One of the tricks I’ve read for a left-handed knitter or crocheter to learn is to sit opposite someone who’s right-handed. Then it’s easier to translate the movements.
My work is done here. 
:smack: 
(Insert the DUH smilie with drool coming out of its mouth.)
You sound like you’re doing fine for your first hour of practice! I taught myself off the internet – check out some informational sites like stitchguide.com or crochetcabana.com for instructions – maybe the different pictures will help you figure it out better. I kept checking different sites till I found one that clicked. It took a couple days but once I mastered the single crochet the others were easier – they are all variations on the same concept.
I’m a lefty- try Continental style Knitting, as you control your wool with your left hand. Easier, apparently, to learn how to purl that way.
Continental–or “pick”–or German style knitting–is the ONLY way to go. It’s MUCH faster, gives you far more consistent tension, and is way more versatile with color work. My grandmother told me that American women used to do it that way before WWII, because it WAS so much better, but that during the war it fell out of fashion; American women didn’t want to be seen knitting in the “German” fashion.
Too bad. When I teach knitting, that’s how I teach it. I’ve taught many knitters to switch over from the English to the Continental method, and none of them have ever gone back.
Eh. Honestly, I’ve tried continental and it just didn’t work for my hands. I went back to throwing from my right hand. And it took me enough damn tries to get the knitting thing down that I’m happy with any way that works. The thing is to try all kinds of things and go with what works for you as an individual.
I am being tempted by combination this weekend as I have a lot of stockinette to work and it just looks like that might work out more than plain continental for me and my hand motions.
Yes, it took me a lot of practice. If I hadn’t worked for a German woman at the time, who MADE me switch, I might not have stuck with it. I’m glad I did.
Well, one thing that definitely kept me from staying switched was trying to do lace. Just could not get a rhythm in continental while messing with yos and slipped and passed over stitches. :smack: But really, I don’t see a need to switch styles when one works for me. (Except as I said I feel like messing with combination this weekend. But that’s sort of a theoretical thing for me, understanding how it works is important to me, even if I don’t use it all the time.)
I went to Joanne Fabrics yesterday (they were having a sale which was great). The site that Jolly Jimmy Joyce recommended said to start with larger needles, and since the yarn I chose said to use size 11 needles, I went with those.
The yarn, while very pretty, is too fuzzy for me to see what I am doing while I learn. Oops. I ended up scouring the house and finding an ugly yarn octopus that someone had given me years ago…I pulled the yarn ball out of its head and have been using it for practice. 
So far I have pretty much mastered one casting method, and I’m working on a very small continental project.
This stuff is hard to learn y’all! I swear I watched the casting video 20+ times before I finally got comfortable with it. If my “bug blanket” doesn’t come together sometime today I may be tempted to switch to crochet, too.