Stoking the fire with Portuguese Style Knitting

So here at the Little Yellow House we have officially started the countdown to New Zealand!  We have noise-canceling headphones, I have a brand new Kindle (lurv it so much!), the suitcases have been pulled out of the attic, and I will need to check my wardrobe to be sure I have everything that I will need.

It sounds like knitting on the plane may be a problem. Qantas prohibits knitting needles from their flights.  Since we are flying Qantas from Los Angeles to Auckland, then getting a connecting flight to Nelson, I am looking at nearly a full day of no knitting.  I did buy an Addi 8" 2.5 circular for the hell of it - it barely qualifies as a knitting needle - but after knitting with it I am not sure I would mind having it confiscated!  It puts a lot of strain on my wrists, and isn't very satisfying to work with.  Still, it doesn't look threatening at all, and if I have the window seat I might not draw too much attention to myself.

However, I can knit from Detroit to LA and then stow my knitting in my checked luggage.  That will give me 4-5 hours of knitting - and there is nothing wrong with that.

Today I took a fantastic workshop with Andrea Wong on Knitting Socks in the Portuguese Style at Woven Art.  Most of the time was spent just learning the Portuguese style - something my Portuguese MIL had described to me several years ago. The yarn is held in a pin perched on the left shoulder, or with the yarn running around your neck.  Tension is completely controlled by the right hand, and knitting and purling are achieved by flicking the left thumb.  When practiced at full speed by an accomplished knitter it is a blur of motion that is astounding.

While I am not entirely sold on doing colorwork inside out - I do like *seeing* my charts appear in my knitting - there is no doubt that there is less hand motion whether you are knitting OR purling.  Because Portuguese style purling is SO economical of motion, many practitioners prefer to purl. I know! Garter stitch consisting of purl rows!  It boggles the mind, but there it is.

So what may be my first Portuguese style project?  I am seriously contemplating using Andrea's Japanese Sideways Sock pattern and PURLING every row.

I am not sure how easy it would be to knit twisted stitches - purling would be easier - so I don't think I can immediately combine this new obsession with that of my other recent obsession - Twisted-Stitch Knitting - see the newly released book by Maria Erlbacher (Schoolhouse Press).  But perhaps when Andrea comes back in April I can ask her if she has tips for "fancy work".

It has been a tremendous knitting day. Obrigada, Andrea!