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Posted by Harlan Messinger on December 16, 2006, 1:17 pm
I'm a new knitter and I'm doing fine with English style. I'm working on
getting the hang of Continental style because of its advantages--I think
that if I get it down, it'll be faster, and I'm going to want to try
Fair Isle knitting with the two-hand method. I'm starting to get the
hand movements down, but I'm having trouble with tension. I have little
trouble feeding the yarn with just a little bit of tension using the
English style, but with the Continental style I can't seem to find the
happy medium between a single wrap around a finger--too loose, inability
to keep the new stitch on the needle while pulling it through the old
one--and a couple of turns, or a turn around the pinky--the yarn won't
feed. Any suggestions?
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Posted by arlene on December 16, 2006, 1:42 pm
With the yarn around the finger, you have to release the yarn. So when
it becomes tight, you flick the finger to release the wound around yarn.
This keeps the tension even.
I hope this is clear.
Arlene
Harlan Messinger wrote:
show/hide quoted text
> I'm a new knitter and I'm doing fine with English style. I'm working on
> getting the hang of Continental style because of its advantages--I think
> that if I get it down, it'll be faster, and I'm going to want to try
> Fair Isle knitting with the two-hand method. I'm starting to get the
> hand movements down, but I'm having trouble with tension. I have little
> trouble feeding the yarn with just a little bit of tension using the
> English style, but with the Continental style I can't seem to find the
> happy medium between a single wrap around a finger--too loose, inability
> to keep the new stitch on the needle while pulling it through the old
> one--and a couple of turns, or a turn around the pinky--the yarn won't
> feed. Any suggestions?
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Posted by Harlan Messinger on December 16, 2006, 9:43 pm
arlene wrote:
show/hide quoted text
> Harlan Messinger wrote:
>> I'm a new knitter and I'm doing fine with English style. I'm working
>> on getting the hang of Continental style because of its advantages--I
>> think that if I get it down, it'll be faster, and I'm going to want to
>> try Fair Isle knitting with the two-hand method. I'm starting to get
>> the hand movements down, but I'm having trouble with tension. I have
>> little trouble feeding the yarn with just a little bit of tension
>> using the English style, but with the Continental style I can't seem
>> to find the happy medium between a single wrap around a finger--too
>> loose, inability to keep the new stitch on the needle while pulling it
>> through the old one--and a couple of turns, or a turn around the
>> pinky--the yarn won't feed. Any suggestions?
> With the yarn around the finger, you have to release the yarn. So when
> it becomes tight, you flick the finger to release the wound around yarn.
> This keeps the tension even.
I do release the yarn, just as I do with the English method. My point is
that the friction of the yarn as wound around my fingers is too great to
allow it to slip. But if I wind it around my forefinger one less time,
or if I skip winding it around my pinky, then I don't have enough
tension at all. Maybe in that case it's because I'm still not properly
figuring out how to firmly clamp down the pinky at the same time that
I'm holding the left needle the way it needs to be held.
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Posted by Jackie on December 16, 2006, 11:05 pm
Hi Harlan -- I knit Continental (actually "Continental combined,"
which I didn't know the name of until I started reading knitting boards
on the internet ) and I had to pick up my knitting to see how I hold
the yarn. I then looked at instructions on several knitting sites, and
none of the positions they showed looked like mine! So I think there
are many ways to hold the yarn and regulate the tension, and you just
have to find what works for you.
Here's how I do it: it's is hard to describe (I haven't figured out how
to post pictures here, but maybe I can eventually) but I'll try .
Coming from the needles, the working yarn passes over the tip of the
index finger and is held in place between the middle sections of the
index and middle fingers. Only these two fingers need to touch the
working yarn. The tip of the middle finger rests against the tip of
the needle and pushes forward stitches as necessary to be knitted. The
thumb, ring finger and pinky hold the needle further back. In order
to switch between knitting and purling, the whole hand rotates forward
or back, pivoting around the needle, to bring the tip of the index
finger with the working yarn to the front or back of the work as
necessary. Does this make any sense? I can try to take a picture and
post it if you want, but it might be easier for you to just go to a
knitting shop or class and watch how various people hold their yarn.
(Just an aside -- are there medical terms for each finger that are more
serious and dignified than "ring finger" and "pinky"? What are the
different fingers called in other languages??)
Harlan Messinger wrote:
show/hide quoted text
> arlene wrote:
> > Harlan Messinger wrote:
> >> I'm a new knitter and I'm doing fine with English style. I'm working
> >> on getting the hang of Continental style because of its advantages--I
> >> think that if I get it down, it'll be faster, and I'm going to want to
> >> try Fair Isle knitting with the two-hand method. I'm starting to get
> >> the hand movements down, but I'm having trouble with tension. I have
> >> little trouble feeding the yarn with just a little bit of tension
> >> using the English style, but with the Continental style I can't seem
> >> to find the happy medium between a single wrap around a finger--too
> >> loose, inability to keep the new stitch on the needle while pulling it
> >> through the old one--and a couple of turns, or a turn around the
> >> pinky--the yarn won't feed. Any suggestions?
> > With the yarn around the finger, you have to release the yarn. So when
> > it becomes tight, you flick the finger to release the wound around yarn.
> > This keeps the tension even.
> I do release the yarn, just as I do with the English method. My point is
> that the friction of the yarn as wound around my fingers is too great to
> allow it to slip. But if I wind it around my forefinger one less time,
> or if I skip winding it around my pinky, then I don't have enough
> tension at all. Maybe in that case it's because I'm still not properly
> figuring out how to firmly clamp down the pinky at the same time that
> I'm holding the left needle the way it needs to be held.
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Posted by suzee on December 17, 2006, 1:31 am
Jackie wrote:
show/hide quoted text
> (I haven't figured out how
> to post pictures here, but maybe I can eventually)
Uh no, you can't. Text only except in binaries groups.
sue
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> getting the hang of Continental style because of its advantages--I think
> that if I get it down, it'll be faster, and I'm going to want to try
> Fair Isle knitting with the two-hand method. I'm starting to get the
> hand movements down, but I'm having trouble with tension. I have little
> trouble feeding the yarn with just a little bit of tension using the
> English style, but with the Continental style I can't seem to find the
> happy medium between a single wrap around a finger--too loose, inability
> to keep the new stitch on the needle while pulling it through the old
> one--and a couple of turns, or a turn around the pinky--the yarn won't
> feed. Any suggestions?