Joy & Pain
Sunshine and rain.
You might (or might not) know the 1988 hip-hop song by Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock.
The song in its entirety has nothing to do with today’s blog, but the title and the catchiest part of the lyrics prompted my inspiration for the title. The last month certainly felt like a period of sunshine and rain. First, thank you to all my readers and followers who checked in on me. There was no June blog and I didn’t make any social media posts for the entire month. I started writing June’s blog from the visitor’s chair of the emergency room while waiting for my dad to receive a blood transfusion.
I sat next to my dad—he in the Stryker (a company I work closely with for my day job) bed, and I at his sides working on an order of fortuknit’s Vincy Island Pride Bag while waiting to hear the results of various tests and watching doctors, nurses and techs come in and out of the room. The patients in the adjacent rooms were having various levels of distress. I figured I could use the time waiting to work on my blog and knit in an effort to keep my stress down. Unknowingly, my dad had lost more than half of his red blood cells over the past couple of months. The transfusion in the ER turned into a days long admission into the hospital for him while they continued to monitor his health and fix the problem. For me, this turned into daily trips to the hospital. In the hustle of moving from the ER to the ICU, I collected all my things, closed my laptop, and followed as they wheeled my dad to a new room. Later, when I opened my computer, I was so discouraged to find that I didn’t save the draft blog that I had been writing while in the ER. Fail!
At that point, I decided that I simply cannot focus my energy on the blog at that point in time.
I was upset, but I let it go.
My dad was discharged from the hospital after a few days. He’s stable and continuing to improve, but it will be a while before he’s back to 100%. In the days and weeks that followed, I just felt mentally and physically exhausted. I couldn’t bring myself to create content for daily social media posts and I didn’t have the capacity to re-write the now overdue June blog post. In an effort to make things better, my partner in crime, Amir, even wrote his own draft version of what would have been June’s entry and it’s hilarious! While I am grateful for his attempt to mend the situation, and especially grateful for the laugh, I decided that June would be a moment to rest and recover. Sometimes, we just need a moment…especially when we’re giving pieces of ourselves in order to care for someone else.
So, thank you, readers and followers, for the grace and kindness you showed while I went M.I.A. for an entire month. I am so happy to be back—rested and recovered. My dad’s health journey is still continuing, but that’s okay. Summer is officially here, and there are more sunny days ahead! And, as you know, even when the temperatures start to climb, I’m still always knitting.
Despite taking a brief hiatus, so much happened in June, including Juneteenth and Caribbean American Heritage Month, to name a couple. Both of these celebrations, even though they are comparatively new to other holidays, bring me tremendous joy because they equally speak to my personal heritage and background—the very things that contribute to the fibers of the fortuknit brand. I was happy to use my moment of respite to reflect on these holidays.
Here I am rocking my Juneteenth tee and my custom wooden Afro earrings made by @amiracleartistry
I love that I can celebrate my diverse heritage and share it through knitting. In order to keep these knitting hands happy, I thought I’d share with you some of the other things that bring me joy while I’m working away on projects. Check them out!
A happy knitter is a knitter who takes really good care of their hands 😊. Between manicures, my trusty cuticle nipper is always close by so I can make sure my nails are always neat, avoiding snags on delicate yarns. I’ve had mine for years and it hasn’t let me down yet!
I recently discovered Voesh New York via my FabFitFun (this is a referral link) subscription. Voesh’s Velvet Luxe lotion has been living on my desk and I grab it whenever I’ve just washed and dried my hands or when my skin is feeling a little dry. It really is luxe! It feels so soft and doesn’t leave a residue, which can make maintaining a good knitting tension very difficult. I knit English-style and keep yarn wrapped around my right ring finger for tension and sticky lotion doesn’t allow yarn to move well around my finger as I’m working. Velvet Luxe is perfect!
Speaking of tension…haha! I actually tend to knit pretty tightly. I think the stresses of my day make their way into my needles and so I tend to go a little hard sometimes. Not only do I tend to knit and holding too tightly sometimes, but I also go a little long sometimes—especially if I’m working to meet a deadline. While I take breaks, knitting for long periods of time is taxing on my hands, wrists and arms. Enter the Lush Hottie Massage Bar. Not only does this thing smell AMAZING, but it seems to have magical powers to get out any aches and pains. Please…get yourself one…you will LOVE it. A good rub down before bed and wake up the next day feeling renewed.
The last two items on my list are all about body comfort. First is the Knitting Pillow Deluxe from Hobbii. They don’t seem to sell it anymore—bummer—but there are plenty of other pillows out there like it. Whether you’re a knitter or other crafter, it’s a great back support when sitting at your work table.
And last, and probably most surprisingly, is another FabFitFun (this is a referral link) find. It’s my Happy Heat Foot Warmer. Listen, the Northeast U.S. gets cold during the winter. One thing I do NOT like is having cold feet. This rechargeable love bubble for your feet has easily become one of my favorite wintertime things to have in the house. When I’m getting ready to knit, I heat this baby up and I curl up under a blanket and my feet stay warm and toasty for hours! I even stick it under the covers when I’m getting into bed (💡) so that I can fall asleep with cozy toesies. Trust me when I say that it’s the thing you did not know you needed.
I had every plan on going to the beach tomorrow, but the weather seems like it has other plans. So I’ll be inside working on the finishes of a few projects. Stay tuned on @i.am.fortuknit social pages to see something new in the coming weeks. Make sure you’re following! And stop by the shop to order a Villa Beach Bag so that when the weather clears, you’ll have your bag ready to go!
And since you stuck with me, take 40% off* your Villa Beach Bag order in celebration of the Fourth of July! Use code VILLA40ON4 at checkout.
Also, feel free to check out Amir’s June Blog for fortuknit here.
*OFFER VALID 07/01/2023–07/04/2023 ONLINE AT FORTUKNIT.COM. USE CODE VILLA40ON4 AT CHECKOUT FOR 40% OFF THE VILLA BEACH BAG. PRICES ADJUST IN CART. ORDERS MUST BE SHIPPED TO A US ADDRESS, EXCLUDING ALASKA, HAWAII, US VIRGIN ISLANDS, PUERTO RICO AND GUAM. OFFER NOT FOR USE ON PREVIOUS PURCHASES OR IN COMBINATION WITH OTHER OFFERS. NO PRICE ADJUSTMENTS. SUBJECT TO FULL TERMS OF SERVICE https://www.fortuknit.com/terms-of-service. TERMS SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE. CONTACT info@fortuknit.com OR 856-202-7004 FOR HELP.
