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Learn How to Knit without Looking, Just Like Nicholas Hoult

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nicholas hoult knittingMuch to my geeky husband’s chagrin, I’m not at all interested in the new “Mad Max” movie, and I hadn’t been paying attention to any of the press surrounding it until I saw this story in which actor Nicholas Hoult declares his knitting prowess by saying he doesn’t even have to look when he knits any more.

Hoult told a German magazine that costar Charlize Theron taught him how to knit.

“There are even a few photos of me in leather pants and war paint, knitting. I’d get really mad if I lost my place,” he said. “These days, I don’t even have to look down anymore. By the end of the year I’d made some knitted Christmas presents. And: I was much better than Tom Hardy,” another star in the movie.

Apparently, he knit before, as this story from 2013 explains, but he says he gave it up though he was “obsessed” for a time. Welcome back, sir.

If you want to knit as well as Hoult, it’s not really that difficult to knit simple things without looking. Elizabeth Zimmermann put it better than I ever could in her book, Knitting Around, so I’ll let her explain:

What? You can’t knit in the dark?

Stuff and nonsense; anybody can. Shut your eyes. Knit one stitch. Open your eyes and look at the stitch; it’s all right. Shut your eyes and knit two stitches. Open them. Shut them. Knit three stitches. Falling off a log is no comparison.

And once you can knit without paying much attention, you can knit while watching TV and movies. Though maybe not “Mad Max.” I hear it’s pretty intense.

Do you look at what you’re doing when you knit? Have any tips for knitting without looking?

[Photo via Xpose.ie]

Looking for more Christmas themed Knitting patterns? Check out some of our favorite Knitting patterns on Etsy and

These Christmas Knitting Pattern Books on Amazon

 

Comments

  1. every since my Dad said Grandma didn’t watch I started working on it, now I shut my eyes and rest them while I knit, best of both worlds. Unless I’m doing lace work, that iis..

Have you read?

Classic Dishcloth Knitting Patterns

Fall will be here before we know it, and that means there are holidays coming right behind where we might be entertaining at home. It’s always fun to have a hand knit touch in your home for other people to see, and if you’re going to be in the kitchen all day you might as well have some nice knit dish cloths to use. 

I love this little plaid hand towel from Darling Jadore. Use a little bit of leftover cotton yarn from another project for the plaid portion. It looks like the horizontal stripes are worked as you knit and the vertical stripes are done with duplicate stitch, making this a quick and easy project even newer knitters can make. 

Combine garter stitch and an easy eyelet pattern worked sideways to make the Annette Dish Towel from Cluck Cluck Boots, which is meant to be reminiscent of flour sack towels. It calls for DK weight yarn and you can work it in one color or two (or even three!). 

Add a little more texture with this set of kitchen towels from Whileberry Creative. They’re mostly worked in garter stitch with borders in easy knit/purl patterns, and you can work them in sport or worsted weight yarn. 

Two of Wands Shop has another cute allover knit and purl pattern they call the Seersucker Textured Tea Towel. It’s an easy repeating pattern worked in worsted weight yarn, and there’s a chart in the pattern you can use, but don’t have to, if you want to practice knitting from a chart. 

The Classic Cloth dish towel from Handmade Home by Connie is another one that can use a little leftover yarn in a contrasting color, or you could color block it our use stripes throughout the pattern. This one uses worsted weight yarn and another easy repeating knit purl stitch pattern. 

If you like to hang your towel on the oven handle or elsewhere but it’s always falling off, try the Stay Put kitchen towel from Fancy Step Knits. This project is worked in garter stitch and includes a hole partway through so you can pull the towel through itself over a rod or handle. Stripes are optional but a nice addition.