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Why I Learned to Knit Left-Handed

June 26, 2014 7 Comments

Hands Occupied in Let's Knit Magazine - July 2014 at Hands Occupied

A weird thing happened out of nowhere last fall. Weird, but super exciting! I got three emails in a span of two weeks from magazines wanting to work with Hands Occupied in 2014. Finally last weekend, months after those initial emails, I opened my mailbox to find a surprise. A hard copy of my first magazine feature in “the UK’s bestselling knit mag,” Let’s Knit!

Hands Occupied in Let's Knit Magazine - July 2014 at Hands Occupied

Part of being featured in their The Bookshelf series was guest posting over at their blog. The lovely Editor I worked with was very encouraging of my sharing something personal about knitting, and I think it really opened me up as a writer. Since I’m so proud of my first longer-form post on knitting, I though I’d share it here for you all to see. Read on for the piece I wrote for the Let’s Knit blog.

Why I Learned to Knit Left-Handed/I Thought I’d Never Knit Again

My knitting journey began almost 20 years ago. I turned 27 this summer, so yes, I was just a kid when my grandma sat my overly anxious 8-year-old self down to knit for the first time. I had a pair of pink metal knitting needles, and some variegated blue, white and pink yarn. Unsurprisingly, I wasn’t really liking knitting at first. I tried here and there as a tween to wrestle with my insanely overtight first “scarf” but struggled to get the hang of it. Then high school rolled around and I finally fell in love.

My best friend and I were the only members of the class of 2005 who took our knitting on band trips and spent time between music rehearsals trading knitting tricks and beginner books.

Around this time, I started having pains in my right hand. I was playing my oboe, doing a lot of homework, and knitting to relax. At some point, your hands actually do need a rest (much to my adolescent disappointment). I was a 14-year-old who never stopped working with her hands, almost ever. Diagnosed with carpal tunnel and tendonitis, I was put in physical therapy, and my doctor recommended I drop something. School was non-negotiable and music was something I’d worked so hard to achieve. So I put down my needles.

A few years later, I found myself on a music scholarship struggling with my fourth or fifth bout of tendonitis and intermittent loss of feeling in my hand. It became clear that music was not a sustainable career option. At just 18, I think I realised that I wanted a slightly more well-rounded life than a career as a classical oboist would allow. (I was a very serious young lady back then!) My hands began to heal, my circle of friends grew, and the next Christmas I realised that I really, really missed knitting. More than I thought possible.

I dug out my tub of yarn and needles and got to work. My skills came back in no time. But then my tendonitis did too.

Why I Learned to Knit Left-Handed at handsoccupied.com

You can’t play the oboe left handed

I was faced with giving up a second creative love, and didn’t know what to do. Then I remembered my grandma, the woman who taught me to knit. She knew no left-handed knitters growing up in a rural area, so she was a leftie who’d been taught to knit right handed. If I was going to be able to keep knitting, I needed to become a primarily left-handed knitter, despite being right handed. My grandma had been doing it her whole life, why couldn’t I figure it out?

After much struggle and a little bit of a time spent practising, I mastered left-handed knitting. The hardest part was swallowing my pride and watching myself struggle (painfully slowly, no less) to make swatches and cables that’d grown used to whipping up alongside wine and my favourite movie.

I wonder what would have happened if left-handed oboes existed – I might have taken a hand-switching journey of an entirely more musical kind. You know what, though? I have a feeling everything worked out how it was meant to in the end.

Some tips for learning to knit with your non-dominant hand.

Unlike the oboe, you CAN knit left handed, right handed, or ambidextrously. Working ambidextrously is fun, especially if you’re working in short rows. It’s like the knitting version of eating corn on the cob, you work back and forth and back and forth without turning your work! Weird, right?

It was so frustrating to learn to knit from scratch again. I was at the point where I was designing some of my own patterns for myself, and very occasionally for my blog. I could cable, knit socks, sweaters, colourwork, complicated blankets. I was very happy with the level of knitting I’d achieved with my right hand, so starting over was very unpleasant at first. I sat down and swatched and swatched, and studied a lot of diagrams and YouTube videos demonstrating how your loops should sit on your needles when knitting left handed.

Here’s what doing a knit stitch left handed looks like. Notice how the loops slant to the left (instead of to the right) on the needles:

How to Knit Left Handed at handsoccupied.com

The biggest things I recommend taking the time to read about, watch videos of, and study when switching the hand you knit with are:

– how your loops should be laying on your needles
– how to cast on with your other hand
– how to do proper reductions with your other hand (all of the reductions you are accustomed to will be laying backwards if you do them working opposite handed)

I’d LOVE to hear what you think – particularly if you’ve ever had struggles that have impacted your ability to practice your craft or passion! For the longest time I thought I was alone, but I’m realizing many of us have dealt with a variety of struggles in our personal and creative lives. It’s great to know you’re not alone!

Filed Under: Knitting & Crochet, My Work Elsewhere Tagged With: carpal tunnel, features, first magazine, how to knit left handed, let's knit, let's knit magazine, magazines, tendonitis

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a knitting, crochet and crafts designer. She first learned to knit at age 8 from a grandmother who saw in her a need for something to keep her busy. She's now a full time designer, video host, blogger & teacher. You can keep up with her designs and more by following handsoccupied on your favorite social network.

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Comments

  1. alicia

    June 26, 2014 at 7:57 am

    Congrats on the features Heidi!

    Reply
    • Heidi

      June 27, 2014 at 2:16 pm

      Thanks, Alicia!

      Reply
      • Agmal

        October 14, 2014 at 5:43 pm

        Reminds of summer ice loleils! What’s the best stitch, needles and yarn for a blanket? I’ve tried to knit squares before with aran weight and they’re always too loose, I want something that’s going to be fairly substantial and actually last years without getting all out of shape.

        Reply
        • Heidi

          October 15, 2014 at 9:39 am

          Hi Agmal! Are you referring to the blanket featured in the magazine? If so, here is the post featuring the pattern, needles and yarn: http://www.handsoccupied.com/2014/03/simple-basketweave-baby-blanket/. Check that out and let me know if that answers your questions. :) -Heidi

          Reply
  2. Amy Anderson

    June 28, 2014 at 9:57 pm

    OMG I’m so proud of you! Congrats – and cheers to what will surely be the first of many magazine features :D

    Reply
    • Heidi

      June 29, 2014 at 3:01 pm

      Thanks, Amy! :) :) :) :)

      Reply
  3. Jayna

    July 9, 2014 at 6:30 pm

    Woohoo! Congrats Heidi!

    Reply

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Heidi Gustad modeling the Intarsia Mountain afghanHi! I’m Heidi Gustad, a Knit & Crochet Designer obsessed with colorful knitting, crochet & yarn crafts. In this picture, I’m wearing my favorite vintage Norwegian sweater.
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handsoccupied

Yarn craft designer & blogger, partial to primary colors, vintage style, & most needlecrafts. ✂️ 🎙️Co-host, @seriouscrafts podcast.

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Between the mini fandom sweaters & the now-legendary hamster sweater story (thanks to sharing it on @seriouscrafts) - who’da thunk these would become such a thing? 🧶☺️❤️ Guess it’s just about time to make human-sized sweater patterns to, eh? #handsoccupied
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Instagram post 18043011205209234 Happy weekend, everyone! There are several new faces today, so to you, I say welcome! 😊 I’m Heidi, the knitting, crochet and yarn crafts designer behind Hands Occupied. I’m based in Chicago, where I work out of a small studio space, the Hands Occupied Studio. Every week I host an open Craft Night and on the last Sunday of the month we have a Crafternoon. They’re all free and open to anyone who wants to hang out and craft with others (snacks are always welcome!). .
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A little about me: I’m a knit and crochet pattern designer, but I’m really about all things string, from crochet to macramé. Lately I’ve been particularly obsessed with contemporary latch hook and punch needle trends. However, in my recent handmade wardrobe projects I’ve been drawn to everything vintage. 🤷🏼‍♀️ Funny how that works! 😆.
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In addition to the blog, design work, and the Studio, I co-host the Very @seriouscrafts Podcast, a top 10-ranked crafts podcast heading into our third season in 2020! 🎙 That about covers it - thanks so much for indulging a long caption 🙏🏼 , and I’m so glad to have you here! ☺️❤️💛💙 #handsoccupied #veryseriouscrafts
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