Thursday, July 28, 2011

The story of FrankenThumb

Dear Mom,
It was the Classic "Mother presents to the ER with hand wrapped in a kitchen towel'. One has to wonder what the statistics are on that.
In a cleaning frenzy Tuesday evening, I forgot about the lid from a can that was tucked into the stuff in my hand that I was throwing away. Noticing that the trash can was getting full, I used the stuff in my hand to compact the trash in the can.... and forced the lid well into the meat of my thumb. What I'd done registered before I felt anything more than pressure. And boy was I mad at myself.
Thankfully, I have a high pain threshold, and no nerves of tendons were damaged. My thumb would be feeling a whole lot better right now if I could stop whacking it into things.The stitches come out next Thursday.


In the meantime, I have discovered that I am able to dress up Donna Reed without hurting my thumb, and last night I was able to gingerly and cautiously knit, being careful to use the side of my thumb when I needed it. It is also about the size of Fred Flintstones thumb with all the gauze and tape I have protecting it, but where there's a WILL there's a WAY and you can't keep a determined knitter away from her needles.

Before FrankenThumb, I wove another scarf with leftover bits of sock yarn as my warp and yellow cotton as the weft that was leftover from the placemats and table runner I made in class. My selvage edges are improving, but this scarf  isn't without its mistakes either. I've decided to stop playing around, and what you see on the loom up there is the beginnings of some dish towels. I'm following pattern instructions on this one. (In weaving, patterns are called "drafts".)



I'll let you know how the towels turn out. The cotton I am using is much finer, and I have over 400 warp threads to thread through the loom, so this is taking awhile. Exciting though!

Love,
Kim

4 comments:

Christine said...

Boy, my husband is going to be soooo mad at you when he gets home. You've moved me from want to NEED. I need a loom. Really. I have three hours before he gets here to figure out a plan to justify it. That scarf is AWESOME.

NCmountainwoman said...

Too bad about the thumb, and thank goodness you didn't hurt any nerves/tendons.

Me and My Stitches said...

Well, you have just verified it - cleaning is bad and harmful to your health! Your poor ol' thumb would be fine if you hadn't been cleaning! I absolutely love your scarf, can't wait to see your newest project.

From Beyond My Kitchen Window said...

What a gorgeous scarf. You are so talented on the loom. I grew up in Lowell Massachusetts where the first looms were built and used. The Textile Museum located in the old mills is really something to experience. To know the Mill Girls worked in the exact mill that you are standing in is stunning. The noise that came from the machines as they weave is something to hear. The Mill Girl era is really a sad part of our history. They work for long hours in dangerous condition for little money. Pieces of the moving loom would fly off and kill them. Breathing in the cotton fibers for 14 hours a day gave them irreparable lung damage. Although it was a sad time for these amazing girls/women there were also a few bright moments for them too. If you have a chance find a biography on the Mill Girls you will mot be disappointed.