Despite left-handers making up 10-15% of the population, knitting has lagged other disciplines in accommodating us. The resources available to left-handed knitters are painfully scarce – from my research just a single book from 1977 dedicated to this subject. While crochet has seen slightly more attention, I’ve chosen to focus on this page solely on knitting, aiming to fill a gap that has persisted for far too long.
We are living in an exciting time for crafting. The internet has brought a new wave of inspiration, spearheaded by Generation Z and fuelled by a surge of indie pattern designers creating innovative and inspiring projects. Yet, astonishingly, even this modern movement has failed to account for left-handed knitters. It is disheartening to see how little has changed since I was a child, told to learn knitting the “right way.”
My aim is to equip you with the tools and techniques to navigate knitting world still largely designed for the right-handed majority. Someone who is right – handed knitter may find this page useful in understanding the basic principles, and especially if future knitting patterns can change for easier understanding for the lefties as the result, knitting may become a more inclusive craft for everyone.