Cables and possible arthritis

In my beginner's kit for knitting was a strange hook.  The "knitting notions" section of the book described the hook as a cable needle, even though the needles are more frequently "straight" with a sort of dimple in the center for holding stitches.

I also wanted to increase my skills, since all I had been doing was the garter stitch.  I hadn't attempted  a purl, let alone the crazy cable thing!

I picked up a circular needle set (because, I wanted to see what it was like to use them), and chose a yarn from my previous shopping excursion: the green chunky marble yarn.

Took me a few tries to get everything started (I kept screwing up my k's and p's in the beginning), but I gained some momentum on the 10 hour car ride back home for the holidays.  I even managed to finish the scarf in time to wear it out to the pool hall on my last night back at home.

Not to shabby for project # 3, eh?

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The other night I realized that I have been knitting every single day since I bought my knitting kit a month ago.  The index finger on my left hand has lost feeling from pushing the tip of the needles, the pinky on my right hand is missing some skin from constantly having yarn wrapped around it and pulled, and I think I might be developing some form of arthritis in both of my hands.  I find that I'm having difficulty turning door knobs and my joints constantly ache.

I guess arthritis is totally possible, since the threat loomed in the air since I was a child demonstrating my "double jointed ability".  For that reason, I suppose its time to take a small break from knitting -- but don't worry.  I have a back log of projects that I can blog about for the next week.

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EDIT: I forgot to give credit where credit is due.  Link to the pattern I used can be found here.