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Scrap value

Hi Anne

I’ve just come back to machine knitting after a long break and can you help, please? Years ago a guest speaker visited our club and used cast-on rags. (I’m sure she called them ‘rags’ but I might be wrong.) The club closed down a long time ago, so there’s no-one I can ask. Do you know how they are made? They seemed to make life really easy. Thanks for your help and a great magazine. Yours sincerely, Pat

Thanks for asking Pat and these strips do away, to a great extent, with the need for waste yarn. For beginners, the easy way is to find a bit of (dare we say) ‘rubbish’ yarn in your stash. It’s best to use a smooth yarn in a neutral colour.

Step 1 Cast on about 50 stitches, using the latch tool chain stitch method for a firm cast-on edge.

Step 2 Knit 10 or 12 rows at a fairly loose tension, finishing with one row at the loosest possible tension.

Step 3 Cast off round the gate pegs to make nice little ‘blocks’ at the cast-off edge.

Step 4 If you’ve a ribber cast-on comb and with the wrong side facing, you can push the teeth of the comb through the holes of the cast-on edge then insert the wire.

Step 5 If you don’t have a ribber, keep the wrong side of the strip facing you and start with a couple of needles at each side of centre 0, the centre of the strip and the cast-off edge. Either way and using a transfer tool, pull through a needle at each end then work across, bringing all the needles through the holes.

Step 6 Make sure all needles are in holding position with the machine set to knit them back.

Step 7 Place weights in position, if required.

Step 8 It’s now vitalto knit one row with a nylon cord at a large tension, or you won’t be able to separate the strip from the knitting.

Step 9 Push needles to holding position again and cast on using an e-wrap, latch tool chain or method needed for the garment.

Step 10 Remove the nylon cord when the work is completed and the strip is intact to use over and over again.

Strips (or rags) can be made in different lengths and widths. Short strips are useful for casting on a small number of stitches, as you can hang weights directly on the strip. Some knitters make their strips garment width with a hem, then insert a old Knitmaster welt bar (see Fig. 3 and Fig. 4) into the hem. This adds a little weight plus stability and Brother owners can hook on a cast-on comb. A cast-on strip can be the most useful bit of scrap knitting you’ll ever do, especially if you have an LK-150. Don’t, though, forget the row with the nylon cord or you’ll be unable to separate the strip from the knitting.

Kalamunda Krafts

Slightly more experienced knitters (in less of a hurry!) knit a bias strip. It has its own built-in loops that spread out nicely the more it’s used. Sally Butcher has a step-by-step video demo on her Facebook page, along with videos of techniques on Silver Reed SK280, LK150 and SK155 machines. Visit www.facebook.com/kalamundakrafts She’s also transferred some of the techniques to YouTube, the link is https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSDxy6pQHAs4gd5XBztYWmw and it’s called Sally Butcher’s Kalamunda Krafts Machine Knitting.

Dear Anne

I noticed in the magazine that Mini Mart has Silver Reed sponge bars and I wondered if one would fit my Brother 860? Also would the cast on comb wires be the same as those for my Brother 850 ribber? I haven’t been able to use the machine for a while, as I’ve had a replacement shoulder but now I can and, of course, the sponge bar has had it! Thanks for any help and best wishes, Barbara

PS The ballet cardigan now gets worn to football practice!

I case you missed it last year, Barbara told us about a cardigan she’d knitted for the daughter of a friend of one of her daughters. She was three years old, loved dressing up and wearing tutus. She had a pink tutu and a mauve one so Barbara made her a ‘Lafferty cardi’ to go with them, using up some cone ends in the right colours. It seems the cardi has now moved from the dressing up box to the football field! As for many replacement accessories, Nick Traylen at Uppingham Yarns keeps a list of what fits what and he’s a great source of parts to keep old machines going. Write to Uppingham Yarns, 30 North Street East, Uppingham, Rutland LE15 9QL, call 01572-823747 or visit www.wools.co.uk

Kill or cure

Hello Anne

Happy New Year to you and thank you for yet another year of a great magazines. I’m in New Zealand and have been a regular purchaser of your magazine for many, many years and it never fails to surprise me with new patterns or advice. I order it through our local bookshop so it’s several months behind when I get it – and more so with the Covid freight. I’ve been looking through back issues and was interested in the Block Buster item on Page 13 of September 2022 on Ironing, Pressing and Steam Pressing. Personally, I’m still nervous with the iron on my knitting, be it wool or a man-made fibre. I felt this article spelled it out well. I’ve ‘killed’ several items over the years with too much ironing and think this would be very helpful to newer knitters. Kind regards, Lorraine

Hi Anne

I’m new to machine knitting and wonder if you could suggest where I could go that might give me answers to all the silly questions I sometimes need to ask. It feels as if everyone except me is an expert, so I often feel embarrassed about not knowing some of the basics. I’d be very grateful for any help and thank you in advance. Best wishes, Mary

Thanks for asking Mary and for those of you who don’t know, Jane Harrisson has a machine knitter’s treasure chest of resources. It includes masses of useful links, free patterns and stitch patterns together with punchcards and electronic diagrams. There’s a huge section on troubleshooting tips for machine knitters and Jane has also included the Punchcard sets and Mylar sheets for all the major brands, to help knitters who have unwittingly bought second-hand machines without them. Needles of Steel is also your first stop for information about Circular Sock Machines. The site is an invaluable resource for all CSM owners and offers free patterns, manuals, techniques, vendors and videos. There really is far too much to list here that’s of special interest for every machine knitter. So, make it one of your jobs to visit Jane’s site at www.needles of steel.org.uk and we know you won’t be disappointed!

Dear Anne

I was reading my MKM for a few minutes and as I opened it, the first page that came in view was the one with ‘always wax double knit yarn’ on it. This is something I’ve been doing ever since I started using a machine in 1969. Back then wool winders were as good as those sold today, but they did tell you to wax the yarn. Over the years it’s become a part of my practice and I often buy 3-ply and 4-ply yarns in 100 gram balls. This yarn, whether wool or acrylic, hasn’t been waxed for machine use so I automatically wax everything I buy before using, unless it’s on a cone. For knitting baby clothes and children’s outfits, I find the 100 gram balls come in plenty of lovely colours. In fact, I do have quite a few orders for children’s clothes! I’m just waiting for some building work to be finished inside the house, so I can get on with my knitting. Best wishes, June

Hi Anne

I’m a self-taught knitter with a Brother 881 and always get in a muddle decreasing across the row. I always seem to have too many decreases left to do at one end. Is there a sure-fire way to get them even? Yours hopefully, Sheila

You’re in luck with this method, Sheila, because you’ve a lace carriage. If the instructions say ‘decreasing seven stitches evenly’, go across the row and push seven needles slightly forward but still in working position. Fiddle about a bit until you’re happy they’re evenly spaced, then push the seven needles to ‘D’ position. Now take the lace carriage across and the stitches will transfer to their adjacent needles. Push the empty needles back to ‘A’ position. You’ve now decreased your seven stitches. Knit several rows with waste yarn and release from the machine. Next push the reduced number of needles to ‘B’ position. Holding the wrong side towards you, fold the waste knitting back towards the machine. Pick up the stitches and place them in the hooks of the needles, including both loops when you reach the transferred stitches. The waste yarn is easily unravelled and your decreased stitches are evenly spaced across the work.

Dear Anne

I design a lot of my own punchcards and on my chunky machine, six-stitch floats are a bit long for a neat finish on the back of my work. Worse still are those even longer floats, which are sometimes unavoidable. There’s a limit to how many ‘odd dots’ I can put in here and there without spoiling the effect, so do you have any ideas? Many thanks and Happy New Year to one and all. Best wishes, Maggie

Thanks for asking Maggie and the usual thing we do is pick up the loops. After knitting the row that creates the long floats, use a single transfer tool to lift the middle of the float onto the needle above it. Push the appropriate needle forward, but not too far out of working position. Place the long loop in the open hook along with the newly-formed stitch, then push the needle back in line. If the float falls in a similar place on subsequent rows, don’t use the same needle each time. Move to an adjacent needle left or right so the loops are staggered and this will give a smoother result. Simply knit across the next row in the usual way. You should find that the long loops are safely caught up and their length is effectively halved. Using chunky weight yarn and a Fair Isle pattern, it’s almost undetectable from the front. As it’s done as you go along, there’s not much extra work. If there aren’t too many rows with long floats, you can always mark the punchcard so you’ll know when to stop.