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From Alice Don’t, unless you want it for other sewing needs. All you truly need is a coloured thread tacked to the neck shape and a zigzag machine stitch. I zigzag with a wide stitch, then zigzag on top with a narrow stitch. It never runs, but is a pig if you need to unpick it. (Smile!)

We meet in members’ homes once a month in the evening for ten months of the year, from March to December. The weather is just too unpredictable in January and February for us to try to meet! We also have an optional get-together the first Sunday of each month. This time is available for individual tuition, problem solving or brainstorming and it’s also the time to try a different machine or technique.

We set up the schedule a year in advance and decide on the topic, demonstrator, location and of course who’s bring the treats. Sometimes we have day-long workshops when the subject matter is too involved for an evening meeting. For example, last year we took a Saturday to investigate how to dye wool. The meetings are a great time to share and learn with friends who’ve a common interest!

As a club we take on a charity each year and we knit for them. This has included preemie blankets for the local hospitals, prayer shawls, Project Linus and animal shelters just to name a few. Our December topic was Kumihimo – the art of Japanese braiding and how does this relate to machine knitting you might ask? Well it doesn’t, or rather not just yet! It simply uses some of those exotic yarns in our stash. Thank you for the opportunity to share a bit of ourselves with other knitters. Best wishes from us all, Corinne Borlase

Hi there!
I studied textiles at art school many years ago and learned the very basics of domestic machine knitting. I have recently purchased a Brother KH-950i with the KR-850 ribber. I have never used the domestic ribber before so am running into some trouble. I wonder if you can help. I have managed to set up my machine fine and have been following the instructions in the manual exactly. I have completed samples for 1×1 rib and 2×2 rib but cannot seem to knit a full needle rib.

I have been using 2/17NM Hinchliffe lamb’s wool. I cast on my first row tension 0, then knit my 3 rows tension 1 for a perfect selvage which knits easily. I then knitted my first row of full needle rib at tension 2, as the book recommends, which knits some stitches but drops around 5 stitches top and bottom in the middle of the sample.

I tried again the same way but changed to tension 4 to knit full needle rib – this was extremely difficult to knit and again dropped stitches and I also noticed that the racking handle moved. I was also tried the fisherman’s rib which I really liked, knitting at tension 3 but again the racking handle kept moving while knitting ruining the sample. Is there any way to stop the racking handle / ribber from moving? I am sure the problem with the full needle rib must be a tension problem, I know tensions will be different depending on yarn. Could you recommend a tension I should try with my lambswool? Please help me as I’m getting so frustrated! Thankyou!

Kind regards, Julie

We also held our AGM in March. Following a very successful advertising campaign we recruited six new members and we’re still receiving enquiries from other interested people. We’ve had several visiting speakers who’ve enriched our knowledge and experiences as well as generating much enthusiasm and confidence to try new techniques. Some members have made cardigans and blankets for the prem baby unit and bed socks, shawls and blankets for the elderly patients at The Royal United Hospital in Bath. Members also made vests for the ‘Fish and Chip’ babies in Africa. At the last count we’d over 50 vests with still more coming in. We’d some very interesting and informative ‘show and tell’ sessions. Members admired some lovely examples of work and we shared lots of tips, techniques and ideas.

We’d a lovely Christmas party and a good response to the Christmas theme competition. It was won by Sue Moore, who’d knitted a Christmas cake and finished it beautifully. We also agreed the programme for our coming year.
9th June Colour selection and co-ordination.
14th July Show and tell.
11th August Using the colour changer plus cut and sew Fair Isle.
8th September Show and tell.
12th October Crochet techniques and edgings.
10th November Intarsia.
8th December Show and tell, then preparing for the Christmas challenge!
12th January Christmas party and group competition judging.
9th February Scarves and gloves.
I’d like to pass on my grateful thanks to everyone for everything they’ve done to make this year such a success, but single out Bob Milsom, husband of club member Gill Milsom. Bob has kindly produced, without charge, a beautifully illustrated programme leaflet for the club along with a lovely information leaflet which he’s laminated for local advertising and distribution. After three month’s absence due to illness, I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again and hope to have completed a delayed Christmas present for my husband to show them! Many thanks for all your hard work, Anne and we look forward to receiving the next edition of MKM. Best wishes, Pat Hames
Members of Keynsham MKC meet on the second Monday of the month at Sterling Way Community Centre in Keynsham, Bristol BS31 1DF from 2.00 to 4.00 pm. For more details please contact Margaret Marsh (Chair) on 0117-986 5559 or Pat Hames (Secretary) on 01454-322553.

It’s such an encouraging, informative and helpful publication and I’ve no idea how you manage to come up with something new each month and for many years at that. The January issue was full of projects to keep us going well into 2014. I just loved the doggie draught excluder and the hottie water bottle cover with the panda on it. With a young granddaughter, the hats for little ones will keep me knitting until her birthday in mid-January. Very good to hear that the Malawi appeal has been so well supported – I’m assuming that we can continue to make the hats? Looking forward to hearing more news on that. Thanks too for the info on Action Aid, what a wonderful idea; there are so many good people out there! And how we all agree with Margaret Robbie re postal prices, it almost seems like they don’t want us to send parcels. We also have to send everything tracked as one thing which wasn’t went astray and it all adds to the cost. No more of the moaning, have an exciting and healthy 2014. With love and thanks from the far, far North, Barbara Curd

When you’re writing up doing this sort of neck in the magazine, you almost always tell us to sew two rows of stitching around the neck before we cut out the shape. I know there’s nothing new under the sun and this won’t be original, but I always do just one row on my sewing machine, but with a double needle. It works a treat! Best regards, Ann Levington

I’ve managed to get started and thought I was going great guns, but when I get to row 18 or 19 and whilst taking the carriage back from left to right, it’s taking the stitches off! Why? Please help me as I’m getting so frustrated! Thanks so much in anticipation. Kind regards, Angie Cliffe

Your enthusiasm is probably running away with you, Angie. The first two things that spring to mind are that you don’t have the correct tension on the yarn, so it’s forming loops at the edge of the knitting. This is probably the most common cause of dropped stitches. The second thought is that the carriage needs to clear the knitting completely before you push it across for the next row. Make sure it clears the last working needle by about 2 to 3 cm. You know when this has happened, because you’ll hear a faint ‘click’. If you go to the other extreme and take the carriage too far over, more yarn than required will come through the yarn brake. Again, this destroys the yarn tension and can cause loops and dropped stitches at the edge of the work. You may well find that the solution to your problem is simply to slow down!

It is on Page 27 and the recommended yarns are Yeoman Supersheen and Yeoman Cannele Fine Crêpe. I cannot find Yeoman Cannele Fine Crêpe anywhere. Is this the correct name of the yarn or do you know which yarn I could substitute? Best regards, Maryse Ellensburg from Amsterdam

We definitely hit the spot with our Angel Falls design on Page 27 of the April issue, Maryse. How did we know? Both the office and Yeoman’s phone lines rang non stop with knitters wondering which yarn to use. We spoke to the designer and are confident that you need two ends of Yeoman Fine Crêpe and one end of Yeoman Supersheen to knit this popular design.

Joan taught me machine knitting at evening classes over 25 years ago and was involved with the local machine-knitting club until she moved to the southwest. She was always full of tales at club meetings and when I used to buy MKM, her article was usually the first one I read. She has such an easy writing style and the content is always interesting or amusing, or both. I still meet up regularly each month with two friends I made at Joan’s evening classes, although both of them have given up knitting over the years.

I’m busy clearing my workshop so I can get to my trusty old Brother 836 machine and discovering patterns and books, I’d long forgotten. I’ve a stack of your magazines starting from the 80s, so I’ve plenty of reading to do and I look forward to starting on the machine very soon, especially on cold wet days! After all these years it’s good to see that MKM still has plenty of variety and is a good ‘read’. I look forward to the next issues that I will be purchasing. With kind regards, Jean Cox

Could I pass on that I’ve found this really useful tool for designing knitwear and thought you might like to include it in the next issue. It’s an online tool for picking colours and seeing what they will look like in a stripe pattern. It really is great! www.biscuitsandjam.com/stripe_maker.php Kind regards, Jayne Edwards