Daily Archives: October 2, 2003

If you walked by the backdoor of our office, you might wonder what is the cause for the bursts of hysterical laughter coming from the room.  Don’t worry!  It’s just Judy trying to master the fine but ancient skill of knitting.   Lesley is one step ahead, just having finished her first dish cloth.  Kathy is getting good!  She whips off those dish cloths like nothing.  In fact she brought me two this morning in exchange for a book on stitches that I picked up at a gargae sale. 

I learned to knit when I was in about grade 3 or 4 in 4-H when we lived down in Hillsview, Oregon.  My mother was the leader for the group so I learned to knit with her own particular idiosyncracies – it makes it a bit harder for me to teach someone from a book.  Since I have actually knit several sweaters in the past, I seem to have become the expert.  I think all that really means is that I have made all the mistakes you can make so I know how to correct them and (hopefully) not make them again.  (And I know where to find the secret code that makes up most of the instructions) 

Helping two left handed people learn to knit is a bigger challenge than I thought.  It is hard to sit there and watch without falling off my chair as I double over with laughter.  –  Judy, you don’t have to pull the wool so tightly! The needles were turning blue!  Loosen up!

I don’t knit much any more since it provoked my symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome.  When I had to get some disability insurance, I found out that my right wrist was no longer insurable.  I had received some physio for my wrist when I first started to have some of the carpal tunnel problems.  It’s been well over 5 years since then so I’m insurable again.  But I have learned to be careful.  My wrists are attached to my hands with which I work.