Wednesday November 16, 2005
I should not complain about pregnancy. I spent so much time waiting for it to happen that I feel guilty complaining about it, but I am going to anyway.
I am really, really tired of my hands hurting so bad. It scares me. I know with Zane it went away after the pregnancy, and I hope the same will occur this time, but I have a lot of arthritis in my family and know that there is a good chance that I will be facing this without the hope of it getting better in the future. It is frightening when you go to pick something up and it is like your fingers didn’t get the message. It is also a bit weird to try and stretch your hands and finding that you can barely stretch it past straight up and down, and making a fist is a struggle.
I did some reading and discovered that knitting is actually very healthy for my hands because it helps them stay stronger and helps with flexibility. However, you are not supposed to have those ‘marathon’ knitting sessions, and if it starts hurting too much, you are not supposed to push through it, but rather set it down and come back later. It is putting a huge cramp (pardon the pun) in my knitting. The mittens and hat, a project I could have put out in a day or two normally, took a lot longer. I am wondering if I can even tackle a special ‘taking home’ outfit for the baby. When you have to put down and pick up so often, you don’t want to be dealing with complicated instructions or stitch patterns. I also can’t see knitting on anything smaller than I am now, and the outfit I want to knit would require much smaller needles. It is frustrating. I want to make an heirloom type outfit for her, but I am starting to be resigned to buying something so that I don’t make myself crazy over it. I think I can still do at least a simple garter stitch jacket and hat or something though. It is easier to put down and pick up something like that.
After feeling the cold wind on my face yesterday, I realized I should probably make Zane a scarf too. However, I see problems keeping an actual scarf on him, so I am just making a tube that he can wear around his neck and pull up over his nose. I have some more of that light green yarn, so I am just doing a 2×2 rib in the same gauge as his hat and will keep knitting in circles until it seems long enough. I hope it works. It is pretty mindless work, that is for sure. lol.
I am also missing my ergonomic computer keyboard. It is so much easier on the hands and I can type so much faster on it. Somehow a new keyboard isn’t making our priority list when there is a working keyboard though. Go figure.
Jennifer, have you ever tried knitting with flexible needles? I find that it helps with my carpal tunnel alot. It helps prevent the stiffness that comes with those marathon sessions.
I knit exclusively on flexible needles. Denise interchangables have a lot of give to them, and my bamboo are pretty flexible too. I also use a lot of circulars to keep the weight off my hands and wrists. (the Denise can also be set up to be flexible/cable straight needles, but circulars actually do a better job of keeping the weight balanced for me)
I agree, it is very important to knit with things that have more give if you are at any risk for arthritis or carpel tunnel. Thank you for pointing that out in case I wasn’t aware of it…it would make a huge difference if I was on rigid needles. When I was choosing needles as I started to knit I kept my family history in mind and got the more flexible ones even though the aluminum straights are SO much cheaper. I figured I would save money in medical bills in the long run though. lol.
re Heirloom knitting for baby. Choose something simple and timeless and choose GORGEOUS, sumptuous yarn that you adore. Cashmere, alpaca, beautiful colors… it will be an heirloom.
You might also consider knitting something for her ‘Baby Dedication’ in church. You would also have a bigger audience to oooo and ahhh.
Yep, I so need a new keyboard, this one day’s in the sun is over with, but it’s on the “just have to wait” list.