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What method / style of knitting do you do?

Wed, 2005-08-24 13:46 — knitcrazed
Continental Method (working yarn in left hand)
39% (52 votes)
English Method (working yarn in right hand)
51% (67 votes)
I have no idea!
4% (5 votes)
Other
6% (8 votes)
Total votes: 132

Comments

Sun, 2006-07-16 15:12 — jimbo
jimbo's picture

Sorry it's a late entry but

Sorry it's a late entry but my mother showed me to knit the English way and just the thought of other ways of knitting strikes fear into me.  I've read about continental but I think my brain is programmed to knit that way and it would be extremely hard to break the "habit of a lifetime"..... sorry guys.... us Brits do it the only way that they know best... the English way.

Wed, 2005-12-28 16:00 — ulf
ulf's picture

I knit what you call

I knit what you call continental style and I've never seen anyone knit the english way.I really don't know what that is.

Wed, 2005-12-28 11:00 — randalcarter

Learned Continental from the

Learned Continental from the beginning. Mostly because I held the yarn as my grandmother held her yarn for crochet work. Later reading put a name to it -- Continental or German tension.

Elizabeth Zimmerman has an amusing comparison of English and Continental knitting methods in Knitting Without Tears. People seem to prefer one method or the other based on what they first learned. I have seen people that are wonderfully fast at English method, others that are fast at Continental. But, no matter how fast the knitting, it's all done one stitch at a time. And the final garment is the proof of one's craft. So whatever works for you, you should keep at. 

Wed, 2005-12-28 00:26 — trucker945
trucker945's picture

I just grab the needles and

I just grab the needles and yarn and go with whatever feels right for the stitch. If speed counts (and it doesn't to me), I have been known to do ribbing at 40 stitches per minute, stockinette and garter at 60. But I only knit for me, it's not a job... it's the zen thing.

Wed, 2005-11-23 23:35 — Crafty Andy
Crafty Andy's picture

I just knit, never really

I just knit, never really thought about it, just grabbed the needles and saw what felt comfortable to me.

 

 

My life is a Craft, not a blog. 

Tue, 2005-11-15 20:39 — needleworkman

I use both hands if I am

I use both hands if I am knitting color work.  I would love to learn to "pick knit" as my friend calls it, it seems very fast.

Wed, 2005-09-28 04:03 — Jerry02149

Depends on what type of

Depends on what type of project I'm working on. Usually knit with the English method, have knit Continental if knitting with 2 colours to be stranded. Just finished a Kaffe Fassett sweater and I've vowed never to do colour work again LOL! so probably won't be using Continental method much

Mon, 2005-09-19 21:37 — Tallguy
Tallguy's picture

I learned to knit English,

I learned to knit English, and that is still my standard style of working.  I can do that in my sleep!  But I can, and sometimes do, knit Continental.  I can do two-handed colour work, and have no problem at all.  I am determined to do an entire project Continental, but haven't started yet.  I can go faster, at the moment, English, and when faced with a challenging stitch, always revert to English style.  Some old habits are hard to break!

Thu, 2005-08-25 11:41 — vt_shua
vt_shua's picture

This may sound weird - but I

This may sound weird - but I knit English style while knitting, and Continental while purling. For whatever reason, this seems to keep the yarn right where I need it to be...

Mon, 2005-09-26 07:47 — Joel

That's funny, my wife does

That's funny, my wife does the same thing.  She says she uses the style that works best for the stitch she's doing.  I would like to learn continental for the speed.

Wed, 2005-08-24 15:38 — Lee Griffiths
Lee Griffiths's picture

Unless of course I'm

Unless of course I'm knitting fair isle, when you use both at once...

Wed, 2005-08-24 14:06 — leo

DELIGHTED TO READ REMARKS

DELIGHTED TO READ REMARKS FROM A KNITTER...FAR AND FEW BETWEEN...AM WORKING WITH CASHMERE BOUGHT ON EBAY...FIRST FOR THAT FIBER...OTHERWISE AM BANGING AWAY AT KNITTING A DUTCH FISHERMANS SWEATER...MUCH LIKE THE IRISH..BUT THE PATTERN IS AROUND THE BODY...FACINATING..HOPE TO READ MORE FROM YOU ALL...CIAO....LEO