Hello blog!

Hey, look, I have a blog!

The way I access the internet has changed dramatically this year. Getting access to my own computer is difficult, and I don't really blog through any other medium. So, less blogging! Maybe that's the way of my future, but I'll just have to see.

This is a knitting blog, of course, and of course there's been knitting.  However, the methods, amounts, and output have all changed.  I've been experiencing a lot of RSI--Repetitive Stress Injury--pain, and this has changed a lot. Overall, I'm knitting less, but I'm also still doing a lot of work to make sure I can continue this beloved pursuit.  Strategies to keep knitting despite RSI include:

• Significant breaks. If my hand and wrist hurt that much, I need a few days without knitting. While I might really want to knit, if my hand is in no shape to knit, I've gotta deal with it and not knit.
• Reduced knitting time. No more can I spend all evening or all weekend knitting. There will be no sock wars in this condition. I can only do a maximum of an hour of my usual style of knitting per day.
• Exercises. These have made the biggest difference. A smattering of these helps, too.
• Night wrist brace. Oh wow, do I love this thing! It keeps my hand in the proper position, it's all padded and comfy, it provides warmth and compression, and my hand always feels remarkably healed in the mornings. I'd wear it always if I could, but I can't do anything with my hand while wearing it.
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• Loosen up. I seem to grip the needles very tightly while knitting socks. For a while, I thought I was done knitting socks forever! I made a conscious decision to not grip so tightly, and socks no longer cause me crippling pain.
• Lever knitting. I am adding a new tool to the knitting tool box. Lever knitting won't replace the kind of knitting I presently do, but rather add another method I can use when I've finished my daily allotment of my usual style. It allows me more knitting time in the day. This will be the subject of a different blog post.

But! Despite the difficulties, there is still knitting, and of course, there's always yarn. So many pretties!  Here's a few samples, to pretty up this wordy post:

This is all Tri'coterie yarn. It's hand dyed in France! Tri'coterie. Top to bottom, we have Jack Harkness, Claire and Henry, and Canth . When she did her Time Travel month, it became apparent that I consume a lot of time travel fiction. And love it all.

Also from Tri'coterie, these are Cinna and Gale.