Knitting For Profit

Posts Tagged ‘speed knitting’

Quick and Easy Knitting Pattern Ideas

Monday, May 4th, 2009

This is just a quick post to show you some knitting pattern books that have small, fast or easy-to-knit projects.

Great for using up yarn, and music for the profitable knitters ears with many projects able to be completed in a day or less.

They may fit your niche already, or you could alter them slightly to make them suit using different yarns or colours, or adding decorative elements. All are great for ideas and inspiration.

This is by no means a definitive list of fast-to-knit knitting pattern books but it hopefully gives you some ideas and inspiration. I have contacted the authors and publishers to see if they are happy for the finished projects to be sold, but have not received responses yet, so please wait for an update here, or contact them yourself before going ahead and using these patterns for your knitting business!

I have used Amazon links for the pictures so you can get an idea of their price too.

Judith Durant has created a range of these great pattern books with knitting patterns that use only one skein of yarn.

This is very useful if you are Knitting For Profit because you don’t have to worry about dye lots or running out of yarn, and they are relatively small projects so they are fast to complete.

 "Speed Knitting" by Kris Percival has fast and easy to complete projects, easy for beginners and fast for experienced knitters. Part of the trick is using chunky yarns and big needles which makes the whole project come along a lot faster.

"Last Minute Knitted Gifts" by Joelle Hoverson has a good range of easy projects all able to be completed in under 10 hours. She uses a wide range of colours and textures which will give you great ideas for making your products stand out. [UPDATE] – Joelle has let me know that you can’t sell pieces you knit from patterns in this book, but it might still be a good one to have a look at for ideas.

 "Weekend Knitting" by Melanie Falick is a popular book that includes projects designed to be knitted in a weekend or less. There are lots of unique designs such as a flower-shaped washcloth and little egg-cozies, plus projects covering a range of knitting difficulties too. [UPDATE] – The publishers replied and said that you can’t sell items you knit from Melanie’s book, but you could contact the designer of each item individually and ask for permission.

"One Skein" by Leigh Radford is another book of fast-to-knit projects that use only one skein of yarn, mostly patterns for fashion accessories and decorative pieces for homes. There are also projects designed to use up all those leftover bits from other projects.

I will hunt around for some free fast-knit patterns too, and include them in a future post!

Tags: easy knitting pattern, easy knitting patterns, fast knitting pattern, knitting niche, knitting niche ideas, knitting pattern, speed knitting
Posted in Knitting Patterns | 6 Comments »

A Quick Lesson In Speed Knitting

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

If you want to make money knitting, then being able to knit faster not only means you can get more done in a shorter space of time, it also means you are being paid more per hour of work – so it’s worth taking some tips from the worlds fastest knitter!

Miriam Tegels is in the Guiness Book of World Records for completing an amazing 118 stitches in one minute!

KnitPicks has released this video with tips from Miriam for increasing the speed of your knitting, and it’s really fascinating to watch her in action. Miriam knits in the continental style for competition, but her tips are still useful even if you knit in other styles.

To really get your needles burning, Miriam suggests:

• Don’t tense up – make sure you shoulders are relaxed

• Keep all your movements small, your hands should move as little as possible

• Keep your left index finger low, almost in line with the needle

• Drape yarn over your left index finger and down through the middle and ring fingers of your left hand. Keep tension by clamping down on the yarn with these fingers

• If you want to compete, practice continental style on size 8 needles with DK weight yarn, once you can knit more than 200 stitches in 3 minutes you’re ready!

If you’re not interested in competing, stick to your preferred style and just keep practicing! When you are knitting for profit it’s well worth the effort to increase your speed and productivity.

Another way to speed up your knitting is to choose projects that are simple and fast to knit. There are some good books available that specialise in fast projects, and remember to have a look at Ruth’s projects which are designed to be fast and easy too.

Tags: knitting, knitting for profit, speed knitting, teach knitting
Posted in Knitting Resources | No Comments »