Hello Yarn Friends...
Do you want to learn to knit fasters so that you have more FFO's (fully finished objects)?
Here at Bombed Yarns headquarters, we handdye quality yarn. We, therefore need to have samples and examples of the colourways we produce. There is a pressure to produce. The faster we knit, the more samples we have. It is inevitable we have looked at increasing our knitting speed. It's probably fair to say that most of us knitters aspire to increase our knitting speed.
Watch this great video clip from an Australian Country Women's Association Knitting competition:
I, (Jan) have fond memories of attending one such competition. As a small child, I watched my Aunt Maureen go up on stage at the Tasmanian CWA Knitting Speed Competition in the 70s, in the Albert Hall of Launceston. Aunt Maureen had churned out hundreds of jumpers (an Aussie term for 'sweater') and was pitting herself against other fast Launceston knitters. She sat on a chair next to 20 other women and picked up her yarn and needles. The timer started and all 20 women started knitting until the buzzer went off, to the delight of the cheering audience. Unfortunately Aunt Maureen wasn't triumphant on the day but I sure enjoyed watching her English throwing style. I have no doubt the nerves of sitting up on stage would slow down many a knitter and cause a few dropped stitches and yarn fumbles.
Winner or not, what 5 TIPS could we get from Aunt Maureen and other fast knitters that would help increase our knitting speed? Whether you are an English style knitter or do the continental technique, here are some simple strategies that can improve our knitting pace.
1. Keep your stitches bunched up close to the tip of the left needle & your fingers close to the end of each needle so there is less distance for your fingers to move and less distance for the completed stitch to be taken off that needle and onto the right needle.
2. Get used to knitting without looking, so that you can direct your gaze towards the next stitch you are about to do, rather than the current stitch you are working on. This helps improve the accuracy of placing your needles into the next stitch. That way your needles know exactly where to aim for.
3. Try a different knitting technique. There is a school-of-thought that continental knitting (left handed method) can be faster than the English or throwing style method (right-handed method). A new method might be faster for you. It can take time to learn a new knitting technique so you will need to practice it to perfect it before you can make a decision if it is faster for you or not. Try knitting a project in the new method before you discard the method altogether.
4. Learn how to minimise your hand and arm movements so that you make the smallest knitting movement possible. Getting someone to video you while you knit, then watching the video back might give you an idea of where you could improve your knitting style/speed.
AND finally
5. Always keep your knitting on-hand. That way you can snatch a bit of knitting time in, if a moment presents itself. This incidental knitting can make completing a project much quicker and keep the project at the forefront of your mind so that you feel like you are completing it in no time!
Check out these other good posts about this topic:
https://knitom.com/2016/06/03/25-knitting-tips-better-knitter/
http://thecraftsessions.com/blog/2015/1/30/how-to-get-faster-at-knitting
Do you have any tips to knitting faster? If so, tell us.
Happy Yarning...
Jan (and Sarah)
Do you want to learn to knit fasters so that you have more FFO's (fully finished objects)?
Here at Bombed Yarns headquarters, we handdye quality yarn. We, therefore need to have samples and examples of the colourways we produce. There is a pressure to produce. The faster we knit, the more samples we have. It is inevitable we have looked at increasing our knitting speed. It's probably fair to say that most of us knitters aspire to increase our knitting speed.
Watch this great video clip from an Australian Country Women's Association Knitting competition:
I, (Jan) have fond memories of attending one such competition. As a small child, I watched my Aunt Maureen go up on stage at the Tasmanian CWA Knitting Speed Competition in the 70s, in the Albert Hall of Launceston. Aunt Maureen had churned out hundreds of jumpers (an Aussie term for 'sweater') and was pitting herself against other fast Launceston knitters. She sat on a chair next to 20 other women and picked up her yarn and needles. The timer started and all 20 women started knitting until the buzzer went off, to the delight of the cheering audience. Unfortunately Aunt Maureen wasn't triumphant on the day but I sure enjoyed watching her English throwing style. I have no doubt the nerves of sitting up on stage would slow down many a knitter and cause a few dropped stitches and yarn fumbles.
Winner or not, what 5 TIPS could we get from Aunt Maureen and other fast knitters that would help increase our knitting speed? Whether you are an English style knitter or do the continental technique, here are some simple strategies that can improve our knitting pace.
2. Get used to knitting without looking, so that you can direct your gaze towards the next stitch you are about to do, rather than the current stitch you are working on. This helps improve the accuracy of placing your needles into the next stitch. That way your needles know exactly where to aim for.
3. Try a different knitting technique. There is a school-of-thought that continental knitting (left handed method) can be faster than the English or throwing style method (right-handed method). A new method might be faster for you. It can take time to learn a new knitting technique so you will need to practice it to perfect it before you can make a decision if it is faster for you or not. Try knitting a project in the new method before you discard the method altogether.
4. Learn how to minimise your hand and arm movements so that you make the smallest knitting movement possible. Getting someone to video you while you knit, then watching the video back might give you an idea of where you could improve your knitting style/speed.
AND finally
5. Always keep your knitting on-hand. That way you can snatch a bit of knitting time in, if a moment presents itself. This incidental knitting can make completing a project much quicker and keep the project at the forefront of your mind so that you feel like you are completing it in no time!
Check out these other good posts about this topic:
https://knitom.com/2016/06/03/25-knitting-tips-better-knitter/
http://thecraftsessions.com/blog/2015/1/30/how-to-get-faster-at-knitting
Do you have any tips to knitting faster? If so, tell us.
Happy Yarning...
Jan (and Sarah)
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