Portuguese Knitting

I suppose that everyone who knits experiences pain in their hands at some point.  Well, mine were getting to be chronic and would last for hours and sometimes days.  I would have to put the knitting aside for a couple of days (not something I liked doing!)  I began to experiment with other techniques, beginning with Continental (or German) knitting technique.  While that helped, it did not eliminate the pain and my output did not look as good.

Then I stumbled across Portuguese Knitting and gave it a try.  Not only was it faster, better tension and better output, but the hands healed and do not bother me at all.  I knitted most of yesterday without pain!  If you want to learn more about this, there are two sources:  Youtube (search for Portuguese Knitting), or Andreawongknits.  I purchased a used copy of Andrea Wong's DVD through Amazon, but cannot get it to play on my PC.  However, I learned enough from Youtube to get right into this technique.

I love the speed and ease of knitting this way!  I was finishing up a girl's pullover that featured stockinette stitch for the torso and was able to zip through the tedious stockinette.  I was working in the round, and the knitting flew.  I wish I had found this technique before I began.

That brings me up to the latest finished project:  the girls' pullover based on Sarah Johnson's Rusted Root.  This should fit most girls of about 10 years of age (my estimate).  The puffed sleeves are the best feature.  Peggy of A Bit of String conceived the idea of making this version of Rusted Root, leaving off the "root" and using one size smaller needles.  However, I quickly realized that her version was too small for my intended recipient, so I started again and made the XS version of the original pattern.  It worked up very nicely in Cotton Ease.