Um, yeah. That’s Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, the Yarn Harlot herself. (And if you don’t know who she is, then I’m not sure we can still be friends…) I was lucky enough to nab a spot in her Knitting for Speed & Efficiency class at A Verb for Keeping Warm in Oakland. I was totally star struck. Strangely, though, my fellow classmates seemed utterly unfazed by her presence. (My friend Sarah went to the evening version of the same class and reported that her group was star struck — go figure.) She was as interesting and funny in person as she is on her blog and in her books.
I went primarily to be in her presence but the class was quite informative too. (However, I could have done without the woman across the room who insisted on shouting out commentary after every freakin’ thing the Yarn Harlot said. Why, why is there always one person who thinks she is in her own personal knitting class?! I wanted to strangle her with my Cascade 220 Superwash.) Stephanie spent the first hour going through the history of knitting, which I found surprisingly fascinating. Seriously, I was riveted. Did you know that knitting was invented in the Middle East? We know that because knitting moves from right to left and there’s no rational reason it would move that way other than to follow the path of the written word in that area. Did you know that the term Luddite has its origins in knitting? Did you know that when knitting traveled along trade routes from the Middle East, to Spain and then to the UK, people were knitting at a pace of a sock a day? Those people were fast. The Yarn Harlot insists that the more we knit like those original knitters, the faster we’ll be.
She spent a fair amount of time on lever knitting, where you tuck a long straight needle under your armpit. It was interesting, but I honestly don’t know if I can adopt it. I certainly get her rationale for why it’s speedy and efficient, but it just seems so inefficient to learn a whole new way of knitting. Fortunately, she also taught us some other tricks to apply to our regular methods. For example, if you “spring load” your stitches at the end of the left needle, you’ll more quickly knit them onto your right needle. Also, do you push one or both of the needles with your index finger? (I do.) If so, stop it right this minute! She’s right — that’s a completely unnecessary movement. Try not doing it (it’s hard) and you’ll see what I mean. She also recommends doing a swimmer-like “kick turn” at the end of the row — that is, don’t drop your fingers and your needles just to set up for the next row. Instead, keep everything where it is and simply turn the work and get moving again. Try it — you’ll see.
We did two timed tests — one at the beginning of the class and one three hours later after she’d taught us these tricks. I went from 22 stitches per minute (that was about average for the class — the fastest person was 41 stitches per minute; the slowest 12) to 31 stitches per minute. I’m having to seriously readjust my muscle memory with some things (especially that darn index-finger pushing of the needle), but it seems like it’ll be worth it.
Overall, three well-spent hours in the presence of a knitting queen!
September 25, 2012 at 8:16 pm
totally jealous. I’ll have to get you to show me some of her tricks when I get to SF. I have the worst luck with YH. When she was in Boston I was in Paris, and there she goes to SF just before I move there. Guess it’s not meant for us to meet. LOL.
September 25, 2012 at 8:46 pm
Not meant to be…YET!!!
September 26, 2012 at 12:07 pm
The lever knitting just does not work with my physical shape or where I can put my hands to knit (big boobs, bigger belly)
but I totally agree with the needle loading and not dropping anything, just turning. The spaces she visits near here are so incredibly crowded, and not very accessible so I just read her blog :-}
September 26, 2012 at 12:21 pm
Yeah, it seems to me lever knitting works for a particular body type and it helps if that’s how you learned in the first place…
September 28, 2012 at 7:07 am
I am lucky that it is not hard for me to pick up new techniques, I particularly enjoyed learning ‘thumb flick’ or Portuguese ‘around the neck’ knitting. Next up, learning to use my electric spinning wheel when it arrives!
September 28, 2012 at 7:16 am
Lucky you — I’m too set in my ways!
September 30, 2012 at 6:56 am
I think I love that rush I get when a new technique clicks into place. It is worth the fumbling at the beginning :-}
October 5, 2012 at 2:07 pm
Yes, I’m jealous. Lucky you! She’s coming to St Paul, but with my schedule, I won’t be able to go. The lever technique is fine when you’re standing in line somewhere, but not for sitting.
October 5, 2012 at 3:02 pm
Yea, good point. She demonstrated while standing…
Sent from a handheld device – please excuse brevity & typos.
November 4, 2012 at 4:35 pm
[…] the September class with the Yarn Harlot and today’s class with Ann Budd, I’m hoping some of that superstar knitting mojo will […]