I’ve been trying to get better at knitting continental. I learned English first and it feels really natural to me.
The biggest problem I’m having is that I can’t get the stitches on the left needle to move toward the end as I knit. So, every 20 stitches or so I have to stop, squish everything forward onto the left needle, retention across my fingers and start again. This really slows me down, especially when knitting in the round.
Any tips or tricks or videos for ways to get the stitches to advance more easily as I go?
The pain only flares up on days with a lot of use, and isn't horrible, but still not fun. I'm in my 30s without arthritis or other significant joint/muscular issues. I'm left handed for skills that need precision like eating and writing, but for most things that need strength I use my right hand, so I'm a little surprised this is even an issue. Anything else I could be doing to help myself out, other than to keep plugging away at learning continental? (I kind of hate it, but maybe it'll just take time)
Have an issue with double knitting in the round. My knits are nice and tight, but my purls quickly become so loose that I can pull large loops of excess yarn from the purled stitches. I'm knitting Continental style with both yarns coming off my left index finger. How can I fix this?
Hello all! I have been desperately trying to learn how to continental knit for a long while but cant seem to get the hang of it. I feel like it can be so much faster than English knitting, and I was wondering if anyone had any tips or tricks that could help? I've watched and tried to knit a long with videos and I just can't seem to figure it out!
I’m learning how to continental knit on my most recent rows in my sweater, and for some reason my stitches look like ktbl. I’m “scooping” the yarn with my needle as you’re supposed to do, right? If I grab the yarn with my needle in the other direction the stitch legs overlap. But this isn’t fast or easy to do. Does anyone know what I’m doing wrong? Pic of my stitches
Thanks in advance!
I've tried to share the post here but it says I can't share a video post. This is the link:
https://www.reddit.com/r/knitting/comments/qshobv/video_how_im_knitting_the_rib_stitch_k1_p1_in/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
As I have always done crochet I don't know a lot about different knitting styles as every style has the same problem: I just cannot use two needles!!
However, this method looks so simple and smooth especially the purl stitches! I believe I have replicated it with the knook but wondered if it's worth continuing with?
Are there any drawbacks from using such a method? In playing around with this and looking at Russian knitting I actually learnt something about stitch mounts and how to untwist twisted stitches so it hasn't been a complete waste of time if it's no good for knooking :)
I've been trying to figure it out and I can't really find a good tutorial on youtube. There are some about how to do the basics of continental colorwork, but nothing about how to catch floats. I have a book that supposedly explains it but I really do better learning from videos.
Can anyone here help me??
I'm a self taught English style knitter. I'd like to be more efficient with my projects and I know Continental knitting would help with that.
What are some good tips to help me change styles? I'm so used to English that any time I attempt continental, I just can keep it up for long.
TL;DR: Does anyone have any tips on getting good tension when knitting continental that don't use the last two fingers of your left hand?
Hiya!
When I was a kid my left hand got injured. My pinky was completely crushed and I had to have surgery and luckily didn't have to have it amputated. I was supposed to go to a lot of physical therapy afterwards but I wasn't brought. So nowadays it hurts a lot if I use that side of my left hand, and I can't really bend my pinky much.
I have been self teaching myself to knit for about 6months but I am really slow at English style knitting (holding yarn in right hand). It was really bumming me out and making me almost not enjoy knitting since I wasn't getting any faster. Everyone says continental (yarn in left hand) is faster, and it is especially for the ribbing on a sweater I am making (my first!).
It is faster but it hurts my hand to hold the tension with my last two fingers. I've tried the ring method and it made my stitches really tight for some reason. I think I do the close hand needle holding style but I am not really sure. Any advice much appreciated!!!
Hello everyone. I recently took a beginner class on knitting since I have tried to self teach for nearly 20 years on and off with no success. In the class I felt confident and was breezing through the knit stitch. However, as soon as I had to cast on (no issue with that) and then continue my work I have run into numerous problems. Sometimes one end will just be missing a few stitches in the row (it will start to make like a trapezoid) despite having the same number on my needle as started with. Sometimes I get these weird bumps/stitches for seemingly no reason that I can't get needle through.
I made one decent but small swatch last night after over an hour of attempts. I have looked up a few YouTube tutorials and from what I am seeing, at least, I am doing just as they do. Are there any great resources for continental knitters out there? As much as I'd love to take more classes, the instructor was a bit... of a snob? and criticized how I held my yarn and even laughed about it with another knitter so I'm not particularly inclined to spend more time/money with her.
Thanks for any tips or recommendations for resources. I'm not going to give up this time but would LOVE to get some more help!
Does anyone have tips for someone looking to switch from english to continental knitting? I’m not a super experienced knitter and I find purling especially awkward with my current technique so I’m wondering if trying to learn continental would help.
Thanks!
I’m a newish knitter—knitted a bit as a child and have been knitting as an adult for about eight months. I learned English style as a kid but have been trying to teach myself Continental as I can definitely see the advantages of that style. Unfortunately I’ve noticed that the yarn splits way more when I knit Continental. Does this happen to anyone else? Any tips or tricks to prevent it?
Is there a good reason why if I’m knitting flat, I can’t knit continental and then turn and purl the WS English style? Will this mess anything up? Also I’d love any tips anyone wants to share.
I just fell down a bit of a rabbit hole! I knit continental style, and the way the yarn is wrapped around my left hand, the working leg of the yarn is behind my forefinger (like in thie https://tutorials.knitpicks.com/knit-stitch-continental/ tutorial). Almost every other picture I've seen places the working leg in front of the forefinger. As this is closer to the work, this makes a lot of sense - I just never thought about it. Now I don't know whether I was actually taught this way, or whether I just remembered wrong when I picked it up again...
What way around do you guys hold the yarn?
Y’all. My first pair of socks took me like 4 months because the process was so slow (and I was pretty inexperienced). After accidentally discovering continental knitting while browsing YouTube, I’ve recently been forcing myself to knit that way even though it feels “wrong.”
I’ve just finished an entire foot and heel portion of my newest pair of socks in a day. On and off, I’ve been knitting maybe an hour and a half today. Granted, the entire sock is in stockinette with a ribbed leg, but still! This is huge for me!!! I could reasonably finish the whole thing by the end of the week. Now I understand how experienced knitters can churn out socks so quickly!
Just wanted to share. You guys are my only knitting community and my family is probably sick of hearing about yarn things. I’m SO PUMPED RIGHT NOW!
I like it so much better after doing English style for so long. Deff a learning curve but I like it. Any tips and tricks for becoming more efficient besides practice. Ever since I restarted my knitting after nursing school I have learned what the long tail cast on is and now this different style! So pleased with all these things I'm learning
Okay so I’ve been knitting English style since I was a small child (that’s mainly how we’re thought in Ireland) and I REALLY want to learn to knit continental as it seems to be a bit faster and I now have a hand knitting business that I need to keep stocked but I have one problem. I’m finding it very hard to teach my left hand to tension yarn. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
I have tried the FLK heel twice now. And i must be doing something stupid with either of the twin stitches, because one side looks horrendous, while the other looks okay but not great.
Can anyone please help me find a video or photo tutorial for continental knitting? All the ones i find are for English knitting and I am wondering if that is what is confusing me. I actually knit Norwegian style, but Continental should be close enough.
Thanks in advance, guys.
I am knitting the body portion of my sweater- and I knit much faster when I am knitting continental style. So how do I maintain colour dominance (I have a cream thread that is knitting in once every 8 stitches).
Thanks!
I am finally teaching myself how to knit Continental style. I am knitting the Sockhead pattern by Kelly McClure (on Ravelry) and it is endless rounds of stockinette on size 2 needles. No better pattern than this to master the technique!
I've attempted to learn how to knit multiple times over the years, but usually give up and just go back to my crochet. Since I've been crocheting for so long, having the yarn in my left hand is so natural, and attempting anything else is incredibly awkward and frustrating. Then I discovered continental knitting last night, and I feel like my life has been changed!! I can hold the yarn exactly like I do when I crochet, and my right hand is making a similar motion as well. Now, knitting doesn't feel so foreign and I'm able to see how similar it is to crochet, which has made it much easier to wrap my head around.
I'm currently working on a dishcloth to practice the stockinette stitch. I'm so excited!
I've been a sporadic knitter for 7 years, and I first learned how to knit using the continental combined method. In my few projects so far, I've not had issues with my style of knitting; however in my current projects (a pair of gloves and a hat), I've been concerned that I'm not properly following the patterns due to my knitting method. The hat I'm currently working on is the Bankhead hat, and the gloves I'm making are the Sailor's Rib fingerless gloves. Both patterns involve knitting through the back loop as a means of twisting the stitches, but I've been attempting to do so by knitting through the front loop instead since knitting through the back loop is my default. I presume that wasn't the correct decision though, because the pattern for the hat didn't look like it should've, so I just frogged the entire thing and I plan to attempt to learn how to knit western continental so I can start over and hopefully complete the pattern correctly. I'm terrified that the gloves will suffer from the same issue of not turning out properly, but I can't make out the pattern enough to tell if that's the case at this point.
That being said, is being a continental combined knitter worth it? Does anyone have any tips for converting patterns to make them conducive to combined knitting? Or do you think I should try to learn just regular continental knitting and call it a day? I would very much like to continue as a continental combined knitter, but I just don't know how to adapt patterns with instructions like "knit through the back loop".
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!
