Continental and English

[aedifica]

I've always been a "drop the working yarn after every stitch" knitter rather than knitting English or Continental. (I taught myself from a book when I was young, and I couldn't make sense of the instructions for how to wrap the yarn around your fingers so I just skipped that part. Though I discovered a few years ago I had also taught myself knitting through the back loop instead of regular knitting, and that was why my decreases always slanted wrong!)

I knit very nicely if I do say so myself, but rather slowly, and I think my speed would improve if I switched to one of the more common styles. So I finished up my last WIP that needed a consistent gauge, and I'm teaching myself Continental right now.

Any comments, suggestions, advice, cries of horror, etc? How do you knit, and what do you like about that style? If you knit Continental yourself (which my instructions say is also called left-handed knitting, "picking," or German knitting) how do you keep tension on the yarn? I'm experimenting with different ways now.

Comments

[ginny_t]

I agree that purling is much easier in Continental. Miles of ribbing (actually, the Pomatamus sock) is the reason I learned.

I actually do what's called combined knitting, where I wrap the purls in the wrong direction. I find that's easier (less round & round & round). The trick is to go through the back loop on the next row so that the stitch doesn't get twisted. This also results in tidier ribbing. The other way, the purls were loose and sloppy. :(

[aedifica]

Doesn't your yarn untwist when you wrap the purls the wrong direction?

[ginny_t]

A little bit, yes, but not enough that it's become a problem. So far.

[clare_dragonfly]

It depends on the yarn. (I am also a Combined knitter, which I believe is the same style as sometimes called Eastern Uncrossed, as the first commenter mentioned.) I find that some yarns are not plied as tightly and clearly untwist on the purl rows, some untwist a little but not enough to make a difference in the appearance of the finished fabric, and some don't seem to untwist at all. Obviously I'm more likely to buy the latter two again!

Also, I don't mean to jump on either of you, but it's not "wrapping the purls in the wrong direction." It may be the opposite of the way the purls are wrapped in Western (Continental/English) knitting, but it is the correct direction for Combined knitting. The knit stitches are "through the back loop" (or to use the terminology I prefer, through the far side of the stitch [and that's only when knitting straight stockinette or garter in the round]) and the purl stitches wrap counterclockwise. I find this purl much, much easier and better for even tension than the Western Continental purl!

And as to the question about holding the yarn, I hold my yarn in my left hand, over my pinky, under my middle fingers, and over my pointer finger. If I want to tighten my tension I tilt my hand away.

[aedifica]

For me it's the wrong direction because when I do it that way, my yarn untwists. But I've learned from this thread that that's not true for everyone!