On the demise of Knitwords.  Very glad I am not recording a podcast you’d hear how I really feel about this.  When I heard the news I literally sat down with my head in my hands and cried.  I’d let my subscription lapse when I moved with the intention of resubscribing as soon as we got settled with a permanent home.  I’ve seen some very positive things posted and I hope Mary Anne feels our love and support in what ever comes next for her.   Knitwords has been a super high quality machine knitting publication and will be sorely missed.  

New things happening for BT Yarns is now Knit it Now where yarns and webinar education will be provided.  Its a really great way to meet the need for MK education so I lift my coffee mug in Sue’s general direction and wish her well.  I’ve perused some of the available educative events and it looks excellent!

Changes in my life…. oh yeah we got em.  We’ve MOVED to a permanent home at long last.  Our exhaustive search resulted in the perfect home for my husband and I.  Of course our requirements included space for my knittery.  Space we have in spades!  I will now be located in a finished basement with lots of perks.  Humidity control will be a concern for this space but all the equipment is in place to keep this in check.  There is also a wood stove in the space to create cozy warmth should the need arise in winter.  The carpet is UGLY… U G L Y  but will be acceptable for the time being.   Windows have always been important to me in a knitting or any work area.  Natural light is a wonderful thing.  I have wonderful windows in the main knitting area as well as a private no stair entrance.  This will make it easier to take machines in and out as well as mass quantities of yarn!  

I set up the first machine Monday  and had it up and knitting just fine I know that is quite shocking.  This weekend the rest of my equipment will be re-acquired from storage.   I am glad my items were only in storage short term.   So the next steeps will be organizing and setting up the space to allow optimal machine use in a space that is a pleasure to be in.  I will probably be taking pictures and video as I get organized down there.  Here is a picture of the space BEFORE I took over.

I’ll be posting again soon as I progress with my invasion.

Challenges in life happen to everyone and I really try not to whine.  All I really want these days is a Knit Zone with all my machines, toys, tools, and of course yarn neatly (ha ha) organized.  I keep turning to my available bins and turning away saying I know I had some of that!  Oh and I do, its just 300 miles away.   I miss being able to look at all of my yarn and gain inspiration from whatever color grabs me as I walk in the door.  I am sick of having knitting machines (yup 2 set up and functioning) in my living room.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the machines.  We all need to get away from what we love periodically.

Two problems have been happening with podcast recordings.  One the temporary living quarters are in very close proximity to a small airport.  I am glad its a small airport.  Cute little airplanes go up and do fun things in the sky.  We’ve seen all sorts of planes even some really old models that you rarely see except at airshows.  There is no set schedule for these planes though and while they aren’t jets they are very noisy.  I close all the windows and sit down to record and nnnnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr there goes a plane.  You can’t edit that out!  So I go back to re-record that portion and move on.  Once really into a topic I tune everything out so after I record I listen.  I edit out sneezes and any uhms errs or aaahs that occur.  I am going along listening to myself saying something really profound and weeeee oooooo weeeeeee oooooo weeeee ooooooo ambulance passing drowns me out.  If this were my HOUSE I’d do a little sound proofing and move on.  Here can’t do much so, I’ve thrown up my hands and won’t try to record a podcast here.  MK World students are getting extra time in their sessions based on the number of ambulances and airplanes that go by during sessions.    For the time being?  I can do what I can do,  keeping notes of topics I want to talk about, writing and knitting.   So if anyone wants to record a little podcast?  Bring it on!  I’d love to have contributing podcasters I can even help with how-to info.

What comes next… I don’t know.  I am sure I am not even ready for what comes next.  I do know that I am open to whatever comes next….

Here for your pleasure is a picture of a garter bar & sample knitted yesterday. Its a combination of Garter Stitch and eyelet. Just done super fast to make sure I was thrilled with the product. I am! I really really am!

I also discuss Susan Guagliumi’s books Hand Manipulated & More Hand Manipulated Stitches for Machine Knitters. I know its sort of a repetitive discussion but I saw some misguided / misguiding posts so I wanted to say some things. Close your ears if you don’t want to hear my thoughts. I also thought it appropriate to mention in conjuction with the garter bar discussion. Having a Garter Bar that isn’t going to go wonky mid project is a real motivator for me.

I am so far behind in podcasts I know I know I repeat myself. As previously mentioned I lost a great deal of work before the Fingerlakes Seminar. again repeating. I am almost back together. Stay tuned! There is more coming!

OH and for those of you who didn’t notice I upgraded the MK World Event Calendar.  I am hoping that all events large and small can be added to this calendar.  If you have an event you’d like to share that isn’t already on the calendar please see if you can add it OR send me a note and I’ll be happy to add them.

You’ll find the MK World Live Event Information here.

MK World Live is seeking instructors and demonstrators to fill the online classroom!

Anyhoo.. my apologies to anyone who rearranged their day. You now have a free hour. Please feel free to knit during this time. I’d love to hear what you do.

We are going to start up with a special Saturday Session this weekend. I’ll open the MK World Webex Presentation room for a special 1 hour open house. Starting at 10am EST (I am in Massachusetts now) to 11am Saturday March 27th. Follow the links and instructions on the Free Sessions page to attend. If you had previously favorited the webex site and info you’ll need to update them its all new.

Sessions will now be the First Thursday 3pm (EST) & Second Saturday 10am(EST) of each month. If you are anywhere in the world and are a machine knitter or are machine knit curious you can attend these sessions and expect a warm welcome! We will open chat and periodically discuss techniques. Additionally these sessions will allow new users to test their computer and equipments capabilities in order to enjoy future presentations (free and not) presented via MK World Live.

So get ready !!!! Join me this Saturday April 27th 2010 for a free fun chat session sponsored by MK World Live.

Here is a picture of a pair and 3/4 sock that I made from Shepherd’s Wool (love this product) That I finished February 25th. I always have fun with socks because after I knit the whole sock I examine it closely. 3 times out of 5 I’ll find a mistake and rip the sock back out. Not to mention those events when I want stripes to match but I digress… here is a great pair of socks and 3/4 of a third (it had a boo boo) to show what can be done with 1 hank of Shepherd’s Wool on the Mid Gauge Knitting Machine. MAO’s Warm Up Sox pattern was used. I bought the wool at Knitting Today.

The other project is The Susitna. Except I only did 1/2 the project and was working on the Mid-Gauge with Worsted Weight Cotton Fleece from Brown Sheep. I’ll write it up and post with the original Author’s permission if given. I just knitted it today.

Half Susitna on the Mid-Gauge

OK 1 Skeiners!!! This project is brought to you by 3 flights of stairs. I love the Susitna bag. I’ve made it before and perhaps even blogged about it. I wanted another grocery bag and this is the pattern I thought of… HOWEVER… I wanted to knit on the midgauge and I had this one skein of Cotton Fleece. I had to make it work.

I knitted the bottom of the bag as normal. Then for the bag body I knitted about 30 rows (roughly) using all needles. Then switched to EON (letting the stitches drop early) and knitted another 40 or so (Total 76 rows as opposed to 150 rows) I switched because my Mid Gauge didn’t love the full bed cotton worsted. It was hard to knit. Switched and went like buttah. Knew I was running out of yarn so after 76 rows I went ahead and switched to all needles again (rough going but worth it) for a total of 4 rows then cast off as suggested and knit the handle. I LOVE the Shoulder Strap on this bag. It does not dig in and really shoulders the load. I cut the strap width down to 30 stitches 15 mb 15 rb.

Knit until I was about a yard from the end of my skein. Moved the rb stitches to mb and knit one row manually elongating the stitches. Cast off with the latch tool. Then worked the stitches into the otherside of the bag. Eventually I’ll write this up as a pattern on its own crediting the Susitna bag for all its worth (which is a diamond). If the author allows me to do so.

My finished project ends up being a wonderful bag I can use to carry fruits and veggies at the Farmer’s market without killing anything. Pictured it has several pounds of yarn packed into it.

ANOTHER THING… since I am behind in podcasting I have to say this right here right now. My copy of More Hand Manipulated Stitches arrived today. Susan Guagliumi has written what is sure to become a hit amongst machine knitters. Full color photos through out tech, samples and patterns. Charts in color (OMG can you say god sent?) Patterns well written out. I have not read every word but took time to peruse. Thank you Susan Guagliumi. For another well written and valuable machine knitting reference. And to all those who collaborated and assisted and made it happen. AbsoFRICKENlutely fantastic. I’ll comment again when I actually knit a pattern from the book. Its gorgeous and wonderful to look at for now.

The book is available from many dealers, Amazon & from Susan’s website directly. Get it now.

There is a bad news good news situation.  Sadly, Helen Griffiths  who had originally been scheduled to demonstrate has had to cancel.  The good news is that Heather Thompson has been invited to bring her Basics for Machine Knitters to the event!  Wait… thats me!  

I’ll be joining talented machine knitting demonstrators: Kathryn Doubrley, Mike Becker,  and Jan Richards.  For the machine curious or beginner,  right on up to the most experienced machine knitters we’ll be offering a series of 1 hour sessions that will inspire and motivate.  The classes are up and you can review all the offerings at Fingerlakes Knits.  Hope to see you there!

To the point…

Patons Classic Wool in Chestnut Brown &  the varie is Rosewood knit on the Silver Reed Midgauge w/ Ribber.  The tie is fulled a little bit so that I can cut it to shorten.  I haven’t decided how long or short to leave them yet so … they are what they are.  Quick to knit and fits perfectly.

As was discussed in Episode 17 putting a plan into action can be a challenge but ohhh the results! I spent hours agonizing over every detail of this project. It wasn’t a pattern that had been laid out perfectly for a Machine Knitter. Its a hand knit pattern as I’ve mentioned before. Then of course the challenge of how I knit vs how the pattern was presented. Application of the techniques from HK to MK and the severe shortage of tools as mentioned in the podcast.

Having muddled, persevered, charted, measured and remeasured. In the end resorting to mixing my hand knitting *gasp* with machine knitting. Its ok no yarn or needles were harmed! I learned through wonderful excercises in frustration that led to amazing success. A few techniques came out of this as well so all in all it was wonderful.

Oh did I mention I finished? I am super pleased with the end product. A little forethought and planning went a long way. I added a button because … I could.

Portia knitted by Silver Reed Mid-Gauge & Hand

Portia Back

Portia Side

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Starting off the New Decade right!  

I’ve been working on a project that required a great deal of planning before the knitting started.  In this podcast episode I discuss a few of the areas I felt were critical.  Surely you can add to the topic and I ask you to add to the topic.   Comments, messages and discussions as a result of the podcast are what I hope for.  I hope you will participate in making these podcasts better by participating!!!

The poll winner for book review last episode was Hand Manipulated Stitches for Machine Knitters by Susan Guagliumi.   After twenty years  its still the most referred sourcebook amongst machine knitters.

In addition to a short very biased review a special guest joins me for some discussion. So without further ado… get the podcast! Its available on iTunes now too!

Some additional links as promised in the podcast.
You must visit www.guagliumi.com  to catch the latest news on her upcoming book MORE Hand Manipulated Stitches make sure to click on the Signups/Stuff  link and get the lastest from the source!  You will also want to check out the Knitting Patterns that are for sale in downloadable form.  Then stop off and download the fantastic free downloads that Susan has made available to us from days gone by. 

You might also decide to visit:  Nashua Knits, Cascade, Berroco, and BT Yarns all of which are discussed in the podcast.  I hope you enjoy!

Those of us that have experienced the joys of static electricity know that it will stop your holiday speed machine knitting dead in its tracks!  Its knowing how to deal with it that will get you through these dry times.  There are many quick and easy ways to resolve static electricity build up and get your carriage moving.  First lets look at why static electricity is going to impact your ability to knit.

Is your knitting schedule full of yarn and gifting plans at the last minute?  Did your household heat get turned on in the last month?  If so … you know that your household air is dry.  When you mix dry air, fiber, and metal parts that touch each other repeatedly you will have issues with static build up.  This will cause your carriage to “lock up” or be difficult to move it will also make your yarn stick to itself in ways you might not expect.

SO… how does this happen?  Well if my linking skills have worked properly the words STATIC ELECTRICITY are leading you to the wiki which discusses Static Electricity. Ultimately an electric charge can build up on the surfaces of your machine bed as a result of contact (friction) based charge. Your carriage and needles are rubbing against the yarn and the effect on the machine bed is the same as that of your hair when you rub a balloon against it. Instead of its hair standing on end the charge causes the carriage to make a grinding sound and become hard to move.

Now we fix it. First and foremost, if your machine and yarn are becoming electrically charged the air in your home is probably quite dry. This can cause problems with sinuses as well. Something that will help you, your machine and your family is to add humidity to your home. This can be as easy as boiling some water on the stove, or keeping a pot of water on or near the fireplace. This will release moisture into your household air in the form of steam. You can also purchase a humidifier or air ionizer for use in key areas of your home.

Once static is a problem you’ll need to take some quick and easy action then knit on with joy. The first line of static defense is keeping your machine clean and lubricated. A clean machine offers less loose fluffy fiber for exchanging electrical charge between fresh yarn, bed and carriage. Lubrication acts as an anti static agent.  In the same realm is the use of a dryer sheet. A dryer sheet run gently down the bed of a machine removes static just that fast.  Its not a permanent solution however.  Over time the anti static agent will wear off. So you need to re-apply. I personally am not fond of this resolution. I don’t enjoy handling dryer sheets so a permanent solution needed to be found. 

Consider that many metal bed knitting machines have electronic components near the bed or within the carriage. Static discharge on or near these components can damage them beyond repair.  Are you scared silly now?  There are several permanent ways to resolve static electricity from building up and being a problem.  There are Anti Static devices that can be connected to your machine bed which re route the potentially damaging static and release the charge harmlessly away from sensitive parts.  These attach to your machine bed and are grounded away from sensitive parts.

Yarn itself can be treated to ease static build up. Placed in the freezer for a few hours will add enough moisture to allow you to knit happily until the yarn has been in the dry air for awhile. It can then be returned to the freezer. Many people use Lori Lynn Yarn Spray with great success. This is applied to yarn placedd in a bag.  This has to be re-applied as you knit down to uncoated fibers.  Wax is another anti static agent.  Many machines have wax holders built in.  The wax coating is very light and washes out without special handling. Refills for the wax holder are available from any dealer. Consider these wax refills even if you don’t have an actual wax holder. Yarn can be threaded through the hole and have the same effect. Tea-light candles with wicks removed can also be substituted. The wax refills for knitting machines are smaller and lighter weight you can purchase them no matter what machine you presently own. Wax also smooths fibers when working with extra fluffy yarns making them easier to knit with.

So what did I do?   I had an urgent need so a handy copper scrubbie is in use, and has been to the point that I forgot that static could be a problem.   A new user’s issue reminded me about static problems and knitting machines.  

 I know there are other methods and ways to correct and avoid Static Electricity.  Add your comments about your resolutions!  You can email photos of your anti static resolutions if you’d like to share them here.  You never know who you’ll be helping!

First off, I haven’t moved  far.  A total of about 5 hours from CNY to Leominster, MA.  However much is going into storage and remaining there until we have a permanent home again.  Our big old house with my ginormous Knit Zone going up on the market.  So we are moving into a smallish apartment. Luckily its just me and the Hubby. Can’t imagine having to do this with kids. Obviously my Knitting Machines would be lower on the totem pole.  But its time to pick the machines that will be in use for the next few months.  I know I am not alone in all this and hopefully my thoughts will help others!  Writing about it certainly helps me.

I am taking and setting up for immediate knitting:
1) Silver Reed Mid-Gauge Electronic w/ all its bells and whistles.

These items are being packed and kept in my Mini Knit Zone for not quite so immediate needs:
1) Singer 360 with Ribber but the ribber will be stored nearby.
1) Bond USM (Super Sized) Boxed for easy storage.
1) Storage Container of project yarn and works in progress
1) Bag of scraps and miscellaneous skeins for Charity and Xmas Knitting.

All of this will need to be contained in a small 4×6 (or less) area of our apartment.   Probably quite close to our designated office space.

I have several WIPs & Projects that I MUST knit.  1) Tutti Frutti – MAO Pattern that I had set aside due but want to finish badly. (Singer 360)  Happy to report that this machine is up and I started working on Tutti Frutti on November 19th!  I had to stop for the weekend and had some problems with yarn.  Its Monday 11/23 and I haven’t touched it today.

2) Portia – A Berocco Sweater Coat with lovely cables and ribbing.  (Mid-Gauge w/ Ribber)  This is the one that I’d really like some better tools for working with.

3) SOCKS – I have so much sock yarn! (Singer 360) and sock yarn doesn’t take up much room.  I also happen to have 2 single socks for my husband that were knit on the Mid-Gauge so I need to knit the mates because he really really enjoys wearing the Mid-Gauge Socks I’ve made.

3) Spending more time with DAK on the Silver Reed Mid-Gauge so I can utilize the full power of the  machines and this program.

Wait wait why am I taking the Bond?  For the extended Bed & an emergency Bulky bed.  I have in the back of my list of things to knit several wedding afghans.   Additionally, I am of a mind to addict others.  You never know who you will meet at the yarn shop right? 

 I thought I’d spend some time working on the Blog site.  Adding and updating  Machine Knit Blogs & Feeds.  If anyone has a Blog they think I am missing let me know?  While I recorded the Podcast I was working on these updates and found myself mired in a bit of a quandry over one of the sites I was going to add.  I guess this is the fun of recording “live” as it happens work on the Blog pages.

I did not re-record the videos on Rag Hem use yet.   I had a couple of ideas that will demonstrate even more clearly the ease of use of a rag hem on any machine.  I’ll get to those by the end of next week!

As promised the poll.
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

I’ve been thinking about this and will solicit input from others on these book reviews as we go along.  Like I’ve been saying my opinion isn’t really that important.  Its the eye of the beholder.  So once we know what book its going to be I’ll be soliciting calls on the book and YOUR opinions too!

In this Podcast Episode recorded in July 2009 (I am SO Sorry!) I conduct Burn Tests on newer fibers.   You get to listen and the pictures I refer to are posted here.  Some of the content on the podcast is repetive from other podcasts.  Which is why it was not posted.   However, there are several areas in the podcast in which newish info is discussed and I request YOUR help!  So please take part and have fun with our ability to do so!  To apologize and because there has been discussion of rag hems on one of the MK Lists and I thought as a more current (yet old) topic I’d add my instructions for a  weighted rag hem.  Its at the bottom of this post the pattern is exceedingly simple.  There are videos on use included in the PDF file so fair warning its a huge file.  Don’t download it unless you gotta have it.  I’ll work on that issue.

Here are the photos from the burn test. (There are additional comments about the Podcast below)

I’ll post the spreadsheet related to these burn tests as soon as I can.

 This podcast was recorded in July 2009 and I apologize for not posting it sooner.  I comment on Olwen Carne’s illness and contributions to Machine Knitting and am sorry to have heard that she has since passed.  Please do take a moment and share your positive thoughts with our machine knitting friends and families  facing the passing of loved ones, illness or other tribulations.  If you know of someone personally send them a kind note and let them know you are thinking of them.   Yes today.  Right now this very minute.

Another podcast note on the question about favorite Cast On Methods.  Yes the information provided is correct and Machine Knitting comments or questions are welcomed. These will be shared in subsequent Podcasts for Machine Knitters perhaps even answered by special guests!

I spent some time this afternoon writing up and getting Just Another Rag Hem put together.  I’ll be updating the file with some new videos and will advise when its done to my happiness.  Its rough but I think it is technique of value and interest today.  The FILE IS HUGE as it contains 2 videos.  So if you are on dial up?  Give up send me a note and I’ll send you a smaller file and a pointer to separate videos.  Anyway, I thought I’d throw it here and celebrate the latest Episode of Podcasting for Machine Knitters… late as it may be.