Took up the needles and in the interest of research experimented with knitting fast. Strolled through the stash and chose different needles, different fibre. Allowed that casting on was not part of it, but frogging was. I have watched women who can knit very, very fast so I had an idea of what was possible. Ready, set, knitknitknitknitknit…… That is not very fast knitting. Very fast would be kkkkkknnnnnnnnniiiiiiitttttt…..
Changing needles and yarn did not seem to make a huge difference but Lantern Moon needles were the most accommodating as a tool for speed.
I found I was very fast at frogging, can frog far faster than I can type. Untangling wool after fast frogging is another issue.
Slow knitting was soothing after fourth gear knitting. Focusing on knitting even more slowly was an experience and one I quite enjoyed. I expected I would get bored and my attention would wander but it did not: awareness was captured even more. Frogging was leisurely.
It was raining as I sat on the Polish Deli patio yesterday morning and the needles and yarn did not get wet (I sat under the eaves) but knitting was very very hard so I gave up after one row. I suspect it was the humidity that alarmed the wool so that it gripped the needle in horror and each stitch could barely be persuaded to move along and jump off. It didn’t feel like slow knitting; it felt like a challenge of the discretion being the better part of valour type if I have interpreted correctly. I just sat and the knitting sat quietly on the table beside me.