Letters

Dear Anne

I have a question for you. Whether you are knitting a ‘V’ neck or a round neck, we are often told to shape by tension. You have to decrease the stitch size as you work towards the fold line, knit the fold line at MT+1, +2 or even +3 and then increase the tension for the other half of the band. But, if you think about it, you know that a neckband ought to pull in the neck opening slightly. So when I come to the fold line, I knit at least one whole stitch size tighter at MT-1, not looser at MT+1. Surely it makes sense doesn’t it? A permanently tight fold line? Once the neckband is sewn in place, I thread a nylon cord through it and pull rather tightly. Again, it pulls the neckband in, to sit nicely around the neck. I steam it lightly and it stays pulled in. I take the cord out when the garment is quite dry. As I said, it’s just a thought! Kind regards, Phyllis

Dear Anne

I’ve come back to machine knitting after very many years. I was surprised to find out that all the magazines I remember for machine knitting have disappeared. I was even more surprised to see patterns in MKM for something you call ‘mid gauge machines’. I have Brother 838, 881 and 950i, so are they mid gauge? In between times I’ve been hand knitting and I’ve loads of double knitting, so can I use it? Best regards, Maureen

Thanks for asking and all your Brother machines are standard gauge models. You can knit soft DK yarn at high tensions (Tension Dial 10+) on standard gauge machines and low tensions on chunky machines (Tension Dial down at 1 or 2). Mid gauge machines are absolutely ideal for this weight of yarn. Whilst we’ve all been beavering away, often on our obsolete machines, a new generation of knitters has become hooked on machine knitting. The LK150 has been marketed as the ideal machine for hand knitters who would like to try out machine knitting for the first time. It knits yarns from DK to super thick weight over 150 needles with manual needle selection. To make a start, I suggest you clean your Brother machines, replace the sponge bars and buy a cone or two of decent quality 4-ply. Get back into the swing of machine knitting and then discover how much tolerance you have at the top end of the tension dial range. You may be surprised at the all-round performance of an old steel bed machine.

Hi Anne

When we’re knitting Fair Isle, we have to do something with long floats and hooking them up is convenient. I always use a tip from years ago to hook the float on a needle above it, putting it on a stitch of the same colour. So, if the float is in the second colour and it’s red, put it on a needle with a red stitch on it. It then stops any ‘show through’ of the first colour! Kind regards, Lynne

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.

Dear Anne

No names please, for obvious reasons! As you well know I’ve a rather ‘picky’ daughter-in-law. It’s fine, we get along very well and I know my place. She’s ‘wonder woman’ and I never quite make it! However… can you believe I’m now knitting like crazy for her? What’s happened? I’m making the coat hanger covers from an old Stash Box. When she dropped the kids off, I was doing some ironing – you know, the funny thing we ‘oldies’ still do! I had some things hanging up on my padded hangers and she spotted them straight away. She wondered where I bought them and I told her I made them. When she came to collect the ‘holy horrors’ (love them to bits, but they can be a handful!), she gave me a tin of rather nice biscuits and asked if I’d make some for her. Well I was never going to refuse, was I? So I seem to be on a mission to replace every hanger in her wardrobe. Remind readers about them Anne, as they do look lovely and work a treat for keeping things in place. They also stop ‘pointy bits’ forming at the shoulders. Keep going Anne and I’m so sorry to hear about Sally-Ann. You’ll miss her a lot – well, we all will. I loved her pages and how she kept us ‘bang on trend’. Best wishes to one and all.

Hi Anne

Please pass onto newbies that whatever a pattern says, always decrease for the point at the front on a ‘V’ neck on every row to the fold line. Especially if you’re knitting in a pattern with horizontal lines. After the fold line, increase on every row for the other half of the band. If the shaping is done on the second stitch from the edge, the mattress stitch join using half the stitch from each side gives the finished appearance of one central stitch. Bye for now, Yvonne

Hi Anne I wonder if you’d like me to pass on this golden oldie for the newbies. There’s a well-trodden way to deal with the mess we can get into when trying to knit intarsia patterns in lots of colours. Stretch a piece of nylon cord or string between the legs of the knitting table and tie it securely at each end. Now peg some small plastic bags on it, in the same way you’d hang out the washing. Make sure you just peg it at the back, so the top of the bag stays open. (Envelopes will do, but it’s best to see the colour through the plastic.) Using a wool winder, wind the contrast yarn to be used into small balls. Drop each colour into its bag and you can then pull the yarn from the centre of the ball, so it runs smoothly as you use it. Old tricks? You can’t beat ’em, can you! Best wishes, Shelagh

Dear Anne I’ve just come back to knitting after a long gap, so I dug out my old Knitmaster 700 and you’ve one more regular reader! I live on my own and as my husband died a while ago now, I need something to do. You can’t beat a knitting pattern for getting the old grey cells working. Shaping necks and armholes and crossing cables can really be a challenge when there are so many other things going on at once. We’re often told: “Use it or lose it” and what can be better for our brains than following a knitting pattern? What can be better to keep our bodies moving than actually machine knitting a garment? What can be better for our hands and finger joints than putting it all together? I’m just waking up to the fact that there’s more to life than daytime telly! I urge all other readers to keep at it, to keep going. Kind regards, Isabella

Hi there

I am very new to machine knitting and am learning a lot from MKM and the Facebook groups. It was some people on a Facebook group that suggested I write to you. I am writing about the pattern in the June 2024 edition on Page 25. Cream Cracker. I have made my tension square and am ready to start but the instructions for the Back are confusing to me. It says: “Cast on 135 sts in 1×1 rib. (I’m fine with that.) Knit 24 tubular rows. Carriage is at left. Set carriage to 1×1 rib. Knit 1 row. This is completely baffling to me. If someone could explain it I would be most grateful. Kind regards, Ann

Thanks for asking Ann, and perhaps you’d be better knitting a small sample, than trying to imagine it in your head. Whenever we cast on in 1×1 rib, we knit tubular rows to close the edge and give a neat finish. This time, instead of the usual (for me) five rows of tubular, we knit 24 tubular rows. In effect, we’re knitting a ‘hem’ with the look of rib but it doesn’t pull in like rib. The zigzag row is from right to left, 24 passes of the carriage takes us back to the left and the one row of 1×1 ‘closes the hem’ so to speak. The carriage returns to the right, then we transfer for stocking stitch and knit 66 rows. Do please try a small sample and knit happy!

Thanks Anne, I will try it out. Another member of the Facebook group has now told me that she has knitted this pattern and sent me a photo of the hem. I understand the pattern now. Again thanks for your reply. I’m constantly amazed at the willingness of the machine knitting community to help a beginner. I hope I will be able to repay this help one day. Kind regards, Ann