A Hug!

From this:

to this:

to this!:

It took quite a while for me to get my Hug finished. You may remember that I ended up knitting far too many rows initially. So I ripped it back and followed the instructions, only to have it... too short! So I ripped and reknit, and again it was too short. By now I was pretty irritated, till I realised that I'd actually knit the first half wrong: instead of increasing at the beginning and end of each row, I'd increased only at the beginning, and so had to work twice as many repeats.

However, I think I much prefer the longer look of the over-hand sleeve:



And it can be rolled back nicely:



I love this pattern. If I can ever get to the stage where I can be a free'n'easy knitter again then I'd like to make loads and loads. As simple as a scarf but a lot more fun! And it's by the same designer as Blackberry.

So. I made this using an unravelled shrug from a charity shop. I haven't used all the yarn up, but it did suck up quite a bit. I can't remember what needles I used - probably Denise 10.5US. It is a little tight - I couldn't seam the sleeves all the way up to the underarm otherwise I couldn't get it on! However, the little gap I left makes it curl nicely around my arm, as if it is supposed to do that. And the pick-up-&-bind-off thing along the back edge forms a really nice plaited effect - that was an instruction that didn't seem to make sense until I actually did it.

If anyone feels daunted by this pattern, don't be! I agree that when you read through it it feels a little complex, but it really isn't. I do hope that I get to make more :)

Can you guess what it is?

Scroll down...

Well, my Latin exam was last Thursday, and I think it went well :) My arms didn't explode either after the 3 hours of writing - hoorah! I'd taken a load of anti-inflammatories with me, but luckily didn't need to use them.

However, now the exam is over I need to try and start getting back to normal, typing wise. I haven't done any knitting yet, but I have done some spinning over the weekend. I wanted to do something, and realised that as it was a friend's birthday I could give her some handspun. I took it slow, but it didn't appear to cause any ill-effects. Obviously, I'd like to try a little knitting too, but not just yet.

I'm seeing a physiotherapist next week, so I may try some knitting beforehand. At the moment my forearms are OK (but I haven't really been doing much), however, I'm getting rotator-cuff tendonitis back in my left shoulder - hoorah! I've had it for about 2 weeks, although it isn't getting any worse. And a benefit (?) is that I don't need to crack my elbow any more, nor my shoulder that often.

As for the above contraption... Well, it's a home-made Lazy Kate! Otherwise known as a towel rack with 2 toilet rolls on it. I've previously plied using the Andean method, of making a bracelet around my wrist. Unfortunately, the finer the yarn and the amount I overtwist it means the bracelet keeps getting snarled up. As I'd spun heaps and heaps of wool, I knew the bracelet would be huge, and the chances of it plying smoothly were pretty much nil. So I wound the wool off onto the toilet rolls which I'd slotted onto the towel rail. Other than the fact that they were uneven (it's hard to judge how much is half) it worked really well. When one roll ran out I Andean plyed the rest of the other roll.

Obviously what I really need is more bobbins. And ideally an electric scale too. And I'd like the other two whorls that fit my wheel. But my current lack of cash means that it's highly unlikely that I'll be in a situation to get those any time soon. Probably should hold off too until I'm more confident about my arms working...

A new deadline

Deadline isn't the right word. Anyway, my new 'definitely can't knit until' date I have set at - gasp! - Monday 5th June. I've been sent a physiotherapy appointment for then, so figure I may as well last out until then. It's a week & a half after my Latin exam, so it's going to be soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo hard to stick to :P

My chiropractor doesn't think I need to see a physiotherapist because I'm seeing her... Hmmmm. Well, I'm going because second opinions/ shoulders to cry on are always good, and if it does get to the point where I need multiple x-rays and MRIs then it would be nice to already be in the NHS system.

Current symptoms:
* Left shoulder is bad. I worked out I crack it upwards of 200 times a day.
* Right shoulder - OK-ish.
* Left elbow - got a lot better. I don't need to try and crack it hardly at all (yes, I know that's a poorly constructed sentence) now and the pressure-feeling doesn't keep building up.
* Right elbow - fine
* Left forearm - today has been OK (just starting to sting now and it's 11:30pm and I've been doing loads of computering today). Yesterday & the day before it did sting and I had to apply the anti-inflam. gel (will probably apply the gel tonight as a precaution)
* Right forearm - sadly, though not as bad as the left, pretty similar to it
* Left wrist - need to crack it
* Right wrist - need to crack it, stings, feels stiff

I've had to get rid of my mouse as I think it was hurting my right arm. I've gone back to using the track pad ambidextrously (though more with the left sadly). I am typing quite a bit, as well as using the track pad. I'm also writing a lot, revising for my exam.

I want to knit

But I can't. Sigh.

I didn't knit whilst we were in the Peak District - I read (Garth Nix's Old Kingdom Trilogy is well top) and did jigsaws. Still managed to have twinges though - I think it was possibly holding books open *rollseyes*

Then on Saturday 22nd April I knitted during Dr Who (45 minutes), then a couple of hours later I knitted during Green Wing (just over an hour, with breaks in the adverts). Then I began knitting during a Mary Renault documentary and half an hour in felt the worst thing possible: a twinge in my right arm :-0 Inner forearm, just by the elbow.

I haven't knitted since. Right arm has been OK, left arm is twinge-happy. I've hardly typed either - 'luckily' my Latin revision calls mainly for long-hand writing instead.

I went to the doctor for a repeat prescription for my anti-inflammatory gel, as I think I will run out of what I currently have before my exam. I saw a different doctor this time, and let's just say she was in a rush. I have my repeat prescription though, and she said she would put me on the list for physiotherapy.

My chiropractor has now moved on from suggesting x-rays to suggesting an MRI! If I go private it would be £200 though, and I'm not overly sure what it would achieve. I think I'd rather go for x-rays first if I do have to have any tests.

However, as well as the twinge I am now getting pain in my left elbow. The edge of the inner bone pretty much hurts constantly, as if it is under intense pressure. Occasionally I can flail my arm about just right and it will make an almighty crack, but that only relieves it for a few seconds, and most of the time the flailing doesn't work.

I want to knit because it's fun and I enjoy it. I want to finish Friday's other glove as it's his birthday in about a week. I want to finish at least one opera glove to see if it works (I'm not sure my yarn is stretchy enough). I want to finish blasted Tempting - the idea was to wear it for a wedding at the end of May, but with at least 10 rounds of 200 stitches that's not going to happen. I have some beautiful plyed merino handspun waiting to become armwarmers... And the Corset Pullover! I keep fondling my swatch...

But I can't. I really really can't. Absolutely no fibre arts (so no spinning either) until my Latin exam on Thursday 25th May. I can't risk having arms that don't work for that! I'm going to struggle as it is as my vocab knowledge is pretty poor, never mind not being able to write!

After that... Who knows.

I don't actually think anyone reads this, but if you do then I'm sorry for not posting in a while. I do have to show off some FOs'n'stuff, and I have a pic of some really cute little lambs...

Thinking positive...