I have a 4 shaft, direct tie-up folding Dorset Loom that I purchased about 4 years ago. It is a great little loom but I've wanted a loom with more shafts for a while. 

Having a minimum of 8 shafts would be great but more is always better! Then there is the size - I would want a weaving width that this wider than the Dorset which is about 20", as I think I would do some rugs, and for that the loom has to be floor loom. Then should it fold or be fixed. Either way the loom can get rather big. I have the space in the house for it but when I retire and if we move, would I have the space for it then?? And then there is the cost - they are not cheap used and finding a used one locally (so I don't have shipping costs) is not easy.

And... if the new loom could be folded, would I sell the Dorset???

Since I have been weaving down at the Barn, I have been on an 8 shaft loom that has about a 3 foot (plus some) weaving width.  I have realized that having access to this loom would allow me to weave those rugs...

So I began to rethink my loom requirements.  An 8 shaft loom would be nice so it is now down to size. Having portability would be really nice so I set my sights on a Mighty Wolf: 8 shafts, 10 treadles, 36" wide. I could do scarves, small rugs, table sets, fabric for my sewing.....

                   ohhhh, be still my palpitating heart.

I started to stalk eBay, Craig's List, Weaving Store websites, used equipment sites hoping to snag one.

Then this past Sunday, I found on eBay a used 16-Shaft loom.

YES 16 SHAFTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is a Northwest Loom Pioneer table loom that has a weaving width of 20". So I snagged it for $350 which is half of what it would cost new.  I figure if I want to make something more than 20" I can do a double width and still have 8 shafts!

I can pick the loom up as it is within an hour drive of my house. I am now working out when to go get it . I expect to have it in about a week. Here is a picture

I was back at the cardiologist on Tuesday morning.  This was a follow up to see how the BP medication was working. It has helped some but not quite enough as my diastolic readings are still high and the pains and palpitations have not abated. 

As are result the Doctor has put me on a calcium channel blocker. It will do two things, lower my bp a bit more  and hopefully reduce the pains the palpitations.   If the channel blocker doesn't seem to help in two weeks I am to up the dose.   I am also supposed to continue monitoring my BP and write down when I have events.

My next follow up is 2 months unless things do not get better and at that time she would consider a long term heart monitor and possibly an angio as it would be the last test to do. 

Oh, and in the mean time, I should also see my GP and have myself checked for esophageal problems. I guess some people have bad heart burn, spasms, etc... and it can appear to the person as palpitations and pains. And we need to rule that out just to be thorough  

BUT the Doctor is not denying that I have a heart issue as there is my high blood pressure and the traces from the EKG do show something going on.

So I started the CB Wednesday and I have been even more tired for the past few days. I think my body has adjusted to the meds because I was not as tired when I woke up this morning.   

All of this means still taking it easy, lots of sleep and no metal working for a while longer. 

The Heart:
I have been on the BP medications for almost a month now.  I have been recording my BP almost every day and yes I am feeling somewhat better but then there are days I feel horrible.  

I am going see my endocrinologist on Friday the 9th and then back to the cardiologist the following week. I am seeing the endo to ensure that my thyroid meds and the hormone replacements I am taking are not too hight as they can cause heart palpitations.  

Depending on those results, the cardiologist will either increase/decrease/change my blood pressure meds and/or add a channel blocker and possibly schedule an angiogram to determine if the doctors can actually see some problem - as we still don't know why this is happening.   

Some days I feel like I am handling it all well and other days I just want it to be over. 

The Weaving:
And yes, the weaving is calmer and more relaxing that hammering away on metal. That has to do with keeping my BP down and how tired I get. The added benefit is that when I am down at the weaving barn I am socializing (and not with friends from work) and making new friends. Some of the ladies at the barn have been weaving for almost 40 years and I am the "kid" of the group!!!

I just finished the scarf for Myra - I put pictures on my FB feed last night. It is 80" long, I think that she will be able to wrap that around her neck several times! 

I am also doing some chain maille (weaving of a different sort). I made a dragon scale bracelet for me - which I ended up selling to a friend. I am now making another dragon scale for another woman at work and another one for me. PLUS I am working on a Byzantine bracelet today which is yet another sale!

Last weekend I was at the weaving barn, again.  August is turning into weaving month because I want to advance my skills and get settled in at the barn.   I figure that if I am taking a week off to do metal work, I might loose the continuity and so I am taking a break from metal until September. 

The exciting thing was... I was allotted a loom and I had my choice of two.  

The first loom was 4 shafts with 4 treadles that was about 30 to 40 inches wide.  The second loom is a 4 shaft 6 treadle loom which is almost 50 inches wide and it has a sectional back beam.  Which did I choose to work on? The first loom is  a nice looking loom but it too similar to my Dorset loom. The second loom has 4 shafts (like mine) but because it has more treadles I can do many other weaves than I could with mine; and because it is wider over 3 times as wide, I can do much bigger projects so I chose the second loom. 

Once I had made my choice, I had to start warping it so I discussed with Millie and Pat what a good starter project would be and so it was decided that I would start with a 3 shaft 2 block rug. 

Having never done a sectional warp, I was shown how to set up a tension box and I started winding on the warp. I had to wind on 12 yards for each section (there are 12 sections)  and that took most of the day.   

Today I am heading back down to the barn to finish the threading of the heddles and the reed. If all goes well I should be able to start weaving NEXT weekend.

Last Tuesday was my follow-up with the cardiologist after the nuclear stress test. It was a long meeting with the doctor and here is what it comes down to.

1. No blocked arteries (Yeah, I can eat hamburgers and fries again and not have to worry so much.)
   
2. There is a slight anomaly in the heart wall but it was present ONLY when my heart was at rest. It could be a shadow or other Image artifact but they can't be sure unless I had an angiogram.
3. I also had no skipped beats or other heart events that appeared on the traces during the stress test.
   
4. The monitoring of my BP and pulse shows that I have a low to normal heart rate but my BP is on the high side and is classified as high when I have the pain and the longer events of palpitations.

Result?
Because it is all so general. I probably have what is called Coronary artery vasospasm  which you can read about here:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/coronary-artery-spasm/AN01371

How is it to be treated?

1. I now will take a BP medication that will lower my BP and hopefully the palpitations will go away as well.
   
2. If after a month (when I go back to the doctor again) my BP is still a bit high, they will increase the dose.
   
3. IF the palpitations and chest pains are still there then they will put me on some sort of channel blocker. They don't want to do that right away so they can see if the BP medication takes care of it all.
   
4. I have also been told that I can start to exercise so I am going to take 2-15 minute walks today. We are hot and humid too and I told Erich that I would not run any marathons right away ;=).
   

We are both hopeful.

I finished my scarf yesterday. 

It has 18 different twill samples separated by plain weave.  Each twill section is about 3" long and the plain weave sections are 1/2".  Overall the length is 60" which for me is the perfect length for a scarf as I can wrap it once around my neck.   If you are wondering I used a 2/30 cotton. 

Here is a picture of it completed with the ends tied and a short fringe.

Yesterday was class #3 and next Saturday is #4 and the last class as well. I am now done working my way through the 11 twill samples given to us by the instructor BUT I am only half way through my project which when done will be an 80" long by 3 1/2" wide scarf. Each twill sample is about 3" long and is separated from the next by a 1/2" section of plain weave. I was planning to repeat each twill on the second half of the scarf using different colors than the first set but I have changed my mind. I have selected 11 other weave drafts that I can do  using the same threading thus making the scarf a real sampler.  I figure if I get about 4 done today and one or two more during the week, I can finish them up in the final week.

I have posted pictures of the various twills and the other weaves I am going add to the scarf on my Weaving page.  I have also posted a few pictures of my other projects.

I have come to the conclusion that taking a 3 year break from weaving has not resulted in me forgetting how to weave.  My biggest issue (fear) was warping the loom as I had never been shown how to do it properly and then when I dropped the silk warp and it all got tangled I freaked myself out about getting it correct. Then I had to stop weaving because of the bone spur and torn rotator cuff.   I got so frustrated with it that I sold off many of my books, bulk yarns, and some of the shuttles I had. I even posted my loom on eBay to sell it - TWICE. 

I am glad that my loom did not sell as I have come back to the realization that I really do enjoy weaving.

My next project will be to pull out my loom and plan some rep-weave place mats. 

Monday I had my Nuclear Stress test.   Here is what transpired:We arrived at the doctor's at 11:45 am and of course had to wait a bit before being taken into the nuclear medicine office.  A small injection port was inserted into my wrist with a big honk’n needle (which hurt of course) and was taped into place. The tech then took out of a lead lined box the nuclear dye which was then injected into the port. There was no burning or other sensation - thank goodness because the needle on that syringe was BIG.
[Note: I HATE needles, when I was in third grade I bit the doctor who was trying to give me a tetanus shot. He had to have one too!]

I then went back to the waiting for 45 minutes while the dye to be dispersed through my system.
 
Eventually I was taken back to nuclear medicine where I laid on a table with my arms over my head for 20 minutes while the imaging head (a big table like thing) slowly rotated from right to left. During this time "YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO MOVE" because you can blur the image. As your shoulders start to ache and quiver from your arms being over your head, you are lectured by the tech - DON'T MOVE
 
After that, I was sent back to the waiting room for the stress test. I had to wait about 15 minutes.
 
Once in the room, the nurse put all 12 leads on my chest (for the EKG) and put me on the treadmill and cranked that puppy up. 
I know it was the same test I took in early June but it seemed harder and of course during this they took my BP every minute.
Every 2 minutes (?) they increased the speed and angle of the treadmill. 

At 8 minutes I thought that I was going to lose my footing and get flung off the back of the tread mill.  Luckily, the test was almost done and at this point the nuclear tech came back in and injected me with the nuclear dye AGAIN.  After the injection they lowered the angle and dropped the speed of the tread mill but I had to stay on for another 1 minute so my heart would really assist with the dispersion of the dye.
 
And of course, then I had to go back to the waiting room for another 45 minutes.

I was eventually called by the nuclear tech and once again I went back to the imaging room to be recorded for another 20 minutes with my arms over my head.  This time though, my heart beat was audible on a monitor speaker. You could hear each time there was a missed beat or a double beat -  which was rather disturbing because you wonder if the next beat will happen when there is a longer pause between the beats.
 
When the scan was over I went back to the waiting room because I now had to have the 24 hour recording monitor put on.

(I went back to the doctor's office Tuesday at 4pm for it to be removed and they can down load it to their computer for analysis)
 
We left the office about 3:00 pm and we went out for late lunch or early dinner as I had not eaten anything since 9 am.
When we got home I watched television for a while and went to bed.
 
Oh, and Erich had fun with the Geiger counter again as I am emitting radioactivity (for about 3 days and less each day.).
These are beta particles vs. gamma from the iodine when I had my thyroid removed.   Today I still set the thing off!
 
 
Sounds like fun eh?
I get the results NEXT Tuesday.
I was very tired yesterday and feeling a bit better today.

Today I return to the Cardiologist for the Nuclear EKG. I will be there over 4 hours because of the setup, prep  which is me drinking a dye that can be seen my the nuclear imaging machine, test and recovery.  Afterward I will have a recoding EKG put on me and I will wear it for 24 hours - which I have to return tomorrow afternoon.

What has been happening since my last visit? 
I am a bit more concerned because I think it is getting worse. I am noticing more palpitations and more pricks of pain. Last week the palpitations where happening on/off for over an hour - a few at a time, then nothing for 10 min or so and then they would happen again. I took a nitro just to be safe and after an hour they were gone.  

I am also noticing that if I don't get at least 8 hrs of sleep, I have palpitations. On those nights were I get over 9, I have very few if none. Last weekend I was busy both days and was up early but did not go to bed until 11pm. On the following monday, I did not feel good all day - very tired (more than normal) and the palpitations  were not more frequent but they seemed stronger.

I have also been tracking my BP (doctors orders) - the systolic is about 125 to 130 average; the diastolic is running on the higher side about 80-85 BUT there were a few days where the diastolic was 90-105, which was worrying.  

Today, the doctor will take the BP monitor we bought and compare its reading to the unit in the office, then they can "adjust" the readings I have been recording in the notebook. This will give them an indication of what the true readings are. 

And of course I don't get the results today, I will have to go back again next week to get the results. I'm hoping that the diagnosis can be handled with beta blockers.

About mid-May I went to see a cardiologist. I was having heart palpitations a week before I they would go away and then come back.  I was having them while I was watching TV and was not stressed one bit. 

Three years ago, my sweetie pi had an emergency aortic valve replacement, so I figured I would go to his Cardiologist.  It was when I asked for the telephone number of the cardiologist that I told my husband why I needed it.  I had an appointment within the week and it was during this initial visit, he took a base line EKG and nothing out of the ordinary. Listened to my heart, took pulse and bp - all seemed ok.   

I was also given a prescription for a low dose of Nitro incase I need it - and on May 30th I had a little heart event in the afternoon and ended up taking a Nitroglycerine tablet (a very low dose).  I was hoping it would just go away but when my sweetie pi saw me and asked what was wrong (I guess I had a funny look on my face) - I  said that was having a little bit of pain in my upper chest and I had some tingling down my left arm and even the last two fingers on the hand were tingling too. It was steady for about 5-10 minutes - it was not getting worse but not going away either - and that was when he asked and I told him. It was then that I took the pill and sat downstairs in case I had to take another one and we had to get to the car really fast  He did not freak out but was very concerned so we sat together while we monitored what was going on.  After about a half hour all was ok and no other issues for the rest of the evening.

Then on May 31st I was scheduled for the stress test and an echo scan the following Tuesday. During the stress (treadmill) test  my heart was beating normally the entire time, which I thought was very strange though one "blip" did show up on the trace.

Just before I left for Maine, I had the Echo scan. I had one skipped beat during the scan which the tech said he was able to catch on the recording. He could not say much but indicated that my ejection rate looked good as did my arteries. 

I was not schedule for the test result follow up until I returned from Maine.   Oh, and while away I had no chest pains but I did have a few palpitations which I notices were happening the day after I did not get a very good nights sleep. 

Last week, I had my follow up. 
Yes there is something wrong with my heart. The palpitations were clearly visible on the stress test traces plus my heart rate and blood pressure shot up in the last two minutes of the 8 minute test.  On the Echo scan, they also showed up plus the diagnosis of “lack of thickening” of the heart wall (I can’t remember what part of the heart) – this means that when then heart contracts this area is not or is not fully contracting thus the lack of thickening.  

So now, I am to take my blood pressure at least 3 times per day and write it down for them. NO heavy exercise until given the A-OK 

I am scheduled for a nuclear (dye) stress test.  This is so they can actually see what is happening in the heart wall, this is scheduled for July 25th.  After that they will also have me wear a hear monitor for 24 hours and I have to record what I am doing when I feel the palpitations so they can correlate the trace with my activities. IF they find anything funky after that I might have to have an angiogram. If it is minor I might just have to take beta-blockers.

As to what caused this, no idea. But my father had some similar issues in the 70's so my sister thinks it may be the same thing as I am about the age where his palpitations showed up but back then they never could identify what the problem was.

As my sister has said - Aging is a one-way ticket to nowhere and it's not fun. It is a pain in the ass.