Close up view of my Aeolian in progress so you can see the bead colors with the furry (Misti Alpaca Lace) yarn.

Extreme Heat Edition

Small Talk:

Thank you Heather!!

 www.crafting-a-life.com/craftlit

It has been hot!  Really Hot 

Environmental Allergies Part 3 -- treatments

            Saline for eyes and nose

                        Eye drops, nose spray, neti pot

            Lozenges for your throat, or your favorite home remedy

Medicated options

             Nasal sprays --  steroids

            Oral antihistamines.  Quite effective, easy to take, some are available over the counter in US

Steroid Nasal Spray

Oral Antihistamines

Medicated eye drops, other nose sprays or pills may also be appropriate, but don't overuse them!

Allergy Shots

What I'm knitting

Aeolian shawl

www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring09/KSPATTaeolian.php

I Love Lace

 but I worry about blocking.

Referrals

The Moth Podcast

http://www.themoth.org/podcast

http://www.artofstorytellingshow.com/

the show where he talks with the artistic director of The Moth

http://www.artofstorytellingshow.com/2009/03/13/catherine-burns-the-moth-coaching-new-storytellers/

Quote from the Upanishads

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upanishads

First, some definitions:

Allergen:  A protein that is not harmful, but yet causes a reaction in your body as if it were.  Usually a naturally occuring protein from a plant, animal, or fungus that has a useful purpose for that creature.  Sometimes, can be a man made protein (like a medication).

Sensitivity:  When a protein in your enviroment causes an allergic reaction

Tolerance:  When a protein in your environment that used to cause an allergic reaction, no longer gives you as much trouble.

And now some fun facts about pet allergies:

Pet allergens are everywhere.  The cat allergens have been the most studied and have been found in schools, in drycleaned items even if those items did not have cat allergen on them before being given to the drycleaner. And in brand new mattresses.  Buy your mattress with plastic on it and avoid floor samples or you will bring home allergens as well.

A lot of people are co-sensitized to dogs and cats, or allergic to both.

You can decrease the amount of allergen shedding by washing your dog but in the best titled study I have found so far:  Washing the dog reduces dog allergen levels, but the dog needs to be washed twice a week (Hodson et al Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.  103(4):581-5)  What more do you need to know?  Really?

I got a lot of great information on these issues from

Morris DO, Human allergy to environmental pet danders:  a public health perspective Veterinary Dermatology 2010 March 30  Epub. ahead of print

Please share a link to this with anyone you think would enjoy my podcast.  Thank you!

Hello, listener!  Thank you for checking out my podcast page.  As you can see, I am still getting a bit settled here.  Do you like the new logo? 

The posts with pictures of my knitted and spun objects will be coming along gradually as I try to figure out a way to post more than one picture per blog post.  This may not be possible, and if so, you will see a series of blog posts.  I will get my post about pet allergies and a promo up tomorrow morning.  Another new episode is coming soon, too.

If you have been following along from the beginning, I have redone the music vs voice sound levels for Episodes 0 and 1, and if the sound levels bothered you (as they did me) you may prefer the new versions.  The content is unchanged.

Let the Exploring Begin!

Small Talk

Updates

Compost bin and enzymes, I found a link talking about that

http://www.diynetwork.com/outdoors/tips-for-compost-tools/index.html

Museum Row

Petersen Automotive Museum. 

http://www.petersen.org/

Page Museum and La Brea Tar Pits 

http://www.tarpits.org/

Pet allergies

Cat Allergy – Fel d 1 85-95% of cat allergic people are sensitive to this.  Most people with pet allergies are allergic to cats, and many are allergic to both dogs and cats.   Higher in male cats, sterilized cats, higher level around the face.

Dog Allergy – Can f 1 (50% of people are allergic to this ) vs Can f 5  (70% of people are allergic to this) from sweat glands vs from the prostate. 

Hypoallergenic breeds?  Not so much

Cat breeders who are selecting for low Fel d 1 cats and breeding them together

Washing your pet helps, but only if you do it twice a week. 

Ventura County Fair

Had a little bit of each thing you would expect in a standard fair.  Some nice touches and things I have not yet gotten to see at the Los Angeles County Fair like preserves and baked goods.

And best of all – not crowded!

 Here’s to Ewe podcast is here

http://herestoewe.wordpress.com/

The spinning competition was a lot of fun

http://venturaweaveandspin.homestead.com/Index.html

http://www.glasg.org/

Episode 2

Some small talk about results of last week's submissions, plan for this weekend (Ventura county fair's wool auction and spinning demo!) and my adventures in composting

Health topic for today is Aaaachoo! Environmental allergies, part one.  In part one, we discuss what environmental allergies are, how to figure out which kind you have, and changes you can make in your lifestyle or around the home to avoid them

Knitting topic today is a review and comparison of two books:

Knit Green (forgot to mention bonus points to this one for being printed with vegetable inks on 10% post consumer paper!)

http://www.amazon.com/Knit-Green-Projects-Ideas-Sustainability/dp/0470426799

and Knitting Green

http://www.interweavestore.com/Knitting/Books/Knitting-Green.html

Finally, a quote by J Krishnamurti

More info about him here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiddu_Krishnamurti

Show Notes Episode 1

Under the Buzzer

A website with some good stretches.  This took a while to find as I was trying to find something with clear illustrations and descriptions, but not a lot of other confusing information.  I thought this was fun, too.

http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/healthy/en/exercise2.php

Harry Potter Knitting Crochet House Cup.  Yes, it does require membership to Ravelry.

http://www.ravelry.com/groups/hp-knitting-crochet-house-cup

Curly Purly Soakers

http://www.curlypurly.com/soaker.html

http://ravelry.com

Joining is free, you only need to give your email address to join.  My username is:

WellKnitLife 

Please post comments or email me at wellknitlife@gmail.com