Knitting with Chronic Fatigue

I know it has been a while. Some of the recent comments here have even suggested this is a dead blog, like so many. It's true I have not posted in a while. My Chronic Fatigue flared up pretty bad in January and it continued through to about August. I've always self-diagnosed my fatigue as functional chronic fatigue. In other words I have always been able to work through the fatigue and just deal with it. This last time was different. I still worked, but I started to wonder if I really could continue working. Besides the fatigue, the brain fog was overwhelming. And then it was waking up each day stiff and sore as though I hadn't slept at all.

I have been dealing with fatigue for over 10 years. The fatigue has varied in intensity but rarely interfered with my ability to do what I wanted. I did get tired of being tired all the time though. Just over a year ago I felt like I hit a wall. I needed help because my fatigue was starting to interfere with my enjoyment in life. I won't go into all the details, but it was enough for me to start looking for an open-minded doctor. Thankfully, I found an integrative medicine doctor who believed me. That was key. She started me on a supplement routine and one prescribed medication. I started to feel good and my energy level came back. So good that I felt like picking up my knitting needles again. I was ready to knit something challenging.

I started these socks in August of 2017. I picked the Celtic Denim Sock pattern because I had always wanted to knit socks with cables. Many ravelers mentioned the socks were a bit small in circumference, so to add to the challenge, I adapted the pattern. I did a 72 stitch cast-on instead of 64, distributing the extra stitches into the pattern. I also added a 1x1 rib for about 1 inch at the cuff. It was too difficult to jump into the cables without having some kind of stabilizing rows where you didn't feel like your needles would fly off the stitches. The cables really slowed down my sock knitting until I got the hang of it. After finishing the leg on sock #1, it was actually pretty easy.

So, I started the socks in August. I was feeling so good that I started to reduce some of my supplements (big mistake!). In September we started on a major renovation project for our house. As these things go, there were problems every step of the way. My focus and attention was not on these socks, but I picked them up now and then and managed to finish the first sock by January. Our house project finally, sort of wrapped up in December, so in theory I should have been able dig in to sock #2 and finish this project up. Instead, my body collapsed from the stress of the renovation project and my fatigue was the worst it had ever been.

It took me 8 months to finish sock #2. The brain fog and fatigue really zapped my knitting mojo. I had to let go of a lot of things, which only added to my frustration. Thankfully, after a couple of appointments with my doctor over several months, she got me back on track with a new regimen. I can't say I'm 100% yet, but I'm doing much better.  These socks literally took a year of my life and represent a story of what it takes to deal with chronic fatigue.

So these are my tips of dealing with fatigue and knitting (or any other hobby, project, or life plan):

1. Don't give up!
2. Find a doctor that believes you. I highly recommend an integrative or functional medicine doctor.
3. Don't stop taking your meds, supplements included, without talking to your doctor first.
4. Work on a project gradually. A few rows at a time is great! Don't give up!
5. It's ok to let a project languish for a while.

This blog is not really a health blog. It started with my posts on pattern making and fashion design and then evolved to whatever project I was currently working on. I will probably be getting back to that in time. One problem came to my attention. My contact form was supposed to send me notifications but it wasn't working properly. I will be working through those questions and comments over the next few months as I write new posts. I will also provide updates on current projects as time (and energy) allows.