chronic illness – The Sick Chick's Constantly Crafty

Items to Craft for Chronically Ill Friends & Relatives, Part One

National Invisible Awareness Week has ended but it’s still National Pain Awareness Month and right now I’m well aware of my pain so I thought I’d blog instead 😉 In honour of my Crafting for Causes charity program (which has NO donations yet *sniff sniff* — whatcha waiting on people??) I thought I would list just a small sampling of items that could brighten an ill person’s day and/or make their lives easier. Of course some of this depends on what kind of illness they have but you’d be using your judgement, of course!

Papercrafting

Handmade cards and postcards (can involve sewing/quilting/fabric/etc too!)
Signs of good wishes to hang up near their bed/lair
Mini-books filled with inspirational quotes
Personalized stationery to make it easy to write notes to friends — with postage included
Blank journals to record their health, feelings, dreams or wishes, etc.

Quilting

Lap quilts for wheelchair users (I like 30 inches square finished size)
Small throws for lounging on the sofa
Bed quilts, especially for the hospitalized to bring to colour to the room
Padded cases for eyeglasses
Thick quilted “pot” holders to be used for hot OR cold items (my hands can’t handle taking things out of the freezer, for instance)

Sewing

All kinds of warmers made with grains/rice inside of fabric that can be microwaved; these can be shaped for certain body parts or square for a generic heating pad
Nice pillows to put said warmers into, or just in general
Fleece hats
Extra-warm Mittens
Bed jackets and shrugs
Bags and totes for carrying things to appointments
Bags, “backpacks” and other items to add storage space to a rollator or wheelchair
“Slanket”/”Snuggie” type throws
Cute animals to cuddle up with — yes even adults like to sleep with a friend sometimes! — ideally very soft as well

Knit/Crochet

Lap blankets for wheelchair users (see above)
Throws for lounging
Shrugs and cardigans for those who get cold easily
Gloves, mittens or fingerless versions thereof
Wrist, arm, legwarmers
Hats, especially soft ones that are washable but don’t have bulky brims (for those of us who have to sleep in hats a bump at the brim can be uncomfortable)
Handmade socks
Prayer square where appropriate
Cute, soft animals (see above)

Toiletries — check with the person first for allergies/sensitivities!!

Lotions for those with skin problems
Unscented items for people allergic to perfumes
Exfoliating items for people who can’t bathe/shower every single day (dead skin can build up quickly)
Aromatherapy blends for relaxation, stress reduction, mental clarity, etc.
Bath blends without harsh chemicals; salts are usually good for this
Massage oils safe for use on the temples and forehead or warming or cooling ones for the body

Beading

Bookmarks
Stretchy jewelry for people who have trouble with hooks and clasps
Pretty, sparkly things for women who may be feeling unfeminine b/c of illness or side effects of treatment
Prayer beads where appropriate
Tiaras to make them the Queen of their Domain 🙂
Medic alert IDs — make the medic sign very visible
Awareness jewelry relating to their specific disease(s)

This is really a small sample of things that can be made, and things I plan to make for others. Watch this space for more ideas in the weeks to come, and of course feel free to ask any questions about the items listed or to make suggestions of your own!

Sick Chicks, Chaps and Children Who Craft — Represent!

I’ve been trying to make a list of everyone who has publicly acknowledged that they have a chronic illness and who also are crafters. Maybe they make their living crafting or just use it to cope with the everyday stresses of living with illness. However, this is obviously an impossible task — there are millions of people who fit this category! So I’m just going to do what I can and start the ball rolling!

Since this is Invisible Illness Awareness Week, I can’t think of a better time to start ah, taking names 😉

If you are, or know of, a person who is out about living with chronic illness (please don’t divulge secrets not your own!) who is into crafting, please please comment! Leave the blog, website, Twitter, Facebook, Etsy or other URL where we can find them so we can spread the encouragement!

And please don’t forget that I am crafting for the chronically ill & their support teams, donations of craft supplies & postage greatly needed!!

Update

My computer is still dead, the hard drive died entirely and after almost two weeks of trying to get life of it (and luckily getting all the data) I had to admit defeat and take it to get a replacement. It should be fixed sometime this week.

Meanwhile, my father is back in the hospital but still in Tampa, Florida. They can’t figure out how to physically transport him without risk. So Friday (or possibly earlier if he gets worse), Mom and I will drive the lengthy route down there and if we’re lucky be able to bring him back with us or at least take him to the next Army staging point which is one of their hospitals in Georgia. I will have my mom’s laptop with me but she has problems getting onto his internet down there so it may be dialup for us. (And anyway three of us in a STUDIO apartment up TWO flights of stairs — I can’t even bring my wheelchair as we’re all too crip to get it up and down the stairs — may drive us to murdering each other. At least we’re a stone’s throw from the beach!!)

So it may remain quiet around here for a while yet. Thankfully I have had a lot of crafting time and a 30+ hr round trip drive (maybe more if we have to detour to the other side of Georgia on the way back) will give me plenty of time to get my sock knitting going. If anyone reading this as Isela’s basic toe-up pattern (that you get with her sock looms) and knows how many stitches to cast on to start, I’d love to know — it looks like 18 but then peg 19 is supposed to have a loop on it already so I am confused. I’m going to have to keep going cuff-down until I figure that out.

And we’re not even going to talk about the mountain of crafting supplies I’ve bought since I have been here. My luggage is going to hate me!!

But enough of that, I have my diabetes classes this week so have to be up bright and cheery, plus the CFS/Fibro self-help course starts tomorrow too, so I need my beauty sleep!

I haven’t read blogs since I got to the US but I hope everyone and all their loved ones are healthy and happy. Best wishes to you and yours.

Coming out for Spring

I know I have been very remiss in my blogging endeavours, but I have to plead illness.It’s been a very hard month+ for me and talking to people is one of the most difficult things at times so I’m afraid I have just been hibernating away. But today, perhaps because of the spring weather (oh how I wish it were going to last!) or perhaps because I saw mallard ducks in my back lawn (why I have no idea and sadly I didn’t have my camera with me) or because I have a lot of announcements, I have finally felt like talking to the world at large.

But before I say more about what has been going on, here are some piccies for your entertainment:

That is a scarf that I made for my mother last December, didn’t photograph until February and am only managing to post about today. It was made using Trendsetter Yarns Blossom using the Alternating rib stitch (5 rows each direction) on the Knifty Knitter long yellow loom. At least, this is how it looked before I washed it and sadly it is far more anaemic looking now 🙁 I’ll try to photograph it again to show the difference. t says he can’t tell and looking at the scrap yarn I can’t tell differences in the strands individually, but it just looks less fluffy 🙁 I’m very mad at myself for chancing a machine wash (delicate cycle) on a handwash yarn, even though I know my mom will only machine wash it anyway. I feel like I screwed up US$45 worth of lovely yarn and am really beating myself up about it 🙁

Beating myself up about things is sort of the theme lately, as that’s part of what happens in my depression cycle. The big D is what has been making life miserable lately (mentally and physically as it increases pain levels). I’m not really going to talk about it much here as I know people don’t like hearing about that very much and so I’d rather save your illness attention spans for when I may need it in the future 😉 But I’ll just say that it has been the worst episode ever but finally my meds are adjusted and things seem to be on an even keel again. I still don’t feel that my meds are quite right, but I plan to study the meditation course for the prevention of depression relaspe so hopefully the meds will become less important in time.

The big news is that I have decided to go to America for a while this year. Normally this wouldn’t be news as I spend between 5 and 10 weeks a year there but I had actually been planning to *not* go over this year and have my parents come visit me instead. But my dad got sick (another reason I have been silent online is being stressed over him being in the hospital, etc.) and can’t do a long haul flight for a while and now my health problems are just getting to be more than t can handle. We’re going to have to look into getting me a carer but to do that I need to get disability benefits and that’s going to take several months so the temporary answer is that I will be going to the US to stay with my mom for two months to give t a break, then she will come over here for a few weeks to get some stuff organized so that we’re in a better position for the future.

SO: I’m going to be going to North Carolina from late May (ish) to the end of July (ish), with stops in Pittsburgh (and maybe Philly) and Tampa to see my dad (and maybe Disneyworld, that would rock!). I’m going to work on my knitting, practice spinning and maybe do some re-enacting. Also probably doing some scrapbooking and maybe a bit of quilting (Mom’s a big time quilt freak). And buying craft supplies. Oh yes, the best part! 🙂

All that comes after our trip to Paris next week though 🙂

I have more to talk about but I must rest my hands, my spinning class is tomorrow so I can’t afford to be crampy! 🙂 I’ll try to post again soon, really!