knitting

[elizabeth_mn]

I've got about 7 inches of sweater sleeve above the cuff now, half of the distance to where the cap shaping begins.

Whenever I am working flat knitting, I find that alternating the knit and purl rows gives me a feelng of completion and accomplishment.  When I work in the round, it's generally just endless knitting with nothing to remind me of how much I've done but stopping and measuring every now and then. 

Besides, I actually enjoy purling as much as knitting.  I often wonder, why do so many knitters seem to hate purling so much?

I've read about so many ways to avoid purling and heard (or read) so many people express a distaste for it.  And most of the ways seem like more trouble than simply doing the purling would be.

I guess the same goes for straight needles, double-pointed needles, and seaming.  Everyone these days seems to love circulars for everything and hate straights and DPNs.  I love straights, I only use circulars when I need to, and I have no interest in learning how to replace my DPNs with two circs.

I haven't done a lot of seaming (or knitting in the round, either) but I enjoyed it.  Maybe because I'm a sewist first and a knitter second, but I also don't understand the seaming-hatred.  I liked the fact that with the top-down-in-one-piece sweater I made, I was able to adjust the lengths as I knitted instead of having to figure it out beforehand, but otherwise, I've enjoyed making my current sweater in pieces just as much.

Comments

[quincy134.livejournal.com]

I agree that a lot of the seaming hatred is probably because many knitters are not also sewists. But seams also tend to be less-elastic than the rest of the knitted piece, which can mess with a knitted design. Furthermore, I purl a little looser than I knit, which means I can get a more even gauge doing things seamless in the round.

The one major benefit from circulars as opposed to straights, even for flat pieces is that the weight of the knitted fabric stays more in between your hands than dangling to the side on a straight needle. This tends to be easier on the wrists. (Unless you're a pit knitter, who anchors your straight needle in your armpit. Nicki Epstein is a pit knitter.)

[ashamanja-babu.livejournal.com]

"But seams also tend to be less-elastic than the rest of the knitted piece"

This makes sense! Thanks!

"The one major benefit from circulars as opposed to straights, even for flat pieces is that the weight of the knitted fabric stays more in between your hands than dangling to the side on a straight needle. This tends to be easier on the wrists."

This is what I hear, I guess I just don't seem to knit anything large enough to feel heavy on straights.

[quincy134.livejournal.com]

I've got weak wrists due to an injury in college, so circs are a plus!

[koshka-the-cat.livejournal.com]

I like to use circulars so pieces are more portable--very simple reason! Also, I can't drop a needle and have it roll under the couch :)

I have no problems with purling though. And I think double pointed needles are fun. Who knew they were supposed to be hard to use?