# Continental vs. English Knitting: Which Style Should You Learn?
If you've spent any time in online knitting circles, you've probably seen someone insist that Continental knitting is objectively superior, or that English knitting is the "proper" way to hold your yarn. Ignore all of that. Continental and English knitting are simply two different ways of forming the exact same stitches, and the fabric you end up with looks identical either way. The real question isn't which one is correct—it's which one fits your hands, your habits, and the kind of knitting you want to do.
This guide breaks down how each style actually works, what each one does well, and how to pick a starting point if you're brand new or thinking about learning a second method.
The Core Difference: Where the Yarn Lives
Both styles use the same needles and produce the same knit and purl stitches. What changes is which hand controls the working yarn and how that yarn gets wrapped around the needle.
English Knitting: "Throwing"
In English knitting, you hold the working yarn in your right hand, the same hand that holds the needle you're knitting into. To form a stitch, you insert the needle into the loop, then use your right hand to wrap—or "throw"—the yarn around the needle tip before pulling it through. Some knitters shorten this motion into a quick flick of the index finger rather than a full wrap, which is sometimes called "flicking," but the yarn is still traveling with the right hand either way.
Because the working hand is doing two jobs—steadying the needle and managing the yarn—English knitting tends to involve a bit more hand and wrist movement per stitch.
Continental Knitting: "Picking"
In Continental knitting, the working yarn sits in your left hand instead, tensioned across one or more fingers. Rather than wrapping the yarn around the needle, you use the tip of the right-hand needle to reach up and "pick" the yarn, scooping it through the stitch. The left hand barely moves; most of the motion happens at the needle tips themselves.
If you've ever crocheted, this hand position will look familiar—it's very close to how a crochet hook picks yarn from a hand-held strand, which is one reason people with crochet experience often find Continental knitting comes naturally.
Comparing the Two Styles Honestly
Neither style is faster, easier, or more advanced by default. Each has genuine strengths, and which ones matter to you depends on your background and your goals.
Speed and Efficiency
Continental knitting is frequently described as the more economical method in terms of hand motion—because the yarn doesn't have to be wrapped around the needle from scratch each time, there are fewer distinct movements per stitch. Many of the fastest competitive knitters use some version of Continental technique for this reason. That said, "faster" describes the mechanics of the stitch, not any individual knitter. A confident English knitter with years of muscle memory will always outpace someone newly learning Continental.
Learning Curve
English knitting is often considered the more intuitive starting point for total beginners, especially right-handed knitters, because the dominant hand is doing the yarn work you can watch closely and control. Continental knitting asks your left hand to hold steady tension while your right hand does something less visually obvious, which can feel awkward until it clicks—usually within a few dedicated practice sessions.
The exception is knitters coming from crochet. Because Continental's hand position echoes how a crochet hook works, many crocheters pick it up with surprisingly little friction, even as total knitting beginners.
Purling
This is where preference really splits. English purling tends to feel more straightforward to new knitters because the wrapping motion mirrors the knit stitch closely. Continental purling has a steeper initial learning curve—the yarn has to be pushed rather than picked—though most knitters who stick with it find it becomes just as smooth as the knit stitch with practice.
Tension and Ergonomics
Once established, Continental knitting is often praised for producing very even tension, since the yarn flows continuously from the same tensioned hand rather than being re-wrapped each stitch. Some knitters also find the smaller, closer-to-the-needle motions easier on the hands and wrists during long sessions. English knitting can offer very precise, easy-to-see control over each wrap, which some knitters find reassuring, particularly when working with slippery or textured yarns.
Colorwork: Where the Two Styles Can Team Up
This is one of the more useful facts to know: Continental and English knitting aren't actually rivals when it comes to stranded colorwork like fair isle. Many knitters use a two-handed technique that combines both styles at once—one color held Continental-style in the left hand, the other held English-style in the right. Knitting this way lets you keep consistent color dominance and switch colors without dropping and picking up yarn constantly, which speeds up multi-color rows considerably.
The catch is that an English-style wrap often comes out slightly tighter than a Continental pick, especially at first, so two-handed colorwork takes some practice to keep both strands at matching tension and avoid puckered fabric. It's a great reason to eventually learn both styles rather than treating the choice as permanent.
So Which Should You Learn First?
There's no universal right answer, but a few questions can point you toward a sensible starting place.
Have you crocheted before? Continental knitting will likely feel more familiar right away, since the yarn hold and hand motion resemble what you already know.
Are you learning from a person, video, or in-person class? Learn whichever style the person teaching you actually knits, at least at first. Watching someone's hands in real time is far more useful for internalizing motion than translating a tutorial written for the opposite style.
Do you have hand or wrist discomfort with repetitive motion? It may be worth trying Continental first, since its smaller, more contained hand movements are often described as gentler over long knitting sessions—though comfort is individual, so this isn't a guarantee.
Are you drawn to colorwork or fast-paced knitting? Continental is a strong long-term investment, both because of its efficient stitch mechanics and because it sets you up to eventually add two-handed colorwork to your toolkit.
Do you just want the simplest possible starting point? English knitting's visible, one-handed wrapping motion is genuinely easier for many total beginners to grasp in their very first knitting session.
Whichever you choose, know that it isn't a permanent decision. Plenty of knitters learn one style first and pick up the other years later, often specifically to add two-handed colorwork or to give an overworked hand a rest by switching which one does the heavy lifting. The stitches you make will be indistinguishable on the needle either way—so give yourself permission to just start, and let your hands tell you if it's time to try the other approach down the road.