Does anyone know of some good resources for left-handed knitters like myself? I LOVE the tutorials on knittinghelp, but I have to face my laptop to a mirror for it to make sense to me!:think:
I have a few books with left-handed instructions, but does anyone know of some online ones?:knitting:
Usually left handed people can knit the same way as right handed people, either with continental or English style, whatever feels best to you. If by left handed knitting you mean mirror image, then you will have to translate instructions if you use patterns. It may not be any harder to learn to knit the same way as right handed people, because learning to knit makes most people feel like they have two left, or right in your case, hands anyway.
I only know of one left hander who actually knits left handed. Most of them just learn to do it right handed. I did find this link so maybe it’ll help you if you need to actually knit left handed.
http://learn-to-knit.com/
Yeah, I can knit regular things like stockinette, knit, purl, and all of that, but when I am watching the videos on knittinghelp for things like knitting in the round, they have a tendency to say “right hand” and “left hand” a lot, which is understandable, but it’s just hard to concentrate on them when I am trying to use my left hand as the lead. This gets really difficult when the camera for the video is angled as if their head is the camera and so the angle looks straight down onto the knitting as the person would see it. I can understand when someone is mirroring me, but to watch any videos on it makes me confused!
Thanks for the link!
I would try and knit right-handed, but I really can’t do anything right-handed. I would get more use out of having two left hands! I do everything left-handed, and I can’t even play baseball because I can’t throw with my right hand, and I can’t catch with it either! agh!
Knitting uses both hands, just in different ways, so there’s no adavantage to right handed knitters. Are you holding the yarn in your left and throwing, or doing it continental style? If you knit continental you can easily learn knitting clockwise in the round or from right to left if knitting flat. If you throw lefthanded, that complicates it.
I think I am doing it continental style. I can do basic stitches, but I have ordered a variety of circular needles so that I can branch out and start doing socks and mittens. When I get an instruction book on any basic instruction though, it just seems that a lot of them instruct specifically for right-handed people, and don’t take the time to put in left-handed instructions, which then forces me to go back through the books I buy and scratch out every “right hand” and write in “left hand” just so I get a good sense of what I should be doing.
It’s also not as easy as just knitting right-handed, because that would be like me asking any right-handed knitter to start casting on to the right needle and then start the knitting with their left hand–not easy, and it’s just as hard for me to attempt to cast on to my left needle…even thninking about it gives me a headache! It’s not that I can adapt instructions for knitting, but some sort of a site that has left-handed instructions would be nice to see!
Also, if anyone else out there knits left-handed, I’ve found that the Vogue Guide to Knitting has both left-handed and right-handed instructions, which is a real bonus when branching out into patterns in knitting!
This may not work but have you tried muting the sound and just watch the videos? there are plenty of videos that are silent so maybe that would help?
Haha, you know, that might be a good idea for videos when they are mentioning the hands used! Excellent call on that!!!
I am very left handed and I crochet left handed, but when I taught myself to knit I learned right handed. I knit English and so I am working both hands equally at different tasks. I think in the long run it would be easier to try to knit right handed so you don’t have to change patterns to match.
I find patterns confusing to read until I actually have the needles in my hands and am working the stitches as called for in the pattern. If I had to reverse instructions I might get too frustrated to make all the changes in advance and I get too many brain farts to try and make the changes as I go along.
Yes!! In fact, I know one who’s writing a BOOK for lefties! http://leftoutknitter.com/
Her name is Diane and she’s a DOLL. She has a blog at knitmentia.blogspot.com
You can e-mail her questions and talk to her anytime. She’ll do her best to help. She’s amazing.
Oh really?! Amazing, thanks so much for the info, that’s awesome!!!:woohoo:
I’m ambidextrous and i’ve learned to knit both ways. There IS a difference between right handed and left-handed knitting. There’s a huge difference. And it’s so worth it to find the method that works best for you. Best of luck!
I realize that you might be VERY LEFT handed… but, oh honey… I so wish you could have learned to knit ‘right handed’… when you first start out it is clumbsy for everyone… and both hands are working together.
I have taught several left-handed people how to knit- I don’t even tell them that there is ANOTHER WAY… You have to use both hands anyway–
And, they have all learned how w/out any problems. Both hands have to work together as partners anyway… and it’s as someone mentioned- it’s awkward at best when you first start out.
I mostly taught them how ‘right-handed’ simply for the frustrations that you are experiencing… I just can’t even imagine flipping everything around in your brain and by hand movements/etc. It would be so limiting and frustrating at times.
Good luck to you… though…
Do you just not want to try to learn ‘right handed?’ To make it easier in the future?
By the way a couple of years ago- I had a broken right wrist that was in a cast for over 3 months… and when it was finally well- I found out that I also had torn tendons in my right hand- so, I couldn’t use my right hand at all (not even to type w/) for about 8 months…
AND… about 7 years ago-- I severed 3 nerves and 2 tendons in my right hand and HAD NO USE of my RIGHT hand for over a year… it was a year ‘before’ I could send the signal from my brain to my hand to press a key on the computer-- now, I couldn’t type…I could just send the signal and a ‘finger responded’… and it was OVER a year and a half before I could ‘sort of use’ my right hand… and over 2 years before I could do something like ‘knit’ … etc.
SO, I speak from experience of someone who was one hand ‘strongly dominated’ who was forced DUE TO SERIOUS injuries to have to rely ‘immediately’ on my non-dominate hand for two different long term injuries. And, I know that it is difficult to learn to use another hand- but, trust me… what happened to me was quite difficult- because I could ONLY USE ONE HAND… the other hand or fingers were unable to work or help out in anyway.
And, for the ‘severed nerve’ injury… there was no guarantee that I would even get use of my right hand again… but, I did everything that I could to get the hand strong again… and of course the ‘nerve regeneration’ was totally out of my control anyway.
SO, you see… my long message is to show you… IT CAN BE DONE… if you wish it strong enough. Good luck to you!!
Like Plantgoddess, I too am very left-handed. I came to knitting from crochet, which I do left-handed, and found knitting English style the most comfortable way to knit. My husband once asked which I liked better, and I said that knitting was nice because there’s no “handedness” involved, and so it’s much easier to follow the patterns. Give English a try, and hang in there!Crossed Fingers
I think I will try to do some swatches in the English style. For the most part I am pretty used to having to watch any instructional videos in the mirror, and it actually makes sense to me!
I watched a video last night from someone who was showing how to do the purl stitch the left-handed way and I was seriously shocked to find out that I haven’t been purling correctly! I don’t even know what I would call what I am doing, it’s like I am knitting backwards or something, which is really odd because I am currently knitting a ribbed scarf, and it’s coming out ribbed, but maybe it’s just a knit-reverse-knit scarf! So odd!
I think the trouble I might have with knitting in English style is that my left-hand wants to do all of the detailed work when I am doing something. My left hand wants to be the needle that is working, and I find that I end up kind of just resting the right needle on my hip or holding it kind of in my armpit!
It is sad that I was taught left-handed because my fashion studies teacher in high school was right handed and could have just taught me right handed knitting. Le sigh…:doh:
Well actually a purl stitch [B]is[/B] a reverse knit stitch. Some older patterns say Row 1 knit; Row 2 reverse knit.
Just another opinion here…I am left handed and taught myself to knit continental style. Since you are saying your left hand wants to do all the work…I would give the continental method a try. The left hand stays very busy holding the yarn and pushing the yarn to the needle while doing the knit stitch. I watched the video on this site on how to purl continental and have caught on to purling the way Amy shows in her video. The left hand is the strong hand while purling continental also.
Good luck on whichever method you choose…just don’t give up 
. Your persistence and hard work will pay off for you! Sometimes when we lefties have to work hard to figure out things in a right handed world we end up understanding the concepts much better than if it had come easily in the first place!
Hang in there!!
Rhonda
I am right handed but knit continental style. I also purled wrong what I was doing was a twisted purl. It’s a little easier than the real purl. You can untwist them but I just learned how to do it right. I personally think conti style is easier. Throwing always looked like more work and I don’t understand it. It just doesn’t click at all. Goodluck!!
Jen
I just want to say, if you haven’t even tried it, do give it a try. I’m definitely right-handed, and often get frustrated at the amount of dexterity knitting requires of my left hand–it is definitely a two handed process!
I did ask a lefty how to go about teaching my lefty dd, and was emphatically told to teach her the same way I do it…patterns are just too complicated.
That said, go with what works for you, of course.