2013
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Pattern Opium Effects
Hi
I’m having major problems with tension and measuring it. I could not match the tension suggested so used DesignaKnit for the tension square I had. However the yarn is so stretchy that you can measure the same piece several times and get very different measurements. Any suggestions?
Knitmaster 120 Chunky Spongebar
Hi
I’m getting quite desperate now. I bought a lovely chunky machine, a Knitmaster Empisal 120 which I’m told was also sold under the name Singer SK120. I intend to use this to knit sock blanks for dyeing. However I can’t get started as I cannot find a replacement sponge bar for this machine. I will even consider a kit to refurbish if necessary. The bar is very narrow compared to the one from my Brother KH-836 (about 3 mm across and 8 mm deep). I can’t get my business off the ground until this is up and running!
Many thanks, Jenni Pitt
i contacted Silver – and they do not have a replacement for the 120 Sponge Bars.
If you are a memmber of Yahoo Groups there a few people with “ideas” on how to replace a 120 sponge.
Yahoo has JUSt changed their layout and I cannot find which group I saw it in yesterday.
If you are a memmber of Yahoo Groups there a few people with “ideas” on how to replace a 120 sponge.
Yahoo has JUSt changed their layout and I cannot find which group I saw it in yesterday.
Kari
2013-09-12 16:57:44
Jenni If you join the Sk120/Bulky Yahoo Group(very easy to do). In the files is pdf of how to refurbish your existing sponge bar. Avril
esme48
2013-09-12 16:57:44
Hi
I’ve owned many SK-120s over the years and trying to refurbish the sponge bar is a nightmare. The last one I had (two years ago) I tried so many times that in the end the metal just became non-usable. Frustrated I looked around my garage and found a thin flat rigid metal bar to which I glued a thin length of sponge with ribbon on top. I slid it into the machine and it worked brilliantly. So my advice is this: think outside the box. A rigid piece of plastic or maybe even wood that would fill the retaining channel should serve equally well as a good base for the sponge. This is a very ‘forgiving’ machine and you can’t break it by trying. I’ve just been lucky enough to win another 120 on eBay (arriving on Tuesday) and despite that one shortcoming I believe this to be the best chunky/bulky machine out there as its stitches are far more attractive than those produced on a 9 mm machine.
I’ve owned many SK-120s over the years and trying to refurbish the sponge bar is a nightmare. The last one I had (two years ago) I tried so many times that in the end the metal just became non-usable. Frustrated I looked around my garage and found a thin flat rigid metal bar to which I glued a thin length of sponge with ribbon on top. I slid it into the machine and it worked brilliantly. So my advice is this: think outside the box. A rigid piece of plastic or maybe even wood that would fill the retaining channel should serve equally well as a good base for the sponge. This is a very ‘forgiving’ machine and you can’t break it by trying. I’ve just been lucky enough to win another 120 on eBay (arriving on Tuesday) and despite that one shortcoming I believe this to be the best chunky/bulky machine out there as its stitches are far more attractive than those produced on a 9 mm machine.
britlady52
2014-02-26 17:50:24
Hi
In the September issue of MKM in Trading Post p.46 there are Chunky Needle Retaining Bars listed in the Silver Reed section. The code is SR26 and the price is £33.75. You need to state the model number of the machine. However they are not listed on the Trading Post on this Website. It might be worth contacting Silver Reed to see if they are still available.
Another thing to try is to replace the sponge with some draught excluder. The brown type is best as it has a firm top and the consistency of the foam is about right. You might need two layers of it on your bar. Make sure it is well stuck and bind the ends with tape to hold them in place.
I hope you can get it sorted and happy knitting.
Sue
Sue P
2013-08-16 13:47:04
i contacted Silver – and they do not have a replacement for the 120 Sponge Bars.
If you are a memmber of Yahoo Groups there a few people with “ideas” on how to replace a 120 sponge.
Yahoo has JUSt changed their layout and I cannot find which group I saw it in yesterday.
If you are a memmber of Yahoo Groups there a few people with “ideas” on how to replace a 120 sponge.
Yahoo has JUSt changed their layout and I cannot find which group I saw it in yesterday.
Kari
2013-09-12 16:57:44
Jenni If you join the Sk120/Bulky Yahoo Group(very easy to do). In the files is pdf of how to refurbish your existing sponge bar. Avril
esme48
2013-09-12 16:57:44
Hi
I’ve owned many SK-120s over the years and trying to refurbish the sponge bar is a nightmare. The last one I had (two years ago) I tried so many times that in the end the metal just became non-usable. Frustrated I looked around my garage and found a thin flat rigid metal bar to which I glued a thin length of sponge with ribbon on top. I slid it into the machine and it worked brilliantly. So my advice is this: think outside the box. A rigid piece of plastic or maybe even wood that would fill the retaining channel should serve equally well as a good base for the sponge. This is a very ‘forgiving’ machine and you can’t break it by trying. I’ve just been lucky enough to win another 120 on eBay (arriving on Tuesday) and despite that one shortcoming I believe this to be the best chunky/bulky machine out there as its stitches are far more attractive than those produced on a 9 mm machine.
I’ve owned many SK-120s over the years and trying to refurbish the sponge bar is a nightmare. The last one I had (two years ago) I tried so many times that in the end the metal just became non-usable. Frustrated I looked around my garage and found a thin flat rigid metal bar to which I glued a thin length of sponge with ribbon on top. I slid it into the machine and it worked brilliantly. So my advice is this: think outside the box. A rigid piece of plastic or maybe even wood that would fill the retaining channel should serve equally well as a good base for the sponge. This is a very ‘forgiving’ machine and you can’t break it by trying. I’ve just been lucky enough to win another 120 on eBay (arriving on Tuesday) and despite that one shortcoming I believe this to be the best chunky/bulky machine out there as its stitches are far more attractive than those produced on a 9 mm machine.
britlady52
2014-02-26 17:50:24
Brother KH910
Hi
I’ve just gone back to my knitting machine now I am retired and cannot find my Mylar sheets. Does anyone know where I can get any? There are a few used and unused on eBay, but unused are expensive. Thanks for any help.
Hi
Keep looking on ebay there have been more advertised over the past few days.
Sue.
Sue P
2013-08-15 21:21:16
Packed full of Spring patterns
Now I must pay tribute to three friends of machine knitting who have passed away. Many of you will remember Doris Coutts as a founder member of the Sandown Club on the Isle of Wight and a regular contributor to both To & Fro and MKM. Her knowledge of machine knitting was immense. A founder member of Perth Knitting Club has also died. Peggy Rourke was an Area Representative for the Scottish Machine Knitters and she will be hugely missed. Finally, we remember Eileen Langford, Treasurer of the Guild of Machine Knitters, who has also died. Eileen played an important role in the Guild and, together with Peggy and Doris, they will all be greatly missed. We send our sincere condolences to members of their families, as well as their many friends.
Tony Bennett is coming over to the UK later this year and he’ll stop off at Metropolitan to open this year’s Dream Week on 2nd September. He’ll then return a couple of weeks later on 16th September for a week of hand’s-on tuition. Last year Tony was awarded WA Wool Designer of the Year and he’s lectured to fashion and textile design students at Perth’s Western Australian Central Institute of Technology. He’s run Dormani Designs for almost 20 years and gives talks about machine knitting as well as fashion trends. He also runs workshops for machine knitters. He’s travelled extensively in Australia and across to New Zealand, sharing his creativity, flair and expertise with many machine knitters. He fits in regular Down Under reports for us and it will be a pleasure to meet him in September.
Inevitably places are limited, so please book as soon as you can to avoid disappointment.
My other news is that Carol Hocknell and I have made a diary date to repeat our very successful At Home at Metropolitan. The date is 6th October 2013 from 10.00 am to 5.00 pm and again places are strictly limited. As last time, we’ll arrange demonstrations throughout the day, provide a Ploughman’s Lunch and Cream Tea and we’ll print further details as they develop. Having accepted the kind invitation to teach at Dream Week in September, help to run our At Home in October and keep the flag flying for Alan Hunt’s Nottingham Show on 14th April, my year is filling up fast. Until next month, happy knitting!
NEXT ISSUE
April 2013
Subscription copies sent out
Thursday 7th March
On sale
Thursday 14th March
Ask your newsagent to
Reserve a copy : see page 61
Moss stitch on 2 needles when attached to GC
Needles 52-60 knit in moss stitch when knitting from right to left. The sponge bar and all needles, including the garter carriage needle, have been checked. The garter carriage has also been tried out on two other similar Brother machines. Do I need a new circuit board, because it will knit some patterns from the manual. Has anyone else has this trouble? I’d welcome any help please.
Brother KH836 Carriage jamming
I got my Brother KH 836 machine out to knit up some left over wool to make myself a jumper. After lots of attempts with the ribber (the rib carriage kept coming unhitched!) I made the back and was nearly at the front neck shaping when the carriage jammed. It would knit right to left okay, but moving left to right it jammed in the middle every time. After a lot of shoving and a LOT more swearing, I got it moving again to finish the row, but after about ten more rows of this I gave it up as a bad job. It moves freely in each direction without the sinker plate, but not with it on. I’ve prodded, poked, sworn a lot more, thought I’d sorted it, but after about 15 rows it happened again. Can anyone give me a clue as to what might be the problem? I feel like taking the whole lot to the tip!
Bring your needles out and with no yarn and sinker plate attached go slowly across the needles and when it starts to jam check whether the needles are going over the sinker plate or just touching it. Often the sinker plate becomes slightly bent out of shape and may need realigning and bent back into shape.
Re your ribber – sounds like the height may need adjusting if you have it in the highest position and the connecting pin is still slipping out.
jaysdowell
2013-08-09 15:14:16
Hi PollyDoodle
Sorry to hear of your problem. There are several things it might be an idea to check.
As the carriage moves freely without the sinker plate attached it suggests the problem is with the sinker plate. Is it seated properly on the carriage? Make sure the alignment holes in the sinker plate fit over the little lugs on the carriage before you tighten the thumb screws. Have the metal plates at the front gone out of alignment? When you attach it to the carriage check that these plates are parallel to the gate pegs and re-adjust if necessary by loosening the three screws underneath.
Does your sponge bar need replacing? If it’s worn it will cause all sorts of problems.
Regarding your problem with the ribber carriage did you have the ribber pushed up to its highest position and was the carriage seated properly on the needle bed? Once the ribber carriage has clipped into the connecting arm it should not move forward or unhitch itself!
I hope this helps you sort the problem.
Regards
Sue.
Sue P
2013-06-12 21:53:47
Bring your needles out and with no yarn and sinker plate attached go slowly across the needles and when it starts to jam check whether the needles are going over the sinker plate or just touching it. Often the sinker plate becomes slightly bent out of shape and may need realigning and bent back into shape.
Re your ribber – sounds like the height may need adjusting if you have it in the highest position and the connecting pin is still slipping out.
jaysdowell
2013-08-09 15:14:16
Hi PollyDoodle
Sorry to hear of your problem. There are several things it might be an idea to check.
As the carriage moves freely without the sinker plate attached it suggests the problem is with the sinker plate. Is it seated properly on the carriage? Make sure the alignment holes in the sinker plate fit over the little lugs on the carriage before you tighten the thumb screws. Have the metal plates at the front gone out of alignment? When you attach it to the carriage check that these plates are parallel to the gate pegs and re-adjust if necessary by loosening the three screws underneath.
Does your sponge bar need replacing? If it’s worn it will cause all sorts of problems.
Regarding your problem with the ribber carriage did you have the ribber pushed up to its highest position and was the carriage seated properly on the needle bed? Once the ribber carriage has clipped into the connecting arm it should not move forward or unhitch itself!
I hope this helps you sort the problem.
Regards
Sue.
Sue P
2013-06-12 21:53:47
Duo 80 needle position
I bought the Duo 80 secondhand. I’ve always wanted one, but I’m not very successful with the sample pieces in the manual. When the handle is down, in which position should the needles be? Mine are head to head, so is this correct@ I managed the knit/knit but as soon as I started the Fisherman’s rib section, the lock jammed. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks, Sue
Dear Sue
Thank you so much for your reply. We managed to find a service manual download for the machine and discovered that not only was the handle in the wrong position but the front bed was too high. This caused the back needles to hit the teeth and so jammed the lock. Using the download instructions my husband adjusted the settings and now it knits really well. I have tried knit/knit long stitch and Fisherman’s rib and can’t wait to really get going.
Thanks again for your help.
Sue
Thank you so much for your reply. We managed to find a service manual download for the machine and discovered that not only was the handle in the wrong position but the front bed was too high. This caused the back needles to hit the teeth and so jammed the lock. Using the download instructions my husband adjusted the settings and now it knits really well. I have tried knit/knit long stitch and Fisherman’s rib and can’t wait to really get going.
Thanks again for your help.
Sue
susieque01
2013-05-08 16:35:23
Hi Sue
Congratulations on your purchase. I’m sure you will enjoy knitting on your Duo.
Sometimes the racking handle gets put in the wrong way up. I’ve looked in the instruction book and it’s not very clear as to how it should be positioned.
The racking handle should be UP for the needles to be opposite each other. This position is used when knitting with 1×1 needle set up.
When the racking handle is DOWN the needles face the striking combs on the opposite bed. You use this position whenever there are two or more adjacent needles knitting on either bed.
With no knitting on the machine rack the beds until they line up at the sides i.e. the very end needles are opposite each other. If the racking handle is down take it out by pulling it forward firmly. Then re-insert it in the up position making sure the clip on indicator fits into the slot under the front of the machine.
It should now be in the correct position.
Kind regards
Sue.
Sue P
2013-05-08 13:37:14
Dear Sue
Thank you so much for your reply. We managed to find a service manual download for the machine and discovered that not only was the handle in the wrong position but the front bed was too high. This caused the back needles to hit the teeth and so jammed the lock. Using the download instructions my husband adjusted the settings and now it knits really well. I have tried knit/knit long stitch and Fisherman’s rib and can’t wait to really get going.
Thanks again for your help.
Sue
Thank you so much for your reply. We managed to find a service manual download for the machine and discovered that not only was the handle in the wrong position but the front bed was too high. This caused the back needles to hit the teeth and so jammed the lock. Using the download instructions my husband adjusted the settings and now it knits really well. I have tried knit/knit long stitch and Fisherman’s rib and can’t wait to really get going.
Thanks again for your help.
Sue
susieque01
2013-05-08 16:35:23
Hi Sue
Congratulations on your purchase. I’m sure you will enjoy knitting on your Duo.
Sometimes the racking handle gets put in the wrong way up. I’ve looked in the instruction book and it’s not very clear as to how it should be positioned.
The racking handle should be UP for the needles to be opposite each other. This position is used when knitting with 1×1 needle set up.
When the racking handle is DOWN the needles face the striking combs on the opposite bed. You use this position whenever there are two or more adjacent needles knitting on either bed.
With no knitting on the machine rack the beds until they line up at the sides i.e. the very end needles are opposite each other. If the racking handle is down take it out by pulling it forward firmly. Then re-insert it in the up position making sure the clip on indicator fits into the slot under the front of the machine.
It should now be in the correct position.
Kind regards
Sue.
Sue P
2013-05-08 13:37:14
Knitting pattern for garment with hood
Does anyone have a machine knitting pattern for a garment with a hood please?
Hi
I have found the following patterns in back issues of Machine Knitting Monthly:
Woman’s Hooded tunic p.30 January 2010
Child’s Hooded Jacket p.24 November 2012
Young Child’s Hooded Jacket and Sweater p.30 March 2012
Baby’s Hooded Jacket p.18 February 2012
According to the latest issue of the magazine all the 2012 magazines are still available but the January 2010 issue is sold out. You might be able to find one on ebay.
There are also sites on the Internet that have free patterns; try a search on ‘Google’.
Hoping this is what you are looking for.
Regards
Sue.
I have found the following patterns in back issues of Machine Knitting Monthly:
Woman’s Hooded tunic p.30 January 2010
Child’s Hooded Jacket p.24 November 2012
Young Child’s Hooded Jacket and Sweater p.30 March 2012
Baby’s Hooded Jacket p.18 February 2012
According to the latest issue of the magazine all the 2012 magazines are still available but the January 2010 issue is sold out. You might be able to find one on ebay.
There are also sites on the Internet that have free patterns; try a search on ‘Google’.
Hoping this is what you are looking for.
Regards
Sue.
Sue P
2013-05-06 20:46:27
Thank you very much Sue – I’ll get on ebay and start looking for the Jan 2010 issue.
Regards Magsie
Regards Magsie
magsieleaper
2013-05-08 12:40:52
Hi
I have found the following patterns in back issues of Machine Knitting Monthly:
Woman’s Hooded tunic p.30 January 2010
Child’s Hooded Jacket p.24 November 2012
Young Child’s Hooded Jacket and Sweater p.30 March 2012
Baby’s Hooded Jacket p.18 February 2012
According to the latest issue of the magazine all the 2012 magazines are still available but the January 2010 issue is sold out. You might be able to find one on ebay.
There are also sites on the Internet that have free patterns; try a search on ‘Google’.
Hoping this is what you are looking for.
Regards
Sue.
I have found the following patterns in back issues of Machine Knitting Monthly:
Woman’s Hooded tunic p.30 January 2010
Child’s Hooded Jacket p.24 November 2012
Young Child’s Hooded Jacket and Sweater p.30 March 2012
Baby’s Hooded Jacket p.18 February 2012
According to the latest issue of the magazine all the 2012 magazines are still available but the January 2010 issue is sold out. You might be able to find one on ebay.
There are also sites on the Internet that have free patterns; try a search on ‘Google’.
Hoping this is what you are looking for.
Regards
Sue.
Sue P
2013-05-06 20:46:27
Thank you very much Sue – I’ll get on ebay and start looking for the Jan 2010 issue.
Regards Magsie
Regards Magsie
magsieleaper
2013-05-08 12:40:52
In the September issue of MKM in Trading Post p.46 there are Chunky Needle Retaining Bars listed in the Silver Reed section. The code is SR26 and the price is £33.75. You need to state the model number of the machine. However they are not listed on the Trading Post on this Website. It might be worth contacting Silver Reed to see if they are still available.
Another thing to try is to replace the sponge with some draught excluder. The brown type is best as it has a firm top and the consistency of the foam is about right. You might need two layers of it on your bar. Make sure it is well stuck and bind the ends with tape to hold them in place.
I hope you can get it sorted and happy knitting.
Sue