This topic has come up and I just came across help for pushers.
HTH the pushers in our midst so they can know the joy of using really sharp needles. As a sock knitter I had to learn to not push on the point of my sock skewers. Even the less sharp skinny needles can hurt and draw blood. I didn’t even realize I was doing this.
Has anyone actually found that technique to be efficient in the long run? I tried, but it was just slowing me down seriously. My left index finger is a big cracked calloused mess, but it doesn’t crack open anymore. I sometimes wear those rubber fingers, which helps immensely, but changing the way I knit just hasn’t been a solution for me.
I had a problem when I got my first KP Options. Up until then I’d been using bamboo straights so I didn’t even know I was doing that. I apparently don’t do it anymore because I have no problems and my fingertips are fine.
Once in a while I find I push the needle against my right finger but not often. Mostly I pull the stitch off with the right needle. I don’t know how I’d do it if I knit English style.
i notice i do it with both fingers, depending on where the stitches and needles are, and where i need them to end up. i also notice i do it less if i knit loosely, so maybe that’s part of the issue for some of us? i’ve been training myself to instead push the stitches around, instead of pushing the needle tips, and that seems to help. (and, overall, this happens far less with my metal needles, with their smoother surfaces and reduced drag.)
Honestly I have trouble understanding why people get into the habit of pushing the left needle tip with the right forefinger. To me it’s a bad habit. Even a size 8 needle can hurt when pushed like that. I don’t know if he paid any attention but I told my son to make sure he didn’t get into the habit of pushing like that. Maybe all those miles of hand sewn hems when I was younger had influence. If you’re using a very sharp hand sewing needle you have to learn how to avoid poking yourself all the time. Blood stains can ruin a carefully crafted garment quickly. With any tool learning to use it (dare I say correctly?) safely is a must. We learn to handle knives so that we don’t get cut every single time we pick them up. At the end of the day it all goes to how much the individual sees it as a problem and whether they’re really motivated to change a habit.
I’m a loose knitter (:teehee: ) so maybe that makes it easier. Interesting.
I just found this thread, because I am a pusher, and I don’t even know how that happened! I have tried to stop pushing, but I just don’t know how to get the stitches on the right needle without pushing them with the right finger. I don’t think I knit that tightly, but I find that the needles just don’t slide off naturally.
Does someone know of a good video which shows good knitting style? Something I can try to copy?
Maybe try wrapping your finger in a small amount of gauze can help? I do it whenever I’m going to be knitting for a long period of time and it helps amazingly well 
Admittedly I never let this get to be a strong habit but here’s how I broke it. I started knitting with sz. 0 or smaller needles when I was working on socks. Even if you’re not a pusher you can hurt yourself really easily with those points, they’ll slice you. I had to put a band aid on my right forefinger and also the middle finger because I’d cut it with the tip of the skewer I was using for a needle just like you can with the tip of a knife. I hated it. It wasn’t long until I’d gotten used to not pushing on the needle. I learned to respect my tools. Just as I can cut myself once in a while if I’m a bit careless with a knife I will still catch myself pushing the needle point. I think about the skinny needles I like to use and quit doing it.
If it’s really a habit you want to change then you’ll find what works for you. I had one person ask me about it and they finally admitted they didn’t want to bother.
Move the left hand stitches as close to the tip as you can without falling off. Pull the knitted stitch off the right needle. Stop every few stitches to push more stitches forward on left needle and continue. Liat Gat from Knit Freedom says this method will speed up your knitting. Its mostly slowing down to consciously do this for a while until it replaces the bad habit.
I knit with bamboo so I push on the tip when I need to scrunch up the stitches too, but I don’t do it when knitting with my smaller needles which are metal, I have some HiyaHiyas which are very sharp.
I just figure it out as I go, haven’t made myself bleed.
To scrunch up and not poke my finger, I grab the other lefthand needle tip so I am not wounding myself. It may not be the best thing, but it works.
The other thing I thought I’d do is to wear a thimble on the second finger and then use that for scrunching. I find knitting with a thimble annoying.
However, there are good reasons for touching: it is efficient: the main reason why I touch or allow the bamboo needles to touch parts of my hands or fingers is I don’t have to look at them or may hands to knit or purl. So I can knit watching TV, listening to videos on YouTube or talk on the phone, etc.
So trade of is this: I knit at a good rhythm with the bamboo. Metal is slicker and should be faster, so instead of being relaxing for me, I am focusing on not poking myself, so that can slow me down. When I knit at a constant pace, all the stitches are uniform, but avoiding the needle, does not let me knit any faster than with the bamboo. The bamboo gets slicker from use. For me sticking with bamboo is optimal.