gotta love twittering... ;)

found on: blogadilla

Love the part when Derek says, "it seems like twittering is just like randomly bragging about your unexceptional life." hehehe!

Thank you...

Thanks to all of you who commented on my last post.  I appreciate all of your comments and, whether you know it or not,  you've all helped me to make a little more sense out of the confusion. :)


In turn, I am feeling a lot stronger about what I will probably do, and that is good.  I don't think that any decision could or would be easy in this situation, but I am lucky that I do have a choice.  I am fully aware of that and am grateful that I have time to come to terms with any decision that I make regarding mastectomy's or hysterectomy's.

I will be moving back to posting about craft in the next day or so.  April's cloth has been designed and made.  More singleton buttons have been crafted and a fun weekend was had by all of us...


Check out the tent/fort/cave that we slept in on Saturday night!

Old sheets pegged to some rope covering nearly the entire lounge = loads of fun!

We also went to see Monsters vs. Aliens 3D yesterday...

So yeah, a good weekend!  Hope your's was good too!

brca 1 +

Back in November, I was told that I carried a mutated brca 1 gene.  I've only written twice on the blog about it, here and here. 

There are a couple of reasons for not blogging about it, most of them would go back to just one reason/excuse.  That being, I don't really want to acknowledge that I carry the mutated gene.   Also, I don't want to scare any of my blog readers away.  It's not that I want to pretend I'm perfect, because I'm anything but that.  It's been nice to have a place away from my struggles.  I do think however, that sometimes our struggles can help others who are struggling and so that is why I decided to post about it today.  I would love to be able to talk to someone else going through a similar journey to mine, because I'm not finding it very easy at all. 

I had hoped that by getting the genetic testing done, that I'd be able to stop having all the regular testing (blood tests, pap smears, ultrasounds, mammograms) and that if the worst happened and I carried the gene, it would be better to know than not knowing at all.  I'm not sure if that is true now.  Well, I know it is true, but I still am struggling to come to terms with it all!

You see, I've now been to two different specialists, a breast surgeon and a gynaeologist, and both of them said the same thing.  They both recommended prophylactic mastectomy and a oophorectomy/or hysterectomy.  What does this mean to me, a woman?!  It's scary stuff. 

With the mastectomy's I would get reconstruction straight away, which basically means I would get a boob job for free (thanks Mr. Key!).  The only thing is, is that I'm rather attached to these boob's of mine, and can't imagine what it would be like to get some new ones.  It may not make sense, if you have breast's you don't much like, but mine are okay.

Also, if I get the oophorectomy or have a hysterectomy that means there would be no chance of me ever expanding my family.  Not that, I want to do that or anything.  It's just at the back of my head there somewhere, that if I wanted to, I could, you know...

So, my head has been in the sand.  I haven't wanted to think about it at all.  And then I began reading the book, The Friday Night Knitting Club, a couple of weeks ago.  All I knew about the book was from reading the blurb, and I had no idea what a rollercoaster ride reading the book would be.  It was just a novel, when I began reading, but that changed over the course of the book, when the main character is diagnosed with stage 3 ovarian cancer.  I felt like someone out there really had it in for me, like if I wasn't going to get my head out of the sand by myself, then they'd do it for me... 

I've got myself a group of really neat friends you know who you are who've been supporting me through this process of decision, and I have at times wished that they could make the decision for me, or that Mr Sew-Funky would, or that anyone would really.  But, I know that it truly is my decision.  I'm just a little scared, but I imagine that actually being diagnosed with cancer would be even scarier.  I suppose I am luckier because I have a chance to do something about it before the scariest happens and I'm diagnosed with cancer.  I'm sorry if I am using silly OTT language here.

I had thought that a decision to have an oophorectomy would be easy, because I saw my favourite grandma and aunty die from ovarian cancer, but none of these decisions are easy.

Sometimes, life get's hard.

ties, ties, ties, and yet more ties...

what to do with all the ties!?!

Yeah, I kind of scored big time at Mr Bo's yesterday. Think, THIRTY ties...

Here's the story;
My first visit to Mr Bo. Jumbles I decided to not get any ties, seeing as how they had a big huge bin of them. I figured it would be safe to wait until the next time I visited. Then, on my next visit, I looked for any sign of the tie bin and found none! Not even one tie was left! We are talking about 100's of ties here folks. So, I decided that the next time I saw some there, I'd buy all the ones I liked. Hence 30 ties!

Now, what to do with so many ties.

Hope wants a tie skirt.

I've seen tie quilts.

I'll definately make some buttons out of the good quality silk tie fabric, but what else is there to so with them?

I could become a tie monster...

Yeah, that does look like fun...

My new favourite dress...

I bought it yesterday at Mr Bo. Jumbles, my favourite clothing provider. I feel like it is a bit short (I'm not 20 anymore) and so I decided to wear it over my favourite summery white skirt.

What do you think?

And my new favourite album! I know it's been around a while, but Jonathan bought it for our wedding anniversary, he remembered I loved David Gray... The fact that he remembered speaks more to me than the gift! My heart melts...

Sail away with me, what will be will be...

made | tea wallet

I've been wanting to make one of these ever since they began arriving on the blogging scene last year. And so here are my first two tea wallet proto-type's...

You may remember seeing the fabric for the cat tea wallet on my retreat montage, and yes it was made to match... :) I now have a neat little trio to have in my handbag...

Did you guess that I like cat's, and the colours, orange and green? ;)

I do really LOVE my diary cover... Now I can keep up with everything in my life (and my kid's lives too!)

The green stripy fabric was one of the many fat quarters I received in the sewmamasew fat quarter swap. Thanks Jacqui! All the other fabric was out of my growing stash... I swear my stash is like a living thing!

POSTSCRIPT for Kristy and anyone else who has been wondering;
Tea wallets are to hold teabags in your handbag. You know, if you’ve got a favourite cuppa and want to be able to take it with you to a friends house. Maybe they don’t drink tea or don’t drink the tea you like (eg. Earl Grey). You can buy specialty tea bags (like the kind you get at motels and restaurants) and put them in the pockets. Makes a great gift too!

You Colour My World

Love ya babe.

some new oppy finds...

to celebrate my wedding anniversary, I went out on the first op shopping I've been on for months...

I found some of my favourite vintage magazines.

 And then I went to the Lace Shop in Manurewa. 

And I only spent $14 on all of the above - bargain!  I was so excited to find little plastic rings for 20 cents each - great for singleton buttons!

And I love, love, love vintage stitchcraft magazines, and I found four at the hospice oppy! :D

Off to make more singleton and fabric covered buttons now!

D.

Happy Anniversary, baby...

Got you on my miiiiiiiind...

I was looking through all the old wedding photographs, and I can't help but love this one. I just love the cheeky boyish grin on Mr Sew-Funky's face, and the look of pure joy on mine! Boy we look young! Mr Sew-Funky still had hair back then ;).

It also shows him supporting my arm whilst I look a little out of control, LOL! And I guess that's what our life together has been like. He is my calm supporter, a little bit cheeky, but he has brung real joy to my life. We've been married for 14 years now, and I can't imagine life without him by my side. He makes me laugh, smile and generally have fun in this world.

Thanks for 14 wonderful years, hon! May there be many more to come! May we be able to approach any coming waves with the same amount of laughter and companionship as we did on our wedding day! I love you babe!!!

some more singleton's...

As brooches;

and as hairclips;

I will list some of these in my etsy store either today or tomorrow! (tomorrow's looking more likely every moment!)

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Question; How many photo's does it take to get the "right-one"?

Answer; 16, if you ask your 12 year old to take one... ;) Hehehe, I asked her to take a quick pic of my St. Patty's day brooch and she spent ages trying to get it right!

I hope you all have a great St. Patrick's Day!

Good luck to ya'! (in my best Irish accent!)

the singleton brooch...

my first singleton...

Using macro photography, you can see it's not perfect, but since when did handmade get perfect?!?  :D

These are super awesome and easy to make, and I'm sure I've just found something new to be addicted to!

I am going to use them on my gorgeous little fabric brooches, and I'm off to make one right now!

The retreat weekend sure rejuvenated all the crafty juices!

singleton buttons

I'm so excited about the button extravaganza happening over on craft stylish!


I love buttons, and lately I've been loving fabric covered buttons. They're so super easy to make and look FANTASTIC! And so, when I spied the article on making singleton buttons over on Craft Stylish this morning I almost exploded out of sheer excitement - oh boy, I can hardly type for the crafty tension!!! :)

I have made dorset buttons out of rings and cotton yarn before and it seems this is a similar procedure - but oh boy, the possibilities with the singleton buttons - I can hardly contain myself! :D

So, today I may just find myself making some of them - may, may, may, WILL!

just back from retreat...

Just a taste of our crafting retreat...

We ate, we crafted, we talked, we ate again, I read, we enjoyed the view, I enjoyed Garth the golden retriever's company, we knitted, we sewed, we basically had a ball!

I am really growing to love and respect these women who have become my friends. Thanks girls, for a wonderful weekend! Especially, Carol-Ann who gave us the use of her home and her great hospitality. :)

I will write some more detailed posts later, for now I just want to stay in the retreat head-space before my brain get's all in a tither again!

the cat that won't leave me alone!

Honestly, this boy won't let me do anything without him!

This is him, plonked on my knee, whilst I peruse my favourite blogs.  He's probably trying to tell me that I spend too much time doing this particular activity!

I haven't crafted much this week, Aimee is home from school, and time seems to be scarce around here.  Can't wait until Saturday, when I finally get some free time at a little crafty retreat...

sew mama sew fat quarter swap...

Well, I've received all the fat quarters now, and it's time for the big reveal;

from Terri | Terri's Notebook

She included a neat little case, some buttons and some yarn.... I just LOVE the colours and the fat quarter!

from Maren

I just LOVE paisley and red too! I wish we had a Joann's store in NZ - I know I'd spend up large...

from Regan | Stitch In My Side

She wrote me a note all about the fabric, and I just LOVE the red Dia de los Muertos fabric... It's so cool, my 12 year old daughter has her eyes on that one!

from Jacqui | Hazelnuts

These were the first fat quarters I received for the swap, and I love them! I am especially glad to have found Jacqui's blog too! It's a goodie, and to think she lives in the same city as I do...

from Deb | Works in Progress

Deb not only sent me a fat quarter, but she also included some spotty ribbon, which I'm sure I'll put to good use. :)

from Catherine

Gotta love foodie fat quarters, and I now have enough to make a quilt or something. Although a couple of pot holders would probably be better... LOL!

And last but not least, another foodie fat quarter:

from Viv | Highway Cottage

Who doesn't like strawberries, brings me great reminders of summer and Christmas...

I truly loved being a part of this swap and making new friends, and I loving getting to know people through their blogs, if they have them... :) If you're reading this Maren and Catherine and have blogs, please let me know and I'll add your details.

Thanks to all of the people who swapped fabric with me, I think this was the best swap I've ever joined in, as the postage costs were minimal!

I had lots of difficulty photographing the fabric, because I had a little helper:

I kid you not, he climbed up every time I set the next lot of fabric onto the table! He is currently cosying up on my knee whilst I try to type. I guess he want's some attention, huh!

They do say cat's and crafting go together.... ;)

a new addiction...

I am loving making these little flower brooches, such fun, and I can't stop thinking of new ways in which they could be used! Think; hairclips, bag embellishments...

I am also loving discovering how easy it is to make fabric covered buttons! They look so much better than many of the buttons in my vast collection and it's great how you can personalise them by using your favourite fabric!

Friends made...

Ilove the blogging community. I've made some fantastic "friends" and my daughter Bree has even made a little penpal with one of them - Marion's daughter Barbie.

Today,we had a fantastic surprise when the courier van drove up just before we left for school. We wondered who would have sent something from the UK, and when we saw on the note it was from Barbie - Briahna was super excited. She loves Polly Pocket and is busy playing with her new toys as I type... :) Thanks so much Barbie!! Briahna loves the stamps and did a talk at school about her new little penfriend and what she got her for her birthday!!!

Busy, busy
I'm finally getting around to reading the Shack, after being recommended it by a couple of different sources. So far I'm enjoying the read. Next I hope to read Chocolat and then The Friday Night Knitting Club... Just as well I've got a few good books to read, as I've got a couple of doctor's appointments coming up and will be spending a little bit of time in waiting rooms.

Talking of knitting clubs, tonight is craft group night again. Not sure what I'll be making, but I do want to make some more flower brooches and a felt cover for my tape measure. We're planning a little crafting retreat for next Saturday night and so that should be fun. Think four grown woman making pyjama's and laughing/talking into the wee hours... :D Heaven to me!

Oh well, the laundry folding is calling me, as is dinner prep., so I better take my leave...

D.

pot scrubbing...

Boy, do I hate scrubbing pots! But, when you cook your dog's food think, stuck to the bottom rice! You know that someone's gonna have to clean the gunk, and in my house it's probably going to be me...

In the interest of being frugal and handmade, last year I made a knitted pot scrubber. Boy it was hard on the fingers, and I never want to knit one again! I never knew knitting could hurt so much! It's the tulle - you see.

So I decided that I would try crocheting one... It's super easy, and works even better than the knitted one!

I just crocheted a little circle with some cotton yarn and some strips of tulle - it's not so pretty, and bare in mind this is my first one!

I don't think I could write out the pattern, because I'm no crochet expert, but it's a fairly basic circle. :)

Now, I'm off to scrub that pot!

Cloth of the month | March 2009

I decided to deviate from my usual circular short row cloths this month, and I've made a octagonal cloth.  It is similar to the average granny cloth to knit up.  Very easy!

March Cloth

Octagonal Cloth

I used a bamboo yarn that I picked up from Spotlight...   It knits up looking like army camo!  I used 4mm needles.

CO 21 sts.
*Knit one row.
then; increase at each end of the next row, by knitting into the front and back of first and last stitches.* 
Repeat until you have 45 stitches on your needles.
Knit 30 rows without increasing or decreasing.
*then; decrease at each end of row, by knitting two stitches together.
Next row; knit row.*
Repeat until you have 21 stitches on your needles.
Bind off and sew in the ends.

For easy printing, I know how hard it can be to print from a blog, go here to download this pattern as a PDF file. :) Free Dishcloth Patterns from sew-funky.blogspot.com.

© SewFunky 2009
http://sew-funky.blogspot.com
etsy store: sewfunkynz.etsy.com

oh, the possibilities...

goodbye to the old...

hello to the new!

Yesterday, we picked up the new car, a little european opel vita. She's cute and a whole lot smaller than the old beast! Can you see me smiling at being able to say goodbye to the chariot?! Of course we can only just fit the family in the vita! But as we are trying to conserve petrol and the planet wallet, I don't think it will cause too many problems that we can't get over easily! Hehehe!!!

Look at the damage the wee costly nose to tail caused to our car... It's scary how quickly and easily damage can be done!

Space is at a premium in our new wee car, so look what I made as soon as I got home!

I'm gonna make another one for the other seat, too. I made a boxed bottom and a hidden pocket so that the kids can stash their stuff when we're in the car!

and because Honey is just so photogenic, I couldn't help but add another pic to the post...

Already, Aimee's used it to stash her current read, Roald Dahl's BFG! So looks like it's gonna be handy! :)

Postscript...
New dishcloth for the cloth of the month will be posted either today or tomorrow. It's been designed and is just waiting for me to type up the pattern and photograph the proto-type! The beginning of the month has gotten away on me, what with the excitement of birthdays and new cars...

Birthday Photos

Singstar.

Make Up Session.

Opening Presents.

Dinner time.

Hubbies Birthday cake.