# knitting



## greenboy (Sep 5, 2005)

I am a man and Yes I want to start knitting, I want to know if any other guy here is knitting and he can give me suggestions.


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

My suggestion is to visit the Fiber Forum.


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## COWS (Dec 23, 2012)

Roosevelt Grier, the professional football player from the 1960s, knitted to relax. AIRC.

COWS


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

Forerunner knits.
But many of Us have taught others to knit. You-tube can also help. I'd suggest if you do look, look to knit continental . It is faster and easier to relate to crochet ,so you can learn to do both.
There is nothing wrong with a man knitting. If it's something you'd like to do-good for you being confident enough to just go do it.


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

Kntting is just the same as making fishing nets, but with smaller holes... 

geo


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

Knitting is used in some PTSD programs. I think it's very relaxing once you get the hang of it. I have a difficult counting so it wouldn't work so well for me. One sleeve might be a bit long and the other a bit short. 

I really like those crocheted pot scrubbers. It's one of the few things I find that works really well. I found a source this winter and bought about a 5 years supply.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

fishead, we have row counters. I have a little clicker that you click after each row.It keeps count. Or you could line up groups of 10 M&M's, eat 1 at the end of each row,that's counting too.


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## Nsoitgoes (Jan 31, 2016)

There are a lot of videos on youtube.

This one shows both English and Continental style of knitting. It is rather slow, but enables you to follow on as you watch
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tff3ng-djtk[/ame]

This one shows English style only, but includes increases, decreases and bind off to make a simple dishcloth project
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4IGlgggvaw[/ame]


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

7thswan said:


> fishead, we have row counters. I have a little clicker that you click after each row.It keeps count. Or you could line up groups of 10 M&M's, eat 1 at the end of each row,that's counting too.


Then I would forget if I counted the last row or not.


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## empofuniv (Oct 14, 2005)

My daughter's children attend a private school. In 2nd grade they are taught simple knitting, which helps them to learn to concentrate and to count. As they progress in grade so does the knitting and other fiber works. They are learning some sort of oriental weaving this year. Boy is 10 and girls are 8 and 6. Daughter says their math skills are really improving.


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## Rosepath (Feb 18, 2011)

I taught many a high school boy to knit, along with the girls. The boys are very competitive at knitting. Not unusual to see a lanky, tall basketball player with his size 12 shoes propped up on the nearby desk, knitting away, saying to his buddy, "dude, I got 27 rows, man, you're just on the yarn over." Hilarious.


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## vicki in NW OH (May 10, 2002)

Once upon a time, only men knit. (Middle Ages and before). There were knitting guilds and apprenticeships to become a master knitter.


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## romysbaskets (Aug 29, 2009)

Hi Greenboy, 
You will find a lot of helpful information and the knitters hanging out in the Fiber Section here. If you post go there, you will find Forerunner who knits Bulky style and other men who knit. Nice to see you post this! My young son learned to crochet simply to make a rose for a girlfriend. Hand crafts are very relaxing, therapeutic and useful~!

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/fiber-arts/


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## Karenrbw (Aug 17, 2004)

We teach the juvenile offenders at work to loom knit. They have a lot of down time and by the time we have them for 3-4 months, they are proudly wearing their hats and thing them to relative on visitation day. One kid tried to steal all the yarn and looms when he was released.


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## COSunflower (Dec 4, 2006)

I taught crocheting and knitting to girls AND boys while I taught at middle school for 28 years!!! My great-grandpa was the knitter in the family. He had 10 children and my g-grandma was too busy to knit all of the hats, scarves, mittens etc. so when winter came around and chores weren't so all time consuming he sat by the fire in his rocking chair and knit....He learned from HIS father in Russia when he was a boy.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

COSunflower said:


> I taught crocheting and knitting to girls AND boys while I taught at middle school for 28 years!!! My great-grandpa was the knitter in the family. He had 10 children and my g-grandma was too busy to knit all of the hats, scarves, mittens etc. so when winter came around and chores weren't so all time consuming he sat by the fire in his rocking chair and knit....He learned from HIS father in Russia when he was a boy.


My Mother is from Russia. She told me she had to (in school) learn to knit a sweater before the 4th grade. I was taught young also. Mom has some things my grandmother crochet,like a suit and I have a bedspread crochet out of that cotton thread:sob:
Grandma was a seamstress and when she arrived here she got a job at Hudsons in Detroit as their Furrier ( altering fur coats).You should have seen grandmas ice fishing coat-outside waterproof canvas, inside mink.


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## Forerunner (Mar 23, 2007)

greenboy said:


> I am a man and Yes I want to start knitting, I want to know if any other guy here is knitting and he can give me suggestions.


Suggestions as to what ?

The last place I'd be looking for knitting suggestions is from a dude knitter.

If you want to get to the meat of knitting, the ladies have 90+% of the experience and savvy. 
That may change, but for now.......


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## Forerunner (Mar 23, 2007)

Karenrbw said:


> We teach the juvenile offenders at work to loom knit. They have a lot of down time and by the time we have them for 3-4 months, they are proudly wearing their hats and thing them to relative on visitation day. One kid tried to steal all the yarn and looms when he was released.


I hope Greenboy enjoys the inflections contained herein, as much as I do.:bouncy:


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## greenboy (Sep 5, 2005)

You encourage me thanks...



Rosepath said:


> I taught many a high school boy to knit, along with the girls. The boys are very competitive at knitting. Not unusual to see a lanky, tall basketball player with his size 12 shoes propped up on the nearby desk, knitting away, saying to his buddy, "dude, I got 27 rows, man, you're just on the yarn over." Hilarious.


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## greenboy (Sep 5, 2005)

Foreruner, my grandfather was a sailor, and he told me all the men in his ship were knitters, and they will sell their sweaters all the time, he got a beautiful sweater knitted by a friend, he told me his captain encouraged this, and he saw more men knitters than women knitter during his life time. Thanks for all your encouragement


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## Forerunner (Mar 23, 2007)

Now see that's not fair, bringing up the sailor thing. 

They's a whole different world, on board ship, especially old school Irish......


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## CinnamonHarvest (Apr 7, 2016)

pick a small project for your first...a scarf with no frills is a good way to practice some basics and then from there...as others have suggested youtube is a great place. These forums are another great place as well...happy knitting!


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## greenboy (Sep 5, 2005)

You are absolutley right



vicki in NW OH said:


> Once upon a time, only men knit. (Middle Ages and before). There were knitting guilds and apprenticeships to become a master knitter.


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## romysbaskets (Aug 29, 2009)

greenboy said:


> You are absolutley right


They even had apprenticeships of up to 6 years to become a master Knitter and then had to pass a special test by knitting a very hard project. On board the ships men were in need of warm sweaters in the cold. They knit themselves sweaters and also sold the extras. The captains encouraged this in Britain. The machines taking over the knit fabrics changed everything. Now we have a good amount of interest renewed in the arts of handwork of all kinds including knitting!


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## hotzcatz (Oct 16, 2007)

It's all just sticks and string and either gender can play. For some reason, though, there's not as many guys who spin yarn. Historically, that was more of a women's thing, as if gender had much to do with it. 

Might be more temperament related, generally (not always, but in a general fashion) females have a bit more patience. Believe it or not, one of the big colleges - Yale, Harvard or some such - did a study to see the differences between males and females. They put young babies in a circle painted in the middle of the floor and had the mothers stand in a corner ignoring them. Apparently, girl babies will sit for longer before fussing and boy babies will wander out of the circle faster than girl babies. Not sure of the exact details of their 'study' but those were some of the overall observations, I think. So, the high powered college decided there are gender differences. (Like, duh!)

In any case, IMHO, it's all sticks and strings so everyone can play.

As for learning how, find someone who knits and watch or ask for advice. YouTube videos are pretty good, too. There's one out there about double handed knitting for when you're working with colors that looked fascinating. One hand knits one way and the other knits the other way so you can knit two different colors of yarn at the same time for pattern color work. Here's one video on it: https://www.philosopherswool.com/Pages/Twohandedvideo.htm


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## BAmaBubba (May 10, 2007)

greenboy said:


> I am a man and Yes I want to start knitting, I want to know if any other guy here is knitting and he can give me suggestions.


I'm a man - married with three kids - and I crochet, naalbind, am trying the knitting thing. As a kid, I learned from my grandmother how to crochet, hand quilt, hand embroidery, etc. I've been in the kitchen cooking and canning since I could reach the top of the stove. There's nothing in the world wrong with a man learning to do as much as he can, and enjoying it while he's at it. Just remember that the first knitters were gritty old sailors and that, while the guild system existed, men were pretty much the only knitters.

Best of luck and God bless,
Brandon


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## RideBarefoot (Jun 29, 2008)

I can fly with a crochet needle, but son't have enough practice time to consider myself a good knitter yet. In time...

I'm left-handed, and found that just starting off with continental worked for me. No trying to switch everything around. So I crochet as a lefty and knit as a righty!


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## motdaugrnds (Jul 3, 2002)

Greenboy, you might want to check out the "knitting *looms*". I'm just a beginner at knitting and a friend gave me a set of looms. This makes knitting easy too! Already made a hat and it is wearable....


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## MoBookworm1957 (Aug 24, 2015)

I'm also a lefty. Knit, crochet, macrame all left handed. Also knit with looms,made shawl,puppy blankets.
Quilt, embroidery by hand learning to weave by 6 year old boy.
He teaches me weaving,I teach him how to do basic sewing, darning,sewing on buttons.
Good luck with your experience.


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## ElzaAngela (Jan 12, 2017)

Yes, there are many online videos available. I have studied through online.


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