The Portuguese Style of Knitting
I spent the weekend learning how to knit! Yes, I did.
I know that you know that I know how to knit, but this weekend, I used Andrea Wong’s DVD, Learn How to Knit Portuguese Style, to master a new technique.
I remember reading in Mary Thomas’s Knitting Book about shepherds in Landes (an area of France), walking on stilts and knitting. The shepherds used a hook attached to a shoulder strap to tension the yarn. At some other point in time, and in another book, I read about Peruvian knitters who tensioned the yarn around the neck. These knitters often knit on the wrong side of the garment, because purling was so much faster than knitting with the yarn tensioned in this style.
In neither case, did the author go on to describe the technique in detail. Obviously, I was intrigued, because I never forgot either description.
Recently, Andrea Wong and her DVD came to our attention. As soon as I read that the yarn was held on a pin or around the neck, I knew that I had to see it and if was well done, we would stock it at Knitting Software.
Saturday afternoon, I reminded myself of every knitter whom I have ever taught. I was holding my knitting needles so tightly that my hands were cramping. I couldn’t believe how much effort it took me to relax. In fact, it took me more effort to relax my hands than to master the technique.
I discovered very quickly that I had to forget how to do the knit stitch to learn to do the knit stitch with this method. It isn’t hard, but I found that I really had to listen to what Andrea was saying about inserting the needle.
The left thumb controls the yarn over the needle in this method. Because the yarn is fed from the left and already tensioned by either a pin or looping the yarn around your neck, the left thumb flicks the yarn into position whether it is for knit or for purl.
Today, when I picked up the needles, I was totally comfortable with the technique. I decided that it was time to do knit and purl in the same row.
Ribbing with this technique is an absolute delight. The tensioning was perfect and I think that I can produce rib in half the time that it normally takes. There is such economy of movement using this method.
To really put the ribbing through its paces, I did a 4 x 4 rib. That too was perfect. How often have you done a wide rib, and have a row of loose knit stitches? It happens to me, and I have to make a concerted effort to be sure that the last knit stitch is of the group is always pulled tighter. Not anymore!
I don’t know if I will totally covert to the Portuguese style, but I do know that it is the method that I will be using for my ribbing from now on.
I am afraid that I haven’t touched on any of the practical reasons to try this method of knitting as described on the cover of the DVD…”fast, efficient, easier on the hands”.
I am so happy that Andrea Wong made this DVD. She satisfied my curiosity stemming from those paragraphs that I read years ago. And, in addition to teaching me how to knit Portuguese style, I learned a new bind-off, and now have a perfect rib solution in my repertoire.
Filed under: Knitting, Techniques by cwulster
Hi Carole!
Because I teach knitting, I have to be familiar with the different methods my students may be using so I took up this method.
One particular student was having great difficulty with the English method so we tried the Continental method but to not avail. I put the yarn around her neck and showed her the Portuguese purl and it worked! She practiced that for a while and tnen I taught her the Portuguese knit stitch and she became a happy knitter, taking pride in her accomplishment.
If a knitter has pain in the right hand or wrist it is nice to be able to switch to this method and alleviate the strain. It is very easy to learn.
Dear,
I have severe rheumatoid arthritis and am having surgery soon to fuse my left wrist. The right wrist will likely follow. An avid knitter, I am concened about the impact this might have on my favorite past-time. Do you think the Portugese style might me an option?
Dear Karen,
I don’t know. I can only describe why I think it might be easier on your joints, but that doesn’t mean it will be.
I have to admit, that before I got the hang of it, both hands hurt. Not because of the movement, but because I made myself so tense.
However, I had to give up Continental style knitting years ago because of the wrist movement in left hand.
Once I mastered this technique, neither wrist was bothered. The yarn is flicked with the left thumb and there is a real “economy of movement”. There is no wrist motion at all in the left hand.
The right hand wrist motion comes only when completing the knit or the purl stitch.
If I were you, I would give it a try. But, don’t get discouraged on your first viewing. I had to sleep on it to get the movements.
Carole
Which just goes to show you that there’s more than one way to knit a stitch. Glad you had such a good time with it.
Karen may also want to try the Eastern Uncrossed Method….any port in a storm!
As I recall there is an article on Knitting Styles archived in the Vogue Knitting website…try looking around. Or ‘google’ “knitting Styles” see what you get.
The “Scottish Method” a variation of the throwing methods, involves, I believe, a super long straight needle held between the right arm and the body…freeing both hands to use the yarn. Try propping up the right arm on pillows until you get use to it.
Then there are knitting looms…also google.
Go slow…and Good Luck Karen!
I am intrigued. My question is do you have to change the type of needles you use? I noticed that the needles used had hooks.
thanks
Myrna
is there anyway that you could show us a picture of what this style of knitting looks like?
Myrna,
Andrea Wong does not use hooks. She uses regular knitting needles.
Mary Thomas states in her book that the Shepherds of the Landes used hooks. I have also seen videos of this style of knitting done with hooks.
The hooks don’t really seem necessary since the motion to complete the knit stitch or the purl stitch is the same as it is in the English or Continental style.
Carole
I purchased Andrea Wong’s original DVD “The Wong Way of Handknitting” about a year ago.
I found this to be the easiest way to knit ribbing.
However, I have difficulty maintaining a consistant tension.
Do you wrap the yarn around the middle finger of your right hand as demonstrated on the DVD?? Or do you wrap it differently??
Any suggestions would be helpful.
Hi Kelly,
I did hold the yarn around my middle finger as was shown in the video.
I started out using the pin, but found putting the yarn around my neck really increased my control over the tension.
Carole
Thanks, I’ll try that.
I attended a class at KNIT MICHIGAN this Saturday and took a class in Portuguese Knitting. Everyone in the class had fun in trying the method…everyone agreed the Purl was easy…I teach at a shop in Lake Orion Mi. and entend on introducing this style…I have been knitting for over 50 years and anytime I find something new, I love to try it.
Hi Carole:
I felt the same way when I started doing the 2-handed fair isle stitches. It takes so much time to figure out how to keep your hands relaxed that it took me forever to ease up as well, but once I did, it went so fast that I could make hats in half the time. I made my whole family (mother, stepmother, both grandmothers and 5 sisters) hats in half the time it would have taken me with the throwing method. I’m now teaching myself the continental method, and am buying Andrea’s DVD as well. No sense in not figuring out how to do the Portuguese technique along with the Continental. I’ll let you know how it goes.
I too suffer with rheumatoid arthritis in my hands, wrists, shoulders, elbows and love to knit, has anyone heard if the method was easier for Karen?? I’m trying to keep going in order to be able to teach my daughter when she’s old enough. Thanks