Tips for Knitting Faster and More

Most of us knitters would like to be more productive with our knitting, whether that means knitting faster when we have time to or making more time for our knitting in the first place.

A few years ago I took a faster knitting workshop with Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, who is mentioned in this oldie but a goodie Craftsy article about how to knit faster. She uses a style called pivot knitting, which is a great way to knit super fast but also takes a lot of practice.

Practicing your own style of knitting and working on ways to be more efficient within that style is a more practical way to learn to knit faster. I learned to knit by dropping the right-hand needle when I formed the stitch, but I trained myself to stop doing that and it made my knitting a lot faster and more efficient.

Things like knitting on circular needles so you don’t have to stop when you get to the end of a round (or focusing on what Stephanie calls “kick turns” when you change rows) is another way to make your knitting faster.

And of course you’ll be able to knit more if you combine knitting faster with knitting more often. I have an article on ways to make more time for knitting, most of which you are probably already doing, but can get you thinking about ways to get more knitting in.

Do you have a tip for knitting faster or more? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo via Craftsy.]

Getting ready for back to school makes me think about pencil crafts, so let’s take a look at some pencil themed knitting patterns!

I recently made a pencil on a circular knitting machine, and it was a fun, quick, easy project that uses little bits of leftover yarn (and if you don’t have yellow you can make it a colored pencil using whatever color’s your favorite). And if you want to make a bigger version check out this pattern from Orange Olive Road on Etsy.

If you want to knit a pencil pillow by hand, check out Sketchy, available on Ravelry from Shana S. Cohen. This one uses worsted weight yarn and has two size options and the choice to make a pencil with an eraser or a colored pencil.

Pencil scarves seem to be the most popular kind of pencil knitting pattern, and there are lot of cute ones. This one from Cosy Craft UK mostly uses garter stitch, with some welts to add texture and what looks like an I-cord edging. It calls for DK weight yarn.

If you want to go all garter stitch try this version from Emsley Co Creations, which uses five colors of DK weight yarn and just a little shaping to make the point of the pencil.

There’s also this fun, mostly stockinette so it looks like it curls a bit, pencil pattern that looks like it’s worked in chunky yarn from Little Knits Studio. This one uses just a little garter stitch and easy shaping for the point.

If you don’t want a pencil scarf, how about some pencil socks? The No. 2 Pencil Socks from The Yarn Enabler are available from Ravelry and use five colors of sock yarn. They feature wide ribs to mimic the texture of a pencil and have options to be worked from the top down or the toe up.

Needs Sharpening by Alexander Walker is a free pattern on Ravelry that uses five colors of sock yarn to make a sort of shortie sock. The little bit of black at the tips of the toes inspired the name. These, too, can be worked in either direction and are available in three sizes.

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