Sacramento Area Machine Knitters - Meeting Time Update

Time has been moved to 11-1pm, which actually works really well for our group.  Improves the parking situation.  Now we can park right by the door, which makes carrying a heavy knitting machine better.

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 11am-1pm (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 call Hugh Hall at 916-332-5190.

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

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/

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 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.

Sacramento Machine Knitters Guild March 10th Meeting

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.

Machine Knitting Disaster

(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.

June MKGSFBA Meeting and Sale

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.

Machine Knit Guild Meeting February 11th

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.

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 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).

Updated: 05/17  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.

November 12th - Today's meeting was informative as always. I learn something new every time I go. Hugh came in with a great idea about making swatches for all the punch cards for his knitting machines. He then attaches the number of the card to the swatch. It reminds him when he's looking for a pattern what it looks like and which number card it is. I'm going to get started on this for my machines. Looking at the cards I can never guess what the card is going to look like.

Blending Yarns to Get Another Color

Hugh from the Sacramento Area Machine Knitter's Guild was showing me a knitted scarf he likes to make. This particular one he used a blended yarn technique. He said he didn't particularly like the color of either of the yarns on the cone. He had bought them fairly cheap from a thrift store. So, not to let them go to waste he knitted both colors simultaneously. Blending the yarns made his scarf have a beautiful rose color. I may have taken the photo a bit too close to get the real beauty of the blend. I was fascinated. I will definitely use this technique in the future to get unique colors for something. Don't know what yet, but it's coming.

Welcome Sacramento Machine Knitters

This blog entry is here to assist the Sacramento 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.

08/13/11  Sacramento Machine Knitter's Guild is still going strong.  Come join us.

Using my punch cards

I really had no idea how to use the punch card mechanism of my knitting machine. Usually using the manual I can make anything work, but had trouble with the very simple manuals that come with these pretty complicated knitting machines. I knew my friend Julia could get me up and running if I brought it to the knitting meeting. What I didn't know was our new member that had only been to one previous meeting had my exact machine and loved it. She knew exactly how to make it work. I was knitting this swatch within minutes. AND there was an instruction that wasn't in the book. Carolyn the fellow Studio 700 owner said you had to run the carriage over the needles and back again before knittting to get the machine to read the card. She called it the "free pass." She asked herself several times "Why do I know that?" It wasn't written in the book. Once it was done everything worked great. I spent nearly 2 hours just using different cards and making a really long swatch. I had SO much fun. I felt SO creative.

Here is a picture of what I was doing. At the top if you notice the stitches are singles. Down below they are doubled. Same card just a flip of a switch that elongates the pattern you are already doing.

Marilynn showed us how to switch colors while using a punch card to make a picture in your knitting. She got this pattern from an old English Machine Knitting magazine. SO CUTE. She gave me the swatch to take home.

I am really looking foward to doing more experimenting with punch cards with my machine knitting!

The Garter Carriage

I really don't have much to say about this as I don't know really anything about it. I just know it was really cool. Amy a very experience machine knitter brought her garter carriage to our regular meeting. She wanted to show how it worked. She was in the middle of making a tank top for herself. She demonstrated how to make a ribbed edging for the neck line. She also demonstrated how to get a V-shaped neckline. I really enjoyed watching the whole process even though it was a bit over my head right now.

Here she hung the neckline on the knitting machine.

Here is a picture of the ribbed neck line after a few passes with the garter carriage. Amy said she doesn't like using a ribber and does everything with her garter carriage. In order to get the ribbed look she did need to do some hand manipulation, but it was much. Then the garter carriage did the rest.

Machine Knit Edging

This was actually fairly easy to do and it looked SO nice once done. First she made a hem by knitting a few rows and then rehanging the edge. She knit a row or two after that and then began the pattern. The pattern was achieved by moving a stitch over to another needle. Depending on the pattern you want. She wanted this V like pattern.

You can see the thicker edge of the knitted hem.

I'm going to have to give this a try. I like the fancy look of something so simple to do.

Can Life Get Any Better?!

Welcome to the "Spinning and Weavers" guild meeting for May. This is not a group I belong too. Not that I don't want too, but I came as a friend of a member. Way out of my realm of knowledge. I just haven't gone there...yet. I don't think I've ever met a more creative group of women. Not only do they spin their own yarn, but some of them raise their own sheep for the wool. I am very impressed.

The gal 3rd in on the left in the blue shirt with the long dark hair is named Barbara. She invited us all to entered the "Sheep to Shawl" contest at the Sacramento County Fair in May. She said she needs some competition. Then she got flustered saying not that she's tooting her horn, but that no one enters and sometimes wins out of default.

The gal on the far right of the picture in a blue sweater has a Knitting Machine set up at work. She machine knits as part of her work. I'm SO jealous. We got to talking about machine maintenance and she wanted my info on how to refurbish a sponge bar since I have done 2 successfully. Felt so good to be able to contribute to a group of such creative experience ladies.

Isn't this a gorgeous place to meet. It is Horton's Iris Farm. We were surrounded with Iris everywhere! I'm not exaggerating. We sat and did whatever fiber art we brought. Lots of spinners, some knitters and I brought some crocheting. Then we had lunch. We all packed a lunch and the gal hosting provided tea and Cinco de Mayo cupcakes. I never wanted to rejoin the real world. I just wanted to sit amongst the flowers, spinning wheels and crochet forever.

The Iris farm isn't far from my home and I didn't even know it was there. I'll be back to probably buy some Iris. Or maybe they'll see me sitting in the middle of the Iris crocheting some time. They'll have to run me off with a stick.

My favorite Iris were these 2 Iris right by each other. The colors were glorious. It had rained the night before and everything was SO fresh and beautiful.

It is real knitting!

Whenever I go into a yarn store I am usually greeted by the staff. They want to know what I'm working on. Then I pipe up with "I machine knit. My sister in law is the real knitter." I refer to my SIL as the real knitter, because she hand knits and makes really nice stuff like beautiful socks. BUT I do knit by hand... I just haven't taught myself to do anything other than scarves with very large knitting needles.... size 19. I tried making a scarf with size 10 needles and it's still in progress. I got so bored with it's slow progress. With size 19 needles I can usually have a really long scarf done in 4 hours.

Last summer though I was introduced to machine knitting. I knew that machine knitting existed, but I thought it was done only in factories. I had no idea that women had their own knitting machines at home. My crafty friend Julia took me to a Machine Knitting Guild meeting and I was intrigued. It looked complicated and the machines looked expensive. My 2nd thought was do I really need to start a new craft?! Then my crafty friend Julia said someone had donated a machine to the guild and she would give it to me. Well that solved one problem. Didn't have to spend money on a machine.

Julia taught me how to clean the machine and replace the sponge bar one afternoon and then the machine went home with me.

She had given me a lesson one afternoon on her machine. She taught me the e-wrap cast-on, how to do a picot edge, how to change yarn colors and how to latch hook cast-off. I did my first project.

I couldn't believe how fast this went. In 4 hours a novice knitted a baby sized blanket. That's when I started thinking it was cheating. But the more I use my machine and learn it's ins and outs the more I'm realizing that I am doing real knitting.