Your Hands Are Your Tools, Take Care of Them

I am currently working on another large order. In doing so, my hands have been non stop working. As a result, my arms, wrists, shoulders are aching for me to stop. Knowing I still have quite a bit to go, I sat there and thought of all the lessons that have been driven into my head by my college professors. You see, not only am I an avid crocheter and crafter, but I am also a graduated massage therapist. Throughout my years in school, it was always drilled into us that our hands and arms are our tools and we need to take care of them. They  gave us little tips and tricks to keep us from wearing out early with the added stress that we are putting our bodies through.

Then it dawned on me, why am I not doing these things when I am trying to finish off orders? Or doing them at all period whenever I am creating? I am quite sure that most of you out there have had these sames aches and pains. Wrists cracking, forearms getting sore from the constant turning and weaving of yarn. Shoulders screaming for you to rest and stretch. But do we all know these little stretches that can save us from these pains? Probably not. Most people just shrug it off as tension and jump into a bath, or run a hot shower. Not bad ideas, if you are continually stretching and strengthening those muscles that you need to keep up with your daily work or hobbies.

So I thought I would share with you today a few little tricks that will save your hands.

Forearms:

• We all know that simple stretch, extend your elbow, flex your wrist downwards and hold. Usually we are told to hold for 30 seconds and then stop, but the best way to stretch is to keep holding until the stretch feels like its going away. 
• Next, with your elbow still extended, flew your wrist upwards toward the ceiling. Again, hold until the stretch starts to feel like its going away.

**Note: Do not overstretch! A stretch should not hurt. If it starts to hurt, lessen the pressure until you feel the stretch but it does not hurt**

Wrists:

• Place your palms together, like you are praying, hold your elbows out at a 90 degree angle. This stretch you will feel along the under side of your wrists
• Clasp your hands together, and rotate them in a sort of figure 8 pattern, repeat this 10 times
• Hold your arm out frontwards again at a 90 degree angle. Tuck your thumb into a fist, and tilt your fist towards the floor. This stretch can be a bit difficult, and if causes pain,  again decrease the amount of stretch until it does not cause you pain. 
• Do a range of motion with your fingers – For each finger pull gently 4 times, and rotate  it in a circle and up and down.

Now I personally have shoulder issues, knowing that I tend to hunch forward with my shoulders rolled forwards as well, need to stretch my pec muscles. 

To do this:

• Find a corner of a wall
• stand parallel to the corner with your arm outstretched at a 90 degree angle to the side, with your palm flat on the wall. (For example, you are stretching the right side, stand with your right arm out to the side palm against the wall)
• With your palm still on the wall take ONE step forward
• You should feel the stretch from the the top of your shoulder joint and into the chest, pec area. 
• Repeat on opposite side

A lot of people have troubles with their trap (Trapezius) muscles. They are the ones that are on top of your shoulder, running from your neck into the shoulder joint. 

For these:

1. Sit on a chair
2. Again we will use the right side as an example: Grasp the bottom of the chair with your right hand
3. Tilt your head to the left,
4. using your left hand, apply slight pressure to the stretch by pulling your head a bit further to the left side
5. Once the stretch feels like it is dissipating, bring your head back up to a neutral position, Turn your head from side to side
6. Repeat steps 1 – 3, before applying pressure to the stretch, while tilting your head to the left, turn your head to the left as well, as if sniffing your armpit (I know doesn’t sound pleasant does it?)
7. Again apply pressure slightly to further the stretch if needed.
8. Repeat on other side

Another quick tip, if you are suffering from tendinitis or carpel tunnel, you can do a quick ice bath to help relieve the pain and burning that accompanies it.

Ice Bath:

• You will need a large basin, ice and cool water
• Fill the basin with cool water, and add the ice (Yes very simple)
• Submerge your elbow, wrist, forearm, what ever is bothering you, into the ice bath
• REMEMBER – Only keep your arm in the bath until it goes numb. No longer! If you keep your arm submerged longer than initial numbness, you can risk further damage.

I am happy to help with any other areas needing care if I haven’t touched on them. 

Just remember, your hands are your tools and you need to take care of them.

Cheers and happy healthy crafting!

Results of Crochet Lathe

Recently I made a post about a Crochet Lathe website that could be very useful. Well, I have tried out the pattern it gave me for a rough drawing of the Patchy Patch toy and while it was fairly close to pattern I had created on my own, it didn’t turn out the way I wanted. The bottom ending up looking more like a balloon than the bottom should and a lot shorter at that. Needless to say it was a rough quick drawing of it and it was my first attempt at working with this website. So with a little fine tuning I’m sure it could be very useful in the future. But as for now I am going to continue on with the one I have made on my own.

I forgot to take a picture of the results, but I had only made it up to the neck before I didn’t like it and ripped out the stitches to start over with my own pattern. I am sure that with more time and attention to the dimensions of your drawing you could get the results you would like.

Let me know if any of you try it out, I would be happy to see what you make of it!

Cheers!

Why didn’t I find this sooner?

Last night, for some troubling reason, I couldn’t sleep. So I found myself looking at my pattern for the infamous Patchy Patch toys and thinking of the other patterns I am wanting to make up for my shop. I was making a mental list and randomly searching around for some inspiration when I found this wonderful site for pattern making. Now, I have been crocheting since I was 15, something that I learned from my grandmother, and following patterns that others have made.

Just recently have I been trying to make up my own pattern, well, the hard way. Have an idea pop into my head, and just go with it. It takes up a lot of time, building on your idea, knowing the basics of how to increase, how to decrease, and then the fun part. Oh yes, the very fun part. You get to a certain point in your pattern where you think everything is going great, it’s looking awesome! Then…then you see it. Something doesn’t look right. Something needs to change. So, what do you do? You rip rip rip out all the stitches to that point, only to start over again.

It’s not so much of a horrible thing if you catch it early, but in my early stages of pattern making, I would get a majority of the way through and find that something isn’t right down at the base of the toy I am making. Very very unfortunate. So this site just made my night when I happened to stumble across it.

It works as a lathe. Making patterns for you based on the drawing you make. It forms it into a 3D pattern all by itself! So naturally I had to try it out. Roughly drawing out the Patchy Patch toy, it gave me a pattern, which I must say, is fairly close to the one I have drawn out myself. So today my challenge will be to put down the old pattern for the day and try this one out and compare. So lets see how this turns out!

For all you Crochet lovers out there here is the site for the Crochet Lathe

I am excited to hear how your creations turn out if you give it a try. I will definitely be posting my results for everyone to see as well.

Cheers!

I found the focus! Also in need of answers..

For the past few days I have been absent from writing. I was taking a well needed rest from the majority of my day to day commitments. I felt that taking a bit of time while I am transitioning between jobs was well deserved. I finally finished the 5 more Patchy Patch toys to finish the order. Only to gain another 9 to make. I am seriously thinking about not posting updates about completes orders for the time being. Either that or it is time for a serious price increase now that it is not only a) my close friends wanting them now but close friends showing them off and now others are wanting it, and b) taking up a lot more of my time to make all of these patchy patch toys.

So to you my followers, crafters, DIY-ers, business people and consumers, I ask what would pay for a hand made, crochet children toy?

The little guy to our right here is what I have been making for the past few weeks.

For my close friends whom I had started making them for, I was charging $10 a piece. Costing myself about $2.50 in supplies to make them but it is taking about 2-3 hours each to make.

So to you ask, what is a fair price? Leave your suggestions below!

 

Also on the plus side, I know I have been talking about finding something to help me focus. I have found it! I recently picked up a book, seeing as I am not a driver and take the bus constantly, this is a common occurrence.But I found myself drifting from finishing my orders, to reading this book instead. So, how does this keep you focused on completing your orders if all you want to do is read? Doesn’t this just defeat the purpose of trying to focus?!

Good questions! You see, I have never been a fan of audio books, but with this book in particular there is a website where you can listen to said tapes that the book is depicting. So following their lead, I then ended up downloading the audio book to listen to. Figuring maybe this will kill two birds with one stone. And well, it worked! I completed my order, mainly, in one night of listening to this book. I think it will seriously increase my productivity with finishing, now the next 9!

So again, my apologies for leaving you in the dark the last few days, but I was in serious need of rest. But alas, I have returned with a number of side projects I am excited to show you! Also more good news! I have started up a Pinterest board for Via Hand! Follow my adventures and inspirations and enjoy the ride even more!

 

Cheers!

 

 

Need.. more.. focus..

In the last post, I focused well… on focusing. I was at the tail end of a large order, with only 5 left to complete. I would be giving myself a big break and give myself time to relax a little bit. Little did I know that upon updating my personal Facebook with a picture of the finished bunch ready to be picked up, my friends would pass it around and I would end up with yet another large order to fill. So now, I am faced with trying to finish off the last 2 of the previous order, and another 10 more to make.

Now, 10 may not seem like a very big number. But to bring things into perspective, each of these patchy patch toys takes about 3 hours, sitting and focused, just to complete the body. This does not include the small details and patches, and attachment of such details. Not to mention that it is quite hard to just sit for 3 hours straight and crochet. I mean, I do have a 2 year old. At the present moment I have just finished my last day at the call center (YAY!!) After 3 years here they have come under new management that is not very flexible with the shifts. So I have found another job, which will seemingly cater to my crafting whims.

I will be working at one of my favorite craft supply stores, the dollar store. So, I am sure my inspiration will spike once again, but the time in between the call center and the new job, will allow me to sit and focus and get these toys out and allow me take a break from patchy patch.

I have been browsing a few of my favorite blogs and have gotten quite a bit of inspiration from them. These will be posted soon. I just needed a break and thought I would give all you crafty friends a quick update on my progress thus far.

So Cheers my friends and keep crafting!

Focus focus focus….

I am finding myself at a bit of a stand still… I have all these wonderful ideas for new projects, but I am lacking the ability. Not only for materials, but time. I am quickly finishing my large order for Patchy Patch toys, by my problem is that I still have 5 to go and I am struggling to find time now. I need to focus, get my butt in gear and just power through it. Not only that, but I am finding my brain wandering to other projects, new projects that I have to constantly tell myself “Yes they are inspiring and creative, yes they would be awesome, but Rosilynn you need to get THIS project done and you need to build stock for the Etsy shop!”

Sit down, lock it down, scribble your ideas, log off Pinterest, close the blog and just get these last 5 done. Quite honestly, I think I just need a change in pace, draw out a new pattern to add to my  stock. I know I can take a break when I am done, it;s just tricking my brain into focusing for now.

So I did a little research to see if I could find some new tricks. I came across this interesting article from here and there suggest a few little things…
They call it coincidentally F.O.C.U.S

F “Five More” – This step is refers of us who are on the brink of giving up. They talk about how when you get the feeling you want to quit, do 5 more. Read 5 more pages, work 5 more minutes, do 5 more reps… I find this very convenient considering I only have 5 more toys to make. But wanting to quit isn’t my issue. It’s focusing on completing those 5 more, free of mental distractions. So needless to say this one for me is no go.
O “One Thought At a Time” – Now this one hits home. This is exactly what I am trying to do. They go on to explain you can bribe you brain. Wait! What?! Rewind!! You can bribe your brain!? Why didn’t they tell me this before?
According to this little trick, if you are trying to focus on one thing, and like me, others keep knocking on your mental door, tell yourself you will deal with it later. Sounds simple, but it’s not how it usually works. So here’s the trick. You need to give yourself a time line. Their example is telling yourself you will deal with the credit card debt when you get home and you’ve had time to review your other bills. Only if you can work for 30 minutes from 1-130 on the project you need to finish. They also suggest making a list. This I am constantly doing. But this mind bribing thing might just work out, we will see.
C “Conquer procrastination” – Simply put, whenever you feel like putting something off, ask yourself 3 questions. “Do I need to get this done now? Will it be easier to get it done later? and Do I want this done now so I can get it off my mind?” answers, yes, yes and well… umm… YES! These questions can give you the mental push you need to realize that this project isn’t going away and helps you push through it to make sure it gets done.
U “Use Your Hands As Blinders” – Umm.. okay… Well this one tells us that we can be thinking about numerous things at one time. This I was aware of, I am constantly thinking about things. But consciously or not we are always thinking. Most of the time our eyes are taking it all in while the brain is on wide-angle focus. So, the question is how do we bring that wide-angle down to what you want to focus on. Alt Medicine suggests placing your hands on either side of you face, like the blinders on sleigh and coach horses. Sounds simple, but it’s kind of hard to do this when i need two hands to crochet. The most interesting part of this part, is that they explain that eventually this will become instinct. Kind of like Pavlov’s dog. Sound familiar? Well if you haven’t heard of it here is a quick explanation. Pavlov was a Russian physiologist, who would ring a bell every time he would feed a dog. Soon every time he rang the bell, the dog would begin salivating before the food was even placed down. So cup your hands over your eyes enough time and eventually it just automatically focuses you.

S “See As If For the First or Last Time” – Simply put, be here, be in the now. Take time to smell the roses and appreciate what is in front of you. This is one I have learned to do over and over again. It’s just making sure I hold on to that lesson.

So what can we take from this? Well out of these suggestions I can say that only one of these seems to be able to solve my problem and I have tried it out once already. When I found my mind wandering to making this post, I was already working on finishing up the details for eyes and patches for the toys, told myself that I will complete the eyes and give myself a 30 minute break. Then I would come and post this and return to my work. So here it is.

Take your time, focus, be in the now and learn to appreciate the things and people around you.

Cheers!

Short and sweet making my life easier!

This isn’t going to be a long post. Just something that popped into my mind while out in the garage taking a break from my crocheting. I looked around and saw an old wooden pole that was used for the old drapes. Then back at the pile of left over odds and ends from when the deck was redone in the summer. Then I thought to myself, I just made my life easier!

You see, I have two dogs in my house. A large black lab retriever that loves to curl up on my bed, and especially when I am in the middle of crocheting, curl up real close to me. And a small dog, well I should say, a tiny dog, that my son and parents love, don’t get me wrong I love her too, but she is more like a cat, even smaller than a cat really. A mix between a shih tzu, Pomeranian,  poodle, schnauzer  and something else. Needless to say she loves to lay on top of my ball of yarn as well.

So i took the pole, sawed off a small portion, took a small piece of the left over wood, slapped them together with a long screw and VOILA!

There we have it! A stand that not only keeps my yarn out of reach from the dogs, but its no longer rolling all over the place and it keeps consistent tension! YAY FOR CRAFTING!

It’s not all that pretty, but it’s nothing a little paint won’t fix don’t you think?

Cheers!

My name is Rosilynn, and I’m an addict…… to CRAFTING!

This weekend I spent the entire a great majority of my time crafting, in more ways than one. I had dedicated my Saturday night, kid free, to cleaning up when I got home from work. Yet subconsciously, I was planning out what I would pull together and make a mess of. I walked through the door, sat down on my bed, picked up my lime green yarn, and proceeded to crochet. Mind you it is to try to complete and order of the Patchy Patch toys that I have been slaving over for a week, but the point is, I was wanting to clean! So I finished half a toy, put it down and thought to myself… Okay Rosilynn…. Now you have to clean.

So I gathered up the laundry, dragged it downstairs, put on a load and went back at my cleaning. Meanwhile, along the way I found numerous amounts of crafting supplies in various bags from Micheal’s, the dollar store and thrift stores. I came across the shelving I am going to be turning into the spice rack, which by the way is coming along quite slowly, and many other things. Piling them on top of the desk in my room. It seemed I was just moving all the mess to one place. So upon “cleaning” up the floor and making the bed and pretty much doing everything minus the vacuuming, I was feeling pretty good about getting it all done in one night. Especially since I was to head out Sunday afternoon to my sons grandparents place for the night and straight out with him Monday morning.

So you can imagine my surprise when I stood up and found this mound of crafting supplies that overflowed off the desk, onto the chair, and piled around the desk. With a huge sigh I proceeded to search for the perfect place to store these things until I was able to come around to them. I have this plastic cabinet that me and my ex used to keep all of our dvds in. Now that all that is left is mine, only the one shelf was left. So I crammed the stuff in there. Only to realize that while doing so, I was also taking out a large pile of unfinished projects. Scraps of crocheted bits here, glue there, random glitter bottle here, half container of Mod Podge there…. I really need some sort of organization system.

But yet again, once this stuff and store part of my evening was complete, I yet again sat on the bed and proceeded to crochet for a bit. Only to realize that I had been doing this for nearly 7 hours!! Time flew by so quickly it was 1 am! I glanced at the clock and looked at how much I had done with toys, looked at the pattern and figured  oh well maybe I can get another row done. 5 minutes later I had completed that and said the same thing over and over until I had completed another Patchy Patch! By this time it was now 2 AM, okay… now I need to go to bed… really.. I mean it this time… okay.. one more row. NO! NO! NO! Rosilynn you MUST go to bed!

And so as I laid in bed, trying to fall asleep, I found my thoughts drifting to the blog, then to the cabinet that is now stuffed with crafting materials needing me, calling me, and the toys that I need to complete very soon. How I can get this stuff all organized and how I really just need a room, or even a large closet that I can turn into a crafting room to make this all easier. I even dreamed about moving to a place where I could have my own crafting room! So I awoke with the realization that I, Rosilynn, am a crafting addict! And I do not intend to quit this habit. I simply won’t.

So how about you my fellow craft lovers, have you ever come to this realization, have you ever had those dreams? I know I am not the only one. So stand up, stand proud and shout it out loud to crafters alike!

Cheers to you my friends!

Upcycled Wine Corks – Corkboard

We drink it to relax after a long tense day, we drink it to celebrate a reunion or beginning of a union, we sip it, we gulp it, we cook it. You know what I’m talking about! WINE! Red, white, old and new, no matter your preference I am sure you are all to familiar with these little things that are a pain to get out of the bottle if you don’t have the right tools.

But when you have opened the bottle and poured the wine into the nice decanter you were given who knows how long ago, what do we do with the corks? Throw them away? Save them for a rainy day, where they end up bagged and hidden in the catch-all drawer or in a dingy box in the damp dark cellar. Well… now you can pull out those bags of corks and upcycle them into something new, something useful and creative! And I’m about to show you how!

What you will need:

• Corks, and lots of them! (If you don’t have enough make a post on your local Freecycle board and I’m sure someone else will be happy to help you out! It’s where I got mine from 🙂 )
• An old frame of any size (just remember, the bigger the frame the more corks you will need)
• Glue gun
• Exacto knife

Sounds pretty simple eh? (Yes I just said eh… yes… I am a Canadian through and through) Well it is! So let’s get started.

I am using a small 8×10 frame, which I found at one of my favorite craft shops… THE THRIFT STORE!

It used to be just plain light brown wood, I spruced it up with a little black acrylic paint

I took some sand paper to it to make it look distressed. I just like the look of rustic distressed wood.

Replace the backing of the frame, without the glass.

Now gather your corks and figure out a pattern!

Here is a couple different patterns, I am using the one on the right. (The frame in these pictures is different, I am planning on adding these to my Etsy shop and this frame is going to be wonderful to use as a model)

Now that you have figured out how you want your cork board to look, get gluing!

Try to make them as close as possible, depending on the pattern you are using and the size of your corks you may have to cut them. I used an exacto knife for this, strong scissors might do just the same, but I figured I would save my hands.

Once everything is all glued down, cut away the remaining stringy areas that get left behind by the glue gun. Then hang it, stand it, put magnets on the back and put it on the fridge. Display it anywhere you wish in any fashion. But enjoy your quick and easy creation on a daily basis!

CHEERS! 🙂

“Every child is an artist, the problem is staying an artist when you grow up” -Pablo Picasso

I know that I have already told the story of how this all came to be. How I made a toy for my son and a simple share of the picture on Facebook boomed into a lot of interest. It is pretty evident that I draw a lot of my inspiration from my son. But today I realized it more than ever.

You see, when I was younger I was in love with creativity. I dove right into all the art courses I could while in high school, be it material arts, or dance. I dreamed of moving to the USA and attending Julliard, or even becoming and interior designer. Everything I did I had a constant eye out for things that I could create, or projects I could pick up. I soon got into a bad relationship, yes I know…insert sad story here… I wont go into details but I was right out of high school, my dreams got pushed behind me and I no longer had that drive. For 8 years I continued like this, living day in and out just moseying along.

It wasn’t until I had this little guy in my life that I felt that spark once again. It was a time to share my passion with my son, I began to scrapbook again, to preserve the memories of our lives together, of the fun times, the down times, and just the lazy days. He gave me the drive to create again and I love him for that and much, much more!

But back to where I was going with this, as my son grows older he is showing more interest in colors, art and all the things I hold dear. It wasn’t until today, while at our weekly play group, that he ran to the arts table and sat down. I grabbed him a blank piece of paper, placed it on the table and went about grabbing other things for him to use. It was the first time he showed a deep interest in the materials he was using, instead of using what was in front of him he came with me to the buckets with an expression I knew all too well. With an “Oh WOW!” He began to grab at pom poms, doilies, Popsicle sticks and more. Runs back to the table, points at the other tiny chair beside him and demands me to “Sit”. So I do of course.

And as I sat there awkwardly trying to fit on this tiny chair made for toddlers, I caught a glimpse of something in him. He was excited about the colors, excited about art, excited to create!

 

 

And even as I type  this out now it brings a small tear to my eye, be it just a mother watching her son grow, or whether it be an artistic person watching their passion be passed on to someone else, it strikes a chord in my heart. Just watching him pay so much attention to the “detail” of his work.

 

 

 

 

 

So I ask all you fellow creators, crafters, artists, and mother and fathers, is it just me? Or is it just a wonderful thing to see that when you are lacking you inspiration, that you can always take a step back and look at your child, only to find in them the inspiration that you had once thought was lost. Only to see that you has only passed it on to them. We need to show them how to keep that passion and show them how to use it to push forward in all aspects of life.