Now I like a nice meditative knit as much as the next person but there are times when you do just need to power through something. Whether you are knitting to a deadline or whether you have 10" of plain, grey, stocking stitch sweater to plough through there are times when you just want to put your "foot to the floor" and knit as fast as humanly possible.

The next time you find yourself in that situation why not try these few simple tips to speedier knitting?

Use super slick and shiny needles: As slick as you can get away with without your stitches flying off the needles. I like Addi Turbos in particular for lots of stocking stitch. The points aren't the sharpest but they really are super speedy.

Front load your stitches: Scoot as many stitches as you can to the tip of your left hand needle. That way you don't have to pull the next stitch to the top of the needle - it will already be there.

Knit at the tips: Knit each stitch right at the tip of the left hand needle - but be sure to wrap the yarn fully around the wider part of the right hand needle as this is what determines the tightness of each stitch.

Set your timer for 10 minutes. Eyes down and why not see how much you can knit when you really put your mind to it.