Swatchless

any guesses?

A colleague had mentioned a while back that after cancer surgery her arm is getting swollen, particularly in the warm weather.  As lymph nodes had been removed, some of the lymph fluid pools in her arm instead of following the usual path around the body.  In a conversation she mentioned that she wanted to suspend her arm from something while she sat at her desk….that got the wheels started.

Note:  All loops or noose-like ideas were rejected, as were things that could injure you if you accidentally ran into them.

The end product of my brainstorming was this contraption (any ideas for a name?)

Here are the instructions (if you’d like to make one)

Cut a pool noodle into a ball (about 2.5 inches in diameter).  This will be the core of the device.  We chose pool noodle foam because it is light and flexible and easy to cut with a box cutter or exacto-knife.

Choose your favourite sock yarn and needles.  I used Kroy, and 2.25mm needles.

Cast on 6 sts.

INCREASES

Row 1: knit into the front and back of each stitch [12 sts]

Row 2: *kfb, k1* 6 times

Row 3: *kfb, k2* 6 times

Row 4: *kfb, k3* 6 times

Continue to increase (adding stripes if you wish) until there are 90 sts. total

Knit for 1 inch (graph a pattern for yourself if you are interested)

DECREASES

Row 1: *K2tog, K13* 6 times

Row 2: *K2tog, K12* 6 times

Row 3: *K2tog, K11* 6 times

Row 4: *K2tog, K10* 6 times

Insert ball and knit around it.  Continue to decrease (adding stripes if you wish) until there are 6 sts remaining.

Knit a 6 stitch i-cord for 1 meter.

Hang this device from the ceiling.  We tied it around the supports for the ceiling tiles.

as seen from below

I’m not sure if it works this way for people of any height, but fortunately for my colleague, this device can be suspended in the correct position to grasp from a seated position, but when the force of the hand is removed, the elasticity of the i-cord raises the very light ball up above the height of her head when she is standing.

If using material that is heavier than foam, be careful–it could give you quite a goose egg if you run into it.