I almost wrote "Bitch Dictionary."
http://www.vogueknitting.com/node/79
Vogue Magazine's website is starting a stitch dictionary. Under the Title "Knit and Purl" they include some of the most complicated lace and leaf cable patterns on earth.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Two Simple Things
Two parts of knitting technique that was really difficult to find out (and maybe I still don't have it right):
1. Wind the yarn counterclockwise around the needle while both knitting and purling.
2. Bring the yarn forward between the two needles, not over or around them, when doing combination stitches like seed stitch and rib.
1. Wind the yarn counterclockwise around the needle while both knitting and purling.
2. Bring the yarn forward between the two needles, not over or around them, when doing combination stitches like seed stitch and rib.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Lurning to Purl
Knit is fun. Purl is hard. I'm trying to learn how not to dread the Purl rows. I first learned to knit by learning the Throwing technique, or English/American style, but my tension was so uneven I switched to the Picking or Continental style. I wonder if one's personality is somehow described by their preference for either "Picking" or "Throwing." I personally find Throwers to be much calmer knitters than Pickers but maybe that is because I can not belong to their clan.
There are many videos showing how to do the Continental style and I really thought my prayers had been answered when I saw the Craftsanity video of Lorilee Beltman which is really great: http://www.craftsanity.com/files/09c43733fd63268a890990b511a184f7-15.html.
This evened the tension out quite a bit but while purling I find that I still have to pinch the yarn in order to get it hook around the right needle. This causes all kinds of cramps and aches and will definitely create arthritis. Plus I may also start walking sideways, like a crab, as well.
I bought a video of Elizabeth Zimmerman's broadcasts from her Public Television show in which she shows how to purl by holding the yarn in back as in knitting and then grabbing it with the needle and hooking it around and under. She does this very deftly. I can not.
I suspect that being left-handed has something to do with my problem, but other knitters say it doesn't. I've noticed that many right handed knitters have a much more active right handed needle. I tend to try to get the yarn through all the loops by holding the right hand needle very still like a lollipop and then tension and pull and drop and yank the yarn with my left needle basically trying to do everything with the left hand. My hands have terrible sex together while knitting. The resentments of the left hand towards the right hand is mounting.
I have found that if I drape the yarn around and over the back of my pointer finger instead of over the front of my pointer finger (which is the intuitive way for me) I can sort of lever the yarn up and down with said Pointer Finger and around the needle held by the right hand which is still just sitting there frigidly and passively waiting.
Also important is to figure is out how to hold the yarn with the rest of the hand. Experienced knitters do this so automatically they can't even think to explain what they are doing. Is it around the pinky, over the middle finger, around the palm? There are as many ways to wrap the yarn around the appendages on the human body as there are appendages. Plus, there's furniture and the person who is sitting next to you. And around the chair legs. Actually the ball of yarn usually has a life of its own and does that by itself. I've been trying them all. The stitches look really uneven. Yes, you can have too much Wabi Sabi.
I think what I have found is that the more I knit the faster I knit and the fewer fingers, palms, shoulders and chair legs I have to wrap the yarn around. So, things get better with experience.
It turns out there are many different ways to purl. This might only for Continental Knitters. I've found that the Throwers seem to be content with their technique. It seems to have worked from the beginning for them. But about all the different ways to purl, it turns out that people who have a lot of time to knit through long winters and who wear really big sweaters to practice on use the pointer fingers for purling. Many of the Sunnier Southern peoples on earth seem to tension the yarn with the thumb. Wouldn't it be interesting if the reason for arthritic hands turned out from knitting styles, not from cold weather environments and lack of daylight?
In her Purl book, Sally Melville shows how to knit like the Peruvians by throwing the ball on the ground, holding the yarn over the shoulder and using the thumb to work the yarn with the left hand.
I've also watched a DVD by Andrea Wong on the Portuguese Method of Continental Knitting which also uses the thumb. The yarn is held on a clip on the shoulder. There's an article on this method in the current issue of Piecework magazine. I found the DVD at the public library but Andrea Wong sells it here: http://www.andreawongknits.com/notions.html.
Annie Modesitt teaches the Combination Knitting which knits into the back loops. She has a website: http://www.anniemodesitt.com/. I mean to try this out someday soon. Trying to keep track of the loops is still a bit of a challenge for me.
There's also a really great video of the Yarn Harlot who knits in something called "Irish Cottage Knitting." I think she's a thrower because she holds the yarn in her right hand but I can't be sure, it all goes so fast. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o00ux6zPiE.
I wonder if I'll ever catch on. I suspect that a knitting machine may be the best answer, if only I didn't enjoy holding the yarn so much....
There are many videos showing how to do the Continental style and I really thought my prayers had been answered when I saw the Craftsanity video of Lorilee Beltman which is really great: http://www.craftsanity.com/files/09c43733fd63268a890990b511a184f7-15.html.
This evened the tension out quite a bit but while purling I find that I still have to pinch the yarn in order to get it hook around the right needle. This causes all kinds of cramps and aches and will definitely create arthritis. Plus I may also start walking sideways, like a crab, as well.
I bought a video of Elizabeth Zimmerman's broadcasts from her Public Television show in which she shows how to purl by holding the yarn in back as in knitting and then grabbing it with the needle and hooking it around and under. She does this very deftly. I can not.
I suspect that being left-handed has something to do with my problem, but other knitters say it doesn't. I've noticed that many right handed knitters have a much more active right handed needle. I tend to try to get the yarn through all the loops by holding the right hand needle very still like a lollipop and then tension and pull and drop and yank the yarn with my left needle basically trying to do everything with the left hand. My hands have terrible sex together while knitting. The resentments of the left hand towards the right hand is mounting.
I have found that if I drape the yarn around and over the back of my pointer finger instead of over the front of my pointer finger (which is the intuitive way for me) I can sort of lever the yarn up and down with said Pointer Finger and around the needle held by the right hand which is still just sitting there frigidly and passively waiting.
Also important is to figure is out how to hold the yarn with the rest of the hand. Experienced knitters do this so automatically they can't even think to explain what they are doing. Is it around the pinky, over the middle finger, around the palm? There are as many ways to wrap the yarn around the appendages on the human body as there are appendages. Plus, there's furniture and the person who is sitting next to you. And around the chair legs. Actually the ball of yarn usually has a life of its own and does that by itself. I've been trying them all. The stitches look really uneven. Yes, you can have too much Wabi Sabi.
I think what I have found is that the more I knit the faster I knit and the fewer fingers, palms, shoulders and chair legs I have to wrap the yarn around. So, things get better with experience.
It turns out there are many different ways to purl. This might only for Continental Knitters. I've found that the Throwers seem to be content with their technique. It seems to have worked from the beginning for them. But about all the different ways to purl, it turns out that people who have a lot of time to knit through long winters and who wear really big sweaters to practice on use the pointer fingers for purling. Many of the Sunnier Southern peoples on earth seem to tension the yarn with the thumb. Wouldn't it be interesting if the reason for arthritic hands turned out from knitting styles, not from cold weather environments and lack of daylight?
In her Purl book, Sally Melville shows how to knit like the Peruvians by throwing the ball on the ground, holding the yarn over the shoulder and using the thumb to work the yarn with the left hand.
I've also watched a DVD by Andrea Wong on the Portuguese Method of Continental Knitting which also uses the thumb. The yarn is held on a clip on the shoulder. There's an article on this method in the current issue of Piecework magazine. I found the DVD at the public library but Andrea Wong sells it here: http://www.andreawongknits.com/notions.html.
Annie Modesitt teaches the Combination Knitting which knits into the back loops. She has a website: http://www.anniemodesitt.com/. I mean to try this out someday soon. Trying to keep track of the loops is still a bit of a challenge for me.
There's also a really great video of the Yarn Harlot who knits in something called "Irish Cottage Knitting." I think she's a thrower because she holds the yarn in her right hand but I can't be sure, it all goes so fast. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o00ux6zPiE.
I wonder if I'll ever catch on. I suspect that a knitting machine may be the best answer, if only I didn't enjoy holding the yarn so much....
Friday, January 9, 2009
Link to Triangle Shawls
Thanks to a poster on Ravelry.com I found this link to a blog called "Simpleknits" with a huge list of Triangle Shawl patterns to make according to required yardage.
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