There are some times in life when one simply needs professional help. About three years ago, when my arthritis finally forced me to stop knitting, I received the most wonderful machine: An ancient circular sock knitting machine made by Auto Knitter. I had great fun trying to get it to work, and I was nearly there, but in the end, life happened, and it was time to put the machine away.
Although, to tell you the truth, at the time, I think I had the machine working perfectly, it was simply the user that was broken.
So, for the first time in over a decade, things in my life started to calm down and I was able to take my Auto Knitter to a mentor and see if he could fix it (or the user) so that knitting could happen. Getting help from someone with loads of experience and enthusiasm for the machine - that was amazing.
I'm very happy to learn that it was mostly user error. I now know how to do the knit stitch, picot edging, decrease, yarn overs, cast on, cast off, and change yarns. Yet to learn are turning a heal and the purl stitch, but once I know those I can make just about anything.
To practice my new skills, I have been making cast on bonnets.
It's a funny looking thing, but what it does is provide an easy way to cast on stitches on the knitting machine. Trust me, it really does. Maybe I'll show you some time.
This one is for my 80 needle cylinder - see, 8 stripes. I'll make one for my other cylinders once I have them up and running.
The ultimate goal, once I have the machine running perfectly, is to make socks with yarn I've spun, with wool from my sheep. Hopefully it doesn't take another three years to get there.
1 comment:
Hi, I work in a museum in northern Alberta and we received a knitting machine a number of months ago. I spent the summer cleaning it and trying to operate it, but have thus far been unable to use it. I saw that you were able to take yours to see a mentor; however, I am unable to do that and was hoping you could pass on a bit of your knowledge. How do you cast on? I have the same troubles that you did previously. If you can take the time, please let me know!
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