3 Strategies to Avoid Injury while Knitting -- One Last Peony

Last red peony of the season from my garden

Appreciating the Garden While Taking a Knitting Break

3 Strategies to Avoid Injury while Knitting

• Get up and move every 30 minutes to unkink your arms and shoulders and neck
• Focus at a distance during this break to give your eyes a rest from close focus
• Use tools to help you remember / remind you

Just one more row! 

Yes I'm on a self imposed deadline to finish and block a current knitting project. My previous strategy was to knit until I was too sore to continue -- or until the light was too bad to see.

That hadn't been working so well for me -- my shoulder & neck.

New Tactic- Display Elapsed Time on Your Row Counter!

So today I set the elapsed timer feature on my recently acquired iOS app the Knit and Crochet Counter. With this free app -- or update /pay $0.99 for no ads-- I can create a separate row counter for each work in progress. The app can be linked to your Ravelry account at a project level! For my current project I added the total pattern rows to the counter setup. Now, not only do I have an easy way to keep track of what row I'm on -- with added notes to remind me what row the pattern shifts -- but there, staring me in the face as I touch the counter button on the screen to increment the row is a smaller display showing elapsed time and another show percentage of project completed!   There are other available features I am just beginning to explore.  This is a great app. Simply count or do more!

I wonder if I can set an audible reminder on the counter to signal my 30 min -- time to get up and stretch?

Knit Lace Emerging -- Early Lessons Learned

Knit Lace Emerging 12 Jun 2016

Two projects in progress -- Paintbrush Kinit Lace Cowl in Alpaca with a Twist Fino ( 3002 pink) and Maple Leaf Knit Shawl in Miss Babs Yummy 2 ply (Infuriated - Wild Iris).

Lessons learned so far:

• Shoulders can be injured when you knit. Pay close attention to posture and even what type of chair. I'm still figuring this out -- the hard way. I discovered that knitting while sitting in my favorite lounge chair -- with its cushy wrap around back -- is part of the problem for me. I'm carrying my knitting around to various locations in our home trying them out for knitting comfort and available light.
• Choice of knitting needles makes a big difference in enjoyment, and even the potential for repetitive motion injuries. I've moved from bamboo to metal. The slope and pointiness of the needle tip makes a huge difference. I struggled thinking it was my lack of skill and ended up sore and frustrated. Sharp lace needles help. I'm still figuring out what length of needle tip and tip style in the circular needles will work best for me to reduce muscle and joint discomfort. The Maple Leaf shawl project is being knit with KnitPicks Options Interchangeables Nickel Plated circulars. I am knitting the cowl project using HiyaHiya Sharp Interchangeables 4".