I’ve been knitting since I was 14 (1963). I was a “thrower” and tended to get wrist pain if I knitted too much. In 2018 I taught myself Continental and I no longer have pain.
I evaluate the movements of my knitting and crochet. I have learned that repetitive motion injuries usually happen when we are doing two directions. Like twist and moving back and forth. When we can make it so we have very few movements, it really helps. Mostly I'm fine with knitting except right now I'm doing a cabled cardigan and now I get to evaluate how to eliminate the twisting.
I find that for me changing projects helps. I have some that are less pattern and more plain knitting, when this starts to hurt me I change to a lace pattern which really slows me down and also requires different movements. This helps me a great deal.
Joan Barbier Great suggestion. I know for me I work a lot with plant based fibers so I try to have some wool or acrylic projects around do I can switch between them. I love cotton but it is more stress on the hand.
I started out knitting continental style and I started having pain in my left elbow. I switched to English style knitting and although it helped a bit, I still had pain in the left elbow. Eventually I had to have an operation to get rid of the bone spur that had developed and I could not knit for months! I thought I would go stir crazy. Anyway, I tried learning about other styles of knitting (Portuguese for one), but after trying to learn other styles I realized that aside from good positioning of my hands and sitting without slouching (too much, lol) I had to stop every 15-20 minutes and stretch. I would stretch my arms, my hands, and my back. I admit that sometimes I go longer than 20 minutes without stretching, especially if I'm knitting a section where I feel compelled to complete. If there was one thing I did learn from the tendonitis in my elbow was to stop and stretch. I never used to do that before. There are occasions where I haven't knitted for days and this has also helped me. I don't like to do that, but I realized that if I don't do these things (the stretching and going days without knitting) I will end up not being able to knit without pain, or even worse, not to knit at all. There are too many things I want to knit and not being able to do it, for me, would be like not breathing. Happy knitting all!
Thank you for sharing! And totally agree about taking breaks. I try to take a break every 20 minutes or so. And if I'm knitting with a plant fiber I'll take a day off and do another craft to give my wrist a break. (I've started to learn weaving) I just want to be able to knit for as many years as I can. 😀
I'm learning to knit, and seem to be landing on flicking, so I'm hoping this will prevent some strain on my hands, since I also play the piano, type for work, crochet, and do needlepoint. Yeah, I change things up to prevent one movement from dominating and causing harm.
I’ve just had surgery for broken wrist. Now have plate/screws in dominant hand as well as cast almost to elbow. Trying to find a way to knit with minimal right hand activity. Hoping this armpit idea will be helpful. Really liked the pillow tip too
@@CarrieCraftGeek that was on my list and i happen to have a pin but i fell asleep. shortly after that video began. ive brrndoing one handed laundry today and it was slow going thank goodness my kids are grown and have their own homes. lol. im working on a fast recovery and now that the surgery is behind me, my finger exercises are moving better than expected its all good
Thank you for sharing this. Like you, it seems that every activity I do, including my job, strains the same areas. I switched to a vertical mouse a couple years ago, and I wear a Band-It at the keyboard. Those help, but it still flares up. I’m currently trying to learn lever knitting, so I’ll be watching to make sure I don’t form those bad habits. Thanks again.
Yes, l fully agree with your words! I learned how to knit by myself, knit for more than 44 years, last 10 years with help of YT a lot (patterns and other kinds of c.ons and offs) and 2 months ago l began to dhange my knitting style from continental to lever knitting/flicking styles. Immediatly ry wrist at the right hand began to hurt … so much! I watched tons of vids in the time of my break down in my wrists while l absolutely stopped knitting.My wrist was hot, red, swolen! It was horrible! Brut so many pple knit lever style! So l decided to do a mif of lever knitting and flicking: l use my knee from time to time while knitting as an anchor. I knit on my coach or in my hammock l love to be in in my living room for t years now and most since my illnesses grew too much and l can't sit for a longer time than 2,5 hours in my wheelchair l've to use since 6 years now. No matter why, it is what it is. I'm ok with that, my electrified wheelz can bring me to places l couldn't be since 10 years or so! It's great l now can again. So: 9" circs l knit flicking whole time and it's great for me. If l use 1 or 2 long circs l do lever knitting having my hand very close to the taper. If l use a straight needle at the right l do this with the HiyaHiya straight needle - making set (out of an interchangable set and that longer sticks l can put together to a needle length l love (look here, e.g.: smile.amazon.de/dp/B00J9VGKDW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_IV17Fb5FTNWXD?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 ) At the ends of one straight and a normal needle l put a cable so l can put the long needle unto my arm pit and the left is a normal circular needle. So l can cirg&arm pit - knit! That's lever knitting of the finest! I found at a shop these lengthen - stidks with long and short parts for all 3 sizes, mini, S and L. And they fit with 2 dremeled adapters of each size with my chiaogoo needles, too! lt's so phantastic that l never want to change to continental back again! If l have to purl a lot l love to use the portuguesian mehod, too. Do you know that? It's so funny: the purl stitches are the easiest in the world, you only have to flick your left thumb and that's all! So l sometimes, yes, really, knit inside out only to purl that way. So l can knit with these 3 styles without any pain. I've enough pain a day and need no additinal pain while doing my hobby knitting. And: my knitting pupils like it, too. So thank you for your video, it shows and tells my experience of the fullest . Be blessed and a Happy and Healthy New Year!
It’s really amazing watching these women knit. But, as I always say it’s not their speed that made them good knitters. ruclips.net/video/wIFvvwsRTCA/видео.html
Does the pencil grip make knitting big projects more difficult? I've tried this grip a couple times and I don't mind the feel of it. I'm brand new to knitting and I'm struggling so much with finding anything that feels doable 😭
In my experience no it does not. But, it's a very individual thing. I will say when you first start, no matter what method, it feels very awkward at first. There's a lot of coordination your body is learning. So it's good to practice 10-20 minutes a day and then put it down. And come back to it another day. The rest you gave in between practices is when your brain builds new neural pathways and then one day it just "clicks"
Thank you for the reply and advice! There definitely is something to taking breaks and coming back later. Sometimes just to save my sanity, lol I kept seeing people say continental could be easier/faster since I started with crochet, but it cramps my hands and wrists, and my tension is all over the place. I just keep coming back to this style! It looks and feels better for me. Maybe since I don't have to keep re-adjusting it'll be faster than continental as well. And, like you say, speed isn't the most important thing anyway. I've been binge-watching your videos since I've found your channel. Thank you for sharing all your knowledge with us! 😊
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I’ve been knitting since I was 14 (1963). I was a “thrower” and tended to get wrist pain if I knitted too much. In 2018 I taught myself Continental and I no longer have pain.
i'm using only my index finger to throw the yarn over the needle. so i don't really move my wrist when knitting.
I evaluate the movements of my knitting and crochet. I have learned that repetitive motion injuries usually happen when we are doing two directions. Like twist and moving back and forth. When we can make it so we have very few movements, it really helps. Mostly I'm fine with knitting except right now I'm doing a cabled cardigan and now I get to evaluate how to eliminate the twisting.
I find that for me changing projects helps. I have some that are less pattern and more plain knitting, when this starts to hurt me I change to a lace pattern which really slows me down and also requires different movements. This helps me a great deal.
Joan Barbier Great suggestion. I know for me I work a lot with plant based fibers so I try to have some wool or acrylic projects around do I can switch between them. I love cotton but it is more stress on the hand.
I started out knitting continental style and I started having pain in my left elbow. I switched to English style knitting and although it helped a bit, I still had pain in the left elbow. Eventually I had to have an operation to get rid of the bone spur that had developed and I could not knit for months! I thought I would go stir crazy. Anyway, I tried learning about other styles of knitting (Portuguese for one), but after trying to learn other styles I realized that aside from good positioning of my hands and sitting without slouching (too much, lol) I had to stop every 15-20 minutes and stretch. I would stretch my arms, my hands, and my back. I admit that sometimes I go longer than 20 minutes without stretching, especially if I'm knitting a section where I feel compelled to complete. If there was one thing I did learn from the tendonitis in my elbow was to stop and stretch. I never used to do that before. There are occasions where I haven't knitted for days and this has also helped me. I don't like to do that, but I realized that if I don't do these things (the stretching and going days without knitting) I will end up not being able to knit without pain, or even worse, not to knit at all. There are too many things I want to knit and not being able to do it, for me, would be like not breathing. Happy knitting all!
Thank you for sharing! And totally agree about taking breaks. I try to take a break every 20 minutes or so. And if I'm knitting with a plant fiber I'll take a day off and do another craft to give my wrist a break. (I've started to learn weaving) I just want to be able to knit for as many years as I can. 😀
I'm learning to knit, and seem to be landing on flicking, so I'm hoping this will prevent some strain on my hands, since I also play the piano, type for work, crochet, and do needlepoint. Yeah, I change things up to prevent one movement from dominating and causing harm.
I also knitting
I had to go to contenintal knitting for the same reason. It WORKS!
are there any specific you tube videos you watched to help you learn? I need to make some changes for the same reasons.
I’ve just had surgery for broken wrist. Now have plate/screws in dominant hand as well as cast almost to elbow. Trying to find a way to knit with minimal right hand activity. Hoping this armpit idea will be helpful. Really liked the pillow tip too
I hope you heal quickly. I hope you find a way to knit that works for you. I wonder if Portuguese knitting might also be an option for you.
@@CarrieCraftGeek that was on my list and i happen to have a pin but i fell asleep. shortly after that video began. ive brrndoing one handed laundry today and it was slow going thank goodness my kids are grown and have their own homes. lol. im working on a fast recovery and now that the surgery is behind me, my finger exercises are moving better than expected its all good
Thank you for sharing this. Like you, it seems that every activity I do, including my job, strains the same areas. I switched to a vertical mouse a couple years ago, and I wear a Band-It at the keyboard. Those help, but it still flares up. I’m currently trying to learn lever knitting, so I’ll be watching to make sure I don’t form those bad habits. Thanks again.
Yes, l fully agree with your words! I learned how to knit by myself, knit for more than 44 years, last 10 years with help of YT a lot (patterns and other kinds of c.ons and offs) and 2 months ago l began to dhange my knitting style from continental to lever knitting/flicking styles. Immediatly ry wrist at the right hand began to hurt … so much! I watched tons of vids in the time of my break down in my wrists while l absolutely stopped knitting.My wrist was hot, red, swolen! It was horrible! Brut so many pple knit lever style! So l decided to do a mif of lever knitting and flicking: l use my knee from time to time while knitting as an anchor. I knit on my coach or in my hammock l love to be in in my living room for t years now and most since my illnesses grew too much and l can't sit for a longer time than 2,5 hours in my wheelchair l've to use since 6 years now. No matter why, it is what it is. I'm ok with that, my electrified wheelz can bring me to places l couldn't be since 10 years or so! It's great l now can again.
So: 9" circs l knit flicking whole time and it's great for me. If l use 1 or 2 long circs l do lever knitting having my hand very close to the taper. If l use a straight needle at the right l do this with the HiyaHiya straight needle - making set (out of an interchangable set and that longer sticks l can put together to a needle length l love (look here, e.g.:
smile.amazon.de/dp/B00J9VGKDW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_IV17Fb5FTNWXD?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 )
At the ends of one straight and a normal needle l put a cable so l can put the long needle unto my arm pit and the left is a normal circular needle. So l can cirg&arm pit - knit! That's lever knitting of the finest! I found at a shop these lengthen - stidks with long and short parts for all 3 sizes, mini, S and L. And they fit with 2 dremeled adapters of each size with my chiaogoo needles, too! lt's so phantastic that l never want to change to continental back again! If l have to purl a lot l love to use the portuguesian mehod, too. Do you know that? It's so funny: the purl stitches are the easiest in the world, you only have to flick your left thumb and that's all! So l sometimes, yes, really, knit inside out only to purl that way. So l can knit with these 3 styles without any pain. I've enough pain a day and need no additinal pain while doing my hobby knitting. And: my knitting pupils like it, too. So thank you for your video, it shows and tells my experience of the fullest . Be blessed and a Happy and Healthy New Year!
Very helpful. Thank you. I would love to see the knitting competition you referenced. Any chance you have a link to it?
It’s really amazing watching these women knit. But, as I always say it’s not their speed that made them good knitters. ruclips.net/video/wIFvvwsRTCA/видео.html
@@CarrieCraftGeek Thank you 🙂
This is traditional British knitting, if your movements are small, you can knit for hours.
i have pain at the inside corner of my elbow, which I am afraid stems from knitting :( I'm going to try lever knitting to see if that helps
I hope it helps. If not you may also want to try Portuguese knitting.
Does the pencil grip make knitting big projects more difficult? I've tried this grip a couple times and I don't mind the feel of it. I'm brand new to knitting and I'm struggling so much with finding anything that feels doable 😭
In my experience no it does not. But, it's a very individual thing.
I will say when you first start, no matter what method, it feels very awkward at first. There's a lot of coordination your body is learning. So it's good to practice 10-20 minutes a day and then put it down. And come back to it another day.
The rest you gave in between practices is when your brain builds new neural pathways and then one day it just "clicks"
Thank you for the reply and advice! There definitely is something to taking breaks and coming back later. Sometimes just to save my sanity, lol
I kept seeing people say continental could be easier/faster since I started with crochet, but it cramps my hands and wrists, and my tension is all over the place. I just keep coming back to this style! It looks and feels better for me. Maybe since I don't have to keep re-adjusting it'll be faster than continental as well. And, like you say, speed isn't the most important thing anyway.
I've been binge-watching your videos since I've found your channel. Thank you for sharing all your knowledge with us! 😊
@@hanshi3831 oh thank you! I'm so happy you're finding it helpful.
If you use your first finger to curl the wool round the needle ,you will find it easier .
That might not be true for everyone. Some people have joint pain/ locking issues with their index fingers.