by Marsha Novak
Welcome to the Kinesiology of Craft. In case you are not familiar with the word kinesiology- it means the study of movement. The purpose of this column is to keep you moving along the crafting path without having to step off because of pain or injury. If you already have pain when you craft, hopefully you will acquire some tools to address it.
As long as we are talking paths, I’d like to introduce myself and tell you a bit about mine, and how it is that I am writing this column. I’m Marsha Novak aka Feldyknitter on Ravelry. I’ve been a physical therapist for a quarter of a century, and along the way also earned a master’s degree in kinesiology. Traditional physical therapy can be very helpful for injured crafters as well as for a lot of other stuff and I do use some of what it has to offer in my work.
However, that model can be somewhat limiting for two reasons. First the traditional model tends to focus exclusively on what hurts, but it is quite possible that your wrist hurts when you knit because of something that is not happening with your shoulder. Additionally the traditional model is pretty “top down” (with no reference to that approach to knitting garments). The physical therapist is the “expert” and the patient mindlessly does the prescribed exercises. At least we PTs hope they are being done.
Looking for an alternative I went on to study the Feldenkrais® Method and its evolution, the Anat Baniel Method(sm) both offering a more holistic view. So now I am Feldyknitter, a Feldenkrais practitioner who knits quite a bit. Considering I do hands on work several hours a day, type chart notes and go home and knit, if I did not know how to use my body efficiently and monitor this while I do other things, I would be one hurting person.
So, my offering to you here has to do with learning to pay attention to what is going on with your body while you craft. Moshe Feldenkrais who founded the method that bears his name, is known to have said “if you know what you are doing, you can do want you want”. A common cause of crafting associated pain is excess muscle tension. The following exercise is designed to help you notice this as you craft.
Find some medium size knitting needles (size 7-9 US) and some worsted weight yarn, ideally at least mostly animal fiber and start a swatch in garter stitch. If you do another craft just get something basic that is just for practice.
Once you have done this, following the instructions below-
1. As you continue to craft check in with your body. Where is it comfortable? Where is it tense? For now don’t change anything, just notice.
2. As you continue to craft notice how tightly you are holding your tools- needles, hooks, and yarn- whatever? Is it possible to hold them more loosely and still work your “swatch”? Just experiment. The reason you have a practice piece is so you don’t have to worry about messing it up. It is true that how tight you hold can influence gauge, and that is something that can be work out.
3. As you continue to craft, count five breaths. This is an exercise in spreading your attention between your work and yourself.
That’s it. Future columns will vary- some more traditionally advice oriented and others more like this.
Thank you Bazaar Girls for offering me the opportunity to do this.
Happy pain free crafting-
Feldyknitter
Marsha Novak is a physical therapist, Feldenkrais(R) practitioner and practitioner of the Anat Baniel Method(sm). She has a solo private practice MOVING WELL PHYSICAL THERAPY AND MOVEMENT EDUCATION on Bainbridge Island. She can be reached by email <moving@drizzle.com>, by phone (206)842-4608, or on the web at www.drizzle.com/~moving
CHOICES
What projects are you working on these days? How do they make you feel? First off – how are they making you feel physically? Do you feel relaxed, comfortable or tense and achy? If you are achy, where are you achy? How are you feeling in other ways? It has now been well documented that if you feel frustrated or angry this can increase muscular tension and that leads to muscular fatigue and pain.
We choose our projects for many reasons. Some of us are more “process crafters”. If we don’t think we will enjoy the process, we tend to avoid the project. I tend toward being a member of that tribe; though have been known to stray. Then there are “project-oriented” types who see something they want to make and that’s it.
Regardless of your “type”, though these issues are bigger those who are more “product-oriented”, I would like to share some thoughts about choices in yarn, needles/hooks and projects that can help you remain comfortably on the crafting path.
First off is variation. Unless you choose only to work with what is absolutely most comfortable for you, having several projects requiring a variety of levels of concentration, types of fiber and needle/hook sizes is a good thing. So if you really want to work with a yarn that “hurts your hands” do that for just a small amount of time and then switch to something more comfortable.
Next comes a fiber choice. Generally animal fibers have more elasticity than ones from plants, and so are easier to work with. A worsted weight yarn is the most comfortable for many folks. Also it is often easier to work with the needle size typically associated with that yarn weight. Knitting down can be especially challenging as can extreme “opening up”
Once you’ve chosen your fiber, what are the optimal needles (this is mostly for knitters who are sliding rows of live stitches rather than working with one). In general if your fiber is stickier you want the needle to be more slippery. The reverse is also true. Typically metal needles are more slippery than wood, though there are some very highly polished wooden needles available if that is your preference.
To avoid buggy eyes and headaches, think contrast. Knitting with black yarn on ebony needles or highly variegated yarn on harmony wood needles not so good. Finally if you will need to do any “tricky” maneuvers like knit three together be sure you have sharp points. My personal preference is for pointy needles most of the time, unless a yarn is very “splitty”, but not everyone agrees.
So now that you have heard what I have to say, how about experimenting with swatching on your own. What would be even more fun is to have a ” swatch party” where everyone brings a variety of needles/hooks and yarns (as well as munchies of course) and experiments and you can make some notes on what works best for you.