long time no see!

 

Long time no see! You may have wondered why I haven't posted for so long. Well, I actually have a good excuse. Mid January I was out at night walking my foster puppy and fell on some black ice in my driveway. As I laid there I looked at my wrist I saw my wrist bending in a way it doesn't normally go. Somehow adrenaline kicked in and I was able to hold my arm close to my chest and get back up. I called in some favors from neighbors who kindly got me to the ER and took care of my puppy. In the picture you can see me in treatment as they pulled my broken bone back into position. My daughter took me into her home and fed me and got me my meds.

A week later I had surgery where the Dr put in a plate and screws. After a few weeks in a cast I began physical therapy. It's been a loong road. My fingers were sooo stiff and just wouldn't do what they are supposed to do. I'm gradually seeing progress and hope I get even more back.

How has this affected my tangling? Well, it has definitely affected it. At first I couldn't even hold a pen. I had a zoom class in late Feb that I had already signed up and paid for. So I attended remotely and gave it a go with my left hand. I got something done but frankly I wasn't very happy with it. And halfway through I was so wiped out that I quit. But, at least I tried.

So I kinda put my tangling supplies to the side. I did try using some of my liquid dyes to color some tiles, but no drawing. Finally in April I realized that I could hold a pen again (sort of) so I started again. I started by doing some of the prompts from the Facebook Square One group. The first few were pretty sad. Nowhere near the tangling I can usually do.

But I gradually discovered that I could do better and better by SLOWING DOWN. Now I draw slowly and deliberately, and it's pretty good. I used to be a speedy tangler and that's not happening now. But I think I'm actually getting more in the Zen zone by my new drawing techniques.

Here are a few of the tiles I've done now that I am drawing slowly and deliberately.

Done with the TangleOn group. I definitely saw room for improvement here. Lines uneven, stems too thick, color splotchy, etc.

Done using a template I had done a while before my injury so just needed to color.

SevenFlower in the Square One group. The shapes for the poke leaf just wouldn't flow the way I wanted them.

Bijou tile 

Rayga

So my advice, Keep up with your physical therapy and tangle even if you aren't thrilled with your first attempts. And SLOW DOWN!