The continental knitting style is aften refered to as Europian Knitting or German Style because it originated in continental Europe, most likely in Germany. It is also called “picking” because of the way one moves the needle to pick the stitch off of the finger. Lastly, continental knitting is called left handed, not because you have to be left hand dominant, but because the action of knitting is taking place in the left hand. The needle is held beneath the hand like so:

And, just like in Right Hand, or English Style knitting, Continental knitters hold their yarn to create tension in the work in a variety of ways, shown here:

Many people maintain that continental knitting is faster and more efficient than English Style knitting. I am still in the process of discovering weather or not this is true, but apparently the efficiency was one of the reasons that Elizabeth Zimmermann repopularized it in North America.  The quest continues.

Famous pickers:  Elizabeth Zimmermann (actually credited with reintroducing continental knitting to North America), Speed Knitter Miriam Tegeles.

Looking for the same post on English Style Knitting?  Check it.