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Continental Knitting Tips – Do You Have the “U?”

Blog » Continental Knitting » Continental Knitting Tips – Do You Have the “U?”

Continental Knitting Tips – Do You Have the “U?”

Liat Gat - Founder

April 15, 2011

When I last taught a friend to knit, I decided to teach him Continental-style from the very beginning to avoid his having to potentially switch later. He struggled with left hand-position, and the tips I show in this video were what helped him improve the most.

When I was recently teaching a friend to knit, I decided to teach him Continental-style from the beginning.

Getting his left hand to behave was the trickiest part, and also the part that helped him improve the most when he got the hang of it.

AJ learns to knit Continental in one night!

Here are the tricks he said were the most helpful:

Continental Knitting- Tips for How to Knit Continental
Continental Knitting- Tips for How to Knit Continental

Related Tutorial:

If you liked this tutorial on how to improve your Continental knitting, post in the comments.

Want a private Continental-knitting lesson with me? Check out my video class:
The Complete Guide To Continental Knitting

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33 thoughts on “Continental Knitting Tips – Do You Have the “U?””

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  1. I have been a Continental knitter all my life, I never thought abut the U, it just comes naturally. This is very helpful when I teach others, my grand daughters want to learn. I’ll keep that in mind.

  2. Those are 2 tips I have never heard before. I have always knitted continental but struggle with a loose tension I believe your tips will help with with my tension. Thank you.
    I love the way you explain things!

  3. I do love your teaching videos. I tried to teach an adult to knit Continental and as you say his hand kept wanting to collapse. Looking at it as a U- shaped frame in the dance of yarn and needle is super!

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  9. Thank you so much for your videos. I taught myself to knit Continental style a couple of years ago but don’t use it much because I’ve always had a hard time keeping my tension correct. It is obvious to me that I’m doing it wrong. After watching your video and practicing for not that long, I still find my index finger getting farther away from the needle where yours stays so nice and close. I will keep practicing. I also find I have to look at how to do k2tog, and other stitches, in American style to figure out how to do it correctly in Continental style. Keep the videos coming.

  10. I learned how to knit American style, but after watching your videos, I’ve been wanting to learn how to knit continental. It’s so difficult! Do you recommend knitting continental rather than American/English? It seems like it’s a lot faster.

    1. Hey Jane,

      Great question! I really do like Continental knitting much better than American style. I think it’s so much faster. It was hard for me to make the switch, too, though. I recommend you try my short video course on Continental knitting – it’s a guaranteed course, so there’s no risk in seeing if it will work for you. I know it will make learning to switch much, much easier for you!

  11. another successful video well done ,easy to see, learn a lot. You really are the bomb girl I love everything you do.

  12. Making the”U”is not a bad idea — but I was so shocked to see the action of the right hand! That was most peculiar! I’ve never seen anything like that — and wonder about the wasted effort. I don’t see this as increasing speed at all. However, that is how you learned, and if it works for you, great. Seems a very odd way to teach though — and that is only my opinion (I must add quickly to be politically correct). Still, it is so strange.

    1. Hi there,

      Your feedback is so interesting – thank you for contributing! I am very curious about what you noticed that seemed like it was was wasting effort. Can you point me towards some videos that show a better way of doing it? Thank you!

      1. I, too, found the use of the right pointer finger to be odd and like extra work.

        Here is a video that shows using the middle finger of the left hand to push the stitch off the needle. https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+continental+knit&oq=how+to+continent&aqs=chrome.0.0i512j69i57j0i512l8.6017j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

        I found several videos of folks using the left pointer to help move the stitch off, including Nimble Needles who teaches speed knitting. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezoSvVsq9dw&ab_channel=NimbleNeedles

        I think what we’re questioning is the long reach your left pointer is doing.

        That being said, you are an extraordinary and generous knitter! Love your newsletters, blogs, and patterns!

  13. Love this, I’ve figured out how to knit continental, but still having trouble with Purling. Do you have a video for that.

  14. As a continental knitter, I appreciate the reminder; I’ve been knitting this way so long that I was no longer conscious of what I was doing. Wish I had seen this earlier today when I was asked to show someone this method.

    As a guy, I appreciate the fact that you’ve now added to our ranks! Thanks, Liat :)

    1. Thanks Brian! AJ helped me remember some things that were automatic, too. He is clearly stoked about knitting, so hopefully he’ll tell all HIS friends!

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