I’m loving this post — and the conversation in the comments — from knitwear designer and teacher Patty Lyons, in which she talks about her least favorite myths about knitting. These are the things she hears people say that she wishes would go away because they’re simply not true.
There are practical things, like always slipping the first stitch (or, worse, always adding two stitches to a project so you can make a selvedge edge even if it isn’t called for in the pattern) or always making an ssk by slipping the first stitch as if to knit and the second as if to purl. That word “always” seems to cause a lot of problems.
There are some more philosophical ones, too, like “knitting is hard” and “knitting is easy.”
That one about casting on with a larger needle to make a more elastic cast on is one of my favorite least favorites, too, so I’ll let her explain more fully:
The needle creates the size of the stitch, therefore using a larger needle only creates a first row with big sloppy stitches. The elasticity of the edge would come from how far apart you space your stitches. When doing a long tail cast on, plant your finger on the needle to the left of the stitch you just cast on, to act as a spacer between it and the next new stitch.
You’re going to love her number one, too, but I don’t want to spoil it so click on over and check it out.
I’d love to hear what myths about knitting you can’t stand, too. Some of my favorites include “you’re doing it wrong” and “continental knitting is faster.”
