Shut eye

Hi Anne

Shut your eyes and ears please, but this might help another reader. Having just finished carefully punching out a card recently, it then fell on the floor. When I moved to pick it up, it got caught under the metal leg of my chair and was badly creased. However, I saved it with my iron. I carefully used a light and even pressure, with the iron on a cool setting and a piece of paper over the punchcard. It was only the long time I spent punching it that gave me the courage to have a go and it’s been fine in the machine. Keep up the good work. Best wishes, Sue in Maidstone

Black hole

Dear Anne

At the moment I’m knitting a black cardigan and have decided to make horizontal buttonholes. My eyesight isn’t too good, so I experimented with the awkward row where I have to transfer the stitch from Needle 2 to Needle 1, then return both stitches to Needle 2. The next step is the difficult part for me on black wool, lifting the stitch from the first needle over the second stitch to form a new stitch. I’ve found it easier to put Needle 1 of the buttonhole into holding position, take the stitch from Needle 2 and slip it in the hook of Needle 1. All that needs to be done then is to take Needle 1 back into working position to form a new stitch, then transfer this new stitch to Needle 2. It sounds very complicated but it’s much easier to do. Best wishes Rhona in Edinburgh

Weight control

Dear Anne

I use quite a lot of fine yarns and always had difficulty winding ‘half of a large cone’ equally. Now I pop the large cone onto my kitchen scales, halve the number of grams and then wind off until the large cone weighs the smaller number. This way I finish up with two equal cones, give or take an odd bit. It’s also really useful for the lovely patterns we have from Alison Dupernex, when she says ‘about 100g’. At this time in my life I feel really daft, as my scales were always in the kitchen for weighing food, not in my knitting room. To be honest, I bought them ages ago when I was going to slimming club each week and never got the hang of using them properly. Now they’re in my knitting room. I just pop on an empty cone then ‘zero’ the scales to have a really good idea how much of an oddment of yarn is on a cone. Yours sincerely, Margaret (who never did make it to slimmer of the week!)

Slip sliding

Dear Anne

I’ve recently completed a shadow pleated skirt on my Knitmaster 700 and I’d like to pass on a tip which might interest other readers. When I’m putting the pleating back onto the needles, the stitches tend to slide off as I work my way along the needlebed. If I put a loose elastic band around the completed side and move it, say, every five or six needles, the stitches don’t slide off and there’s obviously no damage to the needles. It really helps and I’m sure I can use the technique for other things, too. Best wishes, Chris in Staffordshire

Lighter life

Dear Anne

I’m in my 70s and suffer from arthritis in my hands and back. I now have a Silver Reed LK-150 and this machine has meant I’ve been able to start knitting again. I love the LK-150, as I’ve been unable to knit for several years since the other machines were too heavy. It’s so light and easy to use. I loved the Mint Set pattern for the baby’s cardigan with a hood which you printed in May on Page 37. Like everyone else we’re having to cut back and I used yarn from Aldi. Best wishes, Tricia

TWAM

Hi Anne

If you still have to hand the address of the charity that takes knitting machines, tools and so on, please could you let me have it? Kind regards, Alma

Tools With A Mission (TWAM) is a Christian charity that collects unwanted tools and equipment including knitting machines, sewing machines, yarn and accessories. Items are refurbished and sorted into kits for Sub-Saharan Africa, where TWAM works closely with local grassroots organisations. The head office is at 2 Bailey Close, Hadleigh Road Industrial Estate, Ipswich, Suffolk IP2 0UD. They’re open Monday to Friday from 9.00 am to 4.30 pm, but you must ring first. Their number is 01473-210220 or email post@twam.uk

February 2024 (Issue 313) with Alison Dupernex and Bill King

The cover design on our full-colour February 2024 issue is in a large size range. It’s a comfy round neck sweater and the largest finished measurement is 55½ inches. We’ve our usual mix of patterns and one of the highlights this month is a fabulous Persian Knot jacket in amazing colours from Alison Dupernex. It sits alongside an elegant serape Alison has designed using as many cone ends as you like. Bill King reveals his secret hoard and uncovers some retro-rack gems for us this month and Susan Guagliumi (https://susan-guagliumi.teachable.com/) is our constant help and support. Dee Crew knits some superior mock ribs you’ll not have seen before and Karin Rogalski is helping us keep warm on a budget. Sally-Ann Carroll shows us how to show off our knits to their full potential and our mail order shop is always open. We’ve help and advice in Dear Anne plus news, reviews and club details.

Great news from Craftsy!

When Susan Guagliumi shut down her website, she made arrangements with Craftsy.com to offer some of her most popular patterns on their website, including the carrying case for the LK-150 and other hobby knitting machines. It took a while, but there are now 5 patterns for sale and five FREE patterns available at https://www.craftsy.com/

You don’t need to be a member of Craftsy, just go the website and search for machine knitting patterns. You’ll be directed to the checkout for the free classes, but will not ultimately be charged for them. Enjoy!

To celebrate the patterns being available, Craftsy has also authorised a 30% discount on all three of Susan’s Craftsy classes through to the end of this month! Just enter the code SUSAN30 at the checkout. You can use the code three times for all 3 classes until 31st January 2024.

January 2024 (Issue 312) with Bill King

Our winter classic on the cover of our full-colour January 2024 issue is in a large size range, ideal for wearing all year round and it’s a comfy round neck sweater. We’ve our usual mix of patterns and a moving tribute to the life of Doug Bristow. One of the highlights this month is an Alex Raw design, with an interesting pull-up technique. It sits alongside a Carl Boyd classic in two, three or more colours. The tensions and shapes are the same for both, so you’ve the bonus of two patterns in one! Bill King has us multi-tasking to knit some truly amazing patterns, racking in Half Fisherman’s rib. DesignaKnit queen Claire Newberry shares her Italian trip to Bologna and Dee Crew knits six pretty edgings using simple lace. Sally-Ann Carroll rounds up some looks worth copying, to get us out of a mid-winter slump and our mail order shop is always open. We’ve help and advice in Dear Anne plus news, reviews and club details.

December Update

Dear Readers

As you’ll read on Page 10, Doug Bristow’s funeral has taken place and my sadness at his passing has been replaced by many happy memories. A year or two after I first published the magazine, Doug and Brenda opened Heathercraft Knitting Machine Centre and their shop has been running for over 35 years. At that time, machine knitting was one of the most popular crafts. There were a huge number of small shows and large exhibitions up and down the country. Anyone selling anything to do with machine knitting loaded up their vehicle and set off for a day trip or a five-day marathon.

In those heady days, exhibitors soon got to know one another. I was in a small group that included Nick at Uppingham Yarns, John at B Hague & Co, Chris at Riverside Yarns and designer Jan Wright. Doug and Brenda brought up an ‘honourable rear’, as timekeeping was never their forte! After setting up the day before the show, we’d all stay in a Premier Inn (or similar!) and enjoy an evening meal together. It was one such time when the five of us learned that Doug and Brenda had met at a flying club. It was the end of the 60s and Doug would take her on trips when she got her pilot’s licence in 1971. Love blossomed… as they say! The couple were married in September 1973, so were able to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary just before Doug’s passing in October. As their older son Alan said at the funeral, Doug was: “Curious, eclectic, gregarious and intelligent. He was full of mirth, quips and silliness. He was also patient, persistent and always responsible”. Alan describes perfectly the man I knew.

Doug’s funeral was one of those rare events, conducted by someone who actually knew him. For the first time I’ve seen, the coffin remained in view until the very end of the service, not enclosed in faded curtains and lowered on squeaking apparatus crying out for a drop of oil. Everyone was of an age to remember the comedy song written by Eric Idle for Monty Python. Courtesy of the Order of Service, there were all the words. The vicar whistled and joined in the chorus. Toes tapped, hips swayed with the beat and everyone smiled as they sang:-

If life seems jolly rotten

There’s something you’ve forgotten

And that’s to laugh and smile and dance and sing

When you’re feeling in the dumps

Don’t be silly chumps

Just purse your lips and whistle, that’s the thing

And

Always look on the bright side of life

Always look on the right side of life

The video recording of the service is on Heathercraft’s website (https://www.heathercraft.co.uk/)and Brenda tells me she’ll leave it there for a little longer. It’s also her intention to keep the shop open. This lovely man fixed our machines and sorted out our wonky attachments. He found genuine sponge bars, needles and spares for Heathercraft, as well as many other shops in the country. He was also the best-ever dad and husband and a great friend to all those who really knew him. You have our love and support, Brenda, as we send our sincere condolences to you, Alan and Peter, your worldwide family and many friends. Rest in peace, Doug; you were one in a million.

NEXT ISSUE February 2024

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