Tag Archives: braces

Mar2

February blog/vlog wrap-up

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February blog/vlog wrap-up

Hi all. I’m back for a roundup of what happened in February. 

The main thing we’ve been dealing with in our household is my husband’s cancer journey. We are SO close to being at the end of the 7 weeks of treatment. He only has two more radiation zaps to go. He had weekly chemo, which was relatively easy compared to the radiation. He’s feeling pretty low now, and struggling to even drink the meal replacement liquid. The main cause of the pain in his mouth is actually the oral surgery he was told he had to have before his treatment started (to remove a wisdom tooth), so I’m assuming that the hole in his mouth is there because it didn’t get to heal properly before the stitches dissolved. 

Happier news now! My YouTube channel reached 500 subscribers and I had a giveaway to win a small zippered bag. The winner has received her prize. And my little vlog benefited from a few more subscribers! 

I have continued to make many more vlog episodes and tutorials for Stitches and Slapdashery. I even have business cards now, because I’ve been sewing up a storm for the farmers and crafters market in the summer (which I have applied for and it starts in May). 

I’ll add a gallery of some photos of what I’ve been making below. I have also been enjoying my yarn crafts. Current Works in Progress are a pair of granny square pants (trousers) for which I am crocheting 56 squares (excited to see how those turn out) and a scarf which represents my husband’s cancer treatments, with different colours representing different things. 

I’ve made a few amigurumi – an octopus for my great-nephew, a puppy for a friend whose dog was put to sleep 😦 and a molar…yes, a tooth…which was a gift for my orthodontist. I FINALLY got my braces off after 20 months. So happy, and I love my “new” teeth, though I’m still getting used to the fact they aren’t covered in metal. 

I’ve knitted three of the Nottawasaga Buffs now. Such a quick and simple pattern, and so useful. 

I hope February treated you well. We had a couple of cold snaps and a little snow, but really it’s been a very easy winter overall. My March will entail adding to the pile of marketable product for the summer market, seeing my husband through what’s probably going to be the worst of it (apparently things can get more painful in the two weeks post-treatment) and trying to motivate myself to actually do something other than sit on the couch! How about you?

Jun29

Catching up…

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Catching up…

Hi everyone. It’s been a couple of weeks. Hope you’re all doing well.

Exciting news in my world. I got braces!

Of course I had to choose turquoise elastics as that’s my fave colour. So far, only the top row has been fitted. I’ll get the bottom row in August.

It’s been a week now and I’ve had to relearn how to eat! Chewing is getting easier but certain foods are out of bounds. Flossing and brushing after every meal takes ages. And I lost a pound a day the first four days!

I’ll have these for at least 18 months, possibly two years. I’ve wanted braces since I was 15! Finally I have realized my dream, in time for my 60th birthday.

I have a few FOs. This is the Stash to Treasure batwing sweater. A really easy crochet pattern that I found on Ravelry, I made it with Cygnet Chunky (more like an aran weight) and Knit Picks Brava Worsted.

It’s not the most flattering garment but the idea was to make it for the Vegan Knitters and Crocheters group Totally Tubular 80s KAL with stash yarn and I succeeded in that!

These three quick items were from tutorials by The Sewing Studio on YouTube. A storage basket, a scissor keeper and a tissue holder. I’ve had this cat/mouse/bird fabric in the stash for quite a long time and thought one of my coworkers would like it. I left them in her drawer at work.

And a bit more excitement today, but not the fun kind. I noticed new dark floaters in my eye and called my ophthalmologist who fitted me in immediately. Turns out it was a small bleed in a vein. The bleeding had stopped by the time he was shining bright lights into my dilated pupils but I’ll just have to get used to the floaters as there’s nowhere for them to go.

I’ve had to be alert for sudden changes in my vision for years now. I have what’s called a pseudo lamellar hole in the back of my right eye and I was really worried this morning that I might have a detached retina. Thankfully it wasn’t – it was actually some scar tissue popping off and causing the vein to hemhorrage, so that’s why I was seeing weird stuff in my vitreous. The back of my eye actually looks better now.

Pic for clarity

The timing sucks – no bending or lifting allowed just as we head into inventory time at work. Next Wednesday is the big weighing day but I will have to avoid joining in with the more physical stuff, which is kind of a shame as it’s part of the fun!

Ah well, that’s it for now. Lots more project planning happening – baby quilt, knitted cardigan – which I’ll talk about next time.