Ah, Right.

[tencrush]

So...

It transpires that my grandmother, mother and father were all taught to knit in the most spasticated way known to mankind. Essentially English style, but for some reason holding the yarn in your left hand, as well as the needle with all the stitches on. Which basically means that your left hand has to do twenty things at once and your right hand doesn't have to do very much at all but try and get the needle in the stitch. Which is, to be fair, quite enough for your right hand to be coping with when your left hand is busy surreptitiously pulling the entire thing tighter than a gnat's fucking chuff. I take it this is how Dutch people knit. I am, yet again, proving to not be Dutch enough to cope with these sorts of things.

THANK YOU, EVERYBODY, and virginhuntress especially, for your help and advice (and frankly magnificent breasts). The knitting is now fine, it's not too tight and way neater than it was. The stitches are actually loose enough for me to see what I'm doing and there's not too much tension, which means I can actually unpick bits if I've done someting wrong. I can both knit and purl.

I am no further with the thing that is destined to become the world's narrowest and most special needs scarf, but at least I know what I'm doing now.

Comments

[ceindreadh.livejournal.com]

You know, I've been knitting on and off (mostly off) for 30 years, and I never knew there was a second way to knit.
I learned how to knit in Primary School, everybody in my class did...sorry, every girl was taught how to knit. Boys got to do fun stuff with crafts and glue.

Apparently though, in my nephews school the boys can learn it as well.

[meleth.livejournal.com]

I just want you to know that I could only hear "pulling the entire thing tighter than a gnat's fucking chuff" in a strong Yorkshire accent.

[off_coloratura]

People pass down all kinds of crazy ways to knit. I'm firmly convinced that's how English vs. Continental came to be in the first place. I bought a sweater in Portugal from a woman who knitted with two crochet hooks instead of needles. Every person I see knitting has some odd little quirk peculiar to them.

I am glad, though, that you've managed to overcome the family handicap to make your knitting functional. Congrats.

[edithmatilda.livejournal.com]

I was taught English-style and will never but never Go Continental because my left hand does not do coordinated. Sadly, I can't really hold my right needle properly because I get these weird cramps, so am left doing proper left hand but having to wedge the arse of the right needle into myself in a horrible I-have-no-competence fashion. Thus I do not like knitting in front of people. But then i would probably have invented a neurosis anyway if I didn't have that one.

Glad you've made more sense of it all.