Knitting in the Fast Lane - O! Jolly!

A Fun Chat with Susan Guagliumi

O! Jolly! — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 20:45:10 +0000

Back in December 2019, my friend Susan Guagliumi joined one of the Better Sweater chats, the semi-regular get-togethers a group of machine knitters and I held on Zoom. At the time, her book Open Spaces had just been published, and her Open Spaces course had freshly launched.

Susan is a machine knitter, author, and educator with decades of experience across multiple machines. She's full of practical tips, hard-won advice, and loads of fun to talk with. For more Susan, be sure to check the related links below the video.

If you enjoy machine knitting tips, tutorials, and other goodies, I invite you to subscribe on YouTube, where I also publish YT short updates between videos.

Video Transcript

(Transcript was gently edited for clarity. Susan is in plain text; I’m in italics.)

Okay, let me stop you for a second. You actually started with an Irish fisherman sweater. That was your first hand-knit?

When you don't know any better, you don't know any better.

Wow!

That was machine knitter, author, educator, and my friend Susan Guagliumi. Susan's fifth book, Cords and Curls, will be released in the fall. But today, I'm presenting excerpts from a live stream we did in December of 2019. Here we go.

We'll be chatting with Susan Guagliumi. And I have to tell you, I was first introduced to Susan Guagliumi decades ago. She doesn't know this, but of course, through her book. I have it here.

Oh my!

Hand-Manipulated Stitches for Machine Knitters. And decades ago, when I was learning to machine knit, it helped me improve my moves on the knitting machine. It helped me truly understand how stitches are formed, how they can be transformed, and all the wonderful things you can do with them. I know a lot of other people were introduced to Susan that way, too. I think I'm going to stop right there so she can tell us herself about her past and what she has done and all of her accomplishments. So, I'm going to turn this over to Susan Guagliumi.

Oh, where would you like me to start?

I'd like to start — let's start with some personal stuff, a little bit. So, where are you from?

I'm originally from the Boston area. And I like to think that I've shaken most of the Boston accent, but anytime I've been in the Midwest, people have said, "Oh, you're from Boston, aren't you?" You know, so, I guess it's still there.

I didn't know that. I grew up in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Oh, not really far.

I know Rhode Island.

I know when I hear someone from Rhode Island, my ears perk up. I recognize it. Pick it up right away. Yeah.

So, I lived in the Boston area. When I went to undergraduate school, I was looking for a program in special education, and I ended up in New Haven, Connecticut. Southern Connecticut State, one, had an excellent special ed program; and two, was affordable, which was important to me at the time, as it is to students always. So, I ended up here and married one of my college professors. I'm still in the New Haven area. Yes. It was the '60s, remember? So that kind of thing happened. We're still married all these years later.

So you said he was your professor?

He was my art professor. Yes.

Oh. Interesting. Were you involved with any fiber-related arts at that time?

I always sewed, and I credit experiences at Girl Scout camp with actually giving me the confidence to try all kinds of things. I did basketry as a child and went back to it as an adult. As I said, I sewed. I remember being five years old, and my mother let me play with the sewing machine because it was the only toy in the house I was really interested in. I always made a lot of my own clothes and by the time I got to junior high, I was appalled that the project we were given. It was a gathered skirt, and I was working on a Vogue reversible beach robe for the summer that I had to bring in and show the instructor and say, "Could I please continue with this instead of that awful gathered skirt?" So the sewing goes back a long time for me, and the sewing sort of morphed into quilting and some other fiber arts at the time. So yeah, a lot of fabric and yarn has always been a big part of my life.

Did you knit at the time?

I started knitting — hand knitting — when I was in college. My mother had started an Irish fisherman's sweater for her first grandchild and got bored with it and said, "Maybe you can finish this," and I took it back to school with me and went into a local yarn shop where there was a very gracious lady who didn't say to me, "But you didn't buy the yarn here." She still sat down with me anytime I came in, and when I came across something new in the directions that I didn't understand, she showed it to me. I finished the sweater. I can't say that it was knitted to gauge or that the stitches were particularly consistent, but I did finish the sweater. It left me with the feeling that I could knit. So after that, I started picking up other projects from the beginning and honing my skills a little bit more than I did in finishing Michael's sweater.

Okay, let me stop you for a second. You actually started with an Irish fisherman sweater. That was your first hand knit?

When you don't know any better, you don't know any better.

That's amazing!

I think that as a very young child, I had probably done a garter stitch or a stockinette. I knew how to handle the needles, but I had certainly never slipped stitches onto a cable needle and moved them to the front or the back. And it was just sort of an adventure.

Wow. So, when did you first learn that machine knitting even existed? That that was a thing?

Oh, boy. Well, early on we traded a piece of my husband's artwork with a friend for an old four-harness loom, a floor loom, and I taught myself to use the loom and I was busy weaving.

And I had gone into New York City for one of the industry yarn shows. I had a weaving studio by that time in North Haven, Connecticut. And I went into New York to purchase yarn. And one of the things that they were offering at that show — it was a National Needlework show — was a free workshop on knitting machines. And I thought, well, that might be a really cool thing because you could knit the sleeves onto handwoven garments. And maybe I could combine the two. And how different could it be from a loom?

So I took this afternoon workshop on a Superba knitting machine and I was absolutely hooked because as a weaver you can spend days, many days dressing or setting up a loom only to find out that it really wasn't what you thought you were going to get. And you have to start over. I was just intrigued with the instantaneous results on a knitting machine, that you could have an idea and sit down and five minutes later realize that idea for real, right there in your hands, and see it.

So when I got back from the workshop, I stewed over that machine for a while. I sent the company a letter and told them why they should hire me and that of course I'd be willing to learn the machine.

When I look back on it now I think I had just recently read a book called What Color Is Your Parachute? that basically said create a job you want and then go after it. So, I had finished graduate school and there were no jobs teaching weaving at any of the nearby universities and I thought, "Okay, this might be something I could do." So, I sent a letter and they wrote back and said, "Yeah, we'd like to meet with you." And had an interview.

And the next thing I knew, I had a Superba S48 set up in the living room, one of the earliest of the electronic machines, not without its electronic problems. I wasn't sure at one point, quite frankly, if the cat had peed on the [knitting] bed or if I was having problems with the built-in electronics because all of a sudden I was getting nonsense in the knitted fabric. It turns out it was the electronics, not the cat that I blamed.

So I spent about six weeks listening to the brand-new audio tapes that Superba had just introduced for instruction. I think they saw a time when the internet, or some iteration of it, would take over sales — whether it was going to be mail-order sales or online sales. And they were getting ready for a time when there may not be a local dealer nearby, but someone might have purchased a machine. So, we were testing out these tapes, and I was pretty much the guinea pig.

I've always described the tapes as being done by the same lady that reads children's nursery rhymes, a very high voice and a strong British accent. And at one point she says something on the tapes like, "If you fail to thread the carriage, the result will be bad." Well, with a double-bed machine, it's downright physically dangerous, because when you fail to thread the machine, the weights and everything else fall off right on your feet.

By the time I felt halfway confident, I'd gone through the whole manual for the Superba and I could cast on by myself and make the electronics work most of the time. Then the company sent me a Passap, because that was the other machine that we distributed. And I spent the remainder of that summer, from early June until the end of August [learning Passap]. Then they sent me out on the road to sell machines and to train dealers. So from the very beginning my involvement with knitting machines was about sales and product and training.

And around what year was that?

Early '80s. It's getting closer to 40 years now, I think.

Yeah. I was wondering just because the first electronic machine I had that Superba machine. I actually had it under the label White, so I'm very familiar. Oh yes. So I was just wondering what year that was.

Well, White took over — oh, I think in the early '90s. Maybe '89 or '90. So this I believe was about '82 or '83. I've kind of blocked that out.

So how long were you with that company? Because I know you worked for all the companies at some point.

All right. Well, I stayed with Associated Knitting Machines — Passap and Superba — for a couple of years and then I took a job in New England for the Singer Company and worked with them for about six years. And then I was hired as the education director for Studio by White. And Studio by White was the same machine and group of machines as Singer. They were all Silver Reed machines, so it was a pretty natural fit for me. And then I stayed with them right up until the mid-'90s when we thought that Silver Reed was going to cease production. And as it turns out, they're still producing machines in China.

Yeah. And I have to interject — you know, people always say to me, "What's the best machine?" And the answer that I usually give them is it's the machine you know how to use. It's the machine that you can get support for. It's the machine you're comfortable with. They all do wonderful, wonderful things. And over the years I've seen people who have amassed a huge amount of equipment and not always getting the most knitting done. And I've seen people on a simple LK150 — one of my very favorite machines, actually — doing fabulous things because they really understand how the machine works. For me, that's always been important: knowing why something happens when I press a button makes it a lot easier to press the right button.

Exactly. When did you write your first book? Was it Hand-Manipulated Stitches?

It was Hand-Manipulated Stitches for Machine Knitters. And it was back in the late '80s. I got a letter from Interweave Press. They were looking to start doing some books and they asked if I was interested in doing a machine knitting book. Because I was a contributing editor at Threads magazine, I had to run everything by them first. So I went up to Taunton Press — which was also here in Connecticut — and I said, you know, this is what's happening. And they said, "Oh, no, no. If you're going to write a book, you're going to do it for us." So all of a sudden I had a book contract, and the rest is history.

I don't think I ever realized that Hand-Manipulated Stitches would stay in print as long as it has. It's going on 30 years now. It's an awfully long time for a craft book to still be at the top of the list.

Yeah. Well, hey, it's still relevant. I mean, we still do the very same things.

Well, and we have fewer dealers and resources to go to than we did before. So, it's gratifying when I hear people like you say that it was what really clarified things for them. That's exactly what we were after.

What came after Hand-Manipulated Stitches?

Well, the book finally went out of print after about 10 years and then briefly it was available through Bond Knitting Frames and then ultimately the rights reverted to me. I put the book back into print through print-on-demand, which is a real boon to craft areas that could be orphaned by the big publishers. Major publishers aren't interested in books that might sell a thousand copies a year, but with print-on-demand, it's been possible to keep the book in print.

Once the book came back into print, I think that people realized that I was neither senile nor dead. And I started getting a lot of emails asking questions. They find me. With a name like Guagliumi, I think it's easy to find me, actually. So I went back to my file cabinet and I looked over Hand-Manipulated Stitches and the one thing that I felt I hadn't given enough information on in the first book was the whole concept of bridging — using a holding position to gain full unlimited access to all of the needles on the bed to change stitch size or to add extra rows and so forth. So that gave birth to the second book, which was very catchily titled More Hand-Manipulated Stitches and completely devoted to bridging.

That book did well and I went back to the file cabinet again and sat at the machine and played and in 2008, brought out Hand Knits by Machine, which really focused on taking specific hand knit techniques and transferring them to the machine.

It's interesting — the chapter on entrelac knitting was originally going to be part of Hand-Manipulated Stitches. Taunton Press had set a very finite number of pages for the book and we were already running over. So they said you can cut from every chapter and pare it down, or you can just find one area to cut. And I felt as though entrelac didn't really fit the chapters we had set up for the book. They were very specific to things like transferring stitches, crossing stitches, manipulations that were clearly defined. Entrelac was sort of a stepchild to all of that.

We'd moved since I'd done the first book and I could not find my files anywhere for the method for entrelac. And I knew that I hadn't done any scrapping off or rehanging. I knew that I had done it with bridging. And it's interesting when the logic is clear, things like that come back to you. And I sat at the machine and played for about an hour and had one of those eureka moments. And that was a full chapter in Hand Knits by Machine. So it's back.

Yeah. Yay. I want to say that I think what you just said was very, very important about the logic being there because if you just learn machine knitting by memorization. You know, step one press this button; step two bring the carriage across — you never have a complete understanding of machine knitting. But if the logic is there, then you can reconstruct what you did.

Otherwise it feels like ironing to me. There's no sense of adventure or discovery. And that's always been the real thrill for me, saying, "Well, what if I try it this way? The book says to do this, but what if I don't? What will happen?" And you know, sometimes it's a good thing that happens and sometimes not so good. As I've said to students for years: if you know what you did and you can do it again, it's fabulous. If it's beautiful and you have no idea how it happened, then that's a mistake, because if you can't repeat it, it's worthless. So when you understand what's happening, I think sometimes that makes it a little bit easier to hold on to the information.

All of the information that's in Open Spaces was originally supposed to be a chapter in a totally different book. And when I started experimenting and trying some of the things that I wanted to expand on, I realized that it wasn't going to make it as a chapter in another book. As it is, it ended up being a much longer book than I had sort of budgeted the time to do. What happens when I sit down and start playing at the machine is that business I just said: What if? What if I do this and what if I do that? And when you start to bring in all of the variables — the number of stitches or the number of rows or the direction that you manipulate stitches, how many times you do something before you repeat it — all of those variables usually contribute to new patterns. So this book grew from one what-if to the next and did not end up a chapter in another book. It ended up its own book altogether.

(Transcript continues below the image.)

This swatch is based on sample L135 from Open Spaces by Susan Guagliumi. I knitted it on a Silver Reed SK280.

What level of machine knitter would you say you need to be in order to successfully use your books?

Well, the first book — I know that I was the only teacher, via that book, that some people had. So, I would say rank beginners would do okay with that. The other book, More Hand-Manipulated Stitches, I think requires a little more experience because you're going to be using the holding position for some short rowing and some bridging. Hand Knits by Machine could be for a fairly new knitter, and even with Open Spaces I think that if you're willing to make some mistakes and to experiment and to try things, I think even a beginner will find things in the book that are fully manageable.

Children, all children, expect to make mistakes and they don't let it defeat them. And so many times I'll see adults that will throw up their hands the first time they drop stitches and say, "I can't do this. I can't do this. I've tried. I can't do this." Whereas a kid will say, you know, I'm not going to let that happen again. I'm going to find out why it happened and I'm going to keep on trying. If you're willing to try something and accept that it isn't always going to be a finished something, then I think there's a lot there even for a beginner.

Oh, definitely. And I think that through mistakes, you learn.

My best teachers were my worst mistakes. Absolutely. And I've made some doozies. I mean, every now and then, when I'm out on the road teaching, I've brought samples with me. I've brought the finished project so people can say, "Isn't that terrific?" And then I'll show them the half-dozen failures that led up to that project. And hopefully you learn something from each failure. Next time I'm going to change the stitch size. Next time I'm not going to change colors or I'm not going to introduce a fancy trim. Whatever it was that didn't work in the previous example, you just keep trying, right?

I've been experimenting with Open Spaces and here's my experiment with skipping needles. With needles out of work and then keeping all the needles in work. You probably can't tell on this.

(Transcript continues below the image.)

I knitted this variation of sample L138 from Open Spaces on a Passap DM80.

Very nice. That one looks almost like raffia. The red one.

Oh, it's actually 100% wool.

Oh, it's got a shine on it on my monitor. Yeah. Yeah. I thought, gee, it's raffia.

It's a subtle difference, but you know, I love experimenting. And I love in your course how you encourage people to try it this way, try it that way, and all the variations that you can do. So I guess this means that you're a process knitter as opposed to a product knitter?

I definitely am. And I hadn't really thought about that until this last year. For me, the process is what I find so exciting. Sometimes I'll say that by the time I've done the second sleeve on a sweater, I feel like I'm a production knitter. And yet the sweater that I've got on — in fact, this is the third time I knitted it because one of the first examples wasn't drying fast enough. I wash everything when it's done. And I thought, well, I'll just tumble it in the washer. And it had so much alpaca and mohair in the blend that the darn thing felted and it would fit an American Girl doll. It sure wasn't going to fit me. I donated it along with some of the sweaters that went to FIT for the students to cut up this year. I just couldn't bear to look at it.

Oh wow.

Yeah. Sometimes you try things a couple of times and you don't make the same mistake the next time. Hopefully.

Yeah. Oh, so could you stand up and show everyone your sweater?

Can you see it?

Yes. Yes. So gorgeous. Yes.

And this is another one of those sweaters with all the open spaces that you really do have to wear something underneath it unless you're looking to get arrested walking down the street.

Is that stitch pattern in the course?

It's going to be in an upcoming issue of Machine Knitting Monthly, the British magazine along with some information on creating a really good needle pusher for the arrangement that I needed to use over and over again. Periodically, I share patterns with Machine Knitting Monthly just because it's the last magazine left. The more of us that support it, the healthier this fading industry will be.

Yeah. I recall those — what are they? — Jac 40s?

Those needle pushers. Oh, wouldn't I love to have one of those now?

Yes. I mean, some of the toys that used to be available. What I did to make a needle pusher was to make, oh, how can I explain this? Do you know those scrunchy things that they used to use to pull all your hair back?

The one with teeth or they're almost like clips?

It's a long one. But it's a long comb-like thing. Well, if you put that on the needles first and then you glue two pieces of wood over the end of it — it's set up for the gauge of your machine.

Oh my goodness.

And then if you cut out the ones you don't want, you have this quick needle pusher. Having the right tools makes it a whole lot easier to do a lot of hand-manipulated stitches. Without the right tools, it would be too labor-intensive to do something like the sweater I've got on.

I would like to open up questions to the people who are watching this. If you could put the questions in the Q&A section, it makes it easier for us to read.

I hope so.

Yeah. For those of you who don't know, I met Susan at a meeting for FIT, Fashion Institute of Technology. I believe we started teaching there the same semester. We never actually taught on the same day until last semester. In fact, we were actually co-teachers for a course, which was sort of fun to compare notes and discuss our students together.

I see Ruth says, "Hi, ladies. And Susan, could you pan your workspace for all?" So, she'd like to see your wonderful workspace.

Just trying to think how I can do that. Let's see if I move the computer a little forward.

I was afraid it was going to be really raining hard like it was earlier. We're in a post-and-beam house, so the slanted ceiling up there goes right up to the roof line. And when the rain really pounds down, you can hear it. On one wall over this way, there are yarn cubbies. That's pretty much my entire stash. I'm not a hoarder. I tend to buy for projects. I mean, I have some stuff left over, but I'm not a real hoarder.

And then the table in the middle is my cutting table for sewing and for laying out projects. And the drawers underneath — there are three sets of drawers that were old Simplicity sewing pattern chests that I had way back when my sister-in-law and I had a yarn shop. We used it for storage. I've got just a Formica top on those.

Okay, over on this side there are some IKEA drawers and things everywhere, the best storage space. I've got one machine here and another one towards the very back of the white table. And then in the corner there's a sewing machine, a serger, and my new coverstitch machine that I just love, love, love, love. And an iron. And the iron that I've been devoted to the last few years is from Reliable Corporation, and it's a real high-steam kind of iron. And that's it. It's a pretty nice room. I feel very lucky to have this much space, but we built this house with that in mind — that Arthur and I would both have studio space. So, that's where I live.

Great!

"What and where to oil on the machine and how often?" That's a great question, Honey.

From the machine's point of view, you can't over-oil it. From the yarn's point of view, you need to be fairly careful so that you don't end up with oil in the yarn. But you want to oil the tracks underneath the carriage. In fact, can I just grab a carriage for a second?

What you want to oil under here are the striking edges, not the base plate, because the needles should never contact the base of the carriage. But it's the edges of these cams that need to be oiled so that as the needle butts slide through, they're getting a good oil. And you want to oil the rail on the back of the carriage and the rail on the machine, as well as the gliding edge up here in the front. So the carriage needs to be well-oiled and lint-free.

I use a can of canned air and I hold the carriage over a wastebasket and then spray. I'm laughing because the first couple of times I did this, I didn't think in advance that I was going to be spraying out all this greasy lint, which then ended up all over the table, the white table behind me, with grease marks, and all over me. So try to hold it either in a paper bag or over a wastebasket when you start spraying with canned air. And then on the machine, you want to oil the rail at the back, as I said, the very front edge where the carriage glides along, and the needle butts. And usually what I'll do is bring all of my needles into working position, run some oil across the butts of the needles, and then run the carriage back and forth a few times. If you see extra oil sitting on the surface of the bed, wipe it up. You certainly don't want any oil to come forward where the hooks of the needles are.

What about Passap machines? They need a little extra oil. Do you want to talk about that?

Oh. It's been a long time since I've oiled a Passap. But on the Passap, you've got the pushers and the needle butts, and those all need to be oiled. And particularly with the older Passaps, with any older machine, you can be sure that it's going to drink up oil like crazy. So, I would say you probably want to oil just about every time you use it.

Here's a question from Patrizia, who asks, "What coverstitch machine do you use?"

Oh, I just bought a Janome, and I'm really loving it, but it takes some practice. I can't seem to get that looper thread to let go of the stitch finger at the back. I've snapped a few stitches. I'm learning. I'm learning. And I'm trying to force myself to play with fabric scraps instead of jumping right into the project I really wanted to do.

You know, the very first time I sat down to use a serger, I was working for Studio by White and we were bringing a low-end White serger into the line for knitters to purchase. And I had a bathing suit — and very fortunately that year I had lost some weight — and I thought, well, I'm going to take in the bathing suit. I'm going to shoot this phone. I thought I was going to take in the bathing suit and instead what I did was cut the crotch right off of it because I wasn't careful with the knives. So, it's always a good idea to practice a new skill on something that isn't terribly important, because I certainly couldn't wear that bathing suit by the time I was done with it. So, I'm going to practice more with the coverstitch machine, too. It's still fairly new.

Well, you got your practice!

Margaret asks, “What machine do you use most often?”

The machine that I use the most often is not generally available right now. It's a Silver Reed 860, which is a mid-gauge. And I like it because a lot of the hand-manipulated techniques show up better than they would in standard gauge. And they're not as big — I can't think of a better word for it — as big and clumsy-looking as they sometimes are on a chunky machine. I also love the fact that it has 150 needles instead of 110 and I can still use worsted weight yarn with it.

I think the gauge is one of the reasons that I also like that LK150 so much. It's another mid-gauge machine. It'll always be a manual machine. It will never have a ribber. But it's that mid-gauge and it lets you use all of the hand knit yarns.

I'm a real yarn snob, I'm afraid. I'm just not thrilled with most of the acrylic yarns I've seen over the years. I used to joke that why would I wear a plastic bag? I wouldn't wear a plastic bag, so why should I wear an acrylic sweater? And one year at the summer camp we did for Studio, people gave me a very beautifully decorated plastic bag to wear as a result. In fact, I think there are pictures of that lovely outfit on my website. So, if you're interested in my plastic bag outfit, you can check it out there.

I like being able to go into the local yarn shop and find really beautiful yarns. And I don't mind working off of balls. I weave in my ends as I go, so I don't have a whole lot of ends to work with. And I don't worry necessarily if it's on cones.

Could you describe your process for weaving in ends on balls as you go along?

What I'll do when I finish with one ball of yarn — I've got a tail hanging out — I'll bring maybe a dozen needles at the edge out to holding position. And then literally weave the yarn over one needle shaft, under the next. Over, under, over, under. So, picture this if you will. It's in front of the gate pegs or the sinker posts. It's not back behind that area where it wouldn't knit. And then I'll knit the next row and immediately weave in that end in the same way. So when I'm done, my ends have all been woven through for several inches and I can clip them off.

The only time that won't work is with fairisle, or it can be a problem if the purl side is going to be the right side of the garment. In fact, I have a fabulous striped sweater that I don't wear, um, because I wove in all the ends when I was doing it and then decided that I liked the purl side better. And yeah, it's a nice stripe, but it would have been fabulous on the purl side as the right side if I hadn't woven in all the ends. So, samples. I'm probably my own worst candidate for following my own advice, but sample everything before you get going on a whole sweater.

What is the best oil to use?

Oh, well, I don't like silicone. And in fact, I had used it on a machine once that I had to go back with fine steel wool to get it off. Oil homogenizes and the easiest way to get old oil off is to put new oil on, wipe it down, and then re-oil the machine. That'll always do it. You'll get some black, which is carbon, that builds up with metal striking metal. So if you can buy knitting machine oil, buy knitting machine oil. Otherwise, gun oil, unfortunately. I cringe when I go in to buy it because I'm not a gun rights person, and showing up in Dick's to buy gun oil was sort of against my… They sell two types of gun oil, I've been told, one smells terrible, and the other one doesn't. So when you go in to buy gun oil, you could ask for the one that is easier to live with. So, gun oil or knitting machine oil.

We were talking about your weaving, Susan. And Mindy asks if you still weave. And she says, "I'm a knitter, hand and machine, Rochester spinner, and I sew, but now learning to weave."

Interesting.

Do you still weave?

I've gone back to weaving in small bits. I did some small tapestry pieces and I've got it in my head that now that I'm not going to be traveling as much that I'd like to do a tapestry. And you know I showed you that nice high ceiling before. I'm thinking that it's perfect for a warp-weighted loom. So I'm hoping, (if not this winter, then maybe over the summer when the air conditioning is on and I don't want to be outside) to set up a tapestry to hang from the ceiling.

Oh, Terry says, "Hi, Susan and Olga. Thanks for doing this." Susan, I know that the best machine is the one that works for you, but when you're asked for a total newbie, which machine do you recommend that they start with? A new LK150?

A lot of it depends on what resources you have nearby. If you've got a knit club nearby that's active, you're going to have a bunch of older knitters that'll be dying to show you how to use every gizmo and gadget that ever was, and to make wonderful increases and non-roll edgings and everything else. But if you're on your own without knitters nearby, I would say to start slowly and yeah, I think the LK150 is a terrific machine to start with.

The three classes that I did for Craftsy, I used just that machine because I feel as though it's the lowest common denominator. It does everything that all machines do except it does it manually. Once you understand how patterns are formed on a machine, I think it's an easier transference to learn how to use a punch card or an electronic.

And with some of the electronics, components are no longer available. So if you buy an electronic machine at this point, I think you need to plan on investing in DesignaKnit software, which is pricey, and with the computer, the cable that will hook it up from the computer to the machine. You're going to need to be working on a PC with software and a cable. So I just don't think any of the other electronics are dependable enough at this point to go without it.

Punch card machines, you can't go wrong. They're mechanical machines and they're easier and less expensive to fix. So, I still can't tell you that any one machine is any better than another. You know, you might find a used Toyota from the '80s that's in pristine condition, great machine. And you might find a Brother from the '90s that's had hard wear, and you'll be sorry to have invested in it. Be careful of eBay, please.

Here's another question. It says, "Hi, Susan. Thank you for this session." This is from Linda.

I'm reading that now, yeah.

"I'm a complete beginner and have purchased a Silver Reed 360 from 1978." I had that machine too.

We all did.

Yeah. Under Singer, in those days. "It's in excellent condition and has a 4.5 needle setting." I guess you mean the gauge, the millimeter. “I wondered what the maximum bulk is that one can use with the machine with a nice drape of fabric."

Okay. Every machine is calibrated to work its very best right in the middle of the stitch dial. So the yarns that knit on stitch size six or seven or eight on that machine are the ones that are going to have the best drape and be the easiest to work with, and that includes fingering and lace weight yarn.

When you start to get heavier than that into a sport weight or a DK, the machine may knit them, but it's not happy doing it, and it's not what the machine does best. You can work on every other needle. You still will have to knit a little slower, use some extra weights, and be aware of the fact that you're going from a 200-needle bed down to a 100-needle bed. Depending on what gauge you get… Let's say you're using a worsted on every other needle, you've got a hundred needles; if you're getting five stitches to the inch, you're only going to get a piece 20 inches wide. So you're going to cut your size potential, and any punch card patterning would have to be repunched for every other needle. So if what you want are heavier yarns, then you're probably going to want to look for another machine at some point.

And that LK150 would be a great accessory to have on the side with the standard gauge. You'd think that I made money on these. I don't. I just really love that machine. And as a second machine, you know, they sell for I think under $400 right now. So, it gives you access to more yarns. You know, all of us have ended up owning more than one machine because of those limitations.

The mid-gauge machines were designed for DK yarn to knit on stitch size five and for worsted to knit on a seven or an eight. I could get heavier. I've used Lopi on every other needle. It's like you're in the rug business. It's not drapey and wearable. But on the other hand, if you wanted to use Lopi on a bulky machine, then you could knit a hair shirt, but you can knit something a little bit heavier that way.

Ruth asks, "I've been told." Oh, actually, it's a statement, an interesting statement. "I've been told that when not using the machine, put the tension dial at zero so you don't stretch the spring inside." I've never heard that before.

I've never heard it either, but it couldn't hurt as long as you remember to put it back afterwards, right?

I may start doing that.

Yeah, the other thing on an unused machine would be to take out the sponge bar, depending on the machine. Now, with my Silver Reed machines, the needles stay right where they are. With the Brother machines and the Taitexma machines I've been using at FIT, I've noticed that when the sponge bar is out, the needles tend to want to pop up. So, I'd just keep an eye on that. But the sponge bars wear down terribly fast. And that might be something to keep in mind. If you're not going to get back to your knitting right away and you're going to leave it on the machine, take the weights off. If it's a long piece, an afghan or something, that you're coming back to in a day, put a chair up close and let the knitting rest on the chair so it's not hanging with its own weight.

Yes. I've heard if you do remove the sponge bar from the machine, that it should be wrapped in plastic so it doesn't dry out. Have you heard that?

They do dry out. And in fact, the project that I'm starting right now — I'm starting another video project. I thought, well, I can't just do these examples. This is very project-oriented, not process for a change. I should do them for mid-gauge and bulky and for standard gauge. So, I took my standard gauge back out and I was appalled because it was like the sponge had just disappeared. It was so flat. I couldn't even begin to use the machine. So, I just ordered two sponges. And I'll keep one of them wrapped up in Saran Wrap until I need it. So yeah, definitely close it up because they will flatten out and dry out otherwise.

"A Happy New Year, and a thank you," Olgalyn.

Oh, Happy New Year, Susan, and happy new year to everyone who joined us this evening. Thank you so much. I love talking machine knitting. It's so great to have the opportunity to talk machine knitting with all these machine knitters and people who are interested in machine knitting. So everyone, happy stitching, and we'll have another Better Sweater Chat sometime soon.

Thanks, Susan.

Thanks for having me.

Stay in the loop.

Book a Kniterate digital knitting machine demo

Machine Knitting a Textured Buttonhole Band

O! Jolly! — Fri, 17 Apr 2026 09:15:27 +0000

Sometimes, when I want to program a very complicated stitch pattern on the Kniterate, I’ll do a test on my manual Passap DM-80 first. This process helps me think in an orderly way about complicated moves and see how a complex stitch pattern physically develops in real time, before I deal with the digital version.

Recently, I worked out a buttonhole band this way. The band is pretty standard, but I didn’t know how the closed edges on each side of the buttonhole would appear, since I was adding racking to the mix. It turns out the buttonholes look good, though the band may not be right for my current project.

Below is a tutorial for this racked buttonhole band experiment, and I include an update on my cardigan project. If you enjoy this type of content, be sure to subscribe on YouTube, where I also publish YT Posts (short updates) between videos.

Tips for Kniterate Knitters

Lower the roller value when racking.
Use half the roller value for the buttonholes. Change feeders every two rows.

Since I’ve decided against using this type of button band for my current project, I have not yet test knitted it on the Kniterate. A knitting sequence, modified for the Kniterate, is presented below, along with suggested options settings.

Tips for Knitters on Japanese-style Machines and Superba

Never bring needles into holding position for a racked sequence!
For each buttonhole, working needles on each bed are brought into upper patterning position. Non-knitting needles are in lower patterning position. Cams are set to miss (slip or part).

Video Transcript

If you've been following along with my cardigan project, I'm making progress. Even though I'll soon have all the pieces, I still haven't decided on the type of finish I'd like for the front opening. So, I'm going to share my experiment for a button band, or more exactly, a buttonhole band, and I'll demonstrate it on a manual machine. If I decide to knit it, I'll most likely knit it on the Kniterate.

Stay tuned if you want to see my tutorial for a buttonhole band with a little texture. And I'll update my cardigan.

Hi, Olgalyn here. My personal projects always take a backseat to other projects, so this cardigan is a little slow going, but I'm happy to report my progress. First of all, I corrected my incorrect gauge figures. The numbers looked a bit odd to me, so I'm glad I rememeasured and recalculated. I have a perfectly sized front left, front right, and back left. I'm also ready to knit the rest.

I got a little surprise at the top of the funnel neck. I wanted to keep the scallops from the swatch I talked about last time. But when I made the funnel a little shorter, as I said I would, I ended the pattern on a different row. This had an effect on the top edge that I hadn't counted on. The scallops are not as deep. It's not as scallopy.

The Kniterate did the bindoff and after the fabric relaxed a bit, the edge became a bit crinkly, which I really like.

(The transcript continues below the image.)

The fabric is very stretchy. That I've known from the beginning. I'm going to rely on the seams to help stabilize the cardigan. Besides the shoulder seams, the back gusset and side seams will all do their part. I'm counting on the button band and the buttonhole band to do the same thing for the front opening.

So, even though I haven't knitted all the pieces yet, here's my first experiment with a button band and a buttonhole band. Pretend I have different buttons. These buttons do not go with the cardigan. They were handy and they're the right size. You'll see the surface has a bit more texture than the usual full needle rib or 1x1 rib, which are often used for a button band.

I borrowed the stitch pattern from a tote bag strap and added vertical buttonholes. I'm still deciding on this type for my cardigan. If I were knitting, say, a double jacquard cardigan, I would use it, but I'm not sure it's exactly what I'm looking for right now.

It's a full needle rib structure across 10 needles on each bed. What adds the texture is racking, moving one needle bed laterally. Besides racking, the buttonhole band uses missed stitches and there's a free pass. In other words, moving the carriage to the other side of the machine without knitting and without the stitches falling off the needles.

My demo is on a Passap. Kniterate knitters, follow the link in the description to notes on knitting the band on your machine. If you are on a Japanese style machine or a Superba and you are already comfortable with your machine, you can knit the same buttonhole band by setting your cams to slip, miss, or part depending on your machine with only selected needles knitting when you get to the buttonhole. Remember, never pull needles up into holding position if you are racking.

Like my other tutorials, this one is for machine knitters who are beyond the beginner stage of knitting. If you are a beginner knitter, you may be familiar with some of these operations and others you may be unfamiliar with. But if you'll stick around, you will see what's possible. And just by practicing your knitting and thinking logically about your knitting, you may already know more than you think you know.

Also, stay around to the end. I provide a link to a YouTube video for a vertical buttonhole band that's great if you haven't had a lot of experience with double bed knitting yet.

So, here's how I knit the textured buttonhole band. Cast on for full needle rib. We'll be using two yarn feeds for this.

This is a vertical buttonhole. And when we get to the buttonhole, we use short rows so that only one side of the buttonhole is knitted at a time. We'll have one source of yarn on the right for the right-hand side of the buttonhole and another small source on the left for the left side of the buttonhole.

The knitting sequence I used after cast-on started with my carriage on the right. Sixteen rows to begin, 4 rows for the right side of the buttonhole, 4 rows for the second side of the button hole, ten rows before I started the second button hole. Then repeat for the next buttonhole. I ended with 16 rows and a bind-off.

But remember I said there was racking involved? It's easy to remember when to rack because you rack before each row after cast-on. Always rack one in the first direction. Knit a row. Rack back to the original position. Knit a row. Follow that sequence throughout the band. I'll demonstrate now.

But before we begin, if you haven't seen these before, these are edge springs on a Passap machine. They help keep the edge stitches on the needles. You don't really need them for this band if you use weights.

(The transcript continues below the image.)

And Passap knitters, you'll notice I'm using the orange strippers. You're set to BX or LX on each bed with the pushers in working position for the needles in use.

I'm going to start my buttonhole on the right and knit the right-hand side of the button hole first, but the buttonhole band can be started from either side. So, we've cast on. My band is 10 needle pairs wide. The beds are at half pitch. I've observed the needle rule with the first needle from the left on the front bed and the last needle on the right side on the rear bed. But you may have a different arrangement depending on your needs and if you want a seam allowance.

My back bed racks on the Passap or if I were knitting on the Kniterate, so I'm racking to the left first. If you're using this setup on a Japanese-style machine or a Superba, your front bed racks and you'll be racking your front bed to the right first.

Here we go. Rack one pitch in your first direction. Knit a row. Rack back. Knit a row. Do that sequence eight times, so 16 rows in all. The carriage is on the right-hand side.

Now, here's the fun part, the actual buttonhole part. Passap knitters, put the five pushers on each bed down into rest position on the left-hand side. We are about to knit the right-hand side of the buttonhole band. Here we go. Rack in your first direction. Knit one row. Rack back. Knit one row and repeat, four rows altogether.

If you're on a manual machine, remove your yarn from the carriage. Free pass so that no needles knit or fall off the needles and bring your carriage to the other side of the machine. Your second source of yarn should be on the other side waiting for you.

Bring those Passap pushers up into working position. The five needle pairs further away from the carriage will be not knitting.

I'm going to knit the left side of the buttonhole now, same sequence. Rack in your first direction. Knit. Rack back. Knit. And repeat that, so you'll knit four rows.

Remove your yarn from the carriage. Free pass so that no needles knit, and bring your carriage to the other side of the machine. Set all your needles to knit and knit until you want to begin your second buttonhole.

Now, if you're just getting started with double bed knitting and you want to knit a vertical buttonhole band, Diana Sullivan has a video demonstrating another version of a vertical buttonhole band. And there's no racking. It uses 1x1 rib on a Brother machine and begins knitting on the left-hand side. If you would rather use a 1x1 rib and you also need basic instructions, check it out. The link is in the description.

Then come back to this video once you have the foundation and you're looking for a more textured look.

Now, this is a pretty sturdy band. The more I look at it, the more I think I should experiment with other buttonhole bands. Maybe something based on an I-cord. If you have thoughts or ideas on this, please let me know in the comments.

I'm Olgalyn. This is knitting in the fast lane. 'Til next time.

If you’re a Kniterate user, you may be interested in my prerecorded Designing with Kniterate classes. If you’re not an owner yet, I’d be happy to give you a virtual tour of the machine.

When Your Test Sample Says: Modifications Needed

O! Jolly! — Tue, 24 Feb 2026 02:00:07 +0000

If you’ve ever redesigned a garment because the fabric told you to, you’re in good company. Here’s an update to my current knitting project on the Kniterate.

The video details changes to my cardigan plans, including a new test sample and the design decisions that altered the sweater's shape. I tell what I learned from the test sample and describe the modifications to the neckline, sleeves, and general silhouette.

If you enjoy this type of content, I invite you to subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Video Transcript

Last time I was here, I said, “Next time you see me, I should have a knitted sleeve and maybe a little more.”

Well, you can see me. And I don’t have a sleeve.

What I do have are a new test sample, updated cardigan plans, and a few design decisions that completely changed the shape of my sweater.

The cardigan I haven’t knitted yet went from this… to this.

In this video, I’m walking through why I changed the neckline, why the sleeves stopped being set-in, what I test-knit instead of a sleeve, and what I learned from that test sample, especially around short rows, transfers, and gauge.

If you like seeing how the properties of a fabric can drive design, keep watching.

Hi, Olgalyn here. When I went back and reexamined my earlier swatches, I realized how much I loved the way the top edge of the fabric forms scallops naturally. The stitch structure is doing real design work, and the top edge shouldn’t be hidden. Once I noticed that, the V-neck didn’t make sense anymore.

(The transcript continues below the image.)

I wanted to use that scalloped top edge as a feature, so I changed the neckline to a funnel neck, and the scallops will show at the very top.

That decision came directly from the fabric, not from the original sketch.

Then I looked at the sleeves. The original plan was a set-in sleeve, and I wasn’t in love with it.

What I landed on instead is a baby dolman with a sleeve extension. The silhouette has a bit of an eighties feel. I still have real eighties sweaters that I knitted in the eighties, so I don’t know why I needed another one!

But more importantly, I felt the stitch pattern needed more space. I didn’t want it stretched and having the texture lose its depth. The bigger silhouette lets the fabric stay relaxed.

Even though I already had a test swatch and a gauge swatch, I still planned to knit a sleeve first, mostly to double-check gauge and make sure I programmed my increases and decreases correctly.

Then I realized I don’t need edge decreases at all with this design. What I actually knitted was a section with both increases and short-row decreases. That simplified the technical design more than I expected.

The test sample turned out well in most areas. Here I’m removing the waste yarn.

I was supposed to change a needle before I started. I already knew it had a bent transfer spring. It knitted the waste yarn just fine — no transfers there. But this stitch pattern uses lots of transfers. Fortunately, I caught it early and was able to change the needle without starting over.

If you haven’t come across a knitting machine needle with a transfer spring before, this is the part that enables automatic transfers on industrial machines and on the semi-industrial Kniterate.

(The transcript continues below the image.)

Simple edgle decreases are highlighted. Stitch transfers between knitting beds are also shown.

This piece right here is the transfer spring. When the needle holding the loop reaches its highest point, the hook on the opposite bed slips in and grabs that loop.

I’ve linked an animation in the description that shows the operation much more clearly.

Back to the test sample, I was really happy with the short-row decreases at the shoulder. And I’m glad I tested them, because I hadn’t actually tried short-row decreases with this stitch pattern before.

The bind-off settings also worked well. The Kniterate has a bind-off macro, so it’s usually just a few clicks and parameter entries to get a good result.

I did find one error. I forgot to transfer the last bind-off stitch into the funnel neck, but that’s easy to fix. And I’ve also decided to shorten the funnel neck slightly.

At this point, I’m sure of my gauge, and the shape makes sense. And I’ve troubleshot errors. If you saw my last video you know that now it's time for me to “get back in there and make adjustments.” So it’s back to DesignaKnit and back to the Kniterate design app. Then I’ll finally be ready to knit the actual cardigan.

I still haven’t decided how I want to treat the front opening, and I’m going to wait on that.

To be continued. Later!

If you’re a Kniterate user, you may be interested in my prerecorded Designing with Kniterate classes. If you’re not an owner yet, I’d be happy to give you a virtual tour of the machine.

Designing a Machine-Knit Sweater

O! Jolly! — Sat, 10 Jan 2026 17:15:00 +0000

A sample swatch is wrapped around my forearm; I’m designing a cardigan. The video below presents my outline for developing a pattern for this personal project.

If you enjoy this type of content, I invite you to subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Video Transcript

I’m about to share my four steps for designing a machine-knit sweater pattern. And I’ll tell you about the issues I’ve had designing my future cardigan.

Hi, Olgalyn here!

As some of you may already know, the starting point for me isn’t “I want to design a cardigan jacket.” It’s “I want to explore this fabric.” And that’s step 1, choose a texture or technique to explore.

Inspiration can be found in other knitted stitch patterns or in completely different structures. You may be inspired by a print fabric pattern or a structure found in nature or architecture. In this case, I explored a purl knit or links-links knit structure. I described this type of fabric in my previous video.

As you can see, the purl knit properties differ from jersey, visually and mechanically. Before thinking about the shape of my future sweater, I spent time understanding how this stitch pattern knits, how stable or unstable it is, and how it responds to handling.

That means swatching, swatching, swatching. That’s the second step, knit and test the swatches.

And it isn’t just about gauge at this point — it’s about fabric behavior. Purl knit fabrics stretch differently and drape differently than other types of knits.

I tested variations of the stitch size, tension, and yarn choice. And I washed and dried the fabric. Once I had something I liked, I calculated the gauge. And I imagined the fabric as a garment. From my last blog post and video, interestingly, I received email and a comment from people who also imagined the fabric as a cardigan jacket. And another commenter helped me make a final decision on the colors. Thank you!

I'll be knitting the cardigan on the Kniterate, so I worked in the Kniterate design app and test-knit the various settings for increases and decreases. Here's my test for binding off. You can see how the machine binds off stitch by stitch. Here are my decreases and increases.

Because the fabric is so highly textured. I’m using simple edge decreases and increases. No one would see fully fashioned shaping with this texture!

(The transcript continues below the image.)

Simple edgle decreases are highlighted. Stitch transfers between knitting beds are also shown.

There are several ways to design a garment. Some designers start with a sketch and the shape of a garment, then they'll swatch to find a stitch structure that works.

I prefer starting with the swatch, so my next step is the sketch. It could have been a rough sketch, but for this project, I made a colored flat drawing, taking advantage of my previously taken videos of the swatch.

I did these flats in Inkscape. Many people use Illustrator. My flat drawings are very quick, very 2D with no hint of drape. But I want to get ideas for the general shape of the garment and to see how the stitch pattern works the shape.

I’m planning a v-neck with set-in sleeves for this cardigan. I’ve decided to use both sides of the fabric. The technical face, the side with the most knit stitches, will be used for the right front. I’ll use the reverse for the left front. The back is in two pieces and there are the sleeves. The back will be joined with a center gusset.

I like the bottom edge as is. And due to this fabric’s selvages, I will use a trim on the front edges. I’ll highlight the selvages in the back by joining them with the center gusset.

I'm using DesignaKnit for step 4, to create the technical design of the cardigan. This is where I had a few issues. I originally thought I’d be designing the cardi with raglan sleeves, since it’s easier to match a horizontal pattern through the body and the sleeves that way. Well, DAK doesn’t do a raglan the way I’m used to doing a raglan, and I didn’t want to knit a test to see if I wanted to use that method. I didn’t feel like digging up an old block pattern and translating it for DAK’s Original Pattern Drafting module, so I changed the pattern to set-in sleeves.

I don’t know. I may regret it, but it just seemed more straightforward at the time. I’m not sure how the pattern matching will turn out at the top of the sleeve cap, but we’ll see.

I’ve painted my stitch pattern in DAK. It’s the same stitch pattern you saw earlier in the Kniterate app, but without the transfers indicated. The transfers will be added when I’m back in the Kniterate design app.

When I'm not using DesignaKnit, I usually generate graph paper with a grid based on the gauge of my swatch. Then I draw my pattern directly on the graph paper and write all my increases and decreases directly on the full-size pattern paper.

Ok, back to DAK. Here are the pieces with the number of stitches and rows calculated. Since one of my front pieces is flipped. I'm actually knitting two fronts that are exactly the same. I’m also knitting two back pieces. Because the fabric pulls in so much, knitting the back in one piece is impossible, even on the machine with 252 needles per bed.

I’m thrilled I can export the pieces directly to the Kniterate design app, but I’m only exporting one sleeve for now. This is where I'll add the front-rear transfers command in order to transfer stitches between the beds, as needed. I'll also add the increases and decreases and free edit the removal on waste.

I'll knit one sleeve first just to double-check the gauge and everything else.

If there are any issues with gauge or shape of the sleeve, I’ll make the needed adjustments in DAK or in the Kniterate design app.

To review, the four steps are:

Choose a texture or technique to explore.
Knit and test swatches.
Create a sketch.
Create the technical design, based on your gauge.

Now knit a test piece or an entire proto-sample, if that's your thing. If necessary, get back in there and make adjustments.

If all goes well with my sleeve, I consider the major pieces of the pattern done. I’ll just need to knit them.

Because this is a personal project, I have the luxury of making certain decisions and changes later. I’ll probably experiment with the trim and closure once I’ve knitted the major pieces.

Next time you see me, I should of have a knitted sleeve and maybe a little more.

‘Til next time!

Purl Knit or Links-Links and What’s a Horizontal Rib?

Olgalyn Jolly — Sat, 13 Dec 2025 15:41:10 +0000

In this video, I revisit one of the stitch patterns from Inspiration or Iteration, posted earlier this year. I knitted this swatch on the Kniterate, yet despite its intricate appearance, this purl knit structure can be created on any double bed machine. The video below outlines several ways to move the process forward on different machines, including a walkthrough of how I programmed the pattern in the Kniterate design app.

More videos are on the way. I invite you to subscribe to my YouTube channel.

Video Transcript

This type of fabric is called a purl knit or a links-links fabric, and I’ve wanted to knit this type of swatch for a very long time. I finally knitted it a couple of months ago. Why did it take me so long? How did I knit it? What will it become?

Hello, I’m Olgalyn and I want to talk a little about this fabric. It’s not a jersey knit with knit stitches on one side of the fabric only. It’s not a rib knit with separate wales for the knits and separate wales for the purls. It’s called a purl knit or a links-links fabric. I’ll use the terms interchangeably.

What distinguishes it is that the knits and purls appear in the same column or wale. Zooming in on this swatch, I’ve used plating with the light and dark blues. There's a reverse jersey and both 6x6 ribs and 18x6 ribs.

Back in the 1980s, when I took a weft knitting technology class at the Fashion Institute of Technology, we were introduced to this kind of fabric and shown an actual industrial links-links machine. Links is German for left and we were given an explanation as to why this machine was called links-links. But that was a long long time ago and I can’t remember. But if you happen to know, please share your knowledge in the comments. More on the machines in a moment.

If you’re a hand knitter, this type of fabric is relatively easy to knit. In fact, this type of stitch may have been the very first stitch you learned because a garter stitch is probably the most basic links-links stitch. When you hand-knit a garter stitch, each time you turn your knitting to the purl side to begin a new row, you’ll be forming the new knit stitches on top of purls, which means you are going to get knits and purls in the same wale.

Now, about the machines. I already mentioned the industrial links-links machine I saw many years ago. At one time, home versions of links-links or purl machines were manufactured in Japan and France.

This one from Japan is the Hamanaka Needle Machine. A big thank you to VanderWool Knitting, who allowed me to use these photos.

Check out the needle! It gives you a hint as to how the machine knits the fabric. Each needle has two hooks, one on each end, so the needles can form a knit stitch on either end. That’s how they produce the garter stitch. Stitches are formed with the hooks on one side of the machine. As the row is knitted, the needles are moved to the other side of the machine, and the hooks on the other side of the needle knit the next row. So you never turn the fabric, as with hand knitting or with a garter bar. This is similar to the way industrial links-links machines work.

If you want to see the Hamanaka needle machine in action, check out the videos from Nix Knits. I’ve linked to the garter stitch video in the description. And there are links to photos of other vintage purl knitting machines on my site.

As I’ve mentioned, unlike a jersey knit or a rib knit, a purl knit has both knits and purls in the same column or wale. As a machine knitter, I’m sure you've observed the properties of jersey, also known as stockinette. You know how the bottom and top of the fabric roll toward the knit side. And the selvages roll toward the purl side. Those same rolls occur within this fabric.

If you look closely, you can see this swatch gets all its texture from the natural roll in the fabric. Think of each little section as a little piece of jersey with its rolls on the edges. Each little jersey area does its curling thing and interacts with the other little jersey sections.

You see little areas of jersey and little areas of reverse jersey. The tops and bottoms of the jersey sections curl toward the knit. The sides roll toward the reverse or purl. Each area of knits or purls has an effect on the adjacent section, sometimes pulling or pushing it into an unexpected shape. As the pattern is repeated horizontally and vertically, a complex pattern develops.

Depending on the machine you're using, there are a few approaches to knitting this type of stitch pattern:

If you knit on a single bed, you can use a garter bar to knit a garter stitch. Unfortunately, if you want to do something more complicated, you will need to reform some of the knit stitches manually.
If you have the right type of machine for a garter carriage and All Yarns Are Beautiful software, you can easily knit this type of fabric. In fact, KnitFactoryImpl has five hours of knitting a links-links fabric with a garter carriage and AYAB software. The video is linked in the description. Since I’ve never owned a garter carriage or worked with AYAB software firsthand, I don’t know for sure, but if you have this setup, you can probably knit my stitch pattern with my PNG, which you can download from my website.
Are you a Passap knitter with a U80 or a U100 transfer carriage? Well, follow my spreadsheet, bring your pushers into working position whenever you need to transfer, and use your transfer carriage with the lever set to “1” to make the transfers.

Here are two more possible scenarios:

You have DesignaKnit and a manual machine. I’d import the PNG into Graphics Studio and then run Interactive Knitting and allow the software to signal on which rows to transfer.
Or if you have a manual Brother machine, you could program a card to select needles only when you’re on a row with transfers. And then make the transfers manually to or from the main bed.

Now, I knitted this swatch on the Kniterate. Even if you don’t knit with a Kniterate, this may give you ideas on how you may want to think about and create your own textured purl knit stitch pattern.

I used this stitch block that I showed earlier. It’s 24 by 40 pixels. I made my PNG in GIMP, but it can be made in any software where you can draw an image in pixels. In this case, each black pixel represents a stitch that's knitted on the front bed. Each white pixel represents the purls, knitted on the rear bed. This is the same pattern I have available on a spreadsheet, in case you want to use it as a guide to knit this pattern on another type of double bed machine.

In the Kniterate app, I imported the stitch block. Once I added the second color, edited the options columns for speed, roller value, and stitch size. After positioning on the bed, I tiled the pattern in both directions.

Zooming in, you can see this pattern starts out just like a 6x6 rib with 6 stitches on the front and 6 on the rear. When I get to row 10, transfers need to be made, so I added the front-rear transfers command with the mode: between rows. I added waste and cast-on and the bind-off.

For those not on a Kniterate or without a garter carriage or transfer carriage, yes, if you enjoy hand manipulation, you can do the transfers manually. Follow this chart, and transfer stitches to the opposite bed as indicated. Again, black boxes are stitches on the front bed or ribber. White cells are stitches on the rear or main bed.

If you want another conceptual approach to purl fabrics, be sure to check out this book by Victoria Salmon, Structural Stitches — A Machine Knitter’s Guide to Creating Form and Texture. The whole book is great, and I’m sure I’ll talk more about this book in the future. But if you want another approach to purl knit fabrics, look at chapter 3, “Transfers and Rib Structures”.

Victoria’s general explanations are a little different than mine. In fact, when describing these particular links-links structures, she refers to vertical ribs and horizontal ribs. Interestingly, I’ve never heard the term horizontal ribs before. Sometimes I’ve heard garter ridge referred to as mock horizontal ribs. But after thinking about it a moment, I do get the idea. And I don’t know, there may be whole continents of knitters approaching it this way.

In any case, the results and type of fabric are the same. And several pages into the chapter, Victoria has charts and photos of gorgeous links-links fabrics. I highly recommend this book.

What’s next for me? I’m seriously considering making a cardigan out of this stitch pattern once I figure out which yarn I’m using. And this is a big deal for me, because I only average about one sweater a year these days. So, I hope you follow along to see where I go with this.

‘Til next time!

If you’re a Kniterate user, my prerecorded Designing with Kniterate - Session 3 The Tuck Loop (Plus Plating) provides instruction on using the Stitch Image and the Front<>Rear Transfer commands. If you’re not an owner yet, I’d be happy to give you a virtual tour of the machine.

Straight and Racked Stitches in the Same Row

O! Jolly! — Sat, 13 Dec 2025 15:30:36 +0000

The video below demonstrates one of the key principles of racking. If you’ve been machine knitting for a while, you may enjoy seeing this rule in action. If you’re new to the craft, the video offers a glimpse of the kinds of structures and textures machine knitting makes possible.

While the featured swatches were knitted on the Kniterate, the core demo takes place on a manual Passap machine. The same stitch pattern can also be worked on a Japanese-style machine equipped with a ribbing attachment.

This video marks the beginning of a YouTube relaunch. I invite you to subscribe.

Video Transcript

This swatch might look complicated, but it’s actually just a clever stitch arrangement and a technique called racking on a double-bed knitting machine. In this video, I’ll show you a couple of favorite swatches and then give you a quick demo of how to have straight stitches and slanted stitches all in the same row.

Hi, I’m Olgalyn Jolly. I’ve been working with knitting machines for decades—designing, experimenting, exploring stitch patterns, and teaching. I help machine knitters learn about knit structure so they can do their most creative work. Stockinette in the right fiber can be lovely, but we can do so much more with our machines.

This channel was actually started during the pandemic lockdown, when I was still teaching at the Fashion Institute of Technology, here in NYC. So if you hear horns honking and sirens sounding, I’m sorry I can’t help that! I was teaching remotely and this channel was full of demos on the Zippy Loom. Knitting machine faculty taught on the Zippy, because we couldn't insist that students all buy knitting machines. But students could learn the basic knitting machine operations on the zippy.

I'm relaunching this channel, inspired by the other YouTube machine knitters. I want to contribute what I love knitting most on the machines – texture. What keeps me fascinated is the variety of textures you can create by repeatedly pulling one loop through another and by shifting stitches. Just a handful of operations can lead to the most amazing structures.

I’m showing two intermediate level swatches today. This is what I call a mock crochet stitch. It has a really open, fancy mesh look, and people often think it must be complicated. But really, it’s just a smart use of ribs, racking, and needle arrangement.

And here’s another! This one has both straight ribs and subtle zigzag ribs repeated across the swatch. This one looks simple, but the setup is a little complex. It’s a variation of a stitch pattern you may have seen in the machine knitting pattern books.

This particular swatch was prompted by a question from an enrollee in one of my courses. Anne has a love of experimenting with stitches, as I do. We always ask the what-would-happen questions like

What would happen if I knitted this pattern with a smaller stitch size on the back bed?
What would happen if I tucked going in one direction on the front bed?
What would happen if I made the ribs a little bit wider?

That’s what Ann was working on. She wanted to place three or more straight stitches and three or more slanted stitches in the same row with a couple of purls in between. The pattern books just show this pattern with ribs that are two stitches wide. Here's the problem. If you add just one stitch to each rib to make it wider, the pattern of straight ribs and zigzags gets messed up. You don’t get distinct groups of straight ribs and zigzag ribs. But there is a way to do it, and I’ll get to that in a moment.

For the record, I knitted both of these swatches on the Kniterate. But here's the important part: they can be knitted on any double bed machine with racking capabilities. That means you can probably knit this on your machine if your machine has two beds.

Racking shifts one knitting bed in relation to the other bed. Your machine might rack either the front bed or the back bed. If your machine is a Superba or a Japanese-style machine like a Brother or a Silver Reed, the front bed will be moving. If it's a Passap, Kniterate, or Dubied, it's the rear bed that racks.

I'm going to show you how to set up this pattern on a manual machine right now.

Here's the needle arrangement. The vertical lines on top represent the needles in action on the back bed, also known as the main bed on the Japanese-style domestic machines. The vertical lines at the bottom represent the needles in action on the front bed or the ribber on the Japanese-style machines. The dots represent the needles out of action.

When I turn the racking handle, my back bed shifts sideways on this Passap machine. That's the start of making slanted stitches, but it's not that simple. One of the rules of racking states that in order for a slanted stitch to show, one stitch must pass in front of or behind another stitch. You can see those stitches slant as I rack.

You then need to knit a row with the needles in the new position to lock the slanted stitches in place. You'll see slanted stitches on your swatch. All the places where the stitches on the beds have crossed each other are the places where the slanting of the stitches will remain after you knit another row to lock the slanted stitches in place. When a stitch does not cross in front of or behind another stitch, you'll have straight ribs.

Sometimes we need to have needles out of action to keep the front and back bed stitches from crossing. Whether you rack to the right first or to the left first will depend on whether your front bed is racking or your back bed is racking. Just pay attention to which stitches are crossing others on the opposite bed when you rack. With this particular setup and my rear bed racking machine, I’ll be racking to the left first.

And that's just part of it. The rules of racking are fascinating. We go deep in my racking workshop.

But let's get to the knitting sequence. Remember we want certain stitches to cross to create the subtle zigzags:

Rack in your first direction
With both beds set to knit, two carriage passes
Rack back
Two carriage passes

That's the whole sequence. Now repeat.

Go ahead, give it go. Play around with the stitch size, tension, and type of fiber. If you’re really adventurous, increase the number of stitches in a rib. If you do make wider ribs, remember to add out-of-work needles to control which stitches are doing the crossing.

Here are two stitch patterns I showed earlier with different yarns — the mock crochet, with its airy, open texture, and the swatch that has both straight ribs and zigzags, this time without plating. Both are good examples of how racking can totally transform ribs.

And that’s what I love about machine knitting and developing stitch patterns — sometimes it’s complicated and sometimes it’s straightforward. But it’s always interesting and fun to figure out.

So I hope you’ll join me on this channel! I’ll be posting stitch patterns and some of my projects and tips.

The Joy of Knitting with Two Beds

O! Jolly! — Wed, 30 Jul 2025 16:59:57 +0000

I knit on a Kniterate and a Passap DM80 now, but I learned to knit on a single bed knitting machine. It was a Studio Bulky 8, a single bed machine with similar capabilities to an LK 150. My boyfriend (now husband) gave me the machine for my birthday. We purchased it at School Products. The machine came with two free lessons.

School Products has since changed ownership and now has an online presence only. But in the 80s, it was a knitting machine and yarn center on the 3rd floor of an office building on Broadway in the Flatiron District of Manhattan. There was a large, L-shaped room with floor model knitting machines and walls lined with shelves of coned yarns. A year later, an adjacent room was opened and used for group lessons.

If I'm remembering correctly, School Products was not only the distributor of the Bulky 8 knitting machine, the store also sold Brother and Passap machines. At the time I got my machine, I didn't know how deeply I'd get into the craft. The Bulky 8 was recommended as an excellent starter machine. At the time, I believed it.

On “Starter” Machines

Over the years, however, my thoughts on “starter” machines have changed. When asked by non-knitters, what's a good knitting machine to start with, I now recommend a Passap or a Superba as a first machine. If neither is available or affordable, I recommend starting with a single knitting bed and a ribber attachment. In other words, begin learning both beds from the beginning. Many people even start successfully with a Kniterate (although prior machine knitting experience will always speed up the Kniterate learning process).

I know this goes against the typical machine knitting curriculum at many design schools, where students begin on single-bed domestic machines. That approach may seem more accessible, but I don’t believe it’s the most effective or efficient way to understand how weft knits are constructed. Working with both beds gives knitters a more complete and practical foundation right from the start.

Plating is more dramatic with ribs.

Here’s what I’ve observed: After the first challenging weeks working with two beds, new knitters tend to develop a much stronger grasp of the technical side of machine knitting than those who start with a single bed alone. The concepts click faster. Fluency comes sooner.

What If You’ve Already Started on a Single Bed?

If your journey began with an LK150 or another single-bed machine, there’s nothing to regret. Think of it as the scenic route. You’ve likely learned how to cast on for jersey, and maybe you’ve tackled fairisle, tuck, or even lace. Perhaps you’ve become skilled at hand-manipulated techniques. No knowledge is wasted, and many beautiful stitch patterns can be knitted on a single bed.

But if your goal is to fully explore the breadth of machine knitting, I encourage you to add the second bed as soon as you can. It opens up the possibilities of knitting in a way that single-bed work simply can’t. And in my experience, it accelerates both understanding and creativity.

Colors can be reversed on the back when there is needle selection on both beds.

Tips for Learning

People learn in different ways, but no matter your style, it’s essential to connect each machine operation with the path of the yarn, not just with a button or a symbol. I’ve seen many knitters who know which setting to select for a tuck stitch, for example, but can’t actually identify a tuck when it’s on the needles.

Single-bed knitters sometimes get stuck in stockinette. The ribber can seem like an obstacle. When they do add the second bed, it often becomes the accessory used only for cuffs and rib bands. But the second bed offers much more.

Whatever depth of learning you choose to pursue, you should be able to recognize and understand the difference between a knit, a tuck, and a miss stitch on either bed. How do they work? Why do they work that way? What can they do structurally? What are your machine’s limitations? These operations are not just switches to flip or icons to click when following someone else’s pattern.

Some of the most engaging, satisfying stitches in machine knitting happen on two beds: double jacquards (without floats), ripples (without hand manipulation), brioche (also called cardigan stitch or fisherman’s rib), aran-style cables, racked ribs, and more. And of course, you can still knit single-bed stitches, too.

And Speaking of Racking

Mock crochet variation in cotton

If you’re already knitting with two beds, or you’re starting to get comfortable with them, I have a new class you’ll enjoy. The class is free (at this time) and it introduces one of my favorite stitch patterns, a variation of mock crochet made possible with racking. The stitch has a wonderful lacy, openwork structure and is suitable for a variety of fibers.

If you’re enrolled in my Racking Workshop, you already have a version of this class in the knitting mini-lab module. All others can get immediate access to Machine Knitting Mock Crochet — An Introduction to Racking when you sign up here.

Inspiration or Iteration?

O! Jolly! — Mon, 21 Apr 2025 15:41:36 +0000

How do your design ideas take shape? Is it through inspiration or iteration?

Part of a semester-long assignment when I taught Machine Knitting 2 at Parsons School of Design was maintaining a design journal. Each student was required to collect and document ideas, sketches, images, and notes inspired by nature or human-made structures. The practice aimed to foster an awareness of their surroundings and encourage students to recognize the design potential and inspiration in their everyday lives. Ideally, there would be no final project panic as the end of the semester approached. The diversity and creativity captured in those journals often led to remarkable, original explorations.

Design inspiration can come from anywhere — sometimes when we least expect it. As machine knitters interested in design, texture, and color, whether using a Kniterate or doing manipulations on a manual machine, translating inspiration into knitted fabric is always an adventure.

But let’s be real. Although I’ve kept many a design journal, my favorite developments most often are created through repeated modifications. Each iteration begins with experimentation or a past error, with no nature study or human-made structure that inspired it. For me, inspiration happens more often when diving deeply into a particular technique and asking the question, What would happen if…?

With a journal and design project due the last day of class, many of my students’ “inspirational” images may have been retrofitted to their final project. I see you!

Natural and Human-made Structures

Both natural and structures designed by humans are classic sources of inspiration for knit designs. The repetitive yet evolving pattern of waves, the delicate layers of mushroom gills, a brick wall.

Could stalks of bamboo have inspired the following swatch? They didn’t. It’s a racked herringbone stitch pattern gone wrong, resulting in lots of tucks, yet zero slanted stitches. I love the result of this mistake, even though the fabric is double knitted and heavy. (I like heavy fabrics, but I was aiming for something lighterweight.)

After months of knitting only racked ribs in preparation for the release of the Racking Workshop, I took a detour. What would happen if I used a different structure to reproduce the look of the bamboo stalk swatch? If I used the plating slit, I could easily add a second color. The purls could be a third color.

Taking It Further

Before the Kniterate, I had mostly stayed away from purl (a.k.a. links-links) swatches. A links-links fabric is defined by the knits and purls in the same wale, quite visible in the swatch above. Even with the transfer carriage on my Passap DM-80, transfers and keeping track of transfers could be tedious. With the Kniterate, using the Stitch Block and Front<> Rear Transfer commands, it was possible to easily create the type of purl fabric I love.

What would happen if I split up the ribs and added some unbalanced ribs to the mix? The development below is a modification of the swatch above. Once the fabric comes off the machine, the split ribs distort, and the reverse jersey rolls. Deep texture achieved!

Textile Technique Crossover

Sometimes design ideas come from a textile cousin like weaving. Woven fabric textures can trigger knit stitch patterns. Houndstooth, a woven structure, has been translated many times by domestic machine manufacturers to punchcards and digital files.

For decades, I have admired the fiberwork of weaver Olga de Amaral. I first came across her art years ago in American Craft magazine and have followed her work ever since. I was therefore quite surprised and very honored when Caligraphic Paris, a young brand unknown to me at the time, named me as an inspiration along with Olga de Amaral!

I caught this de Amaral piece in a group exhibition last summer at the Museum of Modern Art, Crafting Modernity: Design in Latin America 1940-1980. The layers of texture nd color gradations are extremely satisfying. Her work inspires me in a way that is beyond technical tweaks at the knitting machine.

Cotton vs Wool

O! Jolly! — Tue, 07 Jan 2025 17:40:32 +0000

Two swatches, same file, different look!

I’m always amazed at the way the look of a machine-knitted stitch pattern will change simply by switching out the yarns. Changing a yarn color can alter the fabric's "mood" or overall impact. Substituting a lightweight wool yarn for a heavier one can transform the look from elegant to casual. (A big change in yarn weight would most likely need to include a settings adjustment.)

The most significant differences in appearance and hand, I believe, result from a change in fiber (provided the stitch pattern has certain technical elements. I’ll get to those later.) In this case, I went from wool to cotton in a slightly lighter-weight yarn.

The cream and black wool swatch above is knitted with an NM 7.5 wool (approximately 3700 yards per pound). For the cotton swatch, the orange is approximately NM 8.5 (4200 ypp) and the blue is about NM 10 (a little over 5000 ypp). The two swatches were knitted using the same Kniterate .kc file, yet they look noticeably different.

Wool is Stretchier Than Cotton

Technical front (top) and back of the wool swatch

Once the wool swatch was off the machine, I allowed it to relax overnight and steamed it lightly before photographing it.

The cotton received the same treatment. It changed less in size after the rest and light steaming and remains nearly as wide as it was on the machine.

A peek at the technical back of the cotton swatch

The yarns behaved in different ways on the machine, and each development has its unique properties. The cream wool is slightly ripply. There are tiny (two-row) rear-bed ripples in the file. The ripples are not apparent in the blue cotton, though they might show with a smaller stitch size for the orange. The cotton swatch has open spaces. The wool stretches more than cotton during knitting and later recovers, causing the lacy effect of this stitch pattern to nearly disappear.

Cotton, Linen, Rayon, and Silk vs Wool

It can be challenging to work with cotton and other relatively non-stretchy yarns if they are new to you. I always recommend that beginner machine knitters use wool for their first several swatches because wool is more forgiving and works well with a wider range of settings.

I’ve observed that the settings must be precise with cotton, linen, rayon, or silk, whether working with a Kniterate or another knitting machine. With yarn weights being equal, I recommend a larger stitch size for the non-stretchy yarns than would be used with wool. An alternative would be to use the same wool settings but with a non-stretchy yarn of lighter weight, if available, as I did in this #experiknit. I would love to hear about others’ experiences with cotton. (Contact me or DM me on Insta.)

Stitch Pattern

Not all stitch patterns will yield such different looks when going from one fiber to another. I would expect to see the most variability with patterns containing racking or openwork with transfers, the technical elements I was referring to earlier. A single racking stitch pattern with various fibers is shown below.

Same racked stitch pattern, different fibers and settings

I love the versatility of racked stitch patterns. This past November I conducted a Racking Workshop. Several racked stitch patterns and ways to further develop them were presented. It was a pilot offering for Kniterate, Dubied, and domestic knitters. The participants’ wonderful feedback will influence the next offering of this workshop. If you’d like to be among the first to get information on the next Racking Workshop, please let me know. Update: A free introduction to racking class is now available on demand!

More Racking, Please

Olgalyn Jolly — Mon, 04 Nov 2024 22:43:20 +0000

Racked ripples in wool

I love racking. Racking, or shifting one knitting bed laterally, can add visual complexity to double bed knitting. Racking changes the order in which the needles are knitted. If knit stitches and racks are combined with tucks or missed needles, amazing things happen with the stitches. Racking is often associated with zigzag patterns. And there’s so much more.

Technical reverse of mountain stitch

An Underutilized Technique

The technique can be executed on most double bed machines or with a domestic knitting bed and a ribbing attachment, as long as there is some device (crank or knob, software on the Kniterate and the electronic industrial machines) to move a bed sideways in a controlled manner. So why don’t we see more of it? People who knit standard ribs already have most or all of the skills necessary for racked stitch patterns.

Racking, especially when used for creating intricate patterns, often requires careful planning and precise settings. Takedown or weights must be balanced with stitch size and tension.

Racked moch crochet

Achieving specific patterns with racking generally involves repetitive sequences of knitting and racking. If working with a hand machine, losing track of these sequences or making errors will easily disrupt the entire pattern.

There are aids for keeping track. Before Kniterate, I mostly knitted with my Passap DM40. I inserted an extra column in the Interactive Knitting feature of DesignaKnit to alert me when it was time to rack. Before DesignaKnit, an explicit chart that included row numbers plus racking distance and direction worked really well. No matter the process, it always requires a good amount of attention when planning or knitting or both.

Two-color vertical herringbone

Yes, A Racking Workshop!

Over the summer, a survey sent in my general (machine knitting and sweater sewing) newsletter indicated that racking was one of the two most requested workshops from machine knitters, tying with double jacquard. I’ve also heard interest from the Designing with Kniterate community.

How can I resist sharing my favorite technique? I’m excited to offer a pilot workshop for both domestic machine knitters and Kniterate knitters. We’ll explore essential racking stitch arrangements along with core principles, tips, and design possibilities. This workshop with its post-workshop projects and follow-up will help knitters gain the knowledge and confidence to develop their own creative racked stitch patterns.

Join me live on Saturday, November 16, 2024. I’d love to see you there! To read the details and register, head over to the info page.

A free introduction to racking class is now available on demand! Click here to join.

Yarns for Kniterate Knitting

Olgalyn Jolly — Wed, 02 Oct 2024 18:57:23 +0000

Finding suppliers of coned yarn for small batch production or one-off projects can sometimes be a challenge, so I’ve shared lists of coned yarn suppliers, suitable for Kniterate knitting, at the bottom of this page. I’ve used many of the yarns from the list for US and Canada, though I’ve only mentioned a few in this post. The other list, for Europe, is sourced from Kniterate knitters' experiences. If you know a great source for coned yarns in your area of the world, please share. I promise to pass the info on.

Jagger Spun, the spinner of some of my favorite yarns over the years, will be closing in early 2025. I’ve used their Maine Line and Super Lamb with every knitting machine I’ve ever owned, including the Kniterate. Every double jacquard I’ve ever knitted with the Kniterate used one or two ends of wc 2/20 Maine Line or 2 ends of the NM 2/24 Super Lamb. (See a few samples here and here.) I’ve also had smooth knitting with the wc 2/18 Zephyr wool/silk blend and wc 2/18 Merino. Jagger Spun will be missed.

What will replace this yarn for me? Another favorite, Nature's Way Merino Wool from Silk City Fibers. At 7500 yard per pound, two ends are great for double jacquard, jersey, and more.

Yarn Count and Conversions

Sometimes suppliers will use two or more different systems of yarn count (yarn thickness expressed as a number) to describe the weight of the various yarns in their product lines. This happens often in the US where one system is used for wool (wc), another for cotton (cc), and yet another for filament yarns (denier or tex). And these aren’t the only systems in use! My preference is to convert everything to either yards per pound (ypp, imperial system) or NM (metric number). I refer often to the yarn conversion chart and calculator, linked at the bottom of this page.

Settings for Wool vs Cotton

Wool is by far my favorite yarn to work with. That little bit of give, inherent in most wool yarn, allows for a greater range of workable settings, especially helpful for transfers and racking.

Though I’ve successfully transferred and racked with 100% cotton yarns, I feel that roller and stitch size have a narrower range of values that work with this less stretchy fiber. A single stitch size too small or a mere 20 off on the roller and the cotton yarn can break when racking or drop when binding off. On the other hand, I can knit wool with a less-than-ideal stitch size or roll value, need fewer adjustments to settings, and have fewer knitting issues. (The fabric or tightness of bind-off may not be what I was going for if the settings are off, but now that I’m comfortable I can easily get a sample to knit without yarn breakage or dropped stitches.) My rule of thumb when switching a stitch pattern from wool to cotton is to knit with a slightly larger stitch size. Roller value depends on the strength of the yarn and whether it’s sufficiently waxed.

Strength Matters

Yarn strength is crucial not just for the durability of the finished product, but for the knitting process itself. Strength is determined by the linear density of the yarn, ply, and fiber content. It’s an extensive topic! Here are a few factors I consider when choosing a yarn.

A stronger yarn will withstand the tension of being worked by the machine, reducing the likelihood of breakage. Waxed yarns ensure a smoother knitting process, also reducing breaks. Fortunately, many yarns for machine knitting are now sold pre-waxed. If you are purchasing directly from a producer, they may not be.

Plied yarns typically offer better strength compared to single-ply varieties, making them a more reliable choice. Most knitters I know avoid single-ply spun yarns, because when knitted, the fabrics tend to skew, especially when knitting jersey. The exception is felted wool yarn.

Why do singles skew the knitting? As I understand it, the skewing occurs because singles are twisted in one direction. Knitting on a single bed can encourage the yarn to twist more in the same direction, or it could make the yarn begin to untwist. Either one can produce an unwanted slant to the knitting.

With two-ply yarns, each ply is twisted in one direction to spin the yarn and then twisted in the other direction to ply the yarns together. This produces a balance. If the yarn is twisted too tightly, however, the yarn is unbalanced and you could end up producing a bias even when knitting a 2-ply. This is why some yarns for weaving don't work well with machine knitting. The twist is too great, so there’s an imbalance. When in doubt, always ask the supplier if the yarn is suitable for machine knitting.

When Bad Things Happen with Great Yarn

A perfect yarn for one technique might be dreadful for another. Two or three ends of Jagger Spun Super Lamb knit a variety of items nicely on the Kniterate. Here’s the Kniterate beanie knitted with 3 ends of NM 2/24 Super Lamb.

And here’s a basic racked stitch pattern using 2 ends of Super Lamb.

While the 2 ends of SuperLamb worked well for the basic racked pattern above, it failed a couple of attempts knitting a stitch pattern of opposing vertical herringbone, which required multiple kickbacks and racking.

Tweaking the settings a bit more for the opposing vertical herringbone swatch might eventually produce a successful swatch in the Super Lamb. Instead of continuing, I switched yarns.

Using similar settings I was able to produce a viable swatch the first time knitting opposing vertical herringbone with a single end of NM 2/14 alpaca/Rambouillet blend from Lina Yarn. Immediate success doesn’t always happen. The earlier bad swatches informed my settings for the Lina Yarn. Also, this Lina yarn is strong!

Working Outside the Recommended Range

For most projects, Kniterate recommends yarns between NM 6 and NM 8 or between approximately 3000 and 4000 yards per pound. For projects consisting mostly of plain jersey and basic ribs, you can work with slightly heavier yarns. The maroon and brown Kniterate beanie earlier in this post is a good example at NM 4. (The Kniterate folks knitted the original beanie with NM 3.5.) I don’t recommend using heavier yarns if you are new to Kniterate unless you are following a tested pattern.

NM 6 to NM 8 is still an ideal yarn weight for a double jacquard sweater. If the double jacquard has more than 4 colors, I recommend going with a lighter weight yarn. Knitting a double jacquard with 2 ends of wc 2/20 (NM 5.5) Maine Line from Jagger Spun produced a nice weight fabric for a jacket or a coat. I’m not sure I would try double jacquard on a Kniterate or any 7gg machine with yarn any heavier.

For multiple tucks on a needle, a lacelike look, or both the selection of lighter weight yarn is the key. A single end of Silk City Fiber’s Bambu 12, the bamboo rayon yarn used below is 6300 YPP (approx. NM 12.5). The machine needles easily hold up to 4 loops on a needle with this yarn and stitch pattern pairing.

I enjoy trying different yarns with various stitch patterns. It requires lots of testing (#experiknitting). If you don’t enjoy testing, I recommend finding the one yarn weight and fiber that works for you and developing color or textured stitch patterns based on that one favorite yarn type. There can be so much to explore with a single yarn.

Helpful Links

Coned yarn suppliers (US and Canada)

Coned yarn suppliers (UK and EU)

Abridged yarn conversion chart

Yarn conversion calculator [Crescent Woolen Mills website]

If you’re a Kniterate user, you may be interested in my prerecorded Designing with Kniterate classes. (Session 1 includes an introduction to yarn count!) If you’re not an owner yet, I’d be happy to give you a virtual tour of the machine.

Finishing the Sweater

O! Jolly! — Wed, 07 Aug 2024 18:00:06 +0000

At the end of my last post, I had worked through the first four steps of my project workflow. I’m happy to say that there were no big surprises due to multiple test swatches (Step 2). As promised, the last four steps of the sweater project are detailed here. But first, a review of the original plan:

Choose texture(s) and technique(s) to explore.
Knit and test swatches. Repeat, as necessary.
Make a rough sketch or other flat representation of the sweater.
Create a technical design for the sweater pieces.
Knit shaped pieces.
Steam block each piece.
Seam the sweater and embellish (if part of the design).
Wash the sweater and lay it flat to dry.

I continue at Step 5.

Knitting the Sweater Pieces

The sweater has just three pieces — the sideways knitted sleeve-yoke-sleeve piece, the front, and the back. Knitting was very straightforward. The front and back are square. The other piece has increases at the very start and decreases at the end to gently narrow the sleeves above the cuffs.

Due to the drop stitch sleeve texture, fully fashioned shaping would never show and was unnecessary. Keeping the location of increases and decreases away from the very edge can be helpful, if you’re using an automatic linker. Since I was not, the few instances of double stitches on the edges from decreases would not get in the way when seaming. The edge increases and decreases, programmed in the previous step, knitted easily. The neat selvages from the tubular knitted cuff were perfect for a split.

The flat tubular knitted cuff

The fact that the edge of each cuff would be different (one — a cast-on, the other — a bind-off) concerned me somewhat. I originally thought I’d do some sort of embellishment on a single cuff to make the difference look more intentional. In the end, the difference didn’t bother me and I kept them looking slightly different.

Steam-Block or Wash

Ordinarily, I would steam-block each sweater piece at this point. I knew the cotton would shrink, and so certain reasons led me straight to washing for the next step:

The variety of stitch patterns meant that each pattern could shrink in different amounts throwing off the way the pieces fit together.
Knits usually have a different percentage of horizontal shrinkage versus vertical shrinkage.
The sideways knitted yoke would share seams with the bottom-up knitted front and back.

I decided it would be necessary to wash and block each piece, before seaming the sweater. I was glad I did, as the pieces would now fit together perfectly for seaming.

Seaming

I do not own a linker. Years ago when I was doing production work, I never constructed or finished the sweaters I knitted. Someone else did. I love watching a skilled, professional linker work. A pro can link a sweater in about one-fifth the time it takes me, and I don’t exaggerate. I haven’t had the chance to practice, and I assume my linking skills remain slow and awkward.

Instead, I used a mattress stitch to connect the front and back to the yoke area and a crochet chain stitch for the side and underarm seams. These were the safe and neat choices for me.

As mentioned above, I didn’t add any embellishment to the cuff. I did use a duplicate stitch in the same yarn at the shoulders to reinforce them, as there were no seams at the shoulders to support the sweater. I then wove in any remaining loose yarn ends.

The completed Three Blues sweater

Finishing

My final step is usually to wash and lay the sweater flat to dry. Since I had already washed the individual pieces before stitching them together, I could now steam the sweater. The Three Blues sweater was done.

My Kniterate Sweater Workflow

O! Jolly! — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 17:27:03 +0000

Idea… something… something… something… Kniterate… something… sweater ;)

A couple of weeks ago I was asked about my project workflow with Kniterate. From inspiration to finished project, the way I work with the Kniterate differs little from the way I work with other machines.

Before getting started with a design, however, it’s good to know the capabilities of the machine and to be familiar with the properties of the fibers being used. Though it’s almost always possible to make creative use of a machine without knowing everything about its capabilities, knowing what a machine can and can’t do is the best place to start no matter the equipment, as it impacts the design. With each software update and every new yarn and idea, I continue to learn what I can do on the machine. After four years with the Kniterate there are still several techniques I look forward to trying.

I am not responsible for creating a knitwear line at this time and am very happy to have this luxury. I consider my swatches an end product and developing a swatch is my favorite thing. If I am going to design a sweater, I prefer avoiding classic shapes. I have nothing against classic shapes; it’s just that I’ve done so many. For these reasons my process differs from that of someone designing for manufacture. My process is not for small batch or major production. These are the steps I take to create a single sweater that will never be replicated (though I may reuse certain elements). There will be no second and third samples. Grading (sizing) will not come into the picture.

Could this process be used for a proto-sample? Maybe. But I would most likely try to keep efficiencies in mind as I designed, if it were.

My current eight-step process is below, followed by explanations of the first four steps. The remaining four will be in a future post.

Sweater Design Workflow

Choose texture(s) and technique(s) to explore.
Knit and test swatches. Repeat, as necessary.
Make a rough sketch or other flat representation of the sweater.
Create a technical design for the sweater pieces.
Knit shaped pieces.
Steam block each piece.
Seam the sweater and embellish (if part of the design).
Wash the sweater and lay it flat to dry.

A Texture or Technique to Explore

Sometimes inspiration comes from nature, and sometimes it’s from human-made structures. For the current project I was prompted by a thought problem, based on a previously knitted texture. An early unexpected swatch left me with a few questions. Why did I get a relatively solid fabric with this lightweight yarn (below) when I was aiming for something airy and lacy? Was it because wool is a little stretchy? This is usually a property I love about wool.

Tucked, racked, knitted on the Kniterate

Would knitting this stitch pattern in a cotton fiber with less stretch produce the openwork fabric I envisioned and as I’d produced previously with other machines? Or would I need to add a couple of unworked needles between the occupied needles to get the effect I wanted? There was only one way to find out. And if it works, I’ll knit a sweater out of this one.

Knitting and Testing

The new swatch up close

Yes, this is what I was going for. At first glance it’s hard to believe the swatches have the same stitch pattern and are knitted on the same machine.

With each project I try to learn something new. With this stitch pattern my big accomplishment was getting the takedown just right when racking with the not-so-strong cotton. I also managed a successful bind-off with this untried mix of three different cotton yarns.

After getting the settings right for the texture, I ended up developing two more stitch patterns I thought would go with the initial design in the same yarn combination. I adjusted settings for interleaving, increases, and decreases. I tried knitting the three yarns with the lighter blue yarn going through the plating slit and then I tried the yarns marled. (I preferred the marl.) Altogether I knitted about a dozen more swatches.

Rough Sketch or Other Representation

I usually make quick rough sketches to remember an idea I have. Once I know I’m making a sweater and have my swatches, I like to arrange them as if they were a sweater to get a better idea of what the final design might be. Photographing the arranged swatches and doing a quick edit helps too. Kind of quaint when you consider the 3d fashion design software available now!

This is what I came up with. Textures are not to scale. Actual sweater will vary.

Not shown: Possible duplicate stitch embellishment in contrasting color at the trailing end of slit for added support with a contrasting duplicate stitch in a small area of the sleeve bind-off to visually offset the touch of contrasting color at the neckline. The second sleeve’s bind-off cannot mirror the first sleeve’s cast-on. The few duplicate stitches at the cuff will make the difference appear more deliberate.

Make a Technical Design

This is where I go back into the Kniterate design app and program the stitches into shaped pieces for the garment in the correct size this time. The swatches I knitted earlier act as gauge swatches.

This sweater will have three pieces — front, back, and a sideways knitted sleeve-yoke-sleeve piece. I did not use DesignaKnit this time. The macros in the Kniterate design app were all I needed for minimal shaping. Increases and decreases shape the drop stitch sleeves. The properties of the sideways flat rib yoke, preceded and followed by a dropped stitch pattern created “shoulders” in the combination swatch I knitted. The sideways yoke will have a vertical slit for the neckline, which will have the full needle rib as support and trim. The cuffs are flat tubular knit.

End of the sleeve-yoke-sleeve sample in the Kniterate design app

Next Up

Knitting, steaming, and finishing are on the way. To be continued…

An Even Better Tuck

O! Jolly! — Fri, 24 May 2024 15:08:55 +0000

Back when I wrote “A Good Tuck” followed by “A Good Tuck, Part 2”, I thought I was done talking about tuck operations for a while. But there have been updates to the Kniterate design app and compiler. Here’s a bit of background:

The original technical information for Kniterate stated that tucks and knit stitches weren’t possible in the same carriage traverse on the same bed. Because the racked pattern at the top of this page has tucks and knits on opposite beds in the same pass, a stitch pattern such as this was never an issue. Though it looks complex, it's rather straightforward. It was the basic jersey tuck fabric that was seemingly impossible.

Turns out, however, that a jersey tuck was indeed possible. Before the first Kniterate shipment, a strategy for knitting on one bed as the other tucked, then transferring the tucks to the knitting bed was discussed in the forum. This theory was correct as seen in the image below.

An early attempt at jersey tuck in wool

Though tucks could be managed this way, precise stitch size settings were necessary to keep the tucks, transferred from the rear bed, from dropping. Unlike when a knit drops, a dropped tuck appears as a miss. Sometimes, depending on the yarn, stitch pattern, and which side of the fabric faces the public, the difference between a tuck and a miss can be difficult to spot. Still, a miss is not a tuck. (A few unintentional misses appear in this swatch.) The method sometimes required lots of test swatches.

Jersey Tucks via Kickbacks?

With the early compiler, painting tucks and knits on the same bed in the same carriage pass yielded an error. With an update some time in 2023, tucks and knits in the same row became possible to compile.

Kniterate can now knit the fabric using a kickback, one tuck at a time. What happens is the carriage knits up to the point of the first tuck stitch. The feeder places yarn in the hook of the next needle for the tuck stitch. The carriage does a kickback (a change in direction mid pass). The carriage then continues in its initial direction, knitting the next stitch or series of knit stitches before repeating the tuck/kickback operation for the next tuck loop. It's slow, but it works. The kickback action keeps the tucks in the hooks and the jersey tuck fabric is knitted.

Jersey tuck with the kickback method

I honestly can't imagine knitting a single piece of an adult sized garment this way. An okay use might be stabilizing a few long floats in a multicolored single jacquard stitch pattern or when there are only a couple of tucks per row.

The Tuck to Knit Command

At the end of 2023, the tuck to knit command was introduced. Though the sequence (at the bottom of the next image) looks complex on the canvas, users need only paint the tuck where it’s required in the jersey design or use a stitch block. The tuck to knit command will insert all operations needed to place the tuck on the front bed with the knit stitches.

These are the operations the tuck to knit macro executes:

On the needle where a tuck will appear, the preexisting knit on the front bed is transferred to the rear bed.
The next row is knitted with a tuck made on the needle of the transferred stitch.
Then both the original knit stitch and the tuck on the rear bed are transferred to the front bed.

Jersey tuck using the tuck to knit command

Works great for jersey tucks on the front bed.

Tucks and Knits on both Beds in the Same Row?

There is no macro yet for placing tucks and knits on the rear bed in the same row. This would be necessary for more complex rib tuck patterns with or without racking. At some point I may get around to using a combination of tuck to knit with painting in added operations for tucks and knits on both beds (in the same row) and some very fancy stitches.

If you’re a Kniterate user, you may be interested in my prerecorded Designing with Kniterate classes. (Session 3 focuses on tucks!) If you’re not an owner yet, I’d be happy to give you a virtual tour of the machine.

Revisiting Double Jacquard

O! Jolly! — Fri, 19 Apr 2024 15:10:16 +0000

Although textures and intricate stitches are my true favorites, I spent a couple of weeks earlier this year revisiting double jacquard on the Kniterate knitting machine. Double jacquards were the first structure I explored on the Kniterate because, in some ways, jacquards are very approachable. In an earlier, more basic version of the Kniterate design app, programming a double jacquard was very straightforward, but that early version lacked a visualization of what each needle was knitting.

The new version of the design app is much more robust with a bunch of options. I didn’t explore them all. But I did try out the two ways of knitting 4-color double jacquards — using the birdseye jacquard command and using the load text file pattern command. I also used the load text file pattern command with the reversible option to knit a 2-color reversible pattern. I’ve knitted similar 2-color patterns using the birdseye jacquard command with the invert colors option.

Kniterate’s Birdseye Jacquard

The 4-color swatch below was knitted using the Kniterate birdseye jacquard command. With four colors (Kniterate can knit up to six colors per row.) the backing has a twill structure. That is, each yarn knits the selected pattern needles on the front bed and knits a diagonal pattern with the rear bed needles. With the birdseye command there are several options for edges and methods of knitting. For this swatch I used the “full” algorithm, closed edges, then left the remaining options unticked.

Jacquard using the Kniterate birdseye jacquard command and the modified source image

As with most anything you do on a knitting machine, the process was more involved than just making a couple of selections in the design app. In this case the image I worked from had to be prepared. That is, the size and number of colors in the image had to be modified first. I knitted several swatches, some pictured at the top of this page, including a few jacquards that originated in Designaknit 9 with a stripe backing. I played with various image resolutions and sizes, as well as working to optimize stitch size and takedown with yarns of different weights.

Designaknit 9, Jacquard, and Kniterate

If you're comfortable with Designaknit 9 (DAK9), images can be prepared for export to Kniterate using Graphics Studio and Stitch Designer. The file is loaded into Kniterate using the load text file pattern command and then adding the backing. At this time if you’re using 3 or more colors, a stripe backing is the only backing that can be created when working with a jacquard-as-text file from DAK9. (In the Kniterate design app choose BOTH_KNIT for stitch mapping with the Reversible option.) No matter what knitting machine you're using, a stripe backing can get a bit rippled if knitting with four or more colors. By reducing the stitch size on the rear bed, I was able to flatten the backing a bit.

Jacquard stripe backing (left) and Kniterate birdseye jacquard twill

The pattern side of the DAK9 + Kniterate swatch and a cropped version of the text pattern file from DAK9 are below.

Though I’m looking forward to more backings being introduced for double jacquard in the future, I’m excited right now by what’s possible once I begin exploiting the current stripe backing using the DAK9 + Kniterate combo. Before the Export to Kniterate option was available in DAK9, I painted the swatch below stitch by stitch in the design app just to try a rippled effect on the Kniterate. Rippled jacquards of all sorts will be immensely easier with this now available stripe jacquard capability.

Textile Challenge Recap

O! Jolly! — Sat, 21 Oct 2023 14:49:31 +0000

Last month was Textile Month and if you were following my abbreviated September Instagram journey, you noticed that I participated in the #SeptTextileLove challenge. Each year it's a fun way for textile makers to come together, share their work, and inspire one another. While I did not document every single day, I was truly inspired by others, and I posted as frequently as life and work permitted. A special shoutout to Seam Collective for introducing this challenge. My favorite prompts and posts (with added commentary) from the challenge are below.

Day 1: Introduction

At a first glance, one might think I've taken up designing knitwear for dolls given the tiny sweater I showcased with my first post (above). I seldom knit full size sweaters these days. My passion lies in the process of crafting machine-knitted stitch patterns and fabrics. But why, you might ask, the mini sweater? Keep reading :)

The tiny sweater is fully fashioned in 100% wool, my favorite fiber. Its design features reverse jersey miss for the front and back, complemented by a reverse jersey yoke and sleeves. I knitted 2x1 rib for cuffs and collar. All knitted on my main machine, the Kniterate.

Day 2: Current Project

My current endeavor is centered on updating my course Designing with Kniterate. With the recent upgrade of the Kniterate design app, my course too needed a huge revamp. As of this moment, two course sessions have been rewritten, recorded, and posted. Two more sessions to go!

Tiny sweater in a flower box

While the tiny sweater might look sizeable in the picture above, its petite size served me well. And here's the fun part — designing and knitting a tiny sweater was a part of the course update process. This small project allowed me to tweak settings like stitch size and takedown, while I tested and became acquainted with the latest features of the software. And knitting tiny means quicker results. I love that it looks full size in the photo above.

Knowing its tiny size, I’ve imagined a whimsical scenario where the sweater is left in a field, waiting for an elf to stumble upon it on a brisk day. In reality I had tossed it temporarily in a flower box on my New York City rooftop.

In a quirky turn of events, my gauge swatches for this project were larger than the end product itself.

Day 3 Inspiration/Influence

I’ve been a machine knitter for several decades. There have been countless inspirations. My first major influence was my teacher Susanna Lewis. She introduced me to the technique she called "rippled jacquard" in class one day. It's a double knitted multicolored variation of Ottoman stitch. I've been playing with that technique for decades now, first knitting them on a Brother 260. Here are those very first 4-color jacquards.

4-Color ripples on a 3.5gg machine, washed, air-dried

My first rippled jacquard on the Kniterate was in two colors. In case you were wondering, programming on the computer was a lot easier and way more fun than punching cards for the Brother.

2-Color ripples in wool on the 7gg Kniterate, steamed only

Day 4 Challenge

Stepping out of one's comfort zone can be exhilarating. Leaving the wool zone to venture into the stretch viscose area (courtesy of the folks at Silk City Fibers) was definitely a challenge.

Racked half cardigan stitch

Though I’ve had my share of experiences with a variety of fibers, working with stretch viscose was uncharted territory. Experiknitting this yarn stretched (quite literally!) my skills and patience. I had a huge setback at the start. The yarn on the first part of the cone was not cross-wound and had to be discarded, as it wouldn’t unwind evenly from the cone. The yarn then seemed to knit well, but gradually the stitches became tighter and tighter.

Adjusting Kniterate’s settings was the key. Top and lateral tensions needed to be as loose as possible. Happily, I now have a good project idea for the yarn.

Day 7: Pattern

One of my greatest joys working with yarn and knitting machines, is the endless exploration of pattern. I think of a stitch pattern as a rhythmic expression of creativity and attention to detail. It documents the developer’s journey, method, and style.

I love when I zoom out the canvas in the Kniterate design app and see that the digital representation reflects the reality of the actual swatch. That doesn’t always happen. But I see it with the patterns below.

Ribs and ripple pattern

Racked tuck pattern

Developing and knitting swatches remain my favorite activities on a knitting machine, but you may see a garment or two in the future. No guarantee on the size.

“My Kniterate is Here! Now What?”

O! Jolly! — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 23:41:20 +0000

A knitted thank you sampler

Last edit 2023 Sept 13

As an early bird backer of Kniterate on Kickstarter I was fortunate to receive my machine in early March 2020. It was delivered to an office about two miles north of my home. The Kniterate folks had asked me to be a Kniterate ambassador. I was excited to both demo the machine and do my design work at the office.

Less than two weeks after my machine was delivered, however, New York went on covid-19 lockdown. I wasn’t to see my machine again for another three months, when I was able to have my machine moved to my home studio.

So in June 2020 I began working with the machine for real. I’d already gotten past the starting challenges those first days at the office. My most embarrassing mistake was having a typo the first time I changed the name of a compiled design file to command.kc. (Too much excitement! Left pinky never hit the “a” on the keyboard!)

So far I haven’t heard of anyone else with the typo issue, but I’ve heard of a few common challenges and questions that new owners have, both from participants in my classes and on the Kniterate support forum.

Once the Kniterate is delivered, the owners are able to follow the Up and Running playlist on YouTube. But then what? Many instructions, explanations, and answers are in the Kniterate manual and on the newly expanded support pages. But even if you’ve read the Kniterate manual and all the support pages, it’s difficult to remember the exact answer when you need it or to figure out where to look when all you want to do is get knitting. Based on the most common issues I’ve heard, I’ve provided a little quick guidance for anyone who’s set up the machine but can’t manage to get the knitting started:

If the machine won’t turn on, turn the red emergency button clockwise.
To remove the sampler from the machine, run the warmup file.
If the Kniterate doesn't recognize the file you saved as “command.kc”, try saving the file as “command”.
Stabilize the top tensioner and reset the knot detector to clear the yarnT or yarnTop error.
To clear initial clump errors, be sure the clump detectors are pointed downward.

Keep reading for further explanations and some special tips for domestic machine knitters.

But the Machine Won’t Turn On!

The emergency stop button could be activated. Turn the red emergency button clockwise.

How Do I Get the Sampler Off the Machine?

Knitting without yarn will cause the loops that are on the needles to drop from the needles. Since the machine arrives with knitting already on the machine, run the warmup file without yarn. This will cause the knitting to drop from the needles. Continuing with the warm up will drop the knitting completely from the machine.

Why Won't Kniterate Recognize My Command.kc File?

Provided you haven’t made a typo as I did, it could be your computer is set up to hide file extensions. If this is so, saving a file as “command.kc” is really saving it as “command.kc.kc”, which Kniterate doesn't understand. Changing the name of your file to “command” may work because the .kc extension is already there but hidden.

Clearing the YarnT or YarnTop Error

Once the machine has successfully been turned on, error messages may appear on the display screen. If all the red lights on the top tensioners are on and you receive the yarnT or yarnTop error, these are easily cleared. Either the knot sensors have been tripped or the tension arms are tripping the sensors. Ordinarily this happens when the yarn breaks or the top tension is too loose. The tension arm pops up, the light goes on, and the machine stops. But if you’re not using that particular tension arm at the moment, you’ll need to stabilize it to prevent the arm from any triggering. Gently swing the tension arm below yarn Guide III of top yarn control unit.

Top tension arm is stabilized.

Each knot detector should be perpendicular to the floor. If it’s tilted, it’s been tripped during transit or setup. Gently place it back into position as shown below.

The knot detector should be pointed straight down.

A Clump Error Before Getting Started!

You may get a message to make sure all sensors have been cleared. I’m not sure how this happens, but the front, rear, or both clump detectors sometimes, somehow get rotated 180°. Gently rotate the clump detector so the pointy end is pointed down.

Update! [ETA The clump detector has been upgraded since I initially wrote this post and may not have the issue presented here. See the picture below. A picture of the old detector follows the picture of the new and shows the detector’s position on the machine.]

The new clump detector

The proper position of the clump detector until a clump triggers it

Special Tips for Domestic Machine Knitters

People with machine knitting experience often gain proficiency more quickly than non-knitters. Here are a few machine actions that domestic machine knitters, in particular, should be aware of.

Don’t expect the top tension arm to have as wide a range of movement as the tension arms on domestic machines. As mentioned above, a big swing would trip the sensor indicating loss of top tension. The video below shows how the top tension arm behaves when knitting normally.

Lateral tension control is a feature on the Kniterate that domestic machines lack. It controls the tension when the carriage moves from right to left. With a proper setting you can balance the selvages so that one side is never tighter than the other. The lateral tension arm may spring out a bit when the carriage begins its traverse to the left. Otherwise it remains pretty close to the machine. In the video below yarn 2 is knitting. Yarns 1, 3, and 4 are set up to knit. Lateral tension arms 5 and 6 are not in use and are in their out-of-work positions. Be sure to stabilize any unused tension arms by securing them in the slots close to the machine. This will prevent the yarnS or yarnSide error.

For anyone who’s ever disliked rehanging weights while knitting, the rollers are a wonderful, adjustable part of the machine that controls the takedown of the fabric. Roll settings, as they're called in the design app, have been the biggest challenge for me. Too much roll and the yarn will break; not enough and stitches may drop. The more I’ve knitted, the more I’ve learned that there’s actually a small range of takedown settings that will work for a particular design, and there are a few sequences of settings that work for cast-on, transfers, racking, and bind-off. These settings work together with stitch size. You can observe the takedown starting after the first second of the video below.

Domestic machine knitters used to Japanese-style machines, don’t forget that this is a true double bed machine. You’re probably used to thinking of the rear bed as a main bed, but when you’re ready to begin working in the design app, remember that any needle on either bed can be selected on the Kniterate.

Favorite Articles to Read (or Reread) Before Starting to Knit

You’ll also find these articles on the Kniterate support pages particularly helpful:

My best advice is to take your time getting to know your Kniterate. Enjoy! You’re going to knit some pretty amazing things!

A Good Tuck, Part 2

O! Jolly! — Sat, 21 Jan 2023 01:05:04 +0000

A two-color tuck pattern

My previous post on tucks in machine knitting was certainly not the last word! In this post I focus on these two important points:

Placement matters when designing with tucks.
There’s an easy workaround for a jersey tuck pattern on the Kniterate.

Tuck stitches can be created on any type of machine — manual, punch card, and electronic machines. They are often used in combination with other techniques, such as slip stitches, cables, and colorwork, to create complex and intricate patterns. The swatch above, knitted on a Kniterate, combines colorwork and transfers. This Instagram post shows the swatch in progress. The third iteration of the stitch pattern at the top of this page includes fixes for roll distance (takedown), a fix for a bad edge, and an introduction of a second color.

Tuck Placement

Tucks as the last operation in a row are never a good idea. They’ll often become untucked when the next row is knitted. Or they’ll end up poorly formed with too much yarn (and not enough tension) creating an unintentional dropped stitch in a subsequent row.

The image below left shows the knitting sequence I used with tucks on the last needle. One of the bad tucks is highlighted. It produced the bad edge (below center) in this single color version of the stitch pattern. Though the pattern could have been fixed in a few other ways, my fix was to add another wale with protective knit stitches on the rear bed (below right).

Another fact to remember when placing tucks is that the size of the needle hook will only accommodate a limited number of stitches. It’s important not to design with too many tucks on a needle before knitting it off. (In fact, as this time the Kniterate design app will only allow up to 3 tucks on a needle before yielding an error. The tuck workaround for jersey might let you get beyond three tucks, but I wouldn’t attempt it unless my yarn was lighter weight than usual.

What about adjacent tucks? I’m still learning their secrets on the Kniterate! This is something I wouldn’t do with a jersey tuck workaround on a Kniterate. (See below.) I’ve worked with two adjacent jersey tucks on Passap, Silver Reed, Dubied, and Stoll without issue. I know that Brother/Taitexma machines usually fail at this. If I ever attempt adjacent tucks in a rib fabric on a Kniterate, I’ll report back.

What About Tucks in Jersey Fabrics on a Kniterate?

Edited to add 15 Oct 2024 — The Tuck to Knit command, introduced in late 2023, provides an easier and more reliable way of knitting jersey tuck than described below. See “The Tuck to Knit Command” in this post.

I was recently asked by @imaginary_knitworks how to translate a particular tuck pattern for the Kniterate. She had come across the pattern for manual machines. This particular stitch pattern has a tuck followed by 3 knitted stitches. The pattern is repeated for a total of three rows, followed by a row where all needles knit. The repeat of the tuck pattern is then offset by two needles for the next three rows, again followed by a row where all needles knit.

For a punch card machine a single iteration would look like the chart below left with the black dots representing punched holes and the needles that knit. When a Japanese-style punch card machine is set to tuck, the punched out holes (black circles) will knit and the unpunched spaces (white spaces) will tuck. The center image shows how the stitch pattern is translated for Kniterate. On the right is the technical face of the fabric @imaginary_knitworks knitted. (Fabric photo is used with permission.)

The Kniterate can handle much more complex jersey tuck patterns too. The stitch pattern below is a Designaknit jersey tuck pattern translated for the Kniterate by EcoKnitware using the workaround and knitted by @imaginary_knitworks. (Photo is used with permission.)

Jersey tucks knitted on the Kniterate by @imaginary_knitworks

Finally it’s important to consider the type of yarn you are using when working with tuck stitches. Some yarns are better suited for tuck stitches than others, and the choice of yarn can have a big impact on the final result. For example, smooth yarns tend to work better for tuck stitches than textured yarns, as they are less likely to obscure the pattern. As always, it’s important to experiment with different yarn weights and fibers to see which ones produce the best results for your particular project.

As a Kniterate ambassador I’d be happy to give you a virtual tour of the machine. If you’re a Kniterate owner, you may be interested in my prerecorded Designing with Kniterate classes.

A Good Tuck

O! Jolly! — Mon, 13 Jun 2022 04:10:00 +0000

Two-color cardigan stitch variation, knitted on a Kniterate

Ah, the tuck stitch! You gotta love it. Seriously. We machine knitters only have four basic "stitches" (knit, purl, tuck, and miss). Two of them are actually the same stitch (knit and purl) seen from opposite sides. One of them (the miss, a.k.a slip or skip) isn't really a stitch, though knitting a stitch when you meant to miss the stitch would make a huge difference in most projects.

That leaves the tuck. It’s a versatile stitch that can add dimension when combined with a number of techniques.

Fabrics made with tuck stitches are typically wider and shorter. Knitting tuck loops on a needle over several rows will create added depth. With different color feeds, they can be a great way to hide and reveal colors.

How does it work? When the carriage passes over a needle selected to tuck, the working yarn is placed in the hook of the needle. The needle doesn’t lift high enough for the preexisting stitch on the needle to slip behind the latch. The old stitch doesn’t knit off the needle, so both the stitch and the new yarn (the tuck) remain in the hook. (See the green tuck loop in the center of this animation on YouTube.)

Tucks with Ribs

Combining tucks with ribs is a great way to add even more depth to a rib. Tucks can also add surprising details, like pops of color peeking through, as with the swatch at the top of this page, a two-color cardigan stitch variation knitted on the Kniterate.

Plated tuck rib

Tucks combined with plating add depth to the rib structure in the stitch pattern above. The tuck is an awesome master of disguise. Because the loop sits on the needle without being pulled through the previous stitch, the yarn is essentially hidden or tucked away. My tuck class for the Kniterate presents both of these tuck rib patterns, as well as the basic “rules” of tuck stitches and how they can be used to create advanced patterns.

Jersey Tucks

Kniterate jersey cross tuck knitted on both beds with transfers

[E.T.A. With updates to the design app, a new and easier method for creating jersey tucks with Kniterate is now available. Please see An Even Better Tuck.]

The jersey and tuck combination is not straightforward on the Kniterate, since knits and tucks cannot be knitted on the same bed in the same carriage pass. There is no rule against making tucks on the opposite bed, however, and then transferring them to the knitting bed.

Tucking on an empty needle will not validate in the Kniterate design app. But since a knit stitch on an empty needle will appear as a tuck loop, tucks can be placed on an empty needle by painting a knit stitch. (Think of a double bed cast-on row. The zigzag first row is really made up of tucks.) Transfer the “tucks” to the knitting bed with the next carriage traverse and you've got tucks and knits on the same bed. It's important to make the stitch size for the loop that will be transferred as small as possible for best results. The third class in my course series for the Kniterate covers tucks. Though the class focuses on rib tuck structures (where the Kniterate excels) this workaround for jersey tucks is also provided.

With other knitting machines, incorporating tucks in a jersey is quite common. On a single bed, you can use tucks to create pictures in relief, for color work, or to create textures. The example below left shows an offset repeat in tonal colors, knitted on a Passap DM80 (though it could be knitted on a Kniterate with the method described in the previous paragraph). With single bed fabrics, you can see that it’s often the reverse or purl side where the tuck loop really shows.

Examples of tuck jersey, both were knitted on a Passap DM-80.

Mosaic Knitting

Mosaic knitting can be made with tucks or miss stitches. The swatch above right is a tucked mosaic. It’s a fascinating technique because the drawn or punched pattern looks nothing like the fabric. The swatch is and example of how tucks can be combined with striping to create maze-like designs. This stitch pattern could not be knitted on a Kniterate, but a similar looking swatch could be knitted using the miss stitch method.

Tucks with Racking

The swatch below illustrates racking with tucks. Knitted on a Kniterate, racking in stitch pattern development is a technique I plan to present in a future class. A fair bit denser than previous samples, it demonstrates the potential of using racking with tucks to create small, textured stitch repeats.

Racking with tucks, knitted on a Kniterate

About a Hat

O! Jolly! — Mon, 13 Jun 2022 04:07:00 +0000

My default hat pattern, knitted on a Kniterate

With double jersey jacquard, I consider this hat a Kniterate special. I first made this pattern in the 80s on a Studio Bulky 8 machine. I keep making it because it’s a great way to make use of gauge swatches and failed trials that most knitters have lying around. The pattern actually first began as a failed gauge swatch. I was taught to make them big, 100 needles x 100 courses. At this gauge my rectangle is considerably larger. If you plan to knit this as a way of using up test swatches, you may need bigger swatches than you’re used to making.

Of course, you can also just make a rectangle of fabric to use intentionally for this hat construction. This is what I did in this version. In fact, it’s the hat I promised to make for my husband two years ago, soon after I got the Kniterate. I like the hat so much, I’ve decided to make one for myself. I hope it doesn’t take two years for me to finish mine though!

Using the Kniterate knitting machine, I took advantage of its easy to knit double jersey jacquard with colors inverted on the reverse side. The feature makes for a nice upturned brim. My jacquard is 2-color, where each feed consists of 2 ends in different colors (4 colors in all), adding depth to the color arrangement. You could translate this to any double bed domestic machine and get similar results. It doesn’t need to be a double jersey jacquard, as long as the stitch pattern works well on both sides.

For best fit the top two and bottom two inches of the hat rectangle are a bit tighter. This is done either by reducing stitch size as I did at the bottom of the hat or by changing to a miss stitch pattern as I did at the top. There’s no cutting or gathering in the construction, just folding and sewing. The back seam is hidden mostly by the vertical stripe design.

Wool beanie

Knitted with 100% wool, this one may be getting a little too warm for wear right now, but perhaps this is my chance to start experimenting with or short row lace and racked, lacy cottons. I have ideas.

As a Kniterate ambassador I’d be happy to give you a virtual tour of the machine. If you’re a Kniterate owner, you may be interested in my prerecorded Designing with Kniterate classes.

Knitting in the Fast Lane - O! Jolly!

A Fun Chat with Susan Guagliumi

Related Links

Video Transcript

Machine Knitting a Textured Buttonhole Band

Related Links

Tips for Kniterate Knitters

Tips for Knitters on Japanese-style Machines and Superba

Video Transcript

When Your Test Sample Says: Modifications Needed

Related Links

Video Transcript

Designing a Machine-Knit Sweater

Related Links

Video Transcript

Purl Knit or Links-Links and What’s a Horizontal Rib?

Related Links

Video Transcript

Straight and Racked Stitches in the Same Row

Video Transcript

The Joy of Knitting with Two Beds

On “Starter” Machines

What If You’ve Already Started on a Single Bed?

Tips for Learning

And Speaking of Racking

Inspiration or Iteration?

Natural and Human-made Structures

Taking It Further

Textile Technique Crossover

Further Reading

Cotton vs Wool

Wool is Stretchier Than Cotton

Cotton, Linen, Rayon, and Silk vs Wool

Stitch Pattern

More Racking, Please

An Underutilized Technique

Yes, A Racking Workshop!

Yarns for Kniterate Knitting

Yarn Count and Conversions

Settings for Wool vs Cotton

Strength Matters

When Bad Things Happen with Great Yarn

Working Outside the Recommended Range

Helpful Links

Finishing the Sweater

Knitting the Sweater Pieces

Steam-Block or Wash

Seaming

Finishing

My Kniterate Sweater Workflow

Sweater Design Workflow

A Texture or Technique to Explore

Knitting and Testing

Rough Sketch or Other Representation

Make a Technical Design

Next Up

An Even Better Tuck

Jersey Tucks via Kickbacks?

The Tuck to Knit Command

Tucks and Knits on both Beds in the Same Row?

Revisiting Double Jacquard

Kniterate’s Birdseye Jacquard

Designaknit 9, Jacquard, and Kniterate

Related Links

Textile Challenge Recap

Day 1: Introduction

Day 2: Current Project

Day 3 Inspiration/Influence

Day 4 Challenge

Day 7: Pattern

“My Kniterate is Here! Now What?”

But the Machine Won’t Turn On!

How Do I Get the Sampler Off the Machine?

Why Won't Kniterate Recognize My Command.kc File?

Clearing the YarnT or YarnTop Error

A Clump Error Before Getting Started!

Special Tips for Domestic Machine Knitters

Favorite Articles to Read (or Reread) Before Starting to Knit

A Good Tuck, Part 2

Tuck Placement