Dish-pan Hands, and Other Occupational Hazards

This is how I hold yarn and needle while knitting:

Pretty standard; English-style with working yarn wrapped around my pinky and maneuvered  with my index finger. Nothing to see here, or so I had been thinking for the two years or so I’ve been knitting in this fashion. (I won’t photograph the monkey-grip I was using prior to this set-up, but trust me, it was ugly. Not to mention slow.) Anyhow, about a week ago, after a marathon session with my needles, I noticed my right index finger had a rather angry mark on, um, itself. This is what it looked like then… 

…and now:

I’m guessing it’s the dry weather, as it is most definitely not the Lamb’s Pride Superwash (quite lovely, by the way!). In any case, I have finally injured myself while knitting. Amazing that it hasn’t already happened, actually. I’m not the most graceful person I’ve met, by any means. In any case, I hope I get a seriously burly callous from this.