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Knitting without fatigue: Using a Shetland knitting belt
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© Motojita
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Finished
January 2, 2017
January 8, 2017

Knitting without fatigue: Using a Shetland knitting belt

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Information about knitting with a knitting belt (or “makkin belt” in Shetland)
(continually updated, whenever I remember to include something here)
Hint: When you print this page as a PDF via the print menu in your browser (just change the printer from a real printer to “print as pdf”) then all the links should stay active links in the printed PDF document.

Hello, interested reader! In this article, I have gathered whatever useful information I could find in the net about knitting with a knitting belt, along with my personal experience, and I hope that it can be of use to you if you are interested in knitting with a belt. I myself am knitting mostly with a belt since 2017. I say mostly, because for needle sizes larger than 5 mm / US 8, OR for very large shawls with a lot of stitches, other knitting methods like knitting with circular needles are more comfortable / less of a hassle to me.

One more word before we get into the topic: If you like, go see my YouTube channel Knitwisely where I will have a few tutorials (however - mainly in German!) and also a playlist with knitting belt videos from other sources. Currently I´m busy creating content for the site. blush

When the wrist of my right hand started to ache as soon as I was using my 2,5 mm (that´s between a US size 1 and 2) needles, I was doing a research in the internet about knitting methods and knitting ergonomics. I kept stumbling over Shetland knitting belts during this research. They seemed to be calling me. I was talking so much about them that my dear husband got me one as a Christmas present in 2016.

What is a knitting belt (or makkin belt)?

A knitting belt is a belt traditionally made out of leather, which has a leather pad attached. The pad has several holes in which you can put your right knitting needle - it stays there and is held by the belt, so that your right hand only has to move the yarn. The belt is commonly stuffed with horsehair, even though nowadays you can even obtain vegan knitting belts (I have linked a shop where you can buy these further below). The belt usually sits around your waist (or wherever you find it more comfortable).

When you hold your yarn in your right hand and use a knitting style called “flicking”, the left hand & needle do most of the movement when knitting, the movements of the right hand and arm are minimal. The wrists hardly move at all. The movements involved are very tiny, you knit on the tips of your knitting needles - therefore this method should increase your knitting speed considerably, once you get the hang of it.
You can also knit with it while standing or walking.

I have heard many people say “but can’t you only knit back and forth with it”? That is not so - because think of all of the beautiful multicoloured Fair Isle jumpers: Do you think they were knitted back and forth? No. As long as your DPNs are long enough, you can very well knit in the round with a knitting belt.

Oh by the way: Famous knitters that knit with a belt are
hazeltindall
JanetteBudge
Alice Starmore
YarnHarlot
Elizabeth Johnston
June Hemmons Hiatt (author of “The Principles of Knitting)
MaryJane (Mucklestone)

What are the benefits of a knitting belt?

The text by June Hemmons Hiatt, the author of “Principles of Knitting”, that won me over can be found on her website:

Privately, however, the belt had become my personal favorite. While I still use several other methods for special purposes, knitting with a belt has been my preferred method for the past 30 years. It is the one I used to knit all the swatches while doing research for both editions of the book (I wore my belt from Edinburgh every day, just like they do in Shetland). The reason it became my favorite was because I thought it had the fewest limitations and the most advantages of any of the methods, not least because it allowed me to knit for long hours without fatigue.

After trying out the knitting belt, I can totally agree to what June Hemmons Hiatt says. It is one of the most ergonomic styles of knitting. There is no strain whatsoever on the wrists. It seems, to me, to be a very effective prevention against cts (carpal tunnel syndrome). (But keep in mind that I am not a doctor - this is just something I personally have deducted from using the technique!)

And this makes sense too - since the Shetland women used to knit in every spare moment, even during their way home after cutting peat, to be able to sell their knitwear and make a little money. It seems only logic that they developed a way of knitting which was very efficient, ergonomic and fast.

I also have found a video from Lorna Jenkin / Woolly Woodlanders about how fast Shetland knitters could knit. In the video, you can see original footage from around 1935-1945. The knitters really could knit around 200 stitches a minute!!!

Interesting article by Felicia Lo about knitting efficiency, Irish cottage style knitting (also called lever knitting) - done by YarnHarlot for example - and minimizing movements during knitting, quote:

The most compelling part of the 6-hour lecture was hearing about the history of this style of knitting. Stephanie studied art history and brought images to demonstrate how following the industrial revolution, knitting became one of the “domestic arts”. Women were encouraged to hold their knitting needles in a “proper” and “pretty” way to show that they were upper class — that is, to keep the palms of the hands down. This is a posture which ultimately slowed down our ability to knit fast. So, we have to go back and re-learn an old pre-industrial revolution style of knitting in order to regain speed and efficiency.

This quotation is about lever knitting too, but it also applies to using a Shetland knitting belt for knitting imho:

The basic premise is that motion is minimized. Less wasted motion means quicker knitting. Also, a side benefit is the reduction of risk for repetitive motion stress ailments, like carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).

There is even a lady who knits with only ONE hand (her left hand), using a knitting belt (combined with Portuguese Knitting)!!! See this video by Mary OneHandKnitter on YouTube. She had to have her right arm amputated because of cancer.

How to knit with the belt

It took me about one week and two swatches to feel comfortable knitting with the knitting belt.

Links and videos which help to learn the technique are:

There are also my own videos (for those videos without spoken words - be sure to see the description, there is further explanation)

There is also the DVD “50 tips from Shetland knitters” by Hazel Tindall and Elizabeth Johnston, two apt Shetland knitters. Even though it is not specifically about knitting with a belt, I can highly recommend this DVD, because you can learn so much! It’s over 3 hours of Shetland knitting knowledge. One of the earlier chapters about joining for knitting in the round, where Elizabeth explains how you can avoid a gap at the join, as well as one of the later chapters where Hazel explains about knitting with 3, 4 and 5 needles (around 2hrs 4min), are very useful chapters for knitting with the belt.
It has nothing to do with the belt, but what I found very interesting as well was: They also explain how you can do grafting on the purl side, or grafting with holes included. The chapters about picking up stitches are also very interesting.

If you prefer to learn from a real person, Shetland tutor and knitwear designer Janette Budge offers online classes (plus classes you attend to in person) from time to time, which are excellent. Apart from a zoom online introduction, she provides you with professionally filmed videos where you can see, from knitter’s view, what’s happening and how you handle the needles and the yarn. After a few weeks, there are a few Q&A zoom online sessions, something I find very useful when you are a beginner with the belt. I attended one of her classes, and during the class, I finally managed to knit with only three needles in total! I can really recommend her classes.

Because the right needle is held by the belt and the movements of the left needle are very even, the stitch appearance in the knitted piece gets wonderfully even too.

When purling (like Hazel Tindall does in the video above), because you always keep a tension on the strand of yarn you´re knitting with, the difference in tension between purled passages and knitted passages will not differ so greatly. Whereas, in Continental knitting, the purl stitches tend to become much looser than the knit stitches, because you don’t keep the tension on the yarn after you have purled the stitch. This different technique with the belt will influence your stitch appearance, and it probably will make your knitting more predictable (like when you knit a swatch for a sweater with lots of purled stitches, for example).

A few things to keep in mind when knitting with a belt

Keep in mind to reserve holes for a certain needle size and try to only insert this certain needle size into the same hole afterwards (or at least, needle sizes not so far from it, no need to be too dogmatic here. It´s just important that you don´t enlargen the holes unnecessarily). The holes are holding your needle. So if you insert a very slender needle into a hole you used for thicker needles before, the needle will not be gripped by the hole very well.

One thing that was very important for me to learn is:
Always remember that you can adjust the position of the belt on your waist/side, and you can adjust the angle in which the needle is sticked into the belt - so choose an angle which places the needle tips not too far from your body! Always depending on the needle length that you use. For shorter needles, you would wear your belt a bit higher, and for longer needles lower - for very long needles you can move it towards your back more.

Your elbows have to be able to rest comfortably at your sides (in approx. a 90 degree angle). If the needle tips are too far from your body, and you cannot make the 90 degree angle, you will draw up your shoulders in order to try to reach the needle tips. This will cause tension around your neck, which will lead to headaches. Always take care that you sit comfortably, shoulders down, nice and relaxed.

When a belt is new, it is a good idea to bend it in half sometimes for a few times, to make it learn to bend nicely and easily. And from what I’ve learnt, Elizabeth Johnston says that especially in the beginning, you should put on and wear your belt long times, even if not knitting, to make it learn your body shape.

To avoid ladders when knitting in the round, I quote an answer from Hazel Tindall in the “Avoiding ladders” thread in the “Shetland knitting belts” group here on ravelry:

I too have trouble with ladders when knitting with one colour - it’s not a problem when knitting with 2 colours. I have tried all the things you have tried. The only way that works for me is to knit two thirds of the stitches on a needle, #introduce new needle, knit sts remaining on the left needle then knit two thirds of the stitches from the next needle, repeat from #. I do this with a total of 4 needles.

Another thing - since your belt is made out of leather (probably), do not forget to give the leather a little treatment with leather oil or such from time to time, so that the leather doesn’t dry out.

Where to obtain a belt?

You can order them from Jamieson & Smith in Shetland, but you have to be on the lookout for them, because they are not always in stock and they sell out fast.

Also, Jamieson’s of Shetland has knitting belts in their product range.

Recently a new web shop opened by Shetland knitting tutor and knitwear designer JanetteBudge, and she sells traditional knitting belts and long dpns too.

And Lisa’s Leatherworks, also Shetland-based, sells knitting belts.

In the US, ravelry user meralgia makes knitting belts (she also makes vegan knitting belts, from what I have seen). You can find her belts on Etsy (her username there is BobNWeave).

There is another UK-based Etsy shop who makes and sells knitting belts, by BygoneYarnyStuff.

Apart from that, you can also look if you can find any makers on Etsy. I would just take a good look at the photos - I have seen a few knitting belts on sale where the sewn edges were very wavy. I would not buy these because I suspect the leather for these was too thin and not saddlery quality (which lasts for life).

If, however, you are toying with the idea of making a knitting belt yourself, go see aforementioned meralgia’s website here. If you scroll down, she shows a little bit of her production process.

About needles (length, material etc.)

Where to obtain long dpns:
I cannot list international websites where you can obtain long needles because it would be too much to keep everything up to date, I think what may be of more use for international knitting belt users, like you, is to know who are the producers of long dpns and look for any suppliers online or offline in your country. Amazon might also be a good source.

Long dpns are produced by:
addi (Sock dpns, only 40 cm / 16 inch unfortunately)
Prym/Inox
or “nameless” ones from AliExpress or Amazon, they sell sets in 25 cm / 9,8 inch AND 35 cm / 14 inch - which are more comfortable than 40 cm / 16 inch
(for these, it´s best if you go directly on Amazon or AliExpress and search for “dpns 35 cm” or such. There is a store on AliExpress called Pr-allison Store which sells sets of long dpns)
If you combine Hiya Hiya Sharp needle tips with their single point adapters for jacket needles, you can also assemble long dpns - read further into that below please.

With a knitting belt, you knit with DPNs. That is because it is not possible to insert the right needle of a circular needle into the belt, when there is a cable connected to it. wink Many belt knitters, including me, only knit with four DPNs instead of five. Sometimes even with only three (many Shetlanders will do that - it´s faster, because you switch needles less often).

Which length of DPNs to use depends on your project and your preferences. You need a certain length to come to your “working height”, to be able to hold your arms and wrists comfortably (remember the 90° angle) and see your stitches well. So needles as short as 15 cm (6 in) will probably be too short. But 20 cm (8 in) can be very comfortable for smaller projects like socks or mittens / gloves.

Hazel Tindall says that she prefers 35 cm (14 in) needles, but for larger projects like sweaters or cardigans it will probably be reasonable to use the longest needles available - these would be 40 cm (16 in). To be able to knit with them, you will have to move your belt more towards your side. It feels a little awkward to knit with them at first.

To be able to hold many stitches on the needles, so they don´t fall off, you can bind your knitting together just a little way below the needles. This way the needles hold much more stitches. You can use an elastic nylon stocking for that, for example.

If the knitting object becomes too heavy, like a jumper or a cardigan, for example, you can use a ’raepin string’ to bind it together at the bottom. This raepin string can then be attached to the belt, on your left side, so that the leather belt carries part of the weight of your knitting object. To make a raepin string, you take a long string, favourably out of cotton so it doesn´t catch on the yarn of your object, and you sew it in loosely all around the bottom end of your project. You leave it a bit longer, and this longer end you can attach to your belt on your left side. This is useful when you want to knit standing or walking. Or you can sit on the raepin string, taking the weight of the knitting object this way.

The needles should be out of metal, especially the longer and thinner a needle is. Wooden needles will probably break over time (though, as I mentioned before, it should be no problem using, say, 20 cm / 8 in wooden needles for smaller projects like socks or mittens and gloves, or if you want to try out knitting with a belt first. You don’t have to invest all the money for a set of long metal needles if you are not sure yet if knitting with a belt is for you). The wooden needles are in danger of breaking because you always pull the right needle slightly towards you when knitting, so they get bent. Slightly, but still.

I prefer the aluminum dpns from Addi. They are sturdy and the tips are good, albeit not too sharp. They are available in every length (I think), they also have 40 cm (16 in) needles. Addi themselves once confirmed to me via email that their dpns don´t contain nickel, so should be fine for allergics.

I once ordered a not-too-pricey stainless steel dpn needle set with a length of 35 cm (14 in) from Ali Express in Asia (for example here). They took about 3 or 4 weeks to arrive in Germany. The tips are very blunt, making them quite unsuitable for lace unfortunately, but as long as you don´t have to perform complicated stitches (like purl 2 together through the back loop), they are fine. They only deliver 4 dpns in each size, not 5. Some sizes are not available in some sets (3 mm needles / UK size 11 / non-existant in US sizes are not in the set), and they come in a range of 1,5 mm (US size 00?, very much dragon toothpicks, really) up to 5 mm (US size 8). The skin on my fingers starts to peel a little where it touched the needle after a while knitting with them, so I suspect they are not completely nickel-free (though I thought stainless steel always was, but I am no expert in these kind of things). Also, what I find very bad: They get re-sharpened with use over time, but not in a good way. More in a may-cut-your-yarn-apart way, after a few more years (I have mine for four years now). So ordering from Asia probably is not so much of a bargain in the long run.

There is a US manufacturer called Newhouse, who makes handcrafted carbon fibre needles. You can also tell them how you would like your needles if you are knitting with a belt, then they will make them according to your wishes, from what I have heard. But I haven´t tried those because they would be too pricey to buy and have them sent to Germany.

The belt has its limits with needles, though. I personally am reluctant to stick very large needle sizes into it - my maximum is a 5 mm / US 8. So very bulky yarn I mostly knit with circulars. But then, my hands and wrists seem to be fine with using larger needle sizes (knitting without a belt, I mean). The people in the Shetland knitting belts group however suggest that you can wet the leather and enlargen a hole in the belt, to use large needle sizes. But I personally don´t want to do that to my belt.

For lace knitters and fellow nickel allergics out there:
If you are looking for LONG stainless steel needles with very sharp tips - check out Hiya Hiya´s Sharp Steel 5’’ Interchangeable Tips together with their Single Point Adapters for jacket needles.

(At least for projects like shawls, when you don´t knit in the round, but only back and forth - and therefore only need two needles. For a full set of at least four dpns this system would be very, very expensive. I have knit my Rheinlust shawl with these, and they have saved my life, because otherwise p2tog-tbl would not have been possible with such a huge amount of stitches.)

With two pairs of needles and the adapters, you can achieve a full length of 36 cm / 14 inches. (See the pictures in this project, I have put an image there how I assemble the parts and which parts you need.)

Why two pairs of needles?

I have found that it is better to use two pairs of needles along with only four of the (in total) six parts of the adapters. I like to use the 5 cm / 2 inch plus the 10 cm / 4 inch connectors along with two sets of tips (one tip on each side of the needle / four tips in total for two needles, just like a standard double pointed needle): Then you can push the then-assembled DPNs safely in your belt.

If you only push the adapter end in your belt, it could be that the sharp edges of the adapter damage / cut your horsehair inside the belt. I think this might be bad for the belt, in the long run. Also, with the open connector inside the belt, the horsehair was not able to grab the needle properly and it always tended to slip out.

The disadvantage is that you need at least two sets of tips which makes the whole thing even more expensive - then again, you get to have the really nice sharp edges, plus the knitting belt can grab and hold the needle better.

Of course, the needle tip you push into the belt doesn´t have to be the same size as you need for your knitting, you can connect any needle size you have at hand for the end which will be pushed into the belt.

The adapters themselves are very slender - be prepared that they will get a bend in them once you use them (because you pull the right needle towards you when knitting). But that is only a minor disadvantage. Do protect them when you are taking them outside - I once destroyed mine when other things got stacked on my knitting bag in the back of our car.

One other slight disadvantage of the system is that you have to rewind the last connector piece after every row / after taking it out of the belt, because it gets slightly loose with knitting. But this doesn’t bother me much.

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Finished
January 2, 2017
January 8, 2017
 
About this pattern
Personal pattern (not in Ravelry)
  • Project created: January 8, 2017
  • Finished: January 8, 2017
  • Updated: January 5, 2024