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moxie
Seriously Hooked
844 Posts |
 Posted - 04/22/2003 : 3:20:54 PM
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While we're talking about knitting in public, with people looking at us, how about knitting while we're looking at something else? I have tried to knit while reading or watching TV but it usually ends up with me just knitting. I can make the stitches fine but keeping track of where I am in the pattern and watching for mistakes is really hard! The other night I was trying to knit a simple k1, p1 in the car as my husband drove but I kept making mistakes, even though I had stitch markers. I can't imagine knitting while walking!
However, I used to go to a yarn shop where there was a group of blind knitters who met regularly and produced beautiful sweaters and shawls as they chatted. I wonder how they did it! Too late to ask them-- the shop is long gone.
Are there any whizzes out there who can knit with their eyes closed? What's the secret?
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kdcrowley
Permanent Resident
USA
4773 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2003 : 3:28:51 PM
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It's all in the rhythm baby!
You have to get into the groove of the pattern and be a little used to it in order to knit without looking. Also it helps to have some mindless knitting to assist with the process.
Kelley
Everywhere you go, there you are! Imagine that.... |
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Atavistic
Permanent Resident
6604 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2003 : 3:59:00 PM
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Practice. That's the only secret.
Mindy to Heidi: Did I tell you she knits in class? She knits away and two weeks later she comes in wearing a new sweater! |
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Marg in Mirror
Permanent Resident
Canada
3204 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2003 : 6:05:14 PM
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Yep, rhythm and practice -- that's it!   I can knit and read (though I can't seem to find something to hold my book flat, and still be able to turn the pages), or knit and watch television -- and have done so for years. Only if I am doing something complex (some lace patterns or a tricky Fair Isle) do I need to focus and not watch something or carry on a conversation. All in the doing, and doing, and doing some more.
-- Marg in Calgary
TLWKOTB |
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trixie2020
Chatty Knitter
206 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2003 : 7:15:00 PM
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Oooh, I wanna learn how to knit with my eyes closed! I can go a few stitches without looking but I get nervous and then I have to look. If something interesting happens on TV, I have to stop for a minute and watch it. I really wish I had a pro knitter to watch and copy their movements. I don't know any real-life knitters and my LYS is five hours away. Boo-hoo for me.
Jen M
"Me, ambivalent? Well, yes and no..."
www.monkeyknits.blogspot.com |
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BLN3320
Permanent Resident
USA
3808 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2003 : 9:12:48 PM
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It depends on what you are knitting. Now if you are making Argyle sox or an Argyle sweater, fair isle you have to look in order to switch the colors in the proper order and also to bring the yarn across. Now, having said that I am a person who knits in meetings, the laundromat, reading, watching TV, whatever but they are things that I have knit a zillion times and you don't have to switch colors. It is amazing how you can feel the stitches. Meetings and the laundromat are the place to knit or else you might fall asleep and land on the floor. I went to a meeting one time with my work retirees regarding our health plan and they needed bodies to be there. I came with my knitting and also had a little needlepoint in the bag in case I needed a change. Boy did I ever. Have any of you ever sat and listened to an actuary talk for at least three hours. I have to leave at one point but I felt I had served my time. Take care. You can knit anyplace. Beverley    
"Be kind to your neighbor, he knows where you live!"
Bev |
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fmarrs
Guardian angel
USA
9776 Posts |
Posted - 04/22/2003 : 10:21:51 PM
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When you are knitting, get into the habit of stopping every now and then and feeling the stitches. Knit stitches will feel smooth, purl stitches will feel like a bump. After practicing you will be able to feel the individual stitches instead of a fabric of stitches. With experience you can feel more and more in the knitting. I usually choose some mindless knitting of straight stockinette or a simple ribbing which I do without looking, but I practice feeling the knitting on everything I knit.
fran
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Janice
Warming Up
USA
94 Posts |
Posted - 04/23/2003 : 08:02:29 AM
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gutenberg.net is the greatest! You have to have a taste for old books since they only have things whose copyrights have expired, but you download something good, set your font to whatever size you like, and knit and read away. Just have to reach up and hit page down now and again :)
quote:
Yep, rhythm and practice -- that's it! I can knit and read (though I can't seem to find something to hold my book flat, and still be able to turn the pages), or knit and watch television -- and have done so for years. Only if I am doing something complex (some lace patterns or a tricky Fair Isle) do I need to focus and not watch something or carry on a conversation. All in the doing, and doing, and doing some more.
-- Marg in Calgary
TLWKOTB
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jamknit
Warming Up
USA
96 Posts |
Posted - 04/23/2003 : 09:33:52 AM
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I think once you have been a knitter long enough (I've been at it for 10 years), you have a real FEEL for how the stitches are, therefore you don't have to look at every stitch as you do it. So, to become accomplished at knitting without looking, you simply have to keep knitting.
When people ask about my knitting without looking, I always make a point of doing something ridiculous, like knitting behind my back or standing on my head. Once you know the feel of it, it is really second nature.
Oh, and by the way, this week is tv turnoff week, so try practicing by looking at something other than the tv.
Wendy |
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kristajo
Gabber Extraordinaire
Canada
436 Posts |
Posted - 04/23/2003 : 10:47:34 AM
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No one should expect you to be able to watch a complicated TV program AND knit a complicated sweater at the same time! I can knit without looking but can't keep track of anything much more complicated than ribbing without at least looking at it sometimes. The trick for knitting while watching TV is to knit SIMPLE things, or simple parts of things. For instance, if you're knitting a sweater, knit the bit that's in plain knitting, not the colour work or the decreases. Save that for when you can give it your full attention. I had a striped garter stitch scarf as my "TV-watching project" last summer; mindless knitting, easy to accomplish while watching Star Trek :)
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Knit2Relax
Gabber Extraordinaire
433 Posts |
Posted - 04/23/2003 : 11:02:31 AM
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Feeling the knitting .... that's a new concept for me. I've been knitting for about a year and a half, and I have never thought of feeling it while I go. I'm going to start practicing that. At this point, I always knit while doing something else, but I do look down every few stitches too, Jen. My new mantra, "Feel the yarn."
Teresa |
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girlgenius
Chatty Knitter
150 Posts |
Posted - 04/23/2003 : 11:22:29 AM
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I started crocheting and knitting again in part to keep my hands busy so I wouldn't smoke - quit nearly 2.5 years ago - and in part to keep me from feeling so wretched about watching TV. I have a really bad habit (but since it's turn off tv week, I've been good so far -except I had to watch the Seabiscuit documentary on PBS monday night!), watching the discovery channels, a&e, hgtv, food network, TLC. Gah! I watch way way too much. But then, I've made some groovy things using that time. Fortunately my knitting habit is stronger than my TV habit, and if I'm doing a complicated pattern or get caught by a boo-boo, I can focus on the knitting and not the TV. I can't read and knit at the same time, except for sometimes if it is a simple simple stockinette stitch with a yarn that resists splitting. I would love to be able to.
As everyone here says, it's practice practice practice. Just try it for a few stitches at a time, I promise it will feel more comfortable in time.
Best!
Kate |
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mtchen
Gabber Extraordinaire
USA
564 Posts |
Posted - 04/23/2003 : 12:53:10 PM
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Hmm...this little clip is a handy bookholder while you knit! 
http://www.ezbookclip.com/howto.htm
I usually have the TV on while I'm knitting, although I'm rarely really watching it...still cannot do both at the same time.
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onestitchshort
Chatty Knitter
USA
106 Posts |
Posted - 04/23/2003 : 6:52:51 PM
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I've been thinking about this topic since it was posted. I guess I didn't even really realize that I sometimes knit without looking, although I'm by no means a pro. The way that I am able to do it is just found in the way that I knit. I knit with my left index finger touching the stitches that I'm getting ready to knit into. Then, I sort of push the tip of the needle back through there with my index finger. I think these two "habits", although I'm sure they aren't "proper", have enabled me to knit without looking because my fingers are directly involved in what is going on. This doesn't mean that there aren't occasional errors and I can only do it when dealing with a simple part of a pattern. I hope that makes sense and maybe helps someone. :-)
-sarah b.
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BLN3320
Permanent Resident
USA
3808 Posts |
Posted - 04/23/2003 : 8:10:19 PM
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Hi, gang: Can I tell you something. If, like some of us here, we have to frequent a laundromat and let me tell you if you have never had to do this its not only boring but totally mindless. Now, if you want to learn to knit without looking, I suggest you make a lot of scarves--they aren't very wide and you can wool gather, look into space--just don't fall asleep. The laundromat is the place to do it and if you are working on something that has 25 to 31 stitches or anything in between you are in business. Its not too wide but wide enough to get the job done. The next thing you know is you have a ton of scarves knit for presents--all kinds, even if you didn't know you wanted to do that. You need an easy recipe for a scarf, E-mail me and we can discuss it and before you know it you will be knitting without looking,doing your laundry and reading a book all at the same time. At the laundromat one time a lady told me couldn't believe I was doing three things--laundry, knitting and reading. Didn't have the heart to tell this lady I was doing four--had a pot roast or stew, whatever, in the crockpot at home. We are not talking rocket science here trust me, but you CAN DO IT--BEEN THERE DONE THAT! IF I CAN SO CAN YOU! Take care. Beverley, the class clown
"Be kind to your neighbor, he knows where you live!" |
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moxie
Seriously Hooked
844 Posts |
Posted - 04/24/2003 : 07:58:11 AM
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Multitasking woo hoo!
Can we call watching TV a "task" though? Didn't know it was "TV turnoff week"! I suffer from a kind of "secondhand stupidity" because the first thing my husband does after dinner every night is turn on the TV. Left to myself, I don't watch television-- in fact the other day I realized that I didn't know where the "on" button was! But I do wander in to watch "The Simpsons" or a PBS program and then I get hooked on the rest of the junk. I figured if I knit then I can get something done while being social with the old boy (he does a sort of running commentary so in fact this can be quality time.)
I can form the stitches without looking but I do peek every few stitches. When trying to knit in the dark car I had the knitting up against my nose as I tried to make out my work in the highway lights, and several times I had to turn on the cabin lights to figure out my place. I made so many mistakes that I had to pull it all out again when I got home. I also thought I could read and knit but the truth came out when I found that in an hour I had done several inches of a bag and had read two sentences of my book.
Trying to get into a "rhythm" and feeling the work is helping! I also removed all of my stitch markers except at the place where I have to change the rhythm. Just-- don't-- look-- down!
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RooKangas
Warming Up
99 Posts |
Posted - 04/24/2003 : 11:53:14 AM
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Re: reading while knitting. I have a book weight I bought several years ago from a stationery catalog. It is flat and shaped like an elongated figure eight, leather on one side and suede on the other. It has lead weights enclosed in either end. It holds the book open on a couch arm, so I can read and knit (and sometimes watch TV too) at the same time. It doesn't help with the page turning issue. The TV watching is mostly a family togetherness thing. Most TV shows and movies the family wants to watch make me nervous, so while I'm physically present, I escape into the book and knitting during the irritating bits of the movie. (I can't get them to watch old Cary Grant movies with me.)
Recently I've found books on tape work well for keeping the brain occupied while my hands are busy with knitting, or while sewing, folding laundry or whatever. You can also listen to archived radio programs on the internet - NPR, EWTN etc.
Is anyone else so addicted to knitting that while driving they're tempted to pick it up at red lights, to whip off a few stitches during this idle time? I've not done it, just wanted to. |
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