My first thought when I woke up this morning was… “Ow.”
My second thought was, “Owwwwwwwwww. Ow.”
The over-ambitious design-and-knit-a-stranded-skirt-in-10-days insanity plan just got even more unfeasible. Lately I’ve been having problems with the knuckles of my right hand two littlest fingers hurting if I, (i) knit/crochet too much, and (ii) surf the net on the iPad continuously and insomniacly from 2am to 5am, and (iii) spend too many nocturnal hours indulging the Toddler Twinnage’s wish to sleep with their heads resting on my outstretched hands. I suspect I’ve been doing too much of all of these things recently.
So now I have a (trivial) problem that’s quite hurty. I don’t mind knitting on pain (a lass has to suffer for her art, darling), but I do mind the risk that this could escalate to a scenario where someone with relevant qualifications frowns at a scan image and says, “DO NOT KNIT.” Especially as the knitting has just landed me a magazine column. That would be timing on the wrong side of wrong.
Writing seems to be OK (I’m drafting this with pen and paper, as I always do before typing it up.) So whilst I can still scrawl, shall I show you my meagre progress on the skirt?
Now as I said in my last post, beginning again and changing the colour scheme of the skirt meant buying more yarn, on a timescale that precluded online ordering. So on Saturday, I bundled the poor Toddler Twinnage into my Stink-Wagon car, and headed off to Oxford to hand over some serious cash at a couple of yarn shops. <Waves to Oxford Yarn Store. 🙂 > I even managed to find a sneaky parking space for the Stink-Wagon. (Sneaky parking for free in Oxford is an art that’s taken me years to perfect.) Score= life: 0, knitting: 1.
But it seemed kinda unfair to drag the Toddler Twinnage all that way just for yarn, so we popped into Oxford University’s Natural History Museum, to nod a hello to the dinosaurs. The Twinnage LOVE dinosaurs. (One day, I’ll tell you about the dinosaur I once found.) It was a beautiful day to drift about in a beautiful building – it’s like a cathedral to the natural world, and I’ve always loved it, ever since I arrived as a nervous undergraduate student in 1991.
The Twinnage were predictably impressed by the dinosaurs:-
The other fossils were pretty cool, too, including this ammonite:-
But the clock was ticking, and there was no knitting. Score= life: 1, knitting: 1.
It was such a nice day that the Stoic Spouse (who happened to be in Oxford too) came and joined us at this point, and we had lunch at the Head Of The River pub in the sunshine. Score= life: 2, knitting: 1.
Round the back of the Head Of The River is a place where you can hire row-boats and punts. I am so over the whole punting malarkey after one too many drunken, soggy, raucous experiences in my youth, so we paid for an hour in a rowing boat, because we thought it would be a fun new experience for the Toddler Twinnage. Amazingly, given how scared of everything they are, they loved it. Score= life: 3, knitting: 1.
And just in case you think I didn’t pull my weight. (Excuse greasy hair and no makeup.):-
I was carrying my knitting with me the whole time, in the desperate hope that I could squeeze in a few rounds when the Stoic Spouse wasn’t looking, but it just wasn’t happening, and I realized after a while that my poor yarn was sitting in a fat puddle at the bottom of the boat. There’s no photo of this event: it’s too depressing.
Score= life: 4, knitting: 1.
Sigh. I’m not going to make it in time for next Tuesday, am I?
mollieandclaire says
April 13, 2015 at 8:49 pmCould you perhaps wear a very short skirt over leggings? Thick ones obvs. Or perhaps turn it into a knitted belt? Looking lush tho.
bonnyknits says
April 13, 2015 at 8:56 pmOh dear. Here’s hoping you can persevere and take back control soon.
eclectichomelife.blogspot.com says
April 13, 2015 at 9:33 pmI cannot believe that ice can win over knitting I still believe in you and your hurty hand getting better in time. X
eclectichomelife.blogspot.com says
April 13, 2015 at 9:34 pmAhh pressed before reading. It should read life not ice. But maybe ice would help the hand?
Barbara says
April 13, 2015 at 9:40 pmI sympathize with your hand problems. On top of knitting and typing on the computer (editing is what I do for my work-at-home job), I play the violin and knead sourdough bread–in addition to all the usual household chores. I haven’t found a solution, but I’m not going to stop doing the things I want to (and need to) do. By golly, I’m NOT!
thegrangerange.wordpress.com says
April 13, 2015 at 10:08 pmSorry to hear about your hand problems, boy do we suffer for our art!! I have a wrist problem that I have to manage, I usually think I can work through difficulty but I am afraid that this doesn’t quite work with this complaint and I have to limit the time I spend crafting to keep it in check. Sounds like a fab day out was had by all.
arlingwoman says
April 14, 2015 at 12:20 amScores for life! Yes! Plus the rowing looks simply wonderful. (Not to mention the fossils in their cathedral. Wow.) Rest your hands. Sounds like a repetitive motion injury…
oddlyended says
April 14, 2015 at 12:39 amIt sounds like you had a wonderful family day! And not trying to bring you down, but be careful with your hands. Nothing is worth damage to them, says the woman sporting a new knee.
Sharon Mann says
April 14, 2015 at 2:32 amWhy don’t you layer the short knitted skirt over another skirt …a new trend.
Loved your post, your putting was wonderful.
slippedstitches says
April 14, 2015 at 3:06 amThe day sounds fabulous! For the hand get hand massages from a professional. And do Tai Chi Hand exercises where you spread all your fingers out and rotate the hands from the wrists, then elbows. The muscles are cramping. The Tai Chi and massage should do it.
I like Clair’s idea of a belt.
Deb says
April 14, 2015 at 4:42 amI understand the hand issue. I find my hands hurt less using wooden needles. Just thought I would mention it.
Gallivanta says
April 14, 2015 at 4:45 amTake care of those hands. 🙂
AnnaH says
April 14, 2015 at 6:24 amOn a more technology-based note, I find that using a touch-screen pen made a huge difference to the pain iPad use caused me (the pharmacist just sighed when I asked for advice for sore joints and asked if I had a smart phone). They’re not great for typing, but fab for browsing and help reduce the sideways strain on the hand joints. Plus, it means I can reserve hand-pain-inducing activity for more important things! 🙂
corine24 says
April 14, 2015 at 6:44 amProbably not, but you had a lovely day, right?
x
Crochet Club says
April 14, 2015 at 6:58 amSounds like one of the few days worthy of a stall in knitting 🙂
sewchet says
April 14, 2015 at 11:20 amSee, it’s fate to finish the first design:)
Occasional Crafter says
April 14, 2015 at 12:16 pmEek – please pay attention to your hands. Have a google for some exercises (it’ll give you something to do in the insomniac hours 🙂 Don’t ignore it now when you could help fix it for the future. (Sorry – not trying to sound doom-laden but… hands are quite useful).
bcre8v2 says
April 14, 2015 at 12:52 pmI love your writing and reading about the amazing projects you are working on. And, yes, take care of your hands. You can do serious harm if you are not careful (the voice of experience here!).
Jane Eldridge says
April 14, 2015 at 2:53 pmOh the hands!!!! I empathise. I have thumbs that kill when I overdo it. Like everyone else, I also refuse to give up the craft and push through the pain. A few years ago, when I became completely immobile ( I mean with craft), I consulted a hand surgeon. I finally agreed to have treatment (steroid injection into the base of the thumb) which gave me years of pain free sewing. Nowadays, I conserve them as much as I can ie use them for craft only………not housework!
gladeridercrafts says
April 14, 2015 at 4:12 pmOh well, it still sounds like you had an awesome day out, which has to count for something 🙂
Jane says
April 14, 2015 at 4:29 pmI’m so sorry about your poor hand-I hope it gets better soon! I love your blog-it’s honest and very funny too! ?
Andrea @ This Knitted Life says
April 14, 2015 at 4:46 pmI am impressed that you even tried to take your knitting on a water adventure. That’s dedication.
Jenny - prettycolumn (@riley_jl) says
April 14, 2015 at 6:53 pmOh man I can’t imagine how sucky it must be to have a sore hand! I live for the stress release of knitting and crochet! I hope you feel better soon and it sounds like you had a pretty splendid day, even if you didn’t get to knit/there was a sad ending to it! jenny – http://www.prettycolumn.co.uk
narf77 says
April 14, 2015 at 7:31 pmNo. No you aren’t Ms Twisted BUT… hows about striking a blow for originality. You could don your most awesome pair of tights and strap that sliver of a skirt onto your derriere and strut it like it is the new latest greatest fashion. That’s how all “latest greatest fashions” start. You just haven’t been in on the ground floor before now. Now is your chance. You can thank me later 🙂
Woollen Wildnerness says
April 14, 2015 at 9:21 pmThere is still time until it’s Tuesday, so there is hope yet! But of course health should come first, there is no point in sustaining any knitting injuries. At least you had a wonderful day in Oxford 🙂
Gillian says
April 15, 2015 at 6:47 amI suppose there’s still a little bit of hope but you don’t want to risk permanent injury to your hands. The skirt is looking good so far. I’ve had a big disappointment with my knitting too so I feel for you.
pippa says
April 17, 2015 at 2:58 pmOne of my biggest fears is problems with my hands – my husband would leave me if I couldn’t knit, and I wouldn’t blame him, I turn into a bitch. Had shoulder surgery a couple of years ago . . . not a good time. At 72 with 65 years of knitting behind me, I consider myself lucky to still have full use of my hands. When my dentist noticed I was knitting while he was working on me, he looked surprised – I said “some people do Valium, I do knitting” nuff said.
The Knitwit says
April 18, 2015 at 1:08 pmI had ulnar nerve surgery last year and could not knit for about four months. I’m better now but find that if I knit too much, my elbow is aggravated and then I get nerve pain in the elbow and down into the last two fingers.
One thing that does help some is to wear a carpal tunnel wrist brace when I sleep so my hands don’t curl up and pinch the carpal tunnel. Good luck.