Basically, there are two ways of holding the needles: the industrial or "Cottage" way, and the "Drawing Room" way (these are not official terms). Up until the mid-nineteenth century, no-one knitted for fun. Rural, working-class women knitted stockings in their spare time to make a little extra money - 'little' being the operative word. With the industrial age came machines that churned out stockings faster and more cheaply, and hand-knitting was in decline. In the 1840s, suddenly knitting was turned into a middle-class diversion. Ladies knitted as a way to show off their skill and industriousness in an inoffensive way, as reading was seen as too intellectual and anti-social. The advocates of this "Drawing Room" knitting insisted on a new way of holding the needles however, as if they were pencils. This served the two-fold purpose of showing off their delicate hands to potential male suitors, and disassociating their activity from the lower-class, commercially motivated activity of stocking-knitting.
My Oma taught me how to knit holding the needles in the good old, working class, left-wing, anti-establishment, pinko, commo "Cottage" style. And when I found out more about what it was all about, I was proud. Knitting in this style is faster. You can easily knit even the bulkiest sweater, as you are holding onto the needle from the top, not from underneath. The only disadvantage is that you have to loosen your grip on the needle a little as you loop the yarn around it every time. But that's easily solved. In Europe, as well as here in Australia, long needles are easy to obtain. All you have to do is tuck the right-hand needle under your arm and it's securely held in place. That's fine, and I find it the most comfortable, easiest and quickest way of working.
HOWEVER.
Whenever I'm working with double-pointed needles, this just doesn't work. By necessity, DPNs are short. Otherwise it would just get crazy. Here's a picture to illustrate:
Having DPNs long enough to tuck under your arm would just be ridiculous. [Although I've read that they're obtainable in Holland. Hmmm!] I had two choices whenever I worked with them:
1) put the knitting down every time I wrapped the yarn around the needle to make a stitch, and then pick it up again. Every knitter I'm sure, can remember doing this in the beginning, and how frustratingly slow it was!
2). Poke the needle into my stomach to anchor it. When I remember to shield myself with a towel, etc. it only hurts slightly. When I forget, I tend to ruin my clothes by putting little holes in them on the front right-hand side. Oops.
I wanted to make a baby hat (the Berry Bonce, pictured above) using a particular pattern in the round. But it required using DPNs. I groaned and tutted. The situation was just not tenable. Why do I seem to be the only person in the blogosphere who hates working with DPNs with a passion? I had a think about it. I seem to be the only person I know who knits in the Cottage way. Everyone I've seen holds their needles in the Drawing Room way. There must be some advantage to it. Then it dawned on me! If you're holding the needle from underneath, it's supported the whole time by your hand! Genius! So I gave up my pride and gave it a go.
It only took about 5 rows before I was starting to get the hang of it. Then I was doing it. Betraying my heritage, maybe, but I tried to put that aside and just mentally tick off a new technique that makes my skills more rounded and my understanding more complete.
Now I'm just whipping through the Berry Bonce:
I can't decide if I'm happy with the way the striping is turning out or not. Time will tell.
P.S. To find out more, read the summary of A History of Hand-Knitting that I posted here. Or better still, read the book itself!
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