Because I’ve written The stitch dictionary for left-handers, and I sometimes talk about my latest knitting projects, I occasionally get enquiries from people wanting to know if I can recommend a book that teaches knitting left-handed.
I asked my friend Melody Lord who has recently written an excellent book called Knitting Basics, if she could recommend a left-handed knitting text. This was her reply:
Hi Yvette, I don’t know of any books specifically for left-handers. I have been told that some left-handed knitters prefer to knit in the Continental (“picking”) style, where the yarn is held in the left hand, although you still knit from the left needle to the right. This method is illustrated in my book, as well as the English method (“throwing”).
So maybe Continental/picking style will work for lefties?
Unfortunately I knit right-handed! If I DID knit left-handed, I’d be writing a left-handed knitting book faster than you can say “left-handed knitting”! I was taught to knit by a right-hander, and because it is essentially a two handed activity, where both hands are used about equally, knitting right-handed hasn’t been a problem for me.
So I guess my other suggestion to people teaching lefties how to knit is to see if knitting the right-handed way WILL work for them. It may, it may not.
If YOU know of a good left-handed knitting reference book, please share it with us here!
White Threads is the blog of Yvette Stanton, the author, designer, publisher behind Vetty Creations' quality needlework books and embroidery products.
I was taught to knit by my German grandmother, so use the ‘Continental’ method. I am right handed, but eat like a lefty and a recent stint with my right hand immobile showed me that i am far from ambidexterous. I can knit right handed, but it seems so inefficient to take your hand off the needle to wrap the yarn around it. Much quicker to whip the needle around the yarn held in your left hand.