What it's like sleeping in a hammock - 100th post

I went from my back always being in pain to almost no pain at all.  I went from it being too hot to even sleep to so cool that i sometimes actually needed a blanket to keep warm.  See, we're not used to sleeping without something that reflects/conserves heat beneath us.  I went from sleeping with three pillows (and feeling like i needed more) to sleeping with only one pillow, and sometimes no pillow at all.

What Kinds of Hammocks are There?
Contrary to what most Americans probably believe, a hammock isn't really supposed to have a piece of wood at either end holding it open.  In fact, there are some who would even deny that such a contraption is, in fact, a hammock.  I will call that an American Hammock.  The hammock that most of the world uses is called a Mayan (or Mexican) Hammock.  These hammocks are longer and come in a variety of widths.  The next kind of hammock is the Brazilian.  These are Mayan hammocks with lace or fringe hanging from the side edges so they're pretty.  Lastly, there is the camping hammock.  This is a shorter Mayan Hammock probably made out of ripstop nylon.  Some have a tent or mosquito netting sewn to the hammock.

Hammocks can be made out or rope, fabric, or string.  My hammock is string, and if you snag it the string will probably break.  I think that my hammock has suffered three breaks in the past six months.  These can be repaired with a Fisherman's Knot...which appears to be the same thing that was used whenever it was woven to change colors/skeins, etc.

How to Lay in a Hammock
Well there's two ways to get in.  You can sit down in the middle, then turn lifting your feet.  Or, you can straddle the hammock, then sit down, then pull your legs in.  I prefer the second method.  While you're in the hammock you don't want to be laying perfectly centered with your head and feet pointing towards the upright portion of the frame.  You can lay perpendicular to this line, but that also isn't the way one is meant to lay in a Mayan hammock.

The right way to lay in a hammock is at a diagonal.  Your head and feet do not have to be higher than your body.  I find that i usually a sort of Peter Pan position to hold the hammock open a certain way since i really have a hammock meant for two or more people to use at the same time.  But if i get arranged the right way i will be laying flat in whatever position i find to be most comfortable.  There are no pressure points, only support.

How to get out?  They say to sit up and do the reverse of whatever way you got in.  I have managed this a couple of times...but my hammock is huge and i am short.  Because i have to hang it high enough to clear the bottom of my frame, it's really too high off the ground for me to comfortably get out of using those methods.  It's easier for me to roll out usually, particularly because i'm not particularly coherent when i first wake up.  I have no idea what kind of untoward wear and tear this is causing my setup, however.

Bedding
In the summer, my system became putting a bottom sheet (corner curled around my feet and head) below me by wrapping myself up in it.  Once you're in the hammock, you don't have to keep it wrapped around you, you can just lay with the air above you or put a top sheet/light blanket on top.  In the winter...at first i needed to have a comforter below me or i'd be freezing.  I meant to try a sleeping mat (like for camping) but never got around to it.  Then for a while i was using a sleeping bag liner, sometimes with a light blanket below, a comforter on top.  Most of the time i forego the liner now and only have the comforter on top, sometimes that light blanket again.  I anticipate that in the summer i might not even need a sheet below me, maybe just above.

But I Can't Sleep on My Back!
You don't have to sleep on your back when you're in a hammock.  I usually sleep partially on my side, partially on my back, at least, that's how it feels once i get settled.  You can sleep on your stomach, but it's harder to get comfortable.  Ditto to sleeping on your side, though somehow this usually manages to make my lower shoulder hurt.  So the cradled 3/4 position is usually where i end up, even if i start in another position.  It's just so comfy.

the hammock project...part 3

Sorry for the delay in posting this!

Warning...image and clutter intense.

Happy New Year!

Is anyone else having trouble with Ravelry?  I notice that there are some new features, but things such as searches, adding favorites, project progress, adding needles/store info to a project, organizing sets/tags, and my inbox are not working properly.  It's a little frustrating.  I have come to rely on Ravelry a great deal.

I didn't knit as much in 2011 as the two previous years.  I tried knitting my last semester in college for stress relief but it didn't work out past the first couple of weeks of classes.  There were many projects that i was dreaming of but didn't have the money to buy the yarn for.  Now those dreams have changed a little.

What has been an improvement of sorts is that i am now teaching knitting.  The first semester was craziness with the younger kids (who were mostly too young, so i am going to teach an Intro to Needlearts class now with more crafty objectives) and all of my classes shrank before the end of the semester.  I have high hopes for the semester starting in a couple of weeks however!

State of Knitting 2011
new projects
Sky Slippers (still incomplete)
Cloudy Giselle (for my sister using Giselle pattern again...about halfway finished)
Autumn Leaves (frogged)
Star-Crossed Slouchy Beret (frogged)
Braidy (probably soon to be frogged)

older UFOs (that i hope to return to soon)
Starfish Snood
Funky Grunge Cap
Slip-Stitch Baby Cardigan
Mom's Sampler Afghan
and the Liberty Cap

Oh, btw, i do still intend to write an update about my hammock.  I lost my camera's battery and only recently found it again (which was such a relief, let me tell you!).  I also have plans to blog more often this year.  My goal is to finish old projects and learn how to spin this year.  Here's hoping...

so frustrated

So i decided to look up Valley Yarns 2/14 Alpaca Silk on Ravelry to make sure that it is something i really want to invest in.  The colors are so lovely that i want to use several of them, not just the Pacific but the Olive and Copper if nothing else.  Alas, but this yarn is also getting bad reviews.  Splitting yarn is not ideal but the real deal breaker for me is that in a sweater it wears out quickly.  I would like to knit a shawl someday but that is not what i intend for my next project.  If in fact i can even manage another project.  I am so busy right now with work that the only day of the week i seem to manage knitting on is Tuesdays, and that only for a couple of hours.  My hands and arms are always tired from working nine hours the day before and taking Sign Language the hour before.

I want to be able to knit more...but of course i rarely get what i want.

Baby it's cold outside...

Well...it's not as cold as it could be, but it is getting to be that time of year.  Right now i have a hoodie with a broken zipper, a wrap sweater that is starting to show its age, a green sweater that is very warm, and a brown vest with sleeves about 2/3 complete.  I really feel like i need another sweater...if not two.  The question is...how much money do i want to spend on yarn?  How much can i afford to?  Would it be more cost effective to knit my own sweater, or would it be better to buy one (/shudder perish the thought!).

For months now i have really wanted to knit up Pangea but have been daunted by the price of the recommended yarn (not to mention the fact that it's grafted in the back...what's up with that?).  Fortunately i looked it up on Ravelry and have discovered that i really don't want to spend money on this pattern.  Suffice it to say that only a few people have attempted to knit Pangea, and apparently everyone except the designer has frogged it.

Here's my issue.  I want a wrap cardigan that looks similar to Donna's in End of Time.

I thought that Pangea looked similar enough for me as shown on the Webs site...only i intended to knit it in Pacific rather than Olive (the color which is modeled below).

I love this sort of lacy look, particularly since my own Tangy Giselle is about the right weight when i knitted it with larger needles than this pattern calls for.  So i was willing to compromise thickness for this beautiful yarn rather than trying to find something in a DK or Sport weight.  Then i saw the designer's version of Pangea and was more than a little surprised.

It's so thick compared to the Webs version!  She claims that it's because she didn't block the sweater but i am skeptical.  If i used the same size needles as she did, this would actually be very close to the weight of Donna's sweater.  But i am still put off by the fact that everyone frogs this pattern without fail.  I think that i am going to try to find another pattern that is similar and use this yarn, as when one looks at it objectively it isn't that expensive considering the fact that it's Alpaca/Silk.  Some people have complained about variations in tension but i experienced that while knitting with the Crystal Palace Kid Merino as well.

I also want to make a longer version of the Bergen Street Cardigan (probably in Pumpkin and Oatmeal?  maybe in Pumpkin and an Indigo/Navy) but am daunted by the fact that the cheapest yarn that i can find which is probably of a good quality will cost me upwards of $80.  I don't know if i need to knit this with worsted and adapt it, but i definitely don't want to use Fisherman's Wool yet again (which would probably be the cheapest option, actually, but i want something nicer than what i'm seeing in my brown wrap...it's already getting fuzzies and i've not worn it much).  Of course fuzzies seem to be a pretty common theme even when i pay more for yarn.  I'm starting to wonder if shopping at Webs is even worth it as everything is pricy and i'm not seeing the quality that i'd like to.

the hammock project, part 2

To sum up part 1:  i bought a hammock, two eye bolts, two heavy-duty carabiners, and some rope to hang my hammock with...  Only to discover that i would need to build a stand.

The first thing i needed to decide was what material and schematic to use in order to build said hammock stand/frame.  The most obvious option was wood:  it was relatively inexpensive.  But i hadn't worked with wood in a long time, and i wasn't particularly inclined to spend $10 on the U-BILD plan that seemed to be the most professional looking source of information.  One big plus was that i could see a photo of the finished projects, while on the how-to and DIY sites were far less forthcoming.

This was also the case for PVC pipe projects.  PVC pipes were slightly more expensive, but the glue seemed to be less daunting to me than stain/sealer, bolts/nuts/washers.  I found one picture that looked promising of such a project, a GreatPlans number that cost $12 to buy the plans for.  Apparently PVC pipe furniture is popular, though i saw a lot of people advise against using it for weight bearing and instead advocated ABS piping or to stay away from these sorts of pipes all together.  One of the things that put me off this idea was the fact that the pipes cannot screw into one another (i think i'm right about).

My thoughts eventually turned to steel pipe.  This seemed to be the most practical option.  There are a lot of metal frames on the market, easy to copy from pictures.  However, this turned out to be cost prohibitive, far more expensive than wood or PVC, and i had read warnings that pipe is impossible to completely clean, that it is always oily.  This didn't sound practical for indoor use, and it was definitely beyond my budget.  If money was no option, i'm pretty sure that this is probably where i would have ended up.  Oddly, it was the craft in which i have the least experience.  However, the materials are strongest.

Finally, i stumbled upon the Hammock Forums and TrailH4X' portable hammock stand.  I felt as if the U-BILD option was a bit overkill, too low and not really practical for a Mayan hammock.  This seemed to be a inspired-by yet reworked version of the same pattern.  I'm not sure if that's true, but hey, a free schematic was definitely a plus.  One thing that i should have taken into account was the size of his hammock compared to mine (i assumed that it was a couple of feet shorter, but didn't take the time to confirm by how much), but it was a starting off point.  I decided to make the base 2' longer than Trail's and assumed that this would be sufficient.  So i went out and followed his shopping list, planning to make some of the cuts a couple of inches shorter so i didn't have to buy more wood than he had.  The wood was pleasantly inexpensive.  The stain was far over budget and i ended up getting more than i needed because i trusted the estimates of the employee who helped me rather than figure out the math myself.  And the bolts...i was confused about what kind to use.  He recommended 1/4" in diameter and i had a feeling that would not be sufficient.  But i purchased some of that diameter that were galvanized steel.

Upon getting all of the supplies home...i cut most of the would with my father's old electric saw and sawed through the remaining thickness by hand.  I slept in my old bed one last time.  The next morning, i put the first coat of stain on the wood.  And then i started to drill holes.

Stay tuned for part 3.

the hammock project, part 1

When i moved back home, not only had my old room been overtaken with sewing, scrapbooking, and various craft supplies, but i didn't have a bed anymore.  My old waterbed had a leak so we got rid of it...all except the headboard, which makes a lovely bookcase.  When i moved home, we gradually began moving some things out of the black hole that my room had become.  I was given an old full size bed with box spring that my youngest sister had been using.  It was already an old bed that had been given to us used, but i was glad that it wasn't a twin, even if it was only standing on the floor and there was no frame.

But that was a couple of years ago.  All that remains of the black hole is one bookshelf that is still filled with scrapbook supplies, empty boxes, file boxes, and gift wrap.  I have most of my room back.  But the bed...the bed is dead.  Springs are starting to poke out of the mattress and there is no support left.  This is disagreeable for anyone, but especially for me because i have a bad back.   When i first started using this bed, my back appreciated it and felt much better; now there isn't a morning that i don't wake up with my back complaining.

Well i am between graduating from college and finding a job at the moment.  Looking on CraigsList...beds seem to be going for $400 upwards.  I definitely can't afford that.  But no more can i afford to keep using this bed.  So i started dreaming of buying a hammock again.

Way back in 2003, before i even got my GED and decided to go back to school (this time to college) i moved in with my aunt and started paying her some rent.  She didn't have an extra bed, so i slept on an air mattress for a while.  I didn't have a bad back yet, but my back didn't particularly care for this mattress when my job required me to be on my feet all day long.  So what i really wanted to buy was a hammock, but upon some research i realized that it was beyond my budget.  So we bought a couch at a thrift store that was like new because it had just been recovered.  That was quite comfortable and served me well for nearly a year before i moved away.

But this time...i really wanted to make a hammock setup work.  Hammocks are good for your back.  Hammocks themselves are relatively inexpensive, it is the hammock frame that costs a lot (upwards of $100, which is extreme for my budget).  And then i stumbled upon this video.

RayD888 apparently sleeps in a hammock that has bolted into the wall.  All that you need is your hammock, two eye bolts, two carabiners, and some rope.  Much more cost effective than a hammock stand!  So i broached the subject with my father.  My mother tells me that he cannot comprehend why i would want to sleep in a hammock.  He has no back trouble whatsoever.  Well he didn't object at the time.  It wasn't until over a week (something like 10-14 days) after i ordered my hammock that he told me that he didn't want me drilling holes in the studs in my bedroom.

By that time i had already purchased my hammock online and received it in the mail.  So what's a girl to do?  Stay tuned for part two.

moving up...to the head of the class

My family has been involved in a homeschool co-op and music/arts/languages/drama conservatory for the past few years.  My mother is now on the board, actually.  Well, it seems that i will probably be teaching two knitting classes this fall, a beginning and an intermediate.  I've showed my siblings how to knit, helped people out when they were having trouble, but i've never taught someone from start to finish how to knit.  It's kind of exciting and terrifying at the same time.  I'm already starting to dream of what projects we will work on, but at the same time i'm not sure how many we'll need.  In the past they've had a sort of knitting circle class with no real formal direction.  I think i am going to aim for two projects per student but if need be can come up with additional projects.  So far...scarves with bulky yarn are the plan.  I'm thinking that a hat and/or socks will be in the works for the intermediate class.  Two-needle mittens may be the way to go for the beginning class.  Anyways, will try to provide more info as it becomes available!