Ouch!

 Why ouch? Because I’m hurting in more ways than one and – forgive me – but I need to vent. My wrist hurts, it’s De Quervain’s tenosynovitis and its in my right hand. It can be cured…if I stop using my right hand for a while….I’m getting symptoms now in my left hand. Sheesh… where do I go from here? I’ve thought of getting a firmer wrist brace that I can’t take off for a while but that will have to wait until after the Christmas season (shows, family etc).

I recently got a call from an eager potential machine knitter mentioning that my Etsy section on my web site was blank…. that’s when I discovered there is a four month expiry on the  listings…oops, I really must read more of their instrucional emails!  No sales yet but my good friend Claire Maunsell has had success so I’ll persevere, and it’s easier than trying to sell from my site which is really more of a reference site. Well, I spent a day making some more of my buttons and new Sweater Sticks (for buttonless cardis, wraps, shawls…. even hair) and Sweater Pins, and then uploading some of them to my Etsy shop.

I just had the Town and Country Studio Tour here in K’town and that was great, I had lots of vistors and if I could hand knit socks one pair a day I would be rich!!  …..but there’s the De Quervain’s….. Sales were made, friends and the curious dropped by and I had such a grea time I just spent Monday staring at the walls and wondering how I could drag myself upright off the sofa in my studio!

Sleeves need shortening and knitting needs to be done but for that ….. my machines need functioning SPONGE BARS!!!!   So I hit Knittsings for the info and step by step.

I’ve done five sponge bars so far with a couple more to go, from both Singers and Brothers. I had most of the equipment and found iron on laundry tape was already cut width wise and ready to go instead of iron on interfacing.

Now I’m ready to knit again …..  well later after I take my Mum out while our wonderful cleaners are in.  We’ll run around and do errands, maybe grab a coffee. When these visits are over I hate to leave her as she asks if I’ve seen around the house she’s lived in seventeen years. Mind you, not remembering much means that you don’t remember that you’ve just spent the day at the hospital for a cataract surgery with your husband and eldest daughter nattering away while you sleep off the woo woo drugs!

Hitting the studio means facing the bills, show fees uppermost and wondering where the money went…  then I remember that I spent six unproductive weeks not using my arms after my double mastectomy and reconstruction, only to make a mad dash to make stock for a less than successful One of a Kind Spring show….the economic times being what they are.  And after twelve years of having the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition (and I’m not linking this because of the sour grapes I’m allowing myself!!!) which was always really successful for me, I was juried out this year (it happens to all of us) and have none of those nice sales to pay my Fall ’09 and Spring ’10 show fees etc. That along with the residual debt from my couple of cancer years has left me owing all over the place and working less because of trying to take some time for myself (stress being found to be a contributing factor in breast cancer).

What happened to the days when I schlepped my wares to a show in green garbage bags in a taxi, didn’t need a computer for web sites, email, client contact, printing hang tags, brochures, show application, advertising blah, blah blah???

On the up side there is my grant (doesn’t pay booth fees though), and another free knitting machine I was graced with this week!!!! A Singer 850 plus ribber! Now that gets me all fired up…. I’m also repairing it’s sponge bar.

Well, I’m off to run errands with Mum it tow and we’ll have a giggle as she still has a wonderful sense of humour. I do however miss the woman who, when I called her in tears over something falling apart in my life, drove over and took me out for  a drive and let me cry it out.