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Ideas to Help Make Knitting More Comfortable

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how to make knitting more comfortableI have long had RSI (repetitive strain injury) problems with my hands, wrists and arms when I knit too much. It can be anything from pain to numbness to stinging to stiffness, and it keeps me from knitting as much as I’d like (and I haven’t been knitting much at all lately because I’ve been on the computer too much, which also hurts my hands and arms).

I know all the right things to do — stretch before, during and after knitting sessions, rest between rows, sit with my arms propped up, use circular needles, ice when I need to — but I don’t always actually do those things, so it’s nice to be reminded what’s best for our bodies when we knit so that we can do it comfortably for longer periods.

This post from Love Knitting has a great rundown of things you can do to make knitting more comfortable, and it covers a lot of the ground I just mentioned, as well as a few other things.

I’d love to know what you do to make yourself comfortable and to avoid or recover from knitting-related injuries.

[Photo via Love Knitting.]

Comments

  1. Too late for me. I knitted my way to carpal tunnel syndrome. It was my own fault for knitting for hours & hours every day of the week so am glad to see this being addressed here. My first surgery is in 2 weeks and then the other hand will have surgery 8 weeks later. Avoid obsessive knitting or you will end up like me.

  2. I have RSDS have had for 20 yrs just in my left hand and I am left handed I agree if I over use it I get into trouble thanks for the exercises brings me back to the days of PT !!!! Pace yourself !!!

  3. I got the pains in thumb and forefinger from knitting and crocheting for hours on end each day so badly I had to rest my hands for two whole weeks. What I did to end the pain was to change the positions of my fingers: for crocheting, I altered how my right thumb was angled during my work> I just slightly bent my thumb instead of having it turned up on the hook, as most people do and were taught to hold the hook. In knitting I just barely changed positions of my fingers on the needle and yarn, it took some getting used to, but it worked!! The pain does not arise on account of stress on the digit, but because of the repetitive motions. Once you alter your hand/finger position just slightly, it will stop the repetition on the same joint(s).

Have you read?

Easy Knit Baskets to Use All Your Stash

For the past few years I’ve taken part in a Christmas in July blog hop that encourages people to get a jump on their making for holiday gifts. 

I love to use yarn I already have for these projects in the hope that people will consider what they already have that they can use to make projects for themselves or to give as gifts. 

This year it was a couple of knit baskets made using partial balls of yarn left in my stash from other projects. 

They use the same basic pattern but the first one is made with two colors of bulky yarn, and the second used two strands of worsted weight yarn held together, which made the gauge about the same, but I cast on fewer stitches to make a smaller version. 

The bottom of the basket is square, though you can make them rectangular if you’d rather. Then I just knit up the sides in rounds until I was about to run out of yarn. This gave both baskets rather short sides — maybe more like a tray than a basket — but you can keep knitting as long as you like to make the sides of your basket as tall as you want. 

They’re worked in seed stitch, which keeps the edges from curling and adds a nice texture to the baskets.

Of course this also allows you to use even more odd balls from your stash. I’d love to make a big one someday combining lots of different yarn. I mean, I’d probably use it to store more yarn, but that’s a fine thing to do. 

As it is, these little trays are great for sitting on your desk or bedside table to hold little things that always seem to appear there. I like to use one to hold the supplies for whatever project I’m working on, things like little scissors, my tape measure, a crochet hook, etc.

And they would make good gifts on their own or as a container to hold some other goodies if you like. 

You can find the free pattern for these stash busting baskets over at Our Daily Craft.