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I’ve been knitting for 2 years now. What started as a curious exploration into what knitting actually was and how it differed to crochet became a needle-filled obsession. Yet the one thing I could never figure out was why when I knitted flat it looked completely different to in the round. Enter: combination knitting.

I always thought it was my tension. My knit stitches always looked tighter working flat, it gave a cool effect in some places but it was very obvious that it’s where my knitting was different.

I tried sizing up needles for the flat knit sections, I tried sizing down for purls, I tried blocking, I tried EVERYTHING I could think of.

It wasn’t until I started knitting my Outline Tee that I finally read the stitches correctly- like some kind of tea leaf divination type sorcery.

You see, in the 2 years of knitting, I’d never really paid attention to the direction of my stitches, and I don’t know if it was the Scheepjes Catona cotton I was using that drew my eye to the definition of the stitches, or whether I’d just crossed into the “intermediate knitter” stage of my foray into needles, but I finally realised that all of my knit stitches were twisted.

Why?

Because for 2 years I’ve been purling incorrectly.

I always found it strange when people said they didn’t enjoy purling. It was one of my favourite things- well, when I was doing it “incorrectly” at least. While it didn’t make a difference when working in the round, or even in flat ribbing, when working stockinette- it became SO obvious.

So I tried to learn the “correct” way, and understood why everyone else in the world disliked purling.

But I LOVED my wrong way. It was so much faster. Surely I can’t be the only person who purls this way?!

So I took to Google, where most of life’s mysteries are suddenly demystified. Why was my way of purling incorrect?! Aside from stitches twisting, surely there was a way I could fix this…

Turns out, my style isn’t wrong, it’s just different, and all my twisted knit stitches could be fixed with one simple change (and it wasn’t changing my purl stitches either!)

I am a continental knitter. But now I am also a combination knitter. Purling as a combination knitter is completely different and actually a lot faster than the conventional purl. Knitting is also faster, as to untwist all my knit stitches, all I had to do was knit through the back loop on the knit rows.

Here’s the video that changed everything for me.

Problem entirely solved! I never knew this style of knitting existed, and apparently it’s more common in Eastern Europe. They’re so used to twisting and untwisting stitches that it’s not actually differentiated between with a different name. It’s just knitting.

When I learnt how to knit it was in my LYS and I was taught Norwegian purling as apparently it would be easier for me to grasp. So I pursued that for a while until I self-taught myself (via YouTube) how to purl (incorrectly).

So every sweater I’ve made that looks a little different in the top sections is a twisty mistake i won’t ever repeat again, and my Outline Tee is my first correctly knitted item with a flat portion in 2 years.

In the words of Alanis Morissette: you live, you learn.

And I’ve learnt that I’m a Continental Combination Knitter. How’s that for a mouthful?

What’s your knitting style? Continental? English? Let me know in the comments below!