Archive for the ‘Knitting’ Category
Knitting Back
Not a practical substitute for all purling needs, but fine for working stockinette stitch. This produces the same exact stitch as the purl stitch, it just does it with the knit side still facing you. This is a great method if you are working a narrow piece of knitting, as when doing Entrelac, and are tired of having to turn the work every five stitches. With this method you can work a whole entrelac piece without turning the work! The limitation of this stitch is that you can’t alternate it in the row with knitting, like to do ribbing. Well, you could I suppose, but you’d have to turn the workbetween every stitch, or learn how to purl backwards, too! (I know, it makes me dizzy just to think about it!)
This may look like “Left Handed Knitting,” but you wrap the yarn the other way for that method.
Combined Purling Method
This method produces a true purl stitch, but there is one important distinction: because the yarn is wrapped around the needle clockwise instead of the more common counter clockwise, the resulting stitch is oriented differently on the needle, and must then be worked slightly differently on the following round than would a knit stitch.
I’ve been told that this is an excellent method for knitting without looking (a good knitting method for blind knitters or those with poor eye site?), because you can feel whether you’ve come to a knit or purl stitch, because they’re oriented differently on the needle.
Another reason this method can be appealing, is that because the yarn is held in the left hand, it has the speed advantage of Continental purling, and many people find it easier to manipulate than Continental.
One must be aware, however, that directions on standard patterns need to be adapted to accommodate the different stitch orientation. Decreases and increases, and other stitch directions, need to be done differently than described in a pattern, or the stitches need to be re-oriented before executing them.
Continental Method
Yarn is held in left hand. The middlefinger (or index finger) is used to push the yarn down and to the right, to where the right needle can easily push it back through the stitch. This method requires the fewest hand movements of any purl method, and is consequently the fastest (with the exception, perhaps, of the “Combined Knitting Method” of purling–see below). It is quite a feat of agility to execute this method, and is invariably awkward at first. I hope you’ll give it a try, though. It has the potential to become fluid enough to be enjoyable. This is the method I use in the Continental purl videos on this site. Videos where the yarn is held in the left hand, all have a pink icon
This method of purling, when combined with Continental Knitting, makes for a very fast ribbing. Here’s a fast-paced demonstration of Knit 1, Purl 1 ribbing worked with these methods:
