Machine Knitting Fun

Day 15 of Completion Challenge

2011-12-17T19:05:00.000-08:00

My hands are gray and my face is smudged and still no worky. What I have been doing the last couple days is trying to figure out why my Toyota KS 650 bulky machine and Toyota KR 350 will not do ribbing. I've done a lot of ribbing on this machine. It's always worked great. Suddenly, it just won't work. I can do stockinette, but I have a hat that needs ribbing. I hate mock rib. That's not an option for me.

This problem has gotten me really worked up and after much thought I figured it's in combination with the holidays. Just too much on my plate. So, I decided that I need to suspend my challenge until after the holidays. I feel like I can do no more in regards to getting this machine up and going at this time. It needs to simmer and I need to talk to a few expert machine knitters.

This is what I have done...

I've rechecked my ribber and carriage setting time and time again.
I've checked the needles for bent needles.
I've checked the carriage for non-working parts.
I've wiped the whole knitting machine down with oil.
I've defuzzed it.
I've wiped the machine and yarn down with a dryer sheet.
I've printed out and checked the ribber bed adjustments.

I'm feeling burned out. So, I'm going to focus on more fun things. My upcoming ski trip. Christmas with my family. Christmas with DH's family and New Years. I've wrapping to do. I've got crochet projects to finish. Never without anything to do around here.

Day 14 of Completion Challenge

2011-12-14T08:52:00.000-08:00

Getting behind on my posting of what I'm doing. On this particular day I bought fabric for the lining of one of my machine knitted bags. I needed to bring the bag with me to Hobby Lobby and find a fabric that would match. During the summer I had purchased a fat quarter that I thought for sure would match and it looked terrible next to the bag. One doesn't want to spend a lot of time making a beautiful bag only to have the lining make you not want to use it.

Day 13 of Completion Challenge

2011-12-14T08:46:00.000-08:00

I wanted to finish the stocking challenge from my guild meeting. I had made a pitiful stocking at the meeting, but I knew I could do better in the quiet of my home. I don't do things well when people are talking to me. I tend to lose my train of thought or place in a pattern in that case. So, in the quiet of my craftroom I attempted the stocking again. This is when I encountered trouble with doing 1X1 ribbing. The carriage just wouldn't do it properly. While trouble shooting I hand knitted from the left and machine knitted from the right. I needed 12 rows, but after 6 I really wanted to move on and see if the carriage would knit stockinette in my effort to trouble shoot the problem. Of course it knitted stockinette just fine. Decided to finish stocking and further trouble shoot when I got it off my needles.

Here's my beautiful stocking knitted on my bulky. Came out just the size I wanted!

Again in the quiet of my craftroom I kitchenered the toe from the purl side as I like to do and it turned out perfect.

Day 12 of Completion Challenge

2011-12-12T18:50:00.000-08:00

I began my day finishing my donkey, pictures to come, and I'll be ending my day trouble shooting my Toyota KS 650 Bulky machine. Thought I'd get a quick stocking done today only to find out my machine isn't working properly. I needed 12 rows of 1X1 ribbing. I would do the zigzag row, hang cast on comb and weights, do the slip row, and then back to stockinette and coming from the left it would stop knitting in the first 10 needles with a "conk." Nothing would move. I followed my manual to a T.

First thing I check am I pushing all the right buttons and levers to do 1X1 ribbing according to my manual. Yes. How do my needles look? Any bent? How are the latches? Are they doing what they're supposed to do? I took off both the ribber carriage and knitting carriage wiped them down and oiled them. Everything is moving as far as I can see. I ran the ribber carriage back and forth and things were moving fine. Moved carriage back and started forth "CONK!" My carriage won't move to the left.

I'm very fortunate to have a 2nd Toyota KS 650 carriage. My next test will be to run it across and see what happens. So, today's completion challenge is to complete my trouble shooting and get my bulky up and running. I need at least one more hat before Christmas.

Day 11 of Completion Challenge

2011-12-11T17:11:00.000-08:00

Find my donkey pieces! While at my Machine Knitters Guild of the San Francisco Bay Area meeting I recalled I had the above mentioned project that I've really wanted to finish for a long time. I've located my donkey and have been stitching up seams. Redid a seam that I can't for the life of me figure out why I stitched it so badly years ago. Then I had to figure out how to make my strip of machine knitting look like a donkey ear. The instructions were great on telling one how to knit every thing. As for putting it together it was basically... "Now put it together." Not much help. Most pieces are pretty self explanatory, but the ears I just couldn't envision them. I finally think I hit on how they should be stitched. I took the 2 toned strip of knitting. Gather each end, folded them in half width wise and mattress stitched the side seams. At least they are looking like ears.

These donkeys look nothing like mine, but this was the article that made me want to knit a donkey. It pointed to a machine knitting pattern in "Machine Knitting Monthly" (pattern on page 48 of the August 2008 magazine (Issue 127)). I had contacted them in 2010 about getting a back copy, but it took them a long time to get back to me. By the time they had I had found out that my machine knitting buddy had this issue. She graciously loaned me her copy.

Why would I want to knit a donkey in the first place you ask? I have been driving by the cutest miniature fuzzy donkeys 5 days a week for almost 7 years. They are SO CUTE! I just want to pinch their little cheeks and chuck them under the chin. I have a feeling the donkeys AND their owner wouldn't appreciate it that's when I thought I'd make my own.

Day 10 of Completion Challenge

2011-12-08T23:06:00.000-08:00

Today's challenge finishing the Christmas stocking I started at the guild meeting. I needed to kitchener the toe and sew up the side seam. I made this on my standard gauge so lots of light and a magnifying glass was needed for me to kitchener the toe. Then after all is said and done I did it backwards. Oh well. It is a scruffy little stocking and meant it to be a practice one anyways. It may find it's way to Christmas day one way or another. More importantly it is finished and not languishing at the bottom of my knitting bag!

Sacramento Machine Knitters Guild Meeting 12/11

2011-12-08T22:26:00.000-08:00

Great meeting today. Very busy meeting today. We had 4 new knitter's come to the meeting. 3 of them brought knitting machines. There was Sabrina and her mom Nellie. Each had a machine that Becky helped answer questions for, because she's more acquainted with Brother machines. There was Michelle who brought in a Studio machine she inherited from her Grandma. Julia answered her questions since she's more familiar with Studio machines. Then there was another gal and her name escapes me. She and her itty bitty very patient daughter watched the goings on. She just bought a machine and is waiting for it to come. I hope to see everyone again in the new year.

Our knitting theme was big surprise Christmas knitting. Marilynn brought in a pattern for mini ornaments. She knitted a mini stocking. I was so busy knitting a stocking of my own I never took pictures of this full room. Every table was covered with knitting machines. 7 knitting machines in all.

I completed my stocking on the machine and just had hand work to do. Pictures will follow in my Completion Challenge post. Big thank you to Becky for helping me to understand what (8-11-9) meant in regards to knitting a heel.

Day 9 of Completion Challenge

2011-12-08T01:40:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to make a beanie on my knitting machine for a long time. That's what my daughter wants. "Nothing fancy just a beanie." I wanted to make a beanie with a fitted crown. Not the typical gathered tops I have done. They just don't look like beanies. This is based on a hand knit pattern in the round. I knew I couldn't do it in the round on the machine just yet, but I knew I could do it flat. That's OK one of my strengths is the mattress stitch. One can hardly tell there is a seam from the outside when I do it.

I found this beanie pattern on Ravelry it's called "Regular Guy Beanie." The first example of it I found the gal had knitted it on her knitting machine. No written conversion, but I decided it was time to quit thinking about it and just give it a go.

I looked up how to do 2X2 ribbing in my manual. I read the written pattern for the hand knit version to figure out when to do decreases. What I really liked about this hat was the spiral chains on the crown created by the decreases.

With my plan written on the back of a recycled envelop I dove in. I am very pleased with how it turned out even though there were problems. I also forgot to so some plain knitting rows, but it still fits quite nice.

Only thing I kind of don't like, but will keep to myself when my daughter wears it is the row of holes where the ribbing attaches to the stockinet. I've been told to next time pick up the purl bump on the stitch next to it to avoid the hole. There were 2 set ups for doing 2X2 ribbing in my manual I'll have to try the 2nd one and see it it makes a better transition.

Day 8 of Completion Challenge

2011-12-07T08:29:00.000-08:00

Wow I can't believe what a big baby I can be. I fought the urge to put off finishing several parts of this project yesterday. My attention span I've found can be quite short the minute I want to do something else.

First it was the visor to the cap, but fought through and finished it before I started the scarf. Next I wanted to take the scarf off on waste yarn and do something else. I found knitting the scarf until it was 60 inches long to be kind of boring. Again I fought the urge to move on to something else. I did this by just knitting a few rows and then taking a break to say do laundry, cook dinner, watch a TV program, play my poodle. Before I knew it was 60 inches long. I wanted to add some fringe and once off the knitting machine I wanted to move on again. I answered this urge by picking up a ruler, scissors and the scarf. Within a half hour I was completely done with this project.

What a great feeling to have a project done well ahead of Christmas and not up on Christmas Eve hunting for scissors and weaving ends in.

Day 7 of Completion Challenge

2011-12-05T23:29:00.000-08:00

I jumped quite a hurdle regarding the making of the hat for my mom. I had it all done except for the stabilizer for the brim and sewing the ends closed. I thought "ahh I'll do it after I finish the scarf." There I was putting off something, so I could do more knitting. I then told myself no more knitting until the cap was completely finished.

So, I not only finished the hat this morning, but drew a pattern for my smaller brim. I have been redrawing it each time. Not a biggie, but saves time having the pattern ready.

With cap done I began the scarf tonight. It's easy doing the wave pattern, but doing it until my scarf measures about 5 feet is going to take some time. I got about a foot done tonight. Will continue tomorrow. If anyone is interested the scarf pattern is included with the Hollywood Swag Cap pattern. Not my pattern, but when someone makes a great pattern I want to make sure everyone knows where to get one.

Day 6 of Completion Challenge

2011-12-04T22:51:00.000-08:00

Working on completing my Christmas gift for my mother. I'm making her a Hollywood Swag Cap. You've seen me do several of these already starting with this one. The link to the pattern can be found here.

I've done a couple things different things with this hat. Rather than e-wrap to begin I did a few rows of waste yarn and then hung my hem for the hat band. Was it easier? No. Did it look any better? No. In fact for some reason I had the most difficult time getting my weaving cast-on to work correctly tonight for the blasted waste yarn. E-wrapping would have been easier.

First hat I made larger brim and no slouch

I added an extra row of the wave pattern before starting the decreases. I wanted the hat to have a little slouch to it. I really do like the extra room it gave.

Hat with extra row to add a bit of slouch

Again I shorten the brim on this one like I did my last one. I like the shorter brim. You can see pictures of my last hat and the shorter brim here.

I also decided that I wanted to do another cast-off other than the latch tool bind off. I didn't like the look of the bulky edge under the brim. Although once the hat is on I've found it's not a factor. It's only bugs me when it's in my hand and I can see it. I decided to use Diana's Lesson 12 Loop Through Loop Bind Off. I really liked the simplicity of this bind off, but it didn't necessarily give me a smaller edge between brim and hat. The thing it did do that is going to be inconvenient is both tails of yarn are on one side. I need these tails to sew up the ends of the brim. Not a biggie, but something to think about.

Finally, I need a lesson in short rowing and when to wrap a needle. I'm ending up with some bulky loops and I'm afraid it's because I just don't know when a hole will be formed and when not. I think I'll need to experiment. That will be a good lesson for my completion challenge.

Day 5 of Completion Challenge

2011-12-03T11:08:00.000-08:00

I am still kitchener stitching a little each day. What I've found is I'm really good at it. When I complete the seam the stitches look like the knitted ones. I'm finding it is not as difficult as I made it out to be. Diana Sullivan says to practice it, but I'm not one to make swatches and just stitch. Having these UFOs is proving to be great practice for me.

Day 4 of Completion Challenge

2011-12-01T17:11:00.000-08:00

I don't have any photos yet of what I'm doing. I've been kitchener stitching. Also referred to as grafting or weaving, joins two sets of live stitches. A hand knitter would sometimes have live stitches on needles. As a machine knitter my live stitches are mostly held together with waste yarn.

I did a purse handle, a hat and a slipper. Originally, I was going to get started on some purse linings, but that's when I saw I hadn't kitchenered the purse handle and thought I may as well do all the kitchenering I could find. I'm sure there is more, but that's all I've found so far.

Digging into my boxes and bags of knitted items I'm finding some real treasures. I'm not going to kick myself for putting things off. For the next 25 days I get a free pass. I'm looking forward to either using them or giving them as gifts. The recipient doesn't need to know how long I've held on to it. :D

Here is a list of links to "how to kitchener stitch" I've been looking at. I thought I really would have to reteach myself. I found though that I remembered more than I thought. In Diana's video she has a chant as she stitches. I find that I do myself and it really helps. "New stitch, old stitch, new stitch, old stitch." It keeps me on track.

Techniques with Theresa
The Knit Witch
Diana's Lesson 22 Kitchener Stitch Seams

Day 3 of Completion Challenge

2011-11-30T13:32:00.000-08:00

The scarf challenge my guild had back in October gave me a headache. Not literally, but figuratively. It seemed a simple enough technique, but choosing the correct yarn and plenty of it played a huge roll in being successful. Both of which I didn't do the first time around. Using my standard gauge Studio MOD.700 I chose a yarn that was too thick (DK) and I didn't have nearly enough of it. This pattern you may knit about 20 rows, but you pick it up one maybe two stitches at a time and rehang it. So it's 20 steps forward and 18 back. It takes a long time to get a scarf long enough worth wearing. My first attempt with the thicker yarn was very stiff and after using 4 small skeins made a scarf long enough to go from one ear around the back of my neck to the other ear. So, disappointing.

Since it was a challenge with my guild I didn't want to give up. This time I chose a yarn on a cone and very thin. It was a cone given to me for free. I had no problem using it all up if I had too. Off I went a knitting again. It took me about 2 hours to finish a length that would be great to wear.

Here's where the non finishing began... now I have to steam it. The edges on both sides were curled up into a big fat mess as far as I was concerned.

My fellow guild mate had done one and said just give it a light steam. Ugh! is all I thought. So, perfect project for this challenge. I began steaming and it became clear lightly steaming was not going to do the trick. I wanted to quit after a few minutes of fighting with it. I needed to steam and iron the edges.

I began to see some progress and it was actually looking good. It wasn't easy, but I got into a groove and had a system... a sort of pattern of steaming and ironing the edge and working it down my ironing board. I kept fighting the urge to put it away for another day. I knew that "another day" would never come. It was now or never.

After about an hour of ironing and fussing with it I was quite pleased with how really beautiful it was.

I finally had good thoughts about this scarf. Thoughts of "I might actually wear this." Here's a quick photo of it hanging around my neck. When it's daylight I'll snap a photo of it around my daughter's neck to get the true beauty of this scarf.

Day 2 of Completion Challenge

2011-11-29T13:30:00.000-08:00

Hats! I had done some more hats. None had the ends woven in and one needed it's brim finished. So, that's what I did last night. The brown hat I made using Hobby Lobby's "I Love This Yarn" Stripes in the High Sierra Stripe color. I love the color scheme. Thought it might be a color I would like to wear. What I don't like is the way this pattern works there are random splotches of color. Well, I wouldn't mind that so much, but the green splotch in my head doesn't match and I don't like it. It may grow on me or I may send it off to charity as it is a lovely hat.

Anyhow my problem in finishing the brown hat's brim was what to put in it. When I made the blue hat I used plastic canvas and that was a bit of a problem. It having jaggedy edges I needed to wrap it in paper to slide it in. Then it worked great. The pattern says to use stiff interfacing. I just didn't see how this would be any good. The interfacing just didn't seem stiff enough. I decided to just go with the stiff interfacing as the pattern suggested and finish the hat. The interfacing turned out GREAT! The brim is plenty stiff enough and was easy to pull into the brim. "Trust the pattern!" Very seldom have a found a pattern that steers me wrong. This is what I tell a friend of mine when we work together. I need to take my own advice.

Another thing I did differently with the brown hat was I made the brim smaller. Instead of knitting 10 rows before short rowing I knitted 6. I REALLY like the smaller brim. It's just enough smaller that it doesn't stick out so far from my forehead that I have that duck billed platypus feeling. :D

I've used several different yarns. The blue Red Heart knitted a hat that fits perfectly. The Hobby Lobby "I Love This Yarn" knitted a hat that is slightly smaller and a bit tight. I used a Softee Pink yarn and it knitted a hat that is looser. All using the same tension as the pattern asked for.

These 2 hats have no brim. I did that on purpose to make a beanie with the beautiful wave pattern.

All hats are now finished and ready for a head.

Day 1 of Completion Challenge

2011-11-28T11:57:00.000-08:00

I had knitted a Christmas wreath in October. It has been hanging out on my dresser waiting to be finished.

First thing I did was sew the ends together. Nothing fancy I just overlapped them and wove the needle up and down across the ends. Knowing this part would mostly be covered with a bow I knew I didn't need to Kitchener it.

I had the wreath siting on my dresser braided for about a month. What I noticed was the braiding had time to relax and not look so tightly pulled as my first one. I liked the look of this better.

Also having hung around on my dresser the bow was misplaced. So, I quickly knitted another. I didn't know what length it should be so I knitted until I could tie a nice bow with a little hanging. Then I cast off. Steamed it flat and tied it up. I really love the look of the tuck stitch for the bow. I used punch card number 3 on my Studio MOD. 700 standard machine.

My next trial will be to find some way suitable to back this wreath. I tried a wire wreath frame for the first one and it didn't work out too well. This time I tried using a wooden embroidery hoop. It was cheap and easy to find the right size. What I don't like though is seeing the wooden hoop from the side. I had it hanging in my entry way last night and I didn't like that the first thing I saw was the wooded hoop.

So, I moved it to my kitchen where I don't see the hoop as much.

Just my darling little wreath.

Machine Knitting Slacker

2011-11-27T16:15:00.000-08:00

That's what I feel like I have been the past month or so. I haven't been getting projects done like I want too. The usual reasons... too busy... too lazy... too many other things to do. So, decided to challenge myself again this year like I did last year for 25 Days. I've been thinking overnight with what exactly to challenge myself. I decided my theme would be machine knitting project completion. I won't necessarily have to machine knit every day for the next 25 days, but I have to do something that would promote the completion of a machine knitting project. I'm big on getting things knitted. Not necessarily as big on doing things like lining bags, kitchnering seams or actually giving the gift to the person the gift was intended for. I'm going to spend the next 25 days getting machine knitting projects knitted, organized and completed. It will be 25 Days of Completion!

Punch Pin Tuck Lap Blanket

2011-11-09T16:49:00.000-08:00

Success! I found the section in my ribber manual that talked about using the ribber punch card to make Punch Pin Tuck. So, I set up my machine and ribber according to the chart. I found a thinner yarn to use and it worked great. My only problem was a bunch of dropped stitches.

I was told to use lots of weight and to keep it consistently near the top edge to avoid any dropped stitches. This was a pain in the rear since I had to reach under the ribber to do this. I got my head on straight about the process when I thought how much time I was saving by keeping the stitches from dropping.

To get the size I wanted (20"X30") I used needles 50-0-50 at tension 2. I knitted 300 rows. I did this on my bulky machine.

Lap Blanket Turned Experimental Swatch

2011-11-03T18:29:00.000-07:00

I want to make a couple lap blankets for charity. The preemie tuck blanket turned out so nice I thought I'd do something similar. I had another idea rolling around in my head. It was using a ribber punch card. I couldn't seem to wrap my brain around how a punch would work with the ribber and yet I have 5 for that very reason. There is no card reader on the ribber.

I found the section in my ribber manual that talked about using the ribber punch card to make Punch Pin Tuck. So, I set up my machine and ribber according to the chart. I did the circular cast one fine. Once I started knitting the Punch Pin Tuck the tension was way too tight according to the chart. Tension of 1. I moved it up to 3 then 5 then 7 then went straight to ten. After 12 rows of knitting and having to hold my machine in place by spreading my knees out to put pressure on the knitting stand legs I knew there would be no blanket. After 12 rows I felt like I had taken a 30 minute aerobics class.

After all that work I didn't want it to go to waste. I decided to fight through at least 12 more rows to make a swatch big enough to what kind of pattern I had going. I wanted to know if it would be worth my while to try this again with a smaller yarn.

Needless to say it would be worth my while to try again. The swatch is just gorgeous! It's even a good size to make a headband.

Welcome Sacramento Area Machine Knitters

2011-11-02T14:14:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder...

This blog entry is here to assist the Sacramento Area Machine Knitter's Guild in advertising their meetings on the Internet. I hope you will stop by one of our meetings and share your latest project with us!

Meet with local Machine Knitters. Chat and discuss the art of machine knitting. All machines brands users are welcome, from the Brother, Bond to the Electronic Passap.

Sacramento Machine Knitters Guild, meets on the 2nd & 4th Thursdays 10am-noon (we meet throughout the summer at our normal days and times if there is enough interest).

We meet at St. Andrews United Methodist Church, 6201 Spruce Avenue, Sacramento, CA (off I-80 at Greenback exit, turn right at first street, up about 2 blocks, bear right at the curve and the church is straight ahead).

Contact Marilynn (pronounced Mary Lynn) Wright at 916-331-2309 for more information about the Guild and upcoming training topics.

Next meeting is November 10, 2011. Only one meeting this month and the next due to the holidays. December's meeting is December 8, 2011. January will resume the 2 meetings a month.

We also have a Yahoo group. It's free. Sign into Yahoo and find our group here.

Are you a member of Ravelry? It's also free to join. Our group though a quiet one gets checked my me often.

Working on a Kooky Hat

2011-10-28T12:32:00.000-07:00

I saw this kooky hat on Ravelry and thought I just have to make one, because it looks so fun. Will anyone actually wear it? I don't know.

The instructions begin with the headband. Mine per the instructions came out very tiny. I'm not sure a newborn could put this on. I'm not discouraged. The yarn asked for was really too big for my standard gauge machine. It knitted fine, but was difficult to pull the carriage back and forth. Just doing the head band made me realize I needed smaller yarn or I needed to move to my bulky. After consulting with my machine knitting mentors I'm moving to the bulky.

I just thought the headband looked so cool! It is one strip with eyelets about every 18 rows. The 2nd strip is knit plain. Then you weave one into the other through the eyelets. I knew it was a bust, but I was just tickled at how wonderful it looked. My mind was full with the creative possibilities.

A completed hat can be viewed on Ravelry at "Look at this crazy hat.com" I'm still working on mine. I'm hoping one of my teens will wear it skiing this December.

Made Another Baby Blanket

2011-10-27T21:42:00.000-07:00

Blanket done awaiting the edging.

It's Diana's Swirl Baby Blanket. I use the videos to jog my memory when making it. She also has printed instructions on how to make one too.

Blanket done edges lightly steamed.

I made this on my Toyota KS650 Bulky machine. Wedges end up being 60 stitches wide. Then make 10 wedges.

I used Bernat Softee Baby yarn in blue and lilac.

I'm always surprised how easily made it is and how impressive this blanket looks when done.

Left the room to get my camera and look who thought they were the baby?

Sweater Pattern Possible Conversion

2011-09-17T11:34:00.000-07:00

I love this sweater set and wondered how I could make it on my knitting machine. It has matching everything hat, sweater, gloves, socks and cellphone holder.

Or is it the hunky father and son in the picture that's attracting me?

My New Cap

2011-09-16T23:40:00.000-07:00

I bought a pattern from Newton's Yarn Country at a recent class at my guild called the "Hollywood Swag Cap and Scarf." I'm always looking for something my teen daughter might like. I'm also always looking for small cool projects to do on my knitting machine.

What I liked about this pattern was the texture of the cap. It really had an interesting look.

Again blogger won't turn my photo in the correct direction, but you get the idea of what it should look like.

To get the wavy pattern of this hat was fairly easy and the pattern really explained it well. It sort of reminded me of the Mohair scarf patterns I really like doing. It also reminded me of the entrelac technique in that you work with almost all the needles in hold and only work on one section at a time.

Here is the finished cap. It is unsteamed here. I kind of like it that way.

The cap is finished and then rehung to do the brim. I found the brim to be kind of boxy and long. My teen said it made her feel like a duckbill platypus (don't take it personally she hasn't liked a single hat I've made so far.) I reshaped the brim interfacing to be smaller and curve more. Using the mattress stitch I was able to pull in the squared off sides of the brim to a more curvy baseball hat sort of brim. This created a lump of knitting on each side inside brim where the corners were pulled in, but it's not noticeable to the eye.

All and all I really like the hat. I know once my machine knitting friends see it they'll want a pattern too. I know Newton's doesn't sell them on their website, but I'm sure if you emailed them you could buy it from them. I got to thinking maybe the designer of the pattern might sell online and she does. Only problem is she's on vacation until the end of September. Not a problem for her she in beautiful Costa Rica. She sent me a picture. WOW! You can contact Linda Jensen through her etsy site "LindasCrafts" beginning in October if you're interested in her pattern.

**Pattern for cap is not available at the Newton's website. I expect you need to see them in person to get the pattern. BUT! You can buy it from the designer at her Esty shop. Click on "LindasCrafts" for a direct link to pattern.

Christmas Project for the Guild

2011-09-11T21:39:00.000-07:00

Meeting before last someone in our guild asked about any Christmas ideas to knit. I got to thinking what a great idea to get started learning something now rather than waiting for December. I started looking through my binder of free patterns and I came across a Christmas Wreath for the Passap Duo80 or E6000 first. It looked like something from the 70's, but I loved it. I don't speak Passap, but it seemed like what they were doing was knitting tubes and braiding them. Great idea, but not feasible for our meeting. We'll bring our knitting machines, but we don't bring ribbers. We only have 2 hours.

Then I found Heidi's Braided Christmas Wreath pattern. This talks about making strips of knitting and letting them roll in on themselves. Something we can totally do in our machine knitting meeting. Comparing the two patterns I decided to do a little something of both. I really liked the simplicity of the Braided Christmas Wreath, but loved the color combination of the Passap Christmas Wreath.

So, I picked out three punch cards that seemed from the naked eye to be completely different (I really need to do swatches.) After I got the strips done I thought that 2 weren't as different as I would have liked. I wasn't sure they'd even look good together, but decided to just go with it.

As I was sitting on my bed manipulating the strips to decide what order I wanted them in. Quite frankly I was trying to remember how to braid when my son walked into the room. He talked with me a bit about his day and then as he turned to leave and he said, "I'll leave you to play with your Christmas snakes." OK I thought it was pretty funny.

As I started braiding I was relived to see that the patterns did actually work together. I had knit 3 strips 30 inches long. I did 335 rows at T3 on my Studio Mod.700 standard gauge. According to the pattern it would make a 13" diameter wreath. Mine was stretched to 12" and I think it is too thin.

I wanted a bow and did a 30 inch strip of tuck with punch card #3 the red yarn. 485 rows T3. I wanted to give the bow a hint of texture. I folded the strip as if tieing a regular bow. Then I hot glued everything onto a 12 inch wreath frame from JoAnns.

Since the wreath was not looking like something I'd want to hang up or give away I decided it would be my prototype. Things I would do differently would be not to braid it so tightly. I would not stretch it to fit a wreath form. I'm going to use wooden embroidery hoops since they come in many more sizes than the wreath forms. I'm going to do swatches of my punch cards giving me a better idea of what their finished pattern will look like.

Card #3 Machine Knitting Class

2011-09-11T16:33:00.000-07:00

Sorry about the raggedy swatch, but I was playing. I took a class from Helen Koshak from Newton's and I had a great time. First off she a totally fun lady. Most importantly though she really knows her stuff in regards to knitting machines. She was teaching a class centered around all the things one can do with Card #3 that comes with your punch card machine. Oddly enough I had used Card #3 the night before to work on a Christmas project I'll post soon.

Starting from the bottom of my swatch is card #3 nothing fancy 2 colors. The next section is card #3 with 3 colors.

Section number 3 of the swatch... did you know you can lock your punch card reader on one line? I asked my friend Julia if she knew that and she did, but she said she didn't know why one would want to do it. So, I told her why. I'm not sure if I did it wrong or my machine doesn't like it, but the straight lines tell me I'm on the right track. Better luck next time.

The final section of the swatch I tried a window pane technique that I clearly need more practice with. I'm going to give it another try as it's one of my favorite looks of the class.

Machine Knitting Maintenance

2011-09-05T16:37:00.000-07:00

I was feeling badly yesterday that I hadn't knit, but one baby blanket recently. Then I got to thinking I have done some things to be proud of and should feel very satisfied. While organizing I found my extra needles for my Toyota KS 650. I went to put them with the 650 tools then thought does my machine need any needles. I looked at my needle bed and I was missing 2 on one end and 3 on the other. Wow have I really been stealing that many needles? Guess so. I pulled out my sponge bar. It was one I refurbished not long ago, but the ribbon was coming off. So, glued the ribbon on with some better glue. The new needles needed some oil, so wiped down the whole machine with some oil. That's when I thought I should be very happy that I'm taking care of my machine. Some times a half hour of maintenance is as satisfying as a half hour of knitting.

Machine Knit Snail Blanket

2011-09-01T20:44:00.000-07:00

Machine Knit Snail Blanket instructions with pictures. It's translated from Russian as best as the computer could. Wonderful pictures though make it more understandable.

I've been fascinated with a blanket on Ravelry called the 10 Stitch Blanket. The Snail blanket is essentially the same thing. It's been on my list of things to do for a long time.

Knitting For A Premie

2011-07-26T15:17:00.000-07:00

I know first hand how wonderful it is to walk into the nursery to check on your premie baby and see them laying in an incubator with a hand knitted cap. Not some prefab hospital cap. So, when a girl scout came to our machine knitting group to ask for our help in knitting premie blankets I was excited to help. She wanted by the beginning of school in August to have made and collected 50 premie blankets. The goal of my machine knitting group was to have any donations done by our next meeting. One month no problem right?

Well, as usual life gets in the way. My teens came home from 3 weeks in Scotland. Before I could really enjoy having them home 5 days later my daughter has pneumonia. Off to the doctor for x-rays and an expert opinion, but it was as I thought pneumonia.

As I'm nursing her back to health I'm schedule during that time to have my gallbladder out. Fortunately, by the time I'm home from the surgery, she's well enough I don't have to worry about her.

On the third day of my recovery my son says I really feel terrible. I put my hand on his forehead and he's really hot. "Surgery" mom goes to the background and "my son is really sick" mom comes to the forefront. I take his temp and it's 103.6F. Fortunately, my DH had taken an extra day off to take care of me. Since I couldn't drive I put him on a new case... get our son to the doctor pronto. I promised to not do anything wild while they were gone and to keep the cell phone close. 2 hours later I get the call that he indeed has pneumonia.

DH comes home and tucks us both into bed with our meds. Now it's Saturday and it occurs to me that if I'm going to make a premie blanket I need to get it done by Monday night. Fortunately, Saturday I start feeling considerably better, but don't want to over do it. Sunday I continued to rest, because come Monday I want to try machine knitting.

I got my Studio 700 Standard machine set up with my yarn and the punch card I wanted to use. After reading through my manual regarding doing tuck I proceed. I decided to do a few rows stop and see how I feel. I felt fine. I went on to knit about 100 rows. At this time I started to feel kind of hot. So, I stopped for a few hours. I was fine. I then knitted about 50 rows at a time until I had 300 done. The tuck stitch looked wonderful. I used punch card 12A as the picture in my manual had used that one and I like the look of it.

I used lots of weight all the way across to keep the tuck stitch working properly. I did have to keep an eye on the end stitches. The manual even warned about it saying to pull the 2 end needles out each row. 2 times the end stitches dropped off and I was able to fix them. Then I started pulling the end needles out each row. That stopped the dropped end stitches.

I made this using needles 65-0-65. I did it at T7. I knitted 300 rows. Measured 20"wX22"l. After washing it came out to 19"wX19 1/2"l.

Really looks nice. Was proud to donate it. I wish the pictures captured the beautiful yellow color. It's like fresh butter.

This is the back of the knitting with tuck though this is considered the front.

This is really the front of the knitting, but being tuck it's considered the back.

Knitting For A Dog

2011-07-03T19:11:00.000-07:00

My brother and his wife have a pup that rides around in his kennel every where they go. Not to say he spends his whole day in the kennel, but when it's not appropriate for him to be out like at restaurant he's in. Yes, my brother and his wife are those people. I guess I'm one of those people too in that I don't mind a bit if they bring him. I don't bring my dog hardly any where, but I'm a homebody. We're usually home together. My brother when questioned at a restaurant says it's his gym bag. Amazingly, he's very quiet and hasn't got us kicked out of a restaurant yet.

My brother and his wife work. So, Winston goes to work with my brother. He's not welcome at my SILs work. He's really not welcome at my brother's either. His bosses really like him and know he's responsible, so they don't say anything.

Anyhow the comfort of Winston the dog came into question when my SIL would come to my brother's work to pick up Winston at the end of the day. She would find Winston laying in his kennel with his comfy towel balled up at the back of his kennel. SIL would get agitated that my brother wasn't smoothing out his towel when he messed it up. Despite my brother reminding her “he’s a dog I’m sure he’s fine the short amount of time he spends in the kennel.” (Winston has a pacemaker, so naturally she worries.)

To ease his wife's mind and to get him out of the dog house :) my brother asked me if I could make sort of a knitted fitted sheet like piece to go over the bottom plastic insert of the kennel. He gave me the dimensions. I picked an acrylic yarn which could be washed if need be. I knitted a swatch washed and dried it to get an idea of what size I needed to make.

I knitted a rectangle that was slightly longer and wider than the plastic insert. It was then sewn to resemble a fitted sheet. It slips over the plastic insert and Winston can't scratch it up and kick it to the back of the kennel.

As you can see Winston and my SIL are very happy with the results.

Winston is a Poodle/Pomeranian mix.

Machine Knit Tuck Scarf

2011-06-29T15:51:00.000-07:00

I have been in a machine knitting slump lately and decided to do an easy project on my standard gauge machine. I tend to try and do most things on my bulky. My bulky and I are great friends. My standard wants to be my friend, but I've been a bit resistant and I've decided to stop that.

I picked out Patricia Tan's "Tuck and Enjoy" pattern for a scarf. It took a few minutes to understand how the needle placement should go. The below picture shows what I finally decided. It helped me a lot to look back on my own pattern for a tuck scarf to figure it out. Since they were very similar.

What I found is you need to use lots of weight. One also needs to be vigilante about moving it up. This pattern goes quickly and before I knew it the weights were behind the ribber and that's too low.

I also experimented with russel levers on russel lever off. On a Studio 700 the russel levers allow for needle to be all the way out and in nonworking position (NWP). This creates the tuck. In the past I manually pushed needles back into WP. This time I turned off the russel levers each time. I did find it saved a bit of time even if it was for 2 rows of the pattern. I only forgot to pull them back on once and that was when I was knitting late at night. I know better. Usually after I make a series of mistakes (my russel levers being the last straw that night) I'll stop knitting.

In the end I made this beautiful scarf. I used one skein of Tosca Light. The scarf came to 47 inches. I decided to try the Twisted Fringe idea for the ends. I had run out of the Tosca Light and bought some Lion Brand Amazing in a matching color for the fringe. I just love love love the twisted fringe.

Good Words of Machine Knitting Wisdom

2011-06-23T19:36:00.000-07:00

I love this article at "Needles to say..." blog. She is talking about what advice she had for new machine knitters. I have to say I agreed with all of it. I especially loved #4. "Make the same pattern over again a few times." When I find a pattern I like I make it a few times. I usually do it at least twice as the first one had a problem or two. Then I'll do it maybe a 3rd or 4th time, because it has a technique I need to practice.

Knitting Machine Museum?!... I'm in heaven

2011-06-09T16:39:00.000-07:00

I was over checking out the Woollen Yarns blog and Andrea had this link on her blog.

Welcome to the Virtual Knitting Machine Museum

How cool is that! I don't have a lot of time to check it out head to toe right now, but wanted to make sure Andrea's find gets around to us Machine Knitters.

Have fun!

My Tools

2011-05-10T15:01:00.000-07:00

When I'm using my tools I move the set I want standard or bulky and snap the 3 tiers so it's on the top.

I keep it sitting on a little box I'm using as a make shift table. It's the perfect height for me to reach the tools and yet they are out of the way of the carriage when it's moving.

The bottom is basically miscellaneous items I use and items I seldom use.

Pool The Tools

2011-05-07T20:03:00.000-07:00

This is my new game plan after talking to fellow experienced machine knitters. I got confused, because I have a knitting machine that has no tools. Yet I also own that same machine with complete tools. One is my home machine set up with a ribber. The other I bought to travel to machine knitting meetings. I often show up forgetting that it has no tools with it. Then I can't really use it with no tools. Fellow knitters are very generous and will lend me tools, but I hate bothering them. So, I started thinking I'd buy tools for it. Yet I have a complete set of tools for it at home. Why buy another set? "Does not compute, does not compute" would often go on in my brain.

I started taking a poll and talking to fellow machine knitters about how they handled their tools. What I found out is more knitters than not keep their tools in a tool kit rather than keeping a set with each machine. This idea kind of bothered me too. I was worried about loosing the tools I have with each machine. YET the idea of pooling the tools kept coming up. I decided to give it a go. I wanted a tool box where I could have an area for standard tools and and area for the bulky tools. I didn't want to mix them. I also needed a tool kit that wouldn't be too heavy to carry. I also told myself I'd use a Sharpie to label the tools with which machine they go to in case I want to put them all back.

I found the above organizer at Target. It has three levels and is a very good size for the tools. I labeled the tools and put them into it. I carried it to my first meeting. It worked out great. It wasn't too heavy. What I found out later was it works great at home. More than great really. I'm very clumsy with my tools when I'm working. I put them onto the lid of the knitting machine as it sits behind the machine on the stand. Problem is I don't put them down in the same spot. They get under the yarn. Under the pattern. Who knows where they go sometimes. I spend more times looking for tools than knitting. Well, at least it feels like that. With this new organizer I use tools out of it and place them back into it. I only have to look in a 6"X 9" area. It's been such a relief to find my tools when I'm concentrating on a machine knitting project.

Easter Egg Dyeing A Sock

2011-05-03T15:05:00.000-07:00

I would love to give this a try. This video follows a sock blank through the dyeing process to an actual sock. Several interesting machines used that I would love to have.

What Am I Working On

2011-04-18T15:28:00.000-07:00

I found 2 adorable ruffled purses on Ravelry. Fortunately, one listed the pattern and the pattern was easy to find. It is in Knitwords Winter 2009 #51 the Felt Like Ruffles pattern.

I started reading through the pattern and was completely confused, but how to get started. I consulted my experienced machine knitter friend Julia and she was able to walk me through it and get me started. Once I got going the directions made much more sense. The ruffle detail takes some concentration as you've got two details you're working on. One is the tuck to make the ruffled look. The other is the eyelets to give it a lacy flower like look. So, I'm moving 4 needles in and out every 4 rows. I'm then also making eyelets on rows 5, 7, and 9. This goes on for a total of 12 rows. I did 5 ruffles per side and 10 in all. I was an expert by the end. The first 2 or 3 I got a little confused. Where was I on the 3 row tuck? Am I doing eyelets now? Which needles do I do eyelets on according to the chart?

I did this on my Toyota KS 650 bulky machine. Pattern does not use a ribber. Pattern says the level is for a beginner, but I'd say an advanced beginner.

Reading a chart was a new experience to me. I must say that I messed up on 2 ruffles and made a couple extra eyelets. I didn't know what I was doing. Quite frankly I was 12 plus rows past the mistake and didn't go back and correct them. I did stop after I did it the 2nd time and take a minute to figure out what the heck was a doing. What I was doing was adding extra eyelets. On rows 5 and 9 one takes a stitch from either side and moves it to the middle. On row 7 the middle row one takes one stitch and moves it. I was doing what I did on rows 5 and 9 and moving 2 stitches. OK I have a new design element. Thought about doing it on the other side of purse too to make it match. But I don't particularly like it and decided that will be the BACK of the bag. :) I am doing this bag out of some cheaper Paton Classic Wool. When I get some Noro Kureyon I'll be experienced.

I made one side on Friday and the other side on Saturday. Today I'm going to take the time to sew up the side seams and weave in all the ends. Next will be the felting.

blogger has rotated my picture. Just turn your head and you'll get the idea.

To see this bag done in the Noro Kureyon check out this blog. It is just gorgeous!

Speed Ripping

2011-03-30T07:23:00.000-07:00

I wanted to try speed ripping, but didn't want to try it on anything that really mattered incase I didn't do it right. So, was experimenting with beading on a small bag on my Studio 700 standard machine then I made a mistake. Thought if this thing falls off in my lap I wouldn't be broken hearted think I'll try the speed ripping technique. It worked great! I had to do it several times, because I was working on a new pattern that I was having trouble understand. Bottom line it worked great.

Speed Ripping on the Knitting Machine

2011-03-18T19:43:00.000-07:00

My jaw just hung open when I watched Diana's video. I've needed to rip back so many times mainly, because of my perfectionist streak. I've even taken a project off the needles on waste yarn to rip it back at home, so my fellow machine knitters wouldn't see what a nit picker I am. The project I speak of is a bag that we had made a mistake on the handle portion. The teacher said just do the same thing on the other side and all will be well. Yes, it would have been, but I didn't like it. I liked the pattern and wanted mine to look like the pattern. Yes, my bag does look like the pattern and I love it. Speed ripping would have been a life saver that day. The thought of ripping back about 15 rows seemed impossible at the time. At home I took my time and undid every stitch. I'm going to try Diana's speed ripping technique.

Sacramento Machine Knitters Guild March 10th Meeting

2011-03-12T21:19:00.000-08:00

SOCKS! That was the theme of the meeting. What shocked me was the interest. The mere mention of machine knit socks usually scares people, but obviously not us here in the Sacramento Area. There were 13 people at the meeting and 7 machines set up.

I had brought one of my standard machines and of course it was the one that has no tools. Made a note to do something about that. When so many machines started coming in I thought just as well put it away and let another machine get set up.

Marilynn called people and told them to make some ribbing on needles and bring it in. I knew that most people wouldn't want to or know how to do this. Only Marilynn and Kathleen... OK me and Julia too came with ribbing. Mine and Julia's was made with our knitting machines and ribbers. Julia had brought machine knitting supplies and sock yarn to sell. I decided that since I had made 3 whole socks that I would help. :)

Thinking that a few would not have ribbing I brought my laptop in so we could view Diana's Single Bed Sew-As-You-Go Sock. With it's mock rib option it came in handy. Erica with Becky's help made Diana's sock.

Kathleen with her ribbing made the sock pattern Marilynn brought in. I just roved around teaching, learning and just watching. I really enjoyed myself. I thought it was a great meeting.

Not everyone worked on socks. 3 knitters were there to learn the basics like how to get their machine working. Been there done that! One knitter had her machine working and was learning the e-wrap cast-on and how to cast-off.

What I learned was I needed to figure out my tool situation with my machine. Should I buy tools? I have standard tools with another machine. Should I use that set with both machines? I really had a big problem sort of robbing one machine to use with another. So, I quizzed the machine knitter's over at Ravelry. The consensus was "pool the tools." Many have a tool box with standard and bulky tools separate, but in the same box. Though I still have some guilt about doing this it really makes a lot of sense to me. Why buy more tools when I have a lot of great tools. What I've decided to do is label with a Sharpie which tool came from which machine in case I ever want to put the tools all back with their machines.

iPod Project with Susan Ranner

2011-03-10T07:51:00.000-08:00

Never mind the fact that I love listening to her accent and I love the fact that she warns us that their might be swearing. A true and seasoned machine knitter she is. I'm sure if one were to hang outside my knit room you might hear some swearing here too.

Susan has added a cute useful project for us iPod lovers over at her My Machine Knitting Patterns blog.

Machine Knitting Video with "Let's Knit Together"

2011-03-07T13:27:00.000-08:00

Big thank you to Julia from Fig Tree Alley for sharing these videos with me.

I was having fun checking out some of the videos at "Let's Knit Together." This one is about machine knitting.

This video is an interview with Lily Chin. She will be teaching at the MKGSFBA in April for members of the guild. After watching this interview I'm even more excited about that class.

Legwarmers... fashion faux pas or back in style?

2011-03-02T18:53:00.000-08:00

My 19 year old son occasionally wears an old pair of green legwarmers. I keep the eye rolling to myself. Frankly, I feel this declaration of his personal style is pretty tame to what I see out in the world. He said to me the other day "I wish I had a blue pair." The light bulb went off in my head I could easily make a pair on my knitting machine.

I asked him if he'd like me to make a pair. His eyes lit up. I asked what color. He brought me 2 t-shirts with the colors he'd like the legwarmers to be. He said he wanted them to be striped. I asked, "Cat in the Hat striped? Or can I be creative?" He said, "Be creative." My first thought was a Fibonacci technique I've seen used. Making stripes seem random, but they are not.

Not having a pattern I figured I was going to have to wing it. I'm not real comfortable not having a pattern to follow, but figured this would be good to stretch my creativity. My thoughts were ribbing, stockinette, ribbing and that's what I did.

After seeing them on a leg my thoughts as to the pattern for another pair will be to gradually enlarge them as they go up the leg. Ankles are naturally smaller than knees.

(my daughter's legs they fit her perfectly... in my opinion)

My son is very happy with this pair. I think they are a bit tight, but he loves his skinny jeans, which I think are too tight too. He slipped on the legwarmers and declared, "Skinny Jeans Legwarmers. I like them!"

Electric Yarn Winder... Yes or No?

2011-02-26T18:39:00.000-08:00

When purchasing used knitting machines I've found that a yarn winder of some type will be thrown into the deal. I have been given 3 small yarn winders, 1 jumbo yarn winder and now one electric yarn winder. I bought my jumbo yarn winder before I got one with a knitting machine I purchased. I gave it to a friend who was learning to knit and crochet.

The mini winders are hanging around unused. Recently I was given a Simet electric yarn winder. I have the manual jumbo yarn winder and I LOVE IT! If it were legal in the state of California... why yes I would marry it. :D I love winding yarn on it almost as much as I love knitting the item I'm winding it for. I find it so relaxing. It works great I don't have any problems and I get these great center pull balls perfect for my machine knitting.

I was intrigued with the electric winder. I knew already it wouldn't wind a ball as big as the jumbo winder. Quite frankly I thought of selling it without trying it. That's how useless I thought it would be in my life. I knew it couldn't interfere with my love affair with the jumbo winder. So, I got to thinking if I'm going to sell it I better make sure it actually works.

I got a skein of yarn I need for making another cupcake hat. I hooked up the yarn and turned on the machine. It work great, but didn't wind the whole skein of yarn. The winder wasn't big enough. I wound the extra bit of yarn around the outside of the ball.

Then I thought I have some sock yarn. The skeins are pretty small. They should be the perfect size for this electric winder.

I found the electric yarn winder to be nerve racking. One little knot, loop, or twist and the machine jams. No time to catch it and fix it like a manual winder. After about 15 tries with the sock yarn and all similar results I gave up. Also my son came into the kitchen to ask me why I needed so many pencils sharpened I've decided to stick with my Royal Jumbo Yarn Winder.

STITCHES 2011

2011-02-21T01:35:00.000-08:00

I had a great time at Stitches West this year for a completely different reason than previous years. This year I volunteered in the Machine Knitting Guild of the San Francisco Bay Area Booth. We had nothing to sell. We were hoping to get more people to join the guild. It was a day to encourage people to pull their knitting machines out from under their beds. It was a day to let people know there is support for machine knitters. It was a day to let people know there was such a thing as machine knitting. We got many people interested in machine knitting and the guild. Hope we see them all at the March meeting.

(Julia, Lynne and Chrys)

I had a great time with my fellow booth mates Julia and Chrys. Each of us took a turn at the knitting machine during our 2 hour time slot. Julia demonstrated 2 color knitting and cables. Chrys demonstrated making a purl stitch and moving stitches to other needles to create lacy designs. I demonstrated my favorite pattern of the year Idiot's Delight. It made a beautiful swatch using the purple yarn.

During my 2 hours there the most asked about project was.... my mohair scarf that I had worn to Stitches. There were many different garments there that I was in awe of and my simple mohair scarf stole the show.

Side Note: At the March mtg of the guild 9 new people came to enjoy the meeting.

SOCKS!!

2011-02-21T01:02:00.000-08:00

I made my first pair of socks! I'm so excited. I used Diana Sullivan's Sock DVD and book and my Studio 700 standard machine with ribber. The video was very helpful. I really like to see things done. They have always helped me understand the written word better.

The first sock took my 3 1/2 hours. Yes, and I had many many problems. All operator error. My first mistake was after the ribbing was done. I got the sock turned rehung for circular knitting AND I forgot to put the yarn back in the carriage and 3/4 of the ribbing fell off by the time I noticed. At that point I though it would just be faster to rip it out and redo the ribbing. I've got 1X1 ribbing down and I'm pretty fast in needle set up and casting on.

The 2nd mistake was after I turned the sock for circular knitting I didn't weight it down and 4 stitches came off the needles. After much digging around and latching up I got them on and weighted down.

Now came the circular knitting. I've only done it once and following all the directions I forgot to put a side lever to the triangle or arrow and some have called it. I did 3 rows of ribbing. I had to undo the 3 rows. After examining the chart and settings I was able to get back to circular knitting.

About 10 rows into the circular knitting I encountered a knot. Now that I think about it this wasn't my fault. I did have to rip the knitting back to get the knot undone and reknit the row.

Finally, I was at the toe. Again a few stitches fell off and had to dig around and rehang. The stitches falling off all had to do with inadequate weight.

I'm not telling you about my mistakes as discouragement, but more to let you know that we all have problems. One can get past them and be successful.

I decided after I made the first sock to immediately make a 2nd sock. With all I learned the first time around the 2nd sock was much easier. I knew how to set my machine for circular knitting. I knew a good amount of weight was very important. My 2nd sock took me exactly an hour. No dropped stitches. No ripping back.

All I have left to do is side seam the ribbing and Kitchener stitch the toes. It's late though and I'm going to go to bed.

Punch Cards

2011-02-06T22:54:00.000-08:00

This is a zigzag pattern card. I was given these 2 yarns and I accidently found out they look great together. I knitted up a quick hat with my Studio 700 standard machine. I'll be trying at all my 24 stitch pattern cards on the correct machine. :D

What I've Learned About Punch Cards

2011-02-05T18:30:00.000-08:00

All punch card readers are not created equal. There are 12 stitch punch card readers and 24 stitch punch card readers. I found out today they are very easy to tell a part if you know what to look for.

See the cute little "L" shaped pieces sticking out of the punch card reader? Count them... 12.

See the cute little "L" shaped pieces sticking out of the punch card reader? Count them... 24.

What was causing all my problems was a punch card. I put a 24 stitch punch card pattern into my 12 stitch punch card machine. I was told it was a brother card. It's pattern is designed to create an every other stitch color change. BUT if you put this 24 stitch pattern card into a 12 stitch punch card reader one's machine gets all confused and doesn't know what to do. Dropped stitches, dropped yarn, and just a general big tangle of a mess ensues. This is punch card numbered 1. Other 24 stitch punch cards worked fairly well with my machine.

Using incorrect card for an every other stitch pattern.

Using another 24 stitch card I was able to do something that looked fairly nice.

When I got my machine I was told it was a 24 stitch machine. I didn't know anything about punch cards and took that info at face value. Now that I know what to look for I want to do a "V-8" forehead smack and say duh!

Card I was using. Count holes across one line... 24.

Card I'm supposed to be using... 6 holes across per line.

Obviously, I don't have the original cards that go with this machine. Fortunately, a friend of mine has the cards that go to this type of machine. She's going to lend them to me and I'm going to punch my own cards on some blanks that I have.

I knew my problem had to be the operator and not the machine. I feel greatly relieved to have learned a very valuable machine knitting lesson today.

I am SO glad when more experienced machine knitters wanted to take a part my punch card reader with a screw driver I said no.

Thank you to my daughter and her abs of steel for this picture.

Honeycomb Hat

2011-01-31T01:45:00.000-08:00

It was a challenge, but I was able to get through it. The pattern can be found on Ravelry. It's called DylaniumKnits Machknit Honeycomb Hat. It cost $5. Totally worth it.

Took me about 6 hours to make. I didn't sit for the full 6. I'm sure future hats will be faster now I know how to read the pattern and convert it to my machine.

Oddly enough my experience with the Mohair scarf pattern helped me to understand what I needed to do to make the honeycomb pattern with my bulky machine.

Punch Card Smunch Card

2011-01-25T15:15:00.000-08:00

I'm rather discouraged as I had a machine knitting brain trust at my home today and they couldn't get it to work either. All were experienced Brother and Passap knitter, but not Toyota/Studio knitters. We read through the manual over and over and each time it would do the same thing I was getting on my own. I'm convince the instructions have left out an important detail. This was so with my Studio 700 punch card instructions. Now I just need to remember what it was. Why oh why didn't I write it down!

Next machine knitting meeting in the Bay Area is specifically for working out problems. I'm going to cart my machine down there and see if the larger group of knitters has more experience with Toyota/Studio machine.

I haven't given up!

Punch Cards!

2011-01-22T11:41:00.000-08:00

When I first heard about using punch cards with knitting machines I thought how wonderful. Now that I've tried to use them they just make me say, "Grrrr!"

I took my Studio 700 to my machine knitting meeting about a year or so ago and said, "Help, I can't get the punch card to work following the instruction manual ." A gal there has the Studio 700 and she got me up and running. I came home and decided to give it a try on my Toyota 650 bulky and have never really got it working.

I sat down last night with the instruction manual and worked through it step by step. Setting each knob in the correct manner. Making sure the carriage was going in the correct directions. What I got was something that would make a spider shake their head in shame.

So, that is my new mission. I'm going to become a punch card expert before I pick my knitting machine and throw it across the room. :D My book talks about things like "use card 1" or "use card 2" and I don't even know if I have the right cards. One of them has a teddy bear on it and I know the tuck pattern isn't asking for that card.

I going to learn how to use the punch card mechanism reliably and do swatches for my cards.

Very interesting, but hoping I won't have to resort to this... "Machine Knitting Fair Isle Without A Punchcard ."

Machine Knitting on Martha Stewart's Show

2011-01-16T10:47:00.000-08:00

While at my machine knitting meeting on Thursday one of the gals asked, "Did anyone see machine knitting on the Martha Stewart show?" None of us had seen it and we were so sad we had missed it. After a seach on Martha Stewart's website I found a link to that segment. Just loved it. So inspiring! Hope you do too.

Click here too view Karen Allen's wonderful knits.

My 2nd Cupcake Hat Recipient

2011-01-15T23:08:00.000-08:00

At first she didn't want her picture taken. I'm 2 1/2 years old and I'm not in the mood.

I then asked if I could take a picture of her in front of the Christmas tree. Got to make it fun for them. And let's face she made it fun for me too.

My Favorite Pattern of 2010

2011-01-15T22:46:00.000-08:00

I made many variations of this pattern last December. I made several of the original pattern. I then cut the pattern in half and made a beautiful scarf for myself. But for my mother I wanted to make more of a wrap. So, I increased the needle pattern. I wanted one to go around the shoulders, or over the head and around neck and shoulders. It turned out just gorgeous. First thing my mom did was wrap it around her head like a babushka. It was adorable!

The pattern was given to me at my Tuesday machine knitting get together. A gal at that meeting took notes during a class years ago on how to make this pattern. I'm told it is a tuck like pattern. This is done manually. I wonder if someone can figure out a punch card for it. One isn't really needed. It is so simple to do.

I love the way this pattern makes this rolling hump texture through out the wrap. The yarn I used for my mother's scarf was Amazing by Lion brand. It was the wildflower color. I used 3 skeins.

Click on picture below to get the pattern. I had to clean up the copy I had which had notes written on it. I then added the needle setting for the smaller scarf I made. I made one mistake in that I didn't put the X marks showing which needles are pushed in and out of work. Looking at the pattern above I think one can figure it out. If not feel free to email me and I'd love to answer any questions. For the larger pattern I did above I increased the pattern so that 7 needles were pushed in and pulled out for the pattern.

I typed out the upper pattern for translation programs. It's the one I use and like.

Mid-Gauge or Bulky Machine
Rectangle Scarf Using Fine Mohair Yarn
Needle Set-up
(see picture on blog for needle set-up)

If using a bulky machine, cast on and bind off with a rug latch tool. If using a Mid-Gauge machine cast on and bind off with a bulky latch tool.

Be sure to use lots of weight.

Cast on the above number of stitches, making a chain for each out of work needle.

Tension 8 or 10, Knit 2 rows. Set machine for hold. Pull needles marked with X forward to hold position.

Knit 6 rows. Take off hold, and push needles marked X back to work position (C).

Knit 2 rows over all working needles.

Continue in this manner for length required (approximately 354 rows), ending with Knit 2 rows over all working needles.

Bind off loosely making a chain for each out of work needle.

Smaller width scarf needle set-up

(see picture on blog for needle set-up)

The Cupcake Hat Was A Hit

2010-12-29T18:55:00.000-08:00

Here's my 6 year old little friend wearing the hat I made on day 18 of my "25 Days of Diana". I mailed it to Portland, OR for Christmas. Her mother said that she put on her hat and coat the next day and was standing by the door ready to run errands. Normally, she needs prompting to get ready to go. Hey anything I can do to make a mother's job a tad easier I'm willing to do.

Day 25 "25 Days of Diana"

2010-12-21T23:42:00.000-08:00

Machine knitting for 25 days has really been great for me in I became more comfortable with my machine. I gained a lot of confidence. I'm more familar where the yarn is and where the needles are when I'm in a pattern. In the past if I lost my concentration for any reason I would wonder where I was in the pattern. Now I know.

Today's pattern is Diana's Bulky Lined Slipper. I've had to stop in mid pattern for phone calls and such. First time I got back I thought "OH NO did I put the needle out or not." I calmed down and said let's think about this. Yarn is wrapped around this needle so yes indeed needle is out and I'm ready to knit a row.

I'm not saying I don't have more to learn, but I like Diana's idea about doing a little knitting everyday. If not every day don't let too many days go by without doing something on your knitting machine.

Day 24 "25 Days of Diana"

2010-12-20T21:39:00.000-08:00

Well, finally a break in the chain. I spent 6 1/2 hours driving in the snow to get the girls up to the skiing trip. Unfortunately, I didn't have the energy to machine knit. Didn't have time before we left, because they were packing. When I arrived home at 8:30 pm I just wanted a quick dinner and then some quiet time.

I may extend my 25 days by a day. Tomorrow I'm not going any where. We'll see as Christmas fast approaches.

Isn't it gorgeous!

Day 23 "25 Days of Diana"

2010-12-20T21:32:00.000-08:00

Well, my daughter got out of school for winter break and all my time got sucked up into Christmas festivities.

One fortunately involved machine knitting. My daughter and her best friend were invited to go on a skiing trip. First thing *Neighbor said to my daughter was, "We should make matching hats!!" Then she turns to me, "Neighbor, can we make matching hats?" I said sure lets go get some yarn. I love that they think they can knit at a moments notice. In this day and age of computers and cell phones I really enjoy getting them into something like machine knitting.

They decided to make the hats match, but have their own unique stripe. Again we learned threading up the machine, weaving cast-on, hanging a hem, taking knitted fabric off on a double eyed needle, and mattress stitch.

After all was said and done they had 2 hats that they truly loved. 2 hats they had made themselves.

I made them smile sweetly for this picture.

Originally, they were smiling like this.

*Affectionate nickname that my daughter and her friend call each other and all of us seeing as we are neighbors.

Day 22 "25 Days of Diana"

2010-12-18T22:31:00.000-08:00

I'm still working on circular knitting and trying to make a Puff Daddy. First one shrunk up and doesn't fit around an adult neck. Not sure one would want to put it around a child's neck. Because I don't have a written pattern for the machine I'm having to experiment. After it's knitted there is some shrinkage. Something I'm learning to account for. I'm going to get one an adult can wear if it kills me. Without Diana's videos I wouldn't have the confidence to doodle around. Normally, I find a pattern and I follow it to a tee.

Day 21 "25 Days of Diana"

2010-12-16T22:26:00.000-08:00

I feel like I've learned so much in the past 20 days. Forcing myself to take some time every day to knit has been so much fun.

Today's project was all about teaching the next generation. My daughter has been doing some machine knitting, but not a lot. I help her a lot and today I when she asked to make a hat for her Secret Santa person I thought she's going to do it herself.

We started out watching Diana's threading the machine video. We moved on to watch the Open Cast on video and Diana's cast-on. I thought it would be good for her to see that she's not just doing what Mom says, but what other's say on how to operate a knitting machine.

My daughter wanted to make a reversible hat. I made one a while back and it was really nice. This pattern is from Knittsings website.

She did a great job making this hat. Only had a couple "Mom I don't know what happened here" moments that were easily fixed. She came out with a hat to be proud to give as a gift.

Day 20 "25 Days of Diana"

2010-12-15T22:33:00.000-08:00

The project I'm working on stemmed from my learning how to circular knit with Diana's video. The videos I've found have given me the confidence to try new things. Since Diana knits with a Brother machine I sometimes need to consult my Studio and Toyota manuals to figure out which levers need to be moved on my machines. To do circular knitting on my Toyota KS 650 and ribber I needed to also us my P-carriage. It's this little plastic thingie that's been hanging around and I finally got to use it.

It was used on my ribber to move my ribber needles to C position before I moved the carriage to the right. This note was an asterisk in my instructions. I wondered why something so important was a foot note. It made all the difference in the world to circular knitting on my machine.

I wanted to circular knit so I could make a hand knit project on my knitting machine. The project is call a Puff Daddy. Someone wore one to our December machine knitting meeting. I just thought it was adorable. She said it was super easy 16 needles in the round and then 8 needles of i-cord. Graft the i-cord to the scarf and add a pom pom.

She was SO adorable in this scarf.

Here is my attempt. Why I picked a really nice yarn to make my first one I don't know. I don't usually do that, but the excitement got the better of me.

Here it is in it's rough state. I took the edge off the ribber on scrap yarn. I then knitted the remaining 8 stitches in i-cord. I then took the i-cord off the needles with scrap yarn. Next step is to kitchener it together and make a pom pom.

I-cord portion of the Puff Daddy.

The reason why I wish I had used some junky yarn to make my first Puff Daddy (hand knit patter here.) Loops! I only have 2 thank goodness, but why o why do I get them. Is this my curse? Or do any of you other machine knitters have this problem? Usually I see the loop and unknit a few rows to fix it. This was behind the ribber and I didn't see it until it hung out the bottom. Do I need to keep a small mirror next to my machine and periodically look at the work behind the ribber. Sometimes the surprise is not a good one when it reveals itself from the bottom of the ribber.

I'm off to Kitchener and make a pom pom.

Day 19 "25 Days of Diana"

2010-12-15T20:11:00.000-08:00

Today's lesson is circular knitting. Very confusing for me. I watched Diana's video on circular knitting. She uses a Brother machine. Combining what I learned from Diana and using the manual to my Toyota KS 650 bulky machine I began experimenting with circular knitting. What I found out was my Toyota manual wasn't that helpful. I couldn't get circular knitting or tubular knitting as they call it in the book to work. The knitting would make kind of an i- cord and then fall off the ribber needles. So aggravating.

After consulting with my machine knitting friend Julia she said she'd take a look at her Studio manual when she got home and call me back. Since I've found Toyotas and Studios to be very similar in the way they work. Then I thought ...duh... I have a Studio and it's manual. I followed the circular knitting instructions in the Studio manual and it was a bit different than the Toyota manual. I got the Toyota to do circular knitting with the Studio instructions! Well, sort of. The Studio manual said to push the end 2 needles into D position for each row.

What I got was a pocket, but not a tube. The end 2 needles do stockinette and seal the sides up. Then I forgot to push the end needles on the ribber up on one row and all the stitches fell off the needles on the ribber. Time to go to bed and try again tomorrow.

Day 18 "25 Days of Diana"

2010-12-14T16:42:00.000-08:00

Today I finished my Fisherman's rib scarf. Using Diana's Warm Ribbed Scarf Video. Again I just love the pattern and the yarn. The 2 make the the perfect pair. The yarn is Angel Hair Stripes by Sensation at Joann's.

I love this scarf so much it's going to be hard to part with it. I see it as a gift. Now who? hmmmm.

I did one small change from Diana's video in that I used 12 needles instead of 15. I think I'd like to reduce the width a tad more. I'm going to play with this pattern a bit more.

I also made last night the most adorable hat. The pattern isn't Diana's but her ribber lesson videos have given me the confidence to try new things. I used Diana's Circular Cast-on video for this pattern. I made Arlene's Bulky Baby Cupcake Hat. I can't believe how cute this hat is. I'm going to make more of these too.

It is definitely a little kid's size, but a big thank you to my son for modeling it for me.

Day 17 "25 Days of Diana"

2010-12-12T21:09:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm hooked on Diana's Warm Ribbed Scarf video. I'm madly in love with the look of the Fisherman's Rib and the yarn I'm using. It is so rich and luscious and I'm not exaggerating. I must have said I was in love with the Fisherman's Rib swatch I did enough that my son asked jokingly, "Really mom how much in love with it are you?" I said, "Why yes I'd marry it if I wasn't already married. That's how much I love it." We had a good laugh.

So, as you know from Day 16 I started a Fisherman's Rib scarf. I made this one starting on needle 12 on the ribber on the left and needle 12 starting on the right with the knitting machine. I felt like I would want a scarf to be a tad thinner. Maybe if I lived in Minnesota I'd need the full thickness, but I'm in California and it was 70 degrees on Friday. I just want to wrap a gorgeous scarf around my neck for show.

(See stitch marker to the left above cast on comb)

Also on Day 16 I had some dropped stitches. I put a stitch marker on that spot and waited for it to drop below the ribber so I could get a good look. After spending 4 hours knitting with teenagers I finally got some time to work on my scarf again. What I found was I did a great job getting the scarf back on track... or... err... needles. Once I take the marker off even I won't know where the mishap was. I knitted until I had to add another skein. I got it started and then figured with my coughing and hacking I better get to bed at a decent hour.

I can see myself making 3 or 4 of these before Christmas. I hope I don't bore you to tears.

Evil Plan Times 5

2010-12-12T20:52:00.000-08:00

I got a text message on Friday asking if the CCP (Caring for Cancer Patients) group could meet and make more hats. I said how about Sunday. So, today at 1:30pm 5 members came. I was delighted to see some young men too. I had full confidence that once they saw the knitting machines they'd want to try them out and they did. It wasn't so much the knitting part, but that a machine was doing the knitting.

Today's session wasn't quite as fruitful as the first meeting. It wasn't the kid's fault. I had brought out my most reliable standard gauge machine this time as my extra bulky is now hooked up to my ribber. My friend Julia and I discussed at the last meeting that it would be easier for them to work on bulkies. I didn't have the sponge bar finished on the donated machine that is a bulky. I'm kicking myself for not getting it done in time. So, we had one standard and one bulky with which to work. I wasn't worried as this standard machine works great and people are amazed when I bring it to class how well it works.

My reliable standard machine gave us nothing, but trouble today. Within the first half hour I had 3 bent needles and 2 bent gate pegs. It was easy to get it all fixed up, but why was my most reliable machine causing such havoc. When it got to knitting it dropped stitches, looped yarn and just generally made a mess. I'm so hoping they didn't get discourage. I finally said we're not going to use this machine as it obviously needed some private time with me to whip it back into shape.

The bulky was working great and 3 hats were made on it. Working with teenagers is both a joy and aggravation. I don't know how many times I told the guys to quit putting their hands on the needles when the carriage was moving. It wasn't until I jokingly said, "Watch out that carriage might saw your fingers right off" that any concern was shown. I guess because they do kind of make a sawing sound it seem possible. They like to flip levers, tilt handles and I just use it as a teaching moment. Like don't pull out the russell levers unless you're planning on doing short rowing. I asked, "Are you making socks today?"

The kids worked with making pom poms with the pom pom makers. They wound yarn with my yarn winder. There was plenty for them to do.

On top of it all the Yearbook photographer came out and took a few photos. We all thought that was pretty exciting. Me, because maybe machine knitting will show up in the yearbook!

Next time 2 bulky machines!

Day 16 "25 Days of Diana"

2010-12-11T23:45:00.000-08:00

What a rigmarole! I started my 2nd Fisherman's Rib scarf using Diana's video when some how I dropped a couple stitches on the ribber. Moving the carriage out of the way I dropped a couple more. My first thought... I'm going to have to unravel this whole thing. My 2nd thought.... what would it hurt to try and pick up the stitches. Well, I couldn't grab them. Some had unraveled a bit. Undeterred I continued on. I began unraveling slowly myself to see if I could see the pattern and fix things. Then I realized I could drop the ribber quite a bit to get a good look without disturbing things too much. After unraveling about 6 rows I figured out the stitch pattern and got all stitches back to their rightful needles. What this scarf is going to look like right there .... I don't know. I'm putting a stitch marker in that spot. When it drops below the ribber I'll be able to judge whether I'm unraveling the whole thing and starting over or continuing on.... tomorrow that is. I'm putting my sicky self to bed.

Here's what I have so far...

I'm using Angel Hair Stripes by Sensation purchased at Joanns.

Day 15 "25 Days of Diana"

2010-12-11T20:19:00.000-08:00

Well, I was having problems today in one way or another. After successfully knitting Fisherman's rib on Thursday my knitting machine wouldn't work on Friday. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why I would run the carriage across and it would get stuck with 4 needles sticking out. It worked great the day before. After much examining and slowing moving it across I decided to just do a cleaning. Nothing much to clean, but I hadn't done it in a while. I took a soft cloth put some oil on it and rub down the working parts of my machine and carriage. Lots of black color came off. I pulled a small fuzzy out here and there nothing too alarming. Then I went to put the carriage back on and it slide across like nothing was every wrong. Did I fix it? Apparently so. I don't know what I did, but something wasn't moving the needles back and now it was.

I've also been fighting a cold this week. Well, denying I have a cold is more like it, but yesterday it really dawned on me that I was sick. After "fixing" my machine for an hour or so I was feeling really tired and run down. Dear Daughter said, "Mom why don't you go to bed early." It was a little after nine and I thought that sounds like a great idea.

I feel like I didn't let my Diana challenge down as she suggests we all spend some time at our knitting machines every day. Today ended up being a maintenance day.

Day 14 "25 Days of Diana"

2010-12-09T23:17:00.000-08:00

I did it! Fisherman's Rib using Diana's Warm Ribbed Scarf Video! Last night I wasn't sure I did it. I wasn't sure how to do it. Today was the meeting of the Sacramento Machine Knitter's Guild and I talked to one of the more experienced ladies and she set me straight. I knew from Diana's videos that Fisherman's Rib was Double English Rib. I was pretty sure slip meant the carriage wasn't knitting. I knew that the Russell levers could achieve this. So, I had my terms correct as I asked questions on how to get a Toyota set up for Fisherman's Rib.

After confirming my suspicions I came home to give it another try. I found out that Homespun or Red Heart's Light and Lofty are just too knobbly for my machine. Just too much work and too much worry I'm doing the machine some harm. I dug around in my stash looking for something thick, but not bumpy and I found one of my favorite yarns. Sensations Angel Hair from Joanns. Only problem I only had one skein. I decided that learning Fisherman's Rib would be a great sacrifice for this beautiful yarn.

Once the project started peaking out below the ribber I knew immediately I had gotten it right. This mini scarf is so thick and luscious I may have to go on the search for more of this yarn. I don't even know if Joann sells it anymore. A quick search of the Joanns web site and I found it on sale there. May have to check out the store tomorrow for a quick fix.

Follow Diana's video instructions. She has great tips like pull down on the yarn after each row, and put lots of weight on the yarn. The lighting is not that great to get the true beauty of this project. You'll just have to do it yourself.

Day 13 "25 Days of Diana"

2010-12-08T23:23:00.000-08:00

The reason I got my bulky and ribber up and working yesterday was I wanted to try Diana's Warm Ribbed Scarf video. It is supposed to be Fisherman's Rib. I'm not exactly sure I understand what it is. She said in her Fisherman's Rib ribber lesson that it is Double English rib. My books do talk about English rib. Diana is working on I believe a Brother knitting machine. I have a Studio and a Toyota, which have different buttons and levers. Most of the time with her explanations I can figure out how it applies to my machine. Sometimes I even pull out the manuals to compare. This lesson was a little above my head. Or maybe I'm just foggy with what still feels like a cold coming on.

I was able to get the above done and it was looking really nice. It turned into a swatch when I realized there was a problem. My cast-on comb got hung up on the legs of my knitting machine and therefore the weight wasn't pulling down on the yarn like it should. This obviously caused a stitch to drop. I had reached under the ribber to see why my yarn was bunching up and realized the comb was caught. I pulled it and the scarf down and could feel the run. I probably caused the run not knowing a stitch had dropped.

Oh well, I learned a couple of things today. Check to make sure your comb doesn't get hung up. Cast-on comb is very sharp if you drop it and catch it in mid air. (No blood, but sure felt like there should be some.) Homespun is kind of persnickety, but worth the extra effort.

Day 12 "25 Days of Diana"

2010-12-08T23:09:00.000-08:00

Today's project was to get my bulky machine and ribber working. I just got them set up less than a month ago. I bought a new sponge bar for the ribber. Installed it and there it has sat. I wiped the working parts of the ribber down with an oily rag. Everything was moving great.

I did a practice cast on of 1X1 ribbing using Diana's circular cast-on video. I did a swatch with great success.

Satisfied that the ribber was working I was thrilled with my swatch. It amazes me that it's so wide on the machine and the ribbing pulls it together off the machine. Like a little kid I can't help pulling it in and out and enjoying my new found skill.

I didn't do much more than that, because I felt a cold coming on and wanted to go to bed.

Fortune Cookies

2010-12-07T07:49:00.000-08:00

On Friday DH, daughter and I went out to eat Chinese at our favorite restaurant Silver Dragon. At the end of the meal I opened my fortune cookie and it read "You will receive a gift given freely and gladly." I thought what a great time for this fortune to come as the next day I was going to a sort of Machine Knitting yard sale at my guild.

I had sort of forgotten about my fortune as the sale went on. I really didn't see much I wanted to buy as I'm saving my pennies for Christmas gifts. I bought a $1 cone of some beautiful acrylic yarn. I bought a linker for $5 for a friend in the Sacramento Machine Knitting Guild. He had mentioned he wanted a linker at the last meeting. I bought a couple MK magazines and a cone of beautiful forest green wool from Scotland. All total I spent about $20.

Where I was sitting and there was a knitting machine that many people were looking at. It was kind of pitiful. No tools, no row counter, missing it's cast on comb. Many of the experienced machine knitters were brought over to consult on whether it would be a good starter machine. It was getting high praise from everyone. Still it just sat there. The sale was pretty much over when the owner of the machine and other things on the table asked if anyone wanted the box on the table. No one spoke up and she looked at me. I thought she meant the knitting machine, but she was referring to the knit leader. She said I don't know if it works, but you're welcome to have it. I said OK. Then she pointed to the knit leader. I thought well it will be interesting to see what this thing is and if it works.

When I went to retrieve the knit leader she then asked what I would do with it. I told her that I am working with a teenage group at my daughter's school called Caring for Cancer Patients. That I was teaching these teenagers how to machine knit to make hats for donation to their charities. Then she said, "Here take the knitting machine too. Are you really going to use it for charity?" I told her that I already have pictures on my blog of the teenagers making hats using my machines. That I thought it would be nice to get a machine for the group to clean and refurbish. So, they can learn how to take care of a knitting machine and have a machine of their own.

She was happy to donate the machine and not to have to cart it back home. I was very excited for the group. Then it occurred to me that my fortune cookie prediction had come true.

Day 11 "25 Days of Diana"

2010-12-06T21:52:00.000-08:00

Today I wanted to finish my sock, but that was not to be. There were so many mistakes in my sock that once I got just passed the half way mark I thought I really need to redo this sock. I really want to wear this sock; therefore it really needs to look like a sock. Not some sad excuse for a sock.

What was encouraging as I took it off the machine resigned to the fact that I had to redo it is that it did definitely look like a real sock. Well, the beginnings of one. I think someone who didn't knit wouldn't notice the mistakes. To me they were blaring.

I decided to try on my half of sock and see if it was any where near the size I needed. To my great surprise it fit great! I was very excited, because it fit AND it looked like a sock! Well, half a sock. I am encouraged to try this again tomorrow. Tonight I'll rewind the yarn into a neat ball again and be ready for tomorrow.

Day 10 "25 Days of Diana"

2010-12-06T21:40:00.000-08:00

Today I returned home from Rough and Ready, CA. That's where my folks live. We celebrated mama's birthday this weekend. I still had time to do a little machine knitting.

I started with Diana's Single Bed Sew-As-You-Go Sock. I thought I needed to know how to do 2X2 ribbing, but a mock rib is used here. I found out that one can not be distracted while making this projected. Well that's probably true with most projects. LOL The video is great. Twinkle fingers here was having some problems. I'd end up with an extra needle obviously I forgot to push one into work or out of work. Then for some unknown reason my whole toe dropped off the needles in one swipe of the carriage. After rehanging it, reknitting stitches manually I'd had enough knitting for the day.

Day 9 "25 Days of Diana"

2010-12-06T21:27:00.000-08:00

Saturday, December 9th was the Machine Knitting Guild of the San Francisco Bay Area's monthly meeting. It's about an hour and half away from my house, but well worth the journey once a month. There were 4 of us all together that carpooled.

Today's meeting was a fashion show of machine knit fashions, a catered luncheon and show and tell. For the first time since I started machine knitting I really felt like I could do these items that were being shown in the fashion show. Having a ribber has really opened up a whole new world of knitting options. Though I don't use it for everything probably only half of what I've been doing lately. I have it and it's not a worry. I didn't realize how much I worried about not having a ribber up and working.

What was a worried about? I guess not being a complete machine knitter. Not that I'm any where near being one, but the possibilities are there now.

Today's Diana project was merely just showing off my Tam done with Diana's video. It was a big hit. Once again I was giving out the location of Diana's blog. I tell them to google "Diana natters on" and they'll go right to it. Honestly, I should print out some business cards with her name and address on them. Every meeting I'm asked where I got the patterns I use and most of the time they are Diana's. I'm only too happy to report to them about this great resource.

Day 8 "25 Days of Diana"

2010-12-06T21:15:00.000-08:00

Today I worked on making 2X2 ribbing using Diana's video and the book that came with my machine.

I did some very nice swatches. Making sure all the buttons and levers are pushed in the correct directions can be a challenge. I kept trying to get my zig zag row and it wasn't happening. So, again I'd go over the chart. It seemed as careful as I thought I was something would be out of place. Finally, I swiped the carriage and a beautiful zig zig row was formed.

Something I that had been ingrained in my brain from watching Diana's ribber videos was to make sure the needles didn't collide. I was very proud of myself when I knew to turn my ribber from P to H without any prompting.

Day 7 "25 Days of Diana"

2010-12-03T19:04:00.000-08:00

Day 7 was spent with me working on my kitchener stitch. I used Diana's video specifically about the kitchener stitch. I also found a little more helpful in that I could see what was going on a little better the Short Rowed Hat video. At the end of the 2nd video she shows you how to kitchener stitch again. We all need to find ways that help us learn and I don't know maybe it was the video angle, but it just made more sense to me.

So, I'm stitching up the baby hat and I'm stitching up a pair of slippers I made last December. Yes, I did say last December. The first one didn't fit me after I sewed it up. The 2nd one was a great example displayed with the completed slipper of what the slipper looked like right off the machine. I just never got around to sewing up the 2nd slipper. I found out they'll fit my sister-in-law. Since we don't exchange gifts guess what she'll find in her stocking.

Day 6 "25 Days of Diana"

2010-12-01T23:44:00.000-08:00

Today I decided to make Diana's adorable Short-Rowed Baby Hat. Mine came out equally adorable. It's really good practice for short rowing. I'll need that talent for my sock DVD when it shows up. :)

The 10 wedges were easy to do. Things I had problems with were my yarn mast and making sure the weights got moved. My yarn mast I think is having tensioning problems on the left side. It kept tightening up the yarn, getting tangled and generally making me say "What the f*#@" toward the end of the 10 wedges. Every time I looked up it found a new way to get tangled and intertwined upon itself. I made it through though and the adorableness of the way the yarn patterned made me very happy.

After I hung the hat to start the hat band I threaded the yarn through the right side of the mast. No problems with tensioning there. I'll definitely be looking into what's going on with the left side.

I don't have a lace carriage for my Studio 700. I don't even know if it comes with one. Something to look into. I did my picot edge the old fashion way with a transfer tool. Moving every other stitch to the needle beside it. The picot edging is so simple and yet looks so nice.

I was so excited to finish this hat tonight seeing how cute it was turning out. I started around 8pm and finished around 11pm. I'm hoping to do it quite a bit faster when I'm not fighting my yarn mast.

Day 5 "25 Days of Diana"

2010-12-01T20:47:00.000-08:00

Well, day five took a completely different turn on my challenge. I was all set up and ready to do the online videos of Diana sock videos using the ribber. The day before I watched every video she had regarding the ribber. I listened to the lessons and the projects. A bit of over kill since it took hours. I thoroughly enjoyed it though.

When day 5 hit I clicked on the video and didn't realize that it's a basic sock making video. One needs to know how many needles to cast on. I didn't realize that it was a basic lesson since I watched so many videos I guess they all blended together. Also I didn't realize that I was so burned out on videos that after replaying video one 3 times I had no desire to play the other 2. I wanted to know how many needles I needed to cast on.

This is when I remembered that earlier in the year I had bought her Sock DVD. I was trying to get my ribber up and working at the time. It took me about 9 months of asking around to find someone who could get it adjusted properly. I lost sight of the fact that I had the Sock DVD.

Day 5 of my "25 Days of Diana" turned into organize your craft room and find the sock DVD. I found Diana's Garter Bar DVD and her Entrelac DVD, but I can't find the Sock DVD the very one I need. Diana is so helpful I may email her and ask her how many needles until the Sock DVD shows up.

I highly recommend the purchase of her DVDs. She does a really good job explaining and showing how to do the techniques. I'm waiting on her "How to Organize a Craftroom" DVD.

Day 4 "25 Days of Diana"

2010-11-29T21:15:00.000-08:00

Today I decided to take the time and watch Diana's Ribber Course. They are fascinating. I am anxious to start practicing and making my swatches. What I enjoyed is the fact that since I've been practicing the circular cast-on with my machine none of the videos seemed like a foreign language.

Watching all these videos is quite an endeavor all it's own. Diana has generously made 25 lessons. They are all approximately 10 minutes long. That is about 4 hours of lessons. She offers these all for free. We are truly blessed to have someone as experienced as Diana to take the time and make us these videos.

The Ribber Course covers several different cast-ons. There are many different ribbing options and quite a few different cast-offs. Toward the end of the series she does a few specialty techniques.

Day 3 "25 Days of Diana"

2010-11-28T17:52:00.000-08:00

I just got through untangling the biggest rat's nest from my ribber and knitting machine. OH MY GOSH! I couldn't even move my carriage off the needles. After using my tools and removing the yarn from the needles was I able to move the needles enough to get the carriage off the machine and really work on untangling the yarn. Whew.

I finished the hat part of the Tam and everything went smoothly. First hat was definitely good practice. The hat band is another story. Going to begin band number 3. I think it's a whole tension thing. The zero tension is too tight for this yarn.

OK this yarn is just a pain in the butt on the standard. Even tension 6 was tight. I don't know what this band is going to look like. One thing about the ribber is your knitting is a surprise. I knitted 16 rows and just hoped and prayed it was doing OK. Without a ribber I can catch mistakes early and fix them. My ribbed band may be a big mess, but I won't know for a while yet.

Which brings me to the double eyed needle. I just LOVE it. A couple came with my machine, but I didn't use it. Since setting up the ribber I decided to get it out. Wow it sure makes life easy.

Another thing I did today was provided a Orthodontic treatments to my machine weights. When I got them their teeth were bent. Some weights more than others. I always have trouble getting them to hook on. Well used my one eye transfer knitting tool probably not smart as I was a little afraid I'd break it, but it worked great straightening the teeth on my weights. What really amazed me was how much easier the weights hooked on to my knitting. I can't believe I let myself suffer for so long knowing the teeth were crooked.

Well, once the ribber came down the band was not so good. Mainly, because of my choice of yarn. I picked a cotton yarn that matched the Tam I made. I ran out of yarn at the end of the 6th wedge. The cotton yarn made a very stiff scratchy band. Not something one wants on their head.

I'm done knitting today. Very successful though. I got another Tam done easily. I straighten the snaggle teeth of my weights. And I caught up on my Glee episodes on Hulu.com.

Day 2 "25 Days of Diana"

2010-11-27T21:29:00.000-08:00

In keeping with my new rule that I don't have to complete a Diana project every day. I just need to work on a Diana project every day I started another Tam. When DH came back to my craft room and asked if I wanted to watch a movie with him I didn't grit my teeth and say, "No! I have to finish this hat!"... like I did last night.

Today is nothing fancy. I'm making another Tam, but I've loosened up the tension. My first hat the Tam seemed a bit on the small size. The knitted fabric was so tight I could barely get a weight hung on it. This time the weights push on nicely. My daughter and I thought it should have a bit more slouch to it.

I told her she could do better, because this picture looked like an Irish mug shot.

That made her smile.

Pictures tomorrow of the looser tension Tam.

Day One of My "25 Days of Diana"

2010-11-27T02:39:00.000-08:00

I have to admit I wasn't really ready to start today. I was out at a Black Friday sale Thursday night at midnight, but was home by 1am WITH my item. Yahoo! I also woke up with a headache stemming from my finicky neck. Did a little too much something on Thanksgiving.

Anyhow that's what having a challenge is all about. One feels compelled to move forward and complete their challenge. I do anyhow. I have been thinking about Diana's Machine Knit Tam since I first saw her video. I didn't know how to do ribbing at the time. I do now. So, that's the first thing I wanted to make.

(First wedge done. See middle weight not in good place. Need to keep it high.)

I must clarify any problems I had with working with Diana's video is due to my own dorky machine knitting skills and working with my own machine. Diana's video is great and teaches well. I'm just kind of a clutsy machine knitter. I seem to get my yarn wrapped around the gate pegs in one giant loop on a regular basis. It is my own doing not Diana's.

I started the video and I had 2 problems. One is the end stitch the one put back into work each time I don't believe knits every time. It doesn't skip often maybe 2 or 3 times a triangle, but it's something I'm keeping an eye on. I'm not sure if I forget to put the needle into work. Don't think that is it. OR I've notice that needle gets pulled forward and maybe the stitch isn't knitting properly. SO I'm making sure that it is pulled back even with the other needles. We'll see if that solves my problem.

(Such a pretty color. Wishing now I had practiced on something else.)

My 2nd problem is I'm not moving my middle weight up often enough. If I don't the middle section of my triangle won't knit. First time I noticed it I had 2 rows to fix. I've had to fix it 2 more time, but only one row. I can hear my carriage sounding different when it happens. That draws my attention to where the weight is. Then my attention goes up to the needles and sure enough about 10-20 needles are not knitted. It's a pretty easy fix. Also easy to avoid if one keeps their weights moving up!

With the 2 above observations and corrections it did solve my problems.

My next challenge was doing 199 needles of ribbing. I've never used my full bed on any machine for any reason. I was a bit nervous, but dove right in. What I found out is my bad habit of stealing needles off the ends of my machines finally came back to bite me in the butt. I was short 3 needles. I do have replacements just had to quit being lazy, get them out and install them. Done.

The tension for the ribbing was really tight. Very hard to push across. Next one I'll loosen that up. I forced it across and somehow my ribbing turned out fine. Next learning curve was attaching the hat to the band. Turned out I had more stitches on my hat than my band. I discovered it when I got to the middle and wedge three was going to overlap it by quite a bit. So, I decided from this point on I'd hang the beginning and end of each wedge on 1/6th of the needles. This worked out well. I had to hang 2 stitches on one needle here and there.

Next I needed a refresher on the Kitchener Stitch. Time for the Beginner Lessons Diana has made. I watched Diana's video and a few others to stitch up the side seam. It's not perfect, but I have to say it looks a lot better than I thought it would. I do still need a lot of practice.

(My daughter always a good sport about modeling my creations.)

It took me 5 hours, but I completed the Tam and it is being blocked on a plate as I type. What I decided on my "25 Days of Diana" challenge is I don't have to complete a project every day. This project had many lessons in it that would probably do well to spread over a day or two.

Tam was blocked over a dinner plate. Worked out quite well.

My Dream Setup

2010-11-22T23:39:00.000-08:00

I now have set up as of tonight a standard knitting machine and ribber and a bulky knitting machine and ribber. Yahoo! This is my dream setup. I just set up the bulky and ribber tonight.

The standard is a Studio 700 with a SRP 60N ribber. This is working great thanks to my friend Julia coming over and adjusting my ribber to meet the knitting machine.

The bulky is a Toyota 650 with a Toyota KR350 ribber. First thing I noticed is the ribber needs a new sponge bar. Why I didn't know ribbers had sponge bars I don't know. Sounds common sense now, but up until a few weeks ago didn't even occur to me.

Update: SRP 60N ribbers do not have sponge bars. They have a solid plastic bar. Thanks Monique for clearing that up and making me investigate further.

What is neat is the bulky came with a tilt stand. I've always thought I'd prefer that, but didn't have one so didn't know. Now I'll get to decide whether I like the knitting machine flat rather than tilted toward the back. Working with the standard not on a tilt stand I found out it didn't really bother me as much as I thought it would.

I also have an extra Studio 700 and Toyota 650 knitting machines. These are my traveling machines. I go to a machine knitting class twice a month and I enjoy bringing my machines. One or the other never both. I learn better when I'm doing. Rather than just watching and taking notes I can do the pattern and ask questions.

I got the 2 extra machines for 2 reasons. One I really don't want to take my knitting machine a part from the ribber twice a month. Also one of the gals at the meeting said she had her machine damaged in transit. Someone how the innards shifted. I could see a machine shifting around in a car possibly making this happen. So, I wanted a cheap machine that I could travel with and if it got damaged I wouldn't be broken hearted. I'm careful to make sure it's sitting flat and doesn't move around in the back of my car. So, hoping my traveling machines hold up.

Also these 2 extra machines are an integral part of my evil machine knitting plan. :D

"Diana natters on..." Has A Challenge...

2010-11-22T20:01:00.000-08:00

of her own. She is calling it "The Goldilocks Challenge." It is called this because she says, "We are going to make beautiful gifts for Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear for Christmas. Honest, I promise they'll be pretty, luxurious and easy."

Her challenge is for everyone to buy an Ultimate Sweater Machine. Diana says, "It's affordable even at full price, and I just gave you a way to buy one on the cheap, just by watching the Hobby Lobby website, plus there's Craigslist and eBay and that other craft store, too." We don't have Hobby Lobby out here on the west coast, but I just checked Joanns and they have it already listed at 40% off on their website. If it isn't on sale in the store use their 40% off coupon.

An update about her challenge is also listed here. I know quite a few people who started machine knitting with the Ultimate Sweater Machine. It's a cheap way to get an idea if you're going to like this kind of thing. When I say cheap I'm referring to buying a brand new Silver Reed knitting machine and ribber which will run about $1700. Now one can buy used machines for quite a bit less. BUT you need to know what you're looking for. Is it operational? Does it need any repairs? Does it have all it's parts? Is there an instruction manual? Who will I get to repair it? Where will I order parts? There is something to be said about buying the Ultimate Sweater Machine brand new with all it's parts, manual and included video.

25 Days of Diana!

2010-11-21T12:45:00.000-08:00

Diana Sullivan that is. If you haven't heard of Diana Sullivan then you need to go promptly over to her blog. After you've read my personal challenge that is. I've included links to her blog. She is a great advocate for machine knitting. She is very generous and makes free videos on how to do many techniques on knitting machine. She also sells a few of her techniques on DVD. I have bought two. My favorite to date is the Entrelac video. To be fair it's the only one I've viewed; hense, this challange.

I've decided on a challenge for myself. In an effort to get better at using my knitting machines I'm going to do something on Diana's blog everyday for 25 days. I'd also like to get a few things knitted for Christmas. This way I'll get to kill two birds with one stone. Oh that sounds terrible no birds will be harmed during my 25 days of machine knitting.

Diana Sullivan has great tutorials and great projects on her "Diana natters on..." Blog. A lot of them on video on YouTube. I keep threatening to do more of them and don't make the time. Check out Diana's YouTube Channel on YouTube. It's called Dianaknits.

Starting on November 26th, because who are we kidding do I really have time during the week before Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is at my house and I have cooking and cleaning to do. This year I'm ONLY having 12 people over. I usually have 25 or more. Though it seems like a more relaxing event the same food needs to be made. Why stress myself out.

The challenge will end on December 20th. Plenty of time to weave ends in and get things wrapped for Christmas.

I think I'll use this week to sort of come up with a plan on where I want to start. So, many interesting things to do over at Diana's place.

Machine Knit Mittens

2010-11-15T12:38:00.000-08:00

I found a model at my last Machine Knitting Meeting. One of the gals brought her granddaughter's. One was about 6 and the mitten fit her perfectly. This was knit with some purple yarn I bought at Fig Tree Alley. It is a gorgeous purple acrylic sold for $5 a cone. I bought it mainly to use for my prototypes. My experiments on my knitting machines. Each time I make something though I think I should save it for something real. It's such a gorgeous color.

I made this mitten on my Studio 700 standard gauge knitting machine. The cuff is a mock rib. At the time of this project I was at my knitting machine meeting and did not have a ribber. I also did not know how to use the ribber I had at home. The mock rib looks nice, but doesn't have the stretch of a real rib.

I was really quite amazed as I made this mitten in about 25 minutes. It took me about 1 hour to sew up the seams.

I made the size for a toddler, but the mitten nearly fits me. It fit my 6 year old model perfectly.

3 days after I made this mitten I learned how to use my ribber. I'm no expert, but I do know how to make 1X1 ribbing. I made an adult size mitten with 1X1 ribbing. Pictures to follow.

My Evil Machine Knitting Plan In Full Swing!

2010-11-08T08:09:00.000-08:00

Some of you may recall my evil plan to convert teenagers into machine knitters. My plan involved luring them in to make hats for their "Caring for Cancer Patients" group (CCP).

Well, Sunday was the first day I got the group over. It was a meager showing of 3 members. Honestly, it was a nice size with which to start. I don't know how many members the group has, but my hope is this start up group will tell the others how much fun they had. My plan was to not only get the group acquainted with knitting machines, but to feed them yummy food too.

I set up my 2 KS 650 Bulky Toyotas. Not only are bulky needles easy to see, but my KS 650 bulkys are just easy to use. I week before our meeting my husband said, "Is Julia coming over?" Julia is my friend that taught me to machine knit. I thought what a great idea to have another adult here who knows how to run a knitting machine. I called up Julia and asked her if she would come and she said, "Yes. Do you need me to bring a machine? How about some yarn?" What a great friend!

Diana the leader of the CCP asked if I needed any money to buy yarn. I have been given yarn and have bought some very cheaply over the past year. I decided to let the CCP group have a yarn donation with which to begin.

Julia and I taught the girls how to e-wrap, knit, how to transfer stitches, how to pull the live stitches off on a long yarn tail, and how to sew up the side seam. My daughter has done a little machine knitting, but the other 2 girls have not done any knitting or crocheting. They all learned very quickly. The girls were all amazed at how quickly they could knit up something that looked so beautiful.

At one point the girls had gain more confidence and the carriages on both machines were moving back and forth at a nice clip. The sounds of both knitting machines in work was music to my ears.

Diana the group leader was in Pennsylvania over the weekend and came home just in time to see the girls handy work. She was so proud. One of the gals in the group suggested on several occasions we should get together every 2 weeks to knit hats.

My only comment to that is "Bwah hahahahahaha. My evil plan was successful!" We made a date to meet up again during Thanksgiving week.

PS. I made a yummy appetizer called Chile Relleno Bites. SO GOOD!

Ribber is up and working

2010-11-08T00:18:00.000-08:00

I set my Studio 700 up with it's SRP60N ribber back in January. I followed the directions in the book. My ribber would not adjust high enough for the ribber carriage to meet the knitting machine carriage. Not knowing a thing about ribbers I didn't know what to do. I was so frustrated that I just let the whole set up sit.

My friend Julia said there are some adjustments that can be made on the back of the ribber that's not mentioned in the book. She said she'd come over and help me get it up and running. She spent about 1/2 hour getting the ribber adjusted and then we needed to start the teenager machine knitting group. I'll blog on that later.

After all the teenagers left we came back to the ribber. She got it casted on and started knitting 1X1 ribbing. It was very exciting to see the ribber actually working. She then said want to try. I said, "I'm scared." She laughed and got up and said firmly, "Sit down." So, she help walk me through the instructions on how to cast on the ribber. She gave me tips on what to look for, what should be knitting and what tensions work well. I made my first strip of 1X1 ribbing!

Then I promptly lost my comb wire. The comb and wire fell behind my machine onto floor between practice strips. Nothing tricky. Wire completely gone. Julia then gave me a tip to always put the wire back in the comb when not in use. Hopefully tomorrow when the sun is out I'll be able to find my wire. Where could it have possibly gone in a 3X4 foot square area?

Side Note: 3 months later and I have FOUND my ribber wire. It has slid down along side the knitting machine lid held on the stand in the back. It balanced nicely between the 2 arms that hold the lid totally camouflaged.

Video Pattern For A Hair Scrunchie

2010-10-15T19:02:00.000-07:00

At Diana natters on... there is a great video on how to make a cute hair scrunchie. Check it out by clicking here.

What I particularly liked is seeing someone under the age of 40 machine knitting!

WWI Was Won by a Knitting Machine!

2010-09-06T22:33:00.000-07:00

The Wonderful Knitting Machine (Part 1)

And don't forget part 2 for the full story and the finished sock. Fascinating!

Knitting Lace

2010-08-17T19:50:00.000-07:00

Last week's lesson was on knitting lace. Only problem I don't own a Brother knitting machine. My machines don't have lace carriages. BUT I really enjoyed watching the demonstration. This machine I was told is a Brother 910. It had a handy dandy electronic device that helped set up the lace patterns. It would then tell you how many times the lace carriage needed to pass before using the regular carriage.

We chose different patterns and worked with Becky's machine. She use to own a machine knitting shop up until 1998. And to think I moved here in 1990. I could have been machine knitting for 8 years! I had just never heard of machine knitting at the time.

Becky wanted to demonstrate a quick and easy project for gifts. After trying her machine I could see how easy it would be to crank out a table runner and 4 place mats on a Brother 910.

1st annual Oakland Fiber and Textile Festival

2010-07-09T00:30:00.000-07:00

I sure hope they do it again next year. I really had a good time. Julia and I joined the Machine Knitter's Guild of the San Francisco Bay Area in March I believe. MKGSFBA for short. There was a call out for volunteers to man their booth at the 1st annual Oakland Fiber and Textile Festival. Julia and I thought it would be a fun trip and we volunteered. We got the 11am to noon shift. Great hours for us since we were traveling to Oakland from Orangevale. It's about a 1 1/2 hour trip if there is no traffic. I thought on a Sunday morning we'd be pretty safe. We were. The trip started off with my directions completely disappearing from my house to Julia's. So, we had to print out new ones. Not such a bad start to the trip.

We stopped at Starbuck's and treated ourselves to a cup of coffee and a toasted bagel. We were off. It was an absolutely beautiful sunny day. Only blue skies ahead of us. My map was great. We found the free parking at the elementary school just fine. Next thing we knew we were walking into the Fiber Fest at 10 am. It turned out a lot bigger than I thought. We signed in and got out volunteer badges. Next we looked around to find our booth, so we'd know where to be at 11am. Lots and lots of yarn to oogle. Lots and lots of wool to fondle. There was even a quilting booth with lovely quilts hanging and a big sign that said, "Touch Quilts." I couldn't believe my eyes that they'd actually let us touch. I thought what a humorous sign when normally we are not allowed to touch anything. I walked up to the first quilt by the sign. My better judgement made me take the brochure I had in my hand and push away the quilt hanging next to the sign. Just as I thought "Don't Touch Quilts." The "Don't" was perfectly covered up by the hanging quilt. I chuckled and thought I let the gals in the booth figure that one out by themselves.

Right at 11am Richard and LaMata were ready for a break and we were ready to take over. Richard picked up his items off the front table leaving it a little bare, so I set my machine knit bag and machine knit entrelac on for viewing. I got a lot of "I can't believe you did that on a knitting machine!" Hopefully, we were able to convince some people to join the guild in the fall. That was our mission to pass on our love of Machine Knitting.

At noon we were relieved by the next crew and Julia and I decided to get some lunch. I really needed to find a restroom. I was told port a pots were in the parking lot under the freeway. It wasn't too far away, but I really wanted to avoid them. Little did I know at the time that finding a restroom was going to be a challenge. We walked for a couple blocks and found no restrooms. Kentucky Fried Chicken had no restroom. The gal at the counter had no idea where we'd find one either. That port-a-pot was looking really good to me by that time. Fortunately, being a smaller event and the port-a-pots being in the shade it wasn't a bad experience. Feeling greatly relieved I could continue walking in search of a place to have lunch. We were starting to get discourage when we turned a corner and there was a Subway Sandwich shop. A sandwich sounded very good about then.

We returned to the Fiber Fest and Julia went shopping. I went for a knitting lesson. That was one of the great things about this fair. You could get knitting lessons, crochet lessons, fiber felting lessons, quilting lessons all for a small donation. Since I've been having a hard time knitting and purling I took the knitting lesson. My knitting gets so tight I almost need a sledge hammer to drive my needle into the next stitch. Not good! Deborah tight me a new cast on and then I began to show her what I was doing. She gave me advice from the first stitch. Since I've learned to knit from pictures in a book I was doing a few things wrong. I wasn't putting my needles into the stitches correctly and I wasn't wrapping my purl stitch correctly. The way I was doing it was giving each stitch half as much yarn as needed. Once I wrapped correctly everything went smoothly. It was a gorgeous day sitting with fellow knitters ages ranging from 7 to 67. They gave us all a pair of knitting needles and a ball of yarn for a $1 donation.

My hope is the Fiber Fest was as successful as Bente of Piedmont Yarn and Apparel hoped it would be. That way there will be another next year.

Hook, Line and Sinker!

2010-06-24T22:20:00.000-07:00

Remember my evil machine knitting plan I discussed in a previous post. I didn't know how well my plan to interest teenagers in machine knitting was going to work until 3 days later. My daughter's friend came over and asked if she could make another hat. After I said, "Bwah ha ha ha ha" under my breath we got her set up and off she went knitting her 2nd hat. While running the carriage back and forth she said, "I love machine knitting. Some day I want a machine of my own." I nearly fainted with joy.

My daughter modeling her friend's "Happy Hat." Since the hats were going to siblings we made this one slightly different with a rolled brim.

Machine Knitting Disaster

2010-06-14T15:33:00.000-07:00

(Amy gave a lesson with her garter carriage)

Last Thursday was our regular June meeting of the Sacramento Area Machine Knitter's Guild. Last months meeting our leader Marilynn said she wasn't going to bring her machine any more. That it's too heavy for her and she's having issues with her leg. Well, one of the reasons I'm a reliable member is because I felt like if a 70 plus year old woman took the trouble of bringing her heavy knitting machine to the meeting each time I should show up. I have a bad neck and don't want to lift it and I'm at least 20 years younger.

(counter clockwise Hugh, Marilynn, Celeste and Amy)

Upon arriving to the meeting I find we are in a different room. Marilynn only said she wasn't bringing a machine I really had no idea what we would do at the meetings now. No plan is set. So, I decided that bring a machine. I hadn't thought it through though. I decided to bring my machine I had just bought. I could give it a good look over and decide what needed to be done to get it up and running. Since we were in a different room there were no tables set up. I'm minorly annoyed. Our other room is all tables and perfect for us. Anyhow thank goodness for our only male member Hugh. He set up some folded tables that were in the corner.

As I'm setting up my machine I hear Kathleen talking from the other side to the table. She's always so fun and up beat. What I'm hearing though is a story that is not happy, but she's still sounding as up beat as ever. I tune into her conversation and hear that she had dropped her electronic machine and broke it.

What I didn't quite get til much later was she dropped it in the parking lot right before the meeting! She did finally have a bit of disappointment in her voice when she said she had just got the thing and had never used it. She said she probably paid too much for it to begin with and now she had to get it fixed if it could be fixed. Then the upbeat Kathleen was back. She had the attitude that what was done was done now let's move on. Great way to think. Hugh from our group is quite the handy man and saying that is not giving him his due. He said he'd tinker with it and see what he could do to fix it.

It got Kathleen and I talking about how heavy these machines are. I said, "What we should do is when we get here is come into the room and ask someone to help us lift the machine out of the car." She thought that was a great idea. That is my main problem. Getting it in and out of the car. Once out and on my golf cart I'm good to go. Even lifting it to a table doesn't seem as much trouble as the car. I have my son or husband or even my daughter for that matter put it in my car. I just need help getting it out.

UPDATE 06/24/10: Hugh was able to glue this machine back together and get it up and running again in 2 short weeks. We were all shocked at how quickly he fixed this machine. Kathleen was flabbergasted when she saw machine fixed and at today's meeting.

My Evil Machine Knitting Plan is Underway

2010-06-14T14:10:00.000-07:00

*looking over left shoulder... looking over right shoulder... now talking in a whisper*

Yes, I was planning and preparing an evil machine knitting enterprise for this summer. What it is exactly is to get some teenagers acquainted with machine knitting. I enjoy machine knitting so much I don't want this art form to die out. Why I am concerned about this? Well, I belong to 3 machine knitting groups and I am at the ripe old age of 49 considered one of the young ones. I actually wish I knew about machine knitting when it was in it's hey day. I could have been knitting for the last 30 years. I could have been going to all the cool classes in my area. Now the teachers have all retired. I don't blame them. They are in the 70's and then some. I'd want to relax too. That is why I feel younger people need to find out about machine knitting.

My daughter and her friend have a club at school called "Caring for Cancer Patients." I machine knit a lot of hats to donate to cancer patients through the year. I thought wouldn't it be a fast way of making donation hats if they learned to machine knit. I got to thinking wouldn't it be interesting to have a day invite the club over and teach them how to make a simple hat. It really is the simplest of projects on a knitting machine. Knit a rectangle then sew it into a hat. I have 2 bulky machines. We'll set a goal depending on the amount of hours they want to spend. I can have 2 knitting and the rest sewing up the hats since that takes longer. Then have everyone switch off jobs. They'll learn to machine knit, they'll learn the mattress stitch and they'll learn how to gather. They'll learn setting a goal and achieving it.

If only one of them shows interest and some time in their 20's thinks I'd like to machine knit that will be a bonus.

In addition to learning how to machine knit they'll have hats they've made themselves for donation for their club. I'm hoping they'll love that feeling of accomplishment too.

I haven't gotten the club over yet, but the other night I was cleaning and refurbishing my latest machine. To test it out I knitted a quick little hat. My daughter and her friend were watching a movie. As I walked past the living room on my way to the craft room I tossed the hat at them to look at.

I was on my computer when my craft room door opened. It was 11 pm and I thought my husband had woken up. He had laid down for a nap earlier and you know how that goes. Nope it was my daughter and her friend. They both stood in front of me with a giggly expression and my daughter blurts out, "Diana wants to knit a hat." My daughter has knitted a couple things and is learning to cast on and cast off. She probably told Diana no problem we can knit up a hat really quick. It was 11pm, but they are out of school now, so I thought why not. They are here. They are willing. My evil plan can begin tonight.

After she picked out some yarn; I went ahead and cast on and then let Diana do the knitting. As she knitted I told her what to look for, how to hold the carriage, how to make sure everything is knitting properly each row. Told her to keep an eye on the row counter. It really was a crash course. She hung live stitches to make the brim. She threaded a needle with a long tail through the last row. She then learned the mattress stitch and stitched the hat up herself. As she was stitching the seam she asks, "Can we write something on the hat?" It's approaching midnight now. I'm thinking any other mother on the planet would have said no, but I just happen to know how to embroider. I did it a lot as a teenager. I knew I could do a quick little back stitch and it would look fine. So, I said yes and she wanted me to write "SMILE" on the hat. It was for a 5 year old cousin of a friend of hers. By midnight the hat was complete.

June MKGSFBA Meeting and Sale

2010-06-14T13:31:00.000-07:00

June's Machine Knitter's Guild of the San Francisco Bay Area meeting was mostly a sale. Anyone in the guild was free to bring in anything they wanted to get rid of. Most brought in from their own stash. Some brought in estate machine knitting supplies. One gal owns a store and brought in items for sale. She demonstrated a new and really handy garter bar on the market.

I didn't buy much as I had purchased a bulky machine and ribber a few weeks before I knew about this sale. I needed to watch my budget. I did buy some blank pattern cards and a punch. I also picked up a few Machine Knitting magazines.

As you can see from the pictures there was a lot of stuff to choose from. Anything from yarn to machines to manuals and stands. You could have easily spent a lot of money that day.

This being the last meeting of the fiscal year it was decided to have a catered lunch after the sale. I wish I would have taken pictures of the food. The gal that catered it did such a nice job. She's done it before and knows the kitchen and the limitations. So, she prepared mostly a cold lunch. She made beautiful sandwiches, laid out a gorgeous salad and even made a vegetable stir fry. For dessert she had a delicious cake that was decorated with kiwi slices and strawberries on whipped cream frosting. A delicious end to a fun day.

The new year of meetings begin in September. I'm having a great time with these talented ladies and look forward to more meetings.

The Madness Has Been Pinpointed....I Think

2010-04-28T14:26:00.000-07:00

Still working on the "EZ" Entrelac. I think I've found out all my problems happen when I'm doing the 2 triangles and 3 rectangles row. It starts on the left and makes it way right. So, everything I'm doing is done left handed or should be. I'm doing it right handed, because I'm... well... right handed. The stitches are more difficult to pick up right handed this way. I keep getting the carriage parked on the wrong side. It should be on the left, but I find it on the right a good deal of the time. Then I have to figure out which row did I start making that mistake. More unraveling. Next thing I know I find a stitch hung on the 11th needle in a 10 needle only pattern. More unraveling when did that wayward stitch get hung up. Oh my goodness I'm so aggravated right now. It only spurs me on though. I won't let not being left handed conqueor me. Because when the pattern is moving in the opposite direction it's a breeze being right handed. So, I guess no matter what handed we are we'll all have to work harder in one direction or the other.

Last night my teenage daughter was ~~manhandling~~ looking at my work and I said, "Be careful I have a pin in it holding a loose stitch." She asked, "Why?" I explained, "On the 2nd rectangle some how I missed a stitch." She says quizzically, "One stitch?" I said, "Yes." She says sarcastically, "Really mom just one stitch?!" I respond a bit offended (is she bad mouthing my project or accusing me of lying), "Yes, just one stitch!" She says, "Oh really mom you've only missed one stitch in your entire life?" Now I know what she's really asking and I laugh and say, "Oh no I've missed many stitches over the years. Just one in this project." She laughs and says, "Oh that's better I was wondering why you were up on that high horse. I thought I was going to have to knock you off." I laughed again and turned back to my computer. I kept smiling, because my little girl is growing up. She responded like one of my girlfriends would if we were talking about knitting and they thought I was boasting.

Diary of a Mad Machine Knitter

2010-04-27T21:08:00.000-07:00

Mad as in crazy! Lost my mind... can't believe I'm still plugging along. I started a really cool project. It's not the project that's driving me crazy it's my machine knitting clutziness.

I'm doing Diana Sullivan's EZ Entrelac. It is pretty easy now that I've learned the process, but it was hard going to begin with. For me anyhow. I had a neck injury about 14 years ago and my short term memory isn't what it should be. With repetition though it gets locked into long term memory and then I have no problems.

Until it was locked into long term memory I was ready to turn green and hulk the knitting machine, entrelac and all out the window. My main problem was and is my choice of yarn. She suggested a worsted weight acrylic, but I wanted to use some really beautiful cotton yarn from Knit One Crochet Too called Ty-Dy. The problem with the yarn is that ....well... it's cotton. It has no stretch and it splits easily. This pattern calls for a lot of hanging and taking off a needles. When you have persnickety yarn it just adds another dimension of aggravation.

This technique calls for the use of a circular knitting needle with a small gauge needle. This is used instead of waste yarn. It actually works quite well. It has taken getting use to. First off my needle could be a smaller gauge. Mine is a 7. With the cotton yarn if the needle was a smidge bigger it would probably get stuck. Mine slides out barely. Also the postioning of said needle while machine knitting is important. I've run the actual wooden needle through the carriage more times than I'd like to count. Nothing has jammed or gotten stuck. I've been very lucky in that respect. Also the cotton yarn gets very tight on the nylon part of the circular needle. Loosening up the yarn to be able to hang a stitch is challenging.

I've missed a stitch here and there. I've knitted extra rows. I've ripped out the same triangle 4 times and redone several rectangles. BUT with repetition and practice things have gotten a lot easier. I am doing Entrelac without having to pause and replay the DVD any more. I've even gone a few rows without sending my wooden needle through my carriage. As you can see below it's well worth the effort. I can't even imagine how long this would take if I hand knitted it. Despite my belly aching I'm really having a good time. As my piece gets bigger and bigger I'm getting more excited to see the finished project.

Purple Bunny for Easter

2010-03-30T23:21:00.000-07:00

A lot has been going on in my Machine Knit world I just haven't been taking pictures of it. So, finally thought I'd share this cute and easy project I made up last weekend.

This is a Knitted Bunny. It was easily translated to the knitting machine. All you need is a square of knitted material. Some gals make these bunnys out of unneeded swatches. I used my Toyota KS650 Bulky to make my square. The yarn I used is some that was given to me. It is probably sock weight. I e- wrap cast on 35 stitches using tension 3 I knitted 65 rows. This gave me almost a perfect square with which to work.

I steamed the square enough to get the curl out of it and then just followed the instructions on how to sew it up. It's all in the sewing.

As I was making it I was dubious of how it was going to turn out, but as you can see it came out adorable.

I had some leftover buttons from a crochet project and decided my bunny needed eyes.

Machine Knit Guild Meeting February 11th

2010-02-14T16:37:00.000-08:00

Marilynn was demonstrating the cable stitch on a doll sleeveless top. After it was done we all agreed we'd like a top in our size with this design.

The cable was so cute and I was amazed at really how easy it is to do a cable stitch. The ribbed edging Marilynn did by hand and hung it on the machine.

This is the back of the top fully rolled out.

This is a close up of the back of the cable.

This is a demonstration of a decrease.