2021

Block and tackle

Dear Anne

With time on my hands the other day, I was looking back at some back issues of MKM and saw this great tip, which I’m definitely going to try. I’m a bit of a stick-in-the-mud and use the same shape on my Knit Leader over and over again. I always block my knitting but all the measuring to get the exact shape is a bit tedious and time consuming. This reader traced the pattern from the Knit Leader sheet onto a piece of silk organza. She used BluTack to anchor the organza firmly and some permanent marker pens for the lines. From dressmaking, I know that silk organza can take a hot iron and lots of steam. It’s also transparent, so it’s easy to see the Knit Leader lines and trace through. The silk organza then gets pinned onto a blocking mat and it’s so easy to pin each piece to the traced shapes. I’m so pleased with the idea that I’ll go off now to knit a sweater and try it out! I’m sure that with different coloured marking pens, you can trace several garment shapes onto the piece of material. Keep safe and best wishes, Liz in Doncaster

Double up

Dear Anne

I so enjoy reading the hints and tips, but haven’t seen this one mentioned for ages. Back in the day, when we were all too scared to put a pair of scissors anywhere near our knitting, one of the cut ‘n’ sew enthusiasts passed on a gem. When you have to work a zigzag stitch on your sewing machine for a cut and sew neckline, use a double sewing machine needle. The job’s done in half the time! Best wishes, Grace in Stockport

One direction

Dear Anne

Have you a magic trick up your sleeve for getting needles back to working position from holding position. I don’t mean upper working, when you can set the carriage but from right out to right back. It’s such a fiddle doing it all one by one and please don’t say use a treble or 7-prong tool. Dropsy is my middle name and I can never get more than one safely back from the transfer tool, so it has to be one at a time. Thanks for any help, Sheila in Walsall

Thanks for writing Sheila and it won’t work every time, but try this if the pattern allows. It’s especially useful when we’ve pushed all needles to holding position to knit one side of the neck and need them all back in work to knit the other side. Reset the pattern card if necessary. Push the needles in hold to upper working position and knit one row across using a spare piece of yarn or the ravel cord. It’s a simple matter to pull out the cord and unpick the stitches. We now have the needles in working position, the carriage is on the correct side for knitting and the pattern is also memorised at the same time.

Chill out

Hello Anne

I hope this email finds you fit and well and thank you for the mention in the March edition of MKM. It’s brilliant of you and thanks also for the article on full needle ribs. I’m as indecisive as ever and know I’ll just have to try to do them. In the meantime, I’ve been asked to knit some mittens for children. It’s many years since I’ve done mittens and I can’t fully remember how the thumb was done. All the patterns now seem to be for hand knitting so is there any way you could help me again, please? Keep up the good work and many, many thanks, Marilyn

We surprised ourselves, Marilyn at just how long ago we may have published a straightforward pattern for children’s mittens, so here’s a stash box knit. Knit them on any standard gauge machine with a ribber or work ribs in mock rib. You’ll need an oddment of 3-ply wool or fine 4-ply plus safety pins and stitch holders. The tension is fairly tight, to keep the child’s hands nice and warm.

Measurements Length 16 [17.5, 19] cm, 6½ [7, 7½] in.

Tension 30 stitches and 44 rows to 10 cm, 4 in measured over stocking stitch with tension dial around 5.

RIGHT MITTEN With carriage at right and using MY, cast on 36 [40, 44] sts at centre of machine in 1×1 rib. K 5 tubular rows. Carriage is at right. Set machine for 1×1 rib knitting. Set RC at 000. Using MT-3/MT-3, K 24 rows. Transfer sts for st st. Set RC at 000. Using MT, K 2 rows. Shape sides by inc 1 st (2 sts in) at each end on next and every foll 4th row until there are 44 [48, 52] sts. K 3 rows. K 1 row extra for Left Mitten *.

** Thumb opening Using a length of WY, K 7 [8, 9] sts at extreme left as for a buttonhole. K 20 [24, 28] rows. Shape top Push 22 [24, 26] Ns at left to HP. Cont on rem sts. When shaping in HP, always take yarn round first inside N in HP to prevent a hole forming and push 1 N at opposite end to carriage to HP on next 10 [12, 14] rows. Break off yarn. Push Ns to HP. With carriage at left, push 22 [24, 26] Ns at left from HP to UWP. Push 1 N at opposite end to carriage to HP on next 10 [12, 14] rows. Break off yarn. Push all Ns from HP to UWP. K 1 row. Slip sts onto 2 stitch holders and graft. THUMB Place 7 [8, 9] st loops from thumb opening on 2 safety pins. Push 15 [17, 19] Ns to WP. With P side facing, replace sts from safety pins on to 7 [8, 9] Ns at each edge and pick up 1 st at centre. Using MY, K 18 [20, 22] rows. Break off yarn, leaving long end. Thread end through sts, release from machine, draw up sts and secure **.

LEFT MITTEN Work as for Right Mitten to * noting alteration in number of rows worked, then from ** to ** reversing shaping by reading right for left. Join side and thumb seams. Press.

Size right

Size right

Hi Anne

I wonder if you can help me, I received my April copy today thank you, which I ordered for the fingerless glove pattern but I am very disappointed that there is no size guide for the pattern. There are four sizes listed, but nothing to say which size refers to what. Is the first size for a child, then teenage, ladies and then for a man maybe? Or is there a rough hand width and length you could suggest please. Thanks, Diana

Thanks for asking Diana and all you need to do is divide the 55 [60, 64, 70] stitches after the rib by 7, the average 4-ply tension to 1 inch or 2.5 cm. Without worrying too much about making up stitches and so on, this gives 7¾ [8½, 9¼, 10] inches or 19.5 [21.5, 23.5, 25.5] cm. The sizes therefore span roughly the hand size from a small woman to a large man.

March 2021 update

Dear Readers

Welcome to the 35th birthday issue of MKM and you’ll find articles and designs from many popular names in machine knitting, all doing our best to fly the flag for our craft. We’ve some lovely designs from Anne Baker, Sue Booth, Heidi Cleary, Susan Guagliumi, Bill King and Nina Miklin, along with the start of a great project for our toy box. Iris Rowe has designed and knitted a Noah’s Ark, with Mr and Mrs Noah to keep the menagerie of animals in order. It’s been a huge undertaking and all the little ones will love it.

I’ve recently had a great conversation with one of our subscribers. She runs a care home in West Yorkshire and as a Christmas ‘thank you’, she knitted cardigans for all her staff. She started by hand knitting the ribs, then whizzed through the stocking stitch on her LK-150, using a pattern from the magazine. Everything was fine, except for one member of staff whose size needed more stitches across the Back than the number of needles available. First we’d a short discussion about knitting the ribs first, or at the end and she always knits them first. She then puts the stitches onto the machine, but this time she decided to insert a panel to make the Back wider, so she hand knitted more stitches for the larger size. Using the normal DK tension, 15 extra stitches gave her three much-needed inches. To knit the Left Back and then the Right Back, she picked up stitches starting at each end and added an extra stitch at the centre for making up. When it came to knitting the panel, she replaced the stitches to use the purl side as the right side. Having added an extra stitch at each edge for making up, she mattress stitched the panel in place. She used a lovely heathery shade and it looked like a gorgeous design feature, because you simply couldn’t tell it had been inserted. It’s a lovely idea to pass on, instead of knitting a more usual back in two halves, with a centre seam or adding a chunk of extra stitches at the sides.

My giggle of the month came from another subscriber living in Cheshire, who asked how I was coping with Tier 4 lockdown in the south. My usual reply is that the drawbridge was raised and the portcullis lowered a year ago but, following on from his suggestion, I’ll make sure I don’t overfeed the crocodiles swimming around the moat! Machine Knitting Monthly has the most amazing readers and each one of you has played a vital role in keeping the magazine alive. My very sincere thanks to you all, for your enduring help and support over the years; I simply couldn’t do it without you. Knit happy!

NEXT ISSUE

May 2021

Subscription copies sent out Thursday 1st April

On sale Thursday 8th April

Ask your newsagent to reserve a copy or order a subscription today

March 2021 (Issue 278)

We’re pleased to let all our readers know that the March magazine has been mailed out to subscribers and is officially on sale on Thursday, 11th February.

February 2021 update

Dear Readers

I’ve been glad of a few extra layers this month to keep snug and warm and hopefully the weather will soon improve, so we can all look forward to Spring. I write this letter to you in January and we’ve just had the first snowfall of the winter. It doesn’t snow much in the south-east and our temperatures are well below freezing. The snowman the kids next door made at the weekend is still standing and looking pristine. It’s definitely been the time to bring out my chunky knits and we’ve a couple of nice designs this month, as well.

I still hugely enjoy machine knitting and putting the magazine together and I’m especially proud of the fabulous line-up of designers we have this month. They include Alison Dupernex, Susan Guagliumi and Nina Miklin plus, of course, our own amazing Bill King! Between them they offer so much to machine knitters and if you do nothing else, please check out their websites. You’ll find them at https://alisondupernex.co.uk as well as https://guagliumi.com and www.exclusiveyarns.co.uk There’s a wealth of knowledge and expertise at your fingertips, all offered freely. If you get in touch with Nina and mention the magazine, she’ll always have a special offer to tempt you.

Another knitter who needs more than a passing mention is Sally Butcher, known to many of you for her Facebook page. Her letter is in Dear Anne this month, where she shares her method of casting on with a nylon cord on the LK-150. As users will know, this machine has no sinker posts so there’s nothing to hook the nylon cord round for a quick and easy cast on. Sally has worked out what to do and how to do it and neither of us knows of any previous mention of the method. We think, therefore, it’s a first and how generous of her to share it with us. Sally gives masses of free help and advice, so check out her video demonstration on her Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/kalamundakrafts She also has a variety of videos showing techniques on the SK280, LK150 and SK155 Silver Reed machines. She’s just started transferring some of them to YouTube and she’ll be re-making several of the older videos, for better clarity. The link is https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSDxy6pQHAs4gd5XBztYWmw and you need to look for Sally Butcher’s Kalamunda Krafts Machine Knitting.

Last but not least I say it each year but do please join me next month, as each one of us can take personal pride in celebrating the 35th birthday of MKM. We’ve kept our craft going for all these years and it’s a huge achievement, for which we should all be immensely proud. Knit happy, Anne

NEXT ISSUE – April 2021, our 35th birthday magazine

Subscription copies sent out Thursday 4th March

On sale Thursday 11th March

Ask your newsagent to reserve a copy or take out a subscription NOW!

January 2021 update

Dear Readers

I know we’re all getting older, but where did last year go? None of us could ever have anticipated the last twelve months, but some good things did happen and I’ll start by passing on a bit of gossip. You’ll all recognise the name Fay Butcher, as she’s our Passap guru. I’m certain though, you won’t know that back home in Australia she’s rather good at golf. In fact, she won the Gold Medal at her club last October. Not only that, she became the oldest player, either male or female, at the club to achieve this. She’s also keeping it in the family, as her mother won the same Gold Medal in 1973 and they must surely be the only mother-and-daughter combination to have achieved this accolade? To win the medal, you have to qualify and every month a Club Medal is won in Grade A, B and C. At the end of the year, all winners of the Club Medal play for the Gold Medal. The best nett score for the day wins over the field, with no grades. Fay tells me she did break her handicap, but was more pleased that her score held up sufficiently well to win. So there! In Fay’s words, not mine: “There’s life in the ‘old dog’ yet”.

            We start 2021 with a new online publication for machine knitters. I had a long chat recently with Alison Peck, who has remained a friend since we met as fellow Directors at the Guild of Machine Knitters (GMK). Back then, as well as a quarterly newsletter, members had an online publication called Beyond the Gatepegs. When the GMK merged with the Knitting & Crochet Guild (KCG), everyone’s membership was transferred free for a year. If yours has lapsed, you may not know about Across the Needlebed, which is freely available to all members three or four times a year. The aim is to include articles, a bit of news about the machine knitting world and other items of interest, perhaps with a bit of show-and-tell. If you already use social media, it could be another way of sharing your knowledge and ideas, as well as showing others the things you’ve made. It’s not an alternative to Slipknot, but will complement it by publishing more in-depth articles and highlighting items of special interest to machine knitters.

            The first issue looks at using a hand-knitting pattern on a machine and knitting with a Brother KH260. There’s an article on charting devices, alongside a discussion on who would want a Passap/Pfaff, especially an E6000. (Fay Butcher, of course!) A raglan cardigan pattern for a 6-month-old baby is also included. Members can access the new publication via the pull-down menu on the Members’ Area of the website. We must give Alison and the KCG our full support. Non-members will find a taster at https://kcguild.org.uk and perhaps it’s time to renew your membership?

You all know by now that this issue is printed before Christmas, to go out at the beginning of January. There’s not a mince pie in sight so I need to turn myself into a domestic goddess, but not before sending you my very best wishes and hopes for a happy and a healthy New Year.

NEXT ISSUE

March 2021

Subscription copies sent out Thursday 4th February

On sale Thursday 11th February

Ask your newsagent to reserve a copy or order a subscription now

February 2021 (Issue 277)

We’re pleased to let all our readers know that the February magazine was mailed out to subscribers last week and is officially on sale on Thursday, 14th January.