A Knitter's Survival Guide to Knitting Through a Pandemic

These days, like no other, many of us are passing time and finding comfort in our knitting. Remember when this was the dream? “Oh, if I could only stay home and knit for days…” I’m not being smug, I’m saying we’ve trained for this. I don’t think anyone is more prepared to shelter in place than textile junkies. And it is wonderful if you’ve got more time to do these things. That’s why we invented stash, right?

But if you’re finding yourself doing more knitting (or fill in the blank with your fiber obsession) than usual, you might also notice yourself feeling some aches and pains because of it. We can’t have that! This is not the time to have to treat an injury that might prevent you from whatever is keeping you sane, is it!? So what’s a knitter to do? Well, here are a few tips that might help you to shelter in place and knit, spin, or craft comfortably to your heart’s content.

At the core of the potential problem is a higher exposure to any risk factor that already (and inherently) exists in your knitting. Just doing things more frequently increases your exposure to the positives and negatives of that activity.

Yes, there is risk in knitting! Risk here simply means that the action of knitting applies forces to our body. Add to that any unconventional (read “sub-optimal”) ways that you personally perform the task, and the risk goes up.

So, the first thing we can do to keep us safe and comfortable is manage our exposure to risk. (There’s a pretty good book that describes in great detail what kind of risk lives in our crafting. And it’s available on this website! The author is a delight.)

Managing exposure can be done in so many ways. My favorite is project pairing. Project pairing means that you have multiple projects going at the same time, but they are different in what they ask of your body. For example, I’m embarking on a lopi jacket that will be knit on 6.0 mm (size US 10) needles and I’m also working on something else (I can’t tell you about yet) that’s done on a 2.25 mm (size US 1). Working on such different size needles allows a variety of hand postures. Since much of our time knitting holds our hands and fingers in static postures, it’s important to, a) take frequent breaks to allow blood flow), and b) shift postures  so that the range of motion and joint angles you’re sustaining are not the same, thus decreasing the load (aka, “risk”) from just one particular range of motion.

What I’m talking about here is diversity. In this case, it’s diversity of posture. But there are lots of other ways to introduce diversity to your knitting. In my current projects, I’m working with lightly spun Icelandic wool – very low crimp, somewhat coarse, and very lightly spun, and the other mystery project is being knit out of handspun light fingering yarn which is a blend of Rambouillet and angora, spun with a robust twist. This is a decidedly bouncy yarn especially as compared to the lopi. The diversity of fiber properties (crimp), yarn construction (thick singles vs light fingering 3-ply, amount of twist in both the singles and the finished yarn) creates a more diverse range of work that my hands and forearms will need to perform.

Something else inherent in this pairing is the knitting challenge itself. The lopi jacket is a super easy knit (although the color design is proving to be a brain teaser!), while the mystery project is technically more difficult because of shaping, gauge, and detail. The lopi will be my TV knitting once I get the colors worked out. The other will require more focus and will be less forgiving when it comes to fixing errors because of the angora. So it will get lots of focused attention and I won’t work on it for long periods of time – limiting exposure.

But what about our friends the “monogoknitter”? You know, those who do one project at a time, from cast-on to bind-off do they part. No problem. You can still diversify. Just make subsequent projects different from the last. Again, do this with gauge, fiber type, yarn construction, or level of difficulty. If that doesn’t appeal (there are those knitters who only knit one type of project – socks, dish cloths, etc.) you can still diversify! But this time, it won’t be the components of your project environment, it will be duration of exposure, and posture.

Become mindful of how much time you knit without a rest or stretch break. It should not be longer than 20-minutes. Yes, you should stretch every 20-minutes if you’re in this for the long haul and want to preserve your most important fiber - you! You can set a timer if you like. You can use a progress marker and see how long it takes to knit a round or a few rounds, and then count your rounds. You can use a “mindfulness marker ™” (aka “movement marker ™”) which is a unique marker that, when encountered on the round, is your cue to stretch, stand, get a drink of water – whatever. It helps you to remain mindful of your environment, posture, and body. I recently got a new favorite from my pal Felix (@Knitsonik) while teaching at VKL NYC last winter. It’s a sweet little bell, and I’m so smitten with its charming tone I’ll do whatever it asks me when it comes around the bend toward my hands.

Lastly, if I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times – YOU DON’T HAVE TO SIT TO KNIT! Most of knitters’ musculoskeletal issues come from horrible seated postures that can be attributed to working in chairs not designed for the task they’re doing. It’s like running a marathon in pumps. You’re going to get hurt! And the longer you expose yourself to the risk of running in the wrong shoes, the more likely it is that you’ll be injured. This isn’t rocket science people! (Again, there’s a book available on this website that will teach you all about choosing a chair!) Knitting is designed to be done on the go. So, stand up! Walk (learn how from that book you can get you know where). It opens your world to move around while knitting and don’t we all long for that these days? This recommendation is not just for the monogoknitter, but for every one of you. Start small by learning to work simple stitch patterns (e.g., garter) by marching in place; then walking down the hall, then around the house or back yard. Then increase stitch complexity. Add a row of purls. Make ribbing, then seed stitch. You get the idea.

Now, those of you who are multi-crafters, you’ve totally got this! It’s so easy to project-pair and diversify if your crafting repertoire is already diverse. Spend an hour or so preparing fiber and spinning if you’re a spinner. Then knit for a bit. Devote part of your knitting time to improving technique by doing some of the “Swatchortunities” found in that book you can get from this website! Do you like playing with dyes? Go do that! Spend some of your knitting time designing something cool. Not a designer? Try changing up colors or stitches in a beloved pattern someone else designed. These activities are all parts of the knitting process. Knitting is not just the “move the sticks” part.

Finally, we should all know that these are stressful times and that stress increases the likelihood of musculoskeletal injury. Take time to breathe mindfully, meditate, rest, and remain sure that this situation too shall pass. Every story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. Now, we don’t know if we’re living through a short story or Moby Dick, but either way, we can choose to remain hopeful! Stay close to the things and people you love and let them all know you love them. It feels really good! And remember, that includes loving yourself, too. You need to take care of yourself so you can keep on knitting comfortably through this current story and whatever the sequel will be. And there will be a sequel! When we turn the final page of this story, I want to see you still knitting comfortably.

Please listen to my talk on this topic with Andrea and Andrew at Fruity Knitting Podcast if you’d like more information and stretches.

“…in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.” – Maya Angelou

Knitting is filled with opportunities for diversity. Ergo, I knit.

There's a Monkey on My Back

Miriam-Webster describes the word "obsessive" as, "thinking about something or someone too much or in a way that is not normal". I'm not really sure who gets to decide what's a "normal" way or amount to think about something or someone, but I get the gist so I can roll with it. They describe the word "compulsive" as, "caused by a desire that is too strong to resist : impossible to stop or control" and, "very interesting". I have been (not falsely) accused of being a little of both obsessive and compulsive. I don't mind. I take it as a compliment, especially the bit about "very interesting". Why thank you, I like to think so. But I don't know that there's anything particularly special or unusual (i.e., not "normal") about it. I think that I probably share this distinction with most of you fiberistas. We have our own special word to describe it - "stash". So I'm sure most of you will understand the drive to think about something in a way that is not normal (and here I'll add "for non-fiberistas" to the definition) I'm also pretty sure that "desire that is too strong to resist" is something that you not only understand but have experienced and enjoy. Of course you do. Just look in your closet. Yarn, yarn, yarn! You know it. I know it. The clothes that should be hanging in there but instead are on the treadmill know it. I'm not judging, I'm just saying. You might as well own your compulsion.

I have another compulsion besides fiber and yarn. Its kind of secret so I hope you'll be as non-judgmental of it as I am of your stash (and mine). Its office supplies. Specifically writing tools and paper. Ever since I learned to hold a crayon I've just been madly attracted to tools that make marks and the stuff you mark upon. This came in very handy when I was in art school. Perhaps I should say that art school came in handy as it allowed me to indulge my little secret. But I don't paint any more and my drawing is pretty limited to patterns and  designs so its kind of rare that I go to a store that has this type of candy. Understandably I thought I had the addiction under control. That is until my recent visit to my Besty, Madame Huff pictured below in front of one of her most clever designs and books.

Noted author, relentlessly talented designer, and evil enabling super genius, Mary Scott Huff. Cute but dangerous.

One morning I was sitting at her desk, kvetching about its poor ergonomics I'm sure  (will she never listen to me?), when I discovered an artsy little container filled with fountain pens sitting beside the computer. Beads of sweat formed on my brow. Then I started to worry, no panic. I have this thing under control, right? I don't need to touch them. I have my own fountain pen and while its one of my favorite things I am its master, not the other way around. I don't need to see what its like to use another fountain pen.

So Huff says with faux innocence, "I see you've noticed my fountain pens. Do you like them?" More beads of sweat. "How about my (pause) mechanical pencils?", she said breathlessly.  If she had a mustache like Simon Legree she'd have stroked it. She knew she'd hit a nerve. And I knew I was about to be tied to the railroad tracks unless Dudley Dooright were to come along. "Have you ever shopped on the Goulet Pens website?" she purred. "How about Levenger or Jetpen?" The next thing I remember we were on the couch our hands filled with iPads which we feverishly stroked while looking lustfully at page after page of pen and paper porn. I'm not going to lie, it was heady. But I resisted and walked away with my dignity and wallet intact. 

So this week I'm minding my own business knitting on a sweater and using my mechanical pencil to update a chart, as I always do, when suddenly the pencil breaks. Totally broken -  beyond repair. It was an inexpensive but effective pencil and I got years of service from it, so no tears really. But then I realized I'd need to replace it. My hands got clammy. There are those damn beads of sweat again. There must be another way. I'll use a wooden pencil. I have one on the desk. I sprinted the two feet from my chair to the desk and grabbed it. Holding it with just the right amount of grip I moved it across my chart. It dragged clumsily.  It's body, too thin for my manly grip, lacked contour and caused my hand to strain. It's eraser, hard and smudgy gave me no satisfaction when I made a correction. This wasn't fun! Who was I kidding? This was never going to work. "Its me, not you, pencil. You see, there was another." And it must be replaced. I knew I had to go inside the belly of the beast - the art supply store.

Loins girded I set off this morning after a hearty breakfast for Flax Art and Design which is  one of my favorite store of all time. I felt they knew I was coming, too, and they were ready. Entering the store the first thing I encountered was a huge case of fountain pens and mechanical pencils. More beads of sweat. ("You can handle this".) I was sure I'd be dead in the water. ("You're in control") Putty in their hands ("The power is in the moment!"). But then suddenly, not just pens. Look at this wall of ink!

Just a portion of the wall of ink at Flax. I can't breathe, OMG, I can't breathe!

Through the kindness and expertise of these two talented and knowledgeable folks I manged to emerge with just want I needed.

Lani (left) and Stephanie (right) know everything in the world about pens, ink, and paper. They totally rock!

Okay, more than I needed. But it could have been so much worse. And tell me you could resist this fountain pen and pencil. And as the theme was red I was in for some Noodler's Red Black ink as well. Delicious!

I used a red mechanical pencil throughout grad school and ever since. So glad they had the Kerry in red!

Now, what in the world has this to do with knitting? Everything! Tools inspire us to work. They are a part of the very experience of every part of knitting. Tools need to be comfortable to work with and, in my not so humble opinion, joyous to hold and use. They need to excite you. I'm sorry, but I won't apologize for not compromising on this and I hope you won't either! Everything from your needles to your stitch markers should be things that you enjoy. I'm not saying form over function (necessarily) but I will go down crying that if you don't love what you're working with then you shouldn't be using it because you won't enjoy the work. Nothing is more dissatisfying than knitting with needles that don't feel good in your hand. Or yarn that doesn't drape or display stitches as you wish it to. Why would you bother? Its the same with writing instruments, ball winders, bags, everything! In my mind, there are things you can skimp on with an eye toward economizing, but tools that I plan to spend time with are not among them. (I feel similarly about chocolate and wine. Life's short - enjoy!) And since I'm an accidental writer of sorts I get to have nice writing tools, too.

So with that in mind you can look forward to some posts in the future about Carson's favorite fiber tools and supplies. And if you have a favorite fiber tool - or writing implement - won't you share it with us in the Comments section below?

Until then, Knit Comfy!

Knitting allows me to experience the joy of other hand workers products. Ergo I Knit.

Hold Your Head Up

Don't you hate it when you get a song stuck in your head? For the last two days I've had Hold Your Head Up stuck in mine. Not the Macklemore song. No, I've got the ubiquitous 1972 Argent anthem stuck in there. I was in junior high school. This song was a staple for every cover band that ever played a high school dance through out the 70's. If you wanted to be cool you had to like this song. Whenever it started to play the cool kids instinctively bobbed their heads in rhythm with a feigned lack of self-consciousness and a false sense of bravado. Party on! I wasn't much of a rocker when this song debuted. Who am I kidding, I've never been much of a rocker. But I remember listening to the 8-track tape in the back of my cousin's RV when we were on summer vacations in upstate New York. Oh yeah, baby! Green shag carpet, contact paper that looked like wood covering the cabinets that doubled as a twin bed for three of the kids, and 8 track tape players in the front cab and  the back. When the grown ups were gone we'd listen to the rock 8 tracks, and play Pitch. Bitchin'!

I used to know someone who could plant a song in your head just by saying he was going to do it. In fact he called it "planting" and it was his super power. He had a gift for the power of suggestion. But that's now how this song got stuck in my head. I think it's there because I woke up a couple day ago with neck pain. Trust me, there's a reason we call annoying things 'pains in the neck'. Neck pain is a pain in the neck. You can tell them I said so.

"But I know I'm not alone", he said bravely as he looked out over the horizon toward the rising sun. Indeed not. Studies have shown that 5 in 1000 people over 50 have symptomatic spinal stenosis. Stenosis is a narrowing of the spinal canal (which houses your spinal cord) or the lateral foramen where the nerve roots exit as they begin their journey to your (in the case of cervical nerves) arms, and hands. The narrowing can be the result of a number of causes. These include thickening of ligaments within the spine, osteophytes (bone spurs) along the margins of the vertebrae, bulging spinal discs, and thickening of the cartilage that line the joints of the spine. Studies that looked at the incidence of spinal stenosis in asymptomatic individuals have shown up to a 35% occurrence in subjects under the age of 30 years. Yowzah! Keep in mind that these folks didn't have symptoms which suggests that many people are stenotic and just don't know it. Hopefully they never will. The symptoms that stenosis can create range from joint stiffness, to local pain with movement, to irritation of the nerve root and the myriad symptoms of discomfort that can cause. If you'd like to read a scientific article about spinal stenosis and access the extensive reference list that it resulted from, then please have a look at this:

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1913265-overview

Spinal stenosis may be caused by trauma or genetics but it's clearly linked to the aging process; bad news for accident prone Boomers like me whose genes swim in a murky pool. Regardless of its origins, or whether or not you're symptomatic the research would indicate that it behooves us to treat these tunnels and canals with loving kindness and respect. After all your very nerves depend on it.

I can tell you from the biomechanical point of view that movement changes the amount of space in these tunnels. Looking up, bending to the side, and rotating your head narrows the space that nerve roots exit and creates tension along certain ligaments in the spinal canal. It also compresses the spinal facet joints on one side while it gaps them on the other. These movements can be painful depending on where the stenosis is located and what is causing it. Bending your head forward (flexion) compresses the front of the spinal discs causing their inner nucleus to move backward and to the side. This can contribute to narrowing of the space where the nerve roots exit and can be painful. It can also produce pain to the disc itself in the presence of pathology.

So why do we knitters and spinners give a wooly sheep's behind about this? Because most of us spend far too much time looking downward when we knit or spin! I totally get it. We feel this reliance on our vision to make sure our hands are doing the right thing. We're terrified that we'll drop a stitch and the Rapture will commence. We are sure that if we look away from our hands while drafting the wheel will spontaneously change its brake tension and globs of precious fiber will be yanked from our hands and wound into a twisted snarl on the bobbin. All the sheep will die. There will be no more yarn. Children will starve all over Europe. It will be dreadful!

My mission this year has been to get my students to stop doing this.  And I've been pretty successful. Here's a group that attended a class earlier this year. They're not only walking while they knit (a feat I also taught them) but they're looking up as they do it. And they're in a beautiful Marin County forest.  (I have a tough job.)

The Marin Gals loving the forest as they walk and knit.

Don't they look like they're suffering?

Lest you think that this is a skill only the women in Marin County possess, here's another group from a class I taught at Stitches West last February with students from far and wide in attendance.

Swatchbucklers at Stitches West 2014 led by my favorite gal from Georgia.

How did these folks manage this feat of daring do? Simple, they swatched for it! And that's what I want you to do. You CAN do this. Trust me, but more importantly trust your hands. You've been training them to knit or spin for years. They know how to make stitches without you watching them all the time. Helicopter knitter!  Tiger spinner!

For knitting, start with a bit of yarn that isn't terribly dear but that is cooperative (i.e., not prone to splitting, not novelty, etc.) Get yourself a set of needles that pair well with the yarn and, while sitting, knit yourself a garter stitch swatch without looking at your hands. If this is too much and you're getting hives at just the thought of it then start smaller. Only look at every 3rd or 4th stitch. You'll soon gain confidence and comfort, I promise. Remember our knitting ancestors knit complicated garments while walking and working. You can handle garter stitch on your couch. Once you get comfy doing the knit stitch, then turn the swatch into stockinette. Use this technique when you're swatching more complex patterns that you'll use in an upcoming project so you'll be comfortable looking away once in a while.

In spinning, start with a fiber and a drafting technique you're comfortable working with. Establish your wheel settings and the diameter of singles you want to make and spin a few yards. Then look away. Keep spinning but look forward. Listen to your hands - they're pretty smart. Look down when  you need to join your fiber supply or check your bobbin, but try not to spend your whole experience in this head down posture.

Of course there are times that we need to look at our hands and work. My point is that we don't need to witness the miracle of birth of each stitch or draft we make. We look down so much these days! Tablets, smart phones, hard copy on desks and tables - why add stress where you don't need it?

There are so many benefits from looking up from our work. We can breathe more fully because we're not hunched. We can relax the strain on our necks and shoulders. We can watch the movie on TV and not just listen to it as a sound track. (Did you know there are moving pictures that go along with Harry Potter? ) You'll see if your S.O. is giving him or herself more wine than they give you. So hold your head up! And rock on.

Knitting helps me look forward. Ergo, I Knit.

Its a New Day, Its a New Blog

Patrik

I've already confessed that solving software related problems is not my forte. So even though I've wanted to change the look of the blog for some time now, I've felt overwhelmed at the thought of doing it. With all due respect to the good folks at Word Press who strive to make their product easy and intuitive to use, the idea of changing my blog page it still scares the be-jiggers out of me. Thank goodness for my friend Patrik.

Patrik is amazing! He's probably best known for his work as a jeweler who works with precious metal clay. He's a teacher of the art as well and he's just self-published his first book - Woodland Chic - Metal Clay Jewelry as Nature Intended which is gorgeous! Please check out his blog www.woodlandchic.net. Some day I'll commission him to make me some buttons or a shawl pin, but today he generously shared his talent as a graphic  designer and helped me to update the look of my blog. What do you think? I love the lighter more colorful look. I'm also happy (and many of you will be too) that the text is now black on white. Much less eye strain, don't you think?

Patrik is an amazing artist, but his office ergonomics leave something to be desired.

Patrik's desk

Check out the awkward angle of his monitor in relation to his keyboard. Check out the distance to his mouse. How can we make this a more comfortable and safe place for Patrik to work? Let's get him to sit squarely in front of your keyboard and position the monitor squarely in front of the keyboard. Patrik's keyboard and mouse are, to my mind, too small for him especially because he uses his hands for very fine work with small tools. The smallness of the input devices require his fingers to be in an awkward posture. I say, save those awkward postures for when they're unavoidable with your craft, not when they are avoidable at the computer. Now, what a rude guest I am to be critiquing Patrik's ergonomics after he so generously created my blog's new look. I'm even drinking his champagne as I write this. Be assured this is just tough love. I'll get him all set up before I leave (and before I have another glass of bubbly). In the meantime check out your computer set up and if there are things not positioned correctly, fix them. Its all for the cause of more time knitting comfortably!

Comfy Knitting!

Like the Gristmill of My Mind

Having just celebrated a significant birthday that ends with a zero, I've been told that I now qualify for full membership in the Society of Curmudgeons. I must confess that I used to worry that this would happen. But as time went on I realized it was a losing battle. I think its part of my New England upbringing. We're trained from an early age. So I began to embrace the idea, even aspire to it. Secretly I've been practicing  for years. What does membership offer? Lots! My favorite thing is that you get to be opinionated. Period. No name calling, no questions asked, no judgment passed. Not once you're a curmudgeon. It’s just a given that a curmudgeon will be opinionated. And now that my age ends with zero again, I've come to realize that I've got plenty of them. Now, you must know that I wouldn't bring this up if I weren't going to take advantage of it and offer you an opinion or two. So here goes. You know what gets my (cashmere) goat?  (Curmudgeons are always complaining about their goats being gotten.) New Year's resolution!  Why? Because too often, these goals are so lofty and life altering that they simply aren't realistic. "I resolve that I won't eat chocolate in 2010." (Words you'll never hear me say.) "I'll have washboard abs by Valentine's Day". In Ergonomics Land where I live, I often hear people talking after one of my classes about how from now on they'll always sit properly when they knit. Or, that they'll stand or walk while knitting every 30 minutes. Or that they'll always have a balanced project diet so that they don't strain themselves. These are wonderful goals but, depending on the individual, they may be unrealistic. The problem with a "resolution" is the living with it. That is, you have to change your behavior. And depending on the behavior, that's not always an easy thing to do. And there's more. We feel guilty, even defeated, if we slip from the goal, even a little, which we're very apt to do when making a behavioral change.  And once we feel defeated, we often give up. So I, a fully vested Curmudgeon, say to you, "Don't beat yourself up!" (Curmudgeons often pepper their speech with directives and exclamation points.) My wish for you this year and forever more is that you won't strive to be perfect! Instead strive to be better. If bad posture is what makes you hurt, try using better posture more of the time. If you're getting out of shape because you sit to knit too long, try standing (even a little) while you knit - or walking, or making bigger movements when you pull yarn off the skein. And then acknowledge your accomplishment! A little self-appreciation for your "betterness" will motivate and encourage you to continue. So now we have started a new year and one of my goals is to send tips your way about how to improve your knitting ergonomics - it's safety, efficiency and productivity. But please just take small bites, chew them thoroughly so you can digest easily, and then come back for more.  And remember that if you slip, it’s no big deal. New Year's resolutions are for amateurs. Real pros know that the changes happen every day, not just December 31st. Take it from me. I'm a curmudgeon.

Knitting teaches patience. Ergo, I knit.