Knitting injuries: The Ordinary Knitter – episode 38

The Ordinary Knitter Podcast
Knitting
Knitting injuries: The Ordinary Knitter - episode 38
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Knitting injuriesWelcome to episode 38 of The Ordinary Knitter, the knitting podcast that’s (mostly) about the projects. My name is Heather and I’m @theordknitter on Twitter, @theordinaryknitter on Instagram and @ordinaryknitting on Ravelry. This week: knitting injuries, the end is in sight for Ivy, new projects mean new yarn, knitting superstitions and other odds and ends.

Ft knitting patterns:

Ft knitting videos:

Ft yarn:

Stylecraft Special Aran: Midnight and Aster

Ft programmes:

Knitting Injuries

I don’t mean stabbing yourself with a knitting needle, though it’s easily done if you’re holding needles and reaching for things. I’m talking about the aches and pains we bring on ourselves through posture, knitting action and prolonged knitting sessions. The first time I knitted socks I used double pointed needles and lost the feeling in a couple of fingers for a few days. I found that very alarming but didn’t let it put me off! See where that’s led with sock knitting and maybe I should have learnt then.

Recently I found my left hand starting to ache in the index finger and thumb. I was doing lots of straight stocking stitch with my cack-handed purling technique that uses my left hand. I’d assumed that my strange technique of knitting with my ight hand and purling with my left would spread the strain evenly across both hands and be a good thing, but there must be something so egregious in my purling technique that my left hand couldn’t take it after a few hours (!).

As I tried to ignore the ache, I was listening to Staci Perry’s Very Pink podcast titled Knitting Aches and Pains – give it a listen for some good info from a specialist.

 

 

 

Fair Isle: The Ordinary Knitter – episode 33

The Ordinary Knitter Podcast
The Ordinary Knitter
Fair Isle: The Ordinary Knitter - episode 33
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Fair IsleWelcome to episode 33 of The Ordinary Knitter, the knitting podcast that’s (mostly) about the projects. My name is Heather and I’m @theordknitter on Twitter, @theordinaryknitter on Instagram and @ordinaryknitting on Ravelry. This week: The Beeb’s new Fair Isle programme, failing to keep presents secret, Mistake Braid socks, what to make with 4 ply and introducing New to Me, a new section that mentions new knitting discoveries I make. Apologies for getting so over-excited about the One Cable Mitt reveal – I think you had to be there.

Ft podcasts:

Ft knitting patterns:

Ft knitting books:

Ft yarns:

New to Me

ChiaoGoo needles, as featured on Twitter’s #knittinghour.

Fair Isle

You know that’s actually a place and not just a technique, right? I long to do some Fair Isle knitting (or my own poor stab at it) but haven’t yet had the right opportunity to prioritise a Fair Isle pattern over everything else. The BBC has recently started broadcasting a series about life on Fair Isle and it’s fantastic – I insist you watch it. I’ve really been surprised at how central knitting is to life on the Island. Time to knit is worked into the day and selling the finished articles is vital to the island economy. I was particularly struck by the value that’s placed on the knitting. Proper prices are charged for items that have taken hours of skill to create. It was heart-warming to see and long may it continue.

Music credit:

“Carpe Diem” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Cabling without a needle: The Ordinary Knitter – episode 31

The Ordinary Knitter Podcast
Knitting
Cabling without a needle: The Ordinary Knitter - episode 31
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cabling without a needleWelcome to episode 31 of The Ordinary Knitter, the knitting podcast that’s (mostly) about the projects. My name is Heather and I’m @theordknitter on Twitter, @theordinaryknitter on Instagram and @ordinaryknitting on Ravelry. This week: cabling without a needle, Little Houndales Wristwarmers, projects for 4 ply, more Capitan hats, and KnitPro cubics. I’ll be making a big effort to get this this pod online rather quicker than I did the last! Guess what? The buzz is back. I think my headphones with built-in microphone might be starting to show their age.

Ft knitting patterns:

Cabling without a needle

I’ve done a fair bit of cabling recently, between the To the Sea jumper, several Capitan Hats and the Ivy wrap top. I like cables and have no objection to knitting them, but if the cable section recurs frequently it can become quite fiddly swapping between regular needles and the cable needle all the time. Ivy’s twisted rib cuff is a great example of this, so I tried cabling without a needle (a cable needle, that is – obviously I used knitting needles) and it went really really well. It helps that the ‘pulled across’ stitch on Ivy is a big loop that’s been slipped for the last few rounds so it won’t be pulled out by the merest movement of your piece.

The principle of cabling is that you rearrange the stitches on the needle and then knit them as normal. It does mean that there are live stitches off the needles briefly while you line everything up but as long as you’re gentle with the piece you should avoid disaster. It does depend on the project and the yarn though. It hasn’t gone so well on the Capitan that I’m working on just now so I’ve given in an used an old DPN. I’ll be interested to see how it goes with the next cable project and different yarns.


Music credit:

“Carpe Diem” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Fleegle heel: The Ordinary Knitter, episode 22

The Ordinary Knitter Podcast
The Ordinary Knitter
Fleegle heel: The Ordinary Knitter, episode 22
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img_20160914_124615Welcome to The Ordinary Knitter, a knitting podcast discussing projects, yarns and patterns. This week: Knits for Children and their Teddies, Soul Garden Socks and the virtues of the fleegle heel, setting yourself knitting targets and flying along with the Capitan hat.

Ft knitting patterns:

Ft knitting books:

Ft knitting tutorials:

Fleegle heel:

fleegle heel
You can’t see it, but these Soul Garden Socks have a fleegle heel

Looking at my Ravelry history, the first time I used the fleegle heel was in May 2013 when I embarked on over-the-knee socks as a birthday present for a friend of mine. It wasn’t there to stay at that stage though as I went on to knit other socks that didn’t use it, but by October that year it was my firm favourite – probably because having used it I then went back to the other method for different socks and found it just didn’t compare.

What do I love about the Fleegle heel? Two main things I think. Firstly I like the shape it gives and secondly there’s no picking up. I never found that really worked out as well as I wanted, and it’s left me with a residual feeling that I’m a bit crap at picking up, no matter what sort of item I’m knitting. It’s a satisfying method to use, and once you get your confidence in knowing where the gap is, you’re away. I don’t need to count any more as the gap is now so obvious to me.

The finished sock looks neat and the heel shape fits my husband. I can’t see any reason to change away from it. It’s the polar opposite of the afterthought/forethought heel I tried a few months ago – no fuss, nice shape. Try it if you haven’t yet, and let me know what you think.