Someone put out a request for a pictorial description of how to do a left handed continental purl... Being a left handed continental knitter, I felt slightly qualified... the only area of qualification that's lacking is the fact that I've never tried to do anything like this... teach it, yes - not always well, but it's something that I can get the idea across well enough for the friend to accomplish the stitch... but take pictures of my own hands and hope they show what I'm trying to show... well, no.

I think over time I've developed my own motion for a continental purl... the index finger of the right hand, which carries the yarn, does a lever motion to wrap the stitch before pulling it through... this will be explained more fully later. But no promises - this is the part I have the hardest time teaching, and the part that doesn't really come across well in 2D. But no one else had responded all day - and I can't stand to see someone trying to knit left handed and not be able due to lack of teaching... (I also know what a nasty headache one can get trying to mentally 'flip' all tutorials and directions for this sort of thing.)

Not only do I hope that this little mini tutorial is not painfully confusing... I also hope it's even just a little helpfull...

So here goes - enough rambling! I used bold text on the most basic and important bits. The corresponding picture is below each description:

Holding the working needle in your left hand, and your needle with un-worked stitches in your right, and the tail of yarn (attached to the ball/skein) running from the newly worked stitches at left over your right index finger; hold yarn in front and insert left needle behind yarn and into the front of the first stitch on the right hand needle. gently bring the tip of the left hand needle up just a little...

Now bring your right index finger (with the yarn over it) in a smooth lever motion down and toward yourself, wrapping the yarn front to back around the tip of the left hand needle. It really is easier than it looks..

Continue gently bringing your index finger down until the yarn rests snug against the base of the left tip and the stitch-in-progress...

Now keeping the tip pointed slightly upwards back the left hand needle out of the stitch the way it came until the tip clears the right hand needle and then away from you and up pulling the yarn through with it...

Slip off the newly worked stitch from the right hand needle, and you're done!!