TdF, Part 1, is done, and it went the same as always: all excited at the start (even prepped for it again this year), then my excitement fizzles out as the garden gets busier, the weather gets hotter, and my fibromyalgia pain gets worse. Same old, same old, so did I finally learn the same lessons?
I do this every year, and by the end of the tour, I learn that I really do better with spinning in the fall and winter (we don't have AC, so our house gets quite warm and humid, which means the fibers stick to my hands). I learn that I can't spin for hours like I used to. I learn that super fine spinning just isn't as much fun for my hands and myself as it used to be. I will still slowly finish these projects, though, as one little new thing happened: I enjoyed the spinning for longer this year. Normally, I only make it through about half of TdF every year, but this year, I made it longer and enjoyed it more. My hands didn't (got a friction burn, which meant many days off while that healed), and my fibro sure got grumpy at the treadling, but I found myself smiling more, feeling less stressed. One of my New Year's resolutions this year was to knit or spin for 30 minutes total a day or more, and while I haven't done it every day, I've come closer than I have in recent years. My biggest hurdle has been my hands which either hurt from the crafts or hurt before that from fibro or whatever else I've been doing that day, usually from working in the garden. In years past, I've found that spinning every day starts to hurt too much, and then I start to resent the project more than a little, so I stop until I want to spin again. This year, I find myself looking over at my wheel, wishing I could spin more, something that hasn't happened in years. I find myself thinking of my spinning stash and thinking of doing more, more projects, dying with natural dyes, even. Same lesson--spinning every day isn't realistic for me, especially in the heat of the summer. But is there hope for finding my spinning mojo again?
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I have been doing TdF pretty much since it started around 15 years ago or more now, and every year, something happens to keep me from spinning for several days. This year, it was a friction burn on my index finger and thumb of my left hand. I couldn't even knit, it hurt so badly, for days. So, all spinning came to a crashing halt until that healed up. I did try to do some last week only to realize I'd rushed the healing process and needed another two days of breaks. Finally, this last weekend, I could start spinning and knitting again, and that felt amazing. I'm still plowing through the cobweb-weight Polwarth/silk roving (got to the red!), which I had split in half, so even when I finish this huge ball of teased out roving, I have another one to do. My wheel is spinning so much more smoothly now that she's all greased up properly, and I've been able to go faster, which is probably how I got the friction burn. I still have the blues singles to ply on my Majacraft Rose, and I did get the new drive band but have been afraid to put it on with Mr. Floofers on the prowl for anything to chew. If I use it, I'm going to have to put it on for spinning and then take it off and hide it from the dang cat. I also got back into knitting last week with a baby sweater for the daughter of one of my kids' friends, and that's felt good. It's been so dang hot that I just haven't wanted to work on my husband's sweater, my sweater, or really, anything. The Plymouth Dreambaby, though, is soft, the project is small, and it's nice to work on when I'm taking a break from the garden. It's lavender edged with dark purple, and then I'm going to make a matching hat and booties. Thing is, I can't for the life of me figure out the hat pattern that goes with it. If I could use Ravelry, I'd look there, but it's not worth the severe headache and nausea that last for hours.
Finally, Ravelry. What can I say that hasn't already been said by so very many? TPTB at Ravelry have shown that they fundamentally do not understand or care about accessibility, and they are just fine and dandy with losing all of us members. I'm refusing to buy any more patterns from there, asking designers, instead, to find a way for me and others to buy their work outside of Ravelry. One designer, Rosemary Hill (@Romidesigns on Instagram), has been amazingly helpful, and I'm getting her KAL shawl ebook through email instead of Ravelry. Honestly, I'm angry. Really angry. Cassidy and the others built Ravelry on our backs, using our free labor, and seriously, many of those who did the most work are among the most harmed by the new layout/appearance. Many who have faithfully donated every month the little they could afford to keep the site running (when they make plenty in ad revenue) are among those who have been hurt, physically harmed, by the site. They don't care. They just really, really don't care about any of us as members or even as humans. They say they're inclusive, but they're ignoring the intersectionality of those who are both suffering from migraines and more and are also LGBTQ and/or BIPOC. I just can't support that kind of site with my money or my time anymore, and it sickens me that I've spent 13 years helping build a site, an online community, for such self-centered, inhumane people. Maybe the spinning and knitting will help with the anger... I didn't get any spinning done yesterday, but I did on Day 1. Yesterday, I had too much to do in the garden (which I need to get to yet and am running late on), but I hope to get more done today. My personal goal is 30 minutes a day. Here are some pictures of Day 1 and my current project (spinning some Polwarth/silk roving from Corgi Hill as finely as I can for the Mystic Vortex shawl): I've been on Ravelry almost from the beginning, joining as a beta tester at the end of August in 2007. Yes, I'm old. I've also been spinning and knitting since the mid-80s, so take that as you will.
I've been disabled for four years now, though looking back, I can see I've had health issues that I mostly ignored or tried to ignore for many years before that, and honestly, I cannot read the NuRav site at all. The longest I've been able to be on it before the searing headache and massive nausea hit hard is 15 minutes, though a skin helped. By no means, are my symptoms abnormal or isolated, as many have reported headaches, migraines, even seizures (8 different members by one count so far). This isn't just an issue of not liking change or not liking Lumpy, the new brand logo thingy, nor even not liking the colors. This is about access, and that's what the conversation needs to be about. This is, in my opinion, what needs to happen:
Side note: I know it's a free site, but I've been on there long enough to remember the fundraisers and that I donated to help get new servers and when Cassidy et. al. asked us to make sure to click on ads frequently to help with revenue to keep the site going. I've started groups and been a mod, helped with tech editing of a pattern's page, designed patterns, and gotten many new members to join. Telling me that all that money, time, and free help was meaningless just because I'm disabled is what really hurts. |
CarinaI go by Bina on Ravelry, have for years, and used to have a knit blog ages ago. With everything going on with Ravelry and elsewhere, I think it's time to bring back the knit blog. Archives
April 2022
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