Pickin' And Grinnin'

Day 95: My readers have often heard me refer to the fact that I use the European method of "picking" when knitting, as opposed to "throwing" in the American style. Picking is a much faster system, particularly when working ribbing because it is much easier to bring the yarn to the front of the needle for a purl stitch. In picking, the working strand is held in the left hand. Depending on the individual knitter, tension is achieved by carrying the yarn over the backs of one or more fingers or by winding it around a finger. I prefer to wrap it around my pinkie. It then passes over the index finger from back to front.

To make a knit stitch (top), the working thread should be behind the left needle. The tip (only the tip!) of the right needle is inserted in the first stitch on the left needle in the normal fashion and is "picked" through to the front. The stitch is then slid off the needle. At this point, the knitter will see how easy it is to bring the working thread to the FRONT of the left needle for a purl stitch. To purl (bottom), the yarn is held in front of the left needle. The right needle passes through the first stitch on the left needle in the usual manner. A slight twist of the left wrist drops the working thread over the tip of the right needle from front to back, and the stitch is then taken off the left needle. There is no tedious transferring of the yarn from front to back as there is in throwing. Rather, it is how the needles are positioned which allow the stitch to be knit or purled as desired.

Picking is easy to learn whether you're right-handed or left-handed (I am right-handed), but for lefties, it is much easier than throwing American-style. Try it! You'll be pickin' and grinnin' in no time at all!