain for a few more days.

On the 7th of this month I started taking Metagenics Parex, shortly afterwards I started feeling short of breath and noticing I was chest breathing again.  Now it's possible this was happening before and I'm just remembering incorrectly but I know it was Saturday last week when I was getting the shoulder blade pain and I remember lying to say I was fine when I was feeling breathless; why I didn't immediately connect that with the new regime I don't know.   Last night I started making some connections and this morning I did some research.  I didn't find anything on breathing as a side effect from Parex, but when I looked up the individual ingredients I found that Pomegranate skin extract can cause breathing difficulties as a side effect.

So today I'm not taking it and have put it away, and hopefully this'll mean that tomorrow I'll be breathing easier and can retrain to stomach breathing more easily.  At the moment it feels like my diaphragm is tight and can't expand fully.  I'm hoping this is the cause, sure it'll mean I can't take it to fix my middle, but in the scheme of things breathing is a slightly higher priority to me.  If this doesn't work then I'll be heading to the doctor (again).

25.02.19  Update:

Doesn't look like it was this, have been off it and NAC for well over a week now and it's not improved, if anything it's worse and we're now thinking my hiatal hernia might be a contributing factor.  Now been referred to get that looked at in the next 3 weeks, I'm hoping sooner since this is most uncomfortable!

New Year, no resolutions because...

I'm simply continuing what I was doing last year, I'm still visiting the gym 2 or 3 times a week and most times I'm biking there.   I'm still trying to get my digestion sorted, still having issues and we don't know why yet.  I'm on the low FODMAP diet and boy is that a pain in the arse!  I've determined that coconut is definitely an issue which makes things worse as many of the "safe" breakfast options include coconut; grrr.

I'm tidying house, so far the hall cupboard, main wardrobe and the pantry have been done and I'm doing a modified Kon Marie version.  Of course there are things that are necessary that don't spark joy and someone gets grumpy if I try to ditch things we've been given my relatives even if they're things we never ever use.  Some may just have to quietly leave.  Some things will be going on Trademe, including a very old Moulie (baby food grinder thing) that mum used for me.

I've made more little sheep baubles for an order at guild and finished my pin cushion, do you want to see her?   Of course you do!

Very fiddly and I'm never going to make another one, but very happy with her.  She had a light tea bath to get the skin tone right.

I'm now finding my studio which I'm hoping will spark my creative side again, at the moment I walk in and then walk straight back out again as it's so messy.  I really want to finish warping up for my fabric, but it needs to feel welcoming first.  I've also started washing some fleece that's been waiting for years, the weather is good for it right now, but I've got a lot and I don't have many places to safely dry it in the wind we've been having.  Plus it's mostly Polwarth which has a high wax content which makes it harder to wash.

Here we go again.

Today's blog post is brought to you by my dietician.  As you know I've had bowel issues for a few months now.  I've had a colonoscopy which picked up a polyp; obviously non-cancerous since I've not been recalled (this is good) and I got referred for breath testing to check for SIBO (Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth).   $675.00 later the test was negative and now I've been put on the low FODMAP diet.  We are still suspecting candida as well, but treating that could now be problematic as garlic is in almost every anti-candida product or inulin is and neither are allowed on the FODMAP thing.

Today is the first day of grocery shopping for it, I don't have a cookbook for it, so that's something to search for too.  So many things aren't allowed, all the salt mixes I use have either onion or garlic so they're not allowed; same goes for stock.  Sauces and sausages are also full of them too.  My favourite coconut milk?  Inulin, sigh.  My immune support tablets, garlic and also my sinus tablets which are the only thing to help with my funny head thing.  I've bought a new type of immune support with no garlic, hopefully they help and will have to get a sinus one too.  I spent quite a bit of time googling things I came across in the supermarket to find out if they were allowed or not.

Today I have my final packet of my favourite chips, which have both onion and garlic in them.  I've bought a pack of plain salted ones in the same range to help with withdrawal since I know I'm going to have that.

I'm on a new probiotic which was suggested by the dietician and will be getting my kinesiologist to check that as well as a few other things.  The best part?  I'm on this diet over the holiday season.  My MIL is going to try and make sure there's stuff I can eat, GF is easy enough, she's used to that with her other son's partner, DF she's done before too for her daughter, but GF/DF low sugar and low FODMAP will be a challenge.  Oh, and she wants me to ditch yeast for the duration as well so I'm going to have to try to make a soda bread that's also DF and GF.

I'm now going to go play a bit on the Xbox and knit and maybe order a cookbook, have to decide if I'm going to order locally and pay a premium or from overseas and wait for the postage to grind it over here.

The Monthly Stitch - Anything But Clothes

I've still not heard if I can use this pattern, but considering today's the last day I had to get it done anyway.  The pattern is this one.  I've made it before with some changes; this one's too small for knitting so I made it larger; probably should have remembered to also increase the length of the ribbons, sigh.  It still works, but not as well as it should.  In the photos the ribbons aren't inserted properly so they look ok there.

The main fabric is one I've been hoarding for some time now, Cicely Mary Barker's flower fairies; I love the books and had to have the fabric when I saw it.  The pixelated roses came with a bulk lot of quilting fabrics and the lining is plain old calico which gives it some body.

I thought about adding a pocket, but this will be a sock knitting bag and I've not usually found any need for one in those; I will make another one later with it though.

Now I need to get knitting, I've done none today despite being home all day.  I'm now on antibiotics and probiotics and hoping to see an improvement shortly healthwise.  I hate taking antibiotics but my immune system just isn't strong enough to kick this bug.

Fed Up

Back in August I started getting some digestive issues, worse than my usual ones after starting the Paleo diet, it took me a few batches of coconut flour baking to make the connection and unfortunately it looks like it did some damage since things have not yet gone back to normal.
I am having a painful middle quite frequently (like a not too bad period) and urgency issues as well.  I've gone back to just a GF/DF diet and determined that any sugar is too much and am now on a SIBO/Candida protocol to hopefully repair my gut.  This is from my nutritionist and I'm seriously considering going back to my GP as well. 

It's not all bad though, my back is apparently in very good shape, so my foot numbness/tingling is not coming from there; though it may have been since it took a few weeks to get the MRI and by then most of my symptoms on that front had eased.  Downside, the exercises I did to help my back set off ulnar nerve issues, sigh.  Oh, and the standing desk has caused issues with my achilles.  Bit of a chain reaction there, here's hoping those will ease off over time.

I've not yet done any more sewing for the Sew Monthly thing since the dress, partly because I've not yet had confirmation I can use the pattern I want to which is annoying.  I have got knitting done though, I'm almost finished on the bust shaping for my cardigan.

Loving the Outlaw Yarns Bohemia Sport for this, a touch splitty at times, but so soft!

An Anna Dress finished

Though I'm not 100% happy with it.  I had to do a bunch of adjustments, the bodice was way too short; seriously, is anyone really that short in the torso?  It was too long for empire, too short for waist length but was obviously meant to be waist length with the pleats.  I ended up dropping the bust 3cm and didn't take that cm off further down as I would with a big 4 pattern.  I also graded out from a size 12 US bust to a size 14 US waist and hip.

The front isn't too bad fit wise, but the back is way too wide; I've not had this problem to this extent with any other pattern brand so not sure what's going on here.  I think I'm going to have to put neck darts in to make it fit better which I shouldn't have to do.

The fabric is from deep stash, it's an organic cotton in cotton candy pink; not really my colour but it doesn't make me look ill and is a nice bright colour so I'll still wear it.

The pattern is from By Hand London and the internet seems to be full of people raving over it, but I'm not joining the chorus; I won't be making it again.

Hard to see the fit issues in this one, but they were the first thing my husband noticed which means they're incredibly obvious!

Keeping it real, this is after all what I'll be doing in it.

Beauty shot, I think the pleats are a little too long and as you can see the bodice isn't sitting correctly even with the changes I made.  Imagine what it'd be like without them though, eek!

A New Project (or 2)

I've just cast on for a new cardigan, Outlaw October has started and then there's the fact that I have nothing in the way of change of season cardigans in my wardrobe.  I've chosen Blairsden and I'm knitting it in 3 colours, not the 2 it's designed for.

This is the photo from Ravelry on the pattern page

The colours I'm using are:

Absinthe, London Town and Tarnished.  London Town is the main colour and the other two will alternate on the stripes.

I've decided I hate doing twisted rib, but I am continuing with it since it looks so good; but boy oh boy does it take ages to do!  

I've also cut out a dress using the Anna Dress pattern from By Hand London.  I'm using an organic cotton in pink and have already made some adjustments to the pattern.  Dropped the bust point and have graded out to a larger waist and hip measurement.

Envision this in pink and hopefully with a better fit too.

I need to get this finished tomorrow or Sunday at the latest.

I've been doing a lot!

Still having health issues, back pain and sciatic induced foot numbness have been added; plus a recent probable reaction to coconut in my diet was not pleasant.  I'm certainly hoping it was coconut since it's been going on for 2 weeks now and if it's not that then who knows what it is or when it'll stop.  I'll know in a few days if it's gone or not though; fingers crossed!

In the meantime I've been sewing, knitting, weaving, tidying and cleaning and travelling for a day.

I've finished my coat, got one area where the lining isn't quite long enough under one arm, but I'll tack it down at the top which should fix it.  Also the pocket lining keeps peeking; that's a design flaw.

I found the perfect buttons in my stash.  Pattern is an OOP Burda one.

I've almost finished Ian's socks, they should be finished by the end of this week, just 1.5 toes to go and I've made sure there's a little space in the end so he won't outgrow them too quickly.

Yarn from Vintage Purls, pattern is my own and I may publish it later.

The weaving which is now off the loom, still needs wet finishing but I'm going to check what people at guild recommend before I do that.  I'm in love with this.  There's enough for 2 scarves; one with a sewn hem and the other with fringes.  I'll keep fringe scarf and the hemmed one will go to the lady I bought the loom off.
Warp is hand dyed merino/possum/silk by Agnes Hauptli and the weft is black alpaca also from Agnes.

I'll do a separate post in a couple of days about our trip to Wellington, see you then!

Hemming

I feel like I've been doing a lot of that, but it's really only on two things so far.  I've done hemstitching on my scarf on the loom.   The actual scarf is finished now, but I've not yet cut it off as I don't want to waste any of the warp; instead I've wound it on enough for the fringe and then started again to make actual fabric for the rest of it, which will probably become a soft toy for the previous owner of the loom.

You can see the scarf on the bottom; the new fabric on top.  I am really pleased with how this is working out.

I'm also hand hemming my new coat, it's the next step before I start on the sleeves and then the lining.  I need to finish this so I can cut out some new undies for me and some tops too for working out in.

Catch stitch, takes ages and a heap of thread, but it's secure and invisible from the right side.

On a health front I'm now gluten and dairy free and my palpitations have reduced significantly in strength so it looks like there may be a food problem in there.  Had butter by accident two days ago and got major indigestion; this is not a good thing as I was hoping it was gluten that was the issue, not dairy.  I'll have to stay GF for a while yet before I challenge it back though, gluten stays in the system for longer than dairy.  Two weeks on the new eating plan and I've also stopped getting restless legs at night.  Still having problems with having to get up frequently and inflammatory joints but the other improvements make me hope that over time this will also improve.

I'm starting to enjoy the gym too, I don't have enough suitable clothes so have some on the way from the Marika Balance range, I find their stuff fits me well; though I do still need to make myself some tops.

Will be back later with more photos of spinning and the socks I'm knitting from my own pattern for youngest.  I'm over halfway through the foot and need to get them finished to deal with the lack of socks in his drawer, this is mostly due to the constant growth of said feet.

I've been a delinquent blogger

There are a number of reasons for this including laziness, too much time on the xbox and laziness.  I have been doing other things though.  This includes many appointments at physio, acupuncture, joining a gym, stopping the front door from sticking, weaving, knitting, spinning and sewing.

I'm about to go clean all the window frames since mildew is starting to show on some, this is despite having double glazing and the forced air system in the roof; the downside of no thermal break in the aluminium frame I guess.

On the health front things are improving, the acupuncture is helping, though she wants me to give up gluten for a month which I'm not looking forward to and T is not supportive of at all.  I'm hoping that it might be one of the causes for my palpitations though, since if it is at least that's something I can fix by avoiding it and the fact that I love wheat so much is a pointer that it may well be a problem.

On the crafting front I'm working on a wool coat (not sure why since I rarely wear the one I have, but the fabric was there and needed using so...).  I need to get that finished so I have space in the studio since the loom in there has now been sold and the new owner is in the North Island; there will be movers coming in to shift it out so space would be good.

I've got a project on Maire (the Macomber loom) and I'm really enjoying that, over halfway through the scarf at the moment and the remaining warp will be made into fabric for a soft toy, which toy depends on how much I have.

The warp for this is hand-dyed by Agnes Hauptli in merino/possum and I'm using black alpaca for the weft; it's at 28EPI and although it's slow it's so much fun!

Maire will go out to the studio once this project is done and of course once the other loom has been moved on.

On the spinning front I'm back to my combo spin for the Tour de Fleece

The theme for this one was orange and purple; it's going to be a very vibrant yarn.

On the knitting front I'm working on a boucle cardigan, the yarn for which was bought about 5 years ago for me by Dh and was for me when I was smaller; the gym will help take care of that along with cutting sugar again; fell off the wagon there for a month or so.

It should still fit anyway, the pattern is oversized and I know I went for a smaller size since it looked better on me.

Finished the candy stripe socks, wanted to cast on some Wandering Cat self-striping for me, but youngest needs more socks so his needs come before my wants.  He's getting lilac socks; his choice and I'm making the pattern up as I go since I couldn't find what I wanted.  Photos will come once it's further along.

That's it for me for the moment, now going to go clean those window frames and get the kids to feed themselves lunch; they're old enough to do that themselves now.

I got some sewing done!

Not the coat yet, but I'm blaming my son for this delay.  He bought Far Cry 5 for me on the Xbox so I've been running round the wilds of Montana shooting Peggies instead of sewing.  It's been fun though!

I have however managed to get my loom heddles threaded with the next project and I've sewn 2 things in the last few days.

This is the early 18th century vest I've made for Dh

 It's silk brocade on the fronts from very deep stash and the back is a silk/wool blend fabric I bought at The Fabric Store here in Christchurch. 15 buttons and buttonholes.  There is a small amount of non HA fabric lining the back as the silk/wool was a bit too stiff to use as lining as well as the outer; there is one layer of that lining the front and another narrow piece behind the button areas since I refused to fully interface the front pieces.

and this is my gorgeous muff.  The inner is separate and made from slightly felted wool coating (a remnant) and stuffed with mohair roving from the stash.  The outer is a goat fur and will look amazing with the dress when I make it as that is a slightly pinky red shade of silk.

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And now back to the studio to do some more sewing and maybe read the book on my warping up the loom as well.

What should I sew next? - Vote closed

Edited to advise the results:

Dress - 5
Vest - 3
Coat - 7

I've got 3 choices, all have good reasons to be sewn, none have been used by me in the past.  Help me decide!

1:  Butterick 5951 which is a retro style dress; I'd be doing  a mash up of view C for the top and view A for the skirt.  This would make a wearable winter dress.

2: Simplicity 4923 The start of an 18th century outfit for Dh, probably starting with the vest which would then tick off the fastenings challenge for the Historical Sew Monthly

3: Burda 8124 view B.   I think I have enough of the purple wool out in stash, if not then I'll go hunting in stash for something else.  I need a wool coat that's not as 1990's as my current one and in a colour that suits me.

March Historical Sew Monthly

This month's challenge was Comfort At Home and I chose to make myself a wool skirt.

What the item is: 1780's wool skirt
Material: A wool blend, haven't done a burn test but it presses like wool and I suspect a bit of mohair too.
Pattern: Koshka the Cat's tutorial
Year: 1780's, made to go with my bum pad
Notions: Polyester thread, twill tape
How historically accurate is it? I used Koshka's instructions so probably fairly accurate on that front, it's all machine sewn though as I'm not willing to put my RSI through 4m of hem. I'd say 70%
Hours to complete: 6?
First worn: Not yet, I'm 4 months post abdominal surgery so not wanting to put the stays etc on yet; that and I don't have the jacket to go with it for wearing out in public yet.
Total cost: $10? The fabric cost me $10 for the whole bolt, then there's the thread and the tape, both of which came from old stash.

I'm figuring this is the sort of skirt you would have worn around home for pottering in, it's short enough to be out of the way but still suitably modest and it's a good hard wearing fabric too.  I'm wearing it over the bum pad and a linen petticoat here.

Once I've made the jacket to go with it and reached the point of being able to wear the stays as well I'm going to go grocery shopping in it and possibly drop in to the special needs unit to show my son's classmates.  I suspect they'll love it.

In other news I've been knitting and spinning and making T trousers for work.

This fabric was a freebie from Levana, a wool poly blend I suspect

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And this one is the same fabric as my skirt, lovely to work with.

My combo spin on Esme, first bobbin still not full.

My spinning, a little more than the last photo

A new shawl in progress using up stash, including handspun on the top tier when I get that far.

And my finished socks for Sock Madness, the next round starts any time from now.

I've still not got my warping done for the loom, but that's next on the list for between socks as well as next month's Historical Sew Monthly project if I can work out what I'm going to make; I won't have time for the stomacher with Sock Madness being on.