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I used to teach how to crochet and beginning knitting lessons at 2 different yarn stores, which equaled 20 to 30 hours a week of crochet and knitting on the clock and another 20 or so for my own fun per week. After the first week of that you can imagine that my wrists, arms and back began to hurt! However, I was able to relieve these ailments by changing just a few simple things. Below are my tips and tricks to help you get through deadlines and crochet/knit overloads!
*Never crochet for even a solid hour without stopping for a minute to contract your fingers back and forth like you are grabbing something. Ideally, this should be done every 20 to 40 minutes.
*Stress balls are a great way to build up endurance.
*Take a walk around the room every hour or so to keep your body from getting stiff. This may seem like a waste of time when you are on a deadline but it helps your body in the long run.
*Don’t try to be a superhero, you can’t go from crocheting/knitting an hour at a time to a marathon. You need to gradually work up to longer and longer times. Your wrists have muscles and they need time to build up and get stronger.
*This may not work for everyone but try switching your dominate hand, after minimal practice I was able to crochet with my left or right hand. I am way faster using my right hand however when I am in a pinch it is nice to give my main hand a break and keep going with my other one!
*Examine the way you are sitting. Is your back supported? Is your arm supported? Are you leaning forward and putting strain on your neck? Many people find using a pillow under there dominate hand more comfortable.
*All hooks are not created equal! Some hooks give you less strain than others. Everyone is different, try a different hook and see if that helps! For me I prefer Soft Touch or Amour hooks by Clover. Some of my students prefer Boyle hooks with clay handles.
*Icy Hot patches are my friend if I get to the point that I am sore. They are nice because it can’t get on your project and it’s topical.
* Remember no project is worth injuring yourself, if you need rest don’t risk it and take the extra day or so!
Also this article is not intended to give medical advice, see your doctor if you need medical attention.
Editor’s Note: 
We thought you might also like our recent post The Health Benefits of Knitting and Crocheting. You are tending to your health when this happens by increasing your ability to remember things, dialing in your focus and lowering your heart rate. It does not matter if you are working on an easy crochet pattern or a difficult fair isle knitting pattern, the calming effects are the same.
Comment below and share your favorite hand exercises tip.
Mary Vaughn
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I get so involved with a new project that sometimes I forget to take breaks. This has some great tips for helping with the pain. I’m still fairly new to crocheting so any tips are welcome. Thx
What great points to be made! I find that personally everything. In your body is connected so the more stress you put on yourself either emotional or physical can have consequences all over your body if you dont take care of yourself even during a seemingly menial activity. Alexander technique is a great example of this!
Happy crafting
Thanks for the tips! Since I don’t have a stress ball, I will try rotating my wrists into circular motion. How do you go about training yourself to switch hands? Anything particular you have done?
I’ve seen how to make a stress ball on YouTube. Do a search on YouTube for making one. HOOPLA KIDS has a pretty good video.
Lik other I get so involved in proh cuts I completely forget to even put down my hook just for a minute or two. Some great tips and good reminders. I may even try the switching hands but!
Thank you for sharing ways to avoid hand fatigue. Although I am not a crocheter, I do a lot of work on the computer. I type most of the day, so I often experience cramping in my hands, wrists, and forearms. Like you said, stress balls relieve some of my pain and build my hand strength. If I am really focused on a project, I often forget to take breaks, so it is important to get up and walk around for a few minutes to get my blood flowing and loosen up my muscles. Simple steps can help me finish a task without harming my body.
I actual now have arthritis because of crocheting as an addiction! I just get to a point and can’t put my needle down! I make king size afghans and now I’m into making slouchy hats, about 2 a night. I starting crocheting at the age of 8 when my mom taught me. I am now 55 and never stopped! I will purchase a stress ball for my breaks. Thank you for the tips.
Weeki Wachee, Florida
What you do to relieve stress during breaks (as long as you do SOMETHING) is not quite as important as taking those breaks in the first place! I get excited about what I am making and “forget” to stop for breaks, so I spent a dollar at the dollar store and got a little kitchen timer…I set it for thirty minutes and take a break when it goes off, then set it again before continuing with my project. It’s worked great, as have many of the suggestions above for pillows, stress balls, etc. Keep stitching!
A friend said she got relief from stiffness and pain by squeezing silly putty . It allows you to compress more than a stress ball. I have arthritis and I try to squeeze for awhile several times a week. It does seem to give me relief. I tend to be a marathon crocheter, so I will also try the rest periods you suggested. Thanks.
A MEN for Icy Hot 🙂
Useful article. Thank you.
P.s. I think you meant *dominant not *dominate.
Using soft touch hooks made all the difference.
I even made my own gripps for those don’t have any.
Also supporting my hand and back helped alot.
I am a marathon crafter AND I have arthritis. The way I deal with muscle fatigue is to drink plenty of water. I keep a bottle of water next to me and take frequent sips, which gives me short breaks often. And by the time I have emptied the bottle, I HAVE to get up to get a fresh bottle and to make room for the next lot of water. That is what forces me to get up and move (sometimes quite quickly) down the passage and back.
I prefer Susan Bates hooks. The thing that seems to work for me to alleviate some of the stress on my little finger is to simply use the next larger hook. Size L is what I am currently using to make crocheted hats for our church Christmas bazaar. I made 40 hats last year after not crocheting anything for about 20 years. For the hats, it doesn’t seem to make much difference between a size K or a size L for worsted weight yarns.
I’ve been crocheting since I was about 6 or 7, an instrumentalist for 12 years and a professional secretary for over 30 years. One thing that I’ve learned is keep your hands limber by stretching them and keeping them cool with a cold bottle of water. Doing so keeps your hands from swelling.
Being diabetic, awhile back I had something called “trigger finger” where the tendons in your fingers or thumbs don’t slide smoothly anymore, but instead get stuck and release with jerky snapping motions which can be quite painful. Sometimes crocheting can bring on a relapse or worsen the problem. A hand therapy specialist I was seeing always started my sessions by first applying moist heat, then she had a plastic food storage container she kept filled with uncooked rice and beans – roughly and equal amount of each. Type of rice or beans didn’t really matter. She would have me put my hand into the container and just grab and release handfuls of rice and beans. She had me do it for about 10 or 15 minutes. The difference after this exercise was unbelievable. I now keep a container of rice & beans beside my chair in the living room. When my hands begin to feel fatigued, I open it and repeat that exercise for immediate relief.