What are Friends For?

This morning before breakfast, Duncan went over to our friend Marcus' house to help free this black snake that got stuck in the cage around a strawberry plant. I did not go. They were successful and the snake is apparently unharmed.

 

Photo taken by Marcus with I-Phone.

The Baby Blanket Continued. . . and Finally Completed

The baby blanket I started in early April progressed nicely, with only a few unexpected interruptions, but still, the baby arrived before I got it to the parents. It is for a couple who were Debbie's good friends, and I wanted to do something nice for them. It always buoyed Debbie's hope for the whole world when people she loved chose to parent the next generation. I understand the baby is a girl -- and her middle name is Deborah. Nice.

Here, the warp thread have gone through the beater and the heddles. The most tedious part of this warp is done! Yea!

 

At the top of this picture, you can see that the warp has been pulled to the back and tied onto a bar. Towards the front of the loom, you can see several sticks running through the warp. Those sticks help keep the warp threads from tangling as the warp is wound to the back.

Here's another shot of basically the same thing. The back of the loom is at the bottom of this picture. I turn a crank handle that moves the entire warp back, back, back, until I can tie the ends off on the front bar. This process is hard on the tread, and if a thread gets hung up or snarled, it sometimes breaks. You can fix it, but it's a pain. Those sticks in the front help a lot. I just learned that trick. (Thank you Garnette and Michaela!)

Finally, I got to weave! This warp is 34" wide and I wanted the blanket to be square, so I wove 36" in length figuring it would draw up some when I took it off the loom. Under the tension of the loom, you can hardly see the waffle weave design at all.

Here's how I dealt with the only warp thread that broke while I was weaving: I tied it off close to the weft (so I wouldn't continue to rake the beater over a knot as I kept weaving), took the new thread through the beater, through the correct heddle, then just wrapped it around these 2 heavy bolts and laid them of top of the back beam. Subtle like a truck, but it put the thread under enough tension that everything could progress just fine.

When the blanket first came off the loom, I could see the waffle design, but not very distinctly. I could only hope it would pop out after it was washed.

And hooray! It did. White on white is always going to be subtle, but the little waffle squares show up nicely. This 100% cotton drew up more than I was expecting. The finished blanket is 28" wide and 30" long. Live and learn. I think it will be fine as a dressy blanket and it should not shrink any more with further washings.

Whoo-hoo! The Numbers Are In!

One of the things that motivated me to want to do the Healthy Charleston Challenge was a physical I had in October that showed my weight at an all-time high and enough elevation in my cholesterol numbers to make the doctor double the dosage of my medication. I went for a follow-up visit on Friday and here's what has happened since October and starting exercising and eating better in January:

Weight loss: 25 pounds
Percentage of body fat: down 11%
Total Cholesterol: down by 22 but still higher than recommended. LDL (bad): down by 12 but still higher than recommended. 
HDL (good): high enough to be a protective influence over the other two high numbers.

And here's what has really changed things for me. I figured out that all the knee pain and leg aches were not from gaining weigh or from the exercise itself -- it was a side effect of the statin drug I've been taking forever. And I've also been taking 2 Alieve tablets a day since at least 2004 to manage leg aches -- and I never attributed it to anything other than my own failing body.

Turns out, joint pain, especially in the knees, muscle weakness, and relentless aching is a very common side effect of all the statin drugs. Co-enzyme Q-10 is supposed to replace some of what they deplete. So, the doctor has reduced the dosage of my statin by 75% (wow!) and suggested I add the Co-enzyme Q-10 -- and we'll check how I'm doing again in 3 months.

We continue to go to the gym 2 or 3 times a week. It is exercise that keeps that good cholesterol number high. The bad cholesterol is influenced by weight and diet. So, I can still eat less meat and more salads.

A Good Use of Rainy Days

We've had two days of pouring-down rain this week. Not only has it washed the pollen away, but I've spent two days inside, completely happy, listening to the entire playlist on my birthday I-Pod and warping the loom with my favorite yarn -- Henry's Attic Queen Anne's Lace. It's going to be a baby blanket for a good friend of Debbie's in Winston-Salem. If Debbie were here she would do something really extravagant to welcome this baby, so I thought I'd do something special. 

Here's the Queen Anne's Lace.

Here's this cute song; Love Bug, by Joan Armatrading playing:

We've both come down with the love bug and it means we got to stay in bed.

I hope you'se guys don't get this 'cause it knocks you right offa your legs.

Love Bug. .  talkin' 'bout Love Bug. . .

Let me 'splain the symptoms - first of all, there's hardly any pain.

With the love bug, you kinda lose your memory - you see, hear, think, talk, dream, care just for 1 person only.
So don't come down with the Love Bug 'cause it drives the sense right outta your head.

:-)

Here's the beginning of the warping process. The blanket will be about 36" square. Eight threads per inch in a waffle weave. White on white. Stay tuned.

Spring in March

When we can see past the yellow pine pollen, we see the azaleas are about to bloom. This huge tangle of wisteria and Confederate Jasmine is on the way into our neighborhood from the Savannah Highway (meaning we don't go anywhere without passing this corner.)

A Canada Goose is nesting on the island on the back pond. Daddy and a couple of cousins are hanging around close-by. Last year, there was one chick, and when he/she was really tiny, they all packed up and moved to a pond about a mile away. Marcus saw them walking over there. Mysteries from the natural world.

Elizabeth Taylor died today. Now there's the end of an era. Talk about fat, thin, good days, bad days. . . she's had her share of it all.

Working on the Beach

We are down to the last 2 weeks of this crazy fitness program that is taking up all of our time. One woman on our team has a house at Folly Beach and she invited us for a beach workout and then a brunch on Saturday. It was a perfect day on the beach and fun to be anywhere but the gym!

Here we are in the flattering "Sumo Wrestler" position. Feet wider than shoulder width apart, deep bend in the knees, drop your rear as low as you can, keeping your weight in your heels. Now press your elbows into your thighs and just stay there for 30 seconds or a minute. Small wonder I chose this moment to go get the camera. Our trainer, Ryan, is 2nd from the left in the sunglasses and red headband. He has been tremendously helpful these weeks.

Duncan is playing his weight loss pretty close to his chest, but this week, I lost another 2.2 pounds and have lost a total of 15. 6. Whoo-hoo!

Me (holding a starfish), Ryan, Julia (intern at MUSC), Julia's boyfriend, Kyle, Cyndi, Duncan, and Kari

Spring Fever

You may be aware that I LOVE dishes!

I got these pretty painted plates and serving bowl at a consignment shop today for $32. It was a nice diversion from doing taxes (and a bit of a reward.)