neckbands

Hello Annie

The following is a neckband I have used many times. It gives a neat appearance and is fairly easy.

Instead of casting off stitches at the back and front neck and at the top of the sleeves on a raglan garment take these pieces off the machine by knitting several rows of waste yarn.

Join your garment pieces together leaving one shoulder seam open.

Hold the neckline up to the machine to ascertain how many needles you need for the neckband. The number of needles will be the number of stitches held on waste yarn plus extra for the sides of the front neck.

Bring forward the appropriate number of needles and arrange them according to the rib you wish to knit.

Cast on with a slightly looser stitch size than you would normally use hang your comb and weights.

Knit double the number of rows you require for the depth of the neckband. You can gradually decrease the stitch size for half the rows the gradually increase it again for the second half.

Transfer all the ribber bed needles to the main bed and knit one row at main tension the stitch size you used for the garment pieces.

Drop the ribber and hook up the stitches held on waste yarn and pick up the whole stitches (not just the edge loop) evenly down the front of the neck shaping.

Knit one row at main tension then one row at tension 10.
Cast off by latching through the loops either while the knitting is still on the needles or knit several rows of waste yarn at main tension and remove from the machine then latch through the loops of the last row of main yarn.

Sew up the remaining shoulder seam fold the neckband in half to the inside and catch the cast on row to the loops of the cast off row with fairly loose stitches so that there is some ‘give’.

This gives a double thickness neckband the row knitted across all stitches before attaching the garment gives a neat finish.

I suggest you try this out on your tension swatch before trying it on your garment just to see how it works.

Kind regards
Sue.

Sue P
2012-12-20 14:37:43
Hello Annie

The following is a neckband I have used many times. It gives a neat appearance and is fairly easy.

Instead of casting off stitches at the back and front neck and at the top of the sleeves on a raglan garment take these pieces off the machine by knitting several rows of waste yarn.

Join your garment pieces together leaving one shoulder seam open.

Hold the neckline up to the machine to ascertain how many needles you need for the neckband. The number of needles will be the number of stitches held on waste yarn plus extra for the sides of the front neck.

Bring forward the appropriate number of needles and arrange them according to the rib you wish to knit.

Cast on with a slightly looser stitch size than you would normally use hang your comb and weights.

Knit double the number of rows you require for the depth of the neckband. You can gradually decrease the stitch size for half the rows the gradually increase it again for the second half.

Transfer all the ribber bed needles to the main bed and knit one row at main tension the stitch size you used for the garment pieces.

Drop the ribber and hook up the stitches held on waste yarn and pick up the whole stitches (not just the edge loop) evenly down the front of the neck shaping.

Knit one row at main tension then one row at tension 10.
Cast off by latching through the loops either while the knitting is still on the needles or knit several rows of waste yarn at main tension and remove from the machine then latch through the loops of the last row of main yarn.

Sew up the remaining shoulder seam fold the neckband in half to the inside and catch the cast on row to the loops of the cast off row with fairly loose stitches so that there is some ‘give’.

This gives a double thickness neckband the row knitted across all stitches before attaching the garment gives a neat finish.

I suggest you try this out on your tension swatch before trying it on your garment just to see how it works.

Kind regards
Sue.

Sue P
2012-12-20 14:37:43

Help needed

I have recently taken my Brother standard gauge machine and ribber out of mothballs and need some help to get started again. Is there asnyone in or near to Droitwich, Worcester who could help?

Carriage catching

Hi
I’m having an issue with my carriage catching needles in one direction. The carriage operates normally from right to left. However from left to right is seems that as the needles are pushed forward and pass over the plate they ‘bump’ inside the carriage. They then want to ‘snag’ and bend slightly until they suddenly let go when the tension is suddenly released. I can’t see where there’s anything protruding to hang them up. Any ideas with this? By the way, the machine is very new.
Thanks in advance for any help.

Hi

Try taking the sinker plate off the carriage check that both sides match and that both sides are evenly attached; there are three little screws either side which hold the metal plates in place. These metal plates should be parallel to the gate pegs.

When you fit the sinker plate back on to the carriage make sure it is seated properly and is flat against the carriage before you tighten the thumb screws.

If these simple measures do not rectify the problem as your machine is new I suggest contacting the suppliers.

Kind regards
Sue.

Sue P
2012-11-24 14:43:10
Hi

Try taking the sinker plate off the carriage check that both sides match and that both sides are evenly attached; there are three little screws either side which hold the metal plates in place. These metal plates should be parallel to the gate pegs.

When you fit the sinker plate back on to the carriage make sure it is seated properly and is flat against the carriage before you tighten the thumb screws.

If these simple measures do not rectify the problem as your machine is new I suggest contacting the suppliers.

Kind regards
Sue.

Sue P
2012-11-24 14:43:10

Punchcard

Any ideas where I can get these please?

Horseshoe pattern from Rogues Gallery Book 3 by Bramwell:

oooooo
oooooooo
oooooooooo
oooo oooo
ooo ooo
oo oo
oo oo
oo oo
oo oo
oo oo
oo oo
oo oo
ooo ooo
oo oo
ooo ooo
oo oo
oo oo
oo oo

This is 12 stitch x 18 rows basically a ‘U’ with a bit of modification.

Hope it is what you are looking for.

Sue

Sue P
2012-11-05 14:07:48
Hi

Sorry about the above post – I’ll try again!

—-oooooo—-
—oooooooo—
–oooooooooo–
-oooo—-oooo-
-ooo——ooo-
-oo——–oo-
-oo——–oo-
-oo——–oo-
-oo——–oo-
-oo——–oo-
-oo——–oo-
-oo——–oo-
-ooo——ooo-
–oo——oo–
–ooo—-ooo–
—oo—-oo—
—oo—-oo—
—oo—-oo—

Sue.

Sue P
2012-11-05 14:18:13
Horseshoe pattern from Rogues Gallery Book 3 by Bramwell:

oooooo
oooooooo
oooooooooo
oooo oooo
ooo ooo
oo oo
oo oo
oo oo
oo oo
oo oo
oo oo
oo oo
ooo ooo
oo oo
ooo ooo
oo oo
oo oo
oo oo

This is 12 stitch x 18 rows basically a ‘U’ with a bit of modification.

Hope it is what you are looking for.

Sue

Sue P
2012-11-05 14:07:48
Hi

Sorry about the above post – I’ll try again!

—-oooooo—-
—oooooooo—
–oooooooooo–
-oooo—-oooo-
-ooo——ooo-
-oo——–oo-
-oo——–oo-
-oo——–oo-
-oo——–oo-
-oo——–oo-
-oo——–oo-
-oo——–oo-
-ooo——ooo-
–oo——oo–
–ooo—-ooo–
—oo—-oo—
—oo—-oo—
—oo—-oo—

Sue.

Sue P
2012-11-05 14:18:13

Double bed tuck stitch

My problem is that I can’t get the patterning to work. The pattern note in the book says:-MB carriage set to tuck in both directions. RB carriage set to slip from left to right and knit from right to left. I understand how to set the knit carriage to tuck in both directions but don’t understand the settings for the ribber carriage. I have tried many combinations with the buttons on the ribber carriage, but am now running out of wool and patience! Please can anyone help me?

Hi

The easiest way to explain the ribber setting is to set it as you would for the selvedge rows when casting on. Check in your ribber manual if you are not sure.

You need to set the right side of the ribber carriage so that it will slip when you move the carriages from the left side of the knitting to the right side.

Regards
Sue.

Sue P
2012-11-05 13:51:34
Thank you so much Sue – I shall be trying this as soon as I have done all my chores. Lyn.
sillytoes
2012-11-22 15:34:53
Hi

The easiest way to explain the ribber setting is to set it as you would for the selvedge rows when casting on. Check in your ribber manual if you are not sure.

You need to set the right side of the ribber carriage so that it will slip when you move the carriages from the left side of the knitting to the right side.

Regards
Sue.

Sue P
2012-11-05 13:51:34
Thank you so much Sue – I shall be trying this as soon as I have done all my chores. Lyn.
sillytoes
2012-11-22 15:34:53

Help with brother kr850 ribber

Need help to be able to continue with ribber to complete the collar of my jumper. No known repairer for my ribber.

Hi Pat

Sorry to hear you are having problems.

As you can knit the first few rows all right I would not think there is anything wrong with your ribber.

Is your sponge bar in the main bed OK? It’s worth checking as if it’s worn it can cause problems when you use the ribber.

You do not say which yarn you are using or what type of rib you are trying to knit. However hang the ribber comb after the first zig-zag row and when you put the weights on hang them evenly – one at each end of the knitting and one in the middle if it is wide.

If you are using every needle on each bed (full needle rib) make sure your stitch size is not too tight – somewhere near that needed for stocking stitch and that you have the ribber set to H so that the needles do not crash into each other.

For 1×1 rib you will need the stitch size quite a bit lower and the ribber set to P.

Your ribber manual will explain about other rib set-ups.

Sometimes it helps to ‘knit’ without any yarn in the carriage so you can see what is happening.

Hope you are able to sort out the problem.

Regards
Sue.

Sue P
2012-11-05 13:38:39
Hi Pat

Sorry to hear you are having problems.

As you can knit the first few rows all right I would not think there is anything wrong with your ribber.

Is your sponge bar in the main bed OK? It’s worth checking as if it’s worn it can cause problems when you use the ribber.

You do not say which yarn you are using or what type of rib you are trying to knit. However hang the ribber comb after the first zig-zag row and when you put the weights on hang them evenly – one at each end of the knitting and one in the middle if it is wide.

If you are using every needle on each bed (full needle rib) make sure your stitch size is not too tight – somewhere near that needed for stocking stitch and that you have the ribber set to H so that the needles do not crash into each other.

For 1×1 rib you will need the stitch size quite a bit lower and the ribber set to P.

Your ribber manual will explain about other rib set-ups.

Sometimes it helps to ‘knit’ without any yarn in the carriage so you can see what is happening.

Hope you are able to sort out the problem.

Regards
Sue.

Sue P
2012-11-05 13:38:39

SK155

Hi
Just got an SK155 and can’t find anything relating to the (R) on the tension dial. I’m probably missing something obvious. Also does anyone have any tips for a good tension for handknitting double knitting wool. How low can I go on the dial and is 0 no tension the lowest you can go? Glad I found this site as there’s not a lot for machine knitters out there now.

Hi Jax

I did a search on google for sk155 user manual and found a manual to download.

The R is for when the ribber is attached if you have one. The 0 is the tightest tension unless you can move the dial a couple of clicks beyond it.

As this is a chunky machine try tension 3 or 4 for DK yarn. Remove your sample from the machine and tug it lengthways to close the stitches. If you think it is too loose tighten the tension a little (lower number on dial). If you experiment with tensions you will find out what is suitable. When the tension is too tight there will probably be missed stitches and the knitting will be very stiff.

All machines vary slightly from one another so it is best if you keep a personal record of yarns and suitable tensions. You will soon get to know what tension to try for a particular yarn and make slight adjustments as necessary.

I hope this helps to answer your query.
Regards
Sue.

Sue P
2012-10-20 18:00:21
Thank you Sue for your help. Apparently you can no longer get a ribber for the SK155 but I don’t mind I will quite enjoy knitting the ribs by hand.
Slow process getting comfortable with my new machine not helped by lack of patterns out there. I would love to do more baby things with double knitting so will keep experimenting and keep a log as suggested.
jax
2012-11-05 10:03:04
Hi again

Do you buy Machine Knitting Monthly?

Every month Anne publishes baby patterns using DK or Chunky yarn – I’m sure you would find them useful. Don’t worry if the pattern does not specifically mention your machine; if it’s for DK you can use the tension which suits your machine and use the measurements from your tension swatch to work out how many stitches and rows you need for the size you want to knit as given on the pattern diagrams. If your figures come out close to one of the sets of instructions in the pattern you can follow these to knit the garment.

Enjoy your knitting.

Regards
Sue.

Sue P
2012-11-05 13:10:37
Hi Jax

I did a search on google for sk155 user manual and found a manual to download.

The R is for when the ribber is attached if you have one. The 0 is the tightest tension unless you can move the dial a couple of clicks beyond it.

As this is a chunky machine try tension 3 or 4 for DK yarn. Remove your sample from the machine and tug it lengthways to close the stitches. If you think it is too loose tighten the tension a little (lower number on dial). If you experiment with tensions you will find out what is suitable. When the tension is too tight there will probably be missed stitches and the knitting will be very stiff.

All machines vary slightly from one another so it is best if you keep a personal record of yarns and suitable tensions. You will soon get to know what tension to try for a particular yarn and make slight adjustments as necessary.

I hope this helps to answer your query.
Regards
Sue.

Sue P
2012-10-20 18:00:21
Thank you Sue for your help. Apparently you can no longer get a ribber for the SK155 but I don’t mind I will quite enjoy knitting the ribs by hand.
Slow process getting comfortable with my new machine not helped by lack of patterns out there. I would love to do more baby things with double knitting so will keep experimenting and keep a log as suggested.
jax
2012-11-05 10:03:04
Hi again

Do you buy Machine Knitting Monthly?

Every month Anne publishes baby patterns using DK or Chunky yarn – I’m sure you would find them useful. Don’t worry if the pattern does not specifically mention your machine; if it’s for DK you can use the tension which suits your machine and use the measurements from your tension swatch to work out how many stitches and rows you need for the size you want to knit as given on the pattern diagrams. If your figures come out close to one of the sets of instructions in the pattern you can follow these to knit the garment.

Enjoy your knitting.

Regards
Sue.

Sue P
2012-11-05 13:10:37

Carriage on main bed hard to push

I’ve just got my machine out of the loft after 20 years. I’ve replaced the sponge bar but I’m having problems with one of the wheels. The main carriage is very stiff to push and the wheel is not spinning as well as the other. I’ve oiled it but it’s still hard to push along the needlebed. Can you help? Many thanks, Lynda

Hi Lynda

Welcome back to machine knitting.

There may be some fibres caught under the wheel. Try removing it and clearing away any fluff oil it lightly and replace it.

Make sure you seat the carriage correctly on the needle bed and that the fabric presser is positioned properly on the carriage.

Hope this helps.
Regards
Sue

Sue P
2012-10-09 19:11:51
Hi Lynda

Welcome back to machine knitting.

There may be some fibres caught under the wheel. Try removing it and clearing away any fluff oil it lightly and replace it.

Make sure you seat the carriage correctly on the needle bed and that the fabric presser is positioned properly on the carriage.

Hope this helps.
Regards
Sue

Sue P
2012-10-09 19:11:51

Brother KH811

Only a few needles are catching the yarn on the cast on row, I’ve tried varying the yarn tension. The needles look okay and I’ve cleaned and oiled the machine. The sponge of the sponge bar looks in bad condition so I didn’t contiue to remove it. Could this be the problem? If so what can I do about it? If not, any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Hi Pam

Sorry to hear you are having problems. The state of the sponge bar does affect the machine’s ability to knit properly.

The foam probably needs replacing. Brother sponge bars seem to be difficult to source but try Trading Post on the web page or look on ebay. There is a company making replacement foam strips for various sponge bars. They make foam to the same specifications as the original.

If the yarn continues to get caught on the gate pegs try tightening the tension slightly on the upper tension unit and don’t take the carriage too far past the knitting – just far enough to hear a click.

Hope this helps and you are soon knitting again.

Regards
Sue.

Sue P
2012-10-09 19:30:52
Hi Pam

Sorry to hear you are having problems. The state of the sponge bar does affect the machine’s ability to knit properly.

The foam probably needs replacing. Brother sponge bars seem to be difficult to source but try Trading Post on the web page or look on ebay. There is a company making replacement foam strips for various sponge bars. They make foam to the same specifications as the original.

If the yarn continues to get caught on the gate pegs try tightening the tension slightly on the upper tension unit and don’t take the carriage too far past the knitting – just far enough to hear a click.

Hope this helps and you are soon knitting again.

Regards
Sue.

Sue P
2012-10-09 19:30:52

Chunky ribber needle problem

When moving needles into position to cast on, they slip down to the base of the ribber bed. Is there something I must tighten to keep the needles in place in the needle bed?

Hi Yolande

It sounds as though your sponge bar needs replacing. Use the latch tool to push it out of the needle bed and pull it right out. Check the condition of the foam it should be well above the metal of the bar and spring back into shape when pressed. If it is squashed or degraded you will either need to replace the foam or the whole bar. There is a company which makes suitable replacement foam for various machines and they advertise on ebay. Alternatively check Trading Post on this website.

Regards
Sue.

Sue P
2012-10-09 19:20:58
Hi Yolande

It sounds as though your sponge bar needs replacing. Use the latch tool to push it out of the needle bed and pull it right out. Check the condition of the foam it should be well above the metal of the bar and spring back into shape when pressed. If it is squashed or degraded you will either need to replace the foam or the whole bar. There is a company which makes suitable replacement foam for various machines and they advertise on ebay. Alternatively check Trading Post on this website.

Regards
Sue.

Sue P
2012-10-09 19:20:58