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Question on "Continental " and "English" knitting techniques
Most people knit a different gauge with each hand. Nothing to worry about,
as long as you don't try to convince us that you ALWAYS knit to gauge with the recommended needles and yarn "AGRES" wrote in message news:6WAQa.59798$Ph3.5632@sccrnsc04... I've knitted English style (feed yarn with right hand) for as long as I can remember, and I tend to knit very tight with only one color But, the other day, someone on RCTY said that Continental style (feed yarn with left hand) was faster. I have a big, mindless project going, so the other night, I looped the yarn over my left hand. It was easy and felt natural, and the stitches really flew off the needles. I had never before knitted that fast in my life (stitches per minute). I assume that I leaned to knit Continental style as a child, and then switched for some reason, but the motor skills remain. But, the gauge was much looser. I had to drop down two needle sizes to get the same number of stitches per inch, and then the stitch definition was not as good and the fabric was not a firm and dense. Is this a flaw in my technique? Shouldn't the gauge be the same regardless of which hand feeds the yarn? Or, do the different styles of knitting really produce different styles of fabric? Do the Knitting Fairies and Knitting Goddesses simply move their yarn from hand to hand to produce different fabrics? Aaron |
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#2
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I don't have a problem with gauge knitting continental style. I'm usually,
not 100% always, but usually, the same as the recommendation on the yarn label. Of course, I've been knitting mostly continental style on and off from the time I was 8 years old and that's a very, very long time ago. It also just may be luck because my mother, who also knitted continental style from the time she was a little girl, did have a minor problem. What she did to compensate when she was doing stockinette was to use a smaller needle for the purl rows. It's usually not as noticeable when you're doing a pattern or two color knitting. It's great to know how to knit both ways because when you're doing fair isle, or any other intarsia knitting, you can hold one color in one hand and one in the other. That is lots of fun to do. Lucille "SlinkyToy" wrote in message . .. Most people knit a different gauge with each hand. Nothing to worry about, as long as you don't try to convince us that you ALWAYS knit to gauge with the recommended needles and yarn "AGRES" wrote in message news:6WAQa.59798$Ph3.5632@sccrnsc04... I've knitted English style (feed yarn with right hand) for as long as I can remember, and I tend to knit very tight with only one color But, the other day, someone on RCTY said that Continental style (feed yarn with left hand) was faster. I have a big, mindless project going, so the other night, I looped the yarn over my left hand. It was easy and felt natural, and the stitches really flew off the needles. I had never before knitted that fast in my life (stitches per minute). I assume that I leaned to knit Continental style as a child, and then switched for some reason, but the motor skills remain. But, the gauge was much looser. I had to drop down two needle sizes to get the same number of stitches per inch, and then the stitch definition was not as good and the fabric was not a firm and dense. Is this a flaw in my technique? Shouldn't the gauge be the same regardless of which hand feeds the yarn? Or, do the different styles of knitting really produce different styles of fabric? Do the Knitting Fairies and Knitting Goddesses simply move their yarn from hand to hand to produce different fabrics? Aaron |
#3
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#4
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I learned to knit continental style myself, but have since changed to english
style because I found some stitches I just couldn't get to work up correctly - they just didn't look right to me when done continentally. Melinda Solstice Moon Designs |
#5
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I think your gauge will settle in as you get more practiced. I so tend to
do an extra wrap round the pinky to maintain better tension with some yarns, knitting continental. Sometimes when I do two colors, I carry the less used one in the right hand, so the tension really has to be the same. | On Mon, 14 Jul 2003 16:32:02 GMT, "AGRES" wrote: I've knitted English style (feed yarn with right hand) for as long as I can remember, and I tend to knit very tight with only one color But, the other day, someone on RCTY said that Continental style (feed yarn with left hand) was faster. I have a big, mindless project going, so the other night, I looped the yarn over my left hand. It was easy and felt natural, and the stitches really flew off the needles. I had never before knitted that fast in my life (stitches per minute). I assume that I leaned to knit Continental style as a child, and then switched for some reason, but the motor skills remain. But, the gauge was much looser. I had to drop down two needle sizes to get the same number of stitches per inch, and then the stitch definition was not as good and the fabric was not a firm and dense. Is this a flaw in my technique? Shouldn't the gauge be the same regardless of which hand feeds the yarn? Or, do the different styles of knitting really produce different styles of fabric? Do the Knitting Fairies and Knitting Goddesses simply move their yarn from hand to hand to produce different fabrics? Aaron Helen "Halla" Fleischer, Fantasy & Fiber Artist in Fairland, MD USA http://home.covad.net/~drgandalf/halla/ |
#6
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"SlinkyToy" wrote in message . .. Most people knit a different gauge with each hand. Nothing to worry about, as long as you don't try to convince us that you ALWAYS knit to gauge with the recommended needles and yarn Snip Thanks for the input. Most of my needles are hand made, and not truly standard sized. I can't claim anything. Stainless steel is more flexible and less heat conductive (warmer to touch) than most of the metals that are the metals for commercially made metal knitting needles (aluminum and plated brass). Thus, I find SS more comfortable to knit with. A local hardware store has 50' coils of stainless steel wire for only a couple of dollars. One diameter is very close to US size 1 or UK size 13. I've started making SS knitting needles out of it. The hard part is getting the wire straight. I bend it as straight as possible with my hands, and then lay it on a flat piece of hard wood and gently tap the high spots with a wooden or brass mallet. This also work hardens the metal to make it stiffer. Then I grind the points on a bench grinder (you could use a grinding wheel in an power drill) and use 600 wet or dry emery paper to produce a fine mat finish. People that like a smother finish could add a 1200 emery paper step. A good home handyman can make a set of a dozen 18" UK size 13 DPN in a short evening for a materials cost of less than $5.00. A set of 5 DPN for hats and socks could be made during the commercials in a football game. SS washers could be easily silver-soldered on the ends to serve as knots. Christmas is coming! These SS needles will not break - even if you run the truck over them a few times! Being solid metal they can be polished or mat finished to your heart's content. The mat finish picks up lanolin from the wool which provides lubrication without being slippery. You can also bend them for CN. However, these needles scream for a needle case. Think about sitting on one : ) Aaron |
#7
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"AGRES" wrote in message news:6WAQa.59798$Ph3.5632@sccrnsc04... But, the other day, someone on RCTY said that Continental style (feed yarn with left hand) was faster. I have a big, mindless project going, so the other night, I looped the yarn over my left hand. It was easy and felt natural, and the stitches really flew off the needles. I had never before knitted that fast in my life (stitches per minute). I assume that I leaned to knit Continental style as a child, and then switched for some reason, but the motor skills remain. But, the gauge was much looser. I had to drop down two needle sizes to get the same number of stitches per inch, and then the stitch definition was not as good and the fabric was not a firm and dense. Wow--I taught myself Continental-style knitting and I find that I knit even tighter that way than I do when I knit American-style (right hand "throwing"). I really noticed this when I did some Fair-aisle knitting with one color in each hand--I had to frog quite a bit and really concentrate on knitting *very* loosely (for me, anyway!) with the left-hand color. However, I tend to knit very tightly American-style as well. I can't use bamboo/wood needles because I break them--not because I sit on them or some other accident, just that I have a tight enough tension that the needles bend more and more, then finally break. I know now why bamboo slivers were used to torture people--I managed to skewer myself several times before I finally gave up on bamboo/wood. Now I use aluminum for larger sizes and stainless steel for sock needles. -- LittleBit Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955) |
#9
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"Elizabeth Bonello" wrote in message newsqEQa.484 I can't use bamboo/wood needles because I break them--not because I sit on them or some other accident, just that I have a tight enough tension that the needles bend more and more, then finally break. I know now why bamboo slivers were used to torture people--I managed to skewer myself several times before I finally gave up on bamboo/wood. Now I use aluminum for larger sizes and stainless steel for sock needles. Good to know I am not alone. I use metal needles and they are always bent! I daren't use bamboo or wood Ophelia Scotland |
#10
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I'm not sure this was meant for me but if it was, I did say usually, not all
the time, not 100% of the time, but "usually." Lucille "AGRES" wrote in message news:gjEQa.53296$OZ2.9017@rwcrnsc54... "SlinkyToy" wrote in message . .. Most people knit a different gauge with each hand. Nothing to worry about, as long as you don't try to convince us that you ALWAYS knit to gauge with the recommended needles and yarn Snip Thanks for the input. Most of my needles are hand made, and not truly standard sized. I can't claim anything. Stainless steel is more flexible and less heat conductive (warmer to touch) than most of the metals that are the metals for commercially made metal knitting needles (aluminum and plated brass). Thus, I find SS more comfortable to knit with. A local hardware store has 50' coils of stainless steel wire for only a couple of dollars. One diameter is very close to US size 1 or UK size 13. I've started making SS knitting needles out of it. The hard part is getting the wire straight. I bend it as straight as possible with my hands, and then lay it on a flat piece of hard wood and gently tap the high spots with a wooden or brass mallet. This also work hardens the metal to make it stiffer. Then I grind the points on a bench grinder (you could use a grinding wheel in an power drill) and use 600 wet or dry emery paper to produce a fine mat finish. People that like a smother finish could add a 1200 emery paper step. A good home handyman can make a set of a dozen 18" UK size 13 DPN in a short evening for a materials cost of less than $5.00. A set of 5 DPN for hats and socks could be made during the commercials in a football game. SS washers could be easily silver-soldered on the ends to serve as knots. Christmas is coming! These SS needles will not break - even if you run the truck over them a few times! Being solid metal they can be polished or mat finished to your heart's content. The mat finish picks up lanolin from the wool which provides lubrication without being slippery. You can also bend them for CN. However, these needles scream for a needle case. Think about sitting on one : ) Aaron |
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