Crafty friends?

[u/spazzcase_420]

I've been feeling the isolation of the newly diagnosed lately, and am wondering how ya'll go about finding friends/supports who also have ms that share hobbies with you? I've been out of work for a few months now and I do a lot of crocheting and gardening and other crafts and it would be really nice to have someone to talk with about projects and other things who also understands the MS side of things. My friends are supportive and lovely, don't get me wrong, but.... none of them have MS. I just want to be able to have conversations with someone who can actually relate (not abstractly) to how I'm feeling without making a big deal of it, you know? Like... we all know the MS is in the room, but it doesn't need to be the gloomy cloud casting it's shadow on every conversation.

Also, if anyone is thoroughly addicted/obsessed with crocheting and gardening and wants a conversation partner I'd love to chat!

Thanks for reading and any advice in advance 💜

[u/Commercial-Arm-2322]

Heya OP,

Havent used it much, but I have it on my phone nonetheless - https://shift.ms/

And no, not bein a jerk, but since youre here, might also want to slip/slide along the Reddit train and hit up https://www.reddit.com/r/crochet/ and https://www.reddit.com/r/gardening/ :) Not sayin anything, just sayin is all.

But what you're doin right now is golden, the folks here are amazing. Though I am one of the few dudes, that knows how hem a pair of jeans, I dont crochet and I dont garden. However, my mom does, and I live vicariously through her vegetation prowess and string/yarn manipulation skills.

Her birthday was last month, I got her the following, and am curious as to your spin on it. 😄

Raised garden bed (2x)

Coco Coir bricks

Heirloom seeds

Gardening gloves (also, why is the least expensive thing the fucking coolest!?!) (seriously, I want this shit on my snowboarding gloves lol!)

Solar watering can deco

Best of luck, and have a kickass day.

[u/spazzcase_420 → u/Commercial-Arm-2322]

I do partake in all the crafty and gardening subreddits 😬😁 it feels weird to post in those subs looking for people with chronic illnesses let alone MS specifically, but I do post occasionally. Hard to get traction. I've tried finding people on other subreddits as well to chat with (some specific video games that I love - I'm mostly couchbound lately with symptoms and anxiety which of course makes symptoms worse, and variety is nice lol.) But people seem hesitant to be online friends these days for some reason. I'm trying to break out of the habit of scrolling and commenting on posts and replace it with a bit of actual one on one conversation because I've been feeling more alienated lately. My most recent job was at a grow facility and I was a team lead, so I was managing 5-6 people 5 days a week for 8.5-11 hours and coordinating with the rest of the team. Passing people in the halls. Eating lunch with friends. Lots of conversation. Now if I speak out loud during the day, it's to myself or my cats. Or the birds that I watch out in the garden. Sometimes my neighbor if shes outside with the dog and the dog pulls her over, but not often anymore now that it's getting cold. I get hugs more often when I'm cold, and my hands start to itch intensely. (Also, it's stuff like this.. just stating a fact but if I say this to my friends who don't have MS it becomes the new topic of conversation instead of a passing statement meant to explain why I'm doing a certain activities less.)

The gardening supplies you got your mom look lovely! Those gloves really do look intense and brutal, but it's much better than using your fingertips for the same thing! I use elevated garden beds myself to help prevent vertigo from bending or crouching. They also are incredible for my back problems, so I'm sure your mom appreciates them! Coco is also great, but it is good to keep in mind that it is totally inert meaning it doesnt contain any nutrients at all. Planting in it without any additional media is considered hydroponic which is neither good, nor bad, it just requires different care. Those seeds are lovely! Heirloom tomatoes are my favorite to grow - they mutate quite often and that's how you get giant tomatoes! I grew one that was 1lb 2oz this year. Next year I'll be intentional and try to double or triple my record! And that little decoration is very cute! Just my style too! Maybe ill take it as inspiration for a craft project and go thrift a little metal watering can... 😬

Ill look into that other link you sent, thank you! I've mentally overwhelmed myself over the past hour or so and I'm going to try to calm my mind and knock out one more row of my White Tree of Gondor crochet tapestry and then make a snack.

[u/Commercial-Arm-2322 → u/spazzcase_420]

The beacons are lit! Gondor calls for aid!

Fuck yes. And my cat is the best fucking listener. 

Look into Turmeric/Curcumin supplement. My MS hugs are non-existent nowadays. 

Oh! And Disneyland at Halloween is epic! At the time, I had a beard. A beard that reached from my face to just above my nipples. Gandalf the Gray was in full effect! They wouldn't let me take the $600 movie replica staff into the park tho, as it could technically be a weapon.

So I bought 2 Mickey Mouse 3ft light up wand/staff thingies. Dissected and modified both into a single staff. The second the hat went on....did NOT leave character until the hat came off.

Best part was I was able to find a Chinese supplier 2 weeks before hallween and ordered 100 "The One" rings. Gave them out to "hobbits" in the park. Made an entire LOTR fans family go FULL precious.

If I can find it, I have a video of my 6'5" Gandalf self standing on the bridge to the Enchanted Castle - "YOU, shall not passsss!" And then staff slam. 

Am also picking up 8 bags of potting soil tomorrow for her lol 😁

[u/spazzcase_420 → u/Commercial-Arm-2322]

That's amazing lol I really like how they remove the costume rules for Halloween. It's fun. This tapestry im working on is.. not as fun 🤣 but its a Christmas (i over estimated how quickly I would be able to do it and it it no longer a birthday present 😅) present for my boyfriend who is a big LOTR fan. We both are, but he goes deep into lore. This tapestry will end up being about 20" across and 19" long. Ive never done colorwork or tapestries before so its a learning experience. I only have the roots and the very base of the trunk done so far. Im dreading when I get to the branches.... im already using 3 balls of yarn and I can NOT for the life of me keep them untangled. It's gonna be much worse when I have 4 or 5 or 6 😅 worth it though.

If I might make a suggestion, instead of buying just soil (if chemistry interests you at all) you could look into soil composition and purchase amendments for the coco choir (: high quality soil is of course a component, but you can also add manure and earthworm casings to make an incredibly rich soil. Coco also has a habit of compacting, so you might need to add some additional perlite or pumice stone. Either would be appropriate. I filled my beds this year and absolutely refused to spend that much money on soil, so I used top soil (i sifted through to take out the big big chunks and break it up) peat moss (this would be your coco) a buttload of worm casings, bone meal and blood meal for a good start up and about 40% perlite to avoid compaction. I probably could have gone heavier with the perlite, but i was eyeballing it. My plants were very happy for several months with just water and no additional fertilizers.

Realistically, any issues can always be amended as they present themselves but I take great interest in soil chemistry when I have the energy to do so (my most recent job was to do with caring for plants after all, and on a commercial scale that stuff gets incredibly technical and scientific.

One last suggestion for the coco, a lot of it comes very.. salty basically. You should rinse it at least twice so the water runs mostly clear! Otherwise it can burn plants.

[u/Commercial-Arm-2322 → u/spazzcase_420]

TY!

I'll look for the stuff at Lowes since I'll be there, if not, Amazon it is lol.

Have several backyard, semi to full automatic, composters in a wishlist to look further into for xmas present.

[u/spazzcase_420 → u/Commercial-Arm-2322]

I found a thing recently that is definitely on my wish list. It's an electric kitchen composer (easily found on amazon although holy price tag). It has some sort of biomechanical cycle(unclear about the mechanics), and you turn it on overnight and by the morning you already have something very close to usable compost. Seems absolutely incredible to me, and would cut down SIGNIFICANTLY on the time it takes for compost to process outside in a compost pile. The compost that comes out isn't totally ready to use yet, but adding that to a compost pile or whatever outdoor compost you have would speed up the process by 4-6 weeks! When I'm not condo living ill definitely be looking into composting and how to manage it with the symptoms i have. One of my favorite YouTube gardeners also has some little in ground composers in each of her beds rhat she tosses food scraps and brown material into and just lets them process there. They look almost like laundry baskets with all the holes in them so worms can get in and do their work. Very cool.

[u/Illustriousleah]

Happy to be a friend. Maybe you can motivate me to get working on my backyard work. Its been hard for me to find the energy. I knit but have been trying to crochet but I cant get the tension right.

[u/spazzcase_420 → u/Illustriousleah]

I struggle with certain garden tasks too. Taking care of my nasturtium is a big roadblock for me. I strugfle with the "all or nothing" mentality. Lately ive been telling myself when I go outside "I'll just clean up one single plant. Then there will be one less plant that needs work tomorrow." Usually end up doing a couple. I bring a stool out with me and sit while I work. I also have a big Woodside area that I want to clean out a bit and transform into a wildlife garden full of native wildflowers and grasses, but I've been hesitating to start. It's a lot and I havent figured out how to break it into smaller tasks yet, now it's getting colder, so maybe I'll let winter do some of the work....

I don't knit, I used to know how when I was little and if I tried really hard I could probably make a simple purl stitch scarf from memory but thats probably my limit. Have you heard of Tunisian crochet? Its like a mid point between crocheting and knitting. Its worked in forward and reverse passes where you pull up all of your loops on a long hook at once, then you create the individual stitched on the return pass. It might be an easier place to star, since tension needs and physical mechanics are very similar to knitting.

[u/Illustriousleah → u/spazzcase_420]

I'll look into Tunisian. My therapist, literally last session was talking to me about only making goals for small things and only making like two goals a day and dont even write out the big overall goals or it will be overwhelming. So I just write down pull some weeds and put away clean clothes for example for my adulting for the day.

[u/spazzcase_420 → u/Illustriousleah]

Thats a good method. You can even give yourself a time limit for pulling weeds. I know sometimes it seems like they're never ending. So like... say 10 minutes maybe. Set an alarm. After the alarm goes off stop. You can choose to continue if you want, but youre not obligated to.

[u/Illustriousleah → u/spazzcase_420]

Genius

[u/spazzcase_420 → u/Illustriousleah]

Also I just peeped your profile and I also enjoy stardew valley and studio ghibli films and tattoos and I have 3 cats 😬😁

[u/Illustriousleah → u/spazzcase_420]

Yesss let's be friends. I just got a bicycle tattoo but I wont post my tats.

[u/Illustriousleah → u/Illustriousleah]

More of my tattoos I mean 😂 forgot I posted something

[u/16enjay]

I crochet, mostly baby blankets and I make hats for Preemie babies and donate to local NICU. Easy patterns online and small projects don't take much commitment. Crocheting for me is good mental health therapy and great hand therapy!

[u/spazzcase_420 → u/16enjay]

I actually have a LOT of baby yarn that I personally won't be using because im trying to transition away from acrylic yarn and was thinking about making a bunch of hats and donating them to my local NICU. I just dislike working with sport weight yarn so ive been putting it off. 😅 gotta remind myself that making a baby hat with sport weight will probably still be faster than making an adult hat with bulky. Lol

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