Knitting Style

I'm usually a "pit knitter"--I tuck my right knitting needle under my arm to support the weight of the knitting. That leaves my hand free to flick the wool over the needle. It's not the fastest way of knitting in the world, but it's comfortable. Above all, it's the style that my muscles have learnt to consider as "normal". Usually I'm happy with that style of knitting. But there are a few situations when a different style works better. If I'm managing lots of stitches--a scarf knit sideways for example--it's easier to use a circular needle to distribute the bulk of stitches more evenly. And then of course to actually knit in the round--that just can't be done with a needle tucked under my arm. So, I've been practising a different style of knitting. The only way I can do it at the moment is to actually use a circular needle: I'm getting there, but it feels wierd and I'm still rather awkward at it. It's a bit like writing with your non-dominant hand: the logical part of your brain knows what is wanted, but the part of your brain responsible for movement control takes extra time to process, and then the movement doesn't flow as smoothly. I'm working on the assumption that practice is the only solution. So I currently have two projects going on circular needles. The red alpaca-wool in this pic, and the variegated wool-silk I featured a few weeks ago. When I'm feeling a bit more confident I want to have another go at socks.

If you're wondering about my weaving sample, rest easy. I finished the threading yesterday and have started the next step. I seem to have mis-counted the number of warp threads, so I'm checking and double-checking as I go along. Worst case scenario I can just drop off some extra warp threads at one end of the weaving. I guess mistakes like that is one reason to do sampling--better make the mistakes now than with the real thing.