My granddaughter is left handed , I'm right how do you?

Question

teach a left handed person to knit. She is 10 @ wants to learn but even the mirror method fails her. There must be a simple way to help her out. No, we don't have or know of any other lefties. I am thinking of inquiring at nursing homes for a left hand knitter. Any ideas?

Answer 1

Left-handed knitting is not the same as right-handed knitting, which makes it very difficult to follow patterns. (For one, you have to mirror your increases & decreases -- working an SSK whenever a pattern calls for k2tog, etc.)

It's much easier for lefties to knit right-handed. Either the Continental (aka picking) method or combined (aka combination) knitting is much easier than English (aka throwing), as the yarn is held in the left hand rather than the right.

Continental video: http://www.knittinghelp.com/knitting/basic_techniques/knit.php

Everything you ever wanted to know about combination knitting: http://www.anniemodesitt.com

If you're a thrower, you should try to learn Continental or combo with your daughter -- they're both much faster than English.

Article about knitting for lefties:
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter03/FEATmirror.html

Answer 2

Hello:
I am left handed and my Mom was right handed I sat
opposite her and did the reverse of what she was doing.
Her left hand became my right hand.
You also can use a teaching manual and put the book
up against the bottom of the chair you are sitting on and in
front of the book place a mirror. You must look into the mirror
and you will be seeing the pictures in reverse. I would
think that by now there are books for left-handed people.
I had a lot of trouble with that. I then had a right handed
friend teach me but I held the needles and yarn. She just
instructed me. She taught me how to make argyle socks
for my first project. She said it was easy to use the bobbins
and the four needles because the needles were so small.
It was easy for me to learn, with her patience. Little did I
know that I was learning almost every single stitch I would
ever need in knitting and when I finished that pair of socks
I went on to sweaters and there was no stopping my creativity.
I designed so many sweaters for friends.
Try that.
Good Luck

Answer 3

My mother is left-handed, but she taught me to crochet even though I'm right handed. It really shouldn't be any different than teaching a right handed person. Lefties learn to drive the same way as righties even though the gears are on the right hand side. Same holds true for everything else we learn.

When you pull the yarn over and around the needle, you instruct her to do the same. She'll just be doing it with her left hand, that's all. As with everything we learn, it just takes practice. She may be putting too much pressure on herself to learn it quickly. Knitting, if I remember correctly, takes a little coordination. lol

Answer 4

Knitting has no handedness, just teach her to knit the same way you do, both hands must do the work in knitting. If you really want to teach her to knit left handed, teach her to knit Continental style or to knit and purl backwards (there are movie clips on the internet for it). However, if you teach her to work backwards she also needs to understand that she has to read charts and instructions backwards, too.

Answer 5

I'm VERY left handed and did manage to learn to knit right handed. It felt strange at first, but it's not impossible it to. I do crochet left handed and my mom taught me by sitting opposite me. You may get lucky and find an older that knits left handed. Keep trying!

Answer 6

I have taught my niece to knit. sometimes teaching a left hander is easier if you use the continental method, where you scoop the yarn with the needle. I just taught her as if she was right handed, and after she worked with me for a while she adapted her style to suit her handedness. I can no longer watch her knit, as it makes no sense to me.