joanj - I've found something that works great on my fingers and wrists when they get stiff from knitting. It's called Hylarub and is available at Health food stores. It contains some type of natural acid and emu oil. About a year ago my wrist flared badly. I was in the local store for something else and the owner gave me a sample. After 3 applications my wrist was not only OK, I was doing yardwork at my daughter's house! A little bit goes a long way. I do have arthritis in my fingers from 20+ years of accounting and it helps them as well. Hope this helps.
As for my needles, more scarf and hat sets this year for St Labre Indian School. They had a really hard winter so I'm working on thicker scarves and loving the reversible stitches. My MIL taught me how to do cables. That had to wait until I got proficient at knitting normal, not twisted. I need to rent a good Al Pacino movie and start a scarf with cables. For some unknown reason, I can learn a new stitch best while watching a suspense flik.
