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JinxAdnix Since: Jan, 2021
Dec 15th 2023 at 12:38:12 PM •••

I'm not 100% sure this is the right place to post this, but it seems more fitting than any other page we have so far, and I thought it was something this community may find at least mildly interesting.

In live action portrayals, characters will nearly always knit english style (Letting go of the needles with the non dominate hand to loop the thread over the needle in the dominate hand.) while holding the needles with a knife grip. (Fingers curled around the needles with thumbs sporting and aiding in control, the way one holds the handle of a blade when cutting food.)

While in cartoons they are nearly always shown to knit continental style (Using the needles themselves to catch the yarn so the hands never need leave the needles.) while holding said tools with a pencil grip. (Needles pressed into the thumb with 2 or more fingers as one would a weighting utensil.)

The english vs continental divide between live action and animation is likely down to english style being easier for beginners as most actors likely don't want to learn the more difficult continental style just for one seen, while continental style uses smaller movements and is thus easier to animate.

What I can not explain is the prevalence of the pencil grip in animations. The live action showing of the knife grip is easy enough to explain as it simply being the actor's preference, but if so many people prefer a knife grip, why do we draw them using a pencil grip? The knife and pencil grip are equally easy to animate and neither offers any advantage over the other. It's simply a matter of what feels right to the craftsmen in question.

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