Theoretical Knitting

Lately I have been proving myself very talented at a new skill, Theoretical Knitting.

Theoretical Knitting is the art of thinking lots and lots of knitting thoughts, (design elements, yarn qualities, needle sizes available/needed, how the FO should look, more complicated design elements, things we should be knitting and how we would knit them, and so on), but no actual knitting time.

I have thought about casting on. I have considered putting needles and yarn together.
Long hours have been spent mentally knitting.

No physical effort is required for 332 Theoretical Knitting. One does not have to find the yarn choice lacking, or the design flaw, or rip out complicated elements that did not work, or rue the failure of the FO to look like it is supposed to, or become frustrated at the lack of correct size of available needles for a given project, or actually produce knitted items that were requested or something.

Why, through the practice of Theoretical Knitting, I have been able to branch out into Theoretical Crocheting! There are only two crochet stitches I can actually do, but I am limitless in my Theoretical Crocheting skills!

I have Theoretically Crocheted an entire couch.
It looks a lot like the one I sit on while I think about the fiber arts.

With a bit of practice, anyone can become good at this.

Eventually, I will get back to knitting stuff.
I mean, people have been requesting stuff again. Someone even gave me a request with a deadline, so I can't rely on theory forever.

Right?

What is Sinister Knitting?

In the world of knitting, most terms are very clear.
Except Left handed knitting.

Continental Method, aka German Method, is also known as left handed knitting. Simply put, it is holding your working yarn in the left hand.

For most of us who are left handed, this term is not an accurate description of how we knit. Rather, when we knit left handed, we move our stitches from the right hand needle to the left hand.

There is a group on Ravelry for left handed knitters, named On The Other Hand, and we ended up discussing the confusion of terminology. Annekaelber suggested we use the term Sinister instead.

I like the idea and have decided to use the term for my knitting blog, being as I am left handed and Sinister is how I knit.
I am not limited to Sinister knitting. Mostly I do Sinister Combo style, but I have mastered Continental Method and am working on learning even more styles.

It is a wonder that there are so many different ways to turn strings into clothing and other stuff. But end the end it a basic process that we all share.
To quote Antimony from Exotic Knitting Styles group on Ravelry:

"When you create knitted fabric, all you are doing is interlocking each row of yarn into the one below by pulling through each of the loops on the needle.
If the yarn is pulled through the loop from back to front, it's a knit, and from front to back, it's a purl."