Continental Knitting link. I had never heard of it until a friend just sent it. Anybody familiar

[patricia92243]

it.?

http://www.craftzine.com/blog/archive/2007/02/craftsanity_continental_knitti.html

[China_cat]

1. I have tried to use continental method

it slows me down to the point I don't even want to knit.

[KitSileya]

12. Being Norwegian, I knit Norwegian style.

That's what my Mom taught me, and what I learned in Crafts classes in elementary school. I would say that it is very fast. I saw a documentary once on the first knitting machine. The host of the program wanted to compare hand and machine knitting and got an English knitting club to knit for exactly one minute, and then count the number of stitches they'd done. The fastest member (an older lady) had knitted 43 stitches - I regularly do 48-50 stitches a minute when doing knit stitches. We might be a bit slower with purl stitches, but it's easier to switch between the two stitch types within a row, because we don't change the way we hold the thread. The thread is kept to the left and behind the needles, and when knitting purl stitches, we place the thread in front of the needle with the needle itself before we do the purl stitch. This does cause us to move our arm more when knitting purl.

The only time I throw the yarn over is when I knit with two or more color yarns in one row. Then I have the basic color in my left hand, and throw the other(s) over when I need a stitch in another color.

I taught a friend to knit Norwegian style this summer. She had learned English from her mom, but couldn't get even stitches because she was left-handed. With Norwegian (which is basically the same as continental in knit stitches) she doesn't have the same trouble.

[MaineDem]

2. I've seen people use it and it's fast

However, I can't get the hang of it. I've tried but it's just too awkward for me.

[Longhorn]

3. She mentions that this method makes more sense to crocheters.

Maybe that's why I like it! :)

Thanks! I've bookmarked this video so I can watch it again when I'm knitting. :hi:

[WolverineDG]

4. I learned to crochet ages ago

but just learned to knit this year. This method makes more sense to me, so she's right. :)

:hi:
dg

[patricia92243]

5. I learned to knit first - then crochet. The crocheting would have been MUCH easier if I had know

the contin. method. I love it.

[China_cat]

6. I crochet...a lot

and it still doesn't work for me.

[eleny]

7. I crochet and will try this

Watching the video I found myself nodding. It looked so familiar and then she mentioned the crochet similarity. We'll see if my fumble fingers will be able to knit it. It's sure tempting.

Thanks for the link!

[knitter4democracy]

8. I know how, but my hands don't like it.

I crochet like a thrower knitter, too. I can't change my hands at this point, I guess.

[Katherine Brengle]

9. I'm not a big fan...

but I learned English style. I'm learning continental so I can use both for Fair Isle, but I find it uncomfortable and it doesn't have the same rhythm as English knitting.

[Morgana LaFey]

10. That's excellent -- here are some more

my stash of links on Continental:

Norwegian Purl
http://www.knittersreview.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=22921

RealPlayer videos here :
http://www.helloknitty.com/videoinstr.htm#

Purling continental (best photos yet)
http://www.spellingtuesday.com/continentalpurl.html
introduced by Theresa here: http://www.knittersreview.com/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=13008



Discussions at my knitting forum hangout:

Shoud I learn Continental or English?
http://www.knittersreview.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=29133

Continental Knitting tips in this thread
http://www.knittersreview.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=28929

Tension & hand stress problems with Continental
http://www.knittersreview.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=29116

continental knitting
http://www.knittersreview.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=28405&SearchTerms=,Continental

[tmlanders]

11. I am making myself learn Continental

'cuz my shoulder is acting up and I thought Contin. would be easier on it. For the first few days it was confusing. I really could not get how to purl, and I had lots of problems with holding the yarn correctly in my left hand. So I headed on down to the LYS and they were very helpful! When I saw how quickly one of the women looped the yarn around her pinky, and THEN around the forefinger that part finally made sense. She taught me how to purl, although all of my stitches were going on backwards and I had to flip them around on the next row. She helped me figure out what I was doing wrong.

I still need to look at every stitch to make sure that it is correct off the needles, but I am getting there. It is frustrating that it seems to be slower than English, but I can see how I will be much faster some day! I am starting with a very easy project, and I do think that I should be all set by the time I am done with it.