April 18, 2006

Tsumugi raglan sweater

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I'm knitting this raglan sweater with the hourglass sweater (the one in the book "Last-Minute Knitted Gifts") in mind. I made a little bit of shape at the waist, and 'll make the sleeves straight or slightly wider at the cuffs. It is for my mother. I know she will love the color, but I'm not sure about the style of the sweater... I kind of think that she might be happy to have the yarn without knitting it.

I wanted to finish the sweater by the end of this month, but with my right wrist beginning to feel strange again, perhaps I won't make it. Maybe the pain is because of the yarn, which is silk, which doesn't have elasticity. This wrist problem is starting to really bother me, because it's not as if I knit several hours a day! I wonder if there is a way to train my wrist and make it stronger.

The sock in progress is knitted with Fortissima Socka Cotton Color. I really shouldn't have chosen another inelastic yarn to knit, but couldn't resist to try it out.

By the way, I don't know if anybody is interested, but I've added links for Avril and Tsumugi Silk yarn to the previous post. Just FYI.

Posted by noriko at April 18, 2006 09:47 AM
Comments

Hi Noriko,
I read about your blog on Grumperina's (Kathy's) site. One exercise to strength your wrists (besides doing pushups on your fists) is using a gyroscope like the one from the www.Powerball.com site. It's actually a huge craze in Europe and I learned about it from my Danish co-workers. You basically take a tennis-ball sized gizmo and the object is to keep the internal ball spinning as long as possible.
Another idea is to use Bryspun (sp?) needles. Good luck! I would hate to see you give up knitting. :(
=:8

Posted by: Kimberly at April 19, 2006 06:27 PM

Noriko-san,

Konnichiwa!! I love your blue silk sweater, I'm sure your mother will too.

I found your site via Grumperina, and was so excited. I am living in Japan (on Okinawa) and love all things Japanese. Well, except goya, that is =).

Good luck with your wrists. Maybe manicures (with a hand/wrist massage) will help. I used to take small dumbells (2 pound or so) and curl the weight through my hand's entire range of motion. Take the weight and curl your fist as close to your wrist as you can, then curl it back, letting your fingers take the dumbell until you're just about to drop it. This made my hand and wrist muscles stronger.

Ashley

Posted by: Ashley at April 21, 2006 12:19 AM