Our full-colour November issue was mailed out to subscribers on 3rd October. We’ve a gorgeous chunky sweater on the cover for Silver Reed LK-150 and chunky machines plus a similar jacket design and the usual mix of over 12 designs for all machines including Passap. Don’t forget we include details for converting our patterns for knitting on standard gauge machines. Claire Newberry reviews the new DesignaKnit 9, with upgrade details at www.softbyte.co.uk and Sally-Ann Carroll checks out the new autumnal prints and hopes you and your knits are feeling square! Bill King shows us a new twist for this season’s favourite fashion look and we highlight some amazing fibre art Carole Redlich has produced on her Passap. (Check out http://www.caroleredlich.com.au). We always include news, books and fashion plus great reader savings on new craft books from Search Press.
Saturday 28thSeptember is the opening date of a one-off retrospective exhibition of exquisite embroidery art by Royal Academy artist Teresa Forrest, who is now a resident in Stratton Village in Cirencester.
Teresa’s works have been hung twice in the Royal Academy in 2012. There will be over 30 pieces on show during the week-long exhibition.
A skyline scene called Oxford at Dawn will be for sale via silent auction during the exhibition and any donations given with the profit from the auction will go to the scholarship fund at Blackheath High School in London, setup by Teresa and her husband Jack in memory of their late daughter.
Anne Baker’s Karabee Design on the cover is perfect for the new season and we’ve the usual mix of designs for all machines including Passap. DesignaKnit 9 has just been officially launched and it’s the biggest upgrade we’ve known, so we bring you two pages with masses of details. We’ve a special feature on colour and style for crafters and it’s time to embrace the brand-new season and introduce your knits to all the new shades and trends says Sally-Ann Carroll. Bill King returns to one of his favourite stitches this month and shows us some of the endless possibilities. Fay Butcher guides us through reversible Fair Isle for Duomatic and E6000 machines and in Part 3 of our new series we look at using a colour changer with multi-coloured Fair Isle patterns. Joan Lafferty talks about pockets, with step-by-step instructions and photos for knitting one. We always include news, books and fashion plus great reader savings on new craft books from Search Press.
This year’s Great London Yarn Crawl (GLYC) takes place from 1st to 8th September 2019
This year’s edition of the Great London Yarn Crawl will be a little different. The week-long event will allow participants to choose their own routes and shop combinations and to spread their visits over multiple days, extending the yarn-y celebration! The fantastic shops involved in this year’s GLYC have come up with some special offers and events for September. Participants must present their GLYC passports to take advantage of any shop offers!
Refuge says: “Part of our goal in putting on The Great London Yarn Crawl in the autumn is to give back to the community. There are a couple of ways we see that happening. The first is by bringing together knitters, crocheters, spinners and weavers and giving them an opportunity to explore new shops and make new friends. The second is by donating to a local charity, specifically one devoted to helping women and children. As both of us are women with children, supporting organisations that help those in need is an important thing for us. After researching the various London-based women-focused charities around, we decided that a portion of the proceeds from The Great London Yarn Crawl event will be donated to Refuge.
In their own words: “Refuge opened the world’s first safe house for women and children escaping domestic violence, in West London, in 1971. Since then we have grown to become the country’s largest single provider of specialist domestic violence services. On any given day our national network of services support over 2,000 women and children. Our life-saving and life-changing services empower women to rebuild their lives, and support children to overcome their traumatic experiences. Refuge is facing unprecedented financial pressure – which is why we need support more than ever before. Thank you to all at Yarn in the City: The Great London Yarn Crawl for your continued support. For more information visit www.refuge.org.uk.”
I thought I’d send you the sock pattern our
club has been using. We’re making socks, hats, bonnets and cardigans for our
local SCBU. I’ve enjoyed knitting tiny garments and all the nurses are so
grateful. The socks are a big hit, as they stay on! I use 4-ply acrylic and
find it washes well in hot water. Seeing the pattern for the prem baby cardigan
in the April issue, gave me the push to drop you a line. Thank you so much to
Phoebe for sharing your pattern with us all. Yours sincerely, Dorothy
Four
ply baby’s sock
Using MY and Tension 0, cast on 15 sts at left and right of centre 0 in 1×1 rib. Set RC at 000. Using Tension 1, K 10 rows in rib. Transfer sts for stocking stitch. Set RC at 000. Using Tension 6, K 10 rows. * Push 15 Ns at left to HP and cont on rem 15 sts at right. Push 1 N to HP at same side as carriage on next 10 rows. 5 sts rem in WP in centre. Push 1 N back to UWP at same side as carriage on next 10 rows *. Cancel hold and with all Ns knitting, K 12 rows. Rep from * to * once more then using WY, K a few rows and release from machine. Unravelling WY as required, graft toe stitches.
You might like to know that if you double up all the stitches and rows in the baby’s sock pattern, it makes bed socks for the elderly in care!
I’ve fallen in love all over again with a knitting machine. A while back I introduced our grand-daughter to a toy model and each time she comes, she slings it under her arm to do some knitting. A short time ago she asked if this was the machine I knitted on. I’ve been really interested by your recent letters about tension dial settings and wondered what yarn thickness we could push through a Silver Reed LK-150. Here was an opportunity!
My machine was in pristine condition in its box, so my grand-daughter and I went on a voyage of discovery. I set it up, whilst she rummaged through my yarn stash. Out came a ‘cake’ of multi-coloured King Cole Carousel DK, with an instant request for a new scarf and hat. With barely time to do some basic maths, I’d cast on 92 stitches in 2×1 rib and we’d knitted the turn-back brim on Tension 3 with the top on 5. I made the hem, changed to stocking stitch on Tension 5 and 70 rows later we’d made a hat. The remaining yarn in the cake gave us 282 rows for a scarf. With ends pulled in on a bodkin and the hat seam sewn, the set was ready for school and she was eager to knit a scarf for daddy. One 200 gram cake of King Cole Carousel Chunky over 49 stitches on Tension 10, with the top still on 5, knitted 262 rows and made a scarf five feet long. The yarn is a lovely blend of 70% Premium Acrylic, 30% Wool and beautifully soft.
For anyone with doubts, my machine knits from a standard hand knitting tension of 5 stitches and 7 rows to an inch around Tension 3, to the classic chunky tension of 7 stitches and 10 rows to two inches at Tension 10. What more could any machine knitter ask for? In all truth I panicked at first with the chunky yarn and set off for some ribber weights, convinced that the slightly ‘hairy’ texture of the yarn would clog up the needles. Oh ye of little faith! The carriage took it all in its stride. Apart from me casting on with waste yarn, my grand-daughter stood between my legs with a hand at each side of the carriage and knitted all 262 rows. Yes, it’s basic beyond belief compared to punchcard, electronic or Passap machines – but it’s an absolute joy. Beautifully textured hand-knitting yarns slide through with ease. Complete with accessories, what more could any standard gauge knitter want than this absolute treasure?
When the Silver Reed LK-150 was first launched my first reaction, which remained ingrained for far too long, was that it ‘wasn’t proper machine knitting’. Since then I’ve eaten my words many times; it’s an absolute gem. Incredibly light to use and with nice big needles we can see easily, it sure packs a punch! If you’re asked what you’d like for Christmas this year, start an LK-150 slush fund and ask for contributions. I promise you’ll have hours of fun and rediscover the joy of machine knitting. Until next time, start saving and knit happy!
NEXT ISSUE
December 2019
Subscription copies sent out Thursday 7th November
On sale Thursday 14th November
Order a subscription now and it will be delivered straight to your door.
Our cover design is a cross-over top in King Cole Opium, with a similar short-sleeved top in a large size range. We’ve a selection of twelve designs including two versatile Phyllis Moran patterns for Passap machines and we include details for converting mid gauge and chunky patterns for standard gauge machines. Denim makes the perfect season stretcher and will instantly update your favourite knit says Sally-Ann Carroll and Bill King shows us how the slip stitch setting has lots of potential for creativity. Fay Butcher is our new Passap contributor and this month she passes on another trick to help all knitters and Karin Rogalski creates a fabulous lounge lizard, as the finale in her mini-series showing us how to knit toy scarves. Claire Newberry shows us how to design a motif and put it into a repeat in DesignaKnit and we’ve Part 2 of our series on Colour Changers, looking at attachments that may never have come out of their box. We always include news, books and fashion plus great reader savings on new craft books from Search Press.
It’s competition time and we’ve some exciting news to share with you all.
From the 31st July to the 2nd September King Cole is running a competition using its Raffia yarn. There’s a prize each for the UK, the USA and ROW worth £50 – three prize packs in total.
The competition is being run through Facebook and Instagram with entries being submitted via these platforms. However if you know of anyone who would like to enter who doesn’t have access to these platforms please send all entries to roland.parker@kingcole.com.
It’s an excellent opportunity to see what the knitting community can produce with this quirky yarn and how countries differ in their submissions. King Cole can be found on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
Most of the punchcards that come with the colour changer are
ready for Fair Isle. I find it’s useful to remember that if you think you might
want to use an ordinary Fair Isle card with the colour changer, it saves a lot
of hassle if you punch another card in reverse. If you want to use a reversed
card for normal Fair Isle, you need to swap
the main and contrast yarns over in the ordinary sinker plate. I’m a punchcard
knitter but yes, I do know that on electronic machines you just have to use the
colour reverse lever to make a Fair Isle
pattern suitable for using with the colour changer. Best wishes, Lisa
I’ve just had fun and games using my colour changer for the
first time in years. So, here’s a tip if you’re working with three colours rather
than four. I left the fourth roller empty and accidentally pressed the button
by mistake. With no yarn in it every single stitch dropped, so you can imagine
the language! Now I’ll always thread it up with yarn. However, it needs to be a
strong contrast or, as I did first time, you’ll knit away in the wrong colour!
I now always thread it up with a colour such as black against pale shades, so I
notice at once if I select the wrong feed accidentally. My theory is that it’s much
better to unpick a wrong colour, instead of having all the dratted knitting
falling off the machine. I’m now a little older and wiser! Kind regards, Margaret
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