I bought the Boye egg-shaped, ergonomic crochet hook handle last year in Florida. Walmart is a massive supermarket and I went because I'd read on ravelry that you can get yarn , hooks and craft stuff whilst buying your weekly shop .How very civilised, don't you agree??. I would love London to have yarn in Sainsbury's , what fun shopping would be. The handle only cost $3.00 at the time .I bought it because I simply have to have all crochet paraphernalia. I never thought about it again until last week.
Im finding my baby finger is cramping from wrapping around the hooks, and my wrist gets stiff & sore after a small period, but much worse, I've developed a tightening and inflammation of the tendon in my thumb and index finger, I now have a constant ache in the thumb and heel of my hand, and I can no longer straighten my thumb or apply any real pressure without severe pain. I can't write for longer than a signature, open jars, lift plates, use a needle & thread or use my traditional crochet hook
The Boye kit includes a hook handle of rubber or plastic, which can twist off to open, as well as 8 “washers” to fit various sizes of crochet hooks. I have a set of boye crochet hooks. I will see what happens if you use a different brand of hook.
To use you attach plastic washers to each crochet hook. The washers are a bit tough to get on . The washers are colour coded so you have to examine the little colour chart to figure out which washer goes onto what size hook. My recommendation is BE VERY CAREFUL when opening the package and SAVE THE BACK COLOR CODE CHART for the washers (they are not marked on the washers themselves just on the colour code on the back of the package. It means if you get rid of it you have no guide for which washers goes on what hook. I had to cellotape mine back together and put it in an old tin with the washers that aren't being used.
After the washer is on the hook, you twist the hook handle open, insert the hook, and then twist the handle to close. It takes some practice to position the washer properly a lot of fiddling. A downside to this system was that once I put the washers on to my existing hook it is quite hard to remove them. They were really tough to get off around the point of the hook. I get my crochet elves to help.
The handle has not improved my thumb problem, but I think it might allow me to continue crocheting admittedly it is very slow. It takes some getting used too but for the sake of my sanity and my hand I will persevere and let you know how it works out .I checked with my best friend who is my physiotherapist she thinks that it might be a good crochet solution .
My new handle is playing with some delightful yarn .The lavender is Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino a buttery soft cashmere with merino wool. Such joy to work with. The vintage blue and grey is Drops Alpaca, oh my I love this stuff .This yarn rocks it is very cheap and such good quality.I urge you to try it. The green yarn is from Fyberspates called Scrumptious 4 Ply ,a beautiful silk and merino wool .
Hope you have a lovely day.
That's the nicest thing that anyone's ever done for me
It sounds a bit bizarre
But things the way they are
I feel as if another life's begun for me
And if I had a cannon I would fire it
To add a sort of celebration touch
But since I left my cannon at home
I'll simply have to say
Thank you very, very, very much!
Thank you very, very, very much!
My dear blogger friends I think the words from 'Scrooge' sums it up perfectly. I am so glad I posted my request for help .You are all so brilliant and between you some great suggestions where made and I have acted on it. I am overwhelmed by the support and love I feel from you bunch of enormously talented women.
You will be pleased to know I did go to my GP. Lots of test were the order of the day. It seems I may have tunnel carpal syndrome. So, all your suggestions are in fact correct. Gosh , you guys are great
I thought it might be helpful to link to information about carpal tunnel in one place for future reference. It can happen to anyone. So firstly, This tells you what carpal tunnel is. This is what can cause it
http://youtu.be/hUyMNyrOHJQ
My friend Maya recommended this video and I have to say it is helping. It is really painful to do but I feel re assured that this is common and it will improve.
The wonderful blogger Mereknits suggests this
"The first thing you need to do is rest. I think relaxing the neck/arm muscles is very important. Lie down on your back, no pillow, with your arms relaxed next to your body, palms up. Do this many times a day, I think the floor works best. Stay there a while and do deep breathing to help you relax. Buy wrist splints and wear them all that you can, it gives the wrist stability and prevents wrist flexion which is causing part of the problem. Acupuncture is a blessing and would really help a LOT! Rolling the shoulders backward one at a time very slowly and gently several times a day will help put you in alignment" .
I can vouch this is really helpful and I suggest you do this even if you don't have any pain it is really good to start to learn to relax the muscles.
I have bought wrist splits in the past but have not used them as much as I should have hence the really bad pain I have let build up .I now use one for the day and one that I wear at night .I have learnt that most of this is my own fault I should have listened to my body and stopped as soon as I felt the twinge .
Blogger Jessie's Needles suggests seeing a Bowen technique Practioner .The Bowen Technique is a remedial, hands-on therapy that is applied using very gentle pressure. The practitioner uses thumbs and fingers on precise points of the body to perform Bowen’s unique sets of rolling-type moves which stimulate the muscles and soft tissue of the body. There is no manipulation or adjustment of hard tissue and no force is used. The experience of a treatment is gentle, subtle and relaxing. It is believed that the Bowen Technique prompts the body to reset, repair and balance itself and clients report the experience of pain relief, improvement of function and recovery of energy .
The wonderful host of the Blooming crochet along Chrissie suggests seeing an osteopath. The fabulous Vintage Sheet Addict suggests acupuncture. Jacqueline suggests turmeric
"Turmeric is good for inflammation. I'll infuse a small piece in a cup of warm water with a slice of lemon" Turmeric's natural anti-inflammatory qualities mean it may work as well as some anti-inflammatory medications, without the side effects. I found this article talks about ways of taking it.
After all these suggestions the fabulous Love made my home blogger Amy suggests
" In the meantime, lots of rest, stretching and exercises to gently keep you moving, and definitely keep yourself occupied. Thinking about things alone is the worst thing that you can do, read an involving book, do some crochet, watch a film (keep the radio on in the background on a music channel to keep something cheery going on and so that you are not sat in silence at home), go for a walk, make some tea dates with friends at a local café, anything to keep your mind busy as over thinking is not good as you no doubt know"
I have been spoilt rotten and the Mr booked a weekend at a spa where I had two sessions of hot stone massage ,if you have not tried it please do it is so relaxing, sheer bliss .We had massage , sauna and sat in a steam room all day followed by a wonderful meal . It helped enormously and with my tens machine we seem to be making headway.
I have also tried to spend more time in silence, sitting in that sauna simply being quiet, just listening to my heartbeat and trying to concentrate on breathing. The wonderful Cosmos and cotton . has inspired me with her great post about balance.
Amy also recommended I read this blog post.This has been a great help and very inspirational I think the things she has written will resonate with, and help others who are maybe going through troubles of their own. We really don't know what people are dealing with on a daily basis in their private lives, do we?? It has helped me get a grip and realise that's things aren't that bad and the light is really just at the end of the tunnel I'm halfway there, so thank you everyone . I love bloggers you all totally rock
