Sacramento Area Machine Knitters

Welcome Sacramento Area Machine Knitters 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 Studio, Brother, Bond to the Electronic Passap.

We welcome everyone to bring a knitting machine.  Learn how to use, work on a project or learn how to maintenance a knitting machine and get it up and running.

Sacramento Machine Knitters Guild, meets on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays 10am-noon (we meet throughout the summer at our normal days and times if there is enough interest).  We also meet the 3rd Tuesday 10am - 2pm.

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 info has changed as Marilynn (pronounced Mary Lynn) has moved to Colorado.  We wish her all the best.  For more information about the Guild and upcoming training topics call Hugh Hall at 916-332-5190.

Hugh's Sacramento Machine Knitter Guild website... http://smkg.nzfreeservers.com/

Iris Bishop Kaleidescope Project

I was really pleased how this turned out.  The pattern look complicated, but it was easier to figure out than I thought.  I thought it should be made on a standard gauge machine.  It turned out kind of small, so I think I'll do another one on my bulky machine.

I made only one swatch.  It has purple scrap yarn on each end since I had a lot of it.  I had used a little for the smaller stripes.  I decided that I didn't like the purple stripes.  After talking to a machine knitting friend she said she didn't like the purple edging.  Since its the scrap this gave me the idea to to fold it under and look at just wedge.  It took the purple out of the "definitely no" zone. 

"I've Got A Quick And Easy Project For Us To Do Bonnie"

Famous last words right.  My friend Bonnie and I were getting together at her house to do some machine knitting.  No real plan in place.  I decided to bring some yarn and a pattern I got at Stitches West.  I knew Bonnie had bought the same yarn for the same pattern.  Maybe she'd want to do the pattern with me?  She did.

So, while I got started working on the pattern she started rolling up her yarn.  First thing I noticed was I brought the wrong machine.  I, of course did a big no-no and didn't read the pattern first.  It said clearly use a standard machine.  I was going by what the shawl looked like.  I thought bulky.  It's done on every other needle on a standard.  Whoops.  Bonnie to the rescue!  She pulls out a standard brother machine for me to use.  I don't think I've ever used a Brother machine, but how hard can it be I just need to do stockinette.

The brother machine wasn't hard to use, but it did have one crucial step that my Studio doesn't require.  It's a bad habit of mine that the Brother repeatedly reminded me I needed to stop.  I leave the yarn feeder lever open.  I call it "the gate."  When changing yarns often on the Studio I leave it open no problems.  On the Brother if you leave the feeder lever open big problem as the yarn doesn't knit and whatever you're knitting falls off.  After about the 4th time I got into a rhythm change yarn color... "CLOSE THE GATE!"  Yes, I literally had to say it out loud.

The next problem was just the yarn.  Called Gene B its quite lovely in color and feel, but the texture is difficult to knit.  Gene B is very slippery, clingy, knotty, splitty and not one of my favorite yarns.  Gets caught on something nearly every row.

So, I did get my shawl finished before I left Bonnie's house, but I was there so long her husband ended up making a dinner run for us.

The pattern for the hand knit version can be found free on Newton's Website.  It's called "Two Color Spiral Wedge Shawl."  I got the machine knit pattern for free with yarn purchase.  Contact Newton's I don't know if the machine knit version is free without purchase of some yarn.