Continental Knitting

Quick Links

• Archived - Ask a Knitting Question
• Basic Knitting Stitches
• Beginner Knitting Patterns
• Knitting Abbreviations
• Needle Sizes Chart 
• Tension Squares
  
• Yarn Comparison Chart

FYI: This site receives a small amount in commissions from affiliate links and third-party advertising. 

>

This page is about Continental Knitting.  There are two main methods of knitting, the one used on this site is generally called the English method. 

The central difference between the two methods is which hand holds or controls the yarn. In English knitting, the yarn is held or controlled with the right hand and the yarn is flicked or 'thrown' over the left-hand needle to form the new stitch.

Continental knitters hold the yarn in their left hand, and simply scoop or pick up the yarn with the right needle. Although until now (on the day of writing this page), I had never used this method myself, it seemed to be a much faster method of knitting.  

Now that I have had time to experiment a bit, I can confirm that it is actually much faster, although it would take a bit of time to get used to the different hand movements.  But given time and practice, it would become almost automatic. As I personally have very little experience with this method of knitting, I have found a couple of instructional videos for you to look through!

Continental Knitting: Knit Stitches

Continental Knitting: Purl Stitches

Both of these videos were created by www.knittinghelp.com, and yes, they are my competition.

Normally it would not make sense to suggest that you visit one of my competitors, but in this case my knowledge of this particular knitting method is limited and if you need more information, this is the site to visit!