thisgoodlife has asked how to keep tension while knitting and purling continental so I knocked up this little tutorial for her and you.
I knit exactly the same way as everyone else except I hold the yarn in my left hand. The yarn is in my hand and then wrapped around my forefinger:
To knit, I insert the needle in through the front loop:
Then I move the right needle and the left forefinger slightly to get:
Now I pull the needle back through to make the new stitch.
To purl it's done in exactly the same way:
Insert Needle:
Wrap yarn:
Now move your forefinger down in FRONT of your work:
Move needle through to create new stitch, raise finger slightly and slide stitch off left needle:
You can now knit continental!
Cool to see someone else knitting continental! That's how I learned to knit when I was a wee girl in Norway (hence continental knitting), but I purl differently, as I omit the step where you put your index finger down in front of your knitting, and just pull yarn straight through. So interesting to see how others knit in different ways, and I have tried and failed to get my head around the British way of knitting!
ReplyDeleteI rarely put my finger down anymore either - the speed I knit at means I don't have to, but it's a handy tip for people trying to learn.
ReplyDeleteI CAN knit British/English style (I use it for colourwork - which I don't do often), but it's SO slow!!
I just loving reading your blog girl.. always something on here to learn
ReplyDeleteAwwwwwwww *blushes*
ReplyDeleteAs an left hander a friend recently pointed out I too continental knit. However, I hold the yarn in my right hand tensioned by by little finger. I then flick the needle round the yarn. It explains why I only like short needles and no longer use straights.
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