Dear Anne
I’m a very lapsed machine knitter, trying to get going again. I knitted like crazy back in the 90s, then sold everything when I had to go back to work full time. I recently saw an old Knitmaster machine propped up in a corner of my local charity shop. They were pleased to see me looking at it and said a small donation would be fine, so I bought it. (I think they just wanted to get rid of it all!) There’s a machine and ribber, with lots of bits and pieces. I’m trying to get going again and it all seems to be here, but there’s no close knit bar. Should I have one and what does it look like? If I find it, what do I do with it? I’d be pleased for some help. Yours sincerely, Sheila
Welcome back to the fold, Sheila and a close knit bar is a long, thin piece of plastic. When a ribber is bought new, it’s often attached to the packing and more often than not, thrown away by mistake. Let’s suppose we’re using a 3-ply or 4-ply yarn and knitting on both beds, with cast on comb and weights attached. As the carriages are taken across, needles come forward and stitches are formed with no problem. If we use a 2-ply or finer yarn, the weight needed on the cast on comb can make it tight for needles go in the carriages at the right angle and stitches don’t knit off cleanly. Increasing the tension often gives us a fabric that’s too loose. If we push the close knit bar under the main bed needles, it lifts them very slightly. So, as the carriages are taken across, the needles are in the correct position to knit cleanly off the needles. When we’re using fine yarn, if some of the stitches stay on top of the needles, it’s a sure sign we need the close knit bar in place. A separate swatch is needed, as the tension will be different with and without the bar. Also, when we’ve finished knitting, the close knit bar must be removed. It shouldn’t be kept in position for all knitting. The bar lifts the needles to accommodate fine yarn, so it does the carriage no good to use it unless necessary. Spares are available for old Knitmaster machines and close knit bars aren’t expensive. Go to any dealer and we also have them in Mini Mart.
