the blue blog archives: playing with yarn

While swatching my new Debbie Bliss cotton angora yarn (for my mom's Jess sweater, which looks to be about eight or nine thousand miles of stockinette stitch), I decided I should try to retrain my hand to hold the yarn differently. I've become accustomed to holding the tension on the yarn by wrapping it around my pinky finger. Not a problem, but each time I knit a stitch I seem to lift my pinky in some weird teacup ettiquette reflex moment.

It's bad form, is inefficient and surely strains my wrist, but it's not a huge problem unless I am doing a lot of knitting. This strange pinky flip was definitely the source of some hand troubles I had last year after knitting my tiny-gauged funky vest and giant melvilla poncho. Now, preparing for some full-time knitting on mom's sweater, I want to nip that little problem in the bud! So I'm practicing holding the tension on my ring finger now.

As long as I keep my pinky straight in line with the ring finger and move them together, it stays rather relaxed and I don't feel any cramping. I'm sure that by the time I'm done with mom's sweater, it'll feel like I've been knitting like this for years.

Okay, wanna hear another story of twinsanity? So, remember B's booboo from last week? Well, he's been getting fun finger soaks and yummy pink medicine several times a day, and someone - one guess who - has been very jealous! First, S was so upset that he didn't get to go to the doctor with B last week, that he actually did more screaming than his brother. Then there's the fact that they love medicine so much that we've had to give S a dropperful of water, which we call "pretend medicine", each night so he doesn't feel left out. To top it off, daddy makes soak time so entertaining by reading Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks and Things that Go book with them, that B acutally reminds us when it's time and S keeps asking for his own bowl of water. So here's what happens next. Not to be outdone by his twin brother, S manages to wake up yesterday morning with the same nail infection, on his toe, not his finger, but, let's say it together, I-dentical. One trip to the doctor later and he's got his own bottle of the same pink medicine and a schedule of fun toe soaks. If I didn't know better, I'd swear he'd willed his toe infection into existence in order to get the same stuff as B! Oh well, same treatment, same schedule, heck, it actually makes our life a lot easier.

posted by alison at 8:22 am | in techniques

Comments

I've retrained myself to knit different ways 3 times now. Feeling comfortable with the new technique comes very quickly. Now..if I could only make my knitting much more even looking (Looser purl, tighter knit stitches) That would be great! Good luck. :)

Posted by: Eilene at August 19, 2004 9:41 AM

That is hilarious about the identical infection. That twin bond is so strong--we've got it going like that around here too. The other day we were playing Cootie and one of the girls says "if she wins, I win too because we're sisters" What???

Posted by: Karen at August 19, 2004 9:44 AM

I'm always trying to purl tighter, knit looser. It's always something . . .

Your fellas sittin n soakin are so cute--and it is amazing that one of them has three arms!

Posted by: Ann at August 19, 2004 9:44 AM

Wow! what a wild twin story. I am sure there will be many more in their lifetime. I do the little pinky thing when I am working on 0's or 1's and sock yarn only. The littleness must just make me tighten up.

Posted by: Cindy at August 19, 2004 9:46 AM

Richard Scarry is the best! We love Huckle and Lowly the worm. -- Good luck with the re-education program, I knit a child size poncho continental style to re-educate myself but only managed to cause myself an awful lot of wrist pain.

Posted by: Amy at August 19, 2004 9:50 AM

tooooo funny. i have been waiting all morning for the blue blog update (i've been here since 7 NY time) and it was well worth the wait! :) now hopefully bonne marie has gotten up as she's the other one i've been waitin on today... :)

Posted by: carolyn at August 19, 2004 9:53 AM

That is truly hysterical about the twin infections.

I know I knit in bad form too, but I figure, if it comes out looking OK, it's not so bad. Good luck with retraining yourself though!

Posted by: Jackie at August 19, 2004 9:58 AM

Ahh, parenthood. I think that creative thinking is born with children. A parent is lost without it.

My knitting pain is in my left two knuckles on my left hand. It has been getting worse, and I can't figure it out. Good luck with yours.

Posted by: LauraA at August 19, 2004 10:10 AM

LOL
Little boys are soo funny! I have two younger bros, and the youngest (age 6) is a total ham. The things he says!!! He made mom's birthday the other day by telling her that she should have 21 candles on her cake. ;-)
Good luck w/ the new tension technique!

Posted by: Sarah Elizabeth at August 19, 2004 10:13 AM

I need to retrain myself on holding the yarn better as well. I always have mine tightly wrapped over my pointer finger. Doesn't seem to affect much but it definately slows my knitting down. The problem is once you start doing these things it's so hard to stop.

Posted by: Christina at August 19, 2004 10:55 AM

Yes, your knitting looks a bit weird :)
You should be able to keep the tension just by holding the yarn over your index finger, and then then hold the middle finger close to it, to hold the yarn in place, and at the right tension. The yarn continues inside your palm, paralell to your knitting needle. You do the same when purling.
At least Norwegian knitters never twist the yarn around any fingers :)
When you knit with several colours you let the main colour go over your index finger in the manner described, and the second colour over both the index finger and middle finger. The evt. third colour goes over index, middle and ring finger.
This is the quickest way of doing intarsia, and it gives the most even tention.

Posted by: Helene at August 19, 2004 11:41 AM

I did the same thing recently. I've been tensioning my yarn with my ring finger, my middle finger, basically any finger the yarn felt comfortable in. Finally, I sat down and trained myself to tension my yarn with my pinky and everything's better. The other way I was knitting gave me achy fingers and really slowed down my knitting. Your boys are too funny. I love that story. I also love the giraffe sweater. Makes me wanna kick myself in the butt for not buying that magazine a couple of years ago.

Posted by: sharlyn at August 19, 2004 11:48 AM

Your little guys are so cute!! I'll bet there is never a dull moment at your house!

I knit wierd, too. I am self-taught and by the time I learned the "correct" way to hold my yarn, I was too set in my ways to change. Besides, it works for me, so I don't really care if it's "wrong."

Posted by: Kristy at August 19, 2004 4:49 PM

I'm considering writing about the twins' dual skin infections as a case report for a medical journal. Wanna be co-author? What a hoot your boys are!

Posted by: Lynn at August 19, 2004 4:53 PM

Adorable story. Can't wait to see how your mom's sweater comes along. I have been thinking of buying that yarn.

Posted by: Georgina at August 19, 2004 5:24 PM

Such wonderful boys ! Love the story,but even more I love the wool tangle. :0)
Good luck with the finger relaxing.

Posted by: Emma at August 19, 2004 5:30 PM

I knit almost like your second picture, but I wrap the yarn 2x around my index finger for tension. This essentially immobilizes the yarn. If I don't keep it under my pinky (i.e., it flows over the top of my hand after coming out from under the middle finger), then I have no tension control. Good luck manifesting the change.

Posted by: June at August 20, 2004 8:06 AM

Hi, I know you don't know me from.. oh I'll just say it.. Eve.. but I am the knitting mom of 5 children and just wanted to drop this in your ear. If by chance your twins bath together you might want to watch that the bath was the transmission of the infection from twin to twin. On top of that watch out for sponges in the bath. Our smaller two had these cute play sponges that turned out to be the cause of ALL of us getting a rather nasty skin rash/infection. It took a long time and a lot of cultures to figure out what was causing the rashes. Those sponges and such soft bath toys can hold all manner of icky stuff. Yeh I know, just another thing to ponder while knitting

Maddie, knitting in Chattanooga

Posted by: Maddie at August 20, 2004 9:04 AM

I love the stories about your boys. They sound like such funny little guys :) I hope their infections clear up soon!

Posted by: Amy at August 20, 2004 9:07 AM

Glad to hear I'm not the only one who's developed a less than perfect knitting technique. I think I'm like you, Cindy, in that I do it more when I'm on smaller needles. Helene, I think it's pretty common for us on this side of the ocean to wrap yarn around a finger. Lots of the books even suggest it. I notice that when I knit continental style, I have a harder time keeping good tension 'cause I can't get the same finger wrap thing going in my left hand. I hope that my new method is more like what you're talking about. I can't imagine doing multiple colors in one hand though. Wow!

Oh yes, that yarn tangle was real "fun". It took about 15 minutes of my husband and I each working with one ball of yarn to clean up though!

Three hands - good one Ann. :) That is of course Daddy's hand keeping the water from tipping over.

Interesting thought about the sponge. It certainly is possible. I was working on their twin tendency to get and pull on hangnails as the most probable explanation.

Posted by: alison at August 20, 2004 10:14 AM

HA! Maybe the boys can help with that 'yarn tension' I think their tension with the yarn is perfect!!! SO funny! My son does the same exact thing with a red cotton crochet thread I've given him! He has even gone to the extent of making lego 'trolley' that actually ROLL on it! (he's a bit older...) BOYS ARE GREAT! I hope their problems clear up and I'm a self-taught knitter too and I bet I hold something wrong too! Because I knit so sllllooooowwww!

Posted by: PJ at August 21, 2004 12:13 PM