I've always knitted the English way; yarn in my right hand, wrapped around little finger and over forefinger. It's the way my mum taught me to knit when I was around 10 or so.

I know the Continental method is meant to be a lot quicker, but my style is so ingrained now that I think it would be very difficult to adapt.

Which method to you use? If you do both, which are you most comfortable with, and which one did you learn first?

The other name for continental is "weird" or "wrong". When I was younger I'd never ever let anyone see me knitting because of the number of well meaning strangers who would take my knitting out of my hands to show me how to do it properly. I'd see them double take, watch a bit and then the next question would always be "are you left handed?" After that would come the attempted conversion to the one true way of knitting. It wasn't until I discovered knitting on the internet that I found that there was a name for the way I knitted which made it more defensible.
I am attempting to get my right hand to do something constructive so as to be able to do two colour knitting with one strand in each hand and it's getting better, slowly.

The other name for continental is "weird" or "wrong". When I was younger I'd never ever let anyone see me knitting because of the number of well meaning strangers who would take my knitting out of my hands to show me how to do it properly. I'd see them double take, watch a bit and then the next question would always be "are you left handed?" After that would come the attempted conversion to the one true way of knitting. It wasn't until I discovered knitting on the internet that I found that there was a name for the way I knitted which made it more defensible.
I am attempting to get my right hand to do something constructive so as to be able to do two colour knitting with one strand in each hand and it's getting better, slowly.


Who taught you to knit? Was your technique learned by example or did you naturally knit like that? I would love to learn to knit in the continental way but like Hecate, I'm ingrained with my right hand doing the work:)

I tried continental and couldnt get my tension right at all - although saying that if I start wrapping yarn around fingers (like it says in the books) my tension goes all wrong too:hihi:

I tried continental but I'm right handed and I couldn't control the wool properly with my left hand! Though it may be more continental style when I'm knitting backwards...

I think I learnt to knit at school when I was about seven because my mum is left handed and couldn't teach me. Although she's a leftie she gets away with looking normal because she holds the yarn in her right hand.
It is possible to learn to make the other hand work, I'm doing it at the moment, but I certainly didn't find it easy. My left hand has been knitting for thirty five years and knows what it's doing but the other one is clueless. It took me thirty rows of a mitten to get my right hand doing anything like it should. The trick I used was to hold both yarns in my good hand and let that sort out the tension and then just use the right hand for throwing the yarn around the needle. My right hand had either no tension or too much.
I'm going to be doing a series of two colour projects until I get that duff hand up to speed. I'm currently on my second Anemoi mitten and then I fancy this pirate hat (for me, possibly with matching mittens)

http://www.helloyarn.com/wecallthempirates.htm

Should I make the next evening at Jill's you can see me knit weird, if you really want a good laugh I'll bring something that has both hands waving yarn about.

Hi, I am continental but from I only knit English. I learnt it that way and that was in the sixties (The Netherlands). It could be that both ways were used then.
Until recently I've never known there was a continental and an English way to knit and somewhere I read 'continental' is especially seen in countries such as Poland, Hungaria, Rumania etc. Don't know if that's true though.

I do English but I don't wrap the yarn around my fingers as it just doesn't work!

English all the way for me. I tried continental once but I just got myself confused and decided to stick with the tried and tested method.

I use continental when knitting left-handedly, and english for the right. I don't actually turn my work, so leave the yarn in my right hand while knitting back along the row.

Don't know if this makes sense, but it works for me, and I never have to remember to do a purl row. Oh, and I fairisle with one ball in each hand, don't know what that counts as.

Oh, and I fairisle with one ball in each hand, don't know what that counts as.

Juggling? :hihi:

English all the way for me, complete with the yarn wrapped round my fingers. My dad taught me that way when I was 5. The only thing I don't do is stick the needles under my arms.

I have had a bash at the continental business (mostly because I read it was faster) but I also couldn't control the tension.

I'd love to knit continental because it's so fast. But when I tried it ,it was too hard I couldn't break the English habit!

Oh, and I fairisle with one ball in each hand, don't know what that counts as.

Further down the line than me, I ATTEMPT to fairisle with a ball in each hand but I'm still at the inept stage.

Further down the line than me, I ATTEMPT to fairisle with a ball in each hand but I'm still at the inept stage.

I'm still at the stage of running away screaming whenever I see the word fairisle in a pattern :)

Juggling? :hihi:

That's a remarkably polite answer, Jill! :o I'm rather disappointed.