Archives for December 2011

(For those of you visiting for the first time, I swear I don't talk about acupuncture pillows much. Or ever. Nope, I can pretty safely say I've never done it before this last post. But forgive me — it's just so awesome!)

I haven't had real neck/shoulder pain since I started using it. The other night I was weaving and I felt the tension start, so I immediately took ten minutes and used it, and the pain was GONE.

Yesterday, though, I got a doozy of a migraine that started in my sinuses (they often start in my neck but not this sneaky bastard). Since I didn't think impaling my face on the pillow would be a prudent (or attractive) idea, I didn't. The migraine came — I was miserable. But later, after I got the shot at the doctor's office, when I was still nauseous and the pain had lodged in the base of my skull, I used the pillow and both that pain and the nausea subsided.

So for me, I'm still in love. It's not a cure-all (HA! typoed cure-ass first) but it's close.

For your reward, those of you not interested in painful pillows you can't sleep on, here's a picture of the scarf I wove (all handspun):

And what I warped last night (Noro Silk Garden Color S289):

(That's Willie on the floor, back right)

And I'm using this handspun for the weft:

And for those of you who neither spin nor impale yourself on thousands of pointy little pieces of sharp plastic, you can't deny the cutness that is Clementine's tongue:

(Post walk. Clara needs a cigarette.)

It's time for Rachael's Favorite Thing! Kind of like the defunct Oprah's Favorite Things, only mine is singular and there isn't one under your chair. I'm sorry about that.

This is what I'm lying on twice a day:

It's called the Bed of Nails acupuncture pillow, and I stumbled across it completely by accident.

See, I get neck and shoulder pain a lot. That's fine, we all do — stress blah stress — but my neck pain can quickly morph into a migraine (and often does). It had gotten to the point where I was almost not knitting at all because the tension in my neck would knot up tighter and tighter as I went. Also, the more I work on computers, the tighter the tension gets, and both my jobs require lots of screen time.

So late one night, out of desperation, I was prowling Amazon, researching things that came up when I searched for "neck pain."

This mat came up, along with the pillow. I thought, Who would be that crazypants? Those look sharp! Then I noticed all the 5-star reviews. I read, with amazement, as people said this actually helped their pain.

I've given it almost two weeks now.

This helps my pain.

This cray-cray pillow of (seriously) sharp needle-like plastic bits has helped me to the point that I've had about four ibuprofens in two weeks (instead of four every four hours).

Full disclosure: it hurts to start out. Yes, it does. I only got the pillow since my pain isn't in my lower back, and MAN the first time I used it I wondered if it was worth it. Then, about five minutes in, my neck started to warm up. Then my whole body relaxed. I can't explain this, it just worked. After fifteen minutes, I had to have Lala help me up, and then I tottered off to bed where I took a mammoth nap.

After about a week of using it, it gets easier to lie on — any pain there is is gone within 60 seconds. Then the heat starts, and then the relaxation. I'm lying on it once during the day, and just before I got to sleep, 15 minutes each time, and I'm sleeping better than I have in SO long. It has literally chased away every headache I've gotten. (I don't know if it will chase away the hormonal migraine that I can never get away from. I'll keep you posted.)

I love it. Oh, that endorphin rush and the resulting warm happiness! I'm buying another one for my work locker so that if I forget it I'm not without it. Best purchase I've made in a very, very long time. Read the reviews. I bought the pink one, Bed of Nails brand, but all the brands look really similar. (Amazon links are mine, as always I get a teeny proceed from click-buy-throughs.)

I have mailed you an early Christmas/Hannukah gift! It's the Down Under release of my collection of essays, A LIFE IN STITCHES! Out today! (Okay, I think it comes out next week for the Kiwis, but today is the day in the country with kangaroos!) It took many, many trips to the post office, and I've run out of packing tape, but I hope all your bookstores are pleased with the new delivery.

HarperCollins Australia ordering links HERE and you can get it digitally HERE.

(Unrelated aside — as a half-Kiwi myself, I've noticed that many Americans think New Zealand has kangaroos and/or Koala bears. It does not. It DOES however, have, well, Kiwis. Both countries have many indigenous knitters. You can often spot them in the wild, leaping over fences and scurrying along at the sides of country roads, needles clenched firmly between their teeth, racing toward the nearest yarn shop. (We have them over here, too.))

And look! Our own Knitty Amy Singer's quote is on the front cover! WOOOT!

I hope you enjoy it. xoxo Rachael