Banner Sponsors
For artists and collectors sponsored by Intercal...your mohair supplier and Johnna's Mohair Store
Posts: 1,836We do a pollyanna in my family. We also do a wish list so that folks (the men) aren't left scratching their heads with what everyone really likes, needs or wants for Christmas. I desperately want to learn to knit. I took a class, but the woman teaching wasn't really great at teaching if you know what I mean. She herself was a knitting pro and made the most gorgeous things..... but her explanations were confusing and her hands were always moving so darn fast I just got really discouraged fast. I think she was teaching us a "european" style of knitting, if I recall what she told us correctly (???). When I tried to show others who know how to knit where I was and what was confusing me, well they said I was going backwards (huh?) 
So, the point.... Can anyone recommend either a really really detailed (pictures lots of pictures 
) book or better yet an instructional video on knitting?? I'd like to add it to my wish list and maybe start knitting some beary accessories come new years!!
Huge thank yous!!
:hug: :hug:
~Chrissi
AlmostBearsive had been trying to learn to knit , on and off over the past few years and could never figure it out...anyways, while at spotlight one day i saw a kids knitting kit and picked it up(well if 8 year olds are supposed to be able to do it 
) the instructions were really clear and easy to understand , with great pictures and now i can knit sortof..he he...i can still only knit squares but its an improvment over what i was doing.....so next time your at your local craft store just have a look see......might work 
Bears by EdieChrissi, the European style of knitting is quite different so if you were doing that showing someone who knits the way we usually do here in North America then it would look really funny to them. I think the European way is faster if you can get on to it - basically a different way of holding the yarn so that you don't have to stop and put the wool over the needle with each stitch but rather use the needle to loop the yarn around. I don't know where you would find a book to learn the European method but if you want to learn the method here I think just about any knitting instruction book would do - it is really not that complicated. (of course I have been knitting since I was about 5 or 6 so I might be the wrong person to ask!) Good luck!
I have also being knitting since a child (many moons ago)!!! European style of knitting and the UK way and how I knit is slightly different. Somehow in Europe they hold the needles differently and every time I have been at a European show and have been knitting this sometimes has drawn more attraction than my bears.
Either way you hold the needles is going to produce the same result.
When flying to UK, Europe and the East- I am able to take bamboo knittings needles on the plane and can at least do knitting now.
I will have a look amongst my books and see what I have- maybe teaching children to knit could be a place to start if you do a web search.
In Taiwan, I always go to one knitting shop for wool and every year I am shown a new pattern. This lady must be a knitting wizard as she has shown me a few tricks- mostly done with her showing me and me knitting in the shop as I speak no Chinese and she speaks very little English.
Right now I am knitting with Lace Wool and making a scarf- will post a picture when I am finished.
Lynette
Jellybelly Bears "in, around, under, out" does that help 
lol. I learnt as a child also and this was the little saying we were taught to help us remember what to do. I'm just teaching my niece and have taught her the "rhyme" lol Good luck!! Its fun 
Laurie Lou BearsI am a beginner too Chrissi and have only just learnt how to knit.I have bought a book that shows the real basics in step by step- how to cast on,fastening off your work and what to do if you drop a stitch(very important when you are a beginner like me and wouldn't have a clue what to do 
) It also shows how to make jumpers,hats etc.It is written by Alison Dupernex and is called Beginners guide to knitting.The isbn code is 1-903975-83-2
I hope this is of help to you.
Laurie :hug:
ps.I had bought a book before I got this one and it had tons of information in it but then when it came down to understanding what to do I found it was way too complicated and was of no use to me.So I find keep it simple
Cleathero CreationsGive me some time.
There is an excellent video online that shows ALL the different styles. It was great.
Now I just have to find it!
Cleathero Creations
Well that didn't take as log as I thought
Try here
http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/learn-to-knit
They have the continental and european (english) styles. Hope it helps
q.D.paToOtieSAh Chrissi! I know what you mean about people looking confused at you when you show them your knitting technique as the person who taught me how to knit and crochet was from Great Britain. I can crochet like crazy while watching TV or doing other things but I am still a very slow knitter (and I always forget how to cast on?). If you can find someone who can break the habits you learned after you where taught the "European" way please let me know. I'd like to learn how to knit better but my brain still goes back to the "European" way and then my new teacher gets frustrated with me!!!
Good luck!!!
Walnut Tree Corner Bears By Gailoo err,
I didn't realize there was another way to knit than the way I do it (english way according to the video clips on the link that Bronwen gave, but then I am English ) I was taught at about age 8 by my Mother,My grandmother had bought me a ball of wool a pair of needles and a simple pattern for a pair of mittens.My mother knits the same way as me (obviously) but she can go faster than me as she kind of loops the wool over her index finger, I have never been able to do it like that and always have to let go of the needle in my right hand to loop the wool over, However I have got quite fast even doing it this way. I did used to do lots of knitting making lacy pattern jumpers and all sorts, I remember the first jumper I made, I chose the most complicated one I could, Lots of elderberry shapes knitted all over, and I had to say the pattern to myself as I knitted, all my sister Ruth heard ,while i was knitting was ,"now make bobble" every 2 minutes or so she got really fed up of me knitting that jumper and was really pleased when I had finished it ( do you remember that Ruth?)
the Continental way looks much faster, but I don't think I could unlearn what I do now.
My Dad offered to buy me a knitting machine....he didn't understand that the actual hand knitting was the enjoyable part, probably even more so than the finished item.
Good luck with your knitting Chrissi, I am sure you will soon be increasing, decreasing and"making bobbles"!!!
Tiny Hugs,
Gail
FenBeary FolkHi Chrissi, I can knit both the continental way and UK way, I do find that my tension (size of the stitches on the row below) goes abit wobbly with continental.
The video looks great but it kept pausing on me.
Years ago I had a book similar to the one suggested, as my mother is left handed-a nightmare, my first project was a very unusual shaped garter stitch jumper in pink and my next was a picture sweater with a house and sheep(all the rage in the early 90's-don't laugh).
Moral- DON'T give up, knit squares, you can always sew them together for cushion covers, very hip and retro at the moment and if you vary the size of the squares/rectangles you could have a front, back and 2 sleeves of a bears jumper before you know it :dance:
The very best thing I learnt was how the stitch held together with the next stitch and the one below, it made it so much easier.
Hope some of this helps :hug:
Chrissi,
Try this site. It has alot of information on both styles of knitting as well as several videos to help visualize what they are saying.
http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/learn-to-knit
Americans tend to us what they are calling the English Method while europeans tend to use the Continental Method. It really doesn't matter which you use, try them both and then go with what feels the most comfortable to you.
/bearhugs,
Posts: 1,836HUGE Thank yous to all! I'm looking up these books, videos and sites now Edie.... I'm giggling at your last line because for some reason this is the most complicated thing I've tried and I've done loads of different art mediums to date! Maybe I'm all thumbs..... I'm hoping I just haven't had the right instruction yet and that I'll be set to relearn with these new ideas 
Lisa...I think the relearn will be easy for me because I never really "got" what she was teaching us to being with...she was so darn fast!!! Now crocheting I picked up right away...is this a left brain/right brain thing where I won't be able to do both
Thank you all again!!
:hug: :hug:
~Chrissi
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)Chrissie, do you WANT to learn the European/Continental way to knit.
I do them all, but in the beginning found it easiest to control the tension - The MOST important bit! - with the 'American' way. Here're a few Google sites..
My All - Time Fave - A Woman's Work Is Never Done!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6ZjMWLqJvM
http://www.google.com/search?source=ig& … gle+Search
Google - You Tube - How to Knit Videos
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tKHLEquvqoU
MerBear OriginalsI've found this thread interesting since I've been knitting like mad the last few weeks for Christmas. I don't think I ever realized the Europeans knit differently and found the video instructive. I tried doing it and it works but at my age I'd never be able to pick up speed...I'll stick with what I know!
Marion
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)You're right Marion - Old Dogs & New Tricks... and all. Controlling tension is the hardest part of learning another technique.
The Continental isn't as hard as the English - we Yanks and the European styles hold the needles on the top (inside our palms & finger area). The English style is to hold the needles from 'underneath'. I can't describe it any better than that.... your hands feel like they're buried in the fabric/material you've created.
Holding it that way doesn't personally give me as much contact with the needles - the sts make them slip so maintaining a tension is too hard. Add in arthritis and holding 2 strands for Intarsia or Fair Isle color changing - a recipe for a UFO!
I can knit w/o looking at it by throwing the yarn a la the Yank way, so I know that should I ever go blind, at least I can still do that fiber hand art. Years ago I had trouble staying asleep in the night. My knitting happened to be on the bedside table and I thought I'd knit for a while. We sleep in a double bed, so I
v e r y slowly worked each st. I thought it was working out well and the rhythm was making me drowsy. After about half an hour, my DH startled me by loudly saying, "Would you put that ____ knitting down??!!"
Posts: 1,836Bronwen, Mary and Bobbie, that link was really good!
I was almost (again) confused (....I'm NEVER really this blonde folks, honestly!!) but I can see that I was being taught what this site calls the German/Continental/Left Hand method. I felt all thumbs and zero control when taking this class. 
Now that I can see the English/Throw/American method (per knittinghelp.com link) I think I might have a shot at this!!! Plus I like that little rhyme... "in through the front door, once around back, peek through the window and off jumps jack"
Ok, there's hope folks....
THANK YOU ALL!! 
:hug:
~Chrissi
MerBear Originals"I can knit w/o looking at it by throwing the yarn a la the Yank way, so I know that should I ever go blind, at least I can still do that fiber hand art."
This is so true. My dear Aunt, who died a couple of years ago at 76, had glaucoma and went completely blind for the last 5 years or so of her life. She had always crocheted, knit, etc and I still remember our last visit - she was sitting on a chair outside when we drove up - busily crocheting away on a blanket. Unfortunately her blindness probably killed her. She was found dead after falling down her basement stairs, most likely cause she tripped over her cat! We now have that cat and he still has a habit on lying on the stairs.
Marion
