I was reminded of this basic rule by my 4 year old son the other day. He had been quietly playing with a book and then coloring in his sketch pad. Suddenly he jumped up and was moving all around, wiggling his body.
I was very entertained and after I stopped laughing, and he did too, I asked why he did that. “Sometimes ya just gotta wiggle,” was his answer.
And he is completely right.
Our bodies are built to be in motion. That old saying about “Move it or Lose it” is quite on target. I’m not a huge fan of the avid exercise regimen. It may be fine for many folks, but I don’t do anything to extremes (with the exception of the consumption of chocolate…which is not a subject for today’s post). But regularly moving about can help your brain be more alert and your body avoid injury.
Often when discussing preventing hand injury with crocheters and knitters I talk about taking breaks during your stitching time. I’ve given suggestions on what to do during that break time. Walk about, get a drink of water, maybe stretch…but wiggling works as well.
So the next time you take a break from your stitching try this.
Stand up and move away from your seating area so you have a bit of room around you. Stretch your arms up above your head then let them flop down by your sides. Then wiggle your shoulders front to back and let your arms flop around like limp noodles. Don’t worry about looking silly…trust me, you will look silly. But you will also feel great afterward.
Just a few minutes of wiggling gets your blood flowing and helps your muscles re-balance from the restrictions of typicial stitching postures. Plus it will make you smile, possibly even chuckle…and laughter is always good medicine.
So it is official. I just packed up my Massage Table into it’s storage case. Today was my last massage appointment. I am now a retired massage therapist.
My Massage Table in its Storage Case
Guess that means I’m serious about doing all these creative things I love so much as my main income now. Deep Breath Time.
It is the outcast. The “red-headed stepchild” of the yarn and fiber world. But I love it. You know what I’m talking about…Novelty Yarn.
There is Fun Fur and Sparklies and combinations of both. There is Ribbon and Boucle’ and Pom-poms. I revel in it all. I have a supply of novelty yarns that is bordering on the ridiculous in my stash, and I am completely unapologetic about it (I actually don’t have any Pom-Pom yarn…may have to correct that next shopping spree).
Some of My Stash of Novelty Yarns
Sadly, some of my recent most favorite novelty yarns are now discontinued. Occasionally I find them on sale somewhere languishing un-loved and under appreciated in a sales bin. A few of them always seem to find their way home with me.
Some of them can be a bit tricky to crochet with. But I love the special effects that can be quickly added to a project by using some novelty yarn.
After all, one needs Novelty yarn to create a Pocket Monster…..
Purple Pocket Monster
Or the fuzzy fringe for a Felted Fiery Bowl….
Fiery Felted Bowl
Or adding sparkle to a Free Form Lace Shrug….
Free Form Lace Shrug
According to a friend of mine that went to the January TNNA show there was talk that novelty yarn is making a comeback.
The past 2 weeks have been the Ravelympics on Ravelry while the actual Olympics were taking place in Canada.
My Ravelympics Badge
I have been having such fun participating in them that the blog has been sadly neglected. And of course all the other fun stuff going on in my life…like living in Hurlsville while the entire family came down with the stomach flu.
In a few short hours it will be a new month. This March I hope to post some fun bits about creativity, the unveiling of my independent pattern line and some helpful “How To” posts.
Now if you are betting type you could likely get some decent odds on whether any of this happens. But it’s always fun to try to plan ahead…even if the best laid plans can often go astray. See ya soon.
I have finally solved a problem that has bugged me for months. How can I be insanely busy and still not do all the things I think I should be able to do? This question kept frustrating me because I’m super speedy at most of the things I do.
I crochet quickly and I type somewhere in the neighborhood of 120 wpm. I read like lightning– devouring entire books in mere hours or at most a few days. Turns out it isn’t a matter of how much time it takes me, it’s a matter of the energy it takes.
If memory serves me, physics addresses this particular problem. There is an equation that goes somewhat along the lines of:
Energy + Time = Velocity.
An easy way to understand this equation is to apply it to driving your car. If you wish to travel a set distance, the amount of gasoline required remains fairly constant, whether you travel that distance quickly or slowly. There is some wiggle room in there depending upon the efficiency of your car engine and the condition of the road surface. But the amount of gasoline remains equivalent for all practical purposes.
In the equation Energy is a constant. The variables are Time and Velocity. For my purposes Velocity represents the Amount of Work I can finish.
Turns out the problem isn’t I’m running out of Time, I’m running out of Energy. And of course, less energy = more time needed to complete the tasks on my To-Do list. The real trick is how do I harness more energy? The answer is…no one can.
Time management and good self-care can certainly maximize how the energy is put to use. But in the end there is only a finite amount of energy available to me on a daily basis.
Recently there have been lots of new opportunities opening up in my life. I have started designing crochet patterns and selling my art and fiber creations. Opportunities for teaching hand health/healthy crafting and crochet are popping up. But since I am dealing with a finite amount of energy, I need to shift things around to make more room (and energy) for the new.
So I’ve finally bowed to the wisdom of the ages and the science of physics. I’ve reached a decision that I’ve been seriously wrestling with the past four months.
At the end of April I am retiring as a massage therapist. It is a scary thought. In many ways I have identified myself with that profession for over 11 years (more if I count the years I was in training).
As much as I love working with clients and helping them to feel better, the thing I love most is educating them on how to care for themselves so they aren’t back on my table in knots too quickly. I will eventually continue my role as an educator with my writing and teaching classes on those subjects.
Like all changes in our lives this one promises to have its ups and downs. But I am really looking forward to having more energy to devote to my family and my creative work.
Yep, I realized it is really the truth. Because right now– in fact for the past 3 weeks– my hands and wrists have not been happy with me. Sad to say, I am wearing this brace on my right hand for most of my days and nights. It’s really fun to type with…. Not….
Strapped up for work
I write about and talk about hand health. All. The. Time. It’s part of the reason I am known as Mamas2hands. Yet here I am ignoring my own advice. I know better.
I know that if I crochet for 3 hours non-stop, things will hurt when I finally get up to take that desperately needed bathroom break. Not just my hands, but also my neck and shoulders, and even my backside from sitting in the same spot and basically the same position for all those hours.
Now for my excuses. You knew I would have some, right? It’s all a matter of perception. I am just going to crochet for a few minutes or work on the computer for a few minutes. And really, that’s all they felt like. A few minutes. But the reality is that Einstein never created a formula for perceiving time, even though he had calculations for the relativity of time.
Only the old saying, “Time flies when you are having fun” can explain it fully. Though I would modify that …Time flies when you are too busy to breathe. So my body has forcibly reminded me that I may no longer ignore my knowledge and must instead take better care of myself. Starting with…I will remember to breathe.
AND I will go to bed at a reasonable hour AND get at least 8 hours of sleep. I will drink lots of water and cut down on the amount of sugar I eat. I will do my daily stretches and I will take regular breaks from the computer and crocheting.
Most importantly I will forgive myself when I screw up doing all the above, because like everyone else I’m not really a hypocrite…I’m only human.
Here I am a few days into 2010 and trying to fulfill one of my New Year’s Resolutions–namely, to update my blog every week. We will see how well I’ll pull this off.
January should be a good testing ground to see if I can master the time management skills needed to stay on top of submitting design proposals, swatching for new designs, and meeting deadlines for designs that have sold. And these are just the work related items on my to-do list.
A few skeins from the Stash
Another personal resolution is related to the quantity of yarn that is slowly taking over every corner of my home. Thus the Yarn Odessy title of this post.
The yarn stash needs to be inventoried. I have a bad habit of purchasing yarn because I have no idea what I actually have on hand. Then there are the times when the “Oh Shiny!” reaction kicks in and I have to adopt at least one ball of that yarn.
The yarn stash needs to be sorted into storage containers and matched with the inventory. I have attempted this numerous times in the past with minimal success….Okay truth be told, it only stayed manageable for about 3 weeks…then it all started to unravel (and the stash has never been matched with any sort of inventory).
The yarn stash needs to be sorted by usage-Free Form projects, design swatching, and project completion. This is the point where I completely lose momentum, even when I make progress with the other 2 ideas.
It’s a faulty system. Digging thru the yarn to decide its ultimate destination becomes far too seductive. All I really want to do is start playing with the yarn. Before I know it, the 2 hours I scheduled to sort are past and it is time to make dinner for the family.
Well, now you see why I call this an Odessy. Ulysses had better luck with Homer than I likely will have with my Yarn. At least I will have a great time.
This past Saturday I attempted to learn how to knit continental style.
The Necessary Yarn
Now the word “Continental” inspires romantic visions of sophistication and elegance in my mind. This could possibly be due to the fact that I was raised in the wilds of Kansas. Continental knitting it turns out has nothing to do with elegance, at least not in my hands.
Knitting is not really my talent. I can sort of knit using the English style, where one “throws” the yarn. I generally need to have an illustrated knitting book open for prompting each step.
After a bit I am zipping along with basic knit and purl stitches (which is about the time I get in trouble with unintended increases or decreases). I have even been known to make a square that has a close resemblance to a flat four-sided object with 90 degree corners (sometimes by a judicious application of force to reshape the wonky).
I’ve been crocheting for nearly 40 years, so it has been a very long while since I was at the “just learning” stage. I am discovering in my knitting adventures that I am at the very beginning, in fact at times I wonder if I am in some twilight region that precedes the beginning.
Being I am a brave and adventurous soul I decided I wanted to get better at knitting. Many knitters, that also crochet, had promised me that knitting continental style is much easier to learn since you hold the yarn similar to crochet. This sounded good to me, though possibly I was simply delusional.
I made plans with a friend that I see at The Lamb Shoppe’s monthly Pajama Jam to teach me how to knit continental style. My ambitious idea being that I would make a hat for another friend’s soon to arrive baby.
I had packed a few sizes of needles from my meager stash of knitting accoutrement into my project bag for the evening. It was decided after a confab that I would use my Size 7 needles and worsted weight yarn knitted flat then seamed to construct the hat.
Being I did not have a yarn with me that would fit the bill, and was fortuitously in a yarn shop at the moment, it was time for yarn shopping. For once I did not dilly dally at this most wonderful of errands and quickly decided on Cascade 220 Superwash Paints in the lovely Tropical Seas colorway.
I then cast-on using my crochet hook (I was informed that what I was doing was considered a provisional cast-on, but it would work) and began to knit my first ever swatch continental style. It took a bit of time, but I eventually was working at a steady clip with knit stitches and accomplished a few rows of garter stitch.
Some of my friends at the table with me were highly entertained at my method of knitting. One went so far to say that I was crocheting my knitting. I replied that it was perfectly sensible that I would as I am a crochet designer. I was beginning to feel fairly happy with my knitting progress, when I was told it was time to learn to purl.
Hmmmm, another word with mental picture issues. In my mind (and experience) pearls are iridescent lovely gems, and though the word “purl” in knitting sounds similar this stitch is certainly no gem. When my helper told me that purling isn’t anything to be afraid of I knew I was in serious trouble.
My rows of knit stitch had only taken me about 40 minutes. 2 hours after I had started my first row of purling I finally finished it. Let’s just say now that my friend’s baby is likely to be in kindergarten before I get a hat knit (I may be whipping up a crochet one just in case).
Mamas2Hands 