Continental Knitting Tutorial
You have two hands, so there are two ways to hold the yarn when knitting. If you hold it in your right hand, you knit English-style, or throw. Knitters who hold the yarn in their left hand are continental knitters, or "pickers." The two methods are not linked to handedness--many right-handed knitters knit continental, but if you are left-handed, this method may work best. Or if you just want something new to conquer, try the continental.
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Instructions
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Cast on 15 stitches. Hold the needle with the stitches in your left hand and an empty needle in your right.
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Wrap the yarn clockwise around your left index finger for tension. You can secure the yarn with your other fingers if needed, but make sure that it slides easily.
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Hold the yarn at the back of the work. To make a knit stitch, put the right-hand needle from left to right and front to back into the first stitch. Catch the yarn with the tip of the needle and pull it through the stitch. Slide the stitch off the needle.
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Repeat across the row. Turn the work so that the stitches are on the left-hand needle, and empty needle in your right.
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Wrap the yarn around your left index finger as before. Hold the yarn in front of the work. To make a purl stitch, insert the right-hand needle from back to front in the first stitch. Bring the yarn around the point of the needle by levering your left index finger down. Pull the yarn through the stitch and slip it off the needle.
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Repeat the purl stitch across the row. Turn the work and knit the next row.
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Continue knitting on one side and purling on the other until are comfortable holding the yarn in your left hand. Then switch to a knit 2 purl 2 ribbing to practice moving the yarn between stitches.
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Tips & Warnings
Like with most things, practice make perfect.
Regardless of how you hold the yarn, the stitches are formed the same way and look the same.
References
- Photo Credit knitting image by Aleksandr Ugorenkov from Fotolia.com
