I’ve gotten back into knitting over the past month after a long hiatus, but I am finding that if I knit for too long (more than an hour or so), I feel like I am getting nausious and have to take a break. Has anyone else found this to be an issue? I know I am just not used to concentrating on something like my needles and yarn, so I am hoping it goes away, but I’m wondering if this has happened to anyone else?
Knitting for too long making me nausious?
Eyesight issues perhaps?
Maybe I’m just having issues in general! I think I am just concentrating WAY too hard on what I am doing. I am in that stage where it’s not really relaxing to knit yet, it’s more of me teaching myself how to get back into the swing of things…
Eyestrain will do that.
It’s seems to be quite common among knitters in their early pregnancy or sometimes the entire time… Any chance of that?
Do you know if there’s anything I can do to reduce eyestrain? I try to knit in good lighting, but maybe it’s my intense concentration or something…
I hope not!:teehee:
I think I am just thinking too hard about what I am knitting when I am making it, and trying not to mess something up, which is ridiculous, because currently I am only working on two scarves!
I have the same issue that you do. I’m slightly far-sighted, but I can still see pretty clearly. My reading glasses died in a tragic accident (involving my teething puppy dog) a few months back, and I haven’t yet gotten them replaced. Without glasses, I can’t do any “close up” activities for too long before I get headaches and nausea. You might want to go for an eye exam, even if your vision does not seem blurred.
Good call gatorjade, my pug puppy ate my glasses a few months ago as a matter of fact as well! I’ve been wearing contacs for the past few months, but it just hasn’t been the same as the clarity I get with glasses! I will have to look into an eye appointment ASAP!
I would think eyesight problems might do that. My lens in my glasses had twisted because the screw was loose, and it took three trips to the eyepeople to find one who saw that. It felt like my eyes were going crazy! My problem is falling asleep!!! I’m knitting the One Row Scarf from Yarn Harlot’s site, and it’s very relaxing. I knit and knit and fall asleep. :teehee: Hope you figure it out soon! Knitting shouldn’t make you sick!
In the meantime you can go to the dollar store and get the lowest power reading glasses. That should help a lot. And remember to breathe. When you focus your attention on things for a long period of time your breathing gets very shallow. It can cause your neck muscles to tighten up (especially if you’re not moving your head around much) and can restrict the flow of blood and oxygen to your brain and head.
My sister, mom and I have extreme motion sickness and knitting for long periods of time can make all of us sick.
I had to read a book last year for class that was written in verse–one long line and one short line and the process of looking back and forth so quickly and choppily made me nauseaus
Yea I would think it has something to do with your eyes. Have you had them tested lately?
Do you wear reading glasses or think you may need them?
I wear contacs, and used to wear glasses until my pug at them! I think another eye exam might be in order though!
I think my eyesight may have gotten worse since I started knitting.! I think it might help if you can remember to look up from your work at the end of every row (if they are short rows) and focus on something else, for more than just 10 seconds, preferably look out a window at something far away and focus on it.
If you are doing LONG rows stop half way through also. Take deep breaths, don’t get tense, knitting is not time-sensitive and you don’t need to hurry or worry: you can put it down and come back to it tomorrow or next week and it will be the same, or you can come back once you have had a question about it answered. Relax, drink water, stretch, breathe deep, and focus you eyes on other things frequently. Maybe limit the amount of knitting you do for a while and increase it slowly? I’m sure we’ve all stayed up until 4 am because we really wanted to finish something
Sarah
I like to knit by a window or while ‘watching’ a show I am kind of interested in. It gives me a chance to take a break from my knitting and focus on the things around me…I don’t get nauseous, but I do tense up and need a bit of a break to stretch out a little and get my eyes moving around again…lol…Do you hold your work really close to your face while you knit? It could, as the others have said, indeed be eyestrain, or a mix of overall body tension and eyestrain. I’d say if nothing else, keep a glass of water close by, maybe some crackers, and make sure you’re taking several small breaks while knitting. Not necessarily getting up, but, change the way you’re sitting, stretch out, look around a room or out a window. You may also want to crack a window, if you knit near one, just to get some fresh air.
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Ditto the comments about eyesight.
My eyes are very gradually getting weaker–I’ve only been noticing it for the past few months. When I started knitting again a couple months ago after an 18-month hiatus I started getting headaches. Finally realized that I was still holding my work as close as ever but my eyes were now straining to focus at the distance.
Someone mentioned on another thread that while knitting she had “flipped” the work on her circular needles so that the patten was in the inside, and she was working with the needles farther away. Doing it that way would allow the work to remain supported by the lap while you held the needles farther away. Plan on doing it this way with my next few projects to see if it helps (Gotta get thru’ my fianl exam before I can start anything else tho’).
I was thinking about the reading glasses thing, but I realized that reading glasses aren’t what I need. They sell TONS of reading glasses for far-sighted people, but my perscription is near-sighted. Now, you might think that I should still be okay to knit, but I tend to get really bad headaches when I don’t have my contacs or glasses on. My perscription is only for -1.00, but I am prone to getting headaches easily, so I have to wear glasses or contacs all the time. I didn’t wear them yesterday just to give my eyes a break, but I feel like I’m blind without them! I also took a knitting break last night (GASP) but I am hoping to get back to some knitting this evening! :0)
If anyone knows where to get cheap near-sighted glasses, I am all for it!