How can I make knitting and other needlework easier if I have arthritis?

If you love to knit or crochet or be crafty but find standard methods and tools too hard to use, don’t give up on your favorite pastime, just change your tools and techniques. Use bamboo, soft touch, circular and lighted knitting needles and crochet hooks. Bamboo hooks and needles are lightweight, and their natural surface holds the yarn just enough to keep stitches even.

Circular needles help to support some of the weight of your project. Wrap a rubber band around the handle of your crochet hooks or purchase flexible, flattened square crochet hooks or hooks that are ergonomically designed to be easier to hold and eliminate stress on the hands and joints. If you find yourself straining to see what you are working on, hooks and needles with lighted ends may ease the strain on your eyes.

Also, try working with wool or wool blend yarns, which are more elastic and forgiving that cotton and synthetic fibers. Specialty hooks and needles are available at fine craft shops. Use an embroidery hoop with clamps.

Put your embroidery or needlepoint work in the hoop, attach it to a table or chair and it greatly reduces the stress on your hands. Try leather or rubber fingertip thimbles to loosen your grip on the needle. Also, try working on a broader linen weave that is easier to both see and push the needle through.

Use a hanging magnifying glass. To help you see what you are working on, without getting a crick in your neck, try wearing a magnifying glass specially designed to hang around your neck. Find these unique products at sewing or craft stores.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.