Status Update: Continental Knitting

I'm on vacation! Feels like it took forever to get here, but I'm finally free to relax and start taking care of some of the things that have been piling up. (Literally--my house really needs cleaning!)

You might recall that last week I decided to take some time off my knitting projects so that I could learn to knit continental. I figured it'd take a couple weeks for it to feel natural, then more time to really get an even tension. But I'm thrilled to report that it only took a few days!

Here's what I've made already:

Miranda Hat: just waiting for my size-4 DPNs
to arrive so I can do the decreases

Ankle sock

Miranda hat

Miranda hat

The scarf I initially practiced continental on (since frogged)

That's WAY more than I would have been able to do before. Not only am I knitting faster, but it's so effortless! I'm a big fan of efficiency, and I just wasn't happy with feeling like every. single. stitch. was  a big effort.

Like I mentioned before, I used the Knit Freedom continental knitting course. I'd give it five stars. The videos were high-quality, and she answered all the questions that my super-detailed little brain had come up with, like:

• how to wind the yarn around your hand so it can still slide when you need it to
• how far away from the needle to hold your index finger (answer: not as far as you think)
• what shape your hand should make, so you always know you're doing it right
• how to move the stitches along the needles as you work, so you don't have to stop so often

And of course, how to do all the stitches themselves. It still took a while to feel comfortable, but at least I was able to practice without second-guessing the method.

(BTW, if you're somewhat new to knitting, I'd actually recommend Knit Freedom's Knitting Superstar course. It includes the continental knitting course for free.)

So ... yay for fast knitting! Once I knock these hats and socks out, I'm going to start my big fall projects. More on those later.

On Being a Grown-Up

I'm super anxious to cast on a fall sweater, my next pair of socks, and a ton of other stuff for the cool weather that I'm really, REALLY, REALLY looking forward to. But I won't.

Instead, I'm forcing myself to spend the next couple weeks knitting nothing but my continental practice scarf. Why, you ask? Because 24.

Twenty-four is the number of stitches I can currently knit in 1 minute using the English method. Tweeeeennnnnntyyyyy-fffffoooooouuuuuurrrrrrrrrrr. That's me, knitting at the speed of mud. Nope, whatever you're picturing is too fast. Slow it down. More. Yep, that's it.

So I'm gonna be a grown-up about it, take a break, and go slow to go fast. I mean, have you seen my Ravelry queue? I'll never get all those lovelies made unless I stop throwing and start picking. (I know some knitters can throw really fast--I'm just not one of them.)

If you've ever tried continental knitting, you know that regulating your tension is one of the hardest and most important things to figure out. I've been hunting down resources on the Internets, and just came across some fantastic videos by the woman who runs KnitFreedom.com.

She also has a video course on continental knitting for $13 on her site, and considering how much I liked her YouTube videos, I'm probably gonna pop on that. I'll let you know how it goes. In the meantime, I'd love to hear about your experience knitting continental. Do tell!