Which Way to Knit

 I went to my knitting group today. I have to admit that the last half hour of knitting, I was getting very tired. I had been working on a right handed knitting project, when for no apparent reason I started knitting left handed. Then back to right handed. Then left.  Then right. Then left. Then something did not look right or was that left.  

I was knitting on 16 inch circular needles with double stranded yarn.  So I tinked a few stitches and thought I had corrected the problem. This happened 4 more times. Then I decided to tink back until everything looked right no matter how many rows had to go.  It turns out that it was exactly 3 rows.  

For those of you that do not knit, tinking which is knit spelled backwards with an “ing” for grammar.  It is not a very difficult task. However when you add one or more extra yarns it becomes a mini nightmare.  I had 180 stitches of nightmare.  

How am I going to solve this problem you might ask.  It is very simple. I have made markers to remind me whether a project is right handed or left-handed.  So I am going around the house to all my works in progress and mark them all. This way I will always stop at no more of one row of tinking. At the very worst I will have to stop assembling dog pillows to make more of these markers.  

Also I think I should stop knitting when I get tired. Just sit back and enjoy the talk.  No tinking involved.  

I would also love to hear how other people have solved this problem.  

Then it might just be nap time.  

My Learning Curve

 I needed to develope a new learning curve for knitting. I am taking a multi facetted approach. The first thing I did was figure out how I was holding my knitting needles. It turns out I was holding them too close to my body. So I am learning to hold my knitting further away from my body. This has changed a couple of things like muscle memory for one. I am now prone to make more mistakes and can not knit with my eyes closed when I am tired. 

Which brings up the second change which is a major one for me. I stop knitting when my hands or arm gets tired. This means I have less knitting time on bad body days. I used to do more knitting on bad body days to keep my mind occupied.  Now I read more or listen to books on tape. I am actually watching television during the day. This is something I reserved for sick days in the past. 

I am also doing more things with my left hand. I am teaching myself knitting with my left hand for starters. I am practicing coloring with my left hand and then onto writing which I have not done much of since 3rd grade when my teacher did not let us use our left hands at school.  

No my arm is not totally healed by these changes. My right hand is more useful. I am dropping less things. My right hand is not in as much pain. Less pain is always good in. My humble opinion.  

I know that there will be other changes along the way. I need to learn to live within the limits of my body instead of pushing my body to live beyond its limits.  I still push it a little, but not like i use to.  

Not Quite Ready For Dinner

 Sadly I learned tonight that my left hand is not quite ready for dinner yet.  I make a fantastic thin crust pizza with topping to rival a Chicago deep dish pie. It requires a knife and fork to eat it. I tried my best, but my left hand wasn’t quite ready for the fork yet.  Instead of my walk after dinner, I iced my hand instead.  I am hoping that this resolves fairly quickly.  Yes, to those who want to know.  Even though the stitches are not out, I have started what physical therapy I can do   No, I am not over doing my hand with the exception of dinner tonight.  I prefer my left hand for eating as I am much more messy with my right hand.

By the way spinning went well today. I took some art yarn singles off the bobbins and started another set of batts. No yarn is getting soaked and thwacked until my stitches are out and the doctor says it’s ok.   After Spin Together 2020 is over it will be weaving time.  

Part One

Today was part 1 of fixing my hands. I got the 3 fingers on my left hand done today. It is my go to hand for everything.  So I feel a bit lost with not being able to use it for 8 days. It was not like the 2012 surgery where I could use my hand right away. So I think I will take a little me time and let things heal. Tonight all you can see are the bandages and puffy fingers. 

By the way Eric made it to his day program today. Every one was happy to see him.