knitting and purling - my style left hand carry

Well a new year, a new project or 3, a project completed, and a new technqiue to share. But first the latest item off the knitting pins, a kangaroo pocket jersey for my 7.5 year old son. In teal blue, on 3.24mm's. I made this one up, mostly in advance- but resolve a few details as i worked, like the stripe pattern, and the neck finish to match the ribbing at the hem and on the pockets. Hem is 4 rows garter, 10-12 rows of 2x2 rib, and another 4 rows garter, all on knitting pins one size smaller. I short rowed the back neck, starting when the raglan decreases has achieved 80% of K, and turned 5 stitches short eachtime until only the back stitches remained. Then I knit two rounds to resolve all the short row wraps.



Ages ago i was learnng how to knit with a left hand carry, and to knit with two colours in my left hand and searched the web for help. There are so many good help sites out there but it wasn't until i found a with a video not in english, it was noted as being Finish, (will post link when i find it again) that i found a purl that really made continental work for me. I has been a right hand carry knitter, and before that a pick up the yarn and wind it round the needle, drop it and move the needle knitter, and after that a combined knitter, but I was wanting to do Bohus which required colour work with purl stitches at the same time as carrying multiple yarns in the left hand.

I aplogise for any delay in the images loading, there are 17 that show me ribbing in knit and purl using a left hand. The images were made by my very own non-knitting but very helpful Christopher - and I think he did a wonderful job. At the time I was knitting a shrug for my daughter in sock yarn, in the round on 2.25mm needles. Please ignore the additional needles, focus only on the ones in use. I won't provide much commentary, as the images do show quite clearly the movements in my knitting, I find that i can rib easily and fast using this method. I tension my yarn by winding it around my index finger, which allows me greater control when I carry more than one yarn (each is wound around a different finger), but tensioning around the pinking also works. For me i know i need to carry the yarn towards the tip of my finger and close to the needle tip.



















To 'flick' from knit to purl i lift the yarn into place over the left needle tip, and then sweep the tip of my right needle inbehind it when i start the purl stitch. I do find my hands and wrists do much of the work as the needles twist from horizontal to vertical when knitting this way.