Shoulder Exercises Log

Thursday, 27th February
Shoulder Flexation 10, 10

Scapula Setting 5, 3

I have been doing these exercises for a week on and off.  The benefits in mobility and stability I have experienced have convinced me that they are very well worth it.

Currently, it is easy to get the walking stick all the way over the top, but when my arms are almost on the bed, my arms start shaking, and it is very evident that my muscles are working.  I'm having low grade grumbling discomfort from the arm muscles - but it is less intense than it was before I started these exercises.    The first two scapula setting repeats are easy, but by the time I get to 4, I'm working hard, and 5 is a huge struggle.  Often I don't manage to count to a full 10 in the 5th repetition.

Shoulder Exercises

I have social shoulders - they pop out to visit from time to time.  Over the summer, my left shoulder partially dislocated, and the muscles covered for the shoulder.  There was no real pain, but a lot of mild discomfort and a reduction in the range of movement. The reason behind the partial dislocation?  I had been trying to strengthen the muscles around my shoulder to help prevent future dislocations! 

After using the tried and tested method of 'do absolutely nothing' for a few months, I started seeing a chiropractor, and this has helped my whole grumpy body feel better.  One downside is that as my shoulder muscles have learned (slowly) to relax again, it has meant there has been a time when my shoulder has been dislocating on a regular basis.

However, I think we have turned the corner, and the chiropractic manipulations, massage and exercise are stacking up against the dislocating tendencies!

This is a place to record my progress through the physio exercises.  These are a mixture of the ones set by my chiropractor, a former physio, and the exercises in an NHS booklet Rehabilitation after shoulder dislocation.

Shoulder Flexion  My first exercise is to lie down on my bed, with a walking stick between my hands.  The hands are shoulder-width apart.  Starting with the walking stick on the stomach, lift the walking stick up and over the head, until the upper arms are lying flat on the bed.  Hold for 5 seconds, and bring the arms back down.  Repeat 10 times, four times a day.

 

Scapula setting exercise Stand close to a wall.  Lay the forearms on the wall, fingers point to the ceiling.  The upper arms should be at shoulder height, and perpendicular to the body.  Draw the shoulder blades back and down, causing the muscles between to be squeezed. Hold for 10 seconds and release. Repeat 5 times, 4 times a day.

I've been doing these two exercises for a week, and the improvement is great.  There is so much more movement.  But there is still a long way to go.  As these exercises get too easy they will be replaced by other ones.  The shoulder flexion exercise can be made harder simply by standing up.

 

Leftover socks

"Leftover socks" are socks made from leftover yarns.  These socks were made from the leftovers from turquoise and teal socks I made for my DM-wearing daughter.  Two balls of yarn is just enough to make three pairs of socks for her.

The joyous news is that my next two balls of yarn are pink and red.  This will great a gloriously awful combination. But, as I happen to love the daughter-child, I will not inflict this combination upon her.

Project 38

The Hat-a-thon has been completed!

The stash that was overwhelming me has been reduced.  Twenty six hats have been made!  

Behold, a photograph of 25 hats. 

The 26th one has already been sent to it's recipient.  (This is now the recipient.)  It has been given to a friend who works at the airport and de-ices planes. It is cold work. He asked me for a baklava to keep him warm. I explained that as I’m gluten-free, I don’t make baklava. He explained “I can’t say balaclava, so I’m asking for a baklava.” I hope he won’t be too disappointed when he gets a balaclava.

It is very warm, and looks perfect for robbing a bank. It might also be good for wearing at the airport on cold shifts. But I worry that there are strands of my hair knitted into the balaclava. He gets up to some crazy stuff.  Just in case, can you all be my character witnesses?

37 Projects completed - I'm now at 70% of my 52 in 52 challenge.

When to start shaping the toe on a sock

This is the point where I start shaping the toe of a sock.

The Skating Minister

There's a Facebook thing where if you 'like' a person's post of a work of art then you are given an artist, and you have to choose a piece of their work.

I was given Henry Raeburn, It is  a-typical of his work. Most of Raeburn's work was made up large portraits of 'important people' sitting in slightly pompous poses, but this miniature seems to have more life to it. There has been quite a bit of discussion as to whether this painting was indeed painted by Raeburn. At the moment, it seems that opinion says 'yes'.

I couldn't get a picture of this painting to show up as a thumbnail in Facebook, hence posting the picture here.

Sunken Garden

A sunken garden.

This is what it normally looks like.

The second hat of the Hat-a-thon

And behold, the second hat of the Hat-a-thon.  It is a garter stitch, sideways hat with short row shaping.

And the Hat-a-thon has started!

In January, I was confronted by the size of my stash. It was overwhelming. I decided that something needed to be done about it.  And the Hat-a-thon Challenge was born.  A group of us are having a marathon of hat making in February.

A full marathon is 26 hats.  Others will be taking part in the half marathon, and there is a third group are taking part in the ‘relay.  

My hats will be going to a local charity called ‘Southern Befrienders’. Elderly people can ask to be paired up with volunteers who pop in to visit them, normally about once a week. Last Christmas, the elderly people all received gifts from the organisation. Many received hand knitted and crocheted items, things like hats, socks, gloves etc. They were greatly appreciated.

This is my first hat of the hat-a-thon, and my  12th project of the year.

 

I forgot to add my 11th project.  It is a needle holder for my circs.  Effectively it is a garter stitch scarf with a point, and D ring at one end, and a pocket for a needle sizer and measuring tape at the other end.  That is project 11.

A sea of yarn

Since the 15th of December I have finished 5 UFOs (UnFinished Objects). Some of them have been incredibly close to being finished, but something has happened that meant they were tossed into a work box and forgotten about. Whilst it is good to finish projects, the number of item that were almost, almost done makes me feel sad.  

I have realised that I have a blindness - I simply can not see the projects that have been started and are unfinished. As this is perceptual blindness, the solution is pretty simple - stop and register what is actually in front of my eyes. But I must admit, I am frightened by what I will find. The adapted solution is to look in one box and deal with that one box.  

There are a few different things that can happen to these UFOs.

1. Finish it

2. Frog it and donate the yarn

3. Frog it and return the yarn to my stash

Last night I found a UFO that was not mine! It was my daughter's. I'll chat with her today and see if she would like me to finish those slipper socks for her. It would mean one more UFO leaving my work box!

Christmas Pudding Hat

My first Christmas present for 2014 has been made!

This is my husband kneeling before me.  It was the only way I was tall enough to take  the photograph.  

More Socks for a DM Wearer

 

My daughter is an art student, and works in various different materials. Safety equipment is import. Doc Marten boots form part of her safety wear. She asked for a pair of woollen socks to wear with her boots, and then a second request came for socks. 

A request to 'Keep 'em coming' has now arrived. The socks are comfortable and warm. Her friends (fellow art students) think it's rather cool to have hand made socks.

My First Quilt

This is the first quilt I made.

The little lass is now up and running around.

Autumn Leaves

After a break of five days, it feel like it is time to do a bit more quilting.  My Mam loves autumnal colours, and I suggested she might like a table runner for her dining room table.    This is the pattern I'm going to use.

Doctor Marten's Socks

These socks were knitted for my daughter, to be worn under her new Doc Marten's.  They have been worn, and worn, and worn.  A second pair was requested, and those have been worn, and worn and worn.  The plea has emerged, "Please keep knitting me socks!"

Lace Spoon

52 in 52
8  Lace Spoon

My daughter is studying art and one of her assignments is based around spoons.  She commissioned me to crochet a spoon for her.  She will take the spoon, dip it in porcelain slip a few times and then fire it.  The cotton will burn away in the kiln leaving just the porcelain behind.  

Calligraphy Cowl

So far this winter I have been wearing a lot of black.  This needed to change - colour was definitely needed.  

At Sweet Ginger, I bought this lovely yarn Colinette Calligraphy in Florentina.

This is going to become a warm, snuggly Möbius cowl.

52 in 52 for 2014

There is a challenge I have taken part in the last few years, making/finishing 52 items in 52 weeks.  There have been times when I have succeeded, and times when success has been elusive.  

This time thought, I decided to start at the beginning of my Christmas crafting rather than on the first of January.  

1  Mat for the Christmas tree

A friend gave us two cushions that almost, almost matched the colour of our sofas.  Sadly the almost match did not look good on the sofas, but as long as the cushions were in another part of the room they looked good.  It wasn't terribly practical, so I used the fabric to make a mat for the Christmas tree.  I didn't want the top of the chest being scratched by the base of the stand.  The mat was then edged in a cream fabric with small circles of red, gold and green.

2 and 3  Minion Hat 1 and 2

Hats for my elder daughter and her boyfriend.  One of them is delighted to have a Minion Hat.  The other is not terribly impresssed.

4  Square Hat

This is the hat my elder daughter really wanted.  It doesn't look much when lying flat, but when worn, it looks like there are cat ears.  

5  Penny's  Hat

Penny is a character from "The Big Bang Theory", and she has a hat just like this.  This hat made my younger daughter very happy.

6  Shaun the Sheep Shirt

There’s a family tradition of ‘interesting sleeves’ for shirts. The men in my family are all kilt-wearers, and the kilts get worn at formal events. The shirts look very formal when worn with a jacket, but when the jacket comes off, the silliness is revealed. My husband’s wing collar shirt has Winnie the Pooh sleeves.

I bought a shirt for my elder daughter’s boyfriend, and then unpicked the sleeves. These were used as a template and new sleeves were produced in ‘Shaun the Sheep’ fabric. The sleeves were stitched into the armholes and cuffs.

7  Denim and fleece quilt

top

This quilt is unusual in that it has no batting between the top and bottom layer, but with the weight of the denim and the warmth of the fleece it isn't required.  It is made by taking a square of demin and one of fleece and stitching around the square 2 cm in from the edge.  The squares and ten joined together with a 1.5cm seam allowance.  

The central panel was made from jeans supplied by J and family members. Cutting squares from jeans takes a considerable amount of time, and it was getting harder to find jeans to use.  Therefore I bought denim, and that was so much easier to use!  

The instructions said to fray the edges of the denim squares.  I found it best to do this before stitching.  It made the work progress well.

This is a warm, snuggly quilt, the same size as the duvet underneath.  It is the underside of the quilt that I like best.  It looks so much tidier!  No fuzzy, frayed edges.

underside

However this quilt has been made for a guy who is now almost totally blind. It is very tactile, and so snuggly.  I'm sure he will love it. (He does.)

Christmas Cake - Decorating Lesson

J and I have just spent a wonderful morning with Ruth,  playing with fondant icing, butter cream and cake.  Ruth is a very talented woman, and I'm sure if the need ever arose she could be serious, but a smile and a laugh are never far away.

Here's our cake.

Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients
170g plain flour

350g sugar 

150g coca

230g butter

4 eggs

10ml vanilla extract

100g milk chocolate (roughly chopped)

50-100g pecan nuts (roughly chopped)

Method

Pre-heat oven to 175C.

Melt the butter in a bowl, using a microwave, then add the rest of the ingredients. Spread in a 32x23 baking pan.

Bake for 40 minutes. 

Variations

I use Dove Farm gluten-free flour.  It is a straight swap, gram for gram.

Hot brownies, straight from the oven, make a wonderful dessert, especially when served with ice cream.