[damemary]

I've always been amazed at knitters who can knit without having to looking down at their hands all the time. Which I've been doing for years!
I've tried to practice in the past, but fumbled miserably.

I figured I can do it if I really really wanted to...but that's only partially true in my case.

I will finally step up my game, more so b/c I'm encouraged or inspired. When someone comes along & describes how they told themselves to just practice not looking. I suddenly feel inspired. No more procrastination. That person makes it sound doable.

I guess it's akin to learning to write with your non-dominant hand. Your brain resists the idea, but if you had no choice you'd do it, right? You have a reason. So w/ practice your writing could improve until you are ambidextrous. Using both sides of your brain.

Wow! That's how I feel about this new skill!

I was encouraged watching 2 u tube vids recently. One was by nimble needles on how to prevent knitting pain. The young man in that video mentioned how much the human skull weighs heavy on your neck muscles, oww. Hurts my neck just thinking about it. Looking down creates a strain on your shoulders & back...poor posture, etc.

And the 2nd video by Kristin Lehrer of voolenvine knits, 'how to knit without looking at your hands'. I was binge watching her vids & one thing she mentions resonated w/ me about the benefits...being able to watch a movie or have a conversation while working on a mindless project that involves straight stockinette rows, for example. That would be great.

Now more seasoned knitters are probably there already, but I've been knitting long enough now & I'm ready to get serious!

I know how to fix a drop stitch if it happens. I have developed the patience to unravel back if necessary.

Which reminds me of another video I saw on u tube "how to rip out your knitting & pick up the stitches" The young lady bluntly states w/ what I received as a bit of tough love I needed at the time...she says imho ripping out your work is just a part of the craft & if you're resistant to it she didnt think one can fully become an excellent knitter, b/c mistakes happen. (I paraphrase).

So today has been an exciting milestone for me! I actually watched an episode of New Amsterdam on netflix, while I whittled away a bit on a knit beanie & my super simple ragland sweater I left hibernating since October 2021. Both easy mindless projects to practice on b/c it's straight stockinette on worsted weight yarn. My hat is dk wt. I also have socks on the needles, but its finger weight yarn..I'm not quite ready for that project. Baby steps.😊

 

[damemary]

You have inspired me. I began knitting several years ago and loved it. My eyesight has worsened and I was afraid to try to knit. (Double vision coupled with typical 'old age' stuff.) This may be the answer.

 

[knit4t]

You have inspired me. I began knitting several years ago and loved it. My eyesight has worsened and I was afraid to try to knit. (Double vision coupled with typical 'old age' stuff.) This may be the answer.

This reminds me...the typical stuff we experience as we get older...last year my optometrist checks my eyes & says nothing to be concerned about now, but your eyes show early signs of cataracts..we'll cross that bridge when we get to it..you begin to look at life a lot differently...esp. re: things we take for granted...& giving up w/o weighing the alternatives. So I'm glad you shared your comment also.
I was a bit sad thinking about how I might not be able to enjoy certain things after awhile that I need sharp eyesight for, oh my...but I know we human beings are a resilient bunch. To borrow a phrase the younger generation uses these days...we "know how to pivot".

 

[laceluvr]

Funny, I knit without looking often when I'm reading KP. I just do some stitches, but not a whole row as I have to stop and click out of one topic to the next. There was a lady in one of my knit groups who always knit at the movies in the dark. She knit mostly sweaters and loved to go to the movies. She was from the UK and was here on a temporary work visa.

 

[Jessica-Jean]

Funny, I knit without looking often when I'm reading KP. I just do some stitches, but not a whole row as I have to stop and click out of one topic to the next. There was a lady in one of my knit groups who always knit at the movies in the dark. She knit mostly sweaters and loved to go to the movies. She was from the UK and was here on a temporary work visa.

I don’t even try to actually WATCH TV while knitting. I listen more than watch, but prefer programs such as 20/20 and Dateline, because they repeat information and show the same photos or clips throughout. Great for making progress on my knitting.

Were I to pay to go to a movie, I would want to watch the movie with all my attention. At the price of admission today, I don’t think I’ll be going to any. The last movie I went to was Avatar - three times, of which two were in 3D.

 

[redsox]

I've always been amazed at knitters who can knit without having to looking down at their hands all the time. Which I've been doing for years!
I've tried to practice in the past, but fumbled miserably.

I figured I can do it if I really really wanted to...but that's only partially true in my case.

I will finally step up my game, more so b/c I'm encouraged or inspired. When someone comes along & describes how they told themselves to just practice not looking. I suddenly feel inspired. No more procrastination. That person makes it sound doable.

I guess it's akin to learning to write with your non-dominant hand. Your brain resists the idea, but if you had no choice you'd do it, right? You have a reason. So w/ practice your writing could improve until you are ambidextrous. Using both sides of your brain.

Wow! That's how I feel about this new skill!

I was encouraged watching 2 u tube vids recently. One was by nimble needles on how to prevent knitting pain. The young man in that video mentioned how much the human skull weighs heavy on your neck muscles, oww. Hurts my neck just thinking about it. Looking down creates a strain on your shoulders & back...poor posture, etc.

And the 2nd video by Kristin Lehrer of voolenvine knits, 'how to knit without looking at your hands'. I was binge watching her vids & one thing she mentions resonated w/ me about the benefits...being able to watch a movie or have a conversation while working on a mindless project that involves straight stockinette rows, for example. That would be great.

Now more seasoned knitters are probably there already, but I've been knitting long enough now & I'm ready to get serious!

I know how to fix a drop stitch if it happens. I have developed the patience to unravel back if necessary.

Which reminds me of another video I saw on u tube "how to rip out your knitting & pick up the stitches" The young lady bluntly states w/ what I received as a bit of tough love I needed at the time...she says imho ripping out your work is just a part of the craft & if you're resistant to it she didnt think one can fully become an excellent knitter, b/c mistakes happen. (I paraphrase).

So today has been an exciting milestone for me! I actually watched an episode of New Amsterdam on netflix, while I whittled away a bit on a knit beanie & my super simple ragland sweater I left hibernating since October 2021. Both easy mindless projects to practice on b/c it's straight stockinette on worsted weight yarn. My hat is dk wt. I also have socks on the needles, but its finger weight yarn..I'm not quite ready for that project. Baby steps.😊

Hooray!!! Baby steps is just fine. Good for you.

 

[LovesK2P2]

I seem to have an age problem with my eyes because if I read or knit and look at it too long I can't seem to focus my eyes so now I have to force myself to look away from whatever I'm doing every now and then. So I can knit without looking at my work, I don't know how long I can do it for since I'm too chicken to try for any length of time. Knitting backward would be a great thing to learn I'll have to try it, I currently knitting a lace knit on border and there's lots of flipping back and forth on that.

 

[Fidrocki]

So I can knit. I can't knit and watch TV or read or walk or anything else. If I'm knitting, that's all I'm doing, and I may not even want you to talk to me. My mother would always knit at a table, and that's all she did--and she didn't even want us making noise in the background (probably afraid of what we might do). She could crochet any which where though. Now my sister could probably knit on a roller coaster.

And yet, when I'm typing, I can talk to people; I can watch TV, whatever. In fact, I get very annoyed if someone, like my husband, wants me to type something for him and he tries reading it to me. I'm like, speed it up buddy. When I taught, I used to dazzle the kids at school with my typing ability. I actually made a pretty penny in college typing other people's papers. Hidden talent!

 

[Jessica-Jean]

So I can knit. I can't knit and watch TV or read or walk or anything else. If I'm knitting, that's all I'm doing, and I may not even want you to talk to me. My mother would always knit at a table, and that's all she did--and she didn't even want us making noise in the background (probably afraid of what we might do). She could crochet any which where though. Now my sister could probably knit on a roller coaster.

And yet, when I'm typing, I can talk to people; I can watch TV, whatever. In fact, I get very annoyed if someone, like my husband, wants me to type something for him and he tries reading it to me. I'm like, speed it up buddy. When I taught, I used to dazzle the kids at school with my typing ability. I actually made a pretty penny in college typing other people's papers. Hidden talent!

Typing wasn’t ever my strong suit, but - after spending the summer of 1966 transcribing stacks of promotional literature for the soon-to-retire head of the pathology department - I never admitted to any employer my knowledge of typing again.
I wished I hadn’t told my husband either, because he cooked up the idea for me to read the books he’d been assigned in his Humanities class, and type up the assignments in triplicate‼ One for him, and one each for two classmates!!! Why the teacher accepted them, I’ll never know.
I was working full-time (nightshift) and had an infant to care for. I sure couldn’t do it today.

 

[chickkie]

I used to make some extra money typing assignments/reports for University students, and I very seldom made a mistake. I also learned how to type without even reading the context, so if I was asked what a report/letter/message was about I never could remember. That was important with one of my previous employers.

I can knit without looking a bit, but never felt the need to try knitting in the dark.

 

[Jessica-Jean]

I used to make some extra money typing assignments/reports for University students, and I very seldom made a mistake. I also learned how to type without even reading the context, so if I was asked what a report/letter/message was about I never could remember. That was important with one of my previous employers.

I can knit without looking a bit, but never felt the need to try knitting in the dark.

I couldn’t ever type error-free. Ditto for handwriting. Electronics make it so easy to correct errors!!! I believe the blame lies between ambidexterity and dyslexia. There’s a short circuit somewhere. On a real keyboard (not the virtual one on this iPhone!), the correct finger will strike, but on the wrong hand! =typo!

 

[chickkie]

I couldn’t ever type error-free. Ditto for handwriting. Electronics make it so easy to correct errors!!! I believe the blame lies between ambidexterity and dyslexia. There’s a short circuit somewhere. On a real keyboard (not the virtual one on this iPhone!), the correct finger will strike, but on the wrong hand! =typo!

I can hardly write an address on an envelope by hand without making a mistake. Sometimes just trying to put a small note in a card results in mistakes. I don't print well either.

 

[Jessica-Jean]

I can hardly write an address on an envelope by hand without making a mistake. Sometimes just trying to put a small note in a card results in mistakes. I don't print well either.

My father surprised me. His letters to me were always difficult to read. I used to take them to a teacher to help me read them when I was in boarding school. Then I saw him fill out an order form in the neatest of block letters I have ever seen!
My lowest grades were always for penmanship.

 

[ivyrain]

I can knit while standing in slowly moving lines: Ravelry: JessicaJean's golfbaba’s Stained-Glass Afghan

Since I have a penchant for tripping over tiny obstructions, I don’t try walking while knitting. Reading is somehow different. I always used to stroll home (from school or work) with my nose in a book. Never a fall, though I didn’t notice I had walked onto a newly cemented bit of sidewalk one time in seventh grade. Oops!! I never went down that street again!

I can knit while standing in slowly moving lines: Ravelry: JessicaJean's golfbaba’s Stained-Glass Afghan

Since I have a penchant for tripping over tiny obstructions, I don’t try walking while knitting. Reading is somehow different. I always used to stroll home (from school or work) with my nose in a book. Never a fall, though I didn’t notice I had walked onto a newly cemented bit of sidewalk one time in seventh grade. Oops!! I never went down that street again!

I can't walk and read at all. I have tried- long walk home after bus drop-off in the country. My legs don't keep me centered and I ended up wandering all over the place. My center meter is off!! 😉

 

[ivyrain]

hmm knitting on the treadmill or stationery bike...oh lawd...this might make exercise worth the investment.

Oh 😮. I just had a quick flash of me, yarn, needles and the treadmill incident that would have made headlines!

 

[GrumpyGramma]

I couldn’t ever type error-free. Ditto for handwriting. Electronics make it so easy to correct errors!!! I believe the blame lies between ambidexterity and dyslexia. There’s a short circuit somewhere. On a real keyboard (not the virtual one on this iPhone!), the correct finger will strike, but on the wrong hand! =typo!

Me too! At some point I realized the practice, practice, practice and you'll improve was not true for me because I used the correct finger but on the other hand. My top speed was 60 wpm/5 min test. I could not do that IRL. I never was a typist but could use a computer to do wonders with a text document. Oddly enough when I had to use a calculator for long columns of numbers in an accounting class I discovered that when I learned to do it left handed my accuracy improved a lot. No two brains work exactly the same and mine is just weird in a lot of ways. It takes a lot of concentration to follow a recipe; a complicated knitting pattern may well be beyond me even though I can do everything contained in it. That's one reason I mostly knit without actually using a pattern and just make the shape and size needed.

I think this might be a familial trait. My mother seemed to have similar problems; my father could come up with the solution to a math problem that 'required' advanced math that he didn't get to before dropping out in the eighth grade. Others in the family presented various coping mechanisms for getting things done. I think we all were born with lifetime memberships in the Figure it Out for Yourself and Do It Your Way Society.

 

[GrumpyGramma]

I can't walk and read at all. I have tried- long walk home after bus drop-off in the country. My legs don't keep me centered and I ended up wandering all over the place. My center meter is off!! 😉

Center meter is off. I think I have the same syndrome.

 

[GrumpyGramma]

Oh 😮. I just had a quick flash of me, yarn, needles and the treadmill incident that would have made headlines!

Me too! I might end up in the hospital for various self-induced injuries.

 

[knit4t]

Oh 😮. I just had a quick flash of me, yarn, needles and the treadmill incident that would have made headlines!

Oh my goodness! Strike that! I obviously didnt think that through...
Please do not walk on a treadmill while you're knitting, people!
P.S. I just had this awful image of me on a stationary bike & yarn tangled up in the pedals..oh no!😱

 

[KateLyn11]

My typing skills were limited at best, but even rudimentary skills moved me from the factory floor to the office to type labels in the early days of computers. The business had a computer but data entry was done on punch cards by a specialist. For address labels, a teenager with basic typing skills was cheaper.