crocheting

[theyellowhobbit]

A while ago I wrote about my visit to Dr. May, my orthopedic surgeon who had done the surgeries on my hands when I was very very young. (This was a friends-only post, but most of what I said in it isn't important for understanding this post.) He told me that I might have carpal tunnel, and gave me a wrist brace to wear while sleeping so I don't bend my wrist in the wrong way.

While I was in his office, he had me knit for him to see whether or not I was pinching the nerve/blood vessel/whatever you to do cause carpal tunnel. And it turned out I was fine there...

Of course, he didn't have me crochet. I was watching myself crochet yesterday, working on the blanket I'm making for Ben and Jenny (which they don't know about. I don't think Ben would ever read my live journal if he even knew it existed. So I don't mind posting this, though if in the unlikely event you run into him (not that any of you even know him) don't be like "Hey, Ben! Rachel is making a blanket for you and Jenny!" I would be very amused, though, if he was secretly a blogger.) This is being made with a normal sized yarn (i.e. worsted) and crochet hook (H). When I crochet, I bend my wrist in the way that I'm not supposed to.

Thus, I have decided that whenever I crochet, I will wear the brace. I'd rather wear it then than at night, since it gets uncomfortable to sleep in. Though I could always wear it both while crocheting and at night.

But this also means that crocheting is bad for my hands. This was relatively easy crocheting mind you. So imagine the kippot, with their tiny thread and tiny crochet hook....

I'm thinking of giving up kippot. I will try to finish the commissions before I give up kippot. Even this will be a challenge. But I must do it. I might switch order and start with the easiest one to make. The Jerusalem one for the OCP auction is the one closest to being finished, but there's the one from *last year's* OCP auction that I can do with the medium sized thread.

Maybe I'll not give up medium-sized thread kippot. These aren't as popular as the small-thread ones, but they are infinitely easier to make. And people will just have to deal with the fact that I can't make the small kippot.

Part of me is sad about this, especially since kippot are the items that I can sell for the most money as of now. And I really like being excellent at making them. It's the one thing that I really am better at than everyone else. I make amazing kippot. I am an average knitter and crocheter. I can make average scarves and blankets and hats. I just happen to have good taste in yarn and patterns. That's it. The kippot are more creative since I usually make my own designs.

Comments

[kellev.livejournal.com]

*whew* I'm glad that I got mine already! :)

but seriously - sorry that you have to make this decision :(

[currentlee.livejournal.com]

before you give up kippot, and i would never want you to do something that hurts you, would you teach me?
i've been trying to learn, but having no crochet experience, i don't know how to work it.
(i'll even throw in hand massages, if you like...i'm pretty good at them.)

[sen-ichi-rei.livejournal.com]

I can definitely teach you how. (Especially if I'm getting hand massages out of it!) I think adlight also wanted to learn. In your case, it would probably be easiest to teach you how to crochet in general, and then teach you kippot. A lot of it is being able to know when to add stitches (and you can't do this as a set pattern of every x stitches, because then it looks weird. It's a lot of intuition...)

Maybe if you both get good, I could outsource my commissions to you. And you could do the insides and I'd do the last few patterny rows, which wouldn't be so bad. Or I could just make the designs. It would be a kippah factory! :)

[sen-ichi-rei.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's tough.

Yours is definitely still the best kippah I've ever made. I wish I could grow artistically in my kippot, but alas, I've been foiled by my own two hands.

There are still some things I could do with large thread. I could make the big hat-sized ones out of normal yarn. Or make ones with a few of the small threads together and play around with colors. But it's not the same.

And I don't know if I'll actually be able to stop myself from making kippot. Right now it's easy because I have all my knitting projects, but every so often I have the desire to make kippot. And now that I'm in Boston/Cambridge, there's no one around wearing any of my kippot, and I want to change that before I quit. Either that or people will have to start commissioning hats and scarves so I can point at people and be like "I made that!"

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

Can you crochet with the brace on? Have you thought about working with the doctor (or an OT) to see if there's a way that you can readjust the way that you crochet so that you aren't doing something bad to your hands/wrists?

I so far do not use the itsy-bitsy size thread for kippot, and some of my friends still find the kippot that I've made for them pretty pleasing. You could also sell patterns for kippot- maybe you could even make a small book of exciting crochet patterns for kippot and sell that at Jewish events and such. More books of patterns would be rather exciting.

[sen-ichi-rei.livejournal.com]

The problem with my patterns is that I usually change them as I go along, especially when I'm adding stitches. Sometimes I have more of a vague idea of a scene, but I don't have an exact plan of where each colored stitch would be. I base things on the previous row. But I guess some patterns of mine are useable by others, such as my The Cheat kippah and my kippah with vines (though you need to put that one together yourself...)

I can crochet with the brace on. I'm slower at it, but I can do it. If I can do this without putting myself in a lot of pain, I might be able to get away with not giving up on the kippot.

Though if I ever get un-lazy and make the parsha-related kippot patterns, that might be a good book to create. Especially if people want to give their bar or bat mitzvah child a custom kippah to wear- they could have one for their parsha!

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

Yeah- I've been playing with patterns that go through the whole kippah rather than just around the edge, and it's very much more of a matter of "here's the idea, and I'll make it fit as I go". I still go mostly for geometrics, and fairly simple ones at that for now, so that's probably easier with my taste than for some other patterns. A book of parsha related patterns would be a nice niche market. Other less conventional images might go nicely also...

[rivka-m.livejournal.com]

I wonder if you'd get faster at crocheting with the brace on with practice. Your hands might just need time to get used to a new position.

[currentlee.livejournal.com]

::laughs::
we've been trying to come up with a name for the house; i think "kippa factory" is a pretty good one.

[currentlee.livejournal.com]

also, from a friend of mine:
recycled silk fairtrade yarn (https://shop.thehungersite.com/store/item.do?siteId=220&itemId=28220&origin=EPH_0827_P_28220_02)
(not for kippot, but for awesome.)

[taylweaver.livejournal.com]

I agree with previous posters - find out if there is a different way for you to hold the crochet hook while you crochet.

Alternatively, try doing a project left-handed and see if that helps. (that way, you have to learn how to hold the hand from scratch anyway)

But yeah, check with your doctor or an OT - or even a PT - on the best way to hold your hand when you crochet.