alessandrina.com » Machine knitting (MK)

Short row action, brioche (tuck) stitch.

Alessandrina — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:03:58 +0000

Some sites using the technique in artwork, garments, and a modular approach. A hand knitting publication on brioche stitch has an associated website with generous sharing of information, some of which could be adapted for tuck knitting on machines

Horizontal “cable”

Alessandrina — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:38:35 +0000

I live in the East Coast of the United States.

In the 80s there used to be a yearly machine knitting seminar that was fairly well attended. There were droves of machine knitting publications. Susan Lazear, founder of Cochenille, was just beginning to develop her knit design software ideas on the Amiga Computers, and a fellow Californian, who happened to be Japanese, used to travel here with he Pandora box of foreign knit magazines. At the time translating knits from one language to another amounted to guess work and some leaflets. Subsequently there were fliers, then articles, and even books on translating from Japanese to English and one on multiple language translations for knits and crochet.

One year there was a “guess how this was done and you get a prize contest” for a technique appearing on a sweater with only Japanese instructions. The design was dubbed wisteria by some, has been reincarnated as a trim, insertion, bandings on sleeves and cardigans and is beginning to reappear in magazines now again.

Here is one method for this “horizontal cable” created by short rowing across the width of the fabric. Brother machine needles are A,B, D, E and a lever sets KH for holding in both directions Studio positions follow the alphabet, and use russel levers on each side must be set for holding. Directions below are for Brother.

Reminder: when the machine is set for holding the needles in B or D positon knit, needles pushed out to E will not knit. Weight is used as needed, watch for dropped stitches particularly along the edges of the sections as the rows of knitting are built up.

1.cast on the desired number of stitches, knit several rows at garment tension, end COR (Carriage on Right)

2.COR, set the carriage not to knit needles in HP (hold position)

3.leave 6 needles at the right of knitting in WP (work position), push remaining needles out to HP (hold position)

4.knit 10 rows over the 6 stitches, ending COR

5.push back 3 needles to D position at the LEFT of the 6 needles now in WP

6.knit one row from right to left (9 needles in WP) end COL (carriage on left). Push the needles now in WP on the far right to HP; 6 needles will remain in WP

7.knit 9 rows on these 6 needles, end COR

8.repeat steps 5 through 7 across the fabric row until the last 6 needles remain. Knit 10 rows over these last 6 needles, end COL

9.set the machine to knit needles in hold (holding lever to N), knit 2 or desired number of rows across all the needles

10.holding lever on H. Repeat the procedure from left to right, reversing the sequence.

If the sequence is not reversed a bias fabric will be created. For maximum texture use a yarn with memory ie. wool. Anything that can be “killed” by pressure or ironing will flatten considerably and yield a very different fabric.

My demo samples were made out of colors that would make them easy to find, unlikely to get “permanently borrowed”, so none of these were studies for actual finished garments

this swatch combines a boucle and a rayon; the latter has become flattened over time

this is a wool rayon, knitting is not reversed, resulting in biasing

these samples show same technique, applied to much larger groups of stitches

a segment of a magazine recent garment photo, no origin given as to source, appears to use the above technique

some cable like and textured structures built by bridging and varied holding techniques

Adaptable knits

Alessandrina — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:51:37 +0000

by Katie Noden.

The making of the cords

Alessandrina — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:36:08 +0000

Making the sometimes fondly referred to as idiot cords has also been referred to as spool knitting, corking, French knitting or tomboy knitting. When using a knitting machine the the standard for knitting cords is to operate the carriage so that it knits in one direction, slips in the opposite. Using the e wrap method cast on 3or 4 stitches. Push in the part button on the same side the knit carriage is on ie. if it is on right, push in right part button. Stitches will knit from right to left, slip from left to right creating a float. Since the float is added yarn when knitting is pulled to set it, the gauge on the few stitches will be altered, so it is usually recommended that tension be tightened 1-2 numbers lower than garment tension. The float issue becomes problematic if cording is required that is wider than 4 stitches. Switching to tubular knitting using the ribber will produce tubes of any desired width.
In Japanese machines the ribber knits tighter than main bed, if gauge matters a starting point is to loosen ribber tension by approximately 2 numbers. Larger cords tend to flatten, so if a round tube is desired stuffing may be required in the form of cording, plastic tubing that may be joined using appropriate caps from hardware or even pet supply stores, and a range of wires if the intent is to create sculptural forms.
One exception to tightening the tension when knitting cords is when/if if they are joined to knit edges in the seam as you knit method.
Addressing the float issue in single bed knitting:
with five stitches the floats could be latched up creating a rib stitch. This same operation in tighter or smaller cords may make them swirl.
If a flatter cord will serve the purpose, an alternative is to have the center stitch knitting on the slip rows. One may accomplish this by hand selecting needles or using a card. This will seal the tube in the center or periodically across the knit. The punchcard may be locked on any single row with the appropriate holes punched, and the position planned on the needle bed for knitting. The carriage will knit all stitches in one direction, slip/skip all but the stitches where needles are selected in the opposite. Floats may become design elements in some instances; if sewing onto another piece or hanging onto the knit as it progresses they serve as guidelines for doing so. If they are to be applied vertically to a garment, create a ladder to mark your sewing line.
If you are a gadget collector “hand Knitting cord machines” may make them up to 6 stitches in width with the ease of cranking a handle and with a bit of planning wire beaded tubes may be produced on them as well. Some examples are from Bond, Prym, Wyr for knitting metal mesh, and eons ago some companies including Passap and Singer offered their own automatic cord knitters as well.
A recently published hand-knitting book has many ideas for applied i_cords that could also be used on the machine.

For speed and simplicity, sometimes flat strips of knitting may be substituted for cords in some designs.
Cords or strips may be used to create mock cables, add color interest, as trims, or in the bodies of sweaters or sweater edges. They may be braided, twisted, macraméd etc.
Some published and online resources on subject:
Erica Patberg article in Knitter’s Magazine #104, Fall 2011. She can be found on ravelry. Cords and strips may be used as trims. Long ago published by teachers in the seminar circuits and a couple of bonuses may be found at 1, 2, 3, and 4. Ginger Luters is well known to hand knitters for her books such as her “Module Magic”. Apparently she also has published a book on trims,now available on DVD online that from cover photo appears to include some suited for this topic.

A page that gives a bit of history and illustrations of spool knitters for crafts/ hand knitting may be found at Hub Pages, and on “circular knitting machines” at How to get what you want.

The Wyr knitter is very hard to find. I have knit 32 gauge wire on other knitters with success, so that particulat model is not necessary for wire cords as seen in this piece of mine

A curly cord verision may be found at Techknitting. More ideas and a knitter at Bond America. And lastly, something to make with those Barbie Knitters.

A few to try

Alessandrina — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 18:59:31 +0000

The top illustration below creates what some demonstrators back in the day would refer to as a heart cable trim. The width of the strips of knit may vary, and the size of the holes need to be accommodated to suit the subsequent threading. The second illustration set results in a more traditional “pretend” cable. I-cord could be used for the second sample. Narrow strips of knitting will curl in however, and in many instances may be substituted for true i-cords. Because each pass of the carriage knits a row as opposed to slipping alternate rows, the knitting is twice as fast. In the instance below a series of holes are created for threading cording (or other chosen material)

The following illustrates threading option with a single length of the cording, which will need to be secured at each end with some stitching. Separate colors could be used on alternate sides for more color variation, and other threading sequences as well

some publications with inspiration photos

its online relative

from foreign blog

part of another image

from MonTricot Magazine #26, 2011

A Susan Guagliumi article on the topic, available at her site.

A hand knitting book with many ideas for cord and strip use that could easily be adapted for machine knitting

A commercial foreign knit incorporating cables and woven cords.

From above site:

A lego cord maker

Alessandrina — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:42:30 +0000

An inventive approach to automating i_cord knitting.

Knit felt meets i-cords

Alessandrina — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:01:10 +0000

Mhairi Wild collection.

Cabled ribs and more

Alessandrina — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:23:07 +0000

Susan Guagliumi at her site generously shares some of her previously published material in a “freebies” section. One covers popcorns,often mixed in with both cables and lace patterns, another cabled ribs. Often seen as additions in hand knit patterns and commercial knits for added embellishment to any fabrics some flowers to knit on KM.

Some “real” cables on KM

Alessandrina — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:56:29 +0000

2/8 wool

slippery rayon: fabric flattens with pressing and remains that way

a couple of twist samples: wool/rayon blend

Fair Isle, any punchcard locked on a single row of every other stitch selection: there were whole books of HK patterns based on this idea, sequence of moving stitches can create a variety of secondary patterns. On the KM fair isle is essentially a slip stitch, short and skinny, tension needs to be loosened considerably to try this, stitches in cables cannot be brought out to “hold” position to ease knitting off on the next row, as this will affect the color pattern. Larger crossings are possible, but more difficult

another FI and cable variant: mistakes are probably from needles that were out just a bit too far and knit in the alternate color

a blast from the past: knit on my metal no punchcard bulky (first KM) and ribber more than 2 decades ago. Ribs at waist and armholes are hand knit twisted rib

A collection including knits

Alessandrina — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:55:51 +0000

Some interesting lace and daunting cables interspersed in collection by Dennis Basso, full screen option optimizes details.