It’s a combination of knitting a computer use. I can’t limit my computer use much, because I’m on the computer 90% of my work day. I’ve been to the doctor–I was getting Carpal Tunnel Symptoms–and I have braces and a prescription for anti-inflammatories. If I severely limit my knitting, and focus on keeping it in my lap instead of holding it up, I get minimal pain from English style, but it still does trigger it more than using the computer. I just have to focus very hard on keeping my elbows relaxed.
I doubt knitting continental will help, but I’d like to learn it anyway as it’s probably a good skill-set to have, especially for when I start doing color-work.
[SIZE=3][COLOR=DarkOrchid]Gosh this is a whole lot of reading here! Funny. I finally learned to knit continental and do it pretty comfortably too. And yes, I got sick of hearing it’s faster too and just recently I decided to stop making myself knit continental when I don’t want to! Like I need to go faster geez. Knitting English style is just so relaxing.
Sometimes when I really want to finish a project fast I will switch over to some conti for a while and also I’ve found some particular yarns and size needles it’s very easy. But I love English style and that’s that. Oh yeah, it really helps to know both when doing fair isle which I’m doing right now for the first time.
Well, I have tried continental, for stranded knitting, and it is not as hard as it looks, so I think you should be able to do it (if it was impossible, why do all the other continental knitters do it). I’ve got some joint problems and continental didn’t do anything good for that (but my left hand is my bad hand, so there might be the problem).
you are right about knowing how to knit continental being a good skill. it’s easy when you want to do something stranded, and that’s really much fun.
what seemed a bit funny to me was my tension. It’s much more even with the english style. With continental, I can’t seem to get it right.
I knit English most of the time, but I am very glad I learned continental too because it really makes knitting color work so much easier. When I’m knitting fair isle, I will knit one color with my right hand, and the other color with my left hand. I think of continental as just another skill that I can use to knit more efficiently. Like learning to knit cables without a cable needle or learning to knit on a magic loop.
I am an English knitter, but I can knit continental when I want to. I’ve never knit a whole project continental from start to finish, but I have swapped back and forth in the middle of a project.
I think whichever way you prefer to knit is great for you. But I do recommend that you learn to knit both ways if you ever plan on knitting fair isle. It makes it so much easier, faster and more fun!
The main advantage in knitting continental vs. english for me is the tension. I am a very tight knitter with English and doing things such as knitting through the back loop and cabling are a real chore. I am much looser with continental although my tension is consistent. I would say speed wise I am probably about the same although that was originally the reason I switched.
i don’t knit in either style - i am a lefty, so theoretically continental should be easier for me, but i can’t get my tension right when i wind the yarn through the fingers of my left hand. i have adapted my own way of holding the yarn between my thumb and index finger on my left hand - it’s difficult for me to explain exactly how, but it works for me. i can knit as fast as i feel like i want to knit, i can get gauge, and i think my projects come out just as nicely as those knit in the english or continental style. so, chalk me up as another subscriber of doing what feels right to you.
Since I have only been knitting a few months , I am content with knitting English, I might try Contintental in the future, but this works great for now.
I knit English, too. I learned continental so I’d know how to do it, but I find that I have to concentrate too much. I do have a question though: how do you guys know how many stitches per minute you knit?
I’m an English knitter, I would like to learn conti for things like intarsia and fair isle or just to be able to trade up sometimes but I really do enjoy knitting English style.
another english knitter here.
I learned the very beginnings of how to knit continental when I first started, but now that I can’t figure out how to do double knitting english and would have to learn continental to make this blanket I’ve been obsessing over, I am on the verge of swearing off it forever.
I hate continental with a hate that is deep in my heart.
and I don’t really understand what’s so great about knitting looser either. by the time I started knitting my first real socks I was knitting loose enough I would have had to go down -3s to get the gauge the pattern said, and it was driving me batty. & with continental now, I can’t even get proper stitches, it’s just a mess. (& I know I’m inept and perhaps it would just take practice, but honestly - no thank you! maybe later.)
:oops: I didn’t think I was bragging. I really don’t care about how fast I knit, I’m a process knitter. My ‘regular’ knitting speed is not fast by any means. Sorry.
And, there are many knitters out there and around here that are waaay faster than myself, so I really have no right to brag.
Most people knit too tight, it sounds like you don’t have that problem at all. I used to have a really, really hard time getting the tip of the needle into a stitch. I’ve relaxed, and now I knit more loosely.
I tried to teach myself how to knit Continental because I heard that it’s faster, but I just can’t get the hang of holding the yarn in my left hand. No matter how I wrap it, it comes off, so I worry my tension will be off or uneven, which would be horrible for me–part of what I love about knitting is that it always looks so even and consistent. I’m not sure that switching to Continental would make [I][U]my[/U][/I] knitting faster as I’m not really a fast knitter anyway (somewhere in between fast and slow). Although not being able to do Continental knitting bugged me a bit for a while there, I’m okay with it now. I’ve knit lots of different things and I’m learning all the techniques I know as an English knitter–would I be able to figure out how to do those techniques as a combined knitter or knitting Continental? I don’t know.
For me, I knit to relax. But I think I am the oddball in this group, I knit combined - I always have. That is the way my grandma taught me. Many people have told me I knit “wrong” but I don’t care… that is how I knit and that is what makes me happy. I do have to adjust patterns sometimes but that is OK too… after almost 40 years (I learned to knit before I was born!) I don’t think I am going to change!!!
chocolate…vanilla…and sometimes strawberry - I like 'em all :roflhard:
I originally learned to knit english but have some wrist/hand problems and thought I would try conti to see if that helped at all - and for some reason conti feels more “natural” to me…so I will probably do more in that method. Right now, I am switching back and forth (by project, but always have at least 2 otn, so one will be english and one will be conti) - I like the variety!
To me, the only wrong way to knit is to not pick up the needles! :happydancing:
