I’m largely a self-taught knitter. I learned, mostly, from a Susan Bates book. I’m right handed and I learned to knit holding both the yarn and the working needle in my right hand and throwing a loop over the tip of the needle for every stitch. If one puts it in terms of “pickers” or “throwers", I was a thrower with a wild right elbow.

Step back thirty-five years to when I learned to crochet as a small child. I’m right-handed. I hold the crochet hook in my right hand and the yarn in my left hand. I simply push the hook through the desired loop, catch the yarn, and pull it back through. It’s fast, easy, and takes a minimum of effort.

One day at work, I was watching a colleague crochet in the break room. She was doing double crochet holding both the yarn and the hook in her right hand. It was almost painful to watch her throw the yarn over the hook every time – and her crochet seemed fairly slow. It didn’t look comfortable.

I started thinking about my knitting.

About this time, I managed to watch several knitting shows on television. The star knitters appeared to be holding the yarn in the left hand. Certainly, they weren’t making the big, painful, throwing motion with every stitch.

I thought some more about my knitting.

I read some blogs. I found several entries commenting on the difficulty of the “continental” style. I found no blogs praising the continental style as easier or faster.

It was as good as excuse as any to resist change.

I looked at my elbow the other night while I was knitting. I thought about my colleague and her crochet. I thought about all the examples on TV that were doing things differently.

I moved the yarn to my left hand.

It was awkward for all of two stitches.

It’s smoother. It’s faster. It’s easier. Tight stitches are less of a problem. My elbow moves less. My elbow doesn’t hurt. Having made the change earlier today, I find I am already knitting much faster.

Best of all, I can switch the yarn between purling and knitting smoothly – something I never achieved in two socks worth of two-two ribbing.

The downside? I am finding myself making some gauge adjustments.

I can’t tell you if I’m knitting in a proper continental style. I am holding the working needle in one hand, the yarn in the other, and picking up the yarn with the needle. I have no idea why I resisted change so long, but I’m glad I made the change.

Oh, yes, the next pair of socks. I’m working on the basic sock out of the Twisted Sisters book – top down. The yarn is millspun – Drake’s fiber prepared by Mette. I’ve got three or four inches of cuff already knit.