Posts Tagged ‘Portuguese Knitting’
Welcome to New Knitters, All Knitters, Male Knitters, and BTW, Try The Portuguese Knitting Style
September 19, 2009 | 
Author Hello! My aim with this blog is to share useful tips and discoveries I make as I learn more and more about knitting. I’m a guy, so I urge guys to knit and everyone to nudge the men they know to learn to knit.
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Especially for anyone who thinks knitting is hard, please try the Portuguese knitting method. It’s easy to master and fast. When I get going I can do a stitch a second. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Portuguese Knitting, Techniques | 
Tags: knitting pendant, portugal, Portuguese Knitting | 
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Portuguese Knitting Tip: How Not to Knit Under Your Nose
One oddity about Portuguese Knitting (PK) is that as you knit you use up the yarn coming from your pin or from your neck. Gradually your WIP rises and rises and ends up closer and closer to your face and you have to pause to pull more yarn into the space between you and your needles. We would rather keep the work flowing smoothly and at a comfortable distance. So as you practice PK you will want to spend some time focusing on how to advance your working yarn.
One thing I do is build in a little tug with my left thumb while I’m flicking the yarn over the needle. In my right hand I control the yarn by going under my index finger, over my middle finger, under my ring finger and over and fully around my pinkie to help keep the tension. When I need to advance the yarn just lifting my pinkie up a bit loosens the brakes on the strand and if I do this when I tug with my left thumb it works out fine.
Experiment and practice and you will find a way that works for you to make your PK flow smoother.
If you need videos on PK check out the links I have in the Information box on the right. Thanks for stopping by.
- Eric
Learn to avoid the dreaded Portuguese Tug-o-War!
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Knitting Cables: An Excellent Alternate Way
In perusing the ravelry.com cable knitting groups I found a thread “defending the lowly cable needle”. I have no doubt each of us will have our preference for working cables. Some are adept and doing it with an old fashioned cable needle as instructed in the patterns, to “let the cable needle hang to the front/back” while knitting the other stitches. Some people are scared of cables, but I’ve found there are other ways that may be easier and a lot less scarier. I really like the look of cables so was very frustrated trying to do it the more common ways, so I kept looking and thinking, with good results.
One way I came up with recently is outlined in the post A New And Better Way To Knit Cables. It uses a crochet hook in the right hand along with the right needle, and can be used with any knitting style. While posting to groups about this discovery I found the thread mentioned above and in it Lynne from Great Britain, who goes by the ravelry.com name Mini-mum, tells about her way of doing cables. She has been knitting for over 40 years and is quite adept at cables. Her techniques is also great, and it will work fine for English and Portuguese styles of knitting but it won’t work for continental or eastern/combined knittiers as it requires you to hold a third needle in your left hand while knitting, and that’s where they hold their yarn. If you use continental or eastern/combined (or English or Portuguese) then try my way with a crochet hook, or try the pinch methods.
Lynne says,
“I normally use slick nickel plated needles for knitting with. I love them. However, I find it helps to use a bamboo (third needle) as it clings to the knitting better and doesn’t slip around ‘without permission’.
Definitely use a bamboo needle. Lynne uses a spare dpn herself. I went to Joann’s and got a set of #4 straight knitting needles by Clover for use with most of my cable knitting. I figure that size will be easy to get into loops for several sizes upwards of that, and the smaller size doesn’t matter relative to the needles you are knitting with as your right needle determines your gauge. I’ll probably get a set of #1s for when I do socks, now that I see this method works fine, although considering the tight workspace of sock knitting I may go with my crochet hook method. I’ll have to do some tests.
HOLDING THE THIRD NEEDLE
Lynne writes,
“The (third needle) is not exactly parallel as my left index finger is in between the two needles to keep them apart, otherwise it would get in the way of knitting.”
“The (third) needle is held in my left hand, parallel to the left hand needle. I don’t move it unless it’s to roll it over the LH needle to the front (for a right twist cable) rather than the back (for a left twist cable). I don’t drop it, I don’t put it down, I just flick it out of the way, between other fingers, but bear in mind that I enjoy cable projects that have a lot of cables in them, not just every few rows.”
This pic shows how I tried holding the third needle. It also shows Max noticing the bamboo needle.
Experiment with holding the third needle while knitting. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted in Knitting Cables | Tags: cables, Cat picture, dpns, needles, Portuguese Knitting | No Comments »
A Better Way to Knit Cables? Give ‘em a Right Hook!
I have been learning to knit over the last two months. When I first really looked into knitting and found some great books at the stores I was very excited about cables, for one thing. Cable knit garments looked so odd – not that I had never seen them before. It was just cool that you could do that with knitting, what with all the patterns you could make moving the cables left and right.
Then I tried doing cables. Not so much fun. Using a cable needle was a bit cumbersome. A couple of times, with my slippery nickel plated Options needles I have lost loops off my left or right needle in the process and had to restrain my panic as I prayed to the knitting angels that I could retrieve them. Maybe cables should be done on bamboo by default, I thought. No.
Then I discovered, as in a recent post, that you can do cables without needles in a sort of pinch and switch method. I’ve experimented with this and while it sure looks easy on video, and maybe is easier with larger needles, for a tighter knit on smaller needles it is more precarious than using a cable needle. I thought there had to be a better way.
I had come across a cable thimble on another web site and wondered if that would be a useful tool, but found no instructions on how to use it. I tried making one myself with wire, but still couldn’t figure it out. Plus, the little cable thimble sells for about 10.00 USD and that wasn’t worth it.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I am starting my Fountains pattern scarf in red superwash by Cascade. Well, after all the above experimentation, struggling with the pinch and switch method, I just about quit last night. I all but ripped it out. I even decided on another pattern called “lighted torches” that doesn’t have any cable crossovers.
Then an impression came into my mine, and image from the Angels of knitting: use a crochet hook held in the right hand along with the right needle to temporarily hold the outer loops while doing the swap with the inner loops. So I tried it this morning with a crochet hook and it worked! It was much easier to manage the switcheroo of the loop sets. No struggling with the tightness of the loops, no fear of losing loops, and it seemed quicker to do.
Here’s how to do cables this way. You are ready to do your crossover. Let’s say it is a three plus three crossover. I chose a crochet hook to give me the extra security for the loops in limbo, and it keeps the loops from closing down. Use a crochet hook that is a size or two smaller than your knitting needle – this makes the loop transfers a bit easier. I used a size 5 hook with a size 6 needle. Hold the crochet hook along side the right needle. If your instructions say to hang the cable needle in the back, then put the crochet needle in back of your right needle and in front if it says to hang the cable needle in front.
The switcheroo with the loop sets on the right needle and hook, ready to be moved back to the left. And Max makes an appearance as well at the upper right. I was using his needles.
Use the crochet hook to pick up the first three (outer) loops off the tip of the left needle. Then slip the next three (inner) loops from the left needle to the right needle. Now slip the outer loops from the crochet hook back to the left needle, and lastly use the left needle to pick up the three loops you slipped to the right needle. Now you are ready to just resume knitting.
Summary of the switcheroo:
1. Slip first set of loops from left needle to crochet hook at the back or front of the right needle per your pattern instructions.
2. Slip second set of loops to the right needle.
3. Slip first set of loops from crochet hook to the left needle.
4. Drop the crochet hook when it’s empty.
5. Slip second set of loops back to the left needle. All loops have been returned to the left needle.
6. Knit the loops.
7. Get up and dance around.
As you can see, it’s a good bit different from using a cable needle. The hook is used to rearrange the loops before knitting them and is not let go of until the loops are rearranged. Then you drop it and knit all the loops for the crossover without interruption. With a cable needle you transfer the first half to the cn, knit the other half, knit the first half off the cable needle. In any case, this way seem less clumsy and more secure as I don’t ever loosen my grip on the left needle. I’ve had my left needle slip out of loops while working with the cable needle.
So now the world is a better place. We can cable without fear. I just knew that scarf was not going to be fun until this idea came to me. I just hope it makes cables easier for some as it has for me.
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Portuguese Knitting Tips: Let the Needle Do It.
(To learn more about Portuguese knitting follow the link to the youtube videos in Information box on the right, further down the page, or visit andreawongknits.com to order her DVDs.)
Hi,
As I practice more with Portuguese knitting, becoming more aware of the rhythm and movements and reading my stitches, I’m finding ways to refine my knitting technique. I also found I was getting into a bad habit of “nursing” the yarn as I work a stitch, meaning using my index fingers to secure, hold and manipulate the yarn and loops rather than trusting the right needle tip to move the yarn. I realized part of this was due to a flaw in my technique where I was pulling the yarn to the right for purls and left for knits, trying to keep the right needle in front of the left, and this left the yarn at an insecure position, so I felt I needed to hold it with my fingers.
Fortunately that was easy to remedy. In Portuguese knitting you do insert the right needle through the front loops and bring it up between you and the left needle to pick up the yarn. My error was thinking I had to push the right needle to the left or right and then up on top of the left needle – my side of it – to finish the stitch. Again, this is the wrong trajectory and doesn’t hold the yarn securely. So I forced myself not to use my index fingers to stabilize the yarn and loops and this forced me to discover how to do it right.
For purling, you insert the right needle from the left and up in front of the left, then flick the yarn around the needle with your left thumb, then PUSH the right needle under and back and slightly to the right – diagonally away to the right as if toward where your right knee would normally be. Moving in this direction keeps the yarn on the needle tip and there’s no need to use your fingers to secure it. For knit stitches it’s the reverse direction you want to go. Pull the new loop you are making toward your left bicep, more or less.
(Remember that the essential difference between knit and purl stitches is that in a knit stitch you pull a new loop toward you and in purling you push a new loop away from you. Knowing this also makes it easier to read your stitches and know what you need to do next or how to fix what you just did!)
By refining my technique in this way I find it’s not only easier but my knitting fluidity and speed have increased significantly.
Thanks for stopping in to the blog today!
- Eric
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Portuguese Knitting DVD Arrives
Just got the Andrea Wong Portuguese Knitting DVD and it is great. Plays fine in my computer – someone said it wouldn’t play on any of her DVD players. I tried it on my Sanyo DVD player for my TV and it works fine.
This is great! As I was first attempting – literally – to get a grip in knitting I kept thinking I needed to be an octopus to knit. Controlling the yarn tension and moving the yarn around the needle in the continental or English style of knitting is insanity-making for me, and probably for many newcomers. But I bet that even seasoned knitters would love this just for watching a few seconds of the lessons in Portuguese knitting.
The stitches are fluid and simple, and the knitting pin controls both the trajectory and tension of the yarn just so beautifully. From knit to pearl you don’t have to move the yarn from back to front, but with a flick of your thumb you move it to be over or under the right needle depending on what stitch you are doing. In effect, this puts it behind or in front, but as the yarn is always coming from your pin or pendant its still easier than moving front to back or back to front as in other styles.
I’ve only watched a minute or two and felt the tension leaving my body. I feel so much better about learning to knitting. I admit, I’ve barely learned the knit and pearl stitches English style and have hated every minute of it. Now I’m free! You’ve got to learn this method!
Sunday I joined Netflix to get the knitting dvd they had and it arrived yesterday, but I may not even bother with it. It is called Knit Stitches in Motion. I guess I should see if there’s anything on it that is generally useful, or maybe patterns. I’ll let you know. (UPDATE: not worth your time, even for learning other styles.)
Again, I haven’t watched much yet, but I’ve heard that they also use hooked knitting needles sometimes as well. That would be handy as well, but it looks like if done right you wouldn’t need them. I may modify a pair of my bamboo units to see how that works. I fiddled with knitting with a couple of crochet hooks and it was a lot easier to control the yarn, but that was with English style. I didn’t need to fret about losing the yarn off the tips of the needles when pulling it through the stitch. In Portuguese knitting the angle of the needles and the yarn almost guarantee you won’t lose it. Yea!
I’m thinking of starting a movement to have continental and English styles banned and all the books burned. Memory and mention of them should be removed from all books and web sites, like how Rameses removed the name of Moses from all monuments in Egypt! Just kidding of course. But that’s how much I like the Portuguese style of knitting. It was so much easier to learn. Give it a try.
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