Want to knit faster?

When i knit in public, whether it's around other knitters, in church (yes I knit in church), when I'm with friends or just sitting in a coffee shop or cinema, the one comment I always get is about how I knit, how fast I knit and the fact that I often don't look at my knitting. Now the speed and not looking at my knitting all the time, mainly comes from nearly 40 years of knitting experience. But the comments about how I knit is because I knit the continental way, which means i hold the yarn in my left hand.

So what are the benefits of knitting the continental way? In my opinion it's quicker. Okay, when you're first learning you're not going to be very fast. But with regular practice I think continental knitting is faster for the average knitter than the English way of knitting. The main reason it's faster is because the movements are smaller. If you're a 'thrower' you'll find the movements much smaller, particularly when working the knit stitch. It does take practice to build up speed though.

It's also a good idea to learn more than one way to knit. If you knit a lot then changing between different styles mean you minimize the risk of injuries like RSI and you can also knit with one yarn in each hand when working fair isle patterns. Sign up here.

Do you dislike stitch patterns that combine knit and purl stitches like ribs and moss stitch? I teach the Norwegian purl which is different from the regular continental purl in that the yarn is held at the back. It's a little bit more difficult to learn but it means you don't need to flick your yarn back and forth when changing between knit and purl stitches, which makes knitting ribs and moss stitch much, much quicker.

Still not convinced? Watch this video of me knitting (that's slow knitting for me).

This is one of my most popular workshops in yarn shops and in the last year it's become increasingly popular online too. The advantage of taking the course online is that you can keep coming back to look at the videos as many times and as often as you wish and if, after a few months, you need a refresher, you can log back in and view all the material again.

The class lessons consist of videos, written lessons and photo tutorials and you keep indefinite access to the material. You can ask questions in the online class room and after the course has finished you can e-mail me with your questions.

Sounds like fun? Sign up now!

You'll also learn how to do the continental long tail cast on which, with practice, is also a very quick way to cast on. I can cast on 300 stitches in 6 mins and 50 sec. The long tail cast on is my favourite cast on and I use it for everything I knit (unless my project needs a provisonal cast on).

And if you sign up before 10 February, you'll  receive a £10 pattern voucher, which means you can download £10 worth of my patterns and e-books. 

So what are you waiting for? Sign up now! Full details and testemonials here.