2022

Anne writes:-

Having spoken with his widow Janet, I’m letting you all know that Frank Dineen has passed away peacefully at the age of 90 years. Frank had a wide circle of friends and acquaintances, so Jan has asked me to help her spread the news of his passing to as many of you as possible.

Frank was especially known to us for launching the Guild of Machine Knitters in March 1998. By doing so, he hoped to ensure the preservation and growth of our craft and his initial aims were to:-

1. Increase the awareness of machine knitting as a craft.

2. Provide help and encouragement to all knitters, whatever their level of ability.

3. Encourage and maintain a high standard of craftsmanship.

4. Encourage young people to take up our craft.

5. Foster these aims for individual knitters by awarding certificates of quality.

6. Organise the Guild’s own shows and exhibitions.

7. Liaise with manufacturers and suppliers, to ensure that we all worked together for the greater good of our craft.

8. Foster links between UK knitters and those overseas.

9. Promote greater media awareness.

By doing all these things and more, it was Frank’s hope that we’d strengthen the bonds between clubs, individual knitters, manufacturers and suppliers to the overall benefit of machine knitting. Membership was open to all with an interest in our craft including knitters, designers, suppliers, manufacturers and journalists – all working together for the future of our craft.

FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS

For those who would wish to know and attend, here are the details for his funeral.

His service will be held in the afternoon of Friday 2nd September at 1.00 pm at The Oaks Havant Crematorium. It’s on the outskirts of Havant in Bartons Road, just past the entrance to the Spire Portsmouth Hospital. For full details and directions by road, visit www.havantcrematorium.co.uk

For those using public transport, Havant train station is 1.7 miles away.

The funeral directors are The Co-operative Funeralcare at 96 Bedhampton Road, Bedhampton, Havant, Hampshire PO9 3EZ. Their telephone number is 02392-453549.

Jan has requested no flowers please. However, Frank had a lifelong love of birds and animals and an enduring love for greyhounds. Jan has asked that any donations in his memory should please be made to Greyhound Lifeline. For more details, please call The Co-operative Funeralcare on 02392-453549.

Frank’s funeral will mark his passing and if you’d like to attend his service, please join Jan in wearing bright colours as a celebration of his life.

Dear Readers

Last month’s heatwave in the south increased to a ‘fry-up’ this month, as our local temperatures hit 40C degrees. It’s been too hot to even potter in the garden, so spare a thought for me juggling press invitations to view Christmas goodies! It’s part of the joy of having to work so far ahead, but made me bring thoughts of autumn into the magazine.

I love the colours of our cover design and I’m blown away by Alison Dupernex’s Fair Isle cardigan on Page 32. One thing Alison chooses to do for us is cut down, from her original pattern, the amount of colours she uses. You’ll see this clearly comparing the photo of her cardigan on Page 32, then the modification on Page 35. Do head for your stash, pull out any suitable shades and enjoy making your own modifications to the colourway. You’ll have a huge amount of fun and create your own unique garment. When it’s finished, please take a photo to share with us all and that’s what reader Alex Raw has done. He started with a design from September 2009 and made it his own. He’ll be sharing it with us in the magazine soon and I hope it encourages more of you to ‘do your own thing’.

There are many lovely yarns around now and the new cake yarns are our best friend. The shape looks just as if we’ve pulled it from a wool winder. The cake sits behind the machine and the yarn pulls from the centre to thread straight through the tension mast. We also don’t need a pattern! Something plain will do, then add loads of colour and interest to stocking stitch. I promise you won’t be disappointed. I also hope you’ll enjoy this month’s Techniques feature on Page 52. Yes, we can all read a manual but how many of us gallop off at top speed, before falling flat on our faces. Of all the problems machine knitters face, using a cast-off linker comes top of the list, so I hope you’ll be persuaded to have another go.

Finally, I’ve a new book to mention from Crowood Press in their Knitting Techniques series. It’s again for hand knitters, this time breaking down the construction and process of knitting socks. I know many machine knitters want to knit them, but struggle to fully understand what to do. Socks by Rita Taylor (ISBN 978-0-71984-062-3) costs £9.99 and shows us how to knit comfortable, neat and perfectly fitting socks. If, on the other hand, you’d love someone to work it all out for you, head for Beverley Ward’s Etsy shop. Her sock pattern costs £4.80 and the instructions are suitable for all standard gauge knitting machines with a ribber including Silver Reed and Knitmaster, Brother and Toyota. It’s available as an instant download at www.etsy.com/uk/listing/852358165/machine-knitting-sock-pattern

Until next month, knit happy!

NEXT ISSUE October 2022

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Dear Readers

It’s been another busy month, as you’ll know if you tried to call me when we’d to make a quick trip to Scotland. (Is a round trip of over 1000 miles by car ever quick these days?) There wasn’t too much of a problem, just the family support we’re all pleased to have as we get older. Our garden fried in temperatures of 37C, whilst I shivered in 14C degrees with rain pounding down. I was glad of the extra layers I’d taken, along with a cardi or two and it brought back memories (with a wry smile!) of how we change over the years. The evening before we left there was a ‘prom bash’ at the hotel and fortunately the rain held off until all the selfies had been taken. Big party, huge dresses and stretched cars spilling out their squealing passengers. Hours had been spent perfecting hair, make-up, eyelashes and nails. Glasses were overflowing and they were (of course!) the first generation to strut their stuff as teenagers. I giggled, Lafferty fashion, as I watched them. Back then, I’m sure we could all hobble a bit better in our three inch stilettos, but perhaps not?! The next morning all traces of the party were whisked away, as the room was transformed for a wedding. With everyone frantically searching their phone for a positive weather app, we started our trek south.

Back safely at home, I’d two lovely books to read and both have been published by Crowood Press in their Knitting Techniques series. The first is Patchwork Knitting by Fiona Morris (ISBN 978-1-78500-979-2). Fiona guides us through the essential techniques of creating individual units of knitting and joining as you go. The second is Entrelac by Molly Brown (ISBN 978-1-78500-983-9). Molly explains how to produce intriguing knitted pieces with a woven look. Both books are for hand knitters, a handy size (172 x 242 mm) and affordable paperbacks at £9.99.

You might wonder why I’ve mentioned this and the reason is that it’s brought back memories of Beryl Jarvis, who died in August 2016. She wrote about knitting entrelac on a machine and set out to make her Info Sheets affordable information on lots of machine-knitting subjects. It seems the right time to make them available to you all. It was a quite different approach to her teaching series, so I’ll start working on them now. As Anne Croucher says in Dear Anne: “There are so many things we used to do ‘in the old days’ which seem to have been forgotten about, with some more complicated technique now used”. If there’s any topic you’d like explained in simple terms, do please ask and look out for this new series in the not-too-distant future. Until next month, knit happy!

NEXT ISSUE September 2022

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Dear Readers

One way or another there’s been lots going on this month and my first mention has to be the time, effort and energy my friend Irene Krieger is devoting to raising funds to fight a special type of cancer. Each week I speak to many of you, either having to overcome problems of one sort or another or losing your nearest and dearest. As you’ll read on Page 10, Irene’s story is remarkable and if you’ve access to a computer, please visit her website at https://beads4research.com/. I so wish I still had her as a Passap designer, but hugely admire the wonderful work she’s doing for such a worthy cause. To put life and its troubles in perspective, I’ve never forgotten something Irene said years ago: “A brain surgeon looks the same as a labourer when they’re in T-shirt and shorts, lining up for the toilet”. It may make you smile, too, when you’re struggling to get by.

Bill King isn’t a brain surgeon, but he has to be our ‘boy wonder’ this month. No electronics, no patterning devices, just a couple of basic tools… and a steady hand, of course! We’ve included his photos and it somehow brings the knitting to life, in much the same way that Susan Guagliumi shows us how to manipulate stitches. This month Alison Dupernex shares the second of her trio of designs using slip stitch. It’s a much neglected technique but if you’d like to learn and use it more, there’s a substantial section devoted to it in her book Machine Knitting: Designing With Colour. Machine knitting has some real stars and it’s such a joy to share their incredible knowledge in the magazine.

One thing that’s surprised me a little is the struggle many of you have had to understand the diagrams in last month’s Show & Tell. We routinely insert a card in the machine, lock it on Row 1 and release it when we’re ready to knit the pattern. It often doesn’t matter if our knitting isn’t quite in the centre of the machine, but once in a while it’s vital and this is one such time. To help many readers, I’ve written out in words what you have to do to knit last month’s tuck stitch edgings and it’s on Page 13.

Finally, with no fuss and few words, I’m letting you know that a very dear friend, for more years than I can remember, has died. His wife Freda called to tell me that Dennis Wright, champion of circular sock machines, has passed away. He asked me for no fuss in the magazine so, to respect his wishes, I’ll quietly say: “Rest in peace, Dennis, I’ll miss you”. Until next month, let’s hope the sun will have his hat on!

NEXT ISSUE August 2022

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