knitting is a hereditary disease

Knitting backwards!

Posted on 04/03/2008 by Andrea | Comments (2)
Filed under : Knitting, Show-Off Ruffle Skirt, Tips

Every once in a (long) while, I get a chance to learn some new knitting technique that makes me feel like a knitting rockstar. Toe-up socks was one. Three-needle bind-off was another.

Well, add to that list the latest new technique that makes me feel like a knitting rockstar: knitting backwards. Actually, to be more accurate, I have been purling backwards.

As you know if you've been reading thus far, the Show-Off Ruffle Skirt contains endless rows of bobbles. Each bobble is constructed of five stitches knitted into one stitch, then worked back and forth for four rows, then reduced back down to one stitch. That's a lot of turning the work, especially as the rows are interminably long and as I knit more rows, the fabric is just getting bulkier and bulkier.

So one day I thought, what the heck, this is already taking me ages and ages - why not take a little extra time and learn how to do this back and forth without turning the work? The bobbles are reverse-stockinette, so this meant I had to learn how to purl backwards.

I could have gone to Knitty and read this excellent article on the art of knitting and purling backwards (both English and Continental methods are shown). Or I could have watched any of a number of YouTube videos showing how to do the same. But the truth is, if you understand the mechanics of knitting, it is not difficult to figure out how to knit and purl backwards. I figured it out in about 10 seconds, but then it was a matter of getting my hands used to this new motion.

I'm happy to say that I can now purl backwards about as fast as I can purl forwards. If you want to see how to knit backwards, check out this video:

I haven't been able to find a video of purling backwards, since most people who knit backwards do so to avoid the purl-back row. But it's there in the Knitty article. And, shhh - don't tell anyone! - it's really not that hard.

2 Comments

Thanks for including the link to the instructional article. Now I really want to try knitting/purling backward!

- said Barb (04/03/2008, 8:43 AM)

This is SUCH a cool technique - I'd never even heard of it before, so thank you for highlighting it. I knit continental, and purling is definately harder than knitting. I'm going to try this out!

- said PrincessPea (04/03/2008, 8:43 AM)