Principles of Knitting - Knitting Methods

I'm in a study group reviewing the new edition of Principles of Knitting. The book is basically a textbook of knitting skills and techniques. It is dense and thorough. It's not really a guide for a new knitter, but it's fantastically technical, which I love.

Tonight we did chapter 1, which is ways to hold the needles. I read the chapter beforehand and found her terminology interesting. She doesn't use English and Continental, but Right-Hand Method and Left-Hand Method. She also distinguishes Right-Finger Method, which is where the yarn is around the right finger and thrown.

In the groups, we each showed how we knit. I'm a Left-Hand knitter, as were seven of us in our small group. Three are Right-Hand knitters and one used a modified Under Arm method, where she tucked the long needles into her hip. Terry, my boss and our group facilitator, easily switches between several styles of knitting, including knitting reverse of the standard (aka Left Hander's Knitting). We talked about the advantage of having an alternate style of knitting and we all swapped styles. I'm working on Right-Finger Method, which is basically the opposite of what I do now.

We also discussed in large group (about thirty of us) some of the other methods, like the Thumb Method in which the yarn is held around the neck, and an alternate form which hangs the yarn from a pin on the shirt, known as the Danish Method. It was interesting to hear one of the Learn to Knit teachers that she heard the same complaints from the experienced knitters learning new methods that she does from the new knitters. That gave us some perspective.

One of the comments that struck me was that the woman who tucks her long needles wanted to learn to "pick" (Left Handed Method) because she has Fibromyalgia and needs a form that takes as little effort as possible. We discussed this - my desire to learn Right Finger Method is, in part, because I expect a day in the future when my left hand doesn't function as well as it does now and I want an alternate method in place.

I find the study interesting. We do cast ons next month, of which there is 34 pages written. But until we begin that chapter, I'm practicing my Right Finger Method in addition to cleaning up my Left Handed Method to find the most economical knitting.