Over the past year, I've noticed that long bouts of knitting can leave joints in my hands aching the next day. When I first noticed it, I thought it was because I had been driving toward finishing an adult-sized pullover in a rather short amount of time so I could wear it. Not only did I make my hands hurt, I also gave myself elbow tendinitis. I ended up not knitting at all for about six weeks to let things settle back down and heal.
In the last week or so, I have started having left hand pain, even when just knitting for an hour a day. Previously the hand pain had been primarily in my right hand. I suspect part of the left hand issue is due to propping my head on my hand while sitting at the computer or in meetings.
It occurs to me that I may be approaching the end of my knitting habit. It looks like I'll have to limit my knitting time to perhaps a couple hours a day, with generous breaks every 30-60 minutes. This means that my current list of works in progress will now take even longer to complete and that list of potential future projects, which was already impossibly long, is even moreso. It seems unlikely that I will be able to knit up my yarn stash and possibly not spin up my fiber stash. I think I'm ok with that.
What I don't know is what I'll do with my time. What other activity/activities will I take up instead? Would taking up cross-stitch again give me something to occupy my hands without aggravating them? What about drawing? I need to do something creative that generates something. Typing up a book or essays might do it, though it would be more satisfying if it was a physical object.
Naturally, I am coming up with all sorts of projects I want to knit now that I should meter my time.
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