Wednesday, November 29

Continental knitting?

It has come to that time of year when I start trying to figure out how to knit faster. I see people who can go whizzing through rows of material, literally working inches at a time, while continuing to pay attention to the room and conversation around them. It boggles me every time.

In my search, I found this video on YouTube, and I'm watching over and over, trying to get my hands to grasp the concepts and follow them. Slowly but surely, it's happening. I was taught as a "thrower" by my grandmother. I, however, while I may have enough patience, am always sidetracked by the newer project that catches my eye. For example, my Tie-Wrap sweater was started about a year ago. I enjoy knitting it, I love the color, and I'm excited to wear it. Smaller, quicker projects have caught my eye and definitely allowed me to stray from my beauty though.

Practice makes perfect, though. This is why I've decided to make my MIL's scarf in a ribbed pattern.

Pictures to follow soon!

1 comment:

sunneshine said...

My grandmother taught me to continental knit when I was 9 - a long, long time ago. I am told that I knit very quickly and have converted a lot of my friends to continental from throwing. The easiest way to do that is to start throwing with your left hand, when you get comfortable with that start trying not to release your hand from your left needle, then laze your way to having your right needle pluck the yarn off your left finger. If you want to do it, it really is just practice. Do is on smaller projects first, so when the tension is wonky, you can easily block it. Pretty soon, you will be surprised at how fast you knit!