Crocheting with Cotton Woes

>It seems like I have been crocheting forever. The older I get the more my hands bother me. It all started with one of my pregnancies. I started to get symptoms similar to carpal tunnel syndrome. The painful cramps in my hand seemed to subsided, but after that pregnancy it just seemed like I couldn’t crochet as long as I used to. The pain would start to come back after only crocheting for a short amount of time. A couple of years ago I switched to Clover hooks. They are padded and ‘ergonomically correct’. Let me tell you first hand they work. I thought they were expensive, but they are worth every penny of the investment. I can crochet for a long time without feeling the pain.

But I still have one issue: cotton
No matter what kind of hook or what size hook the pain is unbearable. I haven’t done any research, so maybe there’s a reason that eludes me. I recently agreed to take on a project for a friend. She has decided to go green and wanted some cotton dishcloths. I jumped at the chance to help her. Now I’m wondering what I’ve gotten myself into. I have to stop and take a break after 5 minutes because of the pain. There is a slight chance that it is because I’m pregnant again, but I doubt it. I just finished up a basketball afghan for my nephew (who is due any day before our newest daughter), which is why I highly doubt it’s the pregnancy. I wasn’t having any problems using the acrylic yarn.

Let’s just say I’m counting down the dishcloths until I’m done. Three down & three to go. Be sure to look for them in the next week or two.  I’ll be posting the patterns for them, but I doubt it will be any sooner than that. My hands are screaming at me to stop.  LOL.