In this lesson, I try to thoroughly analyze the eternal dispute between the Grandmother's and the Continental styles of knitting, at the same time present another way to knit the Stockinette stitch, and also introduce the term "prepare the leaning of the stitch in the previous row."
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I am a committed representative of the Grandmother's style of knitting, and there was a period in my life that I once almost quit knitting, not understanding how to read stitch pattern charts and why when I knit in rounds with circular needles my stitches lean in the inconvenient opposite angle. Knitting in Grandmother's style is significantly faster – that is confirmed by many who are equally good in both styles. But no one style is more correct or better then the other, while there is one significant difference – "grandmothers" should have skills and knowledge of continental knitting, and "continentals" can practically do just fine without knowing Grandmother's style, except in some cases. And those cases are discussed in this lesson. Retraining yourself in a different style is possible, but not an easy task. It's about learning how to write right-handed with your left hand. Especially if you knit a specific style for more than a dozen years.
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Western knitting does not know the Grandmother's style of knitting. I remember that for a very long time, I was looking at English-language websites, books, and videos for an explanation of it, particularly how to work the Grandmother's purl stitch. And, I can say I found nothing, except for two Youtube videos that were filmed by the authors from the Eastern part of the knitting world. They titled the Grandmother's knitting style as "Old Russian Way." The Internet is full of knitting methods and styles, but to be clear, they are all just different ways of knitting the same Continental stitch. And when I finally figured out everything about them, learned all the subtleties, and understood the difference, I even began to create original stitch patterns, relying on the differences and possibilities of these styles. I even tried to explain the difference to the Western knitting world by writing a description of Grandmother's purl stitch in English (see below).
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Another topic that I want to speak here is preparing the lean (angle) of the stitch in the previous row, which makes it easier for many knitting manipulations. Knitting stitches together with right-leaning or left-leaning without turning, slipping and twisting the stitches, knitting stitch patterns in circular knitting, knitting mirrored twisted stitches, an I-cord or binding-off the stitches in a garter stitch. Or, when we encounter a stitch lying at an uncomfortable lean (angle) and are forced to change it, or, which is completely wrong, twist it. Concerning the preparation of stitches in the previous row, I also did not read or find anywhere. All stitch pattern charts or descriptions are made for the continental style of knitting with all its strict rules and methods. But to find out about this is very useful, as it allows you to expand the boundaries, and sometimes make your life easier.
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So, the purpose of the following analysis is to prepare the stitches in the previous row. So, in the next row, they already lie with a distinct lean or, in other words, at a convenient angle. What kind of lean you need depends on your knitting style, the stitch pattern, the flat or circular knitting, how you need to bind-off, or when you need to make decreases in both lean. To make it even more precise, preparing your stitches in Continental knitting means, for example, that you can replace ssk with k2tog through back loops, not slipping, replacing, or twisting them.

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There are only four possible lean options.