Continental Knitting (Picking)
Jill WrightDescription
When it comes to knitting mechanics, there are a few different ways that knitters will hold their needles to make their stitches. Every knitter finds a style that works for them. In this video, Jill Wright breaks down the Continental (or Picking) method of knitting. She demonstrates how to create tension in the yarn, as well as how to work the knit and purl stitches.
In Continental knitting, the yarn is held in the left hand. Jill explains how she tensions the yarn in this style of knitting. She wraps the yarn around the pinky finger and brings the yarn up and over her forefinger. This yarn configuration allows her to pick the yarn up onto the needle as she works the stitch.
To create a knit stitch, Jill follows these steps:
- With yarn in back, insert the right needle from front to back through the stitch on the left needle.
- Scoop yarn around right needle and pull through the stitch on the left needle, making a new stitch on the right needle
- Drop stitch off the left needle
- New stitch has been created on the right needle
To create a purl stitch, Jill follows these steps:
- With yarn in front, insert right needle from right to left into the first stitch on the left needle
- Scoop yarn around the right needle counterclockwise
- Bring right needle through the loop on the left needle, making a new stitch on the right needle
- Drop stitch off the left needle
- New purl stitch has been created on the right needle
Hi, this is Jill Wright from The Knitting Circle. In this video, we're going to look at knitting continental style. Continental style is usually worked on circular needles, though you may want to try it on short, straight needles. Let's give it a shot. So continental knitting, or picking. The main difference you're going to find between continental knitting and regular English or Scottish knitting, is the way that the yarn tensioned. And usually you would insert your needle and wrap with the English or Scottish style. This time we're going to tension or yarn with our opposite hand. So I'm going to wrap that around my pinky finger and I'm going to take it up over my finger. So I have a tensioning contraction right here. And what we're going to do is we're going to pick the stitch. So instead of inserting and wrapping the yarn, we're actually going to scoop that yarn with the needle and pull it through to the front and slide it off. So this is a knit stitch. You're gonna insert as if to knit, pick that yarn up, wrap it around the needle and pull it through the loop. Again, insert that needle into the stitch, wrap it from right to left around the yarn. So you're pulling that loop through and you make sure that you orient this stitch correctly with a slight diagonal tilt from the right, left to the right. So insert the needle, scoop the yarn, slide up, insert as if to knit, scoop that yarn, slide off. And again, one more. This is the knit stitch. Now for the pearl stitch we're going to bring the on to the front. We're going to insert the needle as if to pearl, but behind the working yarn. We're going to pull that yarn forward and then pop the needle back through when we have a pearl stitch. So the Yon comes in front of the left needle, bring that needle through as if to pearl, pop that finger down so you're wrapping the yarn around behind the needle and slide through and again, pearl. And sew that needle as if to pearl behind the yarn. Pop that forefinger down. Slide up and again, insert, pull down, pop through, slide off, a couple more. And slide last time. Insert, pop that yarn down, slide through and then off the needle it comes. There you go. Knit and pearl, continental style. Did you like knitting continental style? Thanks for watching. And don't forget to check out the rest of the website for more knitting videos.
I was born and brought up in France. My mother, who was Polish, taught me to knit. I learned new techniques at school. No one I knew ever knitted this way. So, what 'continent' are we talking about here? Lol.
Learned to knit Continental Style: went to a knitting class & was told, “that isn’t knitting, I don’t know what your doing, but that isn’t knitting!” I was embarrassed. But, kept knitting but always felt my work was somewhat inferior.
Check out Norwegian knitting. It's so much easier!
Hello- I am just learning to knit. Being a crocheter, I find the Continental style more comfortable. However, when I try to do things other than knit and purl, I have trouble. Can you do everything Continental style? Like increasing, binding off, etc. Or do you recommend switching to English style to perform more complex tasks? Thank you for the excellent tutorial.
There are easier ways to tension the yarn with your left hand. Also, usually worked on circular needles? I don't think so.
That is not how I was taught continental knitting. I wrap the needle around the wool nel by my upraised left index finger. Much easier. I was taught that way seventy years ago in Europe