Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Yarn Along - bring on warp speed.

Linking up with Ginny and the other wonderful ladies of the Yarn Along.

Warp speed knitting - when you suddenly realize that you have way too many projects to get done before Christmas. I am warp speed knitting. The real problem is I have been have this pain in my left thumb. It starts after I have been knitting awhile or knitting tiny for a long time, it will if I push it eventually cause my wrist to hurt and hurt badly enough to stop me from knitting (switching to spinning after it was hurting did not help) for a few days. It seems to bother me less when working on larger (10) needles or switching from small to large sizes. I am worried and aggravated by this new problem.

On my needles, I have the sweater for mouse in green tweed wool and a cowl in mohair for my cousin. I can get about one repeat in the sweater before having to switch projects so at about 1/2 and inch a time the sweater will be taking a while. The cowl is wool I bought at my local yarn shop, the knitting instructor was stash busting her home and brought in all this wool she would never get to. She had packaged it in bags with a pattern and enough wool to complete the pattern.  I bought this ball with two others and a shawl pattern for $10. I hope to make a few cowls with it. It is so fluffy and soft to work with, this is the second cast on as I managed to twist the join on the first and had about 2inches on when I noticed. 

I am working on reading up on weaving so that I can play with my loom.  I would really like to make a table runner - just a simple rectangle here nothing fancy - as a Christmas present. so I need to get on that. This book Weaving A Handbook for the Fiber Arts by Shirley E. Held is a very interesting read with lots of history and charming side facts. Well written and engaging as a history text, I do think I was looking for more of a how to but maybe that is in later chapters.

Hope your projects are going well and your needles are going clikkety-clackety at a reasonable pace! ~ Julia

24 comments:

  1. ooooh. i love the cowl yarn. it looks os fuzzy and cozy. :)

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    1. It sure is! My daughter keeps come up to pet my knitting!

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  2. hoping that thumb/wrist pain goes away soon.....too much to do...too little time!!!! (try some stretching, finger wiggling---ergonomic-type things--after each row; it might help a little) you've got some lovely knits going on!!

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    1. Thanks for the idea, I had not thought of stopping each row, just trying to do less.

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  3. julia, i do hope that pain goes away, a busy mama can not stop :)
    my sister has pain in her hands from repetitive motion (she's a dog groomer) and has had great sucess with using a hot wax treatment. they are sold at home good stores (about 40.00), and are about the size of a toaster. the wax melts after you plug it in, you put on a glove (comes with many disposible ones) and dip your hand in. it is very soothing as it is so warm, keep a warmed towel wrapped around for extra warmth. have you tried arnica too for inflamation and pain? i hope these sugesstions help! good luck!

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    1. I have some arnica but have not used it in years, thanks for the suggestion. I think my sister used to have one of those hot wax things, maybe she left it behind when she moved away from my parents house. I think I'll ask.

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  4. It might be a repetitive stress injury... my wrists bother me off and on when I know. Visiting a physio (or checking online) for some stretches might help. I'd love to learn how to weave! Happy knitting :)

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  5. Love those yarns. And I do hope the pain goes away soon, that is not fun, especially right before Christmas.

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    1. Thanks. I know right, if it were June, I'd just take a break for a while.

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  6. I hope you have some relief in your thumb. It's not the time of year to flare up! Can't wait to see the cowl completed!

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  7. Oh gosh, yes, it's terrible how Time (and the cold weather) just creeps up on you, isn't it? I am also hoping to get so many yarny stuff done in time for winter proper - YIKES! Hope you feel better real soon! I used to have wrist pain too, and I found the only thing that really helped was laying off it, and wearing a wrist guard to do the things you really have to do. Take care, Julia! :)

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    1. Yeah I realize that is likely what I am going to have to do, but I am so filled with ideas and creativity right now, not even thinking about present making, there is so much I want to do. Thank you.

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  8. hello julia,
    love the color of your yarn.happy knitting.
    blessings from germany,
    regina

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  9. Oh. No.!! I hope your finger and wrist get better soon! I know there is lots of knitting to do before the holidays! It looks like you have a good start though :o)

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    1. Thanks I am hopeful as my hand does not hurt on larger needles, so I am changing my project ideas to match.

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  10. I had all these grand ideas about Christmas in August...but now that we are well on our way to Thanksgiving, I'm not thinking that any of it is going to be finished :-) So I am not stressing too much, and going with back up plans instead :-)

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    1. Back up plans are a good idea. I always get to about now and wish I had started months earlier!

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  11. I know they are separate projects but the green and orange look lovely together. I'm sorry about the pain in your thumb.

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    1. Thanks, I am mostly knitting from my stash right now so everything is yarn I bought because I liked it not because I had a project idea or other person in mind. Happier knitting that way!

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  12. Ooh, I would love to give all homemade gifts for Christmas, but I just can't bring myself to do that final sprint during the season! Wonderful of you to power through the pain. =) Hope that thumb heals up!

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    1. Thanks! I can be wonderful, one year my sister came home and was sleeping here, she wandered through my kitchen at 3am. Seeing that I was making Hoska (Czech dessert bread) she yelled to me told me to stop and go to bed. I ended up listening and made the bread the next day (Christmas Eve) my husband's Grandma was impressed with me for arriving with the bread still warm from the oven! I get a little (lot) crazy this time of year.

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