May 2021 (Issue 280)

We’re pleased to let all our readers know that the May magazine has been mailed out to subscribers and is officially on sale on Thursday, 8th April.

Sewing Street

Sewing Street will be launching Bobbi Heath’s Making Felt Hats on Wednesday 31st March at 10.00 am. The book will be available exclusively through Sewing Street until 7th April 2021.

Watch the launch on Freeview 72, Sky 670, online or on YouTube.

Pre-order

Making Felt Hats

ISBN 9781782218265

RRP £9.99

Available 7th April 2021

 www.searchpress.com

So easy

Dear Anne

Here’s my quick and easy hat to go in the shoe boxes. Just knit a strip of ribbing, seam down the long edge, fold it in half width-ways, gather the top edges together and finish with a bobble or a cord wound round in a circle to make a flat disc. Make it nice and long and you’ve a chunk to fold back for a brim. Change colour halfway or knit stripes, finish it off with the cord disc then turn it inside out to make two different coloured hats in one. Best wishes, Joan in Edinburgh

On-line workshop

Scottish Machine Knitters Association workshops have moved online and are now open to everyone. The next is on Saturday 24th April, starting at 7.00 pm. You’ll learn to knit ‘bargello-style’ and the workshop is for all machines with an intarsia facility. The technique uses the intarsia function and due to time restraints, you’ll design the fabric then make the front of a cushion pad. Payment is £8.50 (£5.50 for members) with PayPal, or slightly less for BACS payments. The cut-off date is 17th April and you’ll find full details at www.scottishmachineknitters.org.uk

Beverley Ward’s new shop

Beverley has written a circular sock pattern, which can be knitted on any standard gauge machine with a ribber.  It all started when she wanted to knit some socks to wear with her walking boots. She looked around for some to buy, but couldn’t find any she liked.  A friend had been on a course to knit socks on an old-fashioned sock machine, so she tried to buy one – until she saw the price of them!  This got her thinking that she must be able to knit socks on her knitting machine using the circular knitting setting.  It was important not to have a seam down the main part of the leg and she worked out how to do it. She’s uploaded the pattern to her Etsy shop, as she thought others might want to knit them as well.  You can see from the photos that she went mad, knitted loads of pairs and here’s the link.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/852358165/machine-knitting-sock-pattern

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.