Thursday, June 22, 2006

How do I knit?

This past Sunday, I took a class on continental knitting at Springwater Fibers in Alexandria. Now, I've got to tell you, I was very enthusiastic for class but I walked away from the class REALLY REALLY skeptical. I think it's due to the fact that continental knitting is supposed to be faster and more efficient. The thing is that just from the way I am, I always try to maximize efficiency in my movements. When I knit English style, I don't really move my hands much, other than to move the yarn over the needle. With the continental style, my hands have to open and close. And because the yarn is held in my left hand and my left hand really isn't all that mobile, I'm slower in tensioning and controlling. Due to this fact, while for most people, doing ribbing becomes a lot easier, I don't think I would find this to be true for me. Boo. Seriously, I study my movements. I mean, it all comes back down to that first theorm you learned in geometry class: "The shortest distance between 2 points is a straight line." I try not to to expend extra unnecessary effort. Yes I am that lazy. But that's what makes me good at what I do.
But I have started the Somewhat Cowl to see how this goes. I shall report in periodically. It's been a long week and I finally have a moment to breathe, so I think I'm going to hop into bed early and go knit some more on the sweater.

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