# The knitting-aid belt helps ease for hands etc.



## omnivore2 (Jul 23, 2013)

Hi I've been interested in a maakin belt that helps Shetlanders knit, one-handed if necessary, and found this useful information. the world's fastest knitter Hazel Tindall uses one. 

So I've photocopied this information for us:


Knitting made easier..... kind of
Once upon a time I purchased an excellent knitting belt.


I had read of the legendary Shetland knitters who could knit 200 stitches per minute in the days before circular needles were invented, using long double pointed needles and a belt. I was hoping that I, like them, would be able to finish a fair isle sweater every week, and that I would be able to indulge my passion for yarn and try all the patterns I desired, make all the Alice Starmore sweaters I coveted, and experiment with the colors of the rainbow, all to my hearts content.

Doesnt it sound like a dream?

I experimented for a while, and although I loved some things about the belt, I was not able to get proficient at the technique, and threw the belt and needles into a dark corner in disgust. They have remained in my box of knitting paraphernelia until I recently thought I would attempt this again.

My reason for wanting to make another attempt was that I felt my knitting was slower and my stitches less regular than they used to be. Also, I have some problems with my hands and wrists. And elbows and shoulder And I still have the dream of being able to knit faster so that I can finish more of the garments I want. I cant help it if I love Norwegian sweaters, Fair Isle sweaters, Aran sweaters, ganseys, elegant sweaters, modern sweaters, Andean bags, lace scarves and shawls and gloves A coworker once said to me that she used to knit but stopped because she got such a glut of sweaters. Well, to me, that just sounded like crazy-talk.


Above is a picture of the belt and the long needles. As you can see, the belt has a pouch, which is stuffed with horsehair, and has many holes which are used for holding the needle. Since there are so many holes, you can customize your belt to hold different size needles. In Norway they had a "knitting stick" which served the same purpose.

The technique seems simple, you attach the belt around your waist, and you stick your working needle into the belt to keep it supported. This way, your hands do not have to support the garment, and your right hand is free to guide the work without also holding up the weight of the knitted fabric. With stranded knitting, this fabric can be very heavy.

The needles I was able to get were 40 cm (16 in) long, and came in sets of four. The three needles created a very rigid triangle, with the fourth as the working needle. For a large circular sweater, I found it impossible to maneuver my working needle with this configuration. How could you hold it in your lap so you could see your stitches when the triangle wanted to lie in one direction only?


After my difficulties using a four needle set, I added a fifth needle from a different size set. This made a huge difference for me, as the configuration was now more flexible and made it easier to manipulate the work. I will have to order another set of four, because the seller was not willing to break up their sets.


An awkward pose to show the belt without hiding it with my elbows.
Since the needles are so long, I ended up with the pouch of the belt hanging very low on my hips so I could keep my hands closer to my body.

Pros:
1. Because the weight is no longer supported by the hands and wrists, you will feel much less fatigue. It felt WONDERFUL to have the right needle supported this way.
2. Your left hand guides the fabric onto the needle, your right hand is completely free. With a circular needle, you guide the right needle into the fabric and move it up, behind, around
3. Gravity is helping you somewhat, because the left hand moves the stitch onto the needle, and then you just drop the left needle slightly to make the stitch.

All this adds up to knitting faster and with less fatigue.

Cons:
1. The work is not as portable as a circular needle. Lots of long, lethal needles poking in every direction.
2. A lot of practice is required to become proficient. As a matter of fact, when I called the seller (they had a technical support line) they said that they could offer me no guidance on the use of the belt, and that this belt was only for knitters who had grown up using this method.
3. You have to sit very upright to use this. No lounging and collapsing into a soft couch, because you dont want the work to tilt upwards, it needs to tilt down away from your body. In all the pictures I have seen, the person was either standing, or sitting very straight. I was only successful if I perched on a pillow or on a dining chair.

All this adds up to less convenience.

Some knitters who use straight needles brace their right hand needle under their arm, and this works on the same concept. You can use the knitting belt with straight needles, you would just enlarge one of the holes in the leather to accommodate the cap of the needle you want to use.

According to Sheila McGregor, in her book The Complete Book of Traditional Fair Isle Knitting (B.T. Batsford Ltd, London, 1988), the Fair Isle knitters achieved their speed using the continental style, not the English style of knitting. This is good news, because I suck at the English style. Also, they used sets of four needles, 35 cm long (14 in). This is trickier, because I dont even know that 14 in needles are available anymore. In my experiments, I determined that for me, more, and slightly shorter, needles would be easier.

I absolutely loved the way it felt to have the right needle supported by a belt. It was a complete delight. My hands and wrists felt infinitely better. Curiously, my knitted fabric was more flat, as if it had been pressed, even though the gauge was the same. I credit this to the fabric being under tension on the straight needle, instead of collapsed on a circular wire. I am still not any faster.

I know I need a lot of practice with this, so I am going to have to practice the knitting belt technique on some smaller project. I will definitely use it with any non-circular project. I am not willing to experiment on my current sweaters. They are too important to me and I want to get them finished without trauma. But this is definitely something that I want to pursue further, and if you have a lot of patience, or any kind of hand and wrist problems, I would really recommend learning the knitting belt technique.



Edited March 1st, 2010: I bought my knitting belt at Schoolhouse Press. You can also get them from Jamieson & Smith.
Posted by Hege at 7:54 AM"

So that's possibly all you need to know except stuff them with horsehair or hay. I use continental technique so am pleased it's good for this, as Hazel "throws".


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## crispie (Dec 17, 2011)

There was a discussion recently about the faster knitter competition and one of them was using a belt. Your topic made me go look for them and here are just a couple of sites that show/discuss these.
http://www.sweetgeorgiayarns.com/2011/02/knitting-for-speed-efficiency/




http://www.journeyman-leather.co.uk/knittingbelt8.html

Interesting thought.


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## omnivore2 (Jul 23, 2013)

Thanks Crispie I'll visit those sites : )

Here's a good bit from them:

A third style of knitting, Lever Knitting, is used by people who knit for a living. Its the most ergonomic way to knit and allows people to knit for 8 to 10 hours a day without any repetitive strain. Lever knitting makes knitting or purling equally easy to do and the stitches are precise and even. So, lever knitters knit everything.

The most compelling part of the 6-hour lecture was hearing about the history of this style of knitting. Stephanie studied art history and brought images to demonstrate how following the industrial revolution, knitting became one of the domestic arts. Women were encouraged to hold their knitting needles in a proper and pretty way to show that they were upper class  that is, to keep the palms of the hands down. This is a posture which ultimately slowed down our ability to knit fast. So, we have to go back and re-learn an old pre-industrial revolution style of knitting in order to regain speed and efficiency.



crispie said:


> There was a discussion recently about the faster knitter competition and one of them was using a belt. Your topic made me go look for them and here are just a couple of sites that show/discuss these.
> http://www.sweetgeorgiayarns.com/2011/02/knitting-for-speed-efficiency/
> 
> 
> ...


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## blessedinMO (Mar 9, 2013)

There is a lot of reference to this type of knitting to Eastern Europe and other parts of the Continent. I have seen some on Youtube. Would be interesting to see how it feels.


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## omnivore2 (Jul 23, 2013)

I have a lot on but suspect I'll give it a go within a few months at most


blessedinMO said:


> There is a lot of reference to this type of knitting to Eastern Europe and other parts of the Continent. I have seen some on Youtube. Would be interesting to see how it feels.


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## blessedinMO (Mar 9, 2013)

In the same vein, there is a 'knitting pin' or 'brooch' that is pinned to the chest and the yarn slides through the pin keeping tension. I have seen that used in conjunction with the belt as well.


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## kwright (Mar 16, 2012)

This is news to me. Festinating. I had never heard of these methods before. I enjoyed the information and the history. Thank you.


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## blessedinMO (Mar 9, 2013)

Yes, very interesting to note while the brooches and belts were in use by the women,they of course were going around doing their normal household chores like churning butter and such. It was part of a whole existence of personal industry as opposed to how we look at knitting today: pastime, hobby,destressor. These ladies were making clothes while doing chores, cooking meals, and cleaning house. Just mind boggling.


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## triana (May 2, 2012)

Thank you omnivore2. What an interesting article - I had never heard of the belt before and have just spent a while looking at all the links. Just added a few more minutes to my things to do today, but very enjoyable


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## Granalou (Aug 11, 2011)

Wow, after 70+ years of knitting and thinking I was thrower, I just learned I'm actually a lever knitter. I have always held my right hand needle resting like a pencil between my thumb and index finger. Thinking I would like to learn a faster and more ergonomic method I watched the utube tutorial for lever knitting and made the discovery that my mother had taught me this method and it has been the way I knit all these years. Thank you for the excellent post that enlightened me


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## peacefulknitter (Mar 30, 2013)

I was not familiar with the knitting belt, quite interesting and may be an idea for a relative suffering from a medical issue with right hand. Thank you for sharing this information.


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## ElyseKnox (Sep 16, 2011)

omnivore2 said:


> Hi I've been interested in a maakin belt that helps Shetlanders knit, one-handed if necessary, and found this useful information. the world's fastest knitter Hazel Tindall uses one.
> 
> So I've photocopied this information for us:
> 
> ...


May I make an observation. Knitting belts are used with straight needles and came into use long before there were any circulars in use. If one uses circular needles there is no need to 'stabilize' the right needle with the belt. If you combine using circular needles with 'flicking' style of knitting you get pretty much the same net effect as shown in the second video link in Omnivore2's post.


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## ElyseKnox (Sep 16, 2011)

omnivore2 said:


> Thanks Crispie I'll visit those sites : )
> 
> Here's a good bit from them:
> 
> ...


Omnivore,
I wholeheartedly agree with you. Time after time I post a suggestion that people consider trying lever or flicking. I personally think that the flicking demo put out by VeryPinkKnits is a more efficient, more desirable style than many of the lever videos.

To borrow a phrase, Flicking combined with circular needles "rules"!!!


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## blessedinMO (Mar 9, 2013)

ElyseKnox said:


> May I make an observation. Knitting belts are used with straight needles and came into use long before there were any circulars in use. If one uses circular needles there is no need to 'stabilize' the right needle with the belt. If you combine using circular needles with 'flicking' style of knitting you get pretty much the same net effect as shown in the second video link in Omnivore2's post.


 :?:


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## blessedinMO (Mar 9, 2013)

Thank you, Elyseknox. I do not need extra help. I was just confused by your last post.


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## omnivore2 (Jul 23, 2013)

Hi Elyse
big smiles; I've just seen that video and broke out the needles to give it a go. I couldn't manage with the yarn passed over the right fore-finger except coming over it the opposite way from what she had it BUT here's the good news; I've found it very successful and a bonus is that my left hand is free to shuffle the other unknitted stitches forward to be gobbled up by the working needle on the right and using small movements. I can see already that this mimics what Hazel Tindall does with her 285? sts/3 minutes and a long 15 inch? set of double-pointed needles.

I intend to abandon my Continental method for this reason and persist with this, as it shows great promise regardless of my understandable clumsiness and tight tension which should be transient. I'm trying it with the circular needle very soon.

I will try ways of knitting one-handed with the long double-points and a maakin belt/hollow stick/etc. I think I could do this with continental if the garment were supported in a kangaroo apron and from the right-hand fixed needle


ElyseKnox said:


> Omnivore,
> I wholeheartedly agree with you. Time after time I post a suggestion that people consider trying lever or flicking. I personally think that the flicking demo put out by VeryPinkKnits is a more efficient, more desirable style than many of the lever videos.
> 
> To borrow a phrase, Flicking combined with circular needles "rules"!!!


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## ElyseKnox (Sep 16, 2011)

omnivore2 said:


> Hi Elyse
> big smiles; I've just seen that video and broke out the needles to give it a go. I couldn't manage with the yarn passed over the right fore-finger except coming over it the opposite way from what she had it BUT here's the good news; I've found it very successful and a bonus is that my left hand is free to shuffle the other unknitted stitches forward to be gobbled up by the working needle on the right and using small movements. I can see already that this mimics what Hazel Tindall does with her 285? sts/3 minutes and a long 15 inch? set of double-pointed needles.
> 
> I intend to abandon my Continental method for this reason and persist with this, as it shows great promise regardless of my understandable clumsiness and tight tension which should be transient. I'm trying it with the circular needle very soon.
> ...


So glad to pass along info to help a fellow knitter. I just got an amazing email from a student I helped this summer. She was a rank beginner, had never knitted before. I taught her to 'flick' and she has been knitting up a storm ever since. She had quite a background in sewing and design that helped her but I still firmly believe in the value of flicking.


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## omnivore2 (Jul 23, 2013)

I think she'll pass it along, too. Keep up the good work : )


ElyseKnox said:


> So glad to pass along info to help a fellow knitter. I just got an amazing email from a student I helped this summer. She was a rank beginner, had never knitted before. I taught her to 'flick' and she has been knitting up a storm ever since. She had quite a background in sewing and design that helped her but I still firmly believe in the value of flicking.


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## MaryE-B (May 11, 2012)

We have had several knitters on the forum who used knitting belts or sheaths. Several have always used them. One person lived here in the US and has learned to use a knitting sheath. 
I think they allow you to really speed up your knitting, but I'm not sure they are always easier on your shoulder(s) or hands.


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## blessedinMO (Mar 9, 2013)

I've heard the same basic thing. Goes faster but wears on joints.


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## omnivore2 (Jul 23, 2013)

Been experimenting between houseworking-spells and am doing Portuguese purl and Continental plain. The purl with a safety-pin with paper-clip for tension is efficient. Quite nerve-wracking, folks; time to walk for the groceries. Had a cold for a week.

I have a knitting machine but needles are more portable.


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## omnivore2 (Jul 23, 2013)

bit of luck got 4 prs d.p long needles for the belt cheap


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## omnivore2 (Jul 23, 2013)

Copying Hazel Tindall on the plain now but sticking with the Portuguese purl. I'm finding it's better to try to be as accurate as possible to speed the learning-curve and create hand-memory.

Can't tell if my hands are sore from carrying an enormous weight of groceries or this.


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## omnivore2 (Jul 23, 2013)

The practice-sample of stocking-stitch is getting more even, so I feel pretty chuffed and encouraged. The Portuguese purl's on a pully system and I use a paper-clip and safety-pin on my left shoulder and the left thumb to flick the yarn. Tension on the pully-system's key to get the yarn snagged in properly. So; that means my right hand's not working and I think that'll save that fore-finger.

The plain-stitch uses the right fore-finger and I hope to make myself that maakin belt soon.

The key to speedier knitting is to train myself to keep movements as small as possible and move the rows of stitches along into the path and away with both hands as I go, so those practise-sessions concentrate on good technique.


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## omnivore2 (Jul 23, 2013)

Here's progress. the tight tension was a mistake. You can see it's getting even; more even than my previous styles. Not time for a tension-swatch yet - early days. Have to work at keeping my hands relaxed.


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## omnivore2 (Jul 23, 2013)

Well I'm still making the belt but have decided it makes sense to have the plain-stitch yarn coming from the left instead of taking it from the right to the left and factored in that Miriam Tegels who's very fast, uses the Continental plain too.

Please excuse my chopping and changing - it's about what's best for me etc.


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## SouthernGirl (Dec 28, 2011)

Thank you.


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## free2bme (Jun 26, 2012)

I've actually seen some realllly long needles that resemble dpn's and wondered what they're for. I guess I found the answer!


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