New Knitting Product!

Yesterday, while I was out, I picked up my mail. Tuesday, the mailbox was full of trash. I sorted through it and it all went in the trash can. But yesterday, I got a pile of catalogs, including a special sale yarn catalog from Herrshners!

Now, I used to get some catalogs from them in the mail, and they had a lot of stuff for cross stitchers, paint-by-numbers, and a few, junky acrylic yarns. Well, asking for their catalog is a good deal because from time to time, they have big yarn sales and those catalogs have some really nice yarn, and some of it at amazing prices!

Well, I paged through it quickly last night, but then looked at it again today, which is when I noticed that they had a new product for sale. As it turns out, they've sold out of most of it, but Jimmy Beans Wool has the same thing at the same price.

The new product is Regia ABS Latex, which is intended to go on the soles of slipper socks or the palms of knitted mittens, gloves and mitts! It's available in black, blue and red, and there is a stencil to create interesting and decorative designs with it. The drop down menu has the other colors and the stencil, which also has some flower designs that you can't see in the photo.

The hearts and the star are great, and the cat paws are just too cute. The flowers are very pretty, but I have no idea why someone would want to put a car on the bottom of their sock or palm of a mitten. I suspect that if this works, I'll want to make a whole stencil that has several shapes with overall dimensions that are perfect for a mitten/glove/mitt palm. A group of stars for me, hearts for Holly, Kyle and Malaia, and maybe rows of dots or wavy lines for other traction situations.

There is a pamphlet available that comes with it on other sites, but that wasn't mentioned at Jimmy Beans. I ordered it anyway, because that was the only place that had it. I desperately wanted to order one each of the colors, but since it's approximately $12 each, that would have been $36 plus shipping. Also, the frugal part of me wants to try it out before ordering two more colors. So, since I'm about to make some red mitts for a friend, and am almost finished the stigmata mittens for Robin (which have a red mark on the palm) I opted for the red latex, even though I may not have anything else to use it on. By the way, the stigmata mittens have a matching crown of thorns hat, both of which are threatening to turn into WIPs in the bad sense.

So, anyway, the order is in, and I can't wait for it to arrive! I'll let you know how it goes.

I tried the puff paint that was suggested to the Yarn Harlot for the bottoms of her felted shoes, but it didn't seem to provide much traction. It's chief feature was the texture that it provided, but I can't imagine it actually would prevent you from sliding on a slippery floor or help you grip a steering wheel.

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More knitting news about an episode of NCIS. The person who wrote the article is (obviously) a knitter and has gone ballistic (I would, too) about an episode which has someone killed using a knitting needle on a plane!

First of all, as any knitter who has flown would know, they won't let you take those kinds of knitting needles on a plane! And (I didn't see the episode) the killer is apparently not a knitter. So where did he get the needle? How did he know a knitter would be on board?

I can understand that the show might not want to keep a knitter on as a consultant, but you would think that they might ask a knitter before considering putting on a show like this.

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January is Thyroid Awareness Month. You may be getting tired about hearing about this, unless you have read the list of symptoms. It's estimated that over 40% of Americans have hypothyroidism. If you've been having strange, nebulous symptoms or have been told by a doctor that there's nothing wrong with you, you should read the symptoms. Then go to your doctor with a list of the symptoms you have and demand a (T3 and T4) test (if you have many of the symptoms).

Apparently, there was something on TV today about it. They didn't cover the subject fairly, but they did a better job than most, from what I heard. I missed the actual broadcast.

But you can read about it here!

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While we're on the subject of health, check out this post about drugs you might not need! OK, I can understand that a pre-disease might not be a disease, but it does seem to be common sense to try to prevent it from becoming worse and developing into a disease. However, taking Fosamax is very counterproductive!

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Now that I've gotten completely off my usual track, I'm going skipping off into the sunset, while wishing you a wonderful evening! Have fun!

January is Thyroid Awareness Month!

January is Thyroid Awareness Month!

I mentioned this on Twitter and on Facebook, but I got a phone call earlier today that makes me want to put information about this up here, too.

The phone call was from a friend that I've been annoying for a while. I'm going to make every effort not to mention his name here. For the past year, I've had him telling me how bad he feels. I've been telling him to get his doctor to check him for hypothyroidism. He did discuss it with his doctor, and was told that there was no point in doing tests for hypothyroidism because he didn't have any of the symptoms.

Since I posted about this on Facebook and included a link, he read it, and found a list of symptoms. I hope that he read this list, because it's the best and most inclusive one I've found.

Anyway, he called to tell me that he'd read a list of hypothyroid symptoms, and it sounded like a perfect description of what what wrong with him, and he intends to make sure that the doctor tests for hypothyroidism next time he sees her.

He sounded so happy, like there was hope again in the world. I do remember how wonderful it is to find out what is wrong with you, and have the promise of health ahead of you. It's an enormous weight lifted from your shoulders, and the future holds hope again.

There's more information in the article that you should read, but here's the list:

Less stamina than others
Less energy than others
Long recovery period after any activity
Inability to hold children for very long
Arms feeling like dead weights after activity
Chronic Low Grade Depression
Suicidal Thoughts
Often feeling cold
Cold hands and feet
High or rising cholesterol
Bizarre and Debilitating reaction to exercise
Hard stools
Constipation
No eyebrows or thinning outer eyebrows
Dry Hair
Hair Loss
White hairs growing in
No hair growth, breaks faster than it grows
Dry cracking skin
Nodding off easily
Requires naps in the afternoon
Sleep Apnea (which can also be associated with low cortisol)
Air Hunger (feeling like you can’t get enough air)
Inability to concentrate or read long periods of time
Forgetfulness
Foggy thinking
Inability to lose weight
Always gaining weight
Inability to function in a relationship with anyone
NO sex drive
Failure to ovulate and/or constant bleeding (see Rainbow’s story)
Moody periods
PMS
Inability to get pregnant; miscarriages
Excruciating pain during period
Nausea
Swelling/edema/puffiness
Aching bones/muscles
Osteoporosis
Bumps on legs
Acne on face and in hair
Breakout on chest and arms
Hives
Exhaustion in every dimension–physical, mental, spiritual, emotional
Inability to work full-time
Inability to stand on feet for long periods
Complete lack of motivation
Slowing to a snail’s pace when walking up slight grade
Extremely crabby, irritable, intolerant of others
Handwriting nearly illegible
Internal itching of ears
Broken/peeling fingernails
Dry skin or snake skin
Major anxiety/worry
Ringing in ears
Lactose Intolerance
Inability to eat in the mornings
Joint pain
Carpal tunnel symptoms
No Appetite
Fluid retention to the point of Congestive Heart Failure
Swollen legs that prevented walking
Blood Pressure problems
Varicose Veins
Dizziness from fluid on the inner ear
Low body temperature
Raised temperature
Tightness in throat; sore throat
Swollen lymph glands
Allergies (which can also be a result of low cortisol–common with hypothyroid patients)
Headaches and Migraines
Sore feet (plantar fascitis); painful soles of feet
now how do I put this one politely….a cold bum, butt, derriere, fanny, gluteus maximus, haunches, hindquarters, posterior, rear, and/or cheeks. Yup, really exists.
colitis
irritable bowel syndrome
painful bladder

Extreme hunger, especially at nighttime

Dysphagia, which is nerve damage and causes the inability to swallow fluid, food or your own saliva and leads to “aspiration pneumonia”.

This is really important for people to know because so many people have hypothyroidism and don't know it, and their doctors have been trained to not recognize it unless it's really extreme!

From what I can find out, doctors seem to be relying on the drug companies to keep them up to date on new developments, and the drug companies give them the information that will help them sell the most drugs. And if you have hypothyroidism that's untreated, you are guaranteed to feel bad, and to keep coming back to your doctor for help! And if it remains untreated, or is treated with Synthroid, there are a lot of problems you'll continue to have that they can sell you expensive drugs to "fix." For example, cholesterol medicine, sleep apnea machine (this is expensive), antidepressants, osteoporosis medicine, Viagra, antihistamines, and more over-the-counter drugs. And after all those medications, you'll still feel bad because they haven't fixed what's actually wrong!

I keep hearing people tell me that Synthroid (T4) is all you really need and that some people can get along on it. Well, I'm here to tell you that when I switched from Synthroid to Armor Thyroid, it was like waking up from a long, horrible four-year nightmare!

I've had doctors tell me that I don't need anything from the natural thyroid medication except the T4. One of the the things that's in there that I supposedly don't need is calcitonin. Then, they go on to prescribe calcitonin separately as a drug! Well, surprise! You just contradicted yourself! The amount of harm that doctors have tried to do to me on the subject of hypothyroidism should be criminal!

I'm sorry about the rant, but if I save one person with hypothyroidism from continuing to suffer from it, I'll be happy!

Hope you had a great weekend and will have a great week!

TGIF!

As you can probably tell from the title, this post was actually posted on Friday, but Blogger messed up!

Let me get you all caught up on what's been happening around here.

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Tuesday, I went back to the dentist for what I thought was the last time. I was almost right about that.

He gave me a shot of Novocaine, removed the temporary front teeth and filled a cavity on a tooth next to the ones he was replacing. The cavity was so small it was almost nonexistent, and now that I know that, I wish he'd skipped the shot.

He then put on the new caps, so I have my permanent caps at last. I can now bite into a sandwich or cookie if I want! I'm planning to get some corn on the cob next time I go to the supermarket.

At this point, the area that the shot affected is not hurting as much, and in a day or two (hopefully) I won't be able to feel the ache anymore.

I have to go back in two weeks just so that they can check out how the new teeth are working with my existing teeth, the alignment, etc. There may be a few minutes of adjustment, but that's all.

Corn on the cob! I've missed it!

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Wednesday was a nightmare of trying to get my computer to work properly again. John was an enormous help, and after reloading the last upgrade to the system, some of the problem seemed to be fixed. My browser still wouldn't open. I tried to use Software Update to update it, but it said I wasn't connected to the internet, and I couldn't do it. Then it asked if I'd like to update my software. I said yes, and it informed me that I had a big problem with my browser and asked me if I'd like to fix it. I clicked yes, and it's fixed. Well, it's still a little slow and glitchy, but at least it works somewhat.

I still have some other programs that I have to repair or replace before I'm back to where I was before it all crashed.

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Thursday I saw the doctor again. She told me that I need to do more walking, and I told her I've been discouraged about doing that because I feel so bad after even a little walking. She looked at me like I was crazy.

So, after thinking about it for a bit, it finally occurred to me that if she thought it was that weird, maybe there is something wrong. She thinks I'm not getting enough vitamin D, and I'll be getting a test for that. I should mention that I'm taking lots of vitamin D supplement, but the gastroenterologist did say that I probably have big problems absorbing certain kinds of nutrition.

I went to JoAnn Fabrics and (finally!) got the yarn for Everett's Christmas present!

Yes, I know how late it is.

Getting to the store involves what is a lot of walking for me, and I felt terrible last night, and still feel like someone beat me up yesterday. I had planned to go to the post office today to return the yarn I bought that looks very different in real life than it does in the photo, but in light of how I feel, I think it's going to happen Monday instead.

I feel bad enough that I don't intend to be on the computer for very long today. I just hurt everywhere!

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There's a new post on the Steve Canyon blog! John recorded a new interview for the next and last of the Steve Canyon DVDs! All the information on it is on the blog. It's very exciting!

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January is Thyroid Awareness Month! I see people all around me almost all the time with very obvious hypothyroid symptoms, and their doctors insist that there's nothing wrong with them and won't even test them, so I feel that this is an issue that people need to know more about because I can promise you that your doctor doesn't know much about it. And if that doctor is an endocrinologist, he probably knows even less about it than a GP, but thinks he knows everything (from my personal experience), and therefore won't listen to anything you have to say.

By the way, there was a study done where they sent out questionnaires to patients with hypothyroidism, and they discovered that, out of patients who had hypothyroidism for two years or more, 95% of them knew more about hypothyroidism and it's treatment than the doctors who were treating them!

The problem with this is compounded by the really bad tests available for it, and most doctors' misinformation on the subject of thyroid testing. Not only are the tests bad (as in not giving accurate results, especially the TSH), but what's considered "normal" is skewed so that it misses all but the worst cases. If the drug companies can keep you sick, they can sell you osteoporosis, cholesterol, and other medicines and make more money from it.

Check out the symptoms here, and if you suffer from many of them, see your doctor! If you actually do see your doctor, print out the list, and check off all your symptoms. He probably won't listen to you unless you do that.

Wow! I just read that list and I have 41 of the symptoms! I knew that I wasn't getting enough natural dessicated thyroid because Armor Thyroid (which is what I'm taking) was reformulated about a year ago, and although the stated amount of hormone is in each pill, the filler that they changed makes it difficult or impossible to absorb the medicine, and everyone who's been taking it has had hypothyroid symptoms. I'll be switching to Naturethroid as soon as the drug store gets it in, and that should solve the problem or at least help the situation. But I didn't realize how bad it really was!

If you have many of the symptoms, check the sidebar for more info.

And don't let your doctor prescribe Synthroid! Ask for Naturethroid or West Throid! Or even Armor Thyroid, once it's available again. They're reformulating it again to make it the same as it was before last year. Doctors keep telling me that some people get along fine on Synthroid, but it's really hard for me to believe because I feel so bad when I take it. Taking Synthroid is like being short on sleep every night. When you fist take it, it's an improvement, but over time, you just feel a little worse every day until it's even worse than not taking anything at all. Switching to Armor Thyroid was like waking up from a nightmare for me!

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Sanctuary has been on SyFy all day today, and there will be a two hour season finale on tonight!

The next-to-the-last episode of Dollhouse is still scheduled to be on Fox tonight according the electronic TV guide on Comcast, but somebody on Twitter was tweeting that it will be bumped to put on a program about the earthquake in Hati. So, at this point, I just don't know.

Other new episodes on tonight include: Ghost Whisperer and Medium.

Tomorrow, BBC in America will be showing the Doctor Who episode The Shakespeare Code, and a new episode of Demons.

Have a fabulous evening, and a wonderful weekend!