I made a discovery last week - kind of stumbled in by the back door :)
I knit English style. When I make a stitch, I let go of the right needle to manually bring the yarn around the left needle. I know about Continental style knitting where the yarn is tensioned in the left hand and sort of scooped through the stitch by the right needle (picking, as opposed to throwing). I have tried it many times over the years because it’s supposed to be so much faster. It may be because I’m just not dexterous enough or because I’m left-handed but I knit right-handed. In any case, my fingers just don’t seem to be able to move the right way.
I didn’t waste any time worrying about it, just continued knitting and throwing as I always did. Then, a couple of years ago, I learned about knitting backwards. Really, this is a way of purling back from the front so that you don’t have to turn the work, nor shift your hands nor let go of the yarn. It makes things easier in several cases. For plain stockinette work, it’s a dream - things go quite a bit faster, For things like bobbles and entrelac, it’s a dream come true. I always did like bobbles but making them was a pain in the butt. Now, it’s a pleasant little diversion from the regular row (or round) of knitting. And I never even tried entrelac (barely knew what it was) before I learned about knitting backwards - and you all know how I feel about entrelac :)
My only regret about the knitting backwards thing was that while it covered purl stitches, nowhere was there any suggestion about how to do knit stitches. I did, eventually, figure out a way that worked, but it’s awkward and still involves bringing the yarn from the back to the front of the work in order to make the stitch. For some reason that I couldn’t quite pin down, this seems to be a much clumsier maneuver when working back from the front than when working forward from the front.
A few weeks ago, a knitter who designs and knits beautiful shawls and whom I knew to habitually employ the knitting backwards technique (see the Yahoo group Mmario Kknits) mentioned a way of making a knit stitch (while knitting backwards) that didn’t require bringing the yarn to the front of the work. It was compared to the Norwegian purl technique (video tutorials here and here), a method of purling from the front that didn’t require moving the yarn to the front of the work. I had investigated this technique a while back, but it’s aimed at Continental knitters. There’s really no way for an English style thrower to accomplish it. So I promptly forgot about it and moved on.
And yet, the idea of being able to knit as well as purl from the back of the fabric without having to shove the yarn back and forth kind of haunted me. I went and looked at the Norwegian purl videos again. And then I observed (closely this time!) where my hands and yarn were when I was knitting backwards - yarn tensioned in the right hand and being picked, not thrown. And it dawned on me finally, when I knit backwards, I’m knitting Continental style! Well, whaddya know!
So I went back to review the Norwegian purl videos. I kept trying to figure out how I could adapt this to create a knit stitch when one was working backwards. Periodically, when I was working on the blanket, I would try one thing or another as various ideas occurred to me and last week, I finally nailed it :)
I will try to put a tutorial together for those few who might be interested in this sort of thing. I realize this is kind of esoteric, but it’s pretty cool all the same :) English going forwards and Continental going backwards!
Seed stitch and ribbing will never be the same - and this is going change the way I knit forever!
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I would be very excited to learn this—I have always felt it was very clumsy to move the yarn front and back while knitting and purling (I am really just a beginning knitter). Working a rib pattern makes me weary sometimes for this reason. I guess I’ll have to learn to knit backwards, as you describe. But, like entrelac, this will be one more endeavor you’ve inspired!
Well, I’m interested in learning this. Anything to make life easier and faster, I say.
Yes, I can knit both directions being a leftie who knits right-handed [courtesy of being taught by a right-hander!]. I find purling back [from left to right] quite difficult but perhaps because I need more practice! And my tension [gauge] is slightly different in either direction [and when knitting and purling right handed!]
Look forward to your tutorial!
Greta -
I kind of feel weird that I can do this stuff backwards but not forwards - that just doesn’t seem right.
But…
I much more strongly feel jump-up-and-down excited about the way this is going to make my knitting easier, faster, more fun…whee!
Susan B. -
You and me both! I’ll try to have something by the end of the week :)
Lynne -
Why it looks as though we’re in the exact same boat, doesn’t it! I did find the purling back awkward at first but I now suspect it was the continental aspect of the knitting rather that the actual moving from left to right.
The knitting back is, well, perhaps a little athletic until you get used to it, but oh man does it ever make a difference! The strap on the bag I finished last week is done in 1 x 1 rib - something I always avoided like the plague. This time, I just used it to practice my new knitting technique and it was done in no time!
when i first learned to knit, i did it as a lefty. then i stepped away from it for a few years and taught myself to knit all over again as a righty. i have no idea why i did this. the point is, knitting backwards is a lot easier when you’re ambidextrous!
Opal -
You kmow, that never occurred to me, but you’re right. And left-handed people have a lot of experience with ambidexterity. There are cerainly tools out there for left-handed people, but they’re hard to find and terribly expensive. So most of us learn to use tools designed for right-handed people and that just becomes part of life, naturally part of how we deal!
