This one is also helping both Jane and me…a home traction for lower back that ought to be safe if used as directed. It’s from Teeter, the people that make the inverse table hanging thingie, so I figured it had to be other than a crackpot gadget. It’s far less expensive, about 50.00; you have to lie on your back on the floor with feet on a chair, knees bent as if you were sitting. You thread this roller thingie onto your legs, you take hold of the handles and push down, and simultaneously try to relax your back (not easy!) You hold for about half a minute, then release half a minute, and repeat this several times. You don’t feel pressure in your back, or not much of anywhere, but it is providing a little bit what hanging upside down would do, without the stress on the rest of your body and accumulation of blood in your brain.
I’m not as agile as I used to be, so I ask Jane’s help to arrange the thingie. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01G9GAA76?ref_=ams_ad_dp_asin_1
But it helps a lot. Upper leg pain is sometimes not hip pain, but lower back pain referred sideways; and in our cases, seems to be. It relieves it, and the unit is cheaper than one visit to the chiropractor to have much the same.
People who sit in chairs a lot (like office workers, writers, etc.,) can have lower back problems, especially if they sit in chairs w/o good lumbar support. Have you tried working at a standing desk? As a transcriptionist, I had to sit for 8-10 hours at a stretch. One of my coworkers died literally at her computer from a blood clot in the leg (deep vein thrombosis that broke free and got into her lungs — bang! You’re dead) — that’s when I went to working from a recliner where my feet are elevated and my legs are bent at a more obtuse angle to prevent blood pooling in the legs. It also did an end run around sciatica, I think. I have a desk on castors. I recline and pull the desk toward me. (Have my foot pedal mounted on peg board that’s screwed to the wall, too.) If you have a recliner and your pain is lessened when you sit in it, such a strategy is easy to implement. I might note that my recliner looks like a Queen Anne wing-back chair when not reclined rather than one of those massively padded, yard wide, coolers in the armrests, man-cave recliners most people think of when you say “recliner.” I also have a custom made lumbar pillow hand stuffed by yrs trly.
I’m doing a “companion” reread of the Foreigner books with a friend from knitting group who is reading the series for the first time (which is what we talk about at knitting group). The other day, I had such a DUH! moment — the stressed syllable in a name that has more than two syllables affects how the diminutive is formed — Il-SI-di = Sidi-ji. BaNIchi = Nichi-Ji TAtiseigi = Tati-ji. DAmiri = Dami-ji. CaJEIri – Jeiri-ji. NaWAri = Wari-ji. CeNEdi = Nedi-ji. Etc. Can’t believe I’ve read the series (and some of the earlier books) as many times as I have without picking up on that. DUH!
In RE: Malguri Morning shawl, Jane’s getting different colors — are there any colors she absolutely can’t stand? (or is just crazy about?) Also it’s going to be a while on these. They take a while to knit, but they’re ideal TV knitting and winter cometh. . . .
She doesn’t like the red palette: reds and browns and oranges, the fall colors, aren’t her thing. And our household colors are in the blue-green-purple range.
Book protection and storage: I am happy to report that a 6 x 9 inch zip baggie will nicely hold anything from, say, Wave WSithout a Shore, or Merchanter’s Luck, to Finity’s End, to the Alliance Space or Alternate Reality omnibus editions. I have not yet tested to see if even thicker novels, such as a typical Foreigner series paperback, require, say, a 7 x 9 or bump up to an 8 x 10 inch.
I think the brand is Zip Lock, but you can find 1 and 2 gallon bags. I use quart and 1 gallon bags for yarn and the 2 gallon for 9 x 12 sheets of watercolor paper with space left over. I take my photos in a conference room with bright light. I have too much clutter to take the photos at home and keep an old camera at work.
Translation, the 2 gallon bag would probably hold a hardback copy of Cyteen if necessary. I have no idea of the measurements in inches because they are sold in snack, sandwich,quarts and gallons. The smaller bags sold at craft stores are inches. I like the ones with the zippers.
Has the shawl been seen in the past? Would love to see it, pint me at a link or date, please. I am doing good to knit a basic hat. If I want lace, I crochet.
https://knitsfromtheowlunderground.wordpress.com/2016/10/26/malguri-morning/
All you have to know how to do to make this is cast on, knit, purl, knit front and back (kfb), and bind off. I’d wager you can find videos on YouTube that will show you how to do any of that stuff. It’s basically done in garter stitch (knit every row) In the Charisma yarn it’s thick, soft, and snuggly. There’s an even easier shawl pattern here:
https://knitsfromtheowlunderground.wordpress.com/2016/01/21/your-common-or-garden-variety-prayer-shawl/
Depending on what yarn you use, it can be thick and warm or light and lacy. If you know how to do a knit stitch and a yarn over (yo) you can make this one. The whole pattern is only three lines long –you basically repeat one line over and over. The ultimate in TV knitting.
You can search this pattern blog by either category, or tags, and one of the tags is “dead easy”
I use the larger gallon and half gallon baggies for knitting projects. I have many baggies of “UFO’s” (UnFinished Objects).
@mmberry – look two blog posts (topics) back, at the, “Well, the piper must be paid” post, in which WOL posted a link to the shawl in her own blog. Very pretty stuff.
I have a wonderful “new” sweater I haven’t worn because it hasn’t been cold enough…in several years. Which reminds me, I wonder where I have a favorite brown and white brindled sweater from (ahem) first got it in college. (It still fits, er, albeit more snugly than back then.
I use quart and gallon ziplock baggies, but (lol) I have never stopped and measured them. Think I will. I am not sure if my store carries half-gallon (2 qt.) or 2 gallon sizes. They do carry sandwich and snack size bags.
…Cat, what is your *problem* ?? Silly cat is traipsing back and forth repeatedly across the desk and in front of me. Dunno what his deal is. Not food, not attention. Not water. Just wants *something* (or to mess with me, a possibility). LOL, dorky cat! Ahh, this is why I love them. XD
zip baggies measurements:
1 gallon Ziplock brand: 10.625 x 10.625 inches, below the zipper.
1 quart store brand: 7.0 x 7.75 inches, below the zipper.
Forgot to add: Therefore, the Quart size are too small to fit a paperback, while the Gallon are somewhat large and might fit two side by side.
https://knitsfromtheowlunderground.wordpress.com/
is where I post the knitting patterns I write or adapt. There’s afghans, baby stuff (dresses, bonnets, booties), hats, scarves, cowls, and shawls. All patterns are free for private use.
Ever tried a TENS device? I have the full version and it’s really helpful for my back pain and a new version is now available at the drug store.
It really works. Some days I can’t walk without it.
Have you guys continued to like the Gazelle? I’m debating getting one.
Yes. We’ve been so snowed we haven’t had time the last week and a half, but we’re still liking it. It’s done a LOT for us. Understand, we’re tremendously out of shape and it’s not a Bowmaster gym, but for no-stress exercise fairly rapidly administered, we like it.