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chicken lady
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My dd 8 is having such a hard time knitting. SHe is a lefty and I cannot seem to figure out how to help her. I have her sit facing me, yet she still is struggling. Perhaps I should teach her continental? Any thoughts? Mary are'nt you a lefty?
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Mary G
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Very dominantly left-handed -- can't seem to do much with my right but drink coffee  !
Get her a book with great, clear pictures of where the needle goes in and what the resulting stitch SHOULD look like. Then let her hold the needles and yarn whatever way will accomplish these two things. I think one reason why so many folks "hate" knitting is because they were told they HAD to hold the yarn a certain way or the needles or whatever. What you're interested in is the final result -- however that can be accomplished the most comfortable way for a prospective knitter the better. Yes, there are more efficient ways -- but this isn't a race; it's an art and it should be made as enjoyable as possible.
Let me know if that helps or if it makes it worse. I was 8 when I taught myself -- using books and my sister's knitting to practice on (I would rip out what I'd done so she wouldn't know I'd messed with it  ).
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MaryG
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chicken lady
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Thanks Mary, your summary sounds alot like Zimmermans I whole heartily agree with the process being an art, she is just so frustrated. Do you knit Continental? I asked another lefty friend, she told me she just made up her own method. Her work is gorgeous! Perhaps I will give her the book and let her go at it her own way. She is an avid reader, most likely smarter than mom
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Elizabeth
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Molly,
Can your friend teach her well enough to get her going? And then you could step in after she's got the hang of it?
Not that I know anything at all--I just got home from my first trip to the yarn store...
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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MicheleQ
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Molly,
I wish I knew. I have a lefty too ( she'll be 8 in a few months) and for the life of me I can't figure out how to help her - nor can my 11 yr. old dd (who is a right-handed like me).
I can't knit continental - I mean I can but I can't. . .I hate it. I know it's faster but that's only if you can get the hang of it and I can't. I don't care. I'm not going for speed. I knit because I enjoy it. 
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chicken lady
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I feel the same way Michele. Yes I can do it, yes it is faster, but I lose the peace and rythmn.
I may just do your suggestion Elizabeth. THe same friend teachs my girls Italian (immersion) so perhpas I can have her work with Francesca on her knitting in Italian
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Mary G
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MicheleQ wrote:
Molly,
I wish I knew. I have a lefty too ( she'll be 8 in a few months) and for the life of me I can't figure out how to help her - nor can my 11 yr. old dd (who is a right-handed like me). |
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Can she wait till next August when I'm out there?
micheleq wrote:
| I can't knit continental - I mean I can but I can't. . .I hate it. I know it's faster but that's only if you can get the hang of it and I can't. I don't care. |
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It's never going to be faster or more efficient if you can't do it! I only do continental when I'm doing 2-color knitting (one in each hand). I throw the yarn with my right, but knit into the stitch continental -- yes, I taught myself and this works for me! There are more ways to knit than you'd ever believe and that's why I say have her look at the pictures and do what she can to et the stitch looking like a nice V!
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MaryG
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lilac hill
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I am not sure if being a lefty casued the mix-up but, I taught myself to knit with a video and when I finally went to a class, I discovered I knit backwards . If I follow directions I exchange the words left for right and left needle for right needle. Patterns actually do work out. (I pick the stitches off the right needle)
Watching different knitters showed me there were many ways to hold the yarn and I finally arrived at a comfortable method.
My girls found shorted, smaller needles easier to work with on their first attempts. I put neeedle tips (those rubber things) at the end of some double points to make sorted needles.
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Viv
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Elizabeth
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lilac hill wrote:
| I am not sure if being a lefty casued the mix-up but, I taught myself to knit with a video and when I finally went to a class, I discovered I knit backwards . |
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a video! duh. Why didn't I ever consider a knitting video? do you have one to recommend, Viv?
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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Lori B
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When my dad taught me to knit (I think I was about 9??) my lefty best friend wanted to learn, too. My dad found a book with clear pictures, and propped it up in front of a mirror for her- worked perfectly!
When she needed a bit more help, he would work in front of the mirror with her looking over his shoulder- a bit awkward, but she learned how to knit beautifully!
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chicken lady
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Elizabeth wrote:
| [a video! duh. Why didn't I ever consider a knitting video? do you have one to recommend, Viv? |
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Our local library has some Elizabeth check yours. I don't remember the names as I have never needed them, but i know friends who have used them.
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Mary G
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Elizabeth wrote:
lilac hill wrote:
| I am not sure if being a lefty casued the mix-up but, I taught myself to knit with a video and when I finally went to a class, I discovered I knit backwards . |
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a video! duh. Why didn't I ever consider a knitting video? do you have one to recommend, Viv? |
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The BEST videos, if you can get them are the ones from Elizabeth Zimmermann/Meg Swansen (a mother-daughter team that are awesome). Here are the ones to try to find:
Knitting Workshop
A Knitting Glossary.
The books that she's written are also exceptional -- the best (and the one I learned from) is called Knitting Without Tears. The others you might also want to look for are:
Knitter's Almanac - A Year of Projects (I've had my copy for YEARS!)
Knitting Workshop (which is the companion to her video mentioned above)
and
Knitting Around.
The DVDs have been updated and "remastered" and on DVD it's great cuz you can jump from chapter to chapter and get just the right spot.
"EZ" (as she's known in knitting circles ) is very chatty and talks/walks you thru every step of the way in a very calming way -- yes, even in her books.
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MaryG
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Mary G
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Y'all have mentioned mirrors and other things ... but, as a lefty I have to say, none of those solutions ever worked for me. The problem is us lefties have to adapt to a right-hand world -- that's the fact. Did you teach your left-handed children to write with a mirror or do anything like that?
I think it worked for me to use pictures in a book and play with it on my own cuz I tend to be, well ... a bit independent (some would say "bull headed") and I had to do it myself. Maybe if you leave the kids to learn it on their own, you'll be surprised at how well they do ....
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MaryG
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lilac hill
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Elizabeth, I just used the library video, 20 years ago!
For lefties, reading the directions out loud, and exchanging "left" for "Right" and doing it works for me. When I face a new stitch I still do the same thing. I usually print the directions in large type to make it easier.
I found the book Knitting in Plain English to be my early favorite. I have enjoyed the Zimmerman books too but the Knitting in Plain English spoke my language.
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Viv
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chicken lady
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Mary G wrote:
I only do continental when I'm doing 2-color knitting (one in each hand). |
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Oh this I do as well. Mary have you seen the this book. She uses this two yarn knitting.
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JennGM
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lilac hill wrote:
| I found the book Knitting in Plain English to be my early favorite. I have enjoyed the Zimmerman books too but the Knitting in Plain English spoke my language. |
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I took a knitting class from my local needlecraft shop. The owner highly recommends this book.
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lilac hill
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Oh this I do as well. Mary have you seen the this book. She uses this two yarn knitting.[/QUOTE]
I love knitting mittens.
Not fair linking another knitting book.
I am stepping away from the computer, and the amazon link, at least until I finish my husband's socks (how many times can you rip out a heel?), my daughter's clog slippers, and that skein of beautiful hand dyed sock yarn I have great hopes for!
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Viv
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chicken lady
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lilac hill wrote:
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Not fair linking another knitting book.
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Is'nt that the truth. I have to train myslef not to follow links Elizabeth just got me again the other day with an Art book
I think we need a ban on links and posting 1 week prior to cycles
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ladybugs
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Hey Molly,
My library had a book titled, "Knitting instructions for the left-handed," by Lenette Hilden - published in 1971.
I have a question and I'm not trying to highjack the thread....but Molly, Mary, any knitter...
I bought my girls each a poncho kit from Hearthsong, recently, for only $9.99 a piece - with needles.
We took them out and found that instead of just teaching the knitting stitch, it teaches the eyelet stitch, the purl stitch and the yarn over technique.
I, as a novice knitter, could figure out the directions, but my girls couldn't...
Are these stitches really easier than I think they are?
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Mary G
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Maria P.
YO's are just making the holes that all novice knitters make, but on purpose .... ! Purl might be a bit hard for a new knitter, though while YOs are simply putting the yarn around the needle and without having taken up a stitch.
You might want to use the yarn and needles and just have them do all knit -- if you make two garter stitch rectangles and sew them together you'll have a poncho that looks like the picture without the YOs and purls ... which would be easier with the fancy yarn you've been sent anyway....
Hope that helps!
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MaryG
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: knitting for lefties
