Hi. Welcome to Knit with Hannah, and happy
New Year. I'm going to talk today about different knitting styles. (intro) Hi. Welcome to Knit With Hannah. I'm Hannah.
I'm here with knitting natter to help you learn to knit the easy way. Yes I'm
talking about knitting styles today. What does that mean exactly?
Well, what I'm going to show you is different ways that people pick up the
needles and start making stitches. So there are lots of different ways that
people hold the needles, and that's because knitting has grown up in so many
different places around the world. It's generally the same thing: we're knotting
and we're making stitches to create larger pieces of fabric, but, because it's
grown up in so many different places, different styles have grown up too and
some have their advantages, some have their disadvantages, some are more
comfortable depending on what shape of body and hands and fingers you have. So
I'm going to show you all of that today in the video. If you like what you see do
give me a thumbs up while you're watching and you can subscribe as well.
The button's below, and hit the little bell for notifications too. Right let's
talk about some knitting styles. When I was growing up I had a few people around
me knitting and they all knitted with the English traditional style, and I was
taught this and copying everyone else around me it was just natural. So English
traditional is sometimes called throwing and I was taught to hold my right hand
needle as if I was holding my pencil as if I was about to write with it.
That means that it's sitting in the little area here between the knuckles of
the thumb and the forefinger and I'm holding it with my fingers like this, so
when I pick my knitting up I wind the yarn just around my little finger to
give it a bit of tension, and I am looking at the knitting needle from
above. I can see what's happening on the needle, and as I make each stitch I don't
have to let go of the needle. There are people who describe English knitting as knitting like this, but having to let go
of the needle every time you create a stitch. Well, I was taught what is called
the English traditional method and it means that you're knitting every stitch
without letting go of the needle, so I'm not having to let go, I'm not having to
create the stitch like this. It's still called throwing because the yarn is
being held in my right hand and I'm using the left hand a lot. You can see
(why are these stitches twisted that's so funny) you can see as I create the stitch
that my left hand is actually moving the needle, moving the stitches as well and
sometimes (there's another twisted stitch!) sometimes as I knit I notice that it's
my left hand sometimes doing more work than my right, and as the stitches
get longer, the knitting on the right hand needle gets longer, I
start to hold it from underneath the knitting, not just squashing up the
knitting like this. I start to hold it like this and again that can means I see
what I'm doing. I can see these stitches very easily and just by moving the yarn
around like that, not having to let go, it becomes faster. So that is my English
traditional and I use the same method where I'm purling as well. If I hold the
needles in the same way it seems quite simple, but the needle goes underneath
the yarn instead of over it and this is how I purl. It is exactly the same thing. I
kind of hold on to that needle and let it leave around. I don't let go. It's
still supported in this hand, but the left hand does a little bit more to help
it do with the purl stitch. I don't have to let go which might feel clumsy like
this and it means that it would be slower.
I hold on to it like this. Now, this is English traditional, and it's what I've grown
up with, it's what my grandparents used, it's the method they used when they were
knitting, it's how my mum taught me to knit and it's how I've always knitted, so any
other method has just felt odd to me. So, forgive me if I look a bit clumsy
while I'm knitting in the other methods. I've practiced them because some ways
I've needed them to use other knitting techniques. For example, holding the yarn
in my left hand is easier for me because I know how to crochet; I've practiced
crochet. I learned to crochet by holding the left hand around the hook with my
thumb on the second finger, and holding the third finger out so I have the yarn
just with a bit of tension here. A lot of people will knit, and this holding the
yarn in the left hand is called continental method knitting, generally
speaking that's what you would call it, Some people called the European, but
some people will have it. the yarn standing out here. I have the tension
caught in my left, little left pinkie finger again just like I do when I'm
holding the arm with my right hand so it doesn't change that much for me, but some
people will hold the tension around the second finger and that's where you get
the tautness with each stitch so the stitches aren't loose and they're even.
however when I'm knitting with my left hand
whether they are in my left hand I would generally be doing this because I'm
doing color work so I'll have yarn in my right and in my left and I'm switching
between the two colors so this might look awkward for me and as you see I
missed that first stitch, and I tend, I find that I'm using my left hand too
much. My left wrist gets involved rather than using the fingers so much, but this
is, it's not slow, but it's not fast and I find, yes, that I feel it in my left wrist
so it's not as comfortable for me to knit this, and if I was
holding the needle with my 3rd and thumb finger, it's more aligned to what more
knitters would do and I just find that too awkward. And this is also
interesting when it comes to the next method I'm going to show you too - my
fingers just aren't shaped to hold the needles like that so I just say
"Well if it's not working it's not working so I won't do it." (laughs) Right, let me
switch around the other side and I'll show you how I purl. I'm going to knit
through these first three stitches so I've got that border still. I missed that on the last
purl row, so it's starting to curl. Right, now the stitch, the needle, sorry, the yarn
has to go to the front of the left needle because we're starting to purl, so it
can sit there. What I tend to do and I've seen other knitters doing this, this is
also the method you're likely to use if you do use Portuguese knitting. I have the yarn around my thumb if I am doing purl row, and it is that simple.
It's flick, done, flick, done, flick, done, flick, done flick done and actually I find that a
lot easier sometimes than the knit row, heh, because I'm not using any other part of
my hand really other than my thumb to move the knitting, move the stitches. They
can be a bit tight so I have to be really careful especially if I'm doing
colour work so that these stitches from the right and the left hand yarn are
more even, but generally speaking this works quite well for me, but, if you are
continental knitter you're likely to be purling and still holding the yarn with
your forefinger here. When it comes to knitting it is what is comfortable for
you. Your hands are going to be different to my hands. Your hands are going to be
different to every other knitter that you see on YouTube, and that's what I'm
going to show you now. Because this third method, which you
might call flicking, is another method of knitting that personally I find really
awkward, and that is holding the right hand needle from above, but, just like I
hold it from below and I don't let go, holding it from above and moving the
yarn with the forefinger. I'm not letting go of the needle. You can see I'm finding
that really awkward. I cannot not let go. I cannot really hold on to it and keep
knitting. I'm finding that awkward, and that's reason is because, firstly my fingers are
relatively short, and I don't have the prominent joint in my thumb as well. If
you have longer fingers and you have that joint so your thumb is able to bend
more you will find it very comfortable, possibly more comfortable
than other methods, to use this method to knit. This style of knitting can mean
that you can be much faster, you can improve the speed of your knitting.
You'll get through projects and you'll feel more motivated to keep knitting. I'm
finding this awkward (laughs), and actually that's actually starting to hurt. So I
will carry on knitting along this row in the way that I find it most
comfortable and then we'll just go along the back see if I can purl while
flicking and we'll just see what happens. So that's three methods of knitting. The
first method, the English traditional, is this way and I find that most
comfortable. The second method was Continental and that's holding the yarn
in your left hand and using your fingers to create tension. And this method of
flicking - it's about holding the right hand needle from above and yes I'm
actually starting to feel that painful now I've done it a few times, and I'm
having to let go just because my thumb says
"Uh uh you're not doing that. You reckon you got a longer thumb? you reckon you got a
joint but you haven't, so stop it" (laughs). So I'm going back to my normal method and this
is the fast method. Actually this is also called the American fast knitting method.
I've seen it advertised as a DVD: 'Learn The American Fast Method Of Knitting', and
basically it's teaching you to hold the needle in the crook of your thumb and
your forefinger so that (a) you can see what you're doing and so that (b) you don't
have to let go of the needle so much when you're throwing the yarn around the
end of the needle. There you go, three methods of knitting. All of them work, and
all of them work with different shapes and sizes of hands, so do what feels
right for you. Go away and practice a few. You can even go and look up some more if
you like. There is Portuguese knitting, there is Russian knitting as well, and it
really totally depends on what you choose, what you prefer. All of my courses
show me knitting in the English traditional way. That's just the way it
is because that's how I knit and all of my YouTube videos show me
knitting that way too. I find it really fast
and I find it it works totally for me. I do hope that was helpful for you. You now
understand different styles of knitting: the English tradition, the Continental and
lots of different other styles in between as well. So let me know in the
comments which way do you knit? Do you knit one way or the other way? Or do you have
a mix up? Which is more most comfortable for you? And if you're just starting to
knit have a little experiment and see which way you like to hold the needles
and the yarn. If you would like to know more about my knitting style and how I
teach knitting then come over and have a look at my website knitwithhannah.co.uk
You'll find that I have a Beginner's Knit and Natter all set up, ready to go.
We're in the Facebook group having fun already. We are going to do live Q&A
calls as well for six weeks during January and February, so
you can ask me anything and then I can help you discover which is the most
comfortable way you want to knit and how you can move your techniques on as you
get better at knitting too. Great. Thank you so much for joining me today. I will see
you again soon I hope. Bye for now. Happy Knitting! (outro)
