The Art of Self-Care for the Artisan

Ok. . .I'm just going to admit it. . .ready?. . .

I knit too much at the beginning of the year.  

Yup, can you believe it. And as a result I hurt my hand. . .more specifically the base of my right thumb. I'm sure most of you have had an injury due to your craft. To help you along, I've put together a workshop happening on July 28th. There's more information below. But in the meantime, here's what happened to me. 

It all started in January. I had promised the Indian Valley Chamber of Commerce that I would donate a shawl to their Crack Crab event. So I knit this beautiful turquoise and brown shawl using hand dyed, heavy fingering weight yarn. 

​Then I liked it so much I knit another. 

I knit this maroon shawl using hand dyed, heavy fingerling weight yarn. Which, by the way, is available at Crescent Country in downtown Crescent Mills.

Then I wanted to knit another one, but I got a little carried away.

I knit three more using heavy fingerling, fingerling, and sock weight yarns 
​I can't stop now! I'm on a roll!

So I knit this beautiful shawl using lace weight yarn. 

Then I knit this beauty pink/orange lace shawl using hand dyed, heavy fingering weight.

So why do I keep telling you about the weight of the yarn? Because the smaller the yarn, the smaller the needles. All these shawls were knit with size 4 knitting needles. That's small!

I've always had a hardfast rule that I should only knit one project using smaller needles, then I need to change it up to something using larger knitting needles. This way I protect my hands from being overworked.

I typically use a size 11 when I knit my vests. Or I use size 13 when I knit infinity scarves. 

But I just love creating these lace shawls. I love the feel of the fine yarn in my fingers, and the tight stockinette stitches contrast beautifully with the open lace stitches.

But after knitting so many lace shawls, my hand hurt. It hurt to the point where I stopped knitting for a month to let it heal. 

Yes, you read that right, I stopped knitting for a month!

​I have a friend of mine who is a massage therapist. Nancy has helped me in the past and I knew she could help me again. So I contacted Nancy and we started a conversation. We talked about finger exercises, what a crafter can do to keep their limbs from aching, and the best essential oils to help us out. 

And then it dawned on me. . .this would make a great workshop!

This will be an extremely helpful workshop for knitters, those who crochet, or anyone who works with their hands! Let me know if you are interested in signing up. ​