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Friday, February 01, 2008

Weirdo Knitter

Last night I went to the LYS and sat in on a knit in. I would never generally go to the store because there is alot of animal fiber in there and of course my allergies go haywire, but I wanted to get a feel for the shop owner and instructor because I'd like to take an Entrelac class and I thought this was the best way to check out the atmosphere. What I found out is that I'm a weirdo knitter, I knit English style when I do a knt stitch and I throw the yarn so I was told and Continental when I purl and I don't even hold the yarn behind the project on the purl but in front and I do it backwards looping over and around insted of under and around. Trust me everyone was staring and commenting on this weirdo way I knit. I'm not really shy, but I don't like to be stared at, it's uncomfortable, add to this commentary and I was beet red and I started getting nervous which didn't help the knitting and being a newbie, this really rocked my confidence to a nano byte.


I explained that I am self taught with books, internet videos amazing blog knitters and some yahoo group help, I was met with open mouths and raised eyebrows. They tried to correct my hands, my holding of yarn and the position of my needles, after all this instruction, I couldn't knit not one stitch and I've been knitting really quick in weirdo, I'm confused, my knitting looks like everyone elses in the end so why is my method so appauling? I couldn't ask this bunch of snoberettes so.... needless to say I don't think I will learn Entrelac.... at least not in this shop and God only knows I have a very limited source of LYS, the next closest place is 20 miles, which translate in our traffic time to 45 mins to an hour commute after work, shall we say NOT HAPPENING.


So if anyone has an internet video, or book I can get, so that I can see how it's done and convert it in to weirdo, then please let me know I'll appreciate it.


On the baby blanket, I have finished the (torture) mitered squares and have begun to put them together, once I have one side attached to each other I plan to pick up the stitches and start striping. I got a stripe pattern from here which is a great help, I don't remember how I got to that webpage but I'm sure it was reading someone else's blog.


I don't have any new pics of projects but I can leave you with what Miami looks like today

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't feel bad, I've been knitting in an apparently weird way for 30 years - your purl sounds perfectly normal to me, I'm pretty sure that's how we got taught to do it in second grade (continental Europe). People comment when they see me hold my needle under my right arm. But heck, it's not like their finished product looks better than mine!
I have a fiddler friend who constantly gets remarks that she holds her bow totally wrong.
Never mind that she's an award-winning million-selling musician who plays with a well-respected Irish band. I'd say she holds that bow just right.
Don't let them intimidate you!

KansasA said...

OOOOOO I hate when people do that! Who's to say what is the right or wrong way, maybe they were all taught the "wrong" way? LOL Nah, I would say they were taught differently than you and as long as the finished item looks the same then to heck with them! Sorry to be laughing but I keep picturing Stepford Wives all sitting in a perfect row, all holding needles exactly the same, all dressed the same, etc...., you get the picture :)

Anonymous said...

There is no "wrong way" to knit. If it works for you and it makes the fabric you want then it's the right way. Don't let them get you you.

Oh yeah - since you aren't getting my emails - please remove my picture from the homepage of the rhlooms group.

Thanks
C

Leigh said...

Oh gosh, what a discouraging experience. Some fiber folks are absolutely the greatest, but others seem to have their sole sense of self importance wrapped up in their own expertise. Shame.

I'm self taught too. The video I used was Knitting from Start to Finish because it was available at my public library. It was excellent and now also comes in DVD.

However, there are some free online videos over at KnittingHelp.com. Hopefully these will be a good place to start. They cover both types of knitting.

Just hang in there! When the item is finished, no one has a clue as to how you knitted it. And actually, it's none of their business anyway.

DEEP END OF THE LOOM said...

Thank for the encouragement, I appreciate it. :)

Anonymous said...

Check out Annie's site, she teaches classes on the way you knit: http://www.modeknit.com/
There is no right or wrong way to knit, as you say, the results are the same, that is all that matters. :)