There’s a couple that hold the ‘fastest knitter’ title. One uses standard continental, the other english style.
How fast do you knit?
I am talking about this one http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2E-IDIAGGo
And it should be mentioned that the knitter in this video is Miriam Tegels. Normally I don’t refer to people by pronouns only 
She’s a continental knitter.
The video says it’s continental and you can see the yarn in her left hand.
I don’t think of myself as a fast knitter, but I do okay. I’m fine with that, I don’t need to set any speed records. :lol:
That lady knits standard continental. There’s a woman in Canada who’s the fastest in N America and she knits english style. I think there’s a video of her linked to the other one.
Just for the record, I knit slooowwwwww. At least it seems like it most of the time. I’ve only been knitting a year so I’m hoping I haven’t reached my peak speed. lol
I typically knit English, but still trying to conquer Continental. I purl faster using English. I think it’s because I can hold and throw faster with the yarn in front. I can barely purl using Continental, I just can’t get the idea of “dropping” my finger to let it wrap kinda thingy that it does. It just flubs me up sometimes.
You don’t have to learn continental, it really isn’t faster than english style. What is ‘faster’ for you is using productive motions and getting more comfortable with it through practice. As you’ve found, simply switching methods doesn’t make it automatically faster, you need to find a way of knitting that involves small hand motions that are easy for you. Quite a few people do knit continental and purl english though.
To me, the main thing is, you just have to do what works for you. What feels the most “natural” to you? Answer that question, and use that. You’ll get faster with time, but it’s not the speed that matters. It just matters that you’re enjoying what you’re doing and that you come out with a product that you are satisfied with. Good luck!!
I must’ve hit quote instead of just reply on my last post…oops.
I know speed doesn’t really matter…but the faster I can knit without error, the more yarn I can buy to make new stuff! Just saying it gets me excited. I love buying yarn! If I didn’t have a lot of self control, I’d turn into a yarn hoarder. I also just want to learn Continental to be able to use either method when one way gets tiring. I would also later on in life like to be able to learn and use many methods. Just to brag and say I can!
It’s not a hoard, we call them stashes and it’s perfectly acceptable, we all have them. You can even take them out and pet them if you want so they don’t get lonely. Most of us also have more than one project going at a time.
crazy yarn people! I do tend to go in the spare room and just look at it.
LOL! As my friend would put it – you and your yarn!
Hey!! I represent that remark! I guess that makes us “Lambs of a wool” instead of “birds of a feather”?
OK, if anyone is still interested, [I]that’s[/I] how I knit
and purl
In this video it’s called traditional Russian method. The instructions are in English but a bit slow so you might want to start somewhere in the middle of both videos to get to ‘the action’ part
All other videos I’ve seen so far are slightly different in the way the yarn is held or wrapped around the right needle. Those guys even published a book on the method but their website doesn’t seem to be very lively and the book is sold out
And we are not alone, there is a group of 1000 (random!) knitters on Ravelry in Russian Technique Group
Unfortunately, we’re not sisters. 
Eastern European knitting is different than Russian or Combined. Looks like I’m still the oddball around here. sigh
You’re not as alone as you think… Do you remember when I asked this:
Well, based on watching this video I was actually knitting Eastern European and just didn’t know it. At the time I asked the above question I was using the knit cast on and doing what she showed in the video I linked…
And for the record I knit Eastern European faster than I knit Continental, and knit faster than I purl, and crochet faster than I knit because of more practice…
(I had to google Eastern European cause the curiosity was killing me to not know what it was, guess it was a good thing I did.)
Most knitters also have a disease called SABLE. That means Stash Enhancement Beyond Life Expectancy. Although many people have tried it’s very hard to cure completely. Why, I just bought more yarn that I didn’t need last night! :doh:
Shh! Don’t say that out loud, our husbands might hear. Then where would we be when they say we don’t need that new wonderfully lucious yarn that we just can’t resist?
See, I’m a single independent woman. I can buy all the yarn I want with no one to answer to for it. lol