Day 38, #CowParade project
When I first learned how to knit – many decades ago as a child – knitting needles were long metal rods. If there were circular needles in 1970, I never saw them.
My grandmother’s best friend taught me first crochet, then knitting. What I didn’t realize until years later was that she taught me Continental style rather than the more typical (in the US at the time) English style. The difference between them is which hand you hold the yarn in. Continental is the same as crochet – yarn is held tensioned in the left hand and you scoop or pick it up with the right hand needle.
With English style, you hold the yarn in the right hand and throw it over the right needle.
Years ago, I taught myself how to do English style, so now when I knit colorwork, I hold one color in each hand and pick or throw that color as needed. I’ll try to get a video of what that looks like for the next update.
I haven’t knit with long metal needles in years. Even when knitting flat, (back and forth) it’s so much easier on the hands using circular needles. I love my interchangeable circulars. Multiple sizes of needle tips screw on to wires to make the length needed.
Which brings me back to the first photo and the ‘oops’. My cord broke while I was knitting and detached itself from the needle, pulling through a bunch of stitches.
Luckily, Icelandic wool is very ‘sticky’ and doesn’t easily unravel. I was able to get another cord and knit it all back. It was my favorite cord – marked along the length with inches and it didn’t twist. I think the weight of the sweater just did it in.
