Most of the world's fastest weavers prefer a style of weaving that is sometimes referred to as lever weave, pivot stitch, or Irish hut weave. This is a great method for weavers who make a living weaving, although anyone can learn it. My favorite knitting style is Continental Knitting. This style holds and tightens the thread in the left hand.
With the thread in the left hand, less movement is needed to place the thread around the tip of the right needle and pass the new stitch. The right needle simply “picks up the thread to catch it. I like the speed and efficiency I can get with this method, without using a knitting pin or putting the wool behind my neck. Efficient movement and transitions is where most of my speed improvements have come.
When knitting a stitch, a needle tip is placed in a loop of the other needle. It then wraps the thread around the tip of the needle and pulls it back through the loop. In that process there are a lot of movements and then transitions between those movements, and that's where you can find efficiency. Observe each of these movements individually and find out if there is anything you can do to make it smoother.
Can you hold the needle or thread differently? Can you change the way you tighten the thread, around which fingers? Can the needles be angled to make them easier to handle? The reason “it bothers you so much that someone else shingles faster” is that you care a lot about this hobby. This means that my average (working) day means 2 to 4 hours of knitting and 4 to 8 hours sitting in front of the computer. I was curious to know how quickly I knit, so I did a little time test the other day and found that with the stitch and purl averaged and all the time it takes to turn the rows and everything, I knitted plain jersey at around 65 stitches per minute. But, with all this lever knitting thing, I don't even have to hold the right needle if I'm knitting flat, and the way you hold the needle for shorter needles is totally different, you don't even use your thumb.
When I knit, and when I crochet, I hold my yarn, my hook and my needles the same way with both hands. The speed factor of Continental fabric comes in part from never having to give up on needle holding. I could never imagine how to do the backhand like that, so I learned to knit backwards so I didn't have to turn my work around making a scarf sideways. Let's start with a statement of truth from one of my favorite weavers of all time, the wonderful Elizabeth Zimmermann.
Now, the lever weave, also known as the Irish cottage style, is sure to become one of your favorites, which has the reputation of being the fastest weave in the world. He had learned to knit when he was six years old and began copying more experienced knitters who minimized his movements by keeping the right needle still and making the left needle do most of the work. Quick knitting is great if you're creating a pullover sweater or a 1×1 rib knit that you don't really have to think about while knitting. When I first learned to knit, I was what some call an “English weaver”, some call an “American weaver”, and others call him a “pitcher”.
I don't go into much detail about basic stitch formation, I just try to show you in general how you hold your yarn and how to knit the stitch and purl stitches for each method. Quick, but a quick internet search assured me that there are a lot of women out there knitting at more than 80 stitches per minute. Some people want to switch to Continental Knitting to try to learn how to knit faster, but Continental Knitting can also be easier on your hands. .
