Calling all English-style knitters! If you’ve ever heard that Continental knitting (yarn in left hand) is faster than English knitting (yarn in right hand), don’t believe the hype. In fact, the fastest knitters in the world knit English-style—but they do something that you probably don’t. That’s because most of us didn’t learn how to knit English-style in the most efficient manner. In this lecture, Debbie Stoller will go over the history of English knitting, how it evolved into the method most of us use today, and what got lost along the way. Then she’ll explain the knitting method that is typically used in the Netherlands (and elsewhere)—“pit knitting”—and how to utilize it to substantially speed up your English-style technique. You’ll have a chance to practice this “supported knitting” technique step-by-step: from how to hold the needle, to how to use a shuttle-like movement to create your stitches, to how to build up speed. This class is recommended for English style knitters only and is only done with straight needles.

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Materials: One pair of long (13-14” or more) straight needles, size 7 or 8, and smooth worsted weight yarn.