Miriam Tegels, the fastest knitter in the world, holds a record of 118 stitches per minute that appears in the Guinness Book of World Records. This is an impressive feat, but it is not the norm. The average knitting speed is around 20-30 stitches per minute. However, if you are looking to increase your speed, there are a few techniques you can use.
One of the fastest weaving styles is lever-weave, which is used by production weavers. This style can help you speed up your knitting. The Heartstring Fiber Arts blog has a great explanation of this technique, which is referred to as a lever weave. It is possible to knit faster without sacrificing the meditative aspect of knitting.
The Yarn Harlot Stephanie Pearl-McPhee has a video on Irish Cottage Knitting that can help you learn this style. Additionally, knitting every other row backwards can save you time as you don't have to turn your work around. You may also want to try using a fabric sheath or makkin belt to hold a stationary straight needle if you are looking to knit while standing or walking. The 6-hour conference on weaving was also very informative and gave insight into the history of this style of weaving.
It is important to be able to weave without having to pause for patterning or passing a cable through a magic loop. Carrie CraftGeek has an excellent tutorial on leverage knitting on YouTube that can help you learn this technique. It is important to remember that increasing your speed will take practice and patience. Estimating how long it will take you to complete a project can help you plan accordingly.
For example, if your project requires 60 rows x 64 stitches, it may take you a couple of hours of straight knitting.
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