>>Continental Knitting
Lesson 1: Basic Definitions
Lesson 2: Cast On
Lesson 3: Slanting of a stitch
Lesson 4: Knitting First Row
Lesson 5: Purling First Row
Lesson 6: Forming selvage or edge stitch
Lesson 7: Working in rounds
Lesson 8: Analysing knit and purl stitches
Lesson 9: Types of yarn
Lesson 10: Types of needles
Lesson 11: Knitting gauge & happy knitting
Lesson 12: Basic Shapes
Lesson 13: Correcting Mistakes
Lesson 14: Cables
Lesson 15: Connecting Two Yarns
Lesson 16: Bind Off
Lesson 17: Seaming
Lesson 18: Picking Up Stitches
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CONTINENTAL TECHNIQUE Lesson 11
What everybody is talking about
Knitting gauge is how many stitches are per 10cm/4inches.
Different hands produce different gauge working with the same yarn and the same size of needles.
If you are knitting tight then you have more stitches, if you are knitting loose then you have less stitches.
In general, it is better to work loose because it is easier to process stitches as you have more space for a needle. When you knit loose your hands are less tense and you are more productive therefore a happy knitter.
Continental knitting technique allows you to control size of each stitch because you are not dependent on the needle size and can always pull a stitch a little bit longer.
If you are just a beginner:
Do not try to produce perfect stitches – it will come eventually with experience gained by repetition.
Learning to knit is similar to learning a new language.
First, you hear it but do not understand, do not write and do not speak.
Then you hear it and understand but still do not write and do not speak.
Then you hear it, understand it and even know how to write but still do not know how to speak!
At last you hear it, understand it, know how to write and know how to speak.
The same goes for knitting: you have yarn, needles and pattern but stitches are falling off a needle,
yarn always goes through the wrong stitch, needles are invented to twist a stitch and pattern is totally wrong! RELAX!
First you learn how to keep your hands happy. Work with good quality needles
which have good coating and provide easy sliding of stitches.
If your hands are getting cramps after short period of times it means that you knitting too tight or
you are using bad quality needles. Learn to relax your hands and take you time to process each stitch slowly but surely.
HAND KNITTING IS NOT ABOUT SPEED!
After you accomplished the first stage, you learn how to keep all stitches on the needle and process stitch by stitch.
No matter how many times you will twist a stitch. What is important that this stitch is there.
No matter that instead of making a knit stitch you made a purl stitch. The important thing is that
this stitch is there. Wool is the most forgiving fiber on planet. Wool will hide all these
imperfections. It is still wool, no matter how many mistakes you made.
Do not try to be perfect – be curious. Curiosity will lead you to perfection.
Then you learn to recognize knit stitch from purl stitch and read a pattern.
The next step for you is to learn to feel proportions. In the beginning it is really important that
if you knit a square blanket it should look like a square blanket. If you knit a hat
it should look like a hat.
Your priority is learning proportions.
At last you learn to control your gauge and have stitches of the same size. You should try different patterns with different
yarns and different size of needles in order to understand what your gauge is and how it relates to the one on the yarn label.
What if you are already curious to know how to control your gauge?
Check that stitches are sliding easily on the needle. If not,
then perhaps you are using low quality needles. If you are using good quality needles,
then process stitches a little bit longer then usual.
How to check if you are tight knitter? If you can't place second needle through first 3 stitches,
then you are a tight knitter. In general, it should be easy to place a second needle into
each stitch. Also, if fabric that you are producing is not folding easily in your
hand then you are a tight knitter. Fabric should be soft, easily folding and elastic.
(Unless you knitting a furniture that should be standing in a corner of your room)
What to do if the gauge that pattern is calling for has a difference comparing to your gauge?
Try different size of needles to adjust. You can always go by at least 1 size more or less.
If it is not working, then maybe pattern is wrong.
Try not to knit up-to gauge. Always use your judgment to feel proportions.
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>>Allover Topics
Yarn Over stitch (YO)
Magic Loop
Slip stitches onto waste yarn or cable needle
Twisted knit stitch (Granny Stitch)
Make 1 Stitch (M1)
2-Tail Cast ON
Connecting 2-colored yarns
Bind off stitches in the middle of the work
Decrease stitches and changing the slant
Making cables without cable needle
Slip first stitch
Fixing mistake with crochet hook
Bind off with crochet hook
Two-Needle Bind off
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