Need for Speed?

Donna MAYBE , in other times when people could ONLY WEAR Hand made stuff , and some people lived from making things for sale, this was important . But since Most people here can buy at least some factory made [ or Hand made in a poorer country ] ready made , i don`t see any point in all this push or drive to do it fast,faster,fastest tempo. We are contemporary persons we have many activities , and although many of us enjoy our handknits, we also are entitled to do it each in our own tempo , and NOT be pushed to a Competetion of who can do more than the others,,, mirjam

I've been nervous of broaching this subject since it seems to be so important to many people but I had wondered about it.

My knitting is done during my (self) enforced hour or so in the afternoon, listening to the radio play - when I'm at home. I can't bear to have idle hands yet need to give attention to the radio to get the best experience. It's a perfect solution. I used to do mending and other sewing during that time but now it's all been done and until something else needs attention I knit.

It's going to take a long time to get through my stored yarn, leftovers from decades of other projects, but when I'm through I'll be indulging myself in the fabulous new yarns - if I can find a local supplier. Mail order would be fine but I want to see and, more importantly, FEEL them.

It's something to aim for but I'm not going to do speed knitting just to get there :-) There's no real rush, when God made time She made plenty of it.

In the meantime Spouse, 'children', grandchildren and perhaps even I shall benefit.

Mary

Mary

I understood the need in the past......and should have added that as I am only curious about today.

And yes each to his/her own pace

Donna

Mirjam Bruck-Cohen wrote:

From lurking here I picked up the idea of listening to books on tapes while knitting....what a wonderful idea because I love to read too and now can get caught up on that as well. I have mail ordered kits for hats which included the yarn to try out new yarns.....the hat kits are not too expensive however I have seen sweater kits for up to 200 dollars. The knitting guild here in Dayton Ohio invite local and not so local yarn shop owners to peddle their yarns and other goodies before the meetings......it's a great way to see and feel the new yarns.....most have gotten away from all the furry novelty yarns and also give us a discount.....I bought some gorgeous Opal Sock Yarn called Feeling ....2 skeins and have started a sock

Speaking of not rushing....I was standing in a long line yesterday at the Base Pharmacy and the lady in front of me was complaining, wondering why they only had 3 techs working the counters....I smiled at her and said I look at this a my down time.....nothing to do but stand and wait....she had never thought of it that way....we rush everywhere.....then we started talking about other things and in a flash it was our turn.

Donna

What a good idea! I might look into that, thanks.

Yebbut they result would cost a lot more to buy. Many years ago I paid £18 ($36) for a beautifully soft yarn to make a fair-isle jumper for a daughter. The yarn was very special, natural but I can't remember what. It was like knitting with a shadow, it floated over the needles and I enjoyed every stitch. She enjoyed every wearing. Later we looked at comparable jumpers and the prices frightened us! That was about 25 years ago.

That's a good idea too but I'm not a member of such a guild. Don't even know if there is one in our city - or if I'd enjoy being part of one.

Well done!

Reminds me of when people tell me I must have a lot of patience when I'm demonstrating something, they wouldn't have time because of watching television. I always want to retort that I haven't the patience to watch television, which is true and we don't have one anyway, but I hold my tongue. One day I might not ...

Mary

If there is a local guild, they'll probably allow you to attend a few meetings and see what you think about joining it. See what you think of this (which may know where local guilds are):

DAB spun a FINE 'yarn':

Overachievement? Underachievement? I do everything fast, always have. I RAN everywhere as a kid, I still walk VERY fast, drives my DH nuts. Doing things fast, for ME is just a character enhancement or flaw, depending on how you look at it, grin! Hugs, Noreen

Mary

My suspicion is we live in a "immediate gratification" "competition minded" society. I just don't think it applies to knitting personally.

JM2C

JJMolvik

EVERYTHING?

Some things need to be done slowly to maximise enjoyment :-)

I wish I could :-(

It can be effective, certainly not a flaw, just not for me. I can't even swim or cycle fast any more :-(

Keep going!

Mary

Mary Fisher spun a FINE 'yarn':

Well, I *think* I know what you mean there, and well *that* should be done slowly, agreed!

I am SLOW at one thing, falling asleep! That and the above comment, too, Mary :D Noreen

I'm not a particularly speedy knitter, and I like it that way. My life can be hectic enough, with 3 kids to take care of, a small business to run, and a household to keep functioning. Right now I'm finally finishing up our start-of-year flurry of medical appointments with all that entails. I look forward to my evening/nighttime knitting downtime, after I get my youngest one to bed and finally have a couple hours to sit and knit.

Part of the reason for my lack of speed is the fact that I like to knit textures, cable patterns, and lace. I've learned that I really need to focus and take my time, or I'm gonna screw up something royally. Plain stocking or garter stitch I can do faster, but what's the rush? I'm not competing with anyone.

You gotta stop and smell the roses, and for me that means taking my time when knitting.

The Other Kim kimagreenfieldatyahoodotcom

I am one of the prime offenders when it comes to talking about speed. However, my interest is not so much speed, as knitting with a minimum amount of stress on the hands and wrists. That means knitting efficiently. A by-product of knitting more efficiently is knitting faster.

One of my interests is, "How did fishermen use knit garments to stay warm?" The traditional fisherman's gansey that kept those fishermen warm was knit very tightly and contained ~160,000 stitches compared to the ~ 40,000 stitches in many modern hand knitting patterns. If you are going to knit finish more than one traditional gansey, you are going to have knit efficiently.

Thus, I track my knitting speed as a proxy for how efficiently I am knitting. If my knitting speed drops, then something is wrong with my knitting form and in few days, aches and pains are going to start showing up. Or, maybe, I just need to take a few minutes and polish my needles : )

Aaron

Sometrimes Efficienct tells you to slow down so that your pruduct will be of higher quality ,, it all depends on the person ,,, mirjam

:-)

Sorry, I didn't intend sending so soon ... I fall asleep quickly as a rule, especially after the what was above :-)

Mary

We might live in it but we have the choice not to be part of it :-)

I've NEVER been competitive and don't expect immediate gratification - but I'm old ...

Mary

Only three?

:-)

We didn't have a business - and the household? That wasn't an issue when we had children. I'm gradually getting on top of it but I do wonder if it will happen before I'm in my box :-)

We've had those for what seems like ages :-(

I love to knit complicated patterns, even those I make up as I go along. If they go wrong i either leave them of pull out, it's not important to me any more.

I HATE ss with a passion!

Well said!

Mary