Irish Cottage or Lever Knitting

 It can be fast! It  can reduce stress on the wrist and hand. It can be done with tools bought at any knitting store. For some knitters these are overwhelming advantages.  I wish them well!

On the other hand, it is not particularly good for fine needles, and hence is not particularly good for fabrics that must be weatherproof. Irish Cottage Knitting is not particularly good for fine socks.

Starting in 1999, I set out to knit weatherproof fabrics. It was soon apparent that Irish Cottage Knitting was not a good option for my needs 

Knitting sheaths have similar motions, so  techniques using a knitting sheath are just as fast or faster! Using a knitting sheath, I can work with very fine needles of any length. 

Yes, I had to make the knitting sheaths. The first few knitting sheaths I made were crude, functional, and the time invested was less than the time saved by knitting (the first project) faster. I put a lot more effort into later knitting sheaths, but they have been used on hundreds of knitting projects, and have saved me a lot of knitting time. And, they allow me to knit fabrics that I could not otherwise knit.

This summer, I am learning to knit "sock fabric". I am knitting worsted spun, high twist yarns in the 2,500 ypp to 1,200 ypp class. The fabrics are knit at  between 9 and 15 spi, and include fabrics in the 12 spi by 20 rpi as reported by GT for Sheringham ganseys.  I am not real thrilled by modern sock knitting yarns. I find myself making/spinning my own yarns.  Wool fibers have scales and crimp, that with twist hold the yarn together and give it durability.  Super wash wool does not have the scales, so it has less durability. If I am going to put the effort into knitting, I want durable. Still there is a difference between knitting a sock at that gauge and knitting a sweater at that gauge.  In particular, worsted spinning 6-ply "sock yarn" 17 tpi singles is an easy week's work for a pair of socks, but a sweater's worth of that yarn takes longer. 

Wool is less flammable than synthetics, and for a sweater that I am going to wear out and about, I want less flammable. 

Nylon goes into sock yarns because it is cheaper than wool; it is a filler. For various reasons the wool wears away from the nylon; people see the residual nylon and think nylon makes a durable sock. No, it just helps the wool wear out faster. If I am going to put the effort into knitting, I want durable. That goes double for a fine sweater.

The effort to spin good yarn is less than the effort of buying most commercial yarns, them knitting more socks (or sweaters) because that yarn was designed not to be durable. Some, like Frangipani are very durable, but have a high ply twist, so the yarn has less fill and even when knit firmly produces a fabric that is well suited to modern centrally heated conditions.  Sweaters knit from Frangipani are not well suited to -- taking a nap in the snow. The lesson is : If you wear your beautiful Frangipani sweater to the pub on a cold night, call a taxi, rather than trying to walk home in the snow! ( : 

Irish Cottage Knitting is fast, but it is not suited to producing dense, durable fabrics. Rather the assumption is that the objects will go threadbare or sag, and you will have to knit new objects.  

My points are:

• Spinning is faster than knitting yarn designed to fail.
• Good knitting is faster than knitting twice. 
• If you just like knitting, there are always people that need well knit objects.