Knitting: English Method or Continental Method?
I've been knitting since I was just a teenager. I was so fascinated by the art of knitting that I taught myself, from books, trying, undoing, and trying again... At the time, in Italy, circular needles were not very well known, so I started with straight needles and the English method: yarn on the right, loop around the crossed tips and off to the next stitch.
When my friend Venere, a few years ago, told me about circular needles my life changed! Knitting a sweater in one piece, without having to sew it (seams were my "nemesis" for a long time), being able to see it grow in my hands, try it on, "fix it" as I went along and have it there, ready as soon as all the stitches were bound off... well! It seemed like a dream... And so I dove in... I bought my first set of interchangeable circular needles, armed myself with patience and gave it a try.
At first it wasn't easy, I admit it. I struggled quite a bit. I worked slowly, awkwardly, the stitches were uneven...
Until Venere asked me: "...but do you hold the yarn on the right or the left?"
What a question! On the right! How can you knit with the yarn in your left hand?!
"You can, you can: it's called the continental method. For me it's the most comfortable when I work with circular needles."
So I tried it too, practiced a bit and now the stitches flow quickly and neatly, without thinking about it.
The video tutorial by Katia that you find below shows you both the English technique and the continental technique. You can use both with great results whether you work with straight needles or circulars. The idea that the English method is incompatible with knitting in the round is a myth: there are many extraordinarily skilled knitters who hold the yarn in their right hand. But we are all different and only by learning all the techniques will you be able to understand which one is most suitable for you!
What are you waiting for? Don't be intimidated by new things, give it a try! You might discover new worlds of possibilities, just like I did!
