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)