page_title: Continental knitting
section_title: Hand motions
hierarchical_section_title: Continental knitting / Hand motions
context_page_description: Continental knitting, also called German knitting, European knitting, or left-hand knitting, is the process of knitting by holding the yarn in the hand opposite the working needle. However, use of the term 'left-hand knitting' is discouraged by left-handed knitters because it leads to misunderstandings.
  Other knitting styles include English knitting and combined knitting. In Continental knitting, unlike in English knitting, the tip of the working needle is used to hook the yarn and bring it forward; this motion is thus sometimes known as picking.
context_section_description: The motion of the right wrist is used to slip the right needle into the loop of the stitch being knitted and 'scoop' or 'hook' the yarn onto the right needle while the left forefinger holds the yarn across the back of the stitch. An alternative method of collecting the yarn involves using the thumb or index finger of the right hand to hold the yarn in place as the new stitch is being pulled out of the loop.
  This knitting style is often easier to learn for people with crocheting experience, since the way the yarn is held in the left hand is  similar to crochet, and the motion of the right hand is similar to the motion seen in crochet, although the knitting needle is held under the palm of the hand. One major difference in the motion of the right wrist is that in crochet the crochet hook may be held more like a pencil; this method of holding the knitting needle like a pencil was briefly made popular around 1900 under the guise of being more ladylike. Nowadays, however, the majority of knitters hold both needles under the palm.
caption: Illustration of how to knit
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