I’ve mentioned before on my blog that I have Raynaud’s Syndrome, where the tips of my fingers turn white when cold. Up until a couple of years ago, I’d only had a few episodes ever. Last winter I had probably 6 to 10 episodes. This winter it was several per week - a very dramatic increase. I had an ANA blood test a year ago after telling my doctor about the Raynaud’s episodes I’d had, and the test came back positive. A positive ANA test doesn’t definitely mean anything, but certainly it increases the likelihood that I have an autoimmune disorder (which Raynaud’s is). My mother has it too, so while I wasn’t really alarmed to find out that I have it, I was very concerned that the episodes were so frequent this year.

Then a few weeks ago while I was working on Icarus, I noticed that my right index finger was white right above the pressure point of the knitting needle - which wasn’t such an unusual thing in itself, until I realized that the knitting needle marked the exact line where my finger normally turns white. It was just like looking at my finger during a Raynaud’s episode. The light came on in my head. The problems with my fingers are very strongly related to the pressure on them while knitting. My right index finger is by far the worst, with the demarcation line being right where the knitting needle sits. My thumb and middle finger are also affected, though not quite as much - and while knitting, they get some pressure, but not as much as the index finger. My left hand is rarely affected, but if it is, it’s the thumb and index finger, not the middle finger. That also corresponds with how I hold the needles and where the pressure is.

Hmmm… last winter was the first winter when I was knitting, and the first time I really started getting symptoms. Now I’m knitting even more, and the symptoms are far worse.

I did some searching on the Internet, and discovered that there’s such a thing as “hand-arm vibration syndrome” or “vibration white finger”. This syndrome is where the fingers turn white due to repetitive stress injury. It’s usually associated with working with vibrating tools such as drills, but I did see mention of handcrafts such as knitting also being associated with it. Evidently the blood vessels and/or nerves are slightly damaged by the vibration or pressure, which leads to the dreaded “white fingers”. Even worse, this damage can be permanent.

I also found a few knitting blogs where some knitters with Raynaud’s have even worse symptoms - their fingers (especially the right index finger) turn blue. Fortunately I’ve never gone past the white stage.

SHIT. While I don’t think that knitting is the underlying cause of my Raynaud’s, I strongly suspect that it’s aggravating the condition.

So what to do? I don’t want to give up knitting, and I’d been hoping to do even more of it now that I’m retiring. But I don’t want to be stupid about it, either, and end up causing permanent damage to my fingers (if it isn’t already too late).

I’ve been trying to keep my hands more relaxed when I knit to limit the pressure on the fingers, and am paying more attention to how I hold the needles. I try changing my grip a bit so that I’m not holding the needle in the same spot all the time. There’s also quite a difference in how I hold different needles. I hold DPN’s a bit differently than circular, and larger needles differently than smaller. The stitch pattern can also make a difference. Unfortunately, the worst “offender” I’ve found seems to be the size 3 circulars I’m using to knit Icarus. Or perhaps it’s the needles plus the lace pattern. But at any rate, that’s why my progress on Icarus has been so slow. I’m limiting myself to no more than 2 rows per day, and I only work on it a few days per week. Will that be enough to make a difference? Well, I guess I won’t know until next winter.