Things that have occurred this week

[unicornduke]

In no particular order:

I got two fleeces scoured on Thursday because it was the last warmish day for a while, I'm glad I did! I scoured a 5lb Dorset/Cotswold fleece that I got back in the spring and the 2lb Icelandic fleece I just got. They are still drying, it's been cool and cloudy so one of the fleeces is in the basement with the dehumidifier while the other is on the skirting table in what little sun we get. But it is windy so that's helped. I'm happy with them.

I got my Covid booster and flu shot on friday. No effect other than sore arm and even that wasn't bad. I had nothing to do yesterday anyway so I relaxed.

I'm trying to baby my right arm/wrist/hand with crafting. I've been doing a lot of stuff this week and my wrist mostly isn't appreciating it. I think it's primarily due to the new crochet project I started. It's not bad but if I keep doing things to aggravate it, it will get worse.

So I made eclairs today. Or mostly, I still need to assemble them. yum pastry cream.

Hopefully today I'm going to make a raddle for warping onto the big loom. I think it should be easy, just a piece of wood with nails close together.

I have to go away for a work thing this week, just tues to thurs and I'm not looking forward to it. The conference isn't as immediately useful to me as some of my coworkers but I will be able to get books from the library and possibly see the seed lab which would be great.

F has been unpacking her books and glassware into the cabinets now that she can. it's pretty nice to use the living room.

Comments

[graydon]

Yay eclairs!

Yay shots!

Wrists sometimes respond to specific grip exercises -- those little handspring things -- because it tends to pull everything into decent alignment while increasing strength. I've found this really helpful when typing too much and somewhat helpful when sewing too much.

I have seen the opinion forcefully expressed that most wire nails aren't smooth enough for a loom raddle, and it's worth it to get some bolt cutters and some small rod stock and epoxy into drilled holes. Haven't done it myself but it seemed like a plausible complaint.

[which_chick]

It's kind of strange how long moving into a house takes. Folks think of it as "the big move" but after that there are lots of little moves ... something like settling in.

Definitely take breaks or switch up activities so that you don't go down the rabbit hole of overuse injuries. They are not fun. (I don't usually have the issue with crafting but sometimes if I do too much of one thing at work, like razorblading carpet cement off a tile floor, the stringy bits in my wrists start singing to me and I have to change up.)

[unicornduke]

I'm getting back to my winter workout routine and have been doing my wrist stretches but it does sound like hand strengthening is a good idea!

I saw finishing nails recommended and I did end up building the raddle with those. They did seem pretty smooth and right now I'm not working with very fine yarns or types that would catch like silk or tencel. I should be okay for now! I'm going with a done piece of equipment so I can actually use the giant loom in the living room haha.

[unicornduke]

Yeah, I've had persistent issues with this wrist, every so often it acts up and I baby it along until it feels better. Spinning seems to be fine so I'm focusing on that and also switching to knitting because I taught myself to knit left handed just for this reason. I'm going to wait a few more days before I go back to crocheting, I think that and the combing I've been doing are the real aggrivators since they use similar wrist movements for my right wrist somehow.

[graydon]

Glad it worked!

Working sufficiently is way better than not working optimally, no question.

The person I recall complaining was doing stuff with fine cotton, the sort of thing you make Edwardian summer dress fabric out of, so they may have had more trouble than the median difficulty.