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Je perds une maille, mais je continue quand même le tricot.

Je perds une maille, mais je continue quand même le tricot.
I lose a stitch, but I continue the knitting anyway.
From Lesson 332:Concession adverbs (quand même)·French

Questions & Answers about Je perds une maille, mais je continue quand même le tricot.

Why is quand même placed right after the verb continue instead of at the end of the sentence?
In French, short adverbial phrases like quand même generally follow the conjugated verb. While English puts 'anyway' at the very end of the sentence, French keeps it right next to the verb it modifies: je continue quand même le tricot.
Could I use tout de même in this sentence instead?
Yes, you could say je continue tout de même le tricot. It means exactly the same thing. Tout de même is just slightly more formal, but both are perfectly normal to use here to express concession.
Why use both mais and quand même in the same sentence? Isn't that repetitive?
They work together to make the contrast stronger. Mais (but) simply connects the two clauses, while quand même (anyway) emphasizes that the second action is happening despite the first one. This mais... quand même pairing is extremely common in everyday French.
I have learned that continuer takes the preposition à or de. Why isn't there one in this sentence?
You only need à or de when continuer is followed by an infinitive verb (for example: je continue à tricoter). In this sentence, it is followed directly by a noun (le tricot), so no preposition is needed.

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