I’ve been knitting English style for as long as I’ve been knitting, as it was how my mother taught me, and how her grandmother taught her. Its also what I’m most comfortable with.
Now, I’ve read that a lot of people want to learn how to knit both ways and that its very useful to know both ways. Does it really matter which style you knit? I thought that the outcome of the work was the same either way. Am I wrong in thinking that?
It’s a matter of personal preference. There are, however advantages to knowing both, for example, two-handed fair isle knitting.
https://www.philosopherswool.com/Pages/Twohandedvideo.htm
What salmonmac said. Knitting is like driving nails, most of the time you use a hammer, sometimes a shoe heel works just fine. :teehee:
I can’t help wondering why you ask if it matters. You’re knitting, the way you do it works for you. It can be helpful to use both hands as in Fair Isle but some people use just one hand to hold the yarns. So, what prompts you to ask if it matters which style you use? Is someone telling you you’re not knitting the right way? If they are, tell them there are no knitting police.
No, no one is criticizing the way I knit. I am just questioning myself because I’ve seen others on here say that they are learning to knit both ways.
I guess I need to not question myself so much and just knit how I am most comfortable doing it.
However it feels best!
Some people try different methods just for fun and some learn a couple of the many different ways to knit so they even out the strain on their hands during big projects (slightly different motion=less aggravation for carpal tunnel.) It can be neat to know Portuguese knitting or Irish cottage or whatever one-handed method in case of a hand/arm injury.
Ah, that’s OK then. Yeah, if you want to learn other styles go for it. I’ve learned I can knit Continental quite easily, I can do knits and sort of do purls English style, Portuguese style was hard because my right hand doesn’t like holding the yarn - but it will do it without complaint if both hands are holding yarn as for Fair Isle, Eastern European style is fine for those who like it but it doesn’t do it for me, Norwegian purling is wonderful when I’m doing round of purls in sock yarn on skewers…but what is Irish cottage knitting? Excuse me, I gotta run and Google that!
Irish cottage knitting = lever knitting = armpit knitting = production knitting = many other terms.
Basically, it’s a style where the right needle is anchored in some way, whether in a knitting sheath, belt, or the knitter’s armpit (sorry…) and the right hand is concerned solely with the yarn. The left hand is concerned solely with the left needle. I’ve taken a class with Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, one of the few proponents of this style, and she flies like the wind!
She gave us the terms which I’ve listed. According to her reading and research, this style of knitting (right needle anchored) was the predominant style during the centuries when so many people earned wages from hand-knitting, particularly socks.
DogCatMom, what you described (Armpit knitting) is what I saw in a video some time ago when I first started knitting. This is the video I am talking about: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sftAdfgZ0m8
The lady on the left is using her armpit to hold the needle while she uses her hand solely to hold the yarn and knit it into the work. Just something to look at for reference sake, I guess. 
No, it absolutely doesn’t matter. Both can be fast or slow depending on the knitter. I learned both for fair isle, but it can be done with both yarns in one hand.
It IS a super fast way to knit stockinette! Were the socks knit flat and seamed?
The socks Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (aka the Yarn Harlot) was working on were on DPNs, thus circular. She used a modified “fixed-needle” approach for them, using her right thumb as the support for the fixed needle. We also saw her working on a scarf with straights, and her pace was absolutely blistering.
I would believe she was going 150 stitches/minute without any hesitation. It was impossible for any of us (maxed-out class of 18 students who already knew how to knit) to break down/isolate her hand movements at the speed she was going, and she knit a 6-inch (15 cm) row in less than a minute. DK weight yarn. Maybe size 5 or 6 (3.75 or 4.0mm, respectively) needles. It was hard to tell for sure! 
I knit English but the summer before last I had to reconstruct 36 inches of cable of an afghan I was knitting for a charity auction and was very happy that I could also knit Continental using only a small cable needle. Once completed no one could tell what I’d done.
OMG!!! Must see her at work! Thanks for sharing, DCM! 
Knitting is like eating chocolate. I prefer to savor it rather than gulping it down.
With a “projects vs. deadlines” list like mine + a speed (?) of approx. 20 sts per minute, I need all the speed help I can get. If it means starting over with straights, I’m getting to the point where I’ll do it. Ask me next month about this time…
You should add that to your sig. I that philosophy.
I saw Ms. Pearl-McPhee on YouTube: amazing stuff! When I first started hand knitting, I used a variant of cottage, holding the right hand needle clenched firmly twixt my thighs. I learned English so I could knit in the round and, silly bint that I am, to look like everyone else.
To me the truly amazing thing is that it’s ALL knitting regardless of speed and method of choice. 