When I started this blog it was because I already knew that knitting made my pain better. I just didn't know how it worked. Here's a great article that tells all the little details I didn't know.
http://www.knitonthenet.com/issue4/features/therapeuticknitting/
Funny that people have been saying it for years but no one has actually done research about it till recently. As far as I'm concerned, any way I can avoid medication is at least worth trying. Between my knitting, my walking, and stretching, I can say that I limit the amount of pain meds.
Also read: http://peacefulknits.blogspot.com/2011/07/theraputic-qualities-of-knitting.html
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Saturday, February 2, 2013
On knitting and meditation and why I need a blog
I found this article and thought it said a lot about how a lot of knitters feel about knitting. http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer03/FEATknittingyourself.html
So...I should explain my situation. You see, I'm at a crossroads in my life right now: I'm on disability for my fibromyalgia and diabetic neuropathy. My husband just passed away and I'm now a widow. I had to reduce my costs to live on my disability check so I moved into a teeny house with an equally teeny rent. I share my little place with my adult son who has high functioning autism, but is reluctant to try for disability because he believes that being labled as disabled will limit his possibilities for a decent future. We are both trying to get by on what I get for SSI and it's daunting, but I love the idea that I am independent and in control of my own life now. Because of all of the above, I am now extremely anxious to get some kind of extra income coming in from my crafts.
While all the issues of my life might seem like a big vent, actually I'm quite relieved with where my life is heading now. I have my own place and can decorate it anyway I please and load it full of the things I love...namely yarn... and spend on only the things that I need or want. I don't have to answer to anyone and that is a freeing feeling.
I recently met a wife of a friend of Randy (my husband) and found that we have a lot in common. Especially the need to get a cottage industry going that will put food on the table. I have agreed to work with her and produce as much knitting and crocheting as I can for her to sell and we will split the earnings. Some of our obstacles that we are running into is 1. I have no transportation and live about 20 miles from her. The town I live in has no place that sells yarn other than the small local Walmart where I can find only poor quality yarn (however it is affordable). 2. I'm limited on cash so I have to keep my overhead at a minimum. 3. We have to do most of our sales in another location or over the internet and so postage for our items will have to be added to our overhead. 4. I am limited on space for storing yarn and supplies. Those are my limitations, here are my bonuses
1. I am eager, energetic and passionate about my crafts. 2. I am learning new techniques all the time to add to my inventory. 3. I have a lot of time because I'm not working. 4. I have internet access 5. I can reach about anything in my town by bus so not having a car is not as limiting as it may seem. 6. There is no one here to tell me I can't do something or discourage me.
I took over this tiny little place while I was caring for Randy.
Yes, it is what it looks like: a converted garage. When I got here at the end of October I walked into a house that had about an inch of dust on everything, had roaches the size of dogs, and it smelled awful. Before Randy got out of the hospital (he had been living here for 2 years along and was the stereotypical bachelor) I went on a cleaning frenzy.
The worlds most tiny kitchen. I have absolutely no counter space to work with. My plan is to take an old dresser, paint it white or light blue and put a butcher block top on it and place it under the window.
This room had the bed and a hospital bed for Randy in it. There were boxes piled everywhere and stacks of clothing that was covered with dust. In one window there was a piece of unpainted plywood with a small air conditioner. The rug was so worn out that it was stuck to the floor. I pulled up the rug, scoured the floor, and put curtains in the windows (one covered the plywood and the air conditioner. When I get the chance, I'll paint the plywood white and then pull the curtains back when I run the air).
This is the other side of the room with the bed and chair. I put my desk here and put the dresser in the closet to make more space. The curtain was a door that had a panel broken out and was being held together with duct tape. I removed the door, put up the curtain and cleaned out the top of the closet of the boxes and junk that was stored there. I moved an old, small book shelf next to the dresser and I have the linens stored on it. I didn't take a picture of the little bathroom that is on the other side of the door, but it is now clean (it was pretty scary when I got here).
This is the other side of the room that has the kitchen in it. When we get our things from Nevada, John's desk will go here. I plan to replace the chair with a new one (one that doesn't have the arm taped into place.LOL). You can't see it, but there are blinds on the window and I plan to buy fabric and make a curtain to cover them and dress it up a little.
I look forward to turning this into a little cottage full of yarn and soft things. I want to be able to be inspired here to knit and crochet and make a life for John and I.
So...I should explain my situation. You see, I'm at a crossroads in my life right now: I'm on disability for my fibromyalgia and diabetic neuropathy. My husband just passed away and I'm now a widow. I had to reduce my costs to live on my disability check so I moved into a teeny house with an equally teeny rent. I share my little place with my adult son who has high functioning autism, but is reluctant to try for disability because he believes that being labled as disabled will limit his possibilities for a decent future. We are both trying to get by on what I get for SSI and it's daunting, but I love the idea that I am independent and in control of my own life now. Because of all of the above, I am now extremely anxious to get some kind of extra income coming in from my crafts.
While all the issues of my life might seem like a big vent, actually I'm quite relieved with where my life is heading now. I have my own place and can decorate it anyway I please and load it full of the things I love...namely yarn... and spend on only the things that I need or want. I don't have to answer to anyone and that is a freeing feeling.
I recently met a wife of a friend of Randy (my husband) and found that we have a lot in common. Especially the need to get a cottage industry going that will put food on the table. I have agreed to work with her and produce as much knitting and crocheting as I can for her to sell and we will split the earnings. Some of our obstacles that we are running into is 1. I have no transportation and live about 20 miles from her. The town I live in has no place that sells yarn other than the small local Walmart where I can find only poor quality yarn (however it is affordable). 2. I'm limited on cash so I have to keep my overhead at a minimum. 3. We have to do most of our sales in another location or over the internet and so postage for our items will have to be added to our overhead. 4. I am limited on space for storing yarn and supplies. Those are my limitations, here are my bonuses
1. I am eager, energetic and passionate about my crafts. 2. I am learning new techniques all the time to add to my inventory. 3. I have a lot of time because I'm not working. 4. I have internet access 5. I can reach about anything in my town by bus so not having a car is not as limiting as it may seem. 6. There is no one here to tell me I can't do something or discourage me.
I took over this tiny little place while I was caring for Randy.
Yes, it is what it looks like: a converted garage. When I got here at the end of October I walked into a house that had about an inch of dust on everything, had roaches the size of dogs, and it smelled awful. Before Randy got out of the hospital (he had been living here for 2 years along and was the stereotypical bachelor) I went on a cleaning frenzy.
The worlds most tiny kitchen. I have absolutely no counter space to work with. My plan is to take an old dresser, paint it white or light blue and put a butcher block top on it and place it under the window.
This room had the bed and a hospital bed for Randy in it. There were boxes piled everywhere and stacks of clothing that was covered with dust. In one window there was a piece of unpainted plywood with a small air conditioner. The rug was so worn out that it was stuck to the floor. I pulled up the rug, scoured the floor, and put curtains in the windows (one covered the plywood and the air conditioner. When I get the chance, I'll paint the plywood white and then pull the curtains back when I run the air).
This is the other side of the room with the bed and chair. I put my desk here and put the dresser in the closet to make more space. The curtain was a door that had a panel broken out and was being held together with duct tape. I removed the door, put up the curtain and cleaned out the top of the closet of the boxes and junk that was stored there. I moved an old, small book shelf next to the dresser and I have the linens stored on it. I didn't take a picture of the little bathroom that is on the other side of the door, but it is now clean (it was pretty scary when I got here).
I look forward to turning this into a little cottage full of yarn and soft things. I want to be able to be inspired here to knit and crochet and make a life for John and I.
More on crocheted rag rugs
This is my latest rug I'm making.
I can only do so much on it and then I have to set it aside to give my hands a break. Lately I've been waking up with my thumb on my left hand completely stiffened up in the morning. I'm not sure if it's arthritis, neuropathy or fibro that is causing it, but it takes most of the morning before I can bend it properly again. Knitting doesn't seem to put as much stress on it because I use the continental style of knitting and so use my thumbs and fingers less than if I were to be using the English style.
The only pain medication I seem to have any luck with is ibuprofen. Anything stronger only makes me nauseous and then I'm in just in pain and throwing up. I would rather deal with the pain, use gentle exercise, and apply heat than medicate myself.
I can only do so much on it and then I have to set it aside to give my hands a break. Lately I've been waking up with my thumb on my left hand completely stiffened up in the morning. I'm not sure if it's arthritis, neuropathy or fibro that is causing it, but it takes most of the morning before I can bend it properly again. Knitting doesn't seem to put as much stress on it because I use the continental style of knitting and so use my thumbs and fingers less than if I were to be using the English style.
The only pain medication I seem to have any luck with is ibuprofen. Anything stronger only makes me nauseous and then I'm in just in pain and throwing up. I would rather deal with the pain, use gentle exercise, and apply heat than medicate myself.
Friday, February 1, 2013
Crocheted rug and my take on repurposing...
After putting a lot of thought into how I can combine repurposing and needle crafts together I decided that crocheted rag rugs were a great way to use old clothing and sheets. I started the first rug while I was still in Nevada, but never had enough cloth to finish it before I left to come to California and take care of Randy. The first rug I completed was made while I was taking care of him, a small oval shaped rug for my bath that kind of didn't want to lay flat and curled on the edges and was made from some of his old t-shirts he wanted to toss out. I use it for my bathroom (when it isn't in the laundry from the dog wetting on it!).
The second finished rug is pictured here.
Much nicer and it lies flat on the floor. I made it from one large bed sheet so the entire thing is made from one type of fabric and I spaced it better so it doesn't curl on the edges. I love the concept and the idea that I'm rescuing old clothes from the landfill, but what I hate is the hand pain I go through trying to crochet it. By the time I was done my hands were stiff and really sore. I really want to start selling these and have asked folks to send me fabric scraps and old clothes, but I definitely have to take breaks to knit and crochet with easier materials between rugs to give my hands a break.
The second finished rug is pictured here.
Much nicer and it lies flat on the floor. I made it from one large bed sheet so the entire thing is made from one type of fabric and I spaced it better so it doesn't curl on the edges. I love the concept and the idea that I'm rescuing old clothes from the landfill, but what I hate is the hand pain I go through trying to crochet it. By the time I was done my hands were stiff and really sore. I really want to start selling these and have asked folks to send me fabric scraps and old clothes, but I definitely have to take breaks to knit and crochet with easier materials between rugs to give my hands a break.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Sock Accomplished!
made with Red Heart "With Love" yarn. The color is called Mallard. I used US size 5 needles. No pattern, just my standard cuff down sock that I usually make.
Back to knitting and fibro...
About time to get back to the purpose of this blog.
Here's the thing; taking care of someone who is on hospice for cancer is extremely time consuming, but while I haven't done as much knitting, the act of knitting has been very therapeutic for me. We got to a point, here, where I could only do so much to help Randy and then I was left to hear his difficult breathing and his moans and had to find a way to cope until his medication kicked in. I found that knitting was the best way to do that. I was still able to listen to him in case he needed help, but had something that would distract me.
As is the case whenever I was under stress in the past, my fibro flared up. At first it wasn't bad and I was able to work through it, but if I injured myself in any way, the area of the injury would get crazy out of control. At one point while caring for him, I mis-stepped while I was on the bus and twisted my ankle. It flared up and swelled up and stayed that way for three weeks. Every morning the joint would swell and be too stiff to move and I would have to force it to work. The day before he passed away I pulled a muscle in my upper arm while trying to get him situated on the gurney and that took a week to work past. I couldn't pull my shirts off and was unable to lift my right arm. This week its my left thumb. It stiffens up during the night and I have to pop it when I move it in order to get it working again. It clicks a weird click while I move it when I knit. Lots of fun since I've started trying to knit to sell again. The difference between now and two years ago is that now I just acknowledge that its the peculiarities of my weird body and I have to live with it. I take my ibuprofen and march on. I expected to have issues when I first came out here because I knew I would be under stress and I wasn't going to be able to rest while I faced it.
Now onto the more pleasant side of knitting with fibro; knitting!!!
Here are some of the things I've been working on:
This is my attempt at a braided rag rug. I've decided that this would be a great project to use discarded clothing and make something that can be used around the house or sold. So far I finished this rug and the dog has already blessed it with her urine. It's in a bag to be taken to the laundromat on our next trip there.
These are the socks and the hat I made for Randy the last couple weeks of his illness. They gave him comfort, even if they weren't anything special to look at. I knitted the socks inside out so that the smooth "knitted" side would be against his skin. He was having problems with itching and burning skin, but his feet were cold at night and he needed something to warm them. The hat is a simple tapered crown beanie hat that I made from some worsted weight yarn. He wore it to sleep in. I have both stashed in my drawer in my room and will keep them forever.
A gaggle of wash cloths were made. These are only two of them, I also made two more with variegated yarn that are now nesting in my linen closet and have already been broken in on dishes. I picked up the yarn to make more and a dish towel that I will crochet a loop on and sell as a set. I also picked up a hot glue gun and some magnet buttons to make refrigerator magnets to sell with my dishcloth sets.
I also made a whole bunch of socks that I sent to my charity in Florida before Christmas, but didn't take pictures because I was rotating between computers at the time. Now that I inherited Randy's laptop, I am able to better publish my blog and take knitting pictures.
Even in the worse of times, there are good things that come from it. I had the opportunity to meet a new friend or two while I was helping Randy. It was a huge relief and pleasure to meet Anita, a home health aid that came by three times a week to help Randy shower and shave. She was a tower of strength that stood about 5 feet tall. Her upbeat attitude never ceased to amaze me.
The other person that I really got a chance to meet was Dianna. Randy's best friend Gerald's wife. Even when I was taking care of him right at the end of his life, she was there, making me look forward to the future. She offered her help in starting a craft business and got me off my rear after he passed. I am looking forward to working together with her and making this thing really happen this time.
So now, it happens. I'm on my own and I have a young man here that needs my support. I know that my disability isn't enough to make ends meet so my knitting will have to fill in the gap. That means I have to get serious about it and force it to work for me. Considering all that I've been through in the last few years, this will be a breeze.haha!
Here's the thing; taking care of someone who is on hospice for cancer is extremely time consuming, but while I haven't done as much knitting, the act of knitting has been very therapeutic for me. We got to a point, here, where I could only do so much to help Randy and then I was left to hear his difficult breathing and his moans and had to find a way to cope until his medication kicked in. I found that knitting was the best way to do that. I was still able to listen to him in case he needed help, but had something that would distract me.
As is the case whenever I was under stress in the past, my fibro flared up. At first it wasn't bad and I was able to work through it, but if I injured myself in any way, the area of the injury would get crazy out of control. At one point while caring for him, I mis-stepped while I was on the bus and twisted my ankle. It flared up and swelled up and stayed that way for three weeks. Every morning the joint would swell and be too stiff to move and I would have to force it to work. The day before he passed away I pulled a muscle in my upper arm while trying to get him situated on the gurney and that took a week to work past. I couldn't pull my shirts off and was unable to lift my right arm. This week its my left thumb. It stiffens up during the night and I have to pop it when I move it in order to get it working again. It clicks a weird click while I move it when I knit. Lots of fun since I've started trying to knit to sell again. The difference between now and two years ago is that now I just acknowledge that its the peculiarities of my weird body and I have to live with it. I take my ibuprofen and march on. I expected to have issues when I first came out here because I knew I would be under stress and I wasn't going to be able to rest while I faced it.
Now onto the more pleasant side of knitting with fibro; knitting!!!
Here are some of the things I've been working on:
This is my attempt at a braided rag rug. I've decided that this would be a great project to use discarded clothing and make something that can be used around the house or sold. So far I finished this rug and the dog has already blessed it with her urine. It's in a bag to be taken to the laundromat on our next trip there.
These are the socks and the hat I made for Randy the last couple weeks of his illness. They gave him comfort, even if they weren't anything special to look at. I knitted the socks inside out so that the smooth "knitted" side would be against his skin. He was having problems with itching and burning skin, but his feet were cold at night and he needed something to warm them. The hat is a simple tapered crown beanie hat that I made from some worsted weight yarn. He wore it to sleep in. I have both stashed in my drawer in my room and will keep them forever.
A gaggle of wash cloths were made. These are only two of them, I also made two more with variegated yarn that are now nesting in my linen closet and have already been broken in on dishes. I picked up the yarn to make more and a dish towel that I will crochet a loop on and sell as a set. I also picked up a hot glue gun and some magnet buttons to make refrigerator magnets to sell with my dishcloth sets.
I also made a whole bunch of socks that I sent to my charity in Florida before Christmas, but didn't take pictures because I was rotating between computers at the time. Now that I inherited Randy's laptop, I am able to better publish my blog and take knitting pictures.
Even in the worse of times, there are good things that come from it. I had the opportunity to meet a new friend or two while I was helping Randy. It was a huge relief and pleasure to meet Anita, a home health aid that came by three times a week to help Randy shower and shave. She was a tower of strength that stood about 5 feet tall. Her upbeat attitude never ceased to amaze me.
The other person that I really got a chance to meet was Dianna. Randy's best friend Gerald's wife. Even when I was taking care of him right at the end of his life, she was there, making me look forward to the future. She offered her help in starting a craft business and got me off my rear after he passed. I am looking forward to working together with her and making this thing really happen this time.
So now, it happens. I'm on my own and I have a young man here that needs my support. I know that my disability isn't enough to make ends meet so my knitting will have to fill in the gap. That means I have to get serious about it and force it to work for me. Considering all that I've been through in the last few years, this will be a breeze.haha!
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Another update
Its about time that I updated my blog.
Since I last posted a few things have happened. First of all, I lost my husband and my soul mate. Randy passed away on the 18th of January from the cancer that he found out about in October.
After I last posted, I got so frustrated with State disability in California and the way they were sitting on his paperwork and causing us so much difficulty that I e-mailed the State Senator, Senator Fuller, and complained. I really didn't expect to hear from her, so I continued to sit on the phone until, finally, after several days of calling almost constantly every 20 minutes, I got through. They were holding his paperwork in Sacramento because it lacked a code number for his diagnoses that the social worker at the VA forgot to put on it. I called the VA to try and get it remedied and the social worker stated that there wasn't anything they could do unless Randy made the hour long trip down there to sign a form. While I was looking up a number to call for a patient advocate, the senator's office called me. Her aid asked me what issues I was having and, after I explained, told me to stay by the phone, someone would call me right back. Sure enough, in about 15 minutes I had a patient advocate from the VA on the phone telling me how they could work things out so that Randy wouldn't have to make a trip in to the hospital to sign forms. We got his check 3 days later.
Randy wanted to have his mother and father sealed in the temple. It was something that he always spoke of over the years, but we always seemed to have something that kept us from getting it done. There are times when I've know someone that was ill and was hanging onto life because they had something that was so important to them that they just weren't able to let go until it was finished, and that turned out to be what Randy felt about his parents being sealed. He tried to go to church to ask the Bishop about it while he was on hospice, but he just wasn't strong enough to do so. The week before he died, he asked the missionaries if they could have the Bishop come to the house and he did. He informed Randy that he had his wife check the records and that his parents had already been sealed for several years. Randy was so relieved and happy that he broke down into tears and wept. The next day, he and I decided that he was too weak to get up and use the facilities and that I wasn't strong enough to move him in bed so we had the social worker for the visiting nurses association find a spot for him at a convalescence home. He was moved to the home on the 17th and passed away on the 18th, just three days after finding out that the sealing had taken place.
The last three months that I spent with him went by way to fast and there are so many things I want to tell him and share with him, but I won't be able to until I see him again.
Since I last posted a few things have happened. First of all, I lost my husband and my soul mate. Randy passed away on the 18th of January from the cancer that he found out about in October.
After I last posted, I got so frustrated with State disability in California and the way they were sitting on his paperwork and causing us so much difficulty that I e-mailed the State Senator, Senator Fuller, and complained. I really didn't expect to hear from her, so I continued to sit on the phone until, finally, after several days of calling almost constantly every 20 minutes, I got through. They were holding his paperwork in Sacramento because it lacked a code number for his diagnoses that the social worker at the VA forgot to put on it. I called the VA to try and get it remedied and the social worker stated that there wasn't anything they could do unless Randy made the hour long trip down there to sign a form. While I was looking up a number to call for a patient advocate, the senator's office called me. Her aid asked me what issues I was having and, after I explained, told me to stay by the phone, someone would call me right back. Sure enough, in about 15 minutes I had a patient advocate from the VA on the phone telling me how they could work things out so that Randy wouldn't have to make a trip in to the hospital to sign forms. We got his check 3 days later.
Randy wanted to have his mother and father sealed in the temple. It was something that he always spoke of over the years, but we always seemed to have something that kept us from getting it done. There are times when I've know someone that was ill and was hanging onto life because they had something that was so important to them that they just weren't able to let go until it was finished, and that turned out to be what Randy felt about his parents being sealed. He tried to go to church to ask the Bishop about it while he was on hospice, but he just wasn't strong enough to do so. The week before he died, he asked the missionaries if they could have the Bishop come to the house and he did. He informed Randy that he had his wife check the records and that his parents had already been sealed for several years. Randy was so relieved and happy that he broke down into tears and wept. The next day, he and I decided that he was too weak to get up and use the facilities and that I wasn't strong enough to move him in bed so we had the social worker for the visiting nurses association find a spot for him at a convalescence home. He was moved to the home on the 17th and passed away on the 18th, just three days after finding out that the sealing had taken place.
The last three months that I spent with him went by way to fast and there are so many things I want to tell him and share with him, but I won't be able to until I see him again.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)