Hi Roxanne. Your sweater is beautiful! Exquisite actually! The thought process you put into this project amazes me. Well, really every project. You are very inspiring. I’m sure you will be wearing this for years to come with fond memories of your mother in law. I’m sure she’d be so impressed! I love the red accents. The buttons themselves are such a wonderful compliment as are the pockets. That sure is a lot of cabling! Wow! Looking forward to the 1970’s sweater update. Thanks for the tidbits too. I’m going to watch the knitting video now. Thanks for another wonderful podcast.💞
I just finished the movie clip. When my mom, sister and I started knitting again in the late 70’s, I was taught Continental and my sister was taught the Pencil Grip. My mom stayed with English as we had all learned at first. She had done so much more knitting than us. I’ll have to ask my sister if she even remembers how to do it. She’s a goldsmith and master pastellist so she doesn’t knit anymore. That clip was so much more although I loved seeing them knit. I’ve read so much about the nightly bombings in London during WWII, and the Blitz. It was very moving. Thanks for sharing.
I've no idea of the history behind it but I have apparently been a 'parlour knitter' pretty much all my life. It's much quicker than the style I have often seen labelled as 'English' as you don't have to let go of the needle at any point to wrap the yarn and when working with long enough straight needles you can tuck the end against your body or under the arm for even more stability and speed. As far as I remember, both my grandmothers knitted in this style. They came from very different backgrounds so I imagine it must have been quite well known at the time (1960s onwards). My paternal grandmother in particularly was phenomenally fast - you could watch a 3 or 4-ply sweater grow before your eyes in her hands.
Congratulations 🎉 on the finished sweater! It looks great on you too! It is even more meaningful that you shared your problems/progress with us. I have learned so much!
Fantastic result with your cabled sweater. Your decisions yielded a beautiful garment with just the impact you intended, I think. The front mirrored cables add a little polish and the choice to stack the buttons - perfection!
As you flipped the pages of the second book someone sent to you, I saw a picture that said "Do Not Hold your needle like a pencil." Thought that was pretty funny. Couldn't see if they explained "why" not to hold it that way.
Wow, congratulations on finishing your reverse engineering cardigan. You did a beautiful job. That's a lot of work. Yours is even nicer than the machine knit one!!
I am catching up on your videos and was intrigued to learn that the way I knit has a name. I was born in England so I first learned the conventional throwing style as a child, but when I got proficient with knitting my grandmother (born 1898, so Victorian) taught me the pencil hold style. It took me a while to get used to but I find this method to be quite fast and efficient and worth learning. Thank you as always for an informative and interesting video.
Your finished sweater is absolutely wonderful! It really fits you well and looks sharp with the red top. It really has been interesting watching the process from swatching to finished project. Thanks for bringing us along.
High Roxanne! I've been watching your progress with this reverse engineered sweater right from the beginning and it has been so inspiring, interesting and exciting to hear your process and learn how to problem solve. Your sweater is beautiful! Looking forward to seeing the one on your needles your 1970s.. Take care and I hope you have a fabulous weekend. Stephanie from California
Thank you! This reverse-engineered sweater was so interesting to watch evolve. I have had favorite 'house sweaters' and fully understand why you want to reproduce your old, well loved sweater. Well done!
I just wanted to say I think you've done an amazing job on your sweater! I love it, and thank you so much for sharing your process and the final result with us
Thank you for sharing your journey of reverse engineering. I've learned so much and it has been fascinating to watch. It's beautiful!❤ And you nailed it with your choice of buttons!
Outstanding, love all your ideas and work. New to sweater knitting, have been knitting for two years now. Thanks for all you do and sharing your ideas!
Hi Roxanne. I knit English style, holding my right hand needle like a pencil. My mother taught me 60 years ago and she was taught by her mother along with her five sisters around 1900 - 1930, all knitting in the same way. Her mother used to knit socks for the family when taking her husband’s food to the foundry at lunchtime. She in turn was taught by her mother so that’s takes that style back to at least the mid 1800s. When doing some family history, I found a direct ancestor who was a knitter in Ireland, as listed in a census. The style is also called Irish Cottage style, so it makes sense!
Hearing you talk about the needle hold was interesting, my Mum does the "parlour hold" style! My Nan taught me how to knit, so I use a very traditional English style throwing hold
Hi Roxanne, loved you explanation about the reverse engineering sweater and amazing result. Just watched the movie, and this is how I knit, taught by my English grandmother, so now I know that I’m a parlour knitter! I have just finished a book called Threads of Life by Clare Hunter, a textile artist and curator who started a community enterprise called NeedleWorks in Glasgow. Great book about the history of the Bayern Tapestry and pow camps in Singapore using their sewing to make there voices heard. So interesting, printed in 2019, but very well researched. Thanks for your wonderful research into projects, I always find your podcasts so interesting.
I am from the UK and knit exactly like the women in the. WWII film. I was taught to knit by my great grandma who was born in 1881, so a Victorian. I taught my daughter and niece to knit like this, so this method continues……muscle memory is hard to beat. By the way, the gentleman from the ‘70s you mentioned was Jack Hargreaves. If you search for Jack Hargreaves Dorset Buttons you can find a very grainy video showing how buttons were made.
My grandmother from Ireland also knit like this she taught me but I couldn't get the method correct. I really don't think she knit that way for any other reason than that it was fast . She was born in 1911
I was taught to knit parlour style at age 7 by my mum, so it comes very naturally to me. I changed to circular needles about 8 years ago and trained myself to knit flick style, but I prefer parlour style for socks and small pieces.
I'm Canadian and I was taught to knit this way, too. Lots of people here knit this way. Rather than it being awkward, I find that because the right needle rests in the crook of your hand, you never have to let go of the right needle to wrap the yarn around the needle. Combine it with a lever action, where the left hand moves towards you, this method is really fast. I noticed on the film that the younger actress was an actual knitter, who could work fast without looking at her work. I'm really not sure why this method gets a bad reputation. It's far from antiquated, has advantages and is fast. Carol Feller, Andrea Doig (Fruity Knitting), and Lucy Neatby are all pencil-hold knitters. Even if the method may its roots in Victorian propriety, it wouldn't have survived had it not worked well. Purling is pretty much the same hand movement as knitting. I use Continental, too, mainly for ribbing or colour work. Come to think of it, I now understand why so many new patterns are based on garter stitch or knitting in the round, as they are trying to avoid purling.
I am Australian and I knit this way too. My mum taught me and though I have attempted other methods, I always go back to what I am comfortable with. Not that I knit all that much these days, living in a sub-tropical climate means there’s not a lot of need for it 😊
Hi there, you have made a beautiful job of your reversed engineered sweater, the colour and the fit looks great. I hope you get so much wear out of it. Your perseverance and determination is to be admired. Thank you for visiting today, I look forward to seeing you next time. Take care
Oh! I was just about to comment that I love how your red top was showing through the button holes, and how it looked like your red pockets. I’m even more thrilled to find out that peak of red with the buttons was planned!
I watched about 15 min of that movie (from the knitting scene onwards) and it was compelling. I'm rarely drawn into black and white movies but this was an exception Thanks for sharing. Also your reverse-engineered sweater turned out so well. I'm sure you are exceedingly glad to be finished. 🙂Recently, I started wondering to what extent my experience of knitting a pattern impacts my interest in wearing it (even if I am very pleased with the outcome). Not talking about projects knitted in grief, but about patterns that can potentially be very challenging or unpleasant to create. I'm curious to know if you are put off of a finished object if your knitting experience is a slog - even if you've learned numerous things.
If I find a project unpleasant, then I probably won't finish it. I don't mind a challenge or frustration, but boredom or tedium will end a project for good long before it's finished. If it's just a slog, then I break it up into subprojects. Large blankets tend to be gifts for important people, but I let them know in advance it will take a year, because I will wander off from time to time. I also plan ahead for those types of projects to make sure the things that will kill my interest aren't part of the project. Setting stitch count or measurement goals where I get the reward of working on something else when I meet the goal also helps.
I have been knitting for 60 years, in fact I can't remember bot being able to, so I presume my mother taught me. My needles are always held as you described as the English *pencil* way but unlike many English knitters, I don't take my right hand off. I keep the thumb under the work and just move the fore finger. My theory is that circular needles just don't suit that way because the needle length isn't long enough. I have taught myself to do Continental knitting but I am very much at the awkward slow stage. If you ever get a chance to see the BBC dramatisation of Agatha Christie novels, you will see Miss Marples using the English pencil hold and she is quite fast.
My grandmother, who was born in 1880, taught me to knit. She learnt to knit as a young woman in her late teens and was taught by older members of her family who used the pencil hold. Unfortunately I do not have any of her patterns or those used by my Mother. I still use the pencil hold and find it to be comfortable and an economic use of time and effort. 🇬🇧
I like to knit whilst I watch your Casual Friday and realised after watching the war film clip that I knit in the parlour style, my mum taught me to knit that way.
Dear Mentor (!) You've inspired me to design/build my 3rd-ever hand-knit sweater. Now, I wonder - IS there a current style for guys? Does anyone pay attention to stuff like cable direction, pocket style or length of arms? [btw- thanks for helping with my Continental purl!]
Hello from Mounds Illinois! You did an amazing job knitting the sweater. It’s so beautiful! I have never seen a sweater duplicate before I think the red pockets are great.
I have a question about reverse engineering. I purchased a cabled mitten pattern. It turns out its too tight.uppingthe needle size isn't fixing it. So I need to add some stitches. The cable pattern travels across the entire front side of the mitten. I need to alter it some so it continues across the wider version i am trying to construct. I believe it is fairly simple but I can't seem to figure it out. Are there any resources you could point me to on the formula to pattern design cables. I am hoping there are resources to tell me how to write cable patterns from the ground up. I would greatly appreciate any ideas you have.
My mother held her needle like a pencil & she was really fast. Her mother, who was from Ireland, probably taught her. Years ago when I took a Craftsy class with Carol Feller, watching her knit was like sitting next to my mother. She taught me to knit as a young girl, but as a lefty I wasn’t able to hold the needles the way she did. Years later I forced myself to change the way I held the needle but couldn’t master the pencil grip.
Felicia Lo Wong of SweetGeorgia did a video on knitting in that style, the pencil hold, as you called it. She demonstrated it as a possible means to faster knitting, and I’m fairly certain she learned it from Stephanie Pearl-McPhee as well.
In Episode 118 of the Fruity Knitting podcast, there is a great interview with Alan Dart a UK designer of wonderful toy figures. Alan Dart knits in the Parlor Style. The interview begins just past the1.0 hour mark.
Re your 1970s sweater, I'm very interested in how you chart a sweater (down to the number of stitches in it!). Can you do a Technique Tuesday on this subject? Love your show and recommend it to all my fellow knitters.
Thanks for your detailed description of your reversed engineered sweater. I have a picture of a sweater that I have wanted to create but I’m not as skilled as you. Maybe I will attempt it some day.
I am intrigued, I did not know that I knitted parlour style. I learnt to knit at school in the mid 1960's. Almost everyone I know knits in this style it's very very popular here in the UK in fact among older knitters I would say it is nearly universal, the exception being those who have strong connections to other countries. What people call 'English Knitting' where the wool is dropped between stitches, is usually what people start with, as it is the easiest method, but when people start to knit garments and realise how slow it is they graduate to Parlour knitting, my grandmother showed me the basics of this and she was born in 1889 and was deinfintely working class, so an interesting trickle down. I think what has happened is that there is a missing generation of knitters people my age and older were taught to knit as children, the people now in their 40s/50 were not taught, and young folks now learn English or continental from the internet. This means that one generaion did not teach the next, so parlor knitting which was the virtually the universal style, got lost in the mix. Look at any old UK film or TV and you will see people parlour knitting. I think some young Americans think they invented it and call it flicking.
"English" and "Continental" simply refer to which hand the yarn is held in. It's the most generalized way of referring to a knitting style. The other labels (parlor, throwing, flicking, lever, supported, pit knitting, etc.) help to explain how the knitter holds their tools and gets the yarn around the needle.
Hi Roxanne, Andrea on Fruity Knitting knits like you are talking about and she taught her husband Andrew (who sadly passed away ) to knit in that style. She might be able to tell you something about it if you were to contact her. Thank you for a great video, love your sweater!
Carol Feller knits that way with the needle held like a pencil and she is pretty fast. Maybe she could tell you something about how she came to hold her needle like that. She is a knit wear designer from Ireland, I think.
I hold my needles with my palm towards me. Like others I was taught by my grandmother and although I have tried other methods and use continental with Fair isle I do not enjoy it I am a fast knitter with even tension between knit and purl in fact for years I could not understand why people hated purling and I attribute this to my knitting style I also think that you are less likely to develop tendonitis with this style My grandmother was definitely not posh so I query that palm towards the body was developed for etiquette reasons
The sweater is gorgeous! That was a great idea doing the black on red buttons. When you are working on your 70’s sweater I would love it if you would video a bit of the steeking process. That freaks me out. I don’t get how everything wouldn’t fall apart. Thanks.
Your reverse-engineered sweater turned out great! I love everything about it, but I think the refined pop of color on the pockets is my favorite part of your design.
Hi Roxanne. Your sweater is beautiful! Exquisite actually! The thought process you put into this project amazes me. Well, really every project. You are very inspiring. I’m sure you will be wearing this for years to come with fond memories of your mother in law. I’m sure she’d be so impressed! I love the red accents. The buttons themselves are such a wonderful compliment as are the pockets. That sure is a lot of cabling! Wow! Looking forward to the 1970’s sweater update. Thanks for the tidbits too. I’m going to watch the knitting video now. Thanks for another wonderful podcast.💞
I just finished the movie clip. When my mom, sister and I started knitting again in the late 70’s, I was taught Continental and my sister was taught the Pencil Grip. My mom stayed with English as we had all learned at first. She had done so much more knitting than us. I’ll have to ask my sister if she even remembers how to do it. She’s a goldsmith and master pastellist so she doesn’t knit anymore. That clip was so much more although I loved seeing them knit. I’ve read so much about the nightly bombings in London during WWII, and the Blitz. It was very moving. Thanks for sharing.
I've no idea of the history behind it but I have apparently been a 'parlour knitter' pretty much all my life. It's much quicker than the style I have often seen labelled as 'English' as you don't have to let go of the needle at any point to wrap the yarn and when working with long enough straight needles you can tuck the end against your body or under the arm for even more stability and speed. As far as I remember, both my grandmothers knitted in this style. They came from very different backgrounds so I imagine it must have been quite well known at the time (1960s onwards). My paternal grandmother in particularly was phenomenally fast - you could watch a 3 or 4-ply sweater grow before your eyes in her hands.
Congratulations 🎉 on the finished sweater! It looks great on you too! It is even more meaningful that you shared your problems/progress with us. I have learned so much!
Fantastic result with your cabled sweater. Your decisions yielded a beautiful garment with just the impact you intended, I think. The front mirrored cables add a little polish and the choice to stack the buttons - perfection!
As you flipped the pages of the second book someone sent to you, I saw a picture that said "Do Not Hold your needle like a pencil." Thought that was pretty funny. Couldn't see if they explained "why" not to hold it that way.
Wow, congratulations on finishing your reverse engineering cardigan. You did a beautiful job. That's a lot of work. Yours is even nicer than the machine knit one!!
Great episode! The FO is beautiful. I enjoyed the process from start to finish.
I am catching up on your videos and was intrigued to learn that the way I knit has a name. I was born in England so I first learned the conventional throwing style as a child, but when I got proficient with knitting my grandmother (born 1898, so Victorian) taught me the pencil hold style. It took me a while to get used to but I find this method to be quite fast and efficient and worth learning. Thank you as always for an informative and interesting video.
Your finished sweater is absolutely wonderful! It really fits you well and looks sharp with the red top. It really has been interesting watching the process from swatching to finished project. Thanks for bringing us along.
That gray sweater looks amazing!!! I mean unbelievable!! I knew you could do it but wow, it looks better than I imagined.
Love the sweater! Freakin' LOVE that you stacked buttons - very clever!
High Roxanne! I've been watching your progress with this reverse engineered sweater right from the beginning and it has been so inspiring, interesting and exciting to hear your process and learn how to problem solve. Your sweater is beautiful! Looking forward to seeing the one on your needles your 1970s.. Take care and I hope you have a fabulous weekend. Stephanie from California
Your grey cabled sweater looks so good, what a success.
Lol, loved the spider.
And I love that she didn't panic about it :-)
Thank you! This reverse-engineered sweater was so interesting to watch evolve. I have had favorite 'house sweaters' and fully understand why you want to reproduce your old, well loved sweater. Well done!
Your sweater looks great Roxanne, really enjoyed watching and learning as you went through your process of creating it.
Thanks for the academic link Roxanne! I’ve been a subscriber to your channel and I noticed you are almost at 100K subscribers. Awesome!!!
I just wanted to say I think you've done an amazing job on your sweater! I love it, and thank you so much for sharing your process and the final result with us
Thank you for sharing your journey of reverse engineering. I've learned so much and it has been fascinating to watch. It's beautiful!❤ And you nailed it with your choice of buttons!
Spectacular! You should be very proud of your reverse engineered sweater. Great job!
Outstanding, love all your ideas and work. New to sweater knitting, have been knitting for two years now. Thanks for all you do and sharing your ideas!
Bravo.. congratulations on finishing your cable cardigan. Enjoyed the journey with you. Your process is so well thought out. It’s looks beautiful !
Your sweater looks amazing! It's such a small detail but I LOVE what you did with the buttons! 💜
Hi Roxanne. I knit English style, holding my right hand needle like a pencil. My mother taught me 60 years ago and she was taught by her mother along with her five sisters around 1900 - 1930, all knitting in the same way. Her mother used to knit socks for the family when taking her husband’s food to the foundry at lunchtime. She in turn was taught by her mother so that’s takes that style back to at least the mid 1800s.
When doing some family history, I found a direct ancestor who was a knitter in Ireland, as listed in a census. The style is also called Irish Cottage style, so it makes sense!
Hearing you talk about the needle hold was interesting, my Mum does the "parlour hold" style! My Nan taught me how to knit, so I use a very traditional English style throwing hold
love love love the red turtleneck with the grey jumper, it's such a perfect little outfit
Your sweater is beautiful and looks so nice on you! The fit looks great! Watching your progress on knitting it has been fascinating.
I remembered when you came up with the idea of reverse engineering your sweater. You’ve do a marvellous job it looks great. Well done 👏🏼
Hi Roxanne, loved you explanation about the reverse engineering sweater and amazing result. Just watched the movie, and this is how I knit, taught by my English grandmother, so now I know that I’m a parlour knitter! I have just finished a book called Threads of Life by Clare Hunter, a textile artist and curator who started a community enterprise called NeedleWorks in Glasgow. Great book about the history of the Bayern Tapestry and pow camps in Singapore using their sewing to make there voices heard. So interesting, printed in 2019, but very well researched. Thanks for your wonderful research into projects, I always find your podcasts so interesting.
I am from the UK and knit exactly like the women in the. WWII film. I was taught to knit by my great grandma who was born in 1881, so a Victorian. I taught my daughter and niece to knit like this, so this method continues……muscle memory is hard to beat.
By the way, the gentleman from the ‘70s you mentioned was Jack Hargreaves. If you search for Jack Hargreaves Dorset Buttons you can find a very grainy video showing how buttons were made.
My grandmother from Ireland also knit like this she taught me but I couldn't get the method correct. I really don't think she knit that way for any other reason than that it was fast . She was born in 1911
I was taught to knit parlour style at age 7 by my mum, so it comes very naturally to me. I changed to circular needles about 8 years ago and trained myself to knit flick style, but I prefer parlour style for socks and small pieces.
I'm Canadian and I was taught to knit this way, too. Lots of people here knit this way. Rather than it being awkward, I find that because the right needle rests in the crook of your hand, you never have to let go of the right needle to wrap the yarn around the needle. Combine it with a lever action, where the left hand moves towards you, this method is really fast. I noticed on the film that the younger actress was an actual knitter, who could work fast without looking at her work. I'm really not sure why this method gets a bad reputation. It's far from antiquated, has advantages and is fast. Carol Feller, Andrea Doig (Fruity Knitting), and Lucy Neatby are all pencil-hold knitters. Even if the method may its roots in Victorian propriety, it wouldn't have survived had it not worked well. Purling is pretty much the same hand movement as knitting. I use Continental, too, mainly for ribbing or colour work. Come to think of it, I now understand why so many new patterns are based on garter stitch or knitting in the round, as they are trying to avoid purling.
I am Australian and I knit this way too. My mum taught me and though I have attempted other methods, I always go back to what I am comfortable with. Not that I knit all that much these days, living in a sub-tropical climate means there’s not a lot of need for it 😊
Hi there, you have made a beautiful job of your reversed engineered sweater, the colour and the fit looks great. I hope you get so much wear out of it. Your perseverance and determination is to be admired. Thank you for visiting today, I look forward to seeing you next time. Take care
Oh! I was just about to comment that I love how your red top was showing through the button holes, and how it looked like your red pockets. I’m even more thrilled to find out that peak of red with the buttons was planned!
Enjoy your beautiful sweater. Well done. Thank you for sharing your journey with us 👏👏👏
Congratulations on finishing your reversed engineered cardigan, Roxanne, it looks fab👍😊
FABULOUS! I have lived this reverse-engineered sweater project from the beginning, Roxanne. So great. 😊
Not actually “lived”, rather “loved”. 🤦🏼♀️
Congtats on the cardigan! It really looks super nice.
Congrats on the sweater. It looks great.
Finished reverse-engineered sweater is beautiful.
I watched about 15 min of that movie (from the knitting scene onwards) and it was compelling. I'm rarely drawn into black and white movies but this was an exception Thanks for sharing. Also your reverse-engineered sweater turned out so well. I'm sure you are exceedingly glad to be finished. 🙂Recently, I started wondering to what extent my experience of knitting a pattern impacts my interest in wearing it (even if I am very pleased with the outcome). Not talking about projects knitted in grief, but about patterns that can potentially be very challenging or unpleasant to create. I'm curious to know if you are put off of a finished object if your knitting experience is a slog - even if you've learned numerous things.
If I find a project unpleasant, then I probably won't finish it. I don't mind a challenge or frustration, but boredom or tedium will end a project for good long before it's finished. If it's just a slog, then I break it up into subprojects. Large blankets tend to be gifts for important people, but I let them know in advance it will take a year, because I will wander off from time to time. I also plan ahead for those types of projects to make sure the things that will kill my interest aren't part of the project. Setting stitch count or measurement goals where I get the reward of working on something else when I meet the goal also helps.
Yay! It's finished!! congratulations, well done
I have been knitting for 60 years, in fact I can't remember bot being able to, so I presume my mother taught me. My needles are always held as you described as the English *pencil* way but unlike many English knitters, I don't take my right hand off. I keep the thumb under the work and just move the fore finger. My theory is that circular needles just don't suit that way because the needle length isn't long enough. I have taught myself to do Continental knitting but I am very much at the awkward slow stage.
If you ever get a chance to see the BBC dramatisation of Agatha Christie novels, you will see Miss Marples using the English pencil hold and she is quite fast.
My grandmother, who was born in 1880, taught me to knit. She learnt to knit as a young woman in her late teens and was taught by older members of her family who used the pencil hold. Unfortunately I do not have any of her patterns or those used by my Mother. I still use the pencil hold and find it to be comfortable and an economic use of time and effort. 🇬🇧
I like to knit whilst I watch your Casual Friday and realised after watching the war film clip that I knit in the parlour style, my mum taught me to knit that way.
Your sweater turned out beautifully!
Dear Mentor (!) You've inspired me to design/build my 3rd-ever hand-knit sweater. Now, I wonder - IS there a current style for guys? Does anyone pay attention to stuff like cable direction, pocket style or length of arms? [btw- thanks for helping with my Continental purl!]
Bravo! One very happy lady!
It looks great!! Love the pockets
The sweater looks wonderful!!
Hello from Mounds Illinois! You did an amazing job knitting the sweater. It’s so beautiful! I have never seen a sweater duplicate before I think the red pockets are great.
Beautiful cardi ❤️
i just love the New sweater Is there a pattern in the furture?
I have a question about reverse engineering. I purchased a cabled mitten pattern. It turns out its too tight.uppingthe needle size isn't fixing it. So I need to add some stitches. The cable pattern travels across the entire front side of the mitten. I need to alter it some so it continues across the wider version i am trying to construct. I believe it is fairly simple but I can't seem to figure it out. Are there any resources you could point me to on the formula to pattern design cables. I am hoping there are resources to tell me how to write cable patterns from the ground up. I would greatly appreciate any ideas you have.
My mother held her needle like a pencil & she was really fast. Her mother, who was from Ireland, probably taught her. Years ago when I took a Craftsy class with Carol Feller, watching her knit was like sitting next to my mother. She taught me to knit as a young girl, but as a lefty I wasn’t able to hold the needles the way she did. Years later I forced myself to change the way I held the needle but couldn’t master the pencil grip.
Felicia Lo Wong of SweetGeorgia did a video on knitting in that style, the pencil hold, as you called it. She demonstrated it as a possible means to faster knitting, and I’m fairly certain she learned it from Stephanie Pearl-McPhee as well.
In Episode 118 of the Fruity Knitting podcast, there is a great interview with Alan Dart a UK designer of wonderful toy figures. Alan Dart knits in the Parlor Style. The interview begins just past the1.0 hour mark.
Re your 1970s sweater, I'm very interested in how you chart a sweater (down to the number of stitches in it!). Can you do a Technique Tuesday on this subject? Love your show and recommend it to all my fellow knitters.
My late mum knit the same way, I knitted with the right needle tucked under my right arm, until I switched to circular needles.
Thanks for your detailed description of your reversed engineered sweater. I have a picture of a sweater that I have wanted to create but I’m not as skilled as you. Maybe I will attempt it some day.
Love the sweater!!
I am intrigued, I did not know that I knitted parlour style. I learnt to knit at school in the mid 1960's. Almost everyone I know knits in this style it's very very popular here in the UK in fact among older knitters I would say it is nearly universal, the exception being those who have strong connections to other countries. What people call 'English Knitting' where the wool is dropped between stitches, is usually what people start with, as it is the easiest method, but when people start to knit garments and realise how slow it is they graduate to Parlour knitting, my grandmother showed me the basics of this and she was born in 1889 and was deinfintely working class, so an interesting trickle down. I think what has happened is that there is a missing generation of knitters people my age and older were taught to knit as children, the people now in their 40s/50 were not taught, and young folks now learn English or continental from the internet. This means that one generaion did not teach the next, so parlor knitting which was the virtually the universal style, got lost in the mix. Look at any old UK film or TV and you will see people parlour knitting. I think some young Americans think they invented it and call it flicking.
"English" and "Continental" simply refer to which hand the yarn is held in. It's the most generalized way of referring to a knitting style. The other labels (parlor, throwing, flicking, lever, supported, pit knitting, etc.) help to explain how the knitter holds their tools and gets the yarn around the needle.
Hi Roxanne, Andrea on Fruity Knitting knits like you are talking about and she taught her husband Andrew (who sadly passed away ) to knit in that style. She might be able to tell you something about it if you were to contact her. Thank you for a great video, love your sweater!
Carol Feller knits that way with the needle held like a pencil and she is pretty fast. Maybe she could tell you something about how she came to hold her needle like that. She is a knit wear designer from Ireland, I think.
Carol Feller does lots of cables too, which we know Rox loves
I just checked my bookshelf and I also have America's Knitting Book, forgot I had it.🥰
The book I learned to knit showed the pencil style…I never mastered it and It didn’t make sense to me. But it was theree
I hold my needles with my palm towards me. Like others I was taught by my grandmother and although I have tried other methods and use continental with Fair isle I do not enjoy it
I am a fast knitter with even tension between knit and purl in fact for years I could not understand why people hated purling and I attribute this to my knitting style
I also think that you are less likely to develop tendonitis with this style
My grandmother was definitely not posh so I query that palm towards the body was developed for etiquette reasons
The sweater is gorgeous! That was a great idea doing the black on red buttons. When you are working on your 70’s sweater I would love it if you would video a bit of the steeking process. That freaks me out. I don’t get how everything wouldn’t fall apart. Thanks.
Your reverse-engineered sweater turned out great! I love everything about it, but I think the refined pop of color on the pockets is my favorite part of your design.