Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood, host of the CraftSanity podcast, visits Lorilee Beltman, owner of City Knitting in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for a quick “Continental” knitting lesson. As a veteran “thrower” or English style knitter, Jennifer didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to see how the other half knit.

She brought her video camera along to record the tutorial for all of you.

Duration : 0:9:48

Technorati Tags: City, Crafts, craftsanity, knitting

25 Comments

• At 2010.01.27 15:18, bootifulbeck said:
  

  when u knit don’t …
  when u knit don’t tense up you have to relax and go slow because it’s supose to be relaxing x

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• At 2010.01.27 15:18, Deesjebeesje said:
  

  Maybe my yarn is …
  Maybe my yarn is too small (or I’m a klutz too), because I can’t seem to get it right. My needle always gets half a yarn or less or my hand starts to cramp after 5 minutes of knitting.

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• At 2010.01.27 15:18, jessicab1100 said:
  

  Excelleny! I am so …
  Excelleny! I am so trying this style!

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• At 2010.01.27 15:18, bennettdebo said:
  

  Excellent demo! …
  Excellent demo! Thank you so much!

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• At 2010.01.27 15:18, fuzzyslippers87 said:
  

  Thanks for the …
  Thanks for the video! I’m still having trouble purling.

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• At 2010.01.27 15:18, apuppetapuh said:
  

  *ehem* it’s crochet …
  *ehem* it’s crochet (with a T)

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• At 2010.01.27 15:18, missTriceyB said:
  

  thanx a million 4 …
  thanx a million 4 posting this. I hope this will help me increase my speed.

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• At 2010.01.27 15:18, sabeaniebaby said:
  

  I love you!
  I love you!

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• At 2010.01.27 15:18, rmrcleo said:
  

  Thank you!! …
  Thank you!! Amazing instruction!!

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• At 2010.01.27 15:18, holnwad95 said:
  

  I have been a …
  I have been a beginner knitter for quite some time. I have been trying to teach myself continental for a while. I have felt throwing the yarn seems like way too many steps. Thank you fo helping with holding the yarn and my problem with tension. My only other problem is my outside stiches do not follow the same tension as the middle.

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• At 2010.01.27 15:18, JuedyH said:
  

  I have watched your …
  I have watched your viedo here on youtube many many times. I think I am a klutz as well, I just can’t get my finished work to look even. some are tight some are lose none of it is even. I know it takes practice, but right now it is Dec, I would like to have a scarf done before it is spring.. one that looks good enough to wear to church .. Thanks for your viedo, I wish it was longer. Judy H

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• At 2010.01.27 15:18, lalaladoom said:
  

  Thanks for pointing …
  Thanks for pointing out that people who croche can do this stitch a lot easier I’m going to teach my grandma how to knit and she does croche. This will be a lot easier for her to learn

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• At 2010.01.27 15:18, NinaRios said:
  

  This is fabulous! I …
  This is fabulous! I love the way that it is done! Thank you so very much for the information!

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• At 2010.01.27 15:18, katiel6 said:
  

  Kudos on the best …
  Kudos on the best continental knit how to video I’ve seen.

  If you hold the index finger of the left hand closer to the middle finger (near the tip of the left needle), purling becomes even easier and both knitting & purling get even faster.

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• At 2010.01.27 15:18, L2Belt said:
  

  Sorry I really …
  Sorry I really can’t show you everything in this video, so, for now, just slip the first one. You’ll get it. Once you get the purl, you’ll figure out the first stitch naturally.

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• At 2010.01.27 15:18, akajezebel said:
  

  How do you START …
  How do you START the purl row?!? I can’t get to the purliing part cuz I can’t see how you’re starting that row.

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• At 2010.01.27 15:18, iilea62 said:
  

  Perhaps it is …
  Perhaps it is because I am a lefty that learned the “throwing” technique righthanded by standing behind my mother, but this method looks SO much easier and makes sense to my lefty brain! Thanks for the tutorial!

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• At 2010.01.27 15:18, niawest said:
  

  wow, i feel like I …
  wow, i feel like I came to class in the middle of the semester.

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• At 2010.01.27 15:18, GayzeStarr said:
  

  I’m a new knitter, …
  I’m a new knitter, learned by throwing, with a few arthritis problems, tho’ minor. Your way of holding the yarb makes the sense However, I must be a major klutz. I’m having trouble coordinating my fingers and controlling tension. I’ll keep plugging away at it. Thanks!

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• At 2010.01.27 15:18, scarletsmith said:
  

  I throw, I do …
  I throw, I do Continental, and I do reverse-perl (that is, I knit BACKWARDS to perl a long row). I’m an international knitter.

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• At 2010.01.27 15:18, L2Belt said:
  

  If your left finger …
  If your left finger is cramping, it is likely you are holding it too high u, which ruins the hand geometry, and makes your finger try to fix it. try lowering it. Make sure your right hand forefinger gets on every finished stitch, so when you pull the yarn through your left hand, it glides through. It’s hard to give you tips without seeing you, but try keeping your left hand forefinger from drifting up toward the ceiling. Best of luck.-Lorilee

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• At 2010.01.27 15:18, map106 said:
  

  You know, I …
  You know, I appreciate your video. I think it’s clear and well photographed. But, I guess this version of continental knitting is not for me. My index finger sometimes gets a cramp, and I thought this method would alleviate that.

  I still gets a cramp trying to maintain some tension, and I can’t control my stitch size.

  Of course, it doesn’t help that we left-handers not only have to reverse everything you say, but also re-interpret the pictures you present.

  Then again, we’re used to it.

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• At 2010.01.27 15:18, L2Belt said:
  

  They’re really not …
  They’re really not so sensitive. Knitters are a gracious bunch. I don’t think everyone should knit this way. I do think everyone should knit….what a world that would be.

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• At 2010.01.27 15:18, scotpond said:
  

  Never knew that ” …
  Never knew that “throwers” could be sensitive about the efficiency of that method. Whew!

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• At 2010.01.27 15:18, scotpond said:
  

  Years ago, before …
  Years ago, before internet, when there weren’t any knit shop classes, etc. my fingers were stiffening with arthritis so I tried different things and I figured out how to knit this way. For a long time, I thought that I had invented a new way to knit :>{} Thank you for confirming that this method results in a much looser stitch that requires dropping down two or more needle sizes to get the right gauge. I thought loose stitches were an error in the way I was doing it.

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