It's easy to get so motivated by progress on a knitting project - especially on a week-end when you have a large chunk of free time - that you don't want to stop even though your hands are feeling tired or sore, or your neck, shoulders, or another part of your body are tight. To soothe the hands and relax, take frequent breaks and give yourself a gentle hand massage. These reflexology techniques were shared with me by Karen Cornell-Froehner, a massage therapist in Dutchess County, New York.
- Remove all jewelry from hands or wrists before starting.
- To relax the neck and shoulders, shake the hands gently with hands in front of you, then above your head, then out to the side. Finish by handing your hands down at your sides as you continue to shake them. Do this a few times.
- Cradle one hand inside the other. Using the thumb of the hand that is doing the cradling, begin to make small circular motions at the base of the thumb (the fat pad area) and into the web between the thumb and index finger. Work across the base of the finger pads, then toward the wrist down along the pinky-finger side of the hand. Repeat a few times on both hands.
- Repeat the hand-shaking sequence.
- Using your knuckles, massage the opposing hand up and down from the palm, into the wrist area, up to your elbow. You will begin to feel a tingling sensation run up your arms. Massage each hand and arm once. This relaxes the shoulder girdle, the rib cage area, lungs/chest and heart.
- Cradle one hand in the other again. Using the thumb of the hand that is doing the cradling, massage just under the bottom knuckle joints on the palm side of the other hand (this is the diaphragm line, starting at the thumb and moving gently but firmly to the pinky. Repeat a few times, then change to the other hand.
- Rest one elbow on a desk or table. Intertwine your fingers into each other and begin to gently flex and extend the hand with the elbow on the surface. Repeat four times. Then rotate the hand gently in a circular motion. Rotate to the right eight times, then repeat to the left. Repeat with the other elbow on the desk or table. This stretches the tendons of the arm.
- Repeat the hand-shaking sequence.
- Sweep the knuckles of your index and middle fingers down and up the palm of the other hand, working all the way to the edges of the hand, then up the arm. Repeat with the other hand.
- With a closed fist, using the heel of the hand, hit the base of the thumb several times. This will soften this thick tissue area. This aids in lower back issues.
- Finally, sweep your fingertips back and forth across the palms of the opposing hand (sweeping any tension away). Drop your hands to your sides and shake from side to side.
Make a large loop by putting the yarn tail behind the working yarn (the yarn coming from the skein) (Figures 1-2), leaving at least a six-inch tail until you become familiar with this method (Figure 3). Later, you may leave a shorter tail if desired.
How you hold the loop while you work the stitches into it is personal preference, but I find it convenient to put both my pinky and ring finger inside the loop to hold it tight (Figure 8.)
Continue to work as many dcs as needed for you pattern into the loop. (Don’t forget to keep crocheting over the tail.) When you are finished working stitches into the loop, you will likely find that the tail has curled around the loop a few times (Figure 10). To make it easier to draw the loop closed, first untwist the tail (Figure 11); then pull the tail to draw the loop closed. You can leave an open hole in the center (Figure 12) or draw it closed very tightly (Figure 13).
