Did I trick you there for a minute?
Okay, I admit it – this isn't the project mentioned in the title. This is actually the most beautiful sewing job I have ever worked on, and today's post heading is 300% sarcastic. I just need the reminder that at one point in my life I was so good with a needle I could knit and assemble a complex stranded sweater sample for a friend who was publishing a pattern book on the subject (Kathleen Taylor, Fearless Fair Isle Knitting).
Here is the real project for today:
I decided to let George sit with me for with the duration, for moral support. Don't ask why I have a small stuffed version of Peppa Pig's little brother George and his friend Dina Saw. I think we all know by now I am a sucker for cute three-dimensional squishable things, especially if they have happy expressions and big noses.
This scrap of sweatshirt fabric was part of my solution to the problem of the knuckle pain my splint was creating. I had some great suggestions last week when I asked for advice, and I tried everything, including this sheath, and simply tightening the Velcro straps on the splint to reduce friction. Things are a little better this week because as of two days ago I can take the splint off from time to time and rest my hand, and now that I'm free to look at it more often I can see the problem isn't just abrasion but pressure - aka bed sores! Because there isn't enough excitement in my life. Thankfully there's this product called Vaseline? which lots of people including me think twice about putting on their skin because it's a petroleum product, but really does trigger healing in situations like this, go figure.
And now, back to the project!
I think I got all of 2 inches sewn shut before I had to stop and give my index finger and thumb a break (get it? broken fingers?) from holding the fabric still. That's how hard it was to manage just this small feeble effort.
George couldn't believe it either.
After a few hours I went back again and pushed through because I really wanted to get this thing on my arm. It literally took me an entire day to cut a strip of fabric, fold it, pin it, and stitch it down with some backspacing for the thumb opening. When I was finished I really did think it was the most beautiful textile product I'd ever done, which tells you how hard it is to have your hand in a splint for a month even though you know there are people so much worse off than you and you have so much to be grateful for.
Then I tried to put it on. Guess what? It was too small to get over my hand.
GAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH
Next time I try something hard, there's going to be ice cream involved.
(Even George couldn't find a use for this thing – it fit over his nose and that was it.)
In other news, I have continued to indulge in stealth knitting attempts every 10 days or so. Here is me over the weekend, when I felt I deserved a treat:
I managed 16 stitches like this and felt victorious. I think we can let the patheticness of that statement stand on its own, don't you?
A few days later, once I could take the splint off periodically, I tried again:
I still only managed 16 stitches and it took me about half an hour to do them, but it didn't hurt, and I only stopped because my hand was starting to get tired. Last night I was able to do two whole rounds of this sock before setting it aside, and I feel hopeful that I might be able to finish the toe before I'm free of the splint entirely in three weeks or so.
This small amount of knitting seems to be excellent physiotherapy because it's a gentle slow movement that draws out my muscle memory. However, it isn't really pleasurable the way knitting normally feels, because you can actually feel every tendon working, ugh... I'm really hoping that changes as the movements become more fluid again.
As for the official physiotherapy - all four of my fingers are still very bruised and swollen, even the ones that aren't broken, and between that and weeks of disuse it's a struggle to do the stretching and clenching I've been told to do. It's very discouraging say the least. But today Carol was over and when I demonstrated my exciting progress (ha) she was genuinely impressed with how much range I have and how quickly I can shift my fingers... high praise from somebody who's bounced back from broken bones before. So hopefully everybody is right and things will be back to normal in no time!
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