Knitting: No longer ‘left-’ or ‘right-handed’?

Knitting-book authors seem to be moving away from terms like “right-handed” and “left-handed” knitting, referring instead to “Continental-” and “English-style” knitting. (In “Continental,” the yarn is carried in the left hand; in “English-style,” it’s carried in the right.

I personally believe that, left- or right-hand dominant, knitters should discover for themselves which way feels most natural. As Sally Melville says in The Knit Stitch (XRX Books, 2005):

• “Knitting is a two-handed activity; we simply choose to do more of the work with one hand or another, depending on our handedness.
• “In this work, we hold a needle in each hand but we have a choice of hands in which to hold the yarn: right-hand carry or left-hand carry.”

Melville suggests that, in the earliest stages, knitters carry the yarn in the dominant hand, but ultimately she comes back to the idea that “knitting is a two-handed activity.” “Try everything, then do what works.” This left-handed knitter casts on and knits with the yarn in my right hand. It may not be what every left-handed knitter does, but it’s what works for me.