#machine knitting

[slowmotionmovesme]

“Where am I??” “In my backyard😏”

[lil-leviathan]

Today's moment of audacity: finally setting up the thrifted flatbed knitting machine and giving it a go!

Back in the summer I found a Bond Ultimate Sweater Machxine new in a sealed box from 2004 for $35. (Original tag still on the box for $250 from hobby lobby!) I found a bunch of tutorials and got a solid idea of what to do, but never actually put yarn to carriage.

Well, today I made...

Mostly a mess.

But I tried again and got better!

Emboldened by my success I flew too close to the sun and attempted a wider project with a turned hem.

Alas, that cast on comb did NOT want to work with me. I almost got it though! And there were 20 perfect rows before I got here!

It is bedtime at this point so here I stand. My current plan involves obtaining myself some smaller weighted combs (probably bent and weighted thrifted forks) and also starting with a different yarn that will hopefully split less.

This is a unique learning process because I know PRECISELY the project I want to make, and I'm pretty sure I know all the skills I will need in theory, it's just gaining the ability to put them into practice.

[milkweedman]

So I was planning on using the knitting machine to knit flat panels to turn into gloves, but after thinking on it, I don't believe it would be better in any way. The material would be thinner, which is not a good thing when it comes to loosely knit acrylic gloves, I would have a hell of a lot more work to do changing the turning machine settings every row rather than just letting it do its thing for 2 or 3 minutes, and all of the flat knit pieces I was looking at online clearly require large amounts finishing work (even compared to what I'm doing).

Im starting to come to the conclusion that tube knitting everything is the way to go.

Observe: 2 pairs of gloves i made today after I got home from work.

They don't look like much when not being worn; just rectangles with holes for thumbs. However, they are incredibly stretchy !

They both stretchy to fit me very nicely; I have average sized hands for a man and I think they could fit men's large just by sizing up the crochet hook that I use for finishing, and they would probably already fit women's medium. I could most likely get a fit for women's small if I used finer yarn and just knit fewer rounds.

More rambling below of course:

The trade off is that they are not very fast. The finishing work takes longer than the actual knitting (i meant to take photos, but alas. Maybe next time). Basically I am knitting with waste yarn at the beginning and end, and then once its off the machine i crochet each end together, then remove the scrap yarn. I think its a similar process to steeking using crochet to secure the steeked edges ?

At that point I have a square that is 2 layers thick. Then I fold that over and sew the sides together to form a tube with a hole for the thumb. Then I do a second pass of sewing because otherwise it looks like shit and isnt warm. Then sew in ends and its done.

That part is about 20 minutes. The knitting (including the setup) is maybe 10, if im going slow.

But the fact that they stretch so well is HUGE. Ive made a fair few donation mitts and both manual knitting and crochet had big problems with fits--basically anyone who asked for gloves needed to try on several pairs until they found one that worked well. Additionally, none of them were that warm. They were certainly better than nothing, but the pink mitts especially are nice and toasty.

So the knitting machine is a good success for both hats and gloves !

Socks we already have covered due to bombas donating many boxes to us, although only in men's xl, which is not ideal at all. Sometimes I buy cheap packs of womens socks to leave in that drawer as well. I do not think hand knitting donation socks is a good idea because the elastic is the only reason they are one size fits many.

We dont have scarves, but nobody really asks for those. Im not sure why... I find them vital to not getting sick but nobody else around here seems to wear them. Obviously I could do some tube cowls or just normal tube scarves on this if that changes though.

So I think ive got all bases covered ?

Now I just need to find the time and hand usage to make a bunch more gloves. And probably try to make a pair every night after work, along with hats. Hm. I really wish I had someone else helping me but ive asked several people at work and nobody has been interested, so its just me I guess.

[birdiesews]

I will be the most stylish musher on the trails this year 😎

[gender444]

making a swatch scarf!

[the-knitting-pirate]

If you don't push the tuck buttons, you don't get tuck stitch no matter what needles you select.

[heyhellogreat]

I made a bag! Its fluff!