9/19/2024

The thumb and I

More embroidery?
You may wonder if that is a new craft/hobby frenzy. It wouldn't be unusual to go wild with a new technique that you have just discovered for yourself. I'm no exception although I have always tried to keep it mixed up, but it's hard not to succumb the excitement and adventure of new experiments ;-)

There is another reason for this flood of embroidery, however.
I have rhizarthrosis in both thumb joints, not that bad yet in the right one, but the left one has really been acting up for a while now. I'm right handed, but my left hand has to do a lot of the grabbing, holding and keeping tension which seems to be the harder part.
That meant more breaks, much shorter crafting sessions, days completely without crafting, and some things are right out at the moment, wire for example, and even beading makes my thumb move in the wrong way. It's frustrating and my friends are probably sick of my whining by now.
I haven't tried out yet how well bead looming will be working for me right now, but I have a plan for bead embroidery - well, and then there's the hand embroidery.

I quickly found out that holding my hoop is a bad idea, actually that's what started my thumb being angry at me. I know I should have taken more breaks a long time ago, but it's really hard for me to stop myself once I'm going.
When I purchased my course for the silk shading flower, though, it said I needed a stand for being able to use both hands freely, and that made a big difference.

It doesn't mean that I can have as long sessions as I used to, it also doesn't mean there isn't any pain at all, but there's no doubt, hand embroidery is the easiest technique for me to do at the moment.
So I got myself a second stand with different sizes of exchangeable hoops and used the smallest of them to make several pendants which couldn't be more different from one another.

1. At my jewelry forum, the Jewelry Artisans Community, we currently have a challenge with the topic "Music" going and I made a happy little musical pendant for it. Don't try to sing the tune ;-)


2. This was an experiment that came from a different idea that is still lingering in the back of my head.
I'm getting abstract 60s vibes from it which is helped by the shape, and I have to say it was fun making it as I could just let loose.


3. Yeah, not a big surprise here. We all knew there would be at least one cat pretty quickly during my embroidery journey, I just didn't know it would become kind of a caricature until I couldn't resist making really big eyes.


4. The last pendant has a backstory.
I have mentioned before that I live in Göppingen which is situated at the bottom of the Hohenstaufen, one of the "Drei Kaiserberge" (literally translating to "Three Emperor Mountains"), together with the Rechberg and Stuifen.
They get their name from the Hohenstaufen dynasty - the "Staufer" - of which Frederick Barbarossa is probably the most famous. They had a castle on the Hohenstaufen, but there is only very little of the foundation walls left (it is said that the city castle of Göppingen was partially built from stones from the castle ruins).
This is my hommage to our mountains and their long history.
Of course they don't lie that close together in reality (pictures under the link above) as in our city logo ...


... or in my pendant.


So yeah, I guess you will have to put up with more embroidery in the near future.
I will not drop the wire and the beads, though, and hope ice packs, splints, and more rest will be able to help me with that!

8 comments:

  1. I love all of these! Of course, me being me, I would choose the abstract with the 60s vibe right out of the gate.

    When a condition like rhizarthrosis prevents or makes it more difficult to do what you love it’s frustrating as hell. For me, it’s my right shoulder. I gave up crocheting.

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    1. Thank you, Michelle! I have diamond shaped bezels which would also work well with the abstract lines, it's just so fun playing with so many colors. You could make your own once you have finished your snowflakes!
      I'm sorry about your shoulder. It really is frustrating. The hardest part in making these pendants was putting them into the bezel because I had to hold on tightly, so nothing would move. It's so weird to find it difficult to move in a certain way when you never used to think about it before.

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  2. Your pendants are all so beautiful! I love the 60's vibe one where you just let go; that has endless possibilities with colors. I am so sorry to hear about your arthritis though; that makes it much harder to craft I'm sure.

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    1. Thank you, Joanne!
      My guess is that some leftovers will make it into more pendants eventually!
      I think I mainly have to find out my limits and work within them, but it's hard to get used to limits that haven't been there before ;-)

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  3. These are so cool!! I just started doing embroidery and I love it! I don't think I am anywhere near the point of doing anything freestyle though, or like as a pendant! I love it!

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    1. Thank you!
      I learned a lot during my first kit and then my first and only online class, and then I did the pendants in the previous posts and these, six all in all. I'm an absolute beginner, but I'm also very much a playchild, so I knew right away that I would play and just see what happens.
      I'm also regularly watching a British embroiderer on YouTube for entertainment, but I'm sure some of it rubs off on me.
      So I'd say don't be afraid and just jump in and have fun :-D

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