I'm Knitting with Traditional Needles

If you follow me, you know I picked up loom knitting a year ago and really loved it. I've made hundreds of things on round and straight looms, but in the back of my mind I wanted to learn how to use traditional needles. Certain stitches just look better, in my opinion, knitting than in crochet. 

I picked up some aluminum and plastic needles at a local thrift store and pulled a YouTube video all ready to learn! I was excited...for awhile...you see I'm a crocheter through and through so I use my hook in my right hand and hold the yarn with my left. So, when I started knitting and tried the "English" style, it was murder for my right shoulder and wrist throwing the yarn over with my right hand + I could never get the tension right because I wasn't used to holding the working yarn in my right hand. I had to give it up and then I felt defeated. I thought, "well maybe this isn't for me..." I gave myself a rest from it, went back to loom knitting for a bit. But I just didn't like the fact that I gave up so easily. I don't like that so I decided to do some research. I found out about "Continental" knitting which is holding your yarn in your left hand and the left needle really stays put while you knit or purl with the right needle. Now this intrigued me and I think it's a great way to learn to knit if you're a crocheter like me. 

I looked at tons and tons of videos and then I learned "Combined Continental Knitting" which I'm not exactly sure how it got its name, but it is a technique based on the continental style of knitting which I learned from a crocheter and another knitter on YouTube. The only difference I could see was how you wrap the yarn around the needle as you knit and purl so I practice this and loved it. 

I decided to adopt this way of knitting instead and the stitches look the same which was fantastic. Now, it was time to find the right needles. Aluminum is the most widely used but for a beginner like me they're too difficult because the yarn keeps sliding off and I was losing stitches. So I put most of them in my Etsy store. I knew I wouldn't use them so why let them sit on my shelf doing nothing?

While I was shopping for needles, I picked up some bamboo ones, I don't know the size of them because there was no label on them at the thrift store. Since I've been doing a lot of research, I think they're probably size 11.5 but when I played with them, I instantly loved them. I loved how they felt in my hands and how the yarn didn't slip off. I knew I wanted to get a set of them so I went to Amazon looking around and Hallelujah... I found the right set!

Introducing the Bamboo Needles of my choice...from U-nitt!

I bought this set of U-nitt bamboo knitting needles single pointed sizes: 1-15 (2.25, 2.75, 3.25, 3.5, 3.75, 4, 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 6.5, 8, 9, 10mm) 14-size package.

These are how the needles come in the mail.

They're made with only the hardest part of Moso bamboo. These needles are so smooth in your hands and I am loving them. I had a couple of skeins of cotton yarn and I found a free pattern for wash cloths which I want to make a bunch to sell in a set for my church library gift shop. I plan to buy other sizes like 7 for instance which doesn't come in this set. They arrived in three business days as well and each set comes in a vinyl re-usable bag but I know eventually I'll need a bag to hold all of them!

And what's on my original bamboo knitting needles? A Headwarmer!

More pictures to come...back to my knitting now!

UPDATE UPDATE!!!! I'm knitting English style now!!!!! Keep following my knitting journey!