Hello!

I'm new to the board, and would like to start by saying hi. ^_^ I've read a few of the threads, and see that the people here are quite helpful and kind. ^_^

My mother taught me to knit when I was 8, and have been knitting on and off since then. Many sweaters, socks, mittens, hats, and scarves have come off my needles over the years. It was great fun. ^_^

My question is: What is my style of knitting? I have looked all over the internet and in many books, and I cannot find it anywhere. It looks like it would be the English style, but I do not loop the yarn/thread over the fingers on my right hand; instead, I hold it along with my right-hand needle, drop the needle, wrap the yarn around the needle, then return my hand and the yarn to the right-hand needle.

I hope that was clear enough. My knitting isn't slow this way, and is in fact quite fast. I tried following the videos on the site to try to learn Continental-style knitting to "correct" my knitting as I don't see it as being an official type of knitting anywhere, but I cannot seem to do it fast enough, and my stitches don't look right. The yarn ends up "flattening" into strands instead of being one nice loop of yarn.

Please tell me it's ok to knit my way -or if there's an easy way to change this- as I seem to be set in my ways, and it would take quite a while to change it.

Thank-you for your help in advance, and so far I am enjoying my stay here. ^_^

Nuu ^_^

Never fear, you are indeed knitting English style. You just hold your yarn differently. And that is not what signifies English or Continental.

As far as how you hold your yarn, that is strictly a personal preference. I'd venture to guess that out of 10 knitters, only 2 of them will hold their yarn exactly the same way.

The "English" method only means that you hold your yarn with your right hand (however you want) and wrap the needle with it to make a new stitch.
For "Continental", you're holding the yarn with your left hand and sort of pick the yarn to make a new stitch.

Welcome to KnittingHelp.com!!

Welcome to the gang, Nuu. The best advice I got when I started knitting was don't worry about defining which way you knit - just do it! hee hee hee. If your method works, and works efficiently, why fix what isn't broken?
BTW, this is a super place to chat and share. Everyone is soooooo friendly and helpful - not to mention their are some real comics in the cast! They'll keep you laughing.

Nuu~ I knit the exact same way. I've tried to change how I hold the yarn in my right hand and also tried it in my left, but any other way doesn't work for me. We should just keep going with what works best for us. I was taught to knit this way many years ago and it's what works for me.

I'm also a newbie to this forum and already love it here!! :inlove:

Have a great holiday~~Lisa

What jsauer said. Don't let anybody intimidate you either. You knit waht works for you :thumbsup:

Welcome :cheering: :XX:

Yeah, if what you are knitting works, then don't change anything! It's hard to teach us old dogs (OK, *I* am an old dog :roflhard: ) new tricks. I knit the same way you do 90% of the time. When I am doing stockinette in the round I will change back and forth between English and Continental as I get bored, but I am much faster English since it is what I am used to doing. My knitting is also much looser when I do continental.

This sounds very similar to the way my sister-in-law knits. She learned when she was living in China. She holds her right needle sort of like a pencil, inserts it into the stich, then drops it down into the crook of her thumb and wraps the yarn, then picks it up again. She's super fast at it and her purling is just as quick. I think if I hadn't learned continental, I would try her way of knitting English.

At any rate, knit away and enjoy it. It's all good. :thumbsup:

Laura