I learned to knit English. Then I switched to continental, but was unhappy with my continued tight knitting. I always had difficulty pushing my yarn along the needles whether I knit English or Continental. I ordered Leslye Solomon’s The Absolute Best Way to Learn to Knit DVD, which emphasizes minimal finger movement in Continental knitting. It works. My stitches are not as tight. I am knitting faster and more evenly. HOWEVER, you help your stitches off the needle with your Index Fingertip. [B]My index finger hurts[/B]!
What can I do to protect my fingertip that will not affect my growing knitting speed?
I use a finger cot from the office supply store.
I put a drop of nail glue over the tip of my finger when it gets too sensitive. It dries hard, like a little cast on your finger. Be sure to let it dry though, or the yarn will be glued to your finger!
It is possible a leather quilting thimble would work.
I’m not sure if this is where you need the help or not but you can move the stitches along the left needle by putting the tip of the left needle against the side of the right hand needle then slide them toward the tip of the left needle. I notice that to do that I put my thumb and index finger of the right hand on either side of where I’m placing the needle.