Portuguese-style knitting is a little different than Continental and English, which most of us in the U.S. are used to. While the technique is slightly different, it’s worth learning how to knit and purl in the Portuguese style.
What makes Portuguese knitting different?
- The Portuguese style changes the way you hold the yarn
- It changes the way you insert your needle for the knit stitch
- It changes how you move the working yarn for both knit and purl stitches
Portuguese-style uses small movements that are great for knitters experiencing pain from throwing or picking in other styles. Portuguese-style knitters are also famous for preferring the purl stitch over the knit stitch. Give this style a try and you might see why!
Let’s look at how knit and purl stitches are made in Portuguese style.
We hope you’ll be inspired to change up your go-to style — even if it’s just for a project or two!
Holding the yarn
In Portuguese-style knitting, the yarn doesn’t go straight from the ball or skein to the project. Instead, wrap your yarn one of these ways:
1. Around your neck
Wrap the yarn around your left shoulder. The working yarn and your project should be on your left, and the ball of yarn should be on your right.
2. Through a pin
Sometimes yarn doesn’t feel so great sliding against our necks, so you can try a pin instead. Simply place the pin on the left side of your shirt, then thread the yarn through so that the ball of yarn is on your right side and your work is on the left.
Craftsy instructor Andrea Wong sells some really beautiful pins, so check out her collection here if you’re interested.
Knit faster and with less hand strain than you can with English or Continental knitting. Breeze through purling, ribbing, shaping, lace, colorwork, cables and more!
Portuguese-style knit stitch
This stitch is pretty different from Continental or English style because you’ll change the way the needle is inserted into the stitch, as well as the way you make the loop around that needle. Let’s take a look.
Step 1: Insert the needle
1. Insert the right needle into the stitch, staying in the front of the work. Do not insert it front to back like you would with a Continental or English-style knit stitch.
The needle should look like it’s running perpendicular to the left needle, going straight up and down.
The work yarn is still coming from the back, so keep that in mind.
Step 2: Wrap the yarn
Wrap the working yarn around the needle with a simple flick of the thumb. The idea is to move the yarn with as little movement as possible until it’s between the two needles.
Step 3: Form the knit stitch
Pivot the right needle just a bit so that the loop goes through the stitch on the left needle and forms the knit stitch.
Step 4: Drop the stitch from the left
Before you drop the needle, pay attention to how you formed the stitch. A stitch that’s too loose or too tight will mess up the gauge, so take the time to really form your stitch here.
Drop the stitch from the left needle. That’s the knit stitch!
Portuguese-style purl stitch
Many Continental- and English-style knitters loathe the purl stitch, but the majority of Portuguese knitters actually prefer the purl stitch. That’s because the way the stitch is made only requires a little flick of the thumb, and it can actually move quite fast.
Step 1: Insert the needle
Insert the needle into the front of the stitch, just like you would for the purl stitch in other styles.
Step 2: Wrap the yarn
Use your left thumb to simply flick the yarn around the needle.
Step 3: Form the purl stitch
Then push the right needle through to create the stitch.
Step 4: Drop the stitch from the left
Just as you did with the knit stitch, before you drop the stitch from the left needle, take time to form your stitch before you move on. We don’t want stitches that are too loose or too tight.
Drop the stitch from the left needle. That’s a purl!
I find that I knit very tight and that I drop stitches frequently. Do you have any advice?