On an Knitting Diet and Hating It

People who have to wear wrist braces and eat ibuprophen to keep pain at bay ought not knit.
Much.
They ought to avoid unnecessary keyboarding actions, and shun the mouse.
Really.
At least for a day or so...
The wrist brace has resumed it's control of my right hand.  It stays there all day... all night..(very sexy to sleep in, I'm sure).  It joined the required wardrobe on Sunday evening.

Monday, in addition to the wrist pain that summoned Mr. Brace, I also had some bizarre stiffness in my left shoulder.  Hmph.  I was not as good about avoiding the keyboard and mouse as I should have been, but I actually managed to shun the needles until about 9:30 p.m.  But how am I supposed to watch a movie without knitting?

I snuck in a bit more time with Socks de Mer.

Aren't they just lovely?  I'm really ticked that my wrist is telling me to avoid size 0 needles.  (DH doesn't like it much either, as his socks are also on 0's). I'm loving these socks, and enjoying even more the fun of test knitting (conversations with the designer are always fun).

Tuesday, Mr. Brace was still with me.  My shoulder was a bit better, but the wrist is dictating all sorts of rules.  No Yoga that includes Down Dog.  (I mean c'mon... how do you do a whole yoga routine without at least ONE Down Dog??)  Drastically reduced Knitting and keyboarding...
I managed to elude the needles until about 2:00 when I met a friend at the library to knit (and teach her the fine art of decreasing for her first ever knit hat).  I went with hope alive, and a tad more sanity:  I took Mystic Light to give her a few extra rows.

There's no hiding from the truth.  This yarn is gorgeous.

It's wasted on this pattern, and this pattern is wasted on this yarn.
Today.... it goes to the frog pond.  If I don't find an alternative yarn, I'll find a new project for Knitting with Nora by Monday.

snif.

My brace and I are going to go read a good book now.   Tonight is Bad TV night.  How will I survive  Next Generation without  knitting???   Looks like it's a Deep Breath night (lovely big needles).  ((lovely big needles???? when did anyone think that phrase would escape my lips.  shudder))

Comments

[Nora]

Sorry about the wrist... and the frogging. As you already learned, I too have frogged, so we can start over together.

Snif.

[Maria]

I've had some pretty nasty bouts with tennis elbow the last 6 months. Sock knitting makes it much worse. I think it's so much tighter. Lace knitting is much better. I was told to quit too, so I switched to quilting, but that wasn't any better because of the ironing. I'll just suffer!!!

I hope Serino lets you know what it wants to be. It's such fun yarn to knit with!

[janna]

The yarn is beautiful, but you're right -- it wants to be something else...

Sorry about the wrist.... Both my brother (non-knitter) and sister (occasional knitter) have carpal symptoms, but I'm trying to ignore the fact that everything in my life points toward future problems!

[Linda]

I love the yarn but agree that it's too busy for the pattern. I joined that KAL but haven't started the knitting yet- I wanted to see how it looked first. I am liking it enough that I will be hunting for just the right yarn for it at MD Sheep and Wool in a couple of weeks.

I hope your wrist feels better soon.

[CatBookMom]

Sorry to hear about the aches and pains. I've given myself tendonitis in my right shoulder from too much knitting and small-area mousing (have to give up JigZone!) March was a knitting month of massive productivity, and I'm paying for it in April. ;-( I, too, often sleep in braces (plural), since I curl up both wrists tightly when I sleep, which adds to the RSI effect. All I can offer, besides loads of sympathy, is to say "Be patient."

[Willemtje]

It's terrible to be in pain, but maybe some gentle exercise could help. Here we call it "Mensendieck" therapy. I believe he/she was an American. It works by very gently strengthening the muscles and improving posture, as much pain (headache and backpain e.g.) originates from the wrong way of walking, sitting etc. It has helped me greatly over the years.
I also found it useful to learn to operate the mouse with my left hand and have learned to "knit back", so as to avoid doing purl stitches, while knitting shawls. It is a bit awkward and slow at first, but if you persevere it works wonders. You can still knit while your right arm takes a rest.
All the best and happy knitting

Willemtje, a Dutch knitter