In this article we are going to give you some tips and advice on how to hold your work when knitting. It includes some general advice as well as some of the common problems people face and what to do if you are left handed. It is very important to hold your knitting in the right way, both for the quality of the work and also for your comfort.
General Advice
There are some common things to think about when you begin knitting and if you follow them they will significantly help with your comfort:
1. Make sure you sit in a comfortable position and are not slumping, this will help to make your knitting a much more pleasant and pain free hobby.
2. Light is very important. Make sure you have enough so that you do not need to strain to see your work. The darker the yarn the more light you will need to see accurately.
3. Remember to relax. The needles should sit comfortably in your hands and you do not need to grip them tightly.
4. Make sure both hands are working and that you are not leaving it all to one hand or the other.
5. To make life easier you should keep your thumbs and fingers as close to the tips of the needles as possible. This will mean that they only need to move a small distance and so keep work to minimum.
6. Keep your stitches as close to the tips of the needle as possible without dropping them. This will enable you to prevent stretching of the work and also make life easier when performing your stitches.
Common Problems
There are a number of things that many people suffer from and so it is important to consider them so that if you do experience them you are able to correct them.
1. Working Slowly - many people find that they work very slowly and this can be due to a number of reasons including the fact that your fingers and thumbs or the stitches are too far away from the tips of the needles. Also you may not have the needles under full control or you could be doing all the work with only one needle. Finally it could be the equipment you are using and the tips of the needles are very long and blunt. Keep an eye on how you are working and if any of these apply to you then adjust your style to improve the situation.
2. Dropping Stitches - this is something that a lot of beginner knitters suffer from and it can be caused by holding the stitches too close to the tip of the needle or the fact that your knitting is too loose. You can also drop stitches if you do not keep both needles in your hands all of the time. You should also look at how you are holding the right hand needle. Problems can be caused if you hold it like a pen and all the stitches are bunched up close to the tip.
3. Left Edge too Long - some people may find that the left edge of their work is longer than the right edge which can cause big problems when you are making a garment. This is often caused by a lack of control when you start your purl row as it is not as easy as knit. The best way to counter this is to pull the first purl stitch tighter. If you get this on the other edge as well then apply the same rule when you start your knit row.
4. Purl Stitches too Big - some knitters find that their purl stitches are larger than their knit stitches which can give a stripy look to their work. You should spend time practising tightening the purl stitches and loosening the knit ones for a more even effect. Also if you are working in stocking stitch you could use a small needle for the purl row than you use for the knit one.
5. Uneven work - a very common problem is uneven work so that your stitch size is not consistent. This can be caused by holding the needle like a pen or regularly dropping the needles or yarn. It can also be caused by varying the distance that you work stitches form the tip of the needle, having needles with long tips of holding the needles a long distance from the tips. If this happens you should assess your style and adapt things to make them more regular.
6. Aches and Pains - if you suffer from these and they are caused by your knitting then you need to address them as soon as possible. Make sure you sit in a comfortable position and do not lean forward over your work. Also do your best to relax your hands and this will stop them from cramping up and aching.
Left Handed Knitters
Just a quick word on this as I myself am a left handed knitter. It is important to remember that knitting uses both hands and when you are learning it is a new skill whichever hand you write with. I have learnt to knit the same way a right handed person would which means I can follow all instructions as they are written. I would advise any left handed person to do the same and there will be no problems.