29 Tips for Avoiding Knitting Pain

wow I found this useful tip , thought of sharing

1. Make sure that you take frequent breaks! - Diana K.
   
2. Don’t rest your arms on a surface, like a table top or the arms of a chair; this puts pressure on the nerves in your arms. - Ann B.
   
3. When you get to the end of a row of a bigger project, rotate your wrists once counter clockwise and once clockwise. If it is a smaller project, do the same thing after 5 rows. - Becky C.
   
4. Make sure you take breaks, support your arms and use a hand brace. Take stretching breaks for your fingers, wrists and arms. - Linda R.
   
5. Keep your back straight and your shoulders down. - Brianna
   
6. I wear a wrist brace at night to guarantee a pain-free day of knitting when I wake up. - Robin
   
7. I squeeze and release a small rubber ball a few times to relax and ease the tension in my hands and fingers. - Anna Marie G.
   
8. Stretch, stretch, stretch. Hold arm straight forward, palm down, pull fingers of hand up and back gently with opposite hand. Repeat with other arm. Then palm up, push hand/arm down and back gently and repeat with other arm. Also make sure to get up and get the blood flowing in your legs and buttocks! Do some stretches while standing. And don't forget to drink plenty of water. Keep hydrated. - Kay
   
9. Take a break every 30-45 minutes and do some hand/wrist stretches. - Cynthia W.
   
10. Drape a warm rice bag/heating pad around your neck and shoulders. This relieves tension build up. - Helen
    
11. Avoid painful fingertips by using flexible thimbles on each index finger while knitting. - Jeannie M.
    
12. Flex your fingers every so often and make sure to put your knitting down for a few minutes. Make sure your elbows are supported to avoid pain or too much muscle tension. Free movement of your arms, I think, is crucial. - B.J.M.
    
13. Keep hands nimble by using a squeeze toy, like a can of very thick putty. - Wil B.
    
14. Shake your hands out to loosen them up after knitting awhile. - Jessica K.
    
15. Put a pillow or throw on my lap when I settle in for a long knitting session. - Mariann F.
    
16. As soon as you feel a tingling in your arms, stop and do something else for a few minutes - change the clothes in the washer to the dryer or do any chore that only takes a few minutes. - Mary T.
    
17. Stretch your fingers with a rubber band (fingertips together, rubber band around the outside and push against the band by opening up your hand). - Jennie
    
18. Set a timer for every hour and make sure to get up, stretch, get a drink or take a bathroom break! - Becky R .
    
19. Support your arms on a pillow to relieve any pull or strain in your shoulders. - Joyce D.
    
20. Change the way you hold your needles to reduce tension. For example, avoid knitting with long needles; they can be too heavy and can cause more stress on the hands. If your project requires longer needles, make sure they are interchangeable ones. If you have a lot of stress in your hands, try switching to the Continental knitting method; this is proven to be easier on the hands. Lastly, alter the way you hold your yarn. For knitting: I call my hold the hook / chop stick method. My right hand looks like I am holding a crochet hook in the underhanded position, and my left looks like I am holding chopsticks with the yarn as the top stick and the needle as the bottom stick. For crochet, same thing, except the left hand has the yarn as the top stick and I hold the work in the bottom stick position. - Jessica N.
    
21. Cut off the tips of a pair of battery-operated warming gloves and wear them as crafters gloves while knitting to reduce pain. - Merri Orgeman
    
22. Work in an area that is warm. Lots of folks have craft areas set up in basements or garages that don’t have sufficient heating. Being cold just makes your muscles tense up that much more as you work. - KittenWithAWhiplash
    
23. Wear fingerless craft gloves that have a good, supporting wrist band while you’re doing your handwork. if your fingers numb or your wrists hurt, use your fave pain relief cream and rub it on your wrists. - Ritainalaska
    
24. Before knitting, and as often as you feel necessary, put your fingertips together and push them against each other, as if a spider is doing pushups on a mirror. Also rotate wrists often to loosen them up. Having a comfortable place to rest your arms is also important as well as making sure you maintain good posture. - Beverlee C.
    
25. Comfortable chair, good lighting, frequent breaks to stretch shoulders, neck, arms and fingers and wooden needles! - Lynda B.
    
26. Two things that have helped me: concentrating on learning to crochet/knit in a more relaxed way (not keeping tension in my hands and arms and paying attention to position), and using a proper chair that supports my back, neck and arms.- Nancy
    
27. Do daily exercises using rubber putty and a tension band. - Lena C.
    
28. I use Voltaren rub. - Diane
    
29. Tiger Balm muscle rub is very nice to use on your sore spots, even Bengay helps! Also, those Ace wraps for wrists work well. - Joann
    
    Read more at http://www.allfreeknitting.com/Tips-for-Knitting/29-tips-for-avoiding-knitting-pain#ViB6r2FAtCiIycFe.99

Various yarns

Yarn Recommendations for Beginner-Level Crochet

Please note that many people get confused between yarns and thread that are used to do crochet. Giving you the various types of yarns. Please note that the acrylic yarn is the cheapest but it is not suitable for doing doilies or coasters in crochet as acrylic yarn is not suitable to heat.When acrylic yarn is dipped in water it tends to be heavy and it can creat allergies to the skin. Cotton is the prferred thread for doilies. The yarn manufactures mix more than 2 yarns and give you blend of yarns. Hence when you are buying a yarn please read the label if it is suitable for crochet. Many manufacturers provide you the gauge for knitting and crochet. Hence my experience has taught that I should use thin yarns for crochet.Hope this is useful 

 

• Yarn Texture: Choose a smooth yarn rather than a textured yarn; for your first several projects, avoid eyelash yarns, which can be frustrating to work with.
• Yarn Color: Choose light yarn rather than dark; it can be challenging to see your stitches when you work with yarns in dark colors.
• Yarn vs Crochet Thread: Yarn is easier to work with than crochet thread is. If you want to work projects like doilies and lace tablecloths, don't let that discourage you; I've known crocheters who've jumped right into working with thread from the beginning. If you don't have a strong preference, I do recommend starting with yarn.
• Yarn Weights: Yarn comes in a variety of weights. For your first practice swatches, I recommend using yarn that is at least a worsted weight; if you prefer to try a bulky weight yarn, that would be an equally good choice. To check the weight of the yarn you are buying, just read the label. Choose yarn that is labeled with "4" or higher as specified by the Craft Yarn Council's weight standards.
• Wool Yarn: Wool is an excellent choice for practicing your crochet stitches. It's a resilient fiber, and is forgiving of mistakes. If you do make a mistake, most wool yarns are easy to unravel and re-use. If wool is available to you, and within your price range, and you aren't allergic to it, I recommend using wool to start out with.
• Cotton Yarn: Cotton is an inelastic fiber, which makes it slightly more of a challenge to crochet with than wool is. However, cotton isn't so difficult to work with that I'd tell you to steer clear of it all together. If you're learning to crochet during the summer time, when the heat makes it unpleasant to work with wool, cotton yarn is a great choice.
• Acrylic Yarn: Acrylic yarn is an acceptable choice for beginners, although some of the cheapest acrylics can be especially challenging to crochet with. If you're on a super-tight budget, don't let that deter you; it's what most crocheters are using.
  
  Overall, acrylic is a popular fiber with crochet enthusiasts; acrylic is widely available, it comes in a variety of colors, and it is usually one of the more affordable choices for yarn.
  
  Acrylic yarn is what I learned to crochet with. I don't mind telling you that nowadays it isn't my favorite fiber. It has its place, but, in hindsight, I wish I had learned about natural fibers sooner; I really wish that I hadn't spent so much time crocheting with the cheapest of cheap acrylics.

Hopefully these suggestions will help you get started. In the future, if you are planning to crochet a project using a pattern, your pattern will often specify exactly which yarn you should use. In that case, I recommend that you go with the pattern designer's suggestion, at least until you have enough experience to understand how to successfully substitute yarns.

source: http://crochet.about.com/od/learntocrochet/a/Beginner-Crochet-Yarn.htm

Abbreviations for crochrting

Once you start to learn to do crocheting , one must also know the abbreviations that are used for Crocheting

 beg.............................begin(ning)
Bl(s)...........................back loops
ch(s)...........................chain(s)
Cl(s)...........................cluster(s)
dc...............................double crochet
dec.............................decrease
dtrc............................double triple crochet
fig..............................figure
Fl(s)...........................front loop(s)
hdc.............................half double crochet
lp(s)............................loop(s)
patt.............................pattern
prev............................previous
rem.............................remain(ing)
rep..............................repeat(ing)
rnd(s)..........................round(s)
sc................................single crochet
sk................................skip
sl.................................slip
sl st(s)..........................slip stitch(es)
sp(s)............................space(s)
st(s).............................stitch(es)
sp(s)............................space(s)
st(s).............................stitch(es)
tog...............................together
tr trc............................triple triple crochet
trc...............................triple crochet
YO..............................Yarn Over

* An asterick is used to mark the beginning of a portion of instructions to be worked more than once, "rep from * twice more" means after working the instructions following the asterick twice more means (3 times in all).

+ this identifies a portion of the pattern that will be repeated again later in the same row or round.

~ the number after this symbol at the end of row or round indicates the number of stitches you should have when row or round is completed.

( ) Parentheses are used to enclose instructions which should be worked the exzct number of times specified immediately following the parentheses, such as "( 2 sc in next dc, sc in next dc) twice." They are also used to set off and clarify a group of stitches that are to be worked all into the same space or stitch, such as " in next corner sp work (2 dc, ch 1, 2 dc)."

[ ] Brackets and ( ) Parentheses are also used to provide additional information to clarify instructions.

Join- join with sl st unless otherwise specified.

 

Some old timers used a different name for basic stitchs. this is encountered when we try to read some old vintage patterns. Giving you the new names that are being followed now

Double crochet = today's single crochet
Half treble = today's half-double crochet
treble = today's double crochet
Double treble = today's treble crochet
Long treble = today's double-treble crochet

Crochet and numbers

Twelve is a magic numberfor motifs stitched in crochet.It is divisible by 2,3,4 and 6. It makes it easy to divide your increases into evenly spaced groups to forms various shapes like triangle, hexagons and squares.

Sixteen is another number that is associated in crochet.it is divisible by 2,4 and 8

Eighteen is also another number that can be divisible with 2,3,6,and 9

Hence when you are increasing or decresing we normally follow this calculations