ive been leaqrning to knit continental and everything was going well until the purl. i could do it, but it was slow and clumsy to do. so i in desperation picked up crochet hooks (i could crochet first) and found i could do the purls without having to push the yarn down, the hook just grabbed it. i was happy, well no, the yarn would sometimes get caught on the hooks when the stitches were slipping off the left hook. also i wanted to buy some knitpro needles, and more recently some siganture ones now i discovered them

so i tried norwegian purl, i can do this too but it still seemed slow and a bit long winded. someone on ravelry linked to something called finnish (http://knitknitfrog.blogspot.com/2007/04/public-holiday-so-new-knitterly-things.html)purl. i tried this and it seemed to work so i played with it for a while. i was ok for the most part but every now and then i couldnt get the yarn down right. in desperation to see what i was doing wrong i slowed right down and without realising it i tilted my left needle so it pointed almost upwards. i then realised i wasnt doing the finnish purl anymore i was doing the regular purl but using my index finger to push the working yarn down. i saw that in a video but havnt saved it.

i didnt realise how much difference a sight tilt in my needle would make to purls. i also realised my tensioning on my left hand was slightly wrong and have adjusted that too.

so this morning i ordered some knitpro needle tips, nova metal, specral flare and Symfonie tips all in 4mm and 3 cables 60cm 80cm and 100 cm as well as a set of Symfonie cable needles. the cable needles are only cos i found this (http://babyzcostumeshop.comyr.com/tools/knitting/knit-cables-generator.htm)recently and want to try it.

also while playing around i discoverd i wasnt as keen on the bamboo needles for my acrylic yarn so am looking forward to trying out the 3 types of needles. i also find my ring finger on my left hand hurts a bit cos of the way i hold the needle, im hoping the circular will sit differently and not hurt.

im so happy i kept going and tried different ways of doing the purls and im mildly amused that i basically went back to the way that i started with - the way i thought i could never do. lol

Hi!
congratulations - we met over on Ravelry, too, I think, and that is where I read your story about the hooks.
It is so great when you achive a new thing. Now all knitting is available to you. It's pretty much just all knits and purl. The rest will come easy.

have fun!

PS: it is funny, by the way, how many ways there are to purl. I do my purl different than most videos I see. Maybe I should just do a mini-clip to show how. (I do not move my index finger with the yarn, but use my middle finger of the left hand to push the yarn that tiny bit down. That keeps the tension more easily, I think. MY opinion, that will be questioned by 100 knitters right away, but why not.) Lately I made my mom knit again and I did see that she does it the same way I do. Now I know that I got it somewhere there - my mother or my grandmother must have shown me this as "the" way to purl.

isnt that how its shown on here in the videos? i use that finger to hold the needle as well as the back of the stitches as i work them so letting go upsets my rythmn

just been looking at your blog at the 2 colour stuff you do, it looks awsome. one of the reasons i didnt like the look of colourwork was all the strands on the back so your method should be ace.

the only problem is right now i cant get my head around the details of what you are doing, why you twist one way etc. its been a long week though, at some point i will try 2 colour work and have saved your video so i can look at it then :)

Congrats on figuring out what works for you! :woot:

Perseverance always pays off ... and now you have a new knitting skill that will open up lots of new opportunities. Plus, you've gained experience in playing around with your knitting and developing a technique that works for you, which will definitely come in handy in the future as you learn new things!

Happy knitting! :knitting:

thanks!

ive got a stockinette on my neelels at the moment just to practise on. i reckon i will do some tinking as well as dropping stitches on purpose and letting them ladder, and pulling out the needles (not all at once) to let me practise saving my work and fixing things :)

im either making a 10 stitch blanket (from ravelry) or revolution from wooly thoughts next, just cant decide which :) will be buying the yarn for either next month as i bought needles with my pocket money this month

Hey,
yes, I checked, the video here is kind of like I do it. Pretty much...
I hold my needle more with my ring finger and only solidify with my ring finger. In my 2-color-videos you can see the purls, as well.

Thanks for the compliments on the 2-color. I seem to have hit a spot with those.

I will make a text explanation for the 2 color knitting - you will find that in my blog when it is done, of course. Maybe that will help some further. It seem really easy once it is structured - just even for me it is hard to put that in words. I will be on that topic soon (well, I am on it, just not sooo fast).