Today's story comes from Joy Marshall from West Hallam. Being left handed she struggled to learn to knit until she found the right person to teach her.
I don't think anyone can be more left handed than I am so I took a while to get started as a knitter, she says. When I was a child in the late 1940s everyone learnt to knit – usually taught by their mum – but all I mastered was the art of casting on hundreds of stitches using the thumb method and then undoing them again!
I couldn't seem to grasp it at all until the age of eight when I went into one of our standard craft/needlework classes at school. Everyone else seemed to be knitting away but on this occasion, the teacher was joined by a student teacher on placement.
This wonderful lass sat exclusively with me and effectively forced herself to be left handed for the session. Eureka! I was off. And from that wonderful day I've never looked back. I've knitted around the world and have produced baby clothes for all my friends' children – and now grandchildren too. I just wish I could thank my helper.
Joy's method of knitting left handed looks a little different from most right handed knitting, which does cause the odd problem. I'm told that my knitting looks like a continental stitch, she says, and, of course, my knit is a right handed person's purl. Then there's the cardigans where the right front becomes the left and let's not mention the gloves! I've never been tempted to knit those gloves which incorporate an R and an L in their backs – now there's a challenge!
While knitting uses both hands, many right handed people use their right hand to do most of the work, which can mean that left handed knitters struggle to pick up their technique as they prefer to use their left hand to do most of the work. Switching to continental knitting, where you hold the yarn in your left hand, can help – and remember, as long as you're happy with the end result, there's no 'wrong' in knitting.
We’d love
to hear your stories about the people who inspired you to start knit –
or to keep on – knitting or helped you on your way. Send your stories and
photos to simplyknitting@futurenet.com
Tuesday March 09, 2010 Inspirational Knitters – 'I don't think anyone can be more left handed than I am'
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