Thank you for the gloves!

It is getting about that time where I will probably be posting more on Raunaud's Syndrome. In a nutshell, it is a circulatory disorder that constricts your vessels, instead of dilating them, when your body is cold. This keeps the blood from flowing to your extremities (nose, hands and feet) like it should and can cause color change and a lot of pain. Really the only thing that Doctors can do, because not much is known about it at this time, is to put patients on blood pressure medications. However, there are more studies on this now and new developments of gloves and other ways to adapt to living with Rays.

That being said, there are mulitple wonderful people who have made and sent gloves, this past month and I haven't been able to thank them enough. Noel and Szuziq made fingerless gloves for me. I was so happy when they arrived and I have gotten so many compliments on them from customers and co-workers. They fit my hands perfectly and keep my fingers from hurting.

Here are some pictures (sorry about the lighting, with fall in MI it is getting gloomy outside so not much natural light):

 I love the ribbed and cable design of these gloves. They fit nicely around my hands and keep me toast warm. The gray color is nice too because I can wear them with just about anything.

 I love these two gloves as well! I can't say enough about any of the gloves that I received. The ribbed makes the gloves able to stretch over my hands and feel snug and toasty warm. I also like the shell edging, a nice soft touch. The blue I am actually wearing right now and the brown (below) I wore with a new burgundy dress, and brown leggings that I got from work. ^_^

Also, I had been talking with my dad about Raynaud's and I don't exactly remember how the conversation went. I said something about trying to figure out how to make mittens because I read that wearing mittens, rather than gloves (fingered), is actually better because it keeps more of your body heat around your fingers. A week after our latest conversation, I find a couple of packages on my steps. He found some Thermasilk Glove Liners (which I highly recommend). You put them on under your gloves or mittiens and it makes it even more toasty. I'm not exactly sure how it works but I'm glad it does. He also found some nice ski/snowboarding mittens which means that I may be able to finally build that snowman, this year! Finally, he sent me a pair of fingerless gloves so that I could be nice and toasty around the house and at work.

I have been so blessed by everyone. I was never expecting any of this and I cannot thank you all enough for your wonderful gifts and kind hearts. It means a lot, that anyone would want to help and these gloves and mittens that you all sent do help. I have even eaten ice cream (gasp) with out my fingers hurting as bad from holding the bowl. I know that Rays may never be able to be treated with medicine,in my time. Thank you all for helping me to adapt to the cold. Little things like these (which seem very big to me) are what keeps the world turning.

Thank you, again.

Please remember that you are beautiful and well loved.

Smitten by Mittens!

 

It has been a while since I have talked about Raynaud's Syndrome. Honestly, the warmer months don't bother me much, which could go without much explanation. If you are not sure what Raynaud's is, it is a circulatory disorder that is not life-threatening, in mos cases. When people who do not have Raynauds get cold, their veins dilate to allow more blood to flow to their extrimities (your hands, feet...etc). This helps keep your entire body warm. When people who have Raynauds get cold, their veins constrict which allows less blood to flow through the body causing the extremities to feel pain that I can only associate with frostbite.  

In the warmer months, it doesn't affect me as much. My hands hurt in the frozen section of the store, if I stay there too long or open the doors. Getting ice cream out of the freezer and into a bowl is a painful task (which bites because I do love ice cream). Even holding a cold beverage can bring my hand pain if it isn't wrapped or in an insulated cup.

So, when the Christmas presents are finished I am going to be making some mug cozies, and some wraps for water bottles and what not. 

Now that September has finally come and gone, it is getting colder. From walking home or walking to work, in the morning, there have been a couple of times that I wished I had thought about gloves. I did some reading and it is actually recommended that people who have Raynauds wear mittens because the combined body heat from your fingers being together, rather than separated by gloves, can actually help to keep your hands warmer.  Unfortunately, even though I live in a state that has snow, unless you are a child mittens are difficult to find. Even, right now, gloves are a difficult thing to find.

I have tried my hand at fingerless gloves and so far, it hasn't worked out in my favor. There are a couple of people who are making some fingerless gloves for me and I am excited for them to arrive.I am told that I can wear them to work, which is amazing because it does get cold, sometimes. Yesterday, I decided to try my hand at mittens because I cant find any.

I found this free pattern which I do believe that I am in love with! The mittens were so easy to work up and it was only in two parts: the thumb and the rest of the mitten. I have seen some mitten patterns where the cuff is separate from the main section and I think that is where I get lost with the fingerless gloves that I have tried to make. It took me about a total of 4 hours to make the pair of mittens. Which, I'm sure was mainly due to the fact that I had never made mittens before. Again, they were so easy to make and they are warm, which is of course the best part.

I am so proud of my mittens. I think even more proud than the lady bug blanket that I made a few months back. It was a small project but something that I was never able to do. Also, this is only the second thing that I have made for myself. The first being the Ember Shawl.Woohoo!

What is your favorite mitten pattern? What are you working on?

Feel free to leave comments below and check out my other posts!
Remember that you are beautiful and well loved.

Thank you, Marie!

Today, I received a wonderful surprise in the mail! I am a member of a Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) group on ravelry.com. In this group, each member makes a short wishlist of items they might like to have, for the month. Some ask for things for themselves, patterns, items for other people and then other members go through these wishlists and give what they can without expecting anything in return.

I received my first RAK gift today!

Marie knitted me some slouchy fingerless mitts. They are amazing! Such great craftsmanship and they fit perfectly. I listed these on my first wishlist because I lost the only pair of fingerless gloves in the move. With Raynaud's, in winter, my hands are always cold and often hurt. The fingerless gloves I had helped to keep my hands warm and not hurt, around the house.
Here is a picture of these amazing gloves!

 

I am wearing these gloves as I type and my hands are no longer hurting. They are made with wool and very toasty. She made them long enough so I can wear them "stretched" out or "slouched" on my wrist. Genius! She had messaged me letting me know that she was making these. She didn't mention that she was also sending yarn for my baby projects. I am so excited to start on the little baby gifts.

Tomorrow, I will post on update of the ladybug blanket plus two more projects that I have started.

Thank you, Marie! I am truly blessed

You are beautiful and well loved.

Feel free to leave comments below! I would love to hear from you.

Have a wonderful night/day!

Food to fight the Cold

I found this picture, today. It is not mine, but I did want to post it on the blog because it has something to do with Raynaud's Syndrome. I never really thought about foods that could actually help your body to keep it's temperature. I always drank hot chocolate because it is hot (duh). No matter what I put it in, it keeps my hands warm. When I sip it, it warms my core.

I have read that ginger can help people who have Fibromyalgia. It is something that my mother has and I was trying to help her find some home remedies so that she wouldn't have to take medicines. Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm not a fan of pills, so I try to do things in a somewhat natural way. I do understand that sometimes, medicine helps. I didn't even consider the fact that ginger might help people who have Raynaud's. After all, ginger helps to improve your body's circulation.

Also, I am anemic. I have low iron, among a bunch of other vitamins and minerals that my body seems to be missing. I thought that it was interesting to learn that iron can help your body contain up to 30% of it's heat. Unfortunately, I cannot take iron supplements and my doctor has said that I could eat nothing but meat, spinach, multigrains and other iron rich foods; but I would still have low iron. I have been anemic since I was six or seven years old. I remember my first encounter with Raynaud's around that time too.

My family and I were living in Gulfport, Mississippi. It snowed for the first time and my dad took my brother and I outside to build a snowman, with all of the snow that was in our yard. We went out and bought gloves, but even with the gloves, my hands hurt. They turned interesting colors, I thought I had frost bite. I was crying and my dad didn't know what to do, except to take me inside, start the fireplace and have me roast my hands by the flames. Needless to say, I still have yet to build a snowman, and I still have yet to have decent levels of iron.

With this new knowledge, I am going to try and find other remedies that could help control the symptoms.

Feel free to comment below, if you have any thoughts, questions or comments. I would love to hear from you.

Do not forget, you are beautiful, inside and out!

Raynaud's Syndrome

I was diagnosed with Raynaud's Syndrome, a bit over a year ago. Sadly, I am just now starting to look into it and what I can do to help. I think that I am going to start writing about my findings, so that if any of you (my beautiful readers) have Ray's you can maybe learn and provide some insight. If you do not have Ray's that's still great! I think that it is good to know about it, especially if you know someone with it.

Raynaud's (ray-NODES) Syndrome/Disease, also known as Ray's, is a disorder of the small blood vessels that reduces blood flow. My doctor explained it to me like this: In the normal body, when your body experiences cold, the blood vessels open up so that more blood can reach the entire body. People who have Ray's, instead of dilating, the blood vessels shrink. This keeps a lot of the blood from reaching the extremities (hands and feet) which can really hurt. Typically, the fingers change colors (blueish-gray, purple or blue), the color really varies from person to person, when exposed to cold temperatures and turn red when they start to warm up.

There are two kinds of Rays: Primary and Secondary. Primary Raynaud's is the most common and is not associated with other medical conditions such as scleroderma, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. Primary Raynaud's has no known or apparent cause and isn't disabling. However,it still can cause a lot of pain and discomfort.

It is not known whether Raynaud's is hereditary. Also, there is no known cure. The most that can be done is to try and control the symptoms and be in the least amount of discomfort as possible.

People with Ray's are often said to have cold hands all of the time. I know that when I greet people at church, I usually get some comment about the temperature of my hands. Even the little old ladies say my hands are freezing. I used to avoid shaking hands but I find that their hands are warmer and it feels nice. Ha!

Those who do not have Ray's have a difficult time understanding, exactly what goes on. My family used to, and I think sometimes do, think that I complained to much about my hands hurting when they were cold. To me, it feels like I am getting frostbite, just by grabbing some chicken from the freezer. My husband, God bless him,has gotten so much better at dealing with my Raynaud's. He is quick to remind me to put my gloves on before I get something frozen, or he will get it for me. He is also, very concerned about my hands when the car hasn't warmed up yet or I decide that I want to go for a short walk in the winter. We are still trying to figure out ways to keep my hands from hurting. Especially since I have yet to build a snowman.

So, join me, on an adventure of my own, and learn more about Raynaud's whether you have it, know someone who has it, or are just curious. Raynaud's affects 5-10 percent of the population.

Not to worry, I will still post about all of my other adventures and the little things in life that make me smile. But, Raynaud's Syndrome, has made itself a part of my life. Thank you!

Remember that you are beautiful.

scleroderma (also known as systemic sclerosis), lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus) and rheumatoid arthritis - See more at: http://www.raynauds.org/frequently-asked-questions/#sthash.qChrArpg.dpuf

scleroderma (also known as systemic sclerosis), lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus) and rheumatoid arthritis - See more at: http://www.raynauds.org/frequently-asked-questions/#sthash.qChrArpg.dpuf

scleroderma (also known as systemic sclerosis), lupus (systemic lupus erythematosus) and rheumatoid arthritis - See more at: http://www.raynauds.org/frequently-asked-questions/#sthash.qChrArpg.dpuf