Irish Cottage Knitting

I have noticed that since I posted last year about Irish cottage knitting, a lot of people have been visiting my blog, having found me on Google for that term. Probably looking, as I did, for more information on this obscure form of knitting, that is often only referenced in relation to Yarn Harlot.

In the hope that I can save someone else some time, here's what I've managed to find out about Irish cottage knitting.

It is essentially lever arch knitting, whereby the hand is not taken away from the needle at any time, and the right hand needle is supported between the forefinger and thumb of the right hand. The first or middle finger of the right hand is levered out to throw the yarn around the needle to create the stitch. The only real difference between the yarn harlots style, and that of other lever arch knitters (that I have been able to discern) is that she extends the middle finger, as opposed to the first finger, which seems to be the more common form.

In the straight needle version of this style, the right needles is held under the right arm. This is a leftover technique from the days when the right needle could be anchored in a sheath to allow faster knitting, and Greater dexterity while enabling the knitter to move more freely with their knitting, i.e walking, looking after children etc.

With the right needle anchored thus, the right hand only needs to move the yarn, while the left hand makes the stitch with the left needle. I does seem that due to the smaller movements involved this technique is faster then other methods of throwing knitting. I will be adding a tutorial for Lever arch knitting within the next couple of weeks.