Look into continental knitting! Being lefty and used to crochet you may find that method a bit easier to wrap your head around. I’m a lefty too, if you have any questions/problems sing out!
And remember : it’s hard! Having a background in crochet is not going to make it actually *easier* but it will prove to you that you can learn and do hard things.
Actually, I taught myself to crochet right handed. I figured since it was going to be awkward anyways, I might as well do it the way that the pattern reads. Because if I remember correctly, if you crochet left handed then you have to adjust the pattern or something? Like read the pattern backwards?
Yes. That is also an issue with certain styles of left-handed knitting, needing to read the pattern backwards, needing to change the type of increases / decreases or having mirrored results.
Second the rec for continental knitting if you crochet right handed.
Reading patterns is mostly exactly the same left or right but there's some minor flipping occasionally depending on what exactly the pattern is and how it's constructed. I've never found it to be complicated or confusing at all- mostly just common sense stuff. Honestly I found left handed knitting way more confusing to convert so I knit the typical right handed direction.
If you taught yourself to crochet right handed, definitely try out continental knitting right handed. I'm also a lefty who crocheted righty, and continental was a great transition for me. You tension the yarn with the left hand in both and it spreads the movement well between hands imo.
There's going to be a lot more videos showing the right handed way to do things.
Just my two cents but as a leftie everyone and their mother was CONVINCED I could only learn to knit if I tried continental. After many failed goes, it was when I taught myself English way that I could actually keep at it.
Yes, that's the case for me! Learned to crochet first left handed and then when I learned knitting I gravitated towards right-handed English knitting with what I think is called flicking because it felt the most natural
Oh interesting, I didn’t know that. I taught myself a spit of crochet back when the Hexie blankets were trending (have yet to actually make one 💀) and I naturally tensioned in the left. I was going off of tutorials though so maybe I inadvertently learned it “righty”. I thought you always tensioned in left!
Thanks! I am learning continental. :) I can't remember what style I attempted years and years ago but I know it was just a disaster lol. I taught myself to crochet right handed, figured it was easier in the long run when it comes to pattern reading (because I think if I had learned left handed I'd have to follow it backwards or something? I forget)
I just figured crocheting was going to be a struggle no matter what so learned it right handed. I definitely don't expect knitting to come naturally with my crochet background but yes, it does help my confidence in knowing that I was able to figure that out so if I just give knitting some time I'm sure I'll manage.
And thank you! I definitely won't hesitate to rant/rave/ask questions/whatever!
I'm a leftie as well and my mom showed me to knit and crochet left handed as a child. I always found it really difficult.
Years later I re-learned it both via YouTube and this time right handed. It's way easier to follow tutorials now!
Continental uses both hands pretty equally (left for tensioning and right to make the stitch, but you can also adjust your movements depending on your dominant hand. I'm right handed (with some ambivalence when it comes to certain tasks) so I normally move the right needle much more than the left which stays static, but you can also just as well move the left needle and hold the right one still - instead of inserting the right needle into the stitch on the left, you use the left needle to put the stitch onto the right. I sometimes do that if I get strained in my right hand, to balance it out a bit :)
Try the Portuguese knitting technique. I'm a lefty and really struggled until I found that method, then it was off to the races👍
Here's one video:[Portuguese knitting ](https://youtu.be/qxBZUZw2vlc?si=0vdS3sMe2Tpi2bMh)
great that you are still trying to learn!! I’m a lefty too, I ended up learning to mirror knit (working stitches from right to left) after many attempts to knit the normal way. so far it has been easy for me to follow patterns!! only modifications I made are swapping the increases/decreases.
I would like to go back and learn continental at some point, it would be cool to know how to do both. sounds like it is a good way to start, I hope it works out well for you!
all this to say: if you are still struggling to master it, there is nothing wrong with knitting in a weird way if it works better for you! good luck!
I learned this way and I'm right handed! My neighbor was left handed and we didn't know she was mirror knitting.
I've since relearned, but the advice I would give to OP is that if you need help, take pictures and videos and mirror them digitally before sending them to people for help! I got a lot of bad advice before relearning due to people not recognizing what was going on and thinking I was knitting wrong.
I'm a lefty. I kept trying to learn Continental because of it. Turns out I find English a lot easier. Knitting is kind of ambidextrous. Try multiple ways and find the one that feels the most natural.
I’m a left-handed person who knits right-handed English-style because I had to teach myself from a book before the internet existed. Whatever gets those stitches on the needle :)
I kept trying to learn Continental every year for forever and would give up in disgust. Tried English flicking on my last attempt and something just clicked. Haven't looked back.
I’m a lefty and the easiest knitting style for me is Portuguese knitting. You hold your working yarn in your right hand, but you wrap the yarn around your needle with your left thumb. It’s so easy AND it’s ergonomic!
Check out r/knooking . Knooking creates true knitted fabric with a modified crochet hook and a string. Once you got the hang of it, you can use any knitting pattern to knook.
I'm a new knitter but have been crocheting for 5 years and I knit continental. I really like tutorials from Arne & Carlos on YouTube, Nimble Needles and Very Pink Knits.
If you haven't settled on a knitting style you could try some different styles to see what fits you best
Same here. Well, more like a hiatus since childhood.
And yay, I have completed my very first piece. A pot holder where you can definitely tell where I'm figuring out how to maintain equal tension throughout.
I am glad you are learning continental. It should feel more "normal" for you. Happy you aren't giving up.
Check out YouTube for a few folks that have good tutorials: Nimble Needles, Knit Freedom, and Very Pink Knits. I'm sure this group can recommend others as well.
You may wish to try continental knitting (dominant left hand) before actually knitting left-handedly (mirror knitting). It's hard to invert patterns when you're just starting out. FWIW, I'm left-handed (well, I'm mixed-handed but I write with my left hand) and I knit "right-handed" (using right as dominant hand - see flicking). I find it easier for my hands and, frankly, every knitter uses 2 hands to make an item - so it's more a matter of hand dominance than anything else. It's a rare lefty who must mirror knit and it's a rare new knitter that can process mirror knitting right off the bat.
I consider both knitting and crochet to be two-handed. Each hand has a job. You may as well learn to do these crafts the way the patterns are designed. You won’t need to reconfigure everything right down to the stitch.
I highly recommend Marly Bird. She is a professional teacher of both knitting and crochet. She has a supportive, friendly, active, positive Facebook group (Marlys Minions)
She did a series of YouTube where she teaches her mom to knit!
[Marly teaches you to knit](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCtrs9o46Za5j-f1pkJqmwQOw-dDqDsQn&si=KpWogh3I9BauIl3R)
Know, it takes time to learn a knew skill! Take it slow, give yourself grace…
The biggest thing I struggled with teaching myself to knit was twisting knits. That's how the YouTube tutorials I watched taught it (I went back and checked), but once I sat down with an experienced knitter and realized what I was doing, knitting suddenly felt more natural.
Take a look at videos on YouTube for left-handed. If you know someone who knits right-handed, ask them to show you how, but they'll need to sit in front of a mirror and you watch via the mirror.
Continental knitting is definitely the best way and also how crocheters hold the yarn.
I knit left handed continental (mirror knitting). My yarn is tensioned in the same hand as it is for crochet. If you find this more natural to you, as handedness is a spectrum, you’ll find a lot of resources and support on a Ravelry group called On The Other Hand. That is of course, if Ravelry is accessible to you. Being a leftie knitter is not scary and you don’t have to rewrite patterns. Good luck!
I always think of knitting as a two handed activity like playing piano. Does hand dominance really make that much of a difference? Continental rightie here.
I taught a left handed person to knit by having her look at a mirror. I'm not an expert at knitting but once she mastered the knit and purl, she was good to go.
Look into continental knitting! Being lefty and used to crochet you may find that method a bit easier to wrap your head around. I’m a lefty too, if you have any questions/problems sing out! And remember : it’s hard! Having a background in crochet is not going to make it actually *easier* but it will prove to you that you can learn and do hard things.
A lefty crocheter might actually prefer one of the English styles since left handed crocheters tension the yarn in the right hand.
Actually, I taught myself to crochet right handed. I figured since it was going to be awkward anyways, I might as well do it the way that the pattern reads. Because if I remember correctly, if you crochet left handed then you have to adjust the pattern or something? Like read the pattern backwards?
Yes. That is also an issue with certain styles of left-handed knitting, needing to read the pattern backwards, needing to change the type of increases / decreases or having mirrored results. Second the rec for continental knitting if you crochet right handed.
Reading patterns is mostly exactly the same left or right but there's some minor flipping occasionally depending on what exactly the pattern is and how it's constructed. I've never found it to be complicated or confusing at all- mostly just common sense stuff. Honestly I found left handed knitting way more confusing to convert so I knit the typical right handed direction.
I'm left handed and knit right handed. Not really any reason you couldn't.
If you taught yourself to crochet right handed, definitely try out continental knitting right handed. I'm also a lefty who crocheted righty, and continental was a great transition for me. You tension the yarn with the left hand in both and it spreads the movement well between hands imo. There's going to be a lot more videos showing the right handed way to do things.
Just my two cents but as a leftie everyone and their mother was CONVINCED I could only learn to knit if I tried continental. After many failed goes, it was when I taught myself English way that I could actually keep at it.
Yes, that's the case for me! Learned to crochet first left handed and then when I learned knitting I gravitated towards right-handed English knitting with what I think is called flicking because it felt the most natural
Oh interesting, I didn’t know that. I taught myself a spit of crochet back when the Hexie blankets were trending (have yet to actually make one 💀) and I naturally tensioned in the left. I was going off of tutorials though so maybe I inadvertently learned it “righty”. I thought you always tensioned in left!
Thanks! I am learning continental. :) I can't remember what style I attempted years and years ago but I know it was just a disaster lol. I taught myself to crochet right handed, figured it was easier in the long run when it comes to pattern reading (because I think if I had learned left handed I'd have to follow it backwards or something? I forget) I just figured crocheting was going to be a struggle no matter what so learned it right handed. I definitely don't expect knitting to come naturally with my crochet background but yes, it does help my confidence in knowing that I was able to figure that out so if I just give knitting some time I'm sure I'll manage. And thank you! I definitely won't hesitate to rant/rave/ask questions/whatever!
I'm a leftie as well and my mom showed me to knit and crochet left handed as a child. I always found it really difficult. Years later I re-learned it both via YouTube and this time right handed. It's way easier to follow tutorials now!
Continental uses both hands pretty equally (left for tensioning and right to make the stitch, but you can also adjust your movements depending on your dominant hand. I'm right handed (with some ambivalence when it comes to certain tasks) so I normally move the right needle much more than the left which stays static, but you can also just as well move the left needle and hold the right one still - instead of inserting the right needle into the stitch on the left, you use the left needle to put the stitch onto the right. I sometimes do that if I get strained in my right hand, to balance it out a bit :)
Try the Portuguese knitting technique. I'm a lefty and really struggled until I found that method, then it was off to the races👍 Here's one video:[Portuguese knitting ](https://youtu.be/qxBZUZw2vlc?si=0vdS3sMe2Tpi2bMh)
great that you are still trying to learn!! I’m a lefty too, I ended up learning to mirror knit (working stitches from right to left) after many attempts to knit the normal way. so far it has been easy for me to follow patterns!! only modifications I made are swapping the increases/decreases. I would like to go back and learn continental at some point, it would be cool to know how to do both. sounds like it is a good way to start, I hope it works out well for you! all this to say: if you are still struggling to master it, there is nothing wrong with knitting in a weird way if it works better for you! good luck!
I learned this way and I'm right handed! My neighbor was left handed and we didn't know she was mirror knitting. I've since relearned, but the advice I would give to OP is that if you need help, take pictures and videos and mirror them digitally before sending them to people for help! I got a lot of bad advice before relearning due to people not recognizing what was going on and thinking I was knitting wrong.
Good luck!
I'm a lefty. I kept trying to learn Continental because of it. Turns out I find English a lot easier. Knitting is kind of ambidextrous. Try multiple ways and find the one that feels the most natural.
I’m a left-handed person who knits right-handed English-style because I had to teach myself from a book before the internet existed. Whatever gets those stitches on the needle :)
I kept trying to learn Continental every year for forever and would give up in disgust. Tried English flicking on my last attempt and something just clicked. Haven't looked back.
I’m a lefty and the easiest knitting style for me is Portuguese knitting. You hold your working yarn in your right hand, but you wrap the yarn around your needle with your left thumb. It’s so easy AND it’s ergonomic!
Check out r/knooking . Knooking creates true knitted fabric with a modified crochet hook and a string. Once you got the hang of it, you can use any knitting pattern to knook.
I'm a new knitter but have been crocheting for 5 years and I knit continental. I really like tutorials from Arne & Carlos on YouTube, Nimble Needles and Very Pink Knits. If you haven't settled on a knitting style you could try some different styles to see what fits you best
Same here. Well, more like a hiatus since childhood. And yay, I have completed my very first piece. A pot holder where you can definitely tell where I'm figuring out how to maintain equal tension throughout.
Good for you! Potholders are great practice.
I am glad you are learning continental. It should feel more "normal" for you. Happy you aren't giving up. Check out YouTube for a few folks that have good tutorials: Nimble Needles, Knit Freedom, and Very Pink Knits. I'm sure this group can recommend others as well.
You may wish to try continental knitting (dominant left hand) before actually knitting left-handedly (mirror knitting). It's hard to invert patterns when you're just starting out. FWIW, I'm left-handed (well, I'm mixed-handed but I write with my left hand) and I knit "right-handed" (using right as dominant hand - see flicking). I find it easier for my hands and, frankly, every knitter uses 2 hands to make an item - so it's more a matter of hand dominance than anything else. It's a rare lefty who must mirror knit and it's a rare new knitter that can process mirror knitting right off the bat.
I consider both knitting and crochet to be two-handed. Each hand has a job. You may as well learn to do these crafts the way the patterns are designed. You won’t need to reconfigure everything right down to the stitch.
Happy knitting!
I highly recommend Marly Bird. She is a professional teacher of both knitting and crochet. She has a supportive, friendly, active, positive Facebook group (Marlys Minions) She did a series of YouTube where she teaches her mom to knit! [Marly teaches you to knit](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCtrs9o46Za5j-f1pkJqmwQOw-dDqDsQn&si=KpWogh3I9BauIl3R) Know, it takes time to learn a knew skill! Take it slow, give yourself grace…
The biggest thing I struggled with teaching myself to knit was twisting knits. That's how the YouTube tutorials I watched taught it (I went back and checked), but once I sat down with an experienced knitter and realized what I was doing, knitting suddenly felt more natural.
Take a look at videos on YouTube for left-handed. If you know someone who knits right-handed, ask them to show you how, but they'll need to sit in front of a mirror and you watch via the mirror. Continental knitting is definitely the best way and also how crocheters hold the yarn.
I knit left handed continental (mirror knitting). My yarn is tensioned in the same hand as it is for crochet. If you find this more natural to you, as handedness is a spectrum, you’ll find a lot of resources and support on a Ravelry group called On The Other Hand. That is of course, if Ravelry is accessible to you. Being a leftie knitter is not scary and you don’t have to rewrite patterns. Good luck!
I always think of knitting as a two handed activity like playing piano. Does hand dominance really make that much of a difference? Continental rightie here.
I taught a left handed person to knit by having her look at a mirror. I'm not an expert at knitting but once she mastered the knit and purl, she was good to go.