That's the goal for you. You apparently equate "better" with increased speed. I don't. I, too, want to be a "better" knitter, but with the types of patterns I like to do faster would lead to worse results. I prefer to challenge myself with complicated textures and lace patterns, and in these cases increased speed would not be a good thing. My goal is to produce the best results I can.
It really doesn't matter to me if someone can knock out 10 rows to my 1; more power to them. My results are good, and that's what matters to me.
This result was published because it was the first time I had worked with this yarn and I had never expected that the yarn would make such a difference in knitting speed. It opened my eyes.
Wrong! The physics are different. With a 4 mm needle there are twice as many hand motions.
Yes their daily knittng did include purl stitches but the speed trials claiming speeds of over 200spm were for just knit stitches.
Broad generalizations for a activity that spanned hundreds of years over a very borad area. In some cases, you understate the grinding poverty of the contract knitters. In other cases, they were guild craftsmen doing work for nobels and the rich that wanted the best.
I find that using a knitting sheath to knit 170 stitches per minute is less stressfull then hand held knitting at 40 or 50 stitches per minute. That is the most important result of my research.
Most did not, some did.
Steel was expensive, but it was available. It is the same steel that the vikings used for their steel tools used to build their ships. Just as master ship wrights had their own sets of good steel tools so did master knitters. It was the better nourished and better equiped knitters that knit fast, and held the speed records rather than the poorer knitters.
The needles may have been deliberately bent into that bow shape to facilitate knitting. What makes you think the that the needles bent during use rather than having been bent as part of the manufacture process? Who says that straight is the best shape for a needle? The next generation of my needles will be annealed, bent to shape, and then heat treated to restore temper.
Turns out that what was a very cheap yarn for years and years was also one of the very best for speed knitting. It did not get to be expensive until after WWI
I did ask, and this group in particular advised me to switch to continental knitting to increase my speed. But beyond that, issues such as texturing a band around the tip of metal needles to increase speed, using a knitting sheath, and the impact of yarn on knitting speed were never suggested by others as ways to increase my knitting effectiveness. I had to learn those myself.
The number one way to reduce RSI is using a knitting sheath. Who else besides me talks about knitting sheaths?
Last month I would have agreeed with you. Now, after knitting with a yarn that can be speed knit, I say that Shetland yarns are not suitable for "speed knitting".
No!! No!! I selected a yarn for other reasons and was shocked and astonished to find how much faster it allowed me to knit. I had no clue before I put it on the needles.
Like Seabiscuit? Why don't more modern horses have as many wins as Seabiscuit? It may be the same question.
That might just be the best idea that I have seen in a very long time. I would have thought that the Guinness record for speed knitting would have been well over 200 spm.- and set way back when when knitting sheaths were more common.
I find folks are either process driven or product driven. The Other Kim sound process driven, as I am myself.
Process people are happy enough to make a dozen square foot samples of different stitches. Even to the point of ripping out a square to try a different pattern with the yarn.
Product people make them into a sampler afghan. :-)
I haven't got a problem with taking apart an almost finished sweater and reknitting it in a different pattern because I found one I liked better, or being unsatisfied with the sizing of it.
I find it interesting that in both cases , Aaron here and the Other person who counts the speed of xst , are males. I write this as an anecdoote , please don`t see anything else into this remark. mirjam
I'm actually a combination of the two. I won't buy a yarn just because I like the way it feels or looks; I need to have a specific project in mind before even starting to shop for yarn. I've never had the urge to just knit up a bunch of squares for fun; my knitting has to have a final destination, and I've never done a sampler afghan because I hate putting things together (which explains why I sometimes wait months to have completely finished items once the actual knitting is done. If I could find someone locally who would sew things together for me I'd be ecstatic).
I have ripped out an entire back of a sweater because I just didn't like the way the stitches looked. I'm a bit of a perfectionist in this respect. I know that the average person won't notice a missed purl in some patterns, but if I can see it without much effort it gets ripped.
I guess that, like so many of us, I can't really be categorized as pure process or pure project. I just love knitting. I've done other forms of needlework over the years but always come back to my first love
Of course none of us is purely in one category, or the other (otherwise I would never have any finished things).
Let's try this a different way. You've signed up for a difficult class at your local rec centre. You have a list of materials and tools to bring to class, the pattern to be handed out by the teacher. You pack up the required yarn, the correct needles, etc in your workbag. You grab your workbag and head off to class. Before you enter the classroom, you open the workbag and realize you grabbed the wrong one; but this one has yarn (wrong size) and needles (appropriate to the size of the yarn).
Do you leave without entering the class as it would be a waste of time not having the correct materials? Enter the classroom, explain the error to the teacher and take the pattern home to figure it out on your own? Stay for the class, knowing that what you did wouldn't be part of the finished product? Other options?
I would stay for the class, and take copious notes. Then I would see if my yarn could possibly be adapted. If not, I would work like mad at home to get my part of the finished project done in time.
From my view: If there are errors - it is not better knitting. If there are variations in tension, then it is not "better knitting." If the resulting product is not "beautiful" then it is not "better knitting." If the garment is too warm or not warm enough, then it is not "better knitting." If the garment is not durable enough for its intended use, then it is not "better knitting."
If the garment is not finished on time, then it is not better knitting. If no garment is attempted because it would take too long to knit, then it is not 'better knitting."
If your wrists hurt, (because of your knitting) then it is not "better knitting."
That is what better knitting is not!
Most of the stuff I do (when I am not just testing to find a better way) is from Gladys Thompson - mostly knit at 7 to 9 spi with worsted weight yarn to produce a firm fabric. The gansey that I am working on right now has only 12 cables bordering 6 panels of moss diamonds up the body, and it is real easy because I can always see the pattern.
However, I think you will find Gladys Thompson's Aran patterns to be as challenging as any knitting patterns, any where. (Chart them first, some patterns have errors in them and some are just confusing.) The GT patterns have more twisted stitches in them that keeps everything tight and gives it a lovely fine texture. However, they also make you pay attention. Those ladies really understood beautiful fabric.
If I am going to knit that stuff, I gotta be able to knit without messing up my wrists. I gotta be a "better knitter."
And, I am thinking about a Sheringham jersey in the classic "rig and fur" pattern (more moss diamonds) which looks good when knit up at about 12 spi/20 rpi, but maybe the yarn that I had thought to use is not "fast enough" It looks and feels real nice knit at that gauge, but it does not really facilitate knitting at a pace that would let me finish in a reasonable time. And of course, in the best knitting tradition, note the typo in the chart.
Sometimes better knitting is knitting that just gets a whole lot of little moss diamonds knit.
I am with Katherine, I would not leave the class. I would stay for the class and practice with my wrong yarn and needles. The purpose of the class would be to learn the technique, not to end up with a finished product.
I'm gonna muck this up some more with this response, but this is the way I am. If it's a technique class, like learning techniques to make a traditional gansey, I stay; the sample can be done with any yarn-needle combination. If it's a class that was intended to produce a finished product - let's say a throw pillow using bulky yarn and #15 needles and all I have is bedspread cotton and 2-mm needles - I go home. I would explain to the instructor just why I was gonna leave, though, and ask for a copy of the pattern; after all these years I can make my way through most patterns, even those charted ones that Noreen despises so much
From my many knitting years as well as teaching crafts i can tell you for sure that That there are variations in tension , that happen to the BEST knitter. it has to do with many factors ,,, from moods to health problems or just tiredeness,,,,, as to mistakes , thisis a matter of culture ,, in my Knitted shirt During the last weeks i found a mistake in the pattern ,,,and i left it there , for knowing that being human i am not perfect , and in bad times maybe it is beter to have a flaw in a shirt , than a wounded person .I leave it as sign of having made it Healthy and whole through this war. As to Beautiful , this is also a matter of culture or in the eye of the beholder. Warm enough or not warm enough ? what are you talking about I haven`t seen any pattern coming with the instructions saying that this would make you feel warm in X centigrades,,,, Feeling warm is a very personal thing , i have friends who wear a cotton shawl and sweat , while i freeze with 2 sweaters and a coat over them . Even Durability is a matter of culture, some people like to wear the same clothes for years some like to have new ones , Some people are accident prone where ever they walk they or their clothes might catch a nail or something ,,,, some can walk through a fire and look groomed . Some things aren`t finnished on time for the many things Life can do to you , THIS HAS NOTHING To do with the Quality of the garment once it is finnished.
There is an old Jewish folkstory ,, Where a tailor debates with a custumer about the quality of his suit making . The tailor says he needs a month ,, the custumer wants it in a week , and points out to the Tailor that God Created the world in 6 days... "Well , " says the tailor , Look at the world`s imperfections and Look at my perfect suits." mirjam
Same here i wouldn`t leave i will make many notes and coming will try to make the part i should haver made in class ,,, There is always something to learn from every situation, mirjam
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