Sunday, August 06, 2006

Swallowtails

10 down, 4 repeats remaining on the Bud Lace section of the Swallowtail Shawl. I'm still adjusting to knitting with lace weight yarn. It's becoming much easier to make corrections versus frogging. (Somewhere along the line I've got to learn to use a lifeline.)

This week I slowed down on the knitting regimen to give my hands a rest, especially the left one. Between being on the computer all day at work and knitting all evening at home plus using the computer, I realized that my wrists and hands were sending signals, mainly in the form of pain and tingling, that I wasn't listening to and that I need to stop working constantly on small gauge projects given that I had to sleep in support braces last year after they kept falling asleep during the night. When I knit I tend to zone out and knit continously for hours which is a very, very bad habit and an extremely hard one to break.

It's been over six months since I stopped smoking! Last week I joined a wellness center as part of the effort to increase my overall physical and mental well-being. My neck, left shoulder and arm may have reached it's maximum improvement so I need to make sure that I take care of the rest me to reduce the strain and the pain. I've been walking some in the building at work but not as much I should. There's always too much to do and before I realize it the day is over.

On Saturday I took a water aerobics class and today my calves are killing me. Tomorrow I'll be back at it again and for the moment will alternate walking with water aerobics. Working out feels great and I'm looking forward to increasing my stamina and joint mobility.

4 comments:

Vera said...

The shawl looks great. Take care of your wrists.

Anonymous said...

Good for you! Congrats on quitting smoking and your new exercise regime.

kathy b said...

You are amazing. NO SMOKING for a half a year. What a wonderful feat. Hope the knitting ailments get better fast....
that shawl is so so lovely.

Ice, elevate, ice, elevate....ice CREAM elevate

katie o. said...

Many congratulations to you-both on your shawl and your continued success with not smoking. Also, your photo of little Isaiah was precious-what a sweet little face!