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.

While at Haystack, two interesting things happened.. 

The First - 
I found myself talking (a lot) to several of the blacksmithing students.  Eventually we got around to our background, day jobs, and why we were at Haystack. It was all very interesting to meet people from such different backgrounds.  It was during two different conversations, I mentioned learning to make Chasing & Repousse tools and how I like to modify hammers since many of the older styles are no longer being made. In both cases they said since I like to bang with a hammer, I liked making my C&R tools, and I liked to modify hammers in general; I should take some blacksmithing classes and learn to make my own hammers - or at least how to take a commercially made hammer and re-forge it. 
This was very a cool idea!

The Second - 
For the student silent auction, which was a fund raising event for the school, I brought something I had made to put into the auction. I did this so I would not feel pressured to finish anything during class. Did I bring a metal object? No, I brought a scarf I had woven.   I figured and I was correct that most of the other items in the auction were those made in the various classes and that bringing something else just might spark some interest. Boy, was I correct, as a small bidding war started over the scarf.  The closing bid was over $50 and a few of my new friends were surprised to know that I had made it - and I was shocked to find out that they were bidding on it too.   This made me realize that hey, was was a decent weaver!

I had stopped weaving and was even considering selling my 3 looms (a folding rigid heddle, a two shaft table top, and a 27" wide, folding 4-shaft floor loom) because I had a warping disaster on my larger loom three years ago and felt that I "could not get it".  Back then, after dropping and totally tangling a silk warp, I figured I needed to take some classes [As usually I am mostly self taught] and was signed up for class but during this time, I found out I needed shoulder surgery. That put the kibosh on weaving until I was better. I cancelled the class and stopped weaving several months before the surgery. I even sold off some of the smaller tools I had bought. The loom was put in the back of the closet and I have not touched it since.  I wove the pink tweed scarf on the folding rigid heddle loom since it is easy to warp by self and over several evenings, I wove the scarf a few weeks before I left for Haystack.  A


The Result - 
I decided to look into learning some blacksmithing and to finally take that weaving class I put off 3 years ago.

When I got home, I looked at the UCSD Craft Center schedule and there is an Intro Weaving class starting in 2 weeks and I am now currently enrolled.  

I also looked at the Vista Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum because they teach blacksmithing there AND they have a weaving group too.  I decided that I would go down over the 3-day weekend and check it out.

I left for the weaving barn at the Vista Antique Gas & Steam Engine Museum  around 11:30 on Saturday, and it only took me 40 minutes to get there.The office was temporarily closed but I found some one to ask where the weaving and the blacksmithing were. 

I went off to the blacksmithing area first.

The Blacksmithing 1 class was in process and there were about 12 students there making a triangular trivet. Everyone was very willing to talk to me and explain what they were working on. One of the two women I saw introduced me to the teacher.  I told them about how I was hanging with some of the blacksmiths at Haystack and that I wanted to learn the basics so I could then make my own hammers. The teachers eyebrows went up at that and said that he had several students that did make tools and hammers but these topics were a part of the Blacksmith 2 class. It was also mentioned that you must take the Intro to Blacksmithing before you can take Blacksmithing 1 which is also the prerequisite to Blacksmithing 2. I then inquired about if I did all of that, can you come in and use a forging space to make your own stuff if you don't have your own forge. He said yes, when the classes were going on, if there was free space and at other times that could be arranged.  I also thought I might be able to hook up with someone who did have a forge and work with them to make some hammers, as a result of taking the classes. 

It being a 90+ day, the forge area was warm but not unbearable. I figured that maybe I would not sign up for the Blacksmithing course until the fall when it would be cooler.

I then walked over to the Weaving barn.  

There were two ladies in there, one was threading a reed (which is a front to back warping process) and the other woman was just doing some sweeping. I introduced myself, told them that I was interested in weaving again as I have not done much in 3 years, and that I had stopped because of the shoulder surgery and not really understanding how to warp my 4-shaft loom. They mentioned the Thursday morning weaving classes and I said I had a day job and could not come then. Millie, the woman not warping the loom, then said that she would be willing to teach me on Saturdays - and that they were hoping and trying to get more people in the barn on Saturdays. This got me excited so I told her which loom I had and she walked me over to it's sister - yes it was the exact same loom.  We then walked around the barn looking at the other looms and she explained to me some of the differences between them, which was some thing I did not know.   

It was explained to me that I could not bring in my loom and leave it there because of insurance. But they will teach me to weave on any loom I wanted and I can use the donated materials too; but that if you use the donated materials they want to then sell that piece in the Museum shop but every-once and a while, you can keep a piece.  I thought this was completely fair considering it would cost me nothing but a museum membership to learn and use the equipment - and if I am there weaving, I would be like a docent talking to people who visit.  

Millie is leaving on vacation in a week or two but I said I would be back at the end of August - ready to start.  I will still take the class at the UCSD Craft center because it will give me the basics.

I then walked back to the Museum shop and joined for $40.

Back in January I applied to Haystack Mountain School of Craft, to attend a metal smithing class for two weeks.  I received the news that I had been accepted in April.  There are several posts about it here on kernology and over at my other website The Adventurous Silversmith 

I returned from my trip last week and I finally have time to write about it.  

Getting to Maine was an adventure in itself. On Saturday, I took a 6:30 am flight out of San Diego to Philly. I would have an hour layover in Philly and then catch a puddle jumper to Bangor, Maine. I would spend the night in Bangor before catching a Taxi to the school on Sunday. I landed in Philly on time but the weather was not cooperating. The connecting flight was delayed, delayed again and then cancelled since the plane was coming from North Carolina and could not take off due to the bad weather. I was put on the next flight at 8pm, which of course was also delayed and then cancelled. You can see where this is going, can't you.  I was bumped to the 9:30 flight and it too was cancelled.  I got myself on the stand by list for the 8:30 am flight with a confirmed seat on the 3:30 pm flight, checked into the Airport Marriott; had a burger in the bar and went to bed around 11:30 pm - totally beat and freaking out I would get to Haystack too late. I hate being late.

Sunday morning I checked in at the airline counter at 6 am and I was the first person on the stand by list though the counter person said the flight was full, I had hope.  Sure enough, there was room on the plane and I was called to board at 8:15. I landed in Bangor just before lunch time and guess what - my bag was not on the plane, it was going to arrive via the 3:30 flight and I would not get it until sometime on Monday, luckily I had a change of clothing in my carry on and my tools had been shipped a head and were waiting for me at Haystack.

I hooked up with the taxi van with another half dozen other students and we were driven for about 2 hours to Haystack. I found myself just looking out the windows at the older homes, the coast when it could be seen, and the trees - the green, green trees.

I miss trees, I miss the sound the trees make when the wind blows through the woods. And the rain, I miss that too.

I arrived at Haystack around 3:00 pm and checked in. I found my cabin and my room mate had not arrived so I opened my boxes and assembled my bed. I had used my bedding as the packing material for my tools which was a good thing other wise I don't know what would have used until my luggage arrived. I wandered around the campus and got warm by the fire until dinner.  Afterwards, we had orientation about how the school is run. Then the metals group had a meet up in the studio and I eventually met Ellen my roomie for the next two weeks.

I won't repeat here, what I did most days in the metals class... But the typical day was: Get up and shower; breakfast at 8 am; work in the metals studio from 9 until noon; lunch; work in the metals studio from 1 until about 4 or 5 pm; call my sweetie for our daily chat; dinner at 6pm; relax and read for about an hour; nightly lecture/presentation at 8 pm; work in the metals studio from 9 pm to 10 or 11 pm; go to sleep.  

Some days I went for a walk in the morning before breakfast or before dinner. I would check email just after lunch or around dinner time. After meals I would grab a cup of tea and read a few pages from a book on my iPad, most nights by the fire. BTW, it was an 800 page novel I started on the plane ride out and I finished in on the plane going home.  Not bad considering everything else that was going on.

Most of the "kids" (all of the other students except one were younger than me by at least 15 years, so I can call them kids) who were in the metals course with me would work in the studio past midnight and some nights they had a bonfire down at the cove with some of the other students as well. I did not hang out with them very much and I tried to eat my meals with different students every time so I met almost everyone in the other courses.  

As I said I would also do some reading at night, which was by the fire in the dining hall.  Someone or groups of people would hang out there most nights and there were varied and very interesting conversations that would result.  Other times I would wander into the other studios just to see what people were working on. 

One night the blacksmith group invited everyone up to their shop because they were inflating metal. That was very cool and fun to watch. Several days later we watched the inflated life preserver get tossed into the ocean so it would get a rust patina on it. 

Over the weekend, we could do what we wanted. I did some work in the shop, I was invited by the ceramics group to join them in a car pool and we went into town to tour some galleries. Saturday night we had a lobster and clam boil down in the cove. 

Another night the class got together with some beer and we showed images of our work.  There was some amazing pieces. 

On the last night there was a dual auction. The live bidding was on the pieces given by the instructors. The silent auction was for those pieces donated by the students.  I won a print of lichen done by a student. I also donated a scarf I wove - it raised over $50! I think, over all they raised several thousand. All the proceeds go to the school for maintenance of the school and their scholarship fund.

There was a visiting writer there as well and there was a writing workshop everyday. I did not go but I did compose my own poem:
A walk in the wood
Silence
A tree fell
I heard it

The flight home was uneventful and my sweetie was waiting for me to bring me home!

To see some of my pictures use this link.

I have been rather lax in posting pictures send by Elisa of Scotland. After a harsh winter and very wet spring, it is finally warming up it was almost 80F there yesterday but typically, today the weather has plunged back down to the mid-50's - and that's the HIGH for the day.

There is an 8 hour difference between California and Scotland so when this was taken last night it was only 2:00 PM in the afternoon here.  

Look at the picture closely. What do you see? Yes, the sun is setting now remember that this picture was taken at 10:00 PM - that's at NIGHT which illustrates how far north Elisa lives. Also take note that the summer solstice is not for another 18 days!  

For more spring pictures of Scotland follow this link.