The Hand Saga Continues

You won't believe this. Today, I went into the doctor because my hand was bothering me again.  I figured it was carpal tunnel or tendonitis and they could give me some exercises to help with the pain.  However, when the doctor failed to trigger any symptoms using the normal tests, he called in his boss who happens to specialize in sports medicine.  He grabbed my hand and messed with it for a bit and before long, he had found something no one else had.  The scaphoid bone in my right hand wasn't moving.  The scaphoid bone is a tiny little thing, shaped like a peanut.  Apparently, when you shake someone's hand, it causes that bone to move.  Next thing I know, the doctor grabs one of the residents and proceeded to teach both the doctor I originally came in to see and the resident how a good hand feels and reacts (my left hand), and then had them do the same test on my right hand because that bone wouldn't move.  He told me it was an injury they didn't see in the clinic that often.  He apologized for using me as a guinea pig, but it was great fun.  I learn so much when stuff like that happens.  I even got to see everything on the ultrasound screen and was told exactly what was going on.

Oh, what is that?  It's a scapholunate ligament tear. Mine is only partially torn at this point.  However, I am being referred out to a hand specialist to have it looked at and fixed.  Most likely, I am looking at more down time from knitting and possibly surgery.  However, if they can heal this pain finally?  I'm all for it.

So, my knitting schedule is going to get changed. I was enjoying working on a different project every day, but that's going to stop now.  I'm going to focus on one or two projects and see how many I can get done before I'm out of commission again.  Hopefully, when that's over, I'll be able to knit relatively pain free again.  I am definitely looking forward to that!

I also need to take into consideration the fact I was hoping to launch a small Etsy shop.  Nothing too exciting.  I was only going to sell drawstring project bags for knitting and crochet.  Though, unlike most of the bags out on Etsy, this was going to be my personal design.  Perhaps I should go ahead and take a small break in my knitting and get those made.  It would be nice to have my shop open. I'll think about it. For now?  I need to admit it's really late and I should get to bed.

Head, Meet Wall

Well, it would appear that my Evenstar shawl is insisting on hating me.  Or at least bent on making my life difficult.  Recently, I had to frog around 30 rows.  Why oh why didn't I put in a lifeline sooner? We're talking 400+ stitch rows here, too.  That was no small amount of yarn.  So, in the passage of time, I managed to knit two rows.  I have other projects on the needles after all.  They also need my attention.  So, okay.  two rows done.   Yay!  Today is "Evenstar Day." (I'll explain in a minute.) I pull out my pattern, get out my project and start knitting.  No big deal. Until I reach the third repeat and mess up counting and screw up a twisted stitch or two for good measure....  Next thing I knew, I'd dropped 2 stitches and things were falling apart faster than you could say... well, pick a bad word for the situation. 

Frog.  That's such a bad word in any needlework craft. However, while you're working on fixing your mistake, you can come up with various ideas on how to keep it from happening again in the future. Right now, all I can think of is running another lifeline every time I finish a row. That will take a tremendous amount of time, but in the end, it might be worth it.  I don't know how many more times I can frog this yarn. So, it would be better to take a little more time and protect it now, than to have it shred itself apart later.

Now, on to why this is Evenstar Day.  I have lots of projects in progress. You can call that a PIG, but we tend to call them WIPs. That stands for Work(s) in Progress. In the attempt to keep my various knitting projects from giving me guilt trips, I have assigned each 'major' one to a day of the week. On that day, I will pick it up and work on it. I do, however, reserve the right to override that day's project at anytime. Take yesterday for example. I have a cold and periodically run a slight fever. Yesterday I was supposed to work on a baby blanket. Well, I'm to the point where I'm assembling the blocks together. When you have a fever, the last thing you want is a baby blanket in your lap. So, I worked on a lace shawl instead.  I feel little guilt over it because it was a mystery shawl and I finished up the clue before the next one was released. Major win!

Anyway, I guess I should get back to picking up these stitches. Unfortunately, they do not place themselves back on the needle. 

Startitis and massive update

Wow!  It's been a LONG time since I've worked on this blog.  So much has gone on since the last post.  We can begin with my hand. :-)  On the bad news front, the therapy never worked and I was sent off to a specialist. He determined it was not my thumb and was probably either carpal tunnel or severe tendonitis.  After that brilliant piece of news, I began to do research on how to still craft with either of those problems.  Who knew that large amounts of B Complex vitamins would do the trick?  Within 2-3 weeks of taking 2 pills a day, I was back on track.  I am now knitting, crocheting, and quilting within limits.  I have to still take frequent breaks and wear my wrist brace at night, but that's okay.  I'm knitting again! I also only take 1 B Complex vitamin in the morning.

Many other things have happened since the last post... Things like my husband returning home from being deployed. A son getting ready to undergo knee surgery after he tore his meniscus in a few places. And I'm having mental illness issues.  But that's an ongoing thing as I was diagnosed as bipolar when I was 18. I just recently hit a snag and I'm working through it with my doctor.  I have my good days and my bad days.

Currently, I'm in the middle of startitis.  What is that?  Well, it's when you start a ton of projects and then can't make up your mind what to work on next!  I have a list of 10 things I'm working on in the knitting world alone. We won't talk about the unfinished quilts. It gets scary then. ;-)  However, I'm now stuck wondering what to knit next. It can be a terrible dilemma, especially for someone in my "condition." Too many choices can lead to extreme stress and panic.  Weird how that happens.  I'm now going around in circle wondering if I should keep doing what I'm doing and just picking up one at random to work on, or focus on one until it's finished and I can mark it off my list.  I'll admit it's very tempting to work on a single project until it's done.  But then I begin to think about the KALs (Knit A-Longs) I'm in and how I'd like to keep up with them, too.  Let me play "show off" for a moment. :-)

This beauty is called the "Fall Mystery Shawl 2012". It's a free mystery I'm participating in and this was taken at the end of the first clue. This is lace weight yarn in MadelineTosh Lace color Norway Spruce.  Unfortunately, it never does photograph right. There are also small gold beads in there.

There.  See them?  Pretty aren't they?  They look like they're glowing. It's turning out beautiful.  Also, this is the best shot to get the idea about the yarn color.

I'm also working on a stole called "Myrtle Mystery Stole".  I am using lace weight on this as well in a turquoise color and it's Zephyr yarn by Jaggerspun.

You'd have to look closer to notice there are tiny pink beads there as well. :-)  I love knitting with beads.  They're so much fun.  They take a lot of work to add, but it's worth it in the end.  If you're curious, I use the crochet hook method.

A few other things I've been working on are some socks for my oldest son, some summer lace booties for me, and at least 2 baby blankets.  Why?  Because I want to.  Definitely not because I need them. I'm done with the baby thing. lol  I'm also working on a cardigan which I should focus on for awhile. It's starting to get cooler here in Texas and it will come in handy soon.

So, there you have it!  A quick and dirty update on my current knitting.  Yes, I know. I didn't list 10 projects. Let's see here. I'm missing my Comfort Block of the Month afghan, Maluka (a shawl), and my never ending Evenstar. Though I did get another row added to Evenstar about 3 days ago.  That was exciting. :-D  However, it's getting late here. I declare the knitting 'struggle' over for the evening and I'll start again tomorrow.

And the Band Played On

I haven't the slightest clue what that title means. I just felt like using it. I figured it was time for a small update to my blog here. Maybe take the edge off of the eternal whining I was doing about my hand.

Some news on that front though. I'm down to my last 6 physical therapy appointments. Quick side track here. What is the difference between physical therapy and occupational therapy? I don't really know, but apparently it's big in the way they schedule my appointments. Okay, back on track. By mid-February, I get to find out for sure. Did the therapy work? Or do I go in for surgery? All I know at this point is I'm loving my new brace! I wish they'd given it to me sooner. :-D

What's so great about my new brace? Well, it protects only the part of my thumb that needs protected and allows me full mobility of the rest of my hand. That's a BIG deal. And to top it off, the very tip of my thumb is mobile too. That's awesome. Why?... Because it's just enough to allow me to knit again. WHOOO!!!! Yes, it's that exciting. The brace is also uncomfortable enough while I am knitting that it forces me to take frequent breaks. It's teaching me good habits that I can continue to use from here on out.

Also, a new Nerd Wars tournament is starting up soon. That's always exciting, right? It will make the next three months fly by, that's for sure. I have three projects lined up and ready to go and I'm planning on doing a dissertation this time.

I have decided that crochet isn't all that bad. I was just in a titchy mood when I typed that one entry, so we'll just ignore it. I am enjoying the fact I can expand my search on Ravelry to include ALL of the patterns. It's amazing. I am currently working my amigurumi skills up to the level where I can tackle Boba Fett. I tried, and it wasn't pretty. I'm now working on a tiny penguin. :-)

Okay! I think that is good for now. I do have quite a few projects I can go work on and I would like to see some of them finished. ;-) To see them finished, one must work on them. So, toodles!