A need for speed

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I know how to knit in a few ways and I use all of them regularly. I can do the knit stitch using German and Portuguese styles, but also Portuguese Reverse. What I mean by the latter is knitting Portuguese style from right to left. I can also purl Portuguese, Norwegian and German style, but I avoid the latter like the plague, because I really never managed to get the hang of it.

Why have I bothered to learn all of these different techniques, you ask? Well... even though I must confess I love learning new stuff, that is not the main reason. There are two better reasons to learn to knit in more than one style, and these are speed and even tension.

As for speed I decided to do a few test and check. Here are my personal results (per 100st):
  • 4:20    purl pt (pt=Portuguese)
  • 6:10    knit pt
  • 6:00    knit reverse pt
  • 5:50    knit de (de=Deutch=German)
I haven't compared the speeds of other purl techniques because they're obviously much, much slower. When it comes to purling there is only one reason to learn a different style, like Norwegian, and that is that if you're knitting with the yarn in the back (German style) and you want to do a few purl stitches in between, Norwegian is much more convenient than having to bring the yarn to the front in order to use the Portuguese style.

When it comes to tension, here is the list ordered from low to high:
  1.  purl pt (less stitches per length)
  2.  knit de
  3.  knit reverse pt
  4.  knit pt (more stitches per length)
Tension is much more important than you may think, because when knitting flat you alternate between knit and purl stitches. This is a problem because almost every knitter has a different tension for knitting and purling and if the difference is large this can show both in stockinette and ribbing.

So, here is my personal conclusion:
  1. When knitting long stretches of stockinette, purl pt and knit de is the best for both even tension and speed.
  2. When doing short rows (literally), purl and knit reverse pt is a better option because there is no need to waste time turning the work and changing the yarn direction.
  3. When using stitches that alternate knit and purl stitches often, like ribbing, the best option is to knit and purl pt.
  4. When doing a row consisting mostly of knit stitches, with a few purl stitches, then knit de and purl Norwegian is my favourite.
So as you can see, all these different techniques have their use.

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