How do you knit?

How do you knit? Did you know there's more than one way to knit?

I grew up in Norway and when I was growing up everyone I knew knitted like me. The first time I saw a different knitting style was after I moved to England in 1. I've also had a lot of people commenting on how I knit and the first thing they notice is my knitting speed.

I knit the continental way and I have done all my life. My most popular class is my 'Continental Knitting with Norwegian Purl' class. I teach it regularly in yarn shops. In fact I'm teaching it as a half day class on Friday 4 April at Social Fabric in Totnes.

If you don't live near any of the venues where I teach, you can take this class online. Have you ever taken an online class? It's very convenient. You can watch the class when you want to, wherever you want to. The class starts on 7 April and lasts for a week but you keep indefinite access to the class materials so can go back and review any lessons any time you want to.

So what's the advantage of continental knitting? The main advantage is speed and the main reason its faster, is because the movements are smaller. This also reduces the risk of repetitive strain injury. 

Are you a 'fair isle'/stranded colourwork knitter? Learning to knit the continental way means you can knit with one colour in each hand.

In continental knitting there are two ways of purling. I teach the Norwegian purl which means you hold the yarn at the back for both knit and purl. This makes combined knit and purl stitches like ribs and moss stitch much quicker as you're not moving the yarn back and forth.

@RYarns tweeted earlier: '@YarnAddictAnni Great class. it really sped up my knitting and helped reduce stress on hands and wrists'.

Out of knitters who've taken my continental class in yarn shops or online, more knitters who have taken the online class seem to have permanently changed their knitting style. Do you want to join them?

Sign up by Monday 31st March and pay only US $30 (approx £18). On 1st April it'll go up to the regular price of US $40 (approx £24).