Knitting - have you heard of this? What is it called?

[Flossyfloof]

Just been having tea with a friend who was telling me she knows someone who knits holding the wool in her left hand and knits frontwards and backwards, without turning the work. Palm I making sense? I have never heard of this, have you?

[PumpkinGordino]

holding in the left hand is usually called continental knitting (or picking rather than throwing) - i actually do this when i do stranded knitting because i hold one thread of yarn in each hand

i have heard of people who can knit and purl "backwards" but have never attempted it myself - google threw up these instructions on knitty.com. apparently knitting backwards can make entrelac quicker (i've never tried that either)

[RustyDalek]

My mum used to do the one colour in each hand thing for stranded knitting - having been first taught the continental knitting method by a German aunt and then the 'proper' way by a teacher at school ("We don't knit in that FOREIGN way here!")

I remember watching her knitting once and realising she wasn't turning the work, but I don't know exactly how she did it - possibly like this:

[skylark2]

I think it's called mirror knitting when you go back the other way. It's what lefthanders do (I mean lefthanders who knit lefthanded. I'm a lefthander who knits righthanded myself).

Continental knitting is just another way of holding the yarn. It doesn't of itself change that you need to turn the work.