Great Idea Looming

When we think back to childhood we all can identify with something that was a favorite toy or activity.  For me it was the Etch-a-Sketch; I have four of them still today.  For my friend Stephanie Harris it is the Pot Holder Loom.

Stephanie said when she was a kid she used to make millions of them; everyone got them as gifts and her family used them around the house, car and traveling in the family's RV.  She was never in short supply of loops to weave across her loom. After college Stephanie found herself in need of new potholders so she pulled our her loom that generated bright colored gifts for family and friends and started making herself new potholders.  She also replenished the well worn pot holders her mom still used. At that point she could go into the local store and find the cotton loops required to weave her new potholders. 

When I was a young girl I remember just randomly weaving color loops across the loom.  Stephanie weaves patterns into hers, "The letter "I" one is my favorite (the I with the full top and bottom of the letter!) and a 9-square pattern that I make is my second favorite."

Recently Stephanie wanted to weave back into the fun of childhood and make more potholders.  Unfortunately the cotton loops and metal looms are not available in stores, so she went online and was able to find an abundance of cotton loops and a new metal loom. Your local store might sell loops, but they are nylon; cotton loops hold up through the wash and remain durable.  "I have never felt heat through one." said Harris. 

I asked her where she purchased her supplies and she told me she bought them at www.hobbymasters.com  (Cotton Loops  Metal Weaving Loom.) She also said she found a "higher quality" of loops on www.amazon.com that are specially made for  potholder looms.

“I love both types...the "imperfect" ones have a lot of character, but they are "imperfect." Some don't fit, some are flawed, so you can't use all of them. But you get so many in the bag it doesn't matter. And they are still nice and make very high quality potholders.

The Harrisville ones are "perfect." Every loop fits and is useable, they colors are very bright and vibrant, and they actually make slightly larger potholders.

In the future, I will continue to do the mix of brands. I got a TON of white loops with the Wool Novelty set and none with the Harrisville set, so I did mix and match the two brands in some potholders. With the Harrisville brand, you can purchase bags of individual colors, though. So if your kitchen is black and red, you can buy bags of black, red, and white loops to customize.”

Since her recent restart Stephanie has made 34 new pot holders.

Getting honest about losing 30 lbs.

The Christmas holiday has now past. Though I didn't over indulge during meals, I felt like I snacked too much. I set a goal to lose 30 lbs in 2012, I want to use the last five days of this month to refocus on good eating and exercise habits.

I brought my breakfast, lunch, and because I work at my part-time job tonight, my dinner today. I am reconnecting with FatSecret.com, a free online food journal, to track what I eat, including everything from my morning coffee to any snacks, and what exercise I am getting. One thing I wish I would have remembered today is my pedometer.

So where am I at? Well here is where honesty comes in and it gets a bit personsal. I am comfortable sharing because maybe it will inspire someone else and it professing it publicly helps keep me accountable.

I am a single woman balancing full-time work life with full-time personal life. Awesome at keeping commitments to others, but I often forget to take care of myself. I have always been the heavy friend, the thick girl & the girl who guys overlook I feel because of my weight. I saw the word “obese” in my medical file. I don’t feel “obese”, but according to medical guidelines I am. I want to be a woman that continues inspires others. I want guys to ask me out. I want to wear a sassy cocktail dress.

In July of 2009, I went in for my annual physical. Because I was one year away from 40 my doctor and I started talking about baselines for things like mammograms (which I had when I was 35), bone density and because I was born with one kidney, she thought it would be best to have a baseline on that. To make a long story a bit shorter, I had a scan done at the clinic and the results of that lead me to seeing a kidney specialist because of some concerns. I had a kidney stone that measured ¼” x 1 ½”, a constricted urethra tube and possible reflux between the urethra tube and bladder. Again there is more to the story, but the protection of the kidney and prevention of further stones was the goal. The specialist referred me to a dietitian. I met with her on January 13, 2010. We discussed how and what I ate, exercise (or lack there of) and what changes we were going to make. I went in very honest and even told her I canceled my gym membership the week before; part of the reason was not making time to go, the other part was the expense. I told her at that point my goal is to have a treadmill at home so even if it is 15 minutes in the morning or while dinner is cooking I can walk. The dietitian gave me some foods to eliminate from my diet and we discussed portions and food servings. I was told during my first meeting with the specialist that I was to drink a MINIMUM of 3 liters of water a day (just short of 1 gallon).

I love to cook so I make sure I am making healthy meals for myself. I might sound cliche, but I find it saves money. I watch the ingredients I add; using a many fresh ingredients as I can and finding ways to cut fats and sodium. Quit adding salt to everything people!!

When I first saw the specialist in September 2009 I was at 221 lbs. I was not happy. Three months laterI had a pre-op physical and I was at 219 lbs.  I hovered between 210 and 219 for the next 2 years. As of last night I am at 208 lbs.  If..NO..WHEN I lose the 30 lbs in 2012 I will be at 178.