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/

Electric Yarn Winder... Yes or No?

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.

I conquered it!

Remember the big yarn mess? My daughter took the semi neat skein and gave up. I wanted to throw it away, but I couldn't bring myself to do. When she gave it back to me it could best be described as a rat's nest. Oddly enough this made it easier to work with. Didn't have to worry about keeping it neat. Just start a ball and kept winding it back and forth, in and out of the rats nest. It sat on my lap many a night as I watched TV. I've been trying to watch less TV, but for this project I gave myself permission to watch what I needed until I got it all unraveled. This mess had many ends in it. I'd just get a ball going and it would come to an end. Finally the 2nd to last ball got quite big. So, big in fact I finally had to cut the yarn myself. It was turning into a big yarn mess trying to weave a giant ball of yarn in and out of the rat's nest. The rest rolled up into one last ball.
I took the largest ball and used my yarn winder to wind it into a ball I could use on my knitting machine. I want to make a trick or treat bag. I better hurry up!

Big Yarn Mess

It's laying on my bed looking all innocent. Ready for winding. Not a tangle in sight right? Not the case. This skein has turned into nearly something of my nightmares. I've had many a tangle skein that within an hour or so was finally rolled into a big manageable ball. Not this skein. I show 2 ends in the photo, but right now we have 4 ends. I say we as in my daughter jumped in on hour 2 convinced it wouldn't be that hard.

I have my arms slid into the skein and she weaves the small ball in the making in and out and round about the skein. Not one round has just freed itself easily. Every round is a puzzle. It reminds me of computer cords or stereo or even TV/DVD cords. Someone is out front pulling on the cord. Someone is in back looking and feeling for the wiggle, so they know which cord is in need of help. That's the way it is with this yarn. I feel the pull on my arms and guide my daughter as she untangles each and every wrap of the yarn. Some knitters I have spoken too think I have knots. Nope. Not really any knots just yarn woven so intricately around itself that one cannot get it to unwind with out a fight.

I personally had decided once hitting hour 4 and still having one ball of yarn about the size of a ping pong ball to throw the whole thing away. The skein was given to me. It cost me nothing. It's very cheap yarn not good enough to make something wearable, but I was going to make some knitted Trick or Treat bags. It's a gorgeous color of jack 0 lantern orange.

My daughter caught wind of my plan to throw it away and she vowed to get it untangled. I said I'd throw it away when she was at school. She begged me not too. She said, "Mom you don't want to enlarge your yarn footprint!" We both laughed. I would really like to recycle this yarn that was given to me, because someone else didn't want it. BUT life's too short for tangled yarn too. We'll see. I'll give it a little more time.