Major Knitter

The Secret of Smooth Knitter's Hands

Vicky has always been an inspiration to me.  She posted about lotions the same day I was going through the winter worrisome wringing hands.  My hands were so chapped and cracked last night that I brought out my Beauty Gloves.  I lathered on tons of hand cream.  I woke up this morning with smooth silky hands that weren't red, cracked or painful.  All in a night's work.

Here are my favorite tricks of the trade:

• Neutorgena Fast Absorbing Hand Cream
• Aveeno Intense Relief Hand Cream
• Udderly Smooth Hand & Body Lotion
• Neutrogena Hand Cream
• Goatboy Soaps Hand and Body Lotion - Relaxing Blend
• Burt's Bees Almond Milk Beeswax Hand Creme
• While*U*Sleep Beauty Gloves
• Drinking tons of water
• Wearing gloves to do dishes

Healthy Knitting Habits - Please Spread the Word!

I got together with Teresa and Kerry earlier this month at Cocoa Michelle.  While we were enjoying our lattes and chocolates, we noticed a group of ladies also doing the same thing.  One of the ladies happened to be wearing dance attire from the Chi Dance Centre and we struck up a conversation.  One thing led to another and now we're taking dance classes at Chi.  On Tuesday, I attempted to dance (Parents - If any of this appears on You Tube, don't let your children watch me.  It's a very scary thing!  Trust me on this one.)  1-2-3-4-5-6-8-7-8.  Seems simple enough, right?  Or was that 1,2, left, or right? 5,8, oh let's just try again.!?  Anyway, it's great fun, even if I laugh at myself.  As I shook and shimmied I felt energized, loose, and ready to conquer the world (or at least a hot shower.).  The next morning, I could feel my aching body, especially my shoulders.  It got me thinking about something I've been meaning to share with every knitter everywhere.

Why am I telling you about this on my knitting blog?  Well, I think it's imperative that as knitters, we take the moment to take care of ourselves.  Let me just repeat that so it sinks in.  We need to take care of our bodies.

So many of us complain of the hand, shoulder and neck aches and pains and wonder if all that knitting might have something to do with it.  I know I've written about it on my blog.  Countless others have, too.  I think Stephanie called it The Claw.  How many knitters have had surgery?  I even had to give up knitting for about 4 months *gasp*.  And as if the pain isn't bad enough from the knitting, when we're not knitting, we're using the exact same muscle groups typing on our computers so we can blog about our knitting!  I think we forget that our passion for knitting can cause some terrible repetitive motion injuries.  There are wonderful stretches that can be done to compensate for the overuse of those knitting muscles.  Since I started going to the gym and massage therapy - I haven't had any real issues with my 'old knitting injury'.  Life is good.  But I wanted to spread the word.  Please help me tell everyone.  Take a moment to evaluate your own knitting habits and decide if it's time for you to visit a doctor and start your own Healthy Knitting Habits.  Here are some pointers:

• Only Knit for 20 minutes at a time.  (Yeah, right).  Seriously.  After 20 minutes, stop, stretch your arms and shoulders, roll your neck, take a break.
• Use this as a good excuse to learn English (if you knit Continental) or Continental (if you knit English).  Switching it up can make a world of difference
• Break up the projects.  If you're constantly knitting socks on US Size 1, throw in another project into the rotation on some larger needles (US Size 8-10) just to ease up on the ultra fine motor skills being used for that teensy weensy knitting.  This will give your hands a break.
• Remember to exercise, stretch, get some fresh air.  Take a walk.  Take a yoga class.  Go to the gym.  Whatever your preference is.  Whatever your doctor recommends.  Whatever is right for you.
• Try some of these stretches to avoid Upper Cross Syndrome or these Ironman Stretches
• My personal favorite stretch is the doorway stretch.  There's a good picture of it on this link for Swimmer's Shoulder.  It's so easy to do, you can do it anytime you walk through an open doorway.
• If you can indulge yourself, treat yourself to a real deep tissue massage on your shoulders from time to time.  Diane is my massage therapist and she digs into my shoulders so deeply that I swear she's touching the underside of the shoulder socket!  She really loosens things up for me.  Diane has made a world of difference to me.

DISCLAIMER - Don't try any exercise routines until you've gotten the OK from your doctor.  Find out which exercise plan is best for you.  This post is merely to get you thinking about your own knitting habits and hopefully inspire you to knit in a healthy manner and treat your body right.

Please help me spread the word.  I'd love to hear how exercise has helped you.  How many of you have an old knitting injury?  I'd love to hear from you.   Healthy knitting is happy knitting. 

Pardon me now while I go stretch.

I'm Doing So Much Better, Thank You Very Much!

I just wanted to thank all of you who inquired about my shoulder.  I'm doing so much better, thank you very much. The physical therapy has helped tremendously, as have the exercises.  But most importantly, taking a break from my constant, total knitting has really allowed my shoulder to rest and heal.  My teensy weensy Barbie Doll projects have been just enough to keep me in the knitting loop without causing me pain which might make me consider giving up my knitting habit all together.  Whew.  (I don't know if I could do that!)  I think that the little breaks I've been giving myself from the computer have been a big help, too. 

How about you?  I know a great number of other knitting bloggers have complained about similar problems.  What have you done that has helped ease your predicament?

Westport's Newest Massage Therapist to the Rescue!

Last night I went to visit Diane Cunningham, Certified Massage Therapist, (and incidentally, mother of one of the boy's friends) for an emergency treatment for my right shoulder.  Diane is awesome!  My back and shoulder are really messed up and she found every single knot and trigger point. 

Diane and her partner opened up a new Massage Therapy business in Westport.  I highly recommend her if you have been in pain.  I felt great last night.  Now I just have to schedule my follow-up appointments to get me through this shoulder crisis and then work on having a healthier back and body.  It's killing me not to knit.

Here's her info. 

Diane Cunningham

Balance Therapeutic Massage

3rd Floor

335 Post Road West

Westport, CT 06880

Ouch! That Hurts!

Ugh!  I can't believe it.  My right shoulder is really acting up.  I called my physical therapist and asked for an emergency treatment.  Believe it or not, I might have to lay off the knitting for a bit until my shoulder heals.  It flares up every few years or so when I don't do my exercises and overwork my shoulder (like when I knit 24/7 to pick up production for Christmas).  I think I'll go take some ibuprofen now to make the swelling go down. 

In the meantime, don't worry, I'll keep posting.  I'll be creating some patterns for the American Doll and working out the dimensions and patterns in a sketch pad.  I'll post those creations and some other ideas.

Additionally, I've picked up my cross stitch Christmas ornament to work on.  For some reason, that doesn't bother my shoulder like knitting does.  I like to make a few new cross stitch ornaments for the Christmas tree every year.  Right now, I'm making the Santa Claus series from Charlotte's Collectibles that I've been working on over the past few years.  I'm not prolific with the cross stitch, just a few ornaments a year.  These Santa Claus ornaments are really darling with the buttons sewn on their beards.  I had a lot of odd looks when I picked them out.  People thought the buttons looked a little odd.  But when they're finished and hanging on the tree, those white buttons glisten in the glow of the Christmas Tree lights.  You can't imagine how festive they look!