Friday, September 21, 2018

Knitting Thimble

A friend sent me a knitting thimble, used for multicolour knitting, so I've been trying it out. The two colours are threaded through the spirals so that they're kept separate. It only works for continental style knitting:
Of course it would take practice to work up speed using the method. The problem for me is that I think my normal method works better, not so much for the front of the work as for the back. I usually hold one colour in each hand:
With this method, it's very easy to weave the second colour behind the work: knit one stitch with the left hand yarn held away from the work and the next with the yarn held against the needle, so that the working thread catches it. In this way, long floats can be avoided:
The floats in this sample were only 3 stitches long, so not too bad, but I wouldn't want to have floats longer than that. The differences in the front relate more to practice than technique:
I've been knitting with the two handed method for a long time, but still remember my excitement when I read about it in Fairlady, a South African women's magazine. It can also be used to weave in ends:
Perhaps the thimble would be good for knitting with three colours? Two colours on the thimble and the third in the other hand? I haven't done much knitting with three colours in a row, I must admit.

8 comments:

  1. I have one of those knitting thimbles, but I really don't use it. I can't seem to get the knack of using it. I prefer the feel of the yarn in my hands, so I probably haven't really given it a chance.

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  2. This is all so interesting, including the thimble!!! I've never knit with both hands and wonder whether I'd be able to.

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    1. Sure you’d be able to, it’d need practice though.

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  3. fascinating I love this! If I do knit, it is continental :)

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  4. I never used or even saw this thimble. Initially when I worked multicolored knitting, after sometime seperating 2 or 3 different coloured yarn became a tedious job but now I don't allow them to make puzzle for me.

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  5. This thimble looks interesting, I have not seen anything like it, I think that it will take a bit of practice but may be it is worth it.

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