Knitting – Page 16 – Ink, Yarn & Beer

Knitting: Posture and Pain

Having had shoulder surgery a few weeks ago was a big relief – major pain gone. Now, with some time on my hands before the next semester begins, I picked up my knitting needles and long-neglected projects, begun and unbegun. A couple of days ago I started working on the Trout Season Socks, listening to an audio book, enjoying the peace and quiet. The next day, my shoulder hurt and ached on the backside, where the clavicle and scapular articulate, just where the surgery was. Needless to say, I was not happy, and given that, when I returned to physical therapy yesterday, I brought my knitting with me for the therapist and me to discuss.

One look at me when I showed her what I was doing and she said, “Sit up straight, bring your shoulders back, and down.”

I will be the first to admit – I have sloppy posture. When I buy furniture, I have to be able to sprawl in it, legs over the chair arms, and if the back of a couch touches my knees when I sit in it, it is too shallow for comfort.

Of course, being sloppy is far easier than focusing on changing bad habits. I looked up shoulder support devices on google – there are a lot out there which will pull your shoulders back for you. Knitty has an article about posture and knitting, which is quite good. In a nutshell, keep your arms parallel to you body, shoulder to the elbow, and knit close to your body. Don’t bend your wrists, as that increases your risk of carpal tunnel problems. Accidental Yarnover blog has a lot of suggestions, some of which are the classical “keep your feet flat on the floor,” to using shorter knitting needles, and letting the weight of the knitted object rest in your lap. Rachel Knits blog links to this article, which is quite interesting in and of itself. Carpal tunnel is also a risk of knitting, and you can read about it on Subversive Knitting. The New Zealand Railways Magazine in 1931 shows “the correct posture for knitting and darning.”

Obviously. knitting and pain have been around for awhile – and who knows how people who earned their living by knitting fared.

There are a lot of websites which will give hints and ideas about how to improve posture, exercises to strengthen shoulder muscles to help keep them back and down, as well as ergonomic information to prevent carpal tunnel. I have been given a number of exercises to do, from stretches to isometrics (not up to weights or stretchy bands yet). If I don’t do them, I can tell. If I do them, life is far more pleasant.

Finding the time to do them is imperative, no matter what my schedule. In other words, they have to be the primary focus of my day, and then the playtime can follow. My biggest resistance to doing them is boredom – and they are Boring with a Capital B! Thank goodness for the iPod and Pandora!

Online Knitting Resources – A Few Thoughts

Online knitting resources have been around for years, but as internet technology and hardware improves, they have become better than ever.

One of the most valuable tools, for me, is the video. On youtube, there are all sorts of instructional videos. These really help get points across, and show the viewer something which is really difficult to describe in words, even with sequenced photographs. Just doing a search for “backward caston” results in numerous hits, and refining it with “knitting” breaks it down even more. If it hadn’t been for youtube, I’d never have been able to purl using the continental method – the Norwegian Purl video was more than a little bit of a help!

Other favorite sites for patterns include Ravelry, Twist Collective, Knitting Pattern Central, and KnitNet. On many of these, techniques can be found, groups, local yarn stores. In some ways, the internet is like an ongoing treasure hunt – click here, click there, and something new and interesting pops up!

Still, despite the potentials found online, there are also limitations, although as time and technology move forward, that will become less of an issue. The low-tech book and magazine provide a portability not found online, and yes, you can take them with you! I personally would rather look at these than spend hours online, sitting in a chair, at a desk, and be indoors. Much nicer to wander outdoors to peruse. Color illustrations still catch my eye, the smell of ink and paper, and the beauty of layout, design, type font as well.

And, in this high-tech world, isn’t it interesting that many of us still prefer to knit with fine knitting needles in our hand, rather than at a knitting machine?

Buttoned Cardigan, i

A week or so ago I dug around in my stash and found some “Second Time Around” cotton. I knew what I wanted to make out of it, but I needed to modify the pattern because my gauge was going to be very different than that of the pattern. I ended up changing some elements of the Buttoned Cardigan, by Eva Weichmann.

The pattern calls for 6 st/inch. My gauge appears to be about 4.5-5 st/inch.

The simplicity of the pattern is one of its most appealing qualities. Knit in the round – really, back and forth – on a circular needle, from the bottom up, is something I prefer in sweaters, just because I hate sewing. The sleeves and sweater are connected with minimal sewing – no setting in of a sleeve.

The garter stitch accents, especially placed between stockinette at the edges of the sleeves and at the bottom of the sweater, are really elegant. This creates a slightly more formal quality to the sweater, giving it a more finished appearance than a 2×2 rib. The same for the sleeves. Also, if you look closely at the buttonholes, you will see that the garter stitch surrounds the buttons, but changes to the finished edge of stockinette, which makes for an interesting and attractive buttonhole band.

The yarn I am using is rather “busy” but it shows up the garter stitch very nicely between the stockinette. The photo, unfortunately, doesn’t really do justice to the yarn, but hopefully will give you an idea of what it will look like.

The green buttons bring out the lighter thread running through the yarn, and I think will really add interest to the sweater itself.

Freedom from the Albatross*

I think I am getting stuck on Albatross* this, Albatross* that. It just feels so good to let go of an annoying project in such a constructive way – writing up a pattern that may be of some benefit to someone else. Although I have not gotten a lot of comments on the Albatross Socks*, a lot of people have clicked on the pattern, so I guess that is good news.

With the encroaching graduation of my students, I am looking for something to do, and have settled on to designing a lightweight sweater in cotton. I’ve had this yarn lying around since 2005 (found the receipt in the bag), and to break the boredom of the being Connected to the Cold Pack, I decided to dig out a few knitting books. In particular, I dug out Eva Weichmann’s Simple Stitches, and began working on one of the sweaters. Unfortunately, the yarn I am using is not going to get anywhere near any of her gauges, so I decided to use a few elements of one sweater in particular to build one of my own creation.

I have about 1440 yards of this stuff, called “Second Time Cotton,” which can make a substantial sweater. According to the label, on US 8, the gauge is 17 st / inch. On US size 6, I get about 4.5.

Things I am considering in the design of this sweater is the material – cotton – and the fact that I don’t want to seam more than necessary. 3/4 length sleeves are also appealing. I want a cardigan or jacket which can be worn by itself, or over a lightweight knit top. The fact that cotton sweaters can look baggy and messy means I want stitches which will help maintain the sweater’s shape. And I want something rather mindless, but still interesting to do, and something which will have a rather tailored appearance, yet still fit close to the body (and the bulges!). And something which can be easily worked into a 1-piece, no sew, pattern.

Cold Therapy, Post-Op

Ouch! My radial nerve is hurting. I hope that it is only temporary, from pressure from the healing process.

One of the best things to treat the swelling from the inflammation which is part of the body’s healing process is cold. My MD recommended the Polar Care 300, which is a portable, electric ice pack. An igloo cooler is modified, or specially made by Breg (the manufacturer), to pump cold water through a baffled pack. This acts like an ice pack, and helps reduce post-op swelling. Unfortunately, the bandages on my arm were so big that the ice pack did not get employed as it should have, which is very important during the first 72 hours. Ah, well.

My surgery was done in Valencia, and the Polar Care 300 unit is sold by DME nearby. Unlike other cold pack set-ups, the Polar Care is not bulky, very portable, extremely quiet, and incredibly well thought out. We paid about 189.00 at DME. Today, I am walking around with a tube to connect me to the unit, which I need to do hourly. Hopefully the burning of the radial nerve will diminish, cuz it hurts more than the surgery!