Posts Tagged ‘Portuguese Knitting’
Understanding Eastern Knitting and Western Knitting Styles and Knitting Faster
January 6, 2012 | 
Author Understanding Eastern Knitting and Western Knitting Styles and Knitting Fast
In this article I will explain the difference between the Eastern and Western styles of knitting and how not to get confused. There will be some instruction in how to do them, yet while this is not so much a knitting lesson, what you learn here may be of great use to the beginner or transitioner. Read the rest of this entry »
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Don’t Hurt Your Wrists: Large Needles and Portuguese Knitting Caution
Hey there. I just wanted to let you know what I’m finding out as I work on a scarf using super bulky yarn on US 15 metal needles. The taper on the tips of these needles is kind of long, and what I’m finding is that it has me moving my hand sideways at the wrist in both directions more than on smaller needles, resulting in significant soreness in short order. I think it’s in part due to using the Portuguese style of knitting combined with these big needles.
It would take a lot of attention to make myself not do that movement. I even restarted the scarf on #13 needles in metal but they are also long tapered. My Knitpicks circulars have a shorter taper and were better, but still had me worried. So I’m using my bamboo 13s which have an ever shorter taper – altered by me last year – and paying attention. I also needed the longer needles as it was hard to do the cables fast on the circulars.
It may be that I’m a bit knitted out after xmas, having done five scarves and two shawls. I wasn’t sore when I finished them, but now I’m getting sore. Be careful and don’t think you can tough it out. If you get sore, give it a rest. I know this may seem insane, but you do not have to knit all the time.
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Knit Better Ribbing When Designing Projects
I almost always try to modify patterns or design my own stuff. I can rarely do something as designed, and when it comes to knit ribbing my experience is that where it asks for p1k1 ribbing I know that will just not pull in very tightly. I’m currently looking for a pattern for fingerless hand warmers things and I want them to hug my hands, or the hands of whomever I’m making them for. That way sizing is not such an issue. They size themselves.
One pattern I found has some nice cables along the wrist and at the knuckles but nothing on the back of the hands, and the whole thing is done in p1k4 ribbing, which doesn’t make sense to me either. So if I use that one I will certainly reverse the locations of the cabling and switch it to p2k2 ribbing at the wrist and knuckles. I will probably change the cables to two columns crossing instead of four, or maybe find a way to transition from the ribbing to four column cables.
So be brave and smart. Try swatches of the p1k1 and p2k2 ribbing and you will see the difference.
By the way, I know ribbing can be a bother in English or Continental knitting styles, but it’s pretty easy in Portuguese knitting style. Portuguese knitting is pretty easy to learn and I always use it for ribbing or any pattern that has a mix of purls and knits. There are a few tricks, which I write about on this blog, so check it out.
Related articles
- Projects ” How-To’s ” Quick Knit Wrist Warmers (cutoutandkeep.net)
- Projects ” Creations ” Fingerless Mittens (cutoutandkeep.net)
- A Bunch of Scarves, Some Cable Knit, and a Shawl (knitforbrains.net)
- Fixing and Preventing Ladders after Cables (knitforbrains.net)
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Knit A Scarf – Fast!
I made this scarf recently for a gift and it turned out great. This is a squishy, loose-knit scarf and the pattern is reversible, and looks good for a man or woman depending on the color you use. You may be able to finish it in three hours or less.
There is another, newer free pattern with a hat here http://knitforbrains.net/patterns/fast-knit-manly-geometric-hat-and-scarf-but-she-likes-it-too-free-pattern/ and a Faux Cable hat here http://knitforbrains.net/?p=960
By the way, sorry I haven’t posted much lately here. I grew a handlebar moustache this summer (2010) and have been doing a lot of blogging for that at www.handlebarmoustachelife.com. Take a look.
For this scarf use just one skein of Lion Brand Thick and Quick Yarn or another yarn just as thick and long (108 yards or 98 meters) – or even multiple strands of Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Uncategorized | 
Tags: Arts, Casting on (knitting), christmas gift idea, Crafts, dragon, dragon scale, dragon scale knitting pattern, dragon scale scarf, easy scarf pattern, knit a scarf, knit a scarf fast, Knitting, Knitting and Crochet, knitting pattern, Lion Brand, Pattern, Portuguese Knitting, scarf, Wool-ease, yarn | 
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The Secret of Correct Yarn-overs in Portuguese Knitting
Posted in Techniques | Tags: eastern european knitting, knitted lace, Knitting, knitting lace, lace, Portuguese Knitting, twisted stitches, yarn-over, yarnover, yo | No Comments »
Knitting Backwards Without Twisting Stitches
A subscriber to this blog, a gentleman from Oregon, asked me how not to twist stitches when knitting backwards and forwards, meaning without turning the work. Without careful examination it’s easy to mess up. This article will give you an exact understanding of loops and what they do when you do things to them.
This will also help you understand what it means in any instructions when you are told to “knit into the back of the loop,” which is a rather hazy instruction if you ask me.
While knitting backwards is certainly a challenge to one’s skills I think Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Techniques | Tags: eastern european knitting, Knitting, knitting pendant, Oregon, Portuguese Knitting | No Comments »
Worsted Weight Socks That Don’t Hurt
I’ve worn my share of heavy socks and found that its like walking on beads or gravel. If you are tender footed like me and need heavy socks for cold weather you know they are a bit uncomfortable, especially when you first start walking around in them. It feels like something is gnawing at your soles. Even after you get used to it the irritation is still Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Techniques, The Knitting Experience | Tags: continental style knitting, eastern european knitting, instep, Portuguese Knitting, Sock, Socks, sole, zen garden | No Comments »
Stranded, Multi-Color or Fair Isle Knitting Portuguese Style
Wow! I just experimented with doing two-color, fair isle knitting with the Portuguese style and it works great! Easier than I thought. I’ve seen Andrea Wong’s sock video where she demonstrates fair isle knitting on socks, but she does the second color English style, which I don’t like and it would just slow me down. If you are good at English then that might work, but you know me…
I tried it with my Portuguese knitting pendant that I invented, but with two hooks, and it worked great. No slowdown, just as fast as if I were doing just the one strand Portuguese style, and I found it was as easy to do right side and wrong side. I had seen another video on fair isle for socks using two knitting pins, but I think it was also socks and was done wrong side only…? I was afraid the yarn would tangle or something because i was turning the work but it took care of itself and I had no problems.
Now I need a fair isle project. I think I’ll go for a vest of some sort.
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Posted in Techniques | Tags: Andrea Wong, fair isle, knitting pendant, Portuguese Knitting, two-color, two-strand knitting | 2 Comments »
Starting to Knit: Starting, Starting, Starting, Starting….
I started into knitting a few months ago, teaching myself from books and videos. You would think by now that I would have knitted more than more than the one, simple Cossack hat from the Folk Hats book. No. And even that I just finished last week.
I’m an Aries. We are starters. The beginning is all important to us. Sometimes it is more important than anything that comes after the beginning, which is why completing things is a challenge. Oddly enough, we are also into speed and can be impatient. Patience and focus are important lessons for me. I’ve tended to be impatient with myself for not completing what I’ve started. So knitting is an interesting situation for me. It’s challenging me to understand my process, to understand the process that is learning, as well as the process of knitting itself.
Read the rest of this entry »
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Cool New Idea for Portuguese Knitting Pin/Hook: Make a Knitting Pendant
I was talking to my cousin Leigh about knitting one day and she mentioned she had not yet tried Portuguese Knitting (PK) yet, not having decided what to do about the pin/hook situation. She lives in hot, humid Tampa and doesn’t tend to wear garments that have much fabric up high where one would pin the PK pin for the yarn. So I suggested she use the little sock hanger idea, maybe from a short chain around her neck or a choker or such.
So today I tried that myself and it works great. Maybe better than a regular pin in that the chain I’m using has a set of beads on it that give it a little weight. So with the yarn on the sock hanger (you could use a j-hook or something more decorative, even make it a jewelry-like pendant) it kind of is suspended in the air, and hangs there on the weight of the beads as I knit. It seems to keep a nice, light tension on the working yarn.
I’ve seen Andrea on her DVD where you can hear the yarn vibrate almost like a guitar string as she flips it with her thumb. I get that as well, but when I knit with a hook or pin sitting in a fixed position on my shirt or vest there is no give or springiness to keep tension on the yarn in a flexible, self-adjusting way. I have to keep the work at the right distance and watch how I’m keeping my yarn tensioned with my right hand and arms. With the hook on a chain with beads for a little weight the tension is “managed” nicely for me by the springiness in the setup.
The one problem I’ve had with Portuguese style is that my knit stitches were always rather tight. I would have to deliberately pull the loops I was creating a bit more to open them up as I formed them. THIS HAS BEEN SOLVED by this trick with the hook on a weighted chain. I just did a few rounds on my speed practice swatch and find that now I must be sure I don’t give an extra pull when making a knit stitch or it’s too loose. Now my knit and purl stitches are all evenly tensioned and I can slide my stitches on my needles. I feel normal now. See #4 below on how to change the tension.
Here’s a picture of my first setup:
And it occurs to me that with a sock hanger you could use the second hook for a second color for color work knitting. And they are cheap! Not elegant, but cheap.
That said, I fashioned one that is more wearable as a pendant/necklace (see below). The possibliites are endless but the weight of the pendant is important, I find (see below). You could do one with a nice sterling j-hook and some cool beads on either side, or in anticipation of two color work, two hooks with beads keeping them apart.
There are a lot of nice j-hooks at www.silverenchantments.com and other places.
By the way, last night I was knitting with the sock hanger in the placket opening of my golf shirt. Turns out I wore the shirt to bed and woke up with the hanger still in place! I also accidentally wore it out to a restaurant. Oops. I think the pendant hooks necklace will be a lot less strange looking.
Notes added late 9-21-09:
More on the Portuguese knitting pendant idea:
A great thing about the knitting pendant is that as long as the pendant or beads are kept hanging in mid-air the tension on the yarn and your stitches is kept pretty much constant. I also find that the little bit of bounce from when you flick the yarn over the needle helps to advance the working yarn as you knit.
If you want something more elegant you can easily make a pendant or add a j-hook to something you have on a chain. I found an old rune pendant that I have and added a j-hook that I bought at Michael’s. It weighs 14 grams – I have a small digital fisherman’s scale I use for weighing balls of yarn. The beaded necklace you saw with the sock hanger on weighs 15 grams.
Here’s the one I made with a metal pendant:
The rune on the pendant means "completion" - good for knitting.
IMPORTANT: You can experiment and see what weight produces the best tension for you. I tried a pendant weighing thirty grams and found it made my knit stitch tension to tight again. Twenty grams also made knit stitches tighter than I like on bamboo with acrylic yarn but might be okay on metal needles.
After more research I’ve found the critical elements are:
1. Pendant weight of about 15 grams. Mine is 14 grams.
2. Chain/cord length of 24 inches.
3. When knitting, keep the angle between the cord and your yarn between about 150 degrees and 170 degrees, meaning its closer to a flat angle as you work so the weight of the pendant can have full effect and “bounce”. This keeps your loops on your needle tips and draws the loops on the needles closed.
UPDATE:
4. If your resulting tension is too tight, as it tends to be for me on knit stitches, allow the pendant to be closer to your chest (let it hang lower so the angle is smaller, more toward 90-120 degrees). This will reduce the pull on the yarn. If your tension is too loose, keep the pendant higher in the air and this will effectively increase the pull a little to tighten up the loops. Totally adjustable tension!
Remember that this tool will aid you in moderating your tension. For knit stitches you will allow the pendant to hang a bit lower, and that will loosen them up. For purl stitches you would pull out a bit more to lift the pendant and increase the relative tension a tiny bit over the knit stitch. With mixed stitches it doesn’t seem to matter. So the pendant won’t fix your tension without a little involvement from you. It gives you a way to moderate it. If the yarn is on a pin or around your neck you don’t have much range to apply more or less tension. The pendant acts like a spring so you can “cushion” your tension on the knit stitches in particular. Pulling it out more on the purl side will make it more akin to a pin, using up the springiness. Relaxing the pendant will reduce the tension on the knit stitches. Practice before you do any serious project.
On that note you might want to make a pendant set with easily removed charms or such so you can vary the weight as you experiment to find the right weight. If you don’t have a digital scale note that for reference a USA nickel weighs approximately five grams.
And here is my version for stranded knitting:
This is what I made for fair isle work.
I don’t have the exact weight of the pendant but it felt about the same as my single strand version. Worked great. Those are carnelian beads. If you make one with such beads be aware that with all the bouncing that over time the wire cord you use will wear through and the strand is likely to break, so this is not necessarily the best design unless you want to periodically restring your necklace to prevent surprises.
Added 10-13-09: And here’s a budget version you can make. I bought a pair of flipflops to day and they came on this plastic clip. It could be used in a similar way. Just hang it on a chain or string with a loop to keep it centered. You will need to add some weight though, as this is very light. Here’s the pic:
Flip-flop sandal clip from store.
(May I suggest you subscribe to the RSS feed for this blog as often update it with new discoveries, as I have above in this post about the Portuguese knitting pendant.)
- Eric
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Posted in Products and Tools, Techniques, Updated Since Posted | Tags: knitting pendant, Portuguese Knitting, tools | 8 Comments »
