Portuguese Knitting

As a child in the Netherlands, I learned how to knit English style, holding the working yarn in the right hand, but for a long time, I didn't knit at all. During a lockdown, I got addicted to knitting, more info in About me, after following an online course of continental knitting, holding the yarn in my left hand. I loved it, but was having some difficulties with the purl stitch. 

At the time, I was living in Portugal, and during my first visit to the local knitting group, I noticed that they were all knitting differently. They were holding the yarn around their neck. It was the first time I saw people knitting using the Portuguese technique. I was surprised about their speed, but mostly about the little movements they were making. When I understood that the purl stitch was their favorite, I started researching. I looked at videos, followed workshops, and practiced, practiced, practiced.

 What is Portuguese knitting?

Portuguese knitting is, a different technique, just as continental knitting and English-style knitting are. What you are making, the result will be the same, you are just doing it differently.

Similarly to English-style knitting, you hold the working yarn in your right hand, but not before tensioning it around your neck or knitting pin. Your working yarn stays in front of your knitting allowing you to make small movements to knit, a single movement from your left thumb is enough. These small movements make this technique a very ergonomic one with minimal strain on your body. 

 Why do I knit Portuguese style?  

I always found the purl difficult and found myself avoiding certain patterns and projects. After knitting for a while, my arms and hands would hurt. I noticed that my body posture was not ideal while knitting continental style. Since using this technique I will knit everything, I even enjoy purling and ribbing! Portuguese knitting forces me to have a correct posture to have good yarn tension, resulting in no pain, even after a whole evening. As I knit while in a more relaxed position, I noticed that my knitting is more beautiful. 

And now what? Where do I learn Portuguese knitting? You can find some videos on YouTube, that I will link below. I am a big fan of Filipa Carneiro, who was my teacher, but her videos are mostly in Portuguese. I am planning to give some workshops and eventually make some videos in Dutch. I enjoy knitting a lot more since I knit this way and I notice that a lot of people don't know this technique. It has brought me a lot, maybe it also will you. Please let me know if you are interested through the contact form. 

Links:

• Filipa Carneiro 
• Andrea Wong