Machine Knitting Tips and Techniques from Knittingmachines@yahoo.com
from Glynne Jones [glynne_jones@yahoo.co.uk]
The terminology I use (because I used to teach on so many different machines and they all used different letters --- never have figured out what was wrong with 'C' as it is missing on most machines):----
A = non working position
B = working position (for normal knitting, but when you are working in pattern these needles will slip or tuck, or knit in main colour when you are doing fairisle)
D = upper working position (which will knit when you are doing patterns --- in fairisle they will knit in contrast colour)
E = holding position used when knitting short rows for shaping etc DO NOT PUT NEEDLES TO 'E' WHEN USING LACE CARRIAGE
from Glynne Jones [glynne_jones@yahoo.co.uk]
After joining one shoulder, with RIGHT side of garment facing you, pick up around the neck on to main bed (rough estimate of No. of stitches required is the No. you cast on for the back).
Knit 3 rows stocking stitch at MT-1. Raise ribber, transfer stitches to get the rib setup you want, hang comb and weights.
Knit enough rows to double over the band (I 'guestimate' the number by folding over the welt and seeing what looks 'right'). Transfer sts to main bed, drop ribber down and remove combs etc.
Pick up last row of stocking stitch so that neckband is folded up. Knit 4 rows stocking stitch, one row nylon cord, several rows of waste yarn and strip off from machine.
After joining second shoulder and sewing seam of neckband, pin down the stocking stitch flap and backstitch through stitches in last row of main yarn (use blunt tapestry needle and you won't need to remove waste yarn until after you have done all the backstitching). Work the backstitching into and out of each knitted stitch so that there is a little 'bar' between each stitch.
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from Glynne Jones [glynne_jones@yahoo.co.uk]
There was some discussion about the basic dropped shoulder shape where the body pieces were knitted straight up, and the sleeves were joined directly to the side of the body. This results in the seam being so low that the wearer looks like a sumo wrestler, and the garment is bulky under the arms. Several people suggested knitting the body to the armhole position, casting off 2-3” worth of stitches each side, then knitting remainder of body. The sleeves are then knitted longer to fill in the bit cut out of the body. The seam being higher on the arm is more flattering.
I also shape the top of the sleeve slightly:--
Firstly, I reduce the number of rows (by 8)that I knit to get to where I would join the sleeve to the body in a normal dropped shoulder pattern, and I put in a marker at each side. Then I knit the straight bit to equal the cast off stitches on the body.
Now I'm at the top of the sleeve -- OK? Instead of casting off straight across the whole bed, I divide the number of stitches by 3 (say 180/3 = 60) then divide that by 4 (60/4 =15) and then I knit eight rows shaping the top of the sleeve by bringing 15 needles opposite the carriage to HOLD position (E) with the usual wrappings etc to stop holes forming. [So in the end the middle length of the sleeve is the correct length and the bulk under the arms is reduced]
Then the whole top of the sleeve can be joined to the side of the armhole (I usually do this on the machine by using the garter bar to reverse the work then pick up the front and back body pieces, and bind off.
And she gives more info here:
OK Further to my reply to Diane, I''ve checked out my garter carriage with regards knitting on alternate needles.
I have a Brother 881 and a KG88 garter carriage (nicknamed George) If I take alternate needles back to A position (or if I have a needle missing from the bed outside my working area (but within the area where George 'walks' ) then as I suspected he stops (or rather turns around) because the little arm that comes out at the back grabs hold of the needle next door to the empty space ------ that is how the turnabout mechanism functions. However if I physically remove needles from the bed in the area where I want to knit, Then George will quite happily walk over them knitting and purling. Must admit I stood there at the ready until I knew he was going to be OK! but I did also get brave enough to double up the 4 ply yarn and knitted it at Tension 10. So maybe I'll be brave enough to try a thicker yarn now. I still am mystified though as to whether people are able to knit on eon with needles back in A position. I am sure there must be some confusion/misinterpretation of what people are saying in these e-mails.
Another from Glynne on G Carriages when they act up:
Thank you for your input here, Elaine. I've raced out to my little room and tried out the manual changing of the direction, and yes, GC chugs along over needles in A position, then keeps going as you say. The only trouble is that if you get distracted (as frequently happens in our house) it keeps going until it gets to the end of the bed (I set it to go and sat watching and I did have the forethought to put on the extension rails which I don't always use) and it sat there chugging away merrily. I don't think many would want to sit there manually changing direction on every row ---- one of the reasons for getting the GC is so it can knit while you are off doing something else.
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from Glynne Jones [glynne_jones@yahoo.co.uk]
The KG88 does not cast on automatically. You must do it manually.
On my machine (the KH881) I hang the cast on comb on the sinker posts using the little arms that were on the comb in those olden days (more modern machines they didn't put the little arms on for some reason or other). Then I bring the needles forward to E and e-wrap INTO the latches as I pull the needle back to B. Then I open the little arms and drop the comb down on to the e-wrapping, Tension up the yarn and start knitting with the garter carriage.
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from Glynne Jones [glynne_jones@yahoo.co.uk]
Fairisle will always be a different row guage from stocking stitch. You could do a simple exercise to show this ----- Do sample pieces by casting on 60 stitches and knitting 100 rows on stocking stitch, fairisle, tuck and slip.
In comparison to stocking stitch, Fairisle will be thinner and longer, Tuck stitch will be fatter and shorter and Slip stitch will be thinner and shorter. Hence the need to do separate tension swatches.
Another of my true stories: Lady came into class needing to just do the sleeves to finish the garment. I looked at the pattern ------ slimline longish jumper in fairisle. I looked at the knitting ----- tuck stitch ??????? She was using the stitch and row numbers it said in the pattern --- hadn't done a tension swatch ---- ever so pleased that it was turning out a perfect size ------ pure LUCK that she was shorter and wider than the model.!!!!!!!!!
Commerical 2x2 rib
from Glynne Jones [glynne_jones@yahoo.co.uk]
I don't know how it became known as 'commercial' rib but the instructions for knitting it are usually in every ribber manual ---- it is the one where you have 2 needles working, and one not working on each bed, with the 2 on the ribber coming up in the empty space on the main bed, ribber set to H to prevent needles clashing.
The casting on method requires you to do some racking of the ribber and then you MUST remember to rack back to the setting for 2x2 ribbing ---- I used to have students coming in thinking they'd managed to do it and then I'd find they'd forgotten the racking required.
BIG TIP:- In most manuals they tell you the needle set up for casting on and then work from there. Somehow I always ended up completing the rib and finding the body of garment not centred on the machine as I wanted it (and as I use a punchcard machine I usually like the work centred. So what I do now is:- Work out where you want the garment to sit on main bed. Start from right and take every third needle back to nonworking position. Adjust on left if required so there are 2 needles in work (when you finish knitting the rib, the no. of stitches for the boby can be adjusted if necessary). Bring up ribber, set it to H. On right bring up 2 needles in space where no needle is on main bed, and repeat across ribber bed (how you do this depends on which needle pusher you have ---- some are 2up/1 down and others are 1up/2 down.) Now you should have 2 end needles each end, on main bed. Make sure all needles are in Working position (B).
If you tried casting on now it won't work ---- You first have to rack the ribber 1 space to right to gets needles into zig-zag position. Then ON LEFT you need to bring up 1 extra needle on ribber (to fit between the 2 main bed needles). Now do zig-zag row and 3 circular rows. That extra st on the left of the ribber must now be transferred across to one of the needles on the main bed AND THEN YOU MUST RACK 1 SPACE BACK TO THE LEFT to get 2x2 ribbing set up. I usually do 2 rows T1/1, 2 rows T2/2 etc until I get to the ribbing tension I want.
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Fairisle and ribbing
from Glynne Jones [glynne_jones@yahoo.co.uk]
When I'm knitting FAIRISLE I use the 2up 1down 2x2 commercial rib as there is more body in it and the feel of it is much more in keeping with the thickness of fairisle ----- ordinary 1x1 rib looks and feels too wimpy in comparison --- same goes for ordinary 2x2 rib where the no of sts in the rib is the same as the no of stitches in the body of the garment. Also with ordinary 2x2 rib because the ribber is on P there is a longer gap between the knit and purl stitch than there is when you use 2 up / 1 down 2x2 rib with ribber set to H, and this adds to the 'wimpishness'. When you finish the welt for the body sections, transfer from ribber to main bed filling empty needles with one stitch, and the other ribber st can either go on that same needle or on to one that already had a stitch on it (as long as you are consistent). So there is actually more stitches in the ribbing than there is in the main part of the knitting.
When I do the SLEEVES, I knit the welt to fit my wrist, and finish with COL. Remove main yarn, and knit several rows of waste yarn to remove work from machine. Count how many actual stitches there are in the rib and return work to machine putting one stitch on each needle. Remove waste yarn, return to main yarn, Knit 1 row L to R doing the presetting row for the fairisle, and continue in Fairisle -------- Voila!!!!!! comfortable slightly bloused sleeve ---- lots of the increases already done for shaping the sleeve. If anyone has a copy of Profitable Machine Knitting Dec 1991 you'll find a blue and white jumper pattern I designed with above ribbing (NB the punchcard was printed upside down in the magazine --- and it's vital to put it in properly as the pattern was matched up each side etc)
Similar applies when doing any of the wider ribs, eg., 5x5 ribs ----- use H and 5 up /4 down needle arrangement (after casting on in FNR) to reduce the ladder between purl and knit stitch.
from Glynne Jones [glynne_jones@yahoo.co.uk]
I always recommended to students using mock rib:- If the pattern says to do 18 rows rib (ie proper rib) take 2/3 of that number, do 12 rows at the tighter tension, 1 row loose to form a fold line, and then 12 rows at the tighter tension. Fold up the mock rib and do the joining up row. To get 1x1 mock rib working properly you need to use half main tension (or even tighter) and when finished you need to give it a good pull (with a ruler through the hem) to pull the excess yarn from between the sts INTO the stitches which then become their "natural" size and will remain so ---- if you knit the mock rib too loose they will remain limp.
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Ribbing continued:
Everyone seems to like doing things different ways that's for sure. I remember you saying before about casting/binding off in rib --- I do that by knitting the last row of rib much looser than the rest, transferring to the main bed, dropping the ribber and latching off ------ if I remember rightly it must be about 2 months ago when we were discussing this on the group. I thought I'd send you all something I wrote recently to someone about knitting ribbed welts:-- The ordinary zig-zag and 3 circular row type cast on is stretchy enough --- in fact some people complain because the bottom can look too loose where the cast on comb has been sitting in the 'first' row of the main yarn and stretched it. What I do is sometimes referred to as the 'broken toe cast on' (I'll explain later):-- Set needles for 1x1 rib (you are presumably knitting on eon and ribber is on P) Knit the zig zag row from R to L, with main yarn and hang the cast on comb. If you are on Brother you can now disconnect the ribber carriage and take that across so that all the stitches fall off the ribber needles and yarn & comb is hanging from main bed needles (if you are knitting in full needle rib you have to make sure the comb is in the 'valley' of the zig-zag rather than the 'mountain' or the comb will fall off and if you have the weights on they land on your toes ---- hence the name!!!!!). If you are on Knitmaster you can use the little p-carriage to strip the stitches off. NOW you start the welt:-- Set to T0/0, slide lever at bottom of ribber carriage to II, and knit the zig-zag row. Set for circular knitting and knit 2 rows so carriage is on right (I have this quirky thing about counting from when COR). Set for rib kntting (ie knitting both beds, slide lever to I and knit 2 rows T1/1, 2 rows T2/2, and rest of rib at T3/3. Transfer to main bed, remove weights etc and continue jumper. When you remove the cast on comb it will look TERRIBLE ---- don't worry. At side away from the tail of yarn pull on the last big loop so that you pull that first (waste) zig-zag row out ----- I usually pause half way through, hold the loop and the tail togehter and gently pull down to get the bottom of the rib pulled smooth, and then continue pulling that yarn all the way out ---- don't cut it off as you can use it to sew up the seam. You can do a similar thing when casting on for other ribs --- I like the 2 up/1 down commercial rib when I knit fairisle jumpers as the 1x1 rib looks too wimpy for the thickness of fairisle.
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Casting off in rib by Glynne
Re casting off:-- The cast off linker won't work on full needle rib. What I do (and it can be done on FNR with care) is:- Knit a row of rib from left to right ---- no tucking --- LOOSE, say 3 numbers higher than rib tension, and then transfer sts from ribber to main bed ---- obviously on FNR this will mean 2 sts are on each main bed needle. Drop the ribber down and starting from the end opposite the carriage latch off. With FNR just make sure when you transfer across that the stiches are passed to the right so that they will be latched off in order and not twisted around each other because you have to take them carefully off the needles one at a time.
Ribber Cast on Combs - Glynne:
Nicky, you are obviously looking for a Brother ribber cast on comb for 130 needles. The longer one to use for 200 needles doesn't have the heavy bar. Does this mean you have NO ribber cast on comb, or are you just wanting one because someone has told you about being able to rehang the work with this one. If the latter, I really would NOT bother getting it as it is impossible to rehang the work evenly and it slides off (I teach and also do talks and demos on machine knitting and I've NOT found anyone who uses it the way they describe in the manual). The best way to re-weight your work is:- remove ribber weights, leave the comb at the bottom, WIND the comb over and over until the holes are on upper edge, then rehang the ribber weights backwards just outside the work. Pure physics will keep the the comb rolled up.
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Welts from Glynne:
What I've descibed is the 'broken toe' method of doing the zig-zag cast on for rib. I call it that because if you are knitting in Full Needle Rib you have to be careful to hang the comb so its teeth come up Behind the yarn on the ribber needles - \'/\'/\'/\'/\'/\'/\'/ ----- NOT /'\/'\/'\/'\/'\/'\/'\ ------ otherwise when you drop the sts from the ribber the cast on comb falls off and if you have already put the big weights on they 'break your toes''. I have heard of people sitting with their feet under footstools etc in case the knitting falls off the machine. Same applies when knitting 2 up/1 down type rib etc but when you're knitting alt needle 1x1 rib it shouldn't be a pronlem when hanging the comb. The idea is really to stop the cast on comb stretching the zig zag row and causing it to wave outwards.
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Tuck Stitch Guage - Glynne
To do a tension swatch on standard guage machines ---- Cast on 60 sts. Knit about 2'' in main yarn, in pattern at tension dial setting you are checking. Knit 2 rows (still in pattern) with contrast yarn Knit 30 rows main yarn, put contrast markers on st no 21 on right and left of centre. Knit another 30 rows main yarn, 2 rows contrast and another 2'' or so of main yarn. Cast off. The markers for the stitches can also be done on say row 15 and 45 as with some patterns you get distortion of fabric and you need to get an average reading. You've now got 60 rows and 40 sts maked out. Measure the distance between markers and do the proportion sum required to find out how many sts there are in an inch or 10 cm. There is a GREEN RULER available which will do the calculation for you and tell you straight away how many stitches and rows are in 10cm (4"). There is also a BLUE ruler for use with the Bulky machine where the tension swatch is done using half the no of sts and rows that I've said above.
Footnote on Tuck Stitch Guage
The instructions I sent in yesterday where you mark out 40 sts and 60 rows in the middle area of a piece of knitting are the ones given in most charting devices. The technique works for all types of stitches, single and double bed. Who's to say which is correct ----- as long as you don't try swatching a piece 7sts wide and 10 rows long and trying to measure that to see if it is 1" square (as some one did and wondered why their garment was wrong.
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Knit Radar for Beginners by Glynne
The question was, "Are Knit Radars and Knit Leaders the same thing?"
They are both charting devices. Knit Radar for knitmaster/studio: Knit Leader for Brother: and Knit Tracer for Toyota. Knit leader tended to be full scale so you drew the shape you wanted the size you wanted ----- the detachable Knit Leader has a huge sheet so you could draw a full back of a garment. The built in one (on my KH881 eg) you draw half the back and then do shaping on both sides. Knit Radar ---- if I remember right the KR6 was half scale so you reduced the size of the drawing you put in. I think the other (KR7?) was full scale --- someone will correct me if wrong. Knit Tracer, I think was full scale.
More on Knit Radars (Leaders) - Glynne
Well, yes, you can draw on the knit radar and work in intarsia to do a picture but it isn't as easy as you think ---- and it is certainly not the best thing to do if you want a GOOD intricate picture. I tried it once just doing a few ramdom squiggles and oval shapes (like bubbles) and it was OK but I embroidered over the edgesof the bubbles so it didn't matter that the lines were not exactly smooth. I used to design intarsia patterns when my children were small but it takes time to get it right. My friend did lots of patterns but only does it on stitch related paper, colours them in, studies them from all angles to make sure they look right --- it really does take time and effort for a good result. Knit radars etc are very good for making all sorts of garment shapes though ---- you can use dressmaking patterns etc and I once duplicated a special cardigan where the fronts turned back on themselves to form a pocket --- several darts etc in it --- think I would have gone crazy working out the maths. Nowadays there are computer programs etc., but as I don't have an electronic machine and have got used to doing things the way I do, I'll keep to my knitleader and calculators.
Tea Cosy Stitch
from Glynne Jones [glynne_jones@yahoo.co.uk]
Haven't got a pattern as such but what I always referred to as 'tea cosy' stitch is:- Alternate needle selection eg by locking the basic card 1 on a row. Slip stich for say 8 to 10 rows. Knit for 2 rows. Repeat until length required ---- you'll be knitting sideways around the teapot so you cast on stitches for height of sides. Knit 2 pieces for each side. Knit a stocking stitch top for the cosy (gathering it into the centre with an idiot cord in a hem). Sew up side seams leaving openings for spout and handle.
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Decreasing Using the Garter Bar
from Glynne Jones [glynne_jones@yahoo.co.uk]
Decreasing using the garter bar is fairly easy with a bit of practice, but there are 2 ways of doing it and one is easier than the other. Some people try to do the decreasing AS they return the work to the machine. MUCH EASIER WAY is to do the decreasing transferring eg every 6th st to its neighbouring needle, then take work on to garter bar and then return it to the machine closing the gaps as you go. AND remember to put a claw weight on the work (on the right side if you are working from R to L as I do) so that the work doesn't ride up while you are returning the work into the latches of needles out in HOLD position.
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from Glynne Jones [glynne_jones@yahoo.co.uk]
Someone asked what the different terms meant and what eqipment was necessary as tey wanted to knit a picture of a dog on a garment.
Fairisle is the term used for 2 colours being knitted along one row, with both yarns in the antennae, and each yarn either knitting or 'floating' past every needle in the row. Careful selection of patterns will give only short floats which are less of an eyesore. Single fairisle motifs can be knitted on most machines, still with both yarns in antennae, and you bind the edges of the motif (several techniques possible) to prevent holes/ladders at the edges of the motif. You'll still have floats in the motif area but not outside. If you want to add another colour (eg the dog's collar) you can do some swiss darning or 'duplicate' stitch. There is a way to knit 3 or 4 colours in a row --- using slip stitch settings ---- BUT you do NOT need the ribber for that (or a colour changer for that matter)
Intarsia lets you do more than 1 color along the row by simply putting different colors into the needles in front of the carriage. So you could do the dog, his tongue, his collar or his eyes--all in the same row by simply making sure the right colors are on the proper needles as you knit that row.
Naturally its not quite as simple as I just said, but that's the idea. Intarsia (sometimes referred to as 'picture' knitting) allows you to knit as many ''colours'' in the row as you want. The yarns will NOT be in the antennae (unless you try that almost impossible way they describe in some Brother manuals which I'd best not get into at this moment). You have a separate ball of yarn for every area of colour (so you'll probably have several pieces of white, black, red, etc) and you lay the yarn across the needles in 'D' position before taking an intarsia carriage across the bed (some machines have the main carriage capable of knitting intarsia after a flick of a switch). You wrap the yarns around each other as you lay them in the needles (to prevent holes). As extra colours are needed you add more balls of yarn (small amounts on bobbins) and you take the balls out as you finish each area of colour. I have heard of someone having 38 different pieces of yarn hanging off her machine at one time ---- but that is OTT. Word of warning --- you do get into a tangle, it is very time consuming, you have a lot of finishing off to do, such as sewing in cut ends of yarn ---- but the results can be stunning. I used to do lots of intarsia when my kids were small and they were very proud of their exclusive jumpers (some with hand embroidery added as well) ---- but now they are too old and dress like everyone else does!
Brother Ribber and the MC Button ---- CAUTION!!!!!!
from Glynne Jones [glynne_jones@yahoo.co.uk]
PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! DO NOT PUSH IN MC BUTTON WHEN USING BROTHER RIBBER.
Look at the ribber arm that joins the ribber carriage to tha main carriage, and you will notice a metal stopper in front of the MC button to stop you pushing it in. One day I put the ribber up with that MC button already pushed in, took the carriage across and nearly wrecked the machine --- that's when I discovered the warning.
(Toyota machine on the other hand can do fairisle with the ribber up ----- This is simulknit). _____________________________________________________________________________________________
from Glynne Jones [glynne_jones@yahoo.co.uk]
After casting on and knitting ribbed welt, transfer all sts to the ribber and you'll be knitting plain (stocking stitch) on that. Drive lace is made by using a special punchcard and slip stitch on the main bed so as you pass carriage across some of the needles on the main bed pick up a loop of yarn. Usually the card then has a plain row so that you knit across again only on the ribber, and then drop the stitches off the main bed before repeating procedure. Easier on a Knitmaster/studio/silver reed machine where patterning mechanism is in the carriage and they use a P-carriage to strip the stitches from the main bed. But you can adapt the idea for Brother machines by dropping the stitches using a needle pusher, leave needles in work position B and pass the carriage across to select for the next row.
The dropped stitches feed more yarn into the neighbouring stitches, making them bigger and you get a suttle lace pattern. An alternative is to actually transfer the loops down to the ribber --- this is an adaptation on the way the Swiss and French machines (passap, singer -- true double bed machines) do lace as they don't have the same sort of lace transfer carriages that the Japanese machines have.
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Working larger motifs in fairisle using hand selection
from Glynne Jones [glynne_jones@yahoo.co.uk]
Someone was asking for punchcard patterns for different machines and I suggested following:-
Stitchworld is the manual showing built -in patterns for the Brother electronics --- you can download a copy from: ftp://ftp.brother.ca/ENGLISH/KNITTINGMACHINE/ and you'll find it as KH930-UG-patterns.pdf At the end of the manual you'll find the graphs that you can copy on to punchcards as LOTS of them are 2,3,4,6,8,12 or 24 sts wide. One thing I found that bugged me when the electronic machines came out was that they'd obviously just taken the punchcard patterns and put them in --- there are some patterns that would have been improved by expanding them to say 25 sts which they could have done easily. I don't know if they corrected that as time went on.
If you want to do a larger than 24 st motif on a punchcard machine, then you can do it “manually”. All you need to do is set and thread up your machine as for Fairisle, but don't have the dial on KC (if you are using Brother machine). Have your pattern on graph paper (enlarge it using a photocopier if possible ---- also remember it will come out backwards when knitted so if you are doing 'words' you have to have those written back to front). Pull the needles you want to knit in contrast colour to HOLD or UPPER WORKING POSITION and knit across. Then do same procedure on next row. To keep track of where you are on pattern you can cover the rows above or below with a piece of paper (I cover the ones above as then I can see the previous row and it's easier to do the selection for second row). If you are using a Knitmaster/Silver Reed machine you have to put a blank punchcard in and have the side levers to the back. Remember as well to do the binding off at the edge of the motif to prevent holes.
Multi color fairisle 3 - 4 color on a Brother Compuknit - Glynne
have just managed to download the STITCHWORLD manual from that site, put it on a CD and perused it. Yes the pattern no's you quote are only for 2 colours in a row (but some of them use 3 or 4 colours altogether):- 512 -521 as given to be knitted in fairisle technique on single bed, using colour changer to swap the colour in the back feeder (therefore requiring button 6 or KHC to be pushed in to reverse the colorway on the pattern, as otherwise the background colour would be changed rather than the contrast ---- but they fail to mention that you can easily knit it as normally, not using the colour changer but just manually changing the yarns in feeder 2 of the ordinary sinker plate. 522-531 as given to be knitted on double bed with button 7 or KRC to be pushed in to convert the pattern to double jacquard, requiring you to knit in slip stitch, 2 rows of each colour, and using a double bed colour changer to swap colours ---- but again they fail to mention that you can change the colours manually (very quickly on a double bed) or that you could knit the pattern as given, on the single bed in fairisle, although you will then have floats. What I''ve always complained about is the lack of information (particularly in the electronics manuals) on how to use different pattern cards for different techniques -- because I started with a Knitmaster 323 which had a really good manual showing variations from one card I've always been used to trying out different things. And I've always hated the way they implied you needed yet another piece of expensive equipment, when a little patience etc allows you to do so much on the machine --- no wonder machine knitting has died. (get off the old soapbox and shut up Glynne!!!!!!). As you said the patterns above only result in 2 colours in any one row ( although 3 or 4 colours might be used in the whole fabric). Now look at patterns 386 to 394. These are knitted in Slip stitch, knitting usually 2 rows with each yarn (using a colour changer --- but you can do them without a colour changer). Some rows of knitting will end up having only 2 colours in them, but some have got three colours in on row --- my favourite is No. 390 which is a lovely border pattern of 2 toned diamonds on a plain background. I'm glad I've found this downloadable version of stitchworld --- the only thing is that whoever took the trouble to scan it all in got the pages muddled up and the page no's don't correspond to yours, but at least all the patterns and their graphs are there and its just a matter of looking through the whole thing --- but I usually prefer to design my own any way.
More on multi color fairisle - Glynne - subject ongoing
As promised I downloaded the 930 manual to check all this out. The khc button on your console is the 'negative' button (I do wish the japanese manufacturers would not confuse people like this). It changes a pattern from black on white to one that is white on black. The reason they called it khc is because if you are going to knit a fairisle pattern (ie with 2 colours in each row) using the colour changer for the single bed then the pattern card has to be negative because the colour that is changed automatically is the one in the 'back' feeder which supplies yarn to the needles in B position. eg if you knitted a 6 row red boat with a 20 row white sail all on a blue background, you'd change the red for white. If you used a normal pattern sheet the colour changer would want to change the blue! Hope that is clear. You do NOT use the khc button when knitting multicoloured slip stitch patterns. As I explained in the previous e-mail it appears the 970 is capable of working out the pattern sheet required for 3 or 4 colours in a row but your machine doesn't --- you have to work it out and input it yourself. I don't have a copy of stitch world but I feel sure there will be patterns in there for 2, 3 and 4 colour in a row fairisle (but they might be in the section entitled multicoloured rib as they would be expecting you to knit them in double jacquard --- but the same patterns could be knitted on the single bed (obviously you'd have floats then). Modern japanese machines are capable of knitting 2 colours in the same row simultaneously but all machines have to use slip stitch for 3 or 4 colours in a row (that's the limit really as you get too many floats otherwise) and then each of the colours is knitted over certain needles as selected from the pattern sheet.
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How to Test Fibre Content of an Unknown Yarn
From Marie [dhickson4@comcast.net]
Bleach Test
This is a simple procedure that will tell you if the yarn is of animal, plant or synthetic origin. Start by pouring a small amount of bleach into a bowl, then place a length of your mystery yarn into the bleach. After a few minutes one of several things should happen:
1. The bleach around the fiber begins to bubble; this is an animal fiber (including silk) and will dissolve in less than an hour.
2. The yarn starts to lose its color; this is a plant fiber and it will not dissolve but will bleach out," becoming white.
3. The yarn floats in the solution largely unaffected by the chemical bath; this is an acrylic yarn that will not be changed by the bleach. If the yarn starts to bubble but it does not disappear completely, it is probably a wool-acrylic blend.
Flame Test
This test is somewhat subjective but easy to do. It is based on the knowledge of how particular fibers burn. In a well-ventilated area away from any flammable materials, set a candle on top of a sheet of aluminum foil. Cut several 10" to 12" lengths of your yarn and twist them together. Using a pair of tweezers or kitchen tongs move the sample slowly into the flame. Use care to avoid painful burns; if your hair is long be sure it is tied back and doesn't get near the flame. Remember that some fibers ignite slowly then burn quickly. Carefully watch your fibers burn:
1. Animal fibers, including silk, burn but do not melt. There should be a strong odor of burning hair. The fibers curl away from the flame and are somewhat self-extinguishing when pulled out of the flame.
2. Cotton and other plant fibers will burn but will not melt.
They do not shrink from the flame and continue to burn after you remove them from the flame. They small like burning paper.
3. Rayon and Tencel don't shrink from the flame, continue to burn after removal from the flame and small like burning wood.
4. Acrylics and various man-made fibers will shrink away from the flame and then melt as they burn. The ash will form a brittle bead.
It is difficult to determine if a fiber is a blend using the flame test. This test is less accurate than the bleach test, which is easier, cleaner, and safer.
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