Brunswick Machine Knitting Novices

.....just the wrong clothes. PS

2012-01-28T10:40:00.001+11:00

Yesterday I spent the day in Maryborough, not cycling through the sweltering countryside with my companions. Looking for cool and sedentary diversions, I found myself at the Maryborough Flour Mill Gallery
http://www.maryboroughflourmillgallery.com.au/index.html
home of the extraordinary Sew What collection of vintage, antique and toy sewing machines
I recommend a visit if you are passing that way.
Added attractions of the venue are the coffee and biscuit (included in the price of admission ), chairs and couches to relax in and retro reading material to browse.
As I leafed through the thoughtfully assembled folder of fashion articles from the 1940s and 50s, I was struck by the appearance of the models in photographs. Compared with fashion photographs you see now, the models then look almost pudgy. And as we know, on average we are bigger than our parents and grandparents. The publishers used quite a bit of artists' fashion illustration too. In the artwork, the models are elongated, have exaggerated shoulders and minimised waists, and look just like the real live models used in fashion display now!

..... just the wrong clothes

2012-01-26T09:52:00.001+11:00

For years I have been crediting Billy Connolly with a wise saying, only to find that it is something that Swedes say all the time, "There's no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothes."
Billy said this on the cliffs near Wick, on what appeared to be a cold, wet and windy winter night such as you might expect by the northern tip of Scotland. When I saw this on the television I was surprised by a wave of nostalgia for this bleak landscape that I had never seen in real life. But one of my Great Grandfathers left Wick to try his fortune in Australia on the goldfields. I was touched to think of his grandson, my Dad, choosing to spend his working life in an equally harsh and beautiful Mallee landscape, battling a quite different set of climatic extremes.
But never mind the weather. It is one of the disappointments of modern life that many of us seem to be stuck with the wrong clothes for our shapes, our taste and our activity. In the dim past where I spent my youth, the range of clothing on sale matched fairly well the range of sizes to be clothed. And any dress shop with the slightest pretension to style, would have someone to do alterations. And then there were dressmakers, whose services could fit within quite modest budgets.
We are assured that we are much bigger people than our recent ancestors, and I believe it. But our wardrobes haven't adapted to changing shapes. Take this sentiment, attributed to Calvin Klein, "if a woman can't be bothered to keep herself in shape, I can't be bothered to make clothes for her" (he had been asked why he did not offer clothes over a certain size). Now that arrogant remark probably hides a truer explanation which might be expressed, " If I were to extend my range beyond that size there would be increased design and manufacturing costs due to altering the proportions to suit different shapes, and having to use different cutting layouts and more fabric. It is easier for me to make the cheapest possible versions of my designs, display them on models chosen to make the clothes look good, and hope the buyers are intimidated enough take whatever measures are needed to make themselves fit into the clothes I offer for sale"
Personal alteration by surgical means is a recent phenomenon, which seems to have become more common as the infrastructure for personalised garment provision has become scarcer. And the various branches of the weight loss industry are booming
My new year's resolution is to put more effort into designing and making humbler clothes. Clothes that will do their best to be comfortable and becoming to the wearer. Watch this space to see how it goes

Granny's squares.

2012-01-20T10:16:00.001+11:00

Back in the 1930s, my grandmother made a cot blanket for my then baby sister. Not that she was my baby sister then. I wouldn't appear on the scene for quite a few years, by which time our Nana had departed it. My sister treasures this blanket, and has managed to keep it in near perfect condition, giving us a priceless glimpse at the colours of the family knits in the 30s.
I waved the iPhone over it a few times last night. Funny how I remember it as having no blue. A mistake, clearly. However the old rule, "blue and green should never be seen without a colour in between " has been followed.

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"So you don't just press a button?"

2011-07-09T16:09:00.002+10:00

One of the advantages of procrastination is inevitable reflection. It is now several weeks since the very satisfactory MKAV Seminar, and time has worked to the surface my stand out memory, The Human Knitting Machine,seen by the lucky crowd on Friday evening.

Can I divert for a moment to note that our President, Angela, gets my vote in the category, Geniuses I have Known? The sheer number of ideas, and speed with which she moves on to the next thought might sometimes obscure the brilliance of her efforts, but the Friday night demonstration demands preservation.

This was machine knitting stripped back so far that even the machine was gone. This was machine knitting at its clearest - one needle, one stitch. You want more stitches? Have as many as you like as long as you can find a needle for each stitch. What can each needle do? It can either knit or not knit. If it doesn't knit, the yarn can pass over the top or underneath the stitch. And that's all. Everything else, the push buttons, the punchcards, the electronic controls, they are just means of telling each needle to knit or to not knit without the effort of hand selection.

I'll leave it to some subsequent video recorded performance to explain exactly what was done. For now you can just admire the knitted results.

Della wearing the knitted piece

A closer look at the knitting

At the other extreme, I caught part of a Barbara Fletcher workshop on hidden techniques in the Passap E6000, the most sophisticated domestic knitting machine available to us. What an extraordinary range of knitting interests covered! From the very simplest to the most complex machine any domestic machine knitter is likely to meet.

What is a critical mass of machine knitters?

2011-06-03T17:09:00.001+10:00

I had a bunch of good reasons why the Biennial Victorian two and a bit day conference dedicated to the now rather retro art of machine knitting on domestic machines should be allowed to lapse quietly in favour of less ambitious events more suited to current customs and lifestyles.

But now I am not so sure. It is so good to see machine knitters from interstate and New Zealand swapping ideas and experiences over numerous cups of tea and too much food. I was particularly pleased that three first time participants really enjoyed the experience and got a lot out of it.

It is so encouraging to have demonstrators and other participants show such generosity with their skills and techniques. Recently I have come across instances where machine knitters have tried to protect their patch by refusing to pass along the craft to new recruits. It may be hard for craftspersons to make a living from low volume production in the world we live in, but without a viable machine knitting community, the craft is doomed. We need to share ideas, but we also need to be a market for machines, parts, services, yarns on cones. We also need to show the public a range and quantity of machine knitted products to build appreciation for the things we make. A restauranteur once explained to me how it was much better to be in a street full of other restaurants rather than be the only one on the block. That way you get plenty of passing trade, as well as folk who set out just for your place.

I smile when I see how thoroughly Tony Bennett, of Dormani Yarns, http://www.dormani-yarns.com/ has taken to heart the concept that community is the key to survival. He is so generous with his time and ideas, so helpful to anyone who asks. Also a dazzling beacon of inspired simplicity, always ready with a faster, more modern and saleable solution to share for every knitting challenge

I failed picture gathering completely, but with a bit of luck someone will have some images to share

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Subversion

2011-05-12T14:29:00.000+10:00

Machine knitting often gives off waves of the most conservative housewifely respectability. It is always amusing to subvert a paradigm, so in response to a request in a comment on a previous post, this post is dedicated to selective deconstruction.
Random holes can add a bit of instant history to any garment

Shift one stitch to a neighbouring needle, then continue knitting for a simple hole.
For a more dramatic effect, knit for a few rows, then drop the stitch in line with the hole

The ladder will not drop past the shifted stitch, and has no way to go above the stitch where knitting is resumed. One empty needle brought into work between two needles already in work will knit and be a secure base for stitches in subsequent rows.
If you don't want the ladder to bulge so much, just leave the needle out of work until you want to resume regular knitting.
If you would like a more pronounced hole, but without laddering, manual tucking using holding position on your machine is handy.

This hole has two stitches each moved to the next needle, then those two needles left in holding position until the needles were brought back into work one after the other in subsequent rows.

You can generate a lot of grunge effects with holes and ladders

Another way to subvert the regularity of your knitting is to make random tucks in the fabric by picking up loops from already knitted fabric and rehitching them onto active needles. For a skewed effect, shift the picked up stitches across the needle bed. A seven ended tool is handy for this, but your standard 3 ended tool, or even the 1 or 2 will be able to make interesting effects See the puckers in the picture above? That's the effect.

You can add a slash of contrast using short rows, then maybe confuse it with holes, ladders and puckers

You can also just manipulate needles by hand to work in differnt colours or textures

You could manufacture hideous carbunkles using this technique and an evil imagination.
Once you have knitted your piece, if it is not yet the statement you strive for, you can pick up a few stitches in the piece, ewrap across the picked up stitches and a couple of needles either side (if you want to allow for some curling in) and knit some tags

I played with this during a day of communal knitting. This is as far as I got when it was time to go home. Many techniques approached with a skewed point of view will adapt to a grunge aesthetic. Set free your inner punk.

Skinny Yarn

2011-03-03T18:33:00.002+11:00

It took me a while to properly appreciate just how much I like really skinny yarn. There was a time when I would ask the good folk at the Yarn Barn to wind together skinny yarns that I thought would combine well. But I got over that.

There were a few steps. I found out that:
Machine knitting life is much better if you abandon all thought of following a conventional pattern.
There are lots of beautiful skinny yarns
Two shades can be better than one.
Two different yarns knitted together may make random stripes.

If you use a twister stand, purpose built or improvised, you can make different marled effects. And they will be different depending on the order of the stacked cones.

There are weird and interesting yarns coming out of Japan. The demonstration garments made with these yarns are made with multiple yarns, combining colours, textures and materials, and the yarn will stlll be skinny, even after you have combined two or three.

A standard gauge single bed Japanese machine will make a wide range of pleasing weights and textures of fabric with skinny yarn.

The more uptight Passap machine needs more seductive coaxing to consent to being party to a modern relaxed style of fabric. But if you need a classic smooth rib, the Passap could not be more obliging.

Of course the Passap and I are still getting to know each other. I could be judging harshly.
Skinny yarns go a long way. 150 gms of 2/60 nm silk from ColourMart, lasts almost forever knitted with 2/20 nm wool from Superfine Wool Australia, (no link, but some contact details here ) , making a luxurious fabric for a utilitarian price.

And remind me to put on my list to do, work on taking better photos of knitted things

I will also beg pardon for any odd picture placement in this posting. I am distracting myself from overwhelming domestic challenges in a bona fide remote location, with a just installed booster to the next G service. It seems to work. Last time I tried to post from here I had to travel to a convenient fast food outlet to take advantage of the free wi fi. But the pictures seem to have developed independent views in transmission.

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Why should I go to the MKAV Seminar?

2011-02-19T14:07:00.001+11:00

This question was put to me by one of the new wave of machine knitters. Why would I spend quite a bit of money to spend a weekend listening to presenters I have never heard of, demonstrating projects of unknown merit, on machines different from the one I own?

For a start, it is a pleasant way to spend a weekend. The Hemisphere Conference Centre http://www.hemisphere.com.au/?gclid=CKarzqCPk6cCFUeApAodSjUzfg is a part of Holmesglen TAFE, with lots of good lunch and morning and afternoon teas (special dietary requirements catered for with notice) included in the deal. Friday and Saturday night dinners optional extras.

There is an hotel within the centre where many of the local as well as the interstate knitters stay. It too is a model establishment. Book early if you hope to stay.

It is the biggest gathering of machine knitters you are likely to find. And all of them thrilled to explain just how to do that technique in that ...pullover, baby blanket, cactus sculpture or whatever.

There will be traders of all things machine knitting. Even Reynolds, the last(?) new machine dealer in Australia, is expected. Tony Bennett, from WA will have a trading stand as well as being a star presenter. There is no arrangement for checking out the traders without signing on for the Seminar. If you are desperate, but able to afford one of the optional dinners, you could maybe come as a guest and hope that the traders have time to trade as well as eat.

Then there is the ' Think not what your Country can do for you' element. The machine knitting community is too small to have separate and exclusive groups. The community needs the new knitters to bring new ideas and new ways of doing things into an organisation formed in a previous era.

And there is always the possibility that you will get something out of the presentations. Don't worry that most of the presenters use Brothers and you use a Singer. the differences don't count. And some things are not machine dependent at all. Tony Bennett, who has made a living from all things machine knitting for years now, has a mantra, 'It's not a mistake, it's a design feature' And his loyal followers shout out the coda, 'And you can charge extra for that!'

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A bigger version

2010-12-29T12:35:00.001+11:00

Trying out the different technologies to put photos on a blog. I wonder if this gives better definition of the penguins? Click on the image for a much closer view.

I found it!

2010-12-28T18:08:00.002+11:00

I thought that this photo had mysteriously vanished from my files. I'm so happy to have found my favourite machine knit group project. And a Southern hemisphere festive icon.

It was displayed at the last MKAV Seminar, in the Club Projects competition. (yes, there is another coming up. and the Brunswick club can put in our own entry if we are strong enough) Due to the tyranny of democracy it did not win the popular vote - the display from the largest club took out that honour. The numerically strong and stylistically daring Moonee Ponds group might have taken the popular vote with Barbie and Ken and friends all kitted out in winter woollies, frolicing in the snow, except that it is known that several members gave their votes to the penguins.

If anyone wants to worry about whether machine knitting counts as hand made, just consider these penguins. All made from the same pattern, by different knitters on different machines, using whatever scraps of suitably coloured yarn came to hand. Each penguin a distinctive character.

Made by the knitters in Elaine's East Malvern club, concept developed by Joan.

A Christmas project

2010-12-15T15:48:00.002+11:00

If you are related to me, and geographically close, you are almost certainly going to get a scarf for Christmas. Provided I keep up my one completed project a day pace. I'm already a day behind, but the day is barely middle aged.

Being in the southern half of the planet, it is best to take into account the summer solstice, and make something that can be worn in hot weather.
A perfect project is the floating squiggles scarf, invented by Angela McGregor, energetic and creative machine knitter, and current President of the MKAV.

This is the version I made immediately after Angela made her rust and mustard version on a bulky machine loosest tension

My black and pink version is made on a standard gauge knitting machine, using every second needle. It could just as well be hand knitted, but in that case I would use garter stitch and large needles.

The yarns used are Avril Silk / Stainless steel, and Habu Nerimaki. These are available in Melbourne from Dairing http://www.dairing.com.au/ and from other retailers both local and international.

The stainless steel yarn holds its interesting memory characteristics. The cotton yarn does not weigh it down used so sparingly, and it shows off the beauty of the thick and thin slub yarn. And it is super easy.
Here is the pattern, for anyone in need of a quick but interesting gift project.

Pattern
Cast on 41 stitches
Knit with loosest tension, stocking stitch
Every 3rd row, add the Nerimaki into the yarn feeder, remove at the end of the row
Knit 300 rows, give or take
Cast off

Notes. Don't break the decorative thread, just take it out of the yarn feeder and hitch it over the end of the machine until you pick it up again a couple of rows later.

If you are using a retail sized cone of the stainless yarn, Just knitting to the end of the cone gives a reasonable length for the scarf. The Nerimaki will go a long way used in this pattern. You might get two scarves out of it.

The compliments of the season to you all

spreading the virus

2010-10-12T10:13:00.000+11:00

Hello there, let me introduce myself. I'm a new machine knitter and right now I am doing my very best to pass on the machine knitting virus. Not that machine knitting is new, and not that it really needs me, but ever since my Singer 321 found its way from the op shop to me, the disease has taken hold and is spreading.

I really wasn't looking to catch a new craft affliction. I have plenty of work managing my sewing and hand knitting disabilities, as well as the occasional period recovering from forays into more obscure craft lands, but this one got me when my resistance was down and I am beginning to suspect it might be a disease with no cure.

And now it seems quite a few of my friends have been struck down and like the enabler I have always been, I am now sourcing machines and yarn and passing on details of clandestine Tuesday night knitting sessions for fellow sufferers.

I am also doing my best to try and come up with helpful ways to ease the passage through the early stages of infection, the time when everything is exciting but also kind of scary and overwhelming. When so much more is unknown than known and when our minds start to fight the infection with every minor frustration.

Persistence is the key, but so too is company. I feel a tremendous debt of gratitude to the Association, and Christine in particular for helping me keep the faith, solve problems, clean the machine, lend expertise and share many hours of companionable knit talk.

I'm buying up coned and lace weight yarns like there's no tomorrow and just loving seeing all the different fabrics the machine can make. Right now I'm hard at work on my first proper garment and I'm already planning a second. I can't wait to publish the patterns on Ravelry and see others try them too.

Machine Knitting in Public

2010-09-21T10:50:00.000+10:00

New knitter explores the mysteries of tuck stitch

Those of us who like to meet knitting friends at Stitch and Bitch groups find that some venues just don't like us much. We take up space, talk for hours and maybe we don't put enough money into the business for the time and space used.
Imagine the consternation if we were to turn up at a pub and clamp our machines to their tables!
Despite MKAV President Angela's threats to turn up at a Stitch and Bitch, plastic machine under one arm, so far we have restricted our Machine Knitting in Public excursions to craft shows.
Our next MKIP will be at the Craft Expo 7 -10th October at the Royal Exhibition Buildings in Carlton. Brunswick novices may like to be part of the demonstration. Come for a day, or just an hour or two.

The machine just doesn't like it

2010-08-25T11:26:00.001+10:00

Last night Sooz spent the evening locked in a battle of wills with a couple of different cotton yarns. The yarns won.

With the benefit of a night's sleep, and warm water flowing over my head to lubricate my thought processes, I think I have identified the critical issue.
The yarn was not flowing freely enough.. Now I know Sooz kept saying, "Look, there is no tension at all, and it is still stuck!" With the benefits of the previously mentioned aids to clear thought, and the experience of trying to remove the knitting from the needles last night, I see that the problem was too much tension on the yarn in the previous row.
So when knitting with cotton yarn with no 'give', make sure the yarn has every encouragement to co-operate with the machine to make good stitches.
1. Make sure the yarn flows unhindered through the tension mast., If the yarn is not flowing freely, rewind or at least unravel a few meters so there is no tension coming from the ball.
2. Move the carriage slowly enough for the stitches to form properly in the rigid yarn. If the springy bit of the tension mast uses up all its travel, you are going too fast.
3. If you use a silicone spray, it will be more evenly distributed over the yarn if it is on a cone or a wound cake. Because there are edges where the yarn passes every turn, there will be a bit of lubrication every few inches.
So Sooz, if you are strong enough, we will have another go at those cottons and see if the people win next time.

It will all come out in the wash

2010-08-07T08:51:00.001+10:00

Years ago, I read in one of Elizabeth Zimmermann's writings, that she used to think that all the knitters in the past produced wonderfully even work. Then she noticed that with time and washing, all knitting gets to look splendidly regular, no matter how uneven the work was straight off the needles.
She was of course referring to hand knitting, but the effect of time and washing is even more critical to machine knitting. Most times I don't consider machine knitting finished until the pieces have been given a good tug, and washed, to settle the stitches into the shape they will hold ever after. How many times have I known someone hanker after a bigger gauge machine because they don't like the way the stitches form on every other needle on a standard gauge machine? Someone bought around a few well washed swatches of machine knitted industrial cashmere. The most satisfactory swatch, with the most perfectly shaped stitches, had been knitted on every other needle. That tell tale small stitch, big gap, EON stitch shape had transformed in the wash so that you would never pick it for every other needle knitting

The blog begins!

2010-08-03T12:05:00.001+10:00

This blog exists to give a public voice to the Brunswick machine knitting novices - officially a club of the Machine Knitters Assoc of Victoria. The blog has a handy calendar to give us a reference point for our activities and other events of interest to us.
In the absence of a network of machine dealerships, an association is the best available resource of practical assistance with knitting technique and machine problems. Our group exists to form a conduit to pass the collective experience of long established knitters on to a new generation of machine enthusiasts. Being part of the association also takes care of the liability issues involved in taking part in public events.
Despite being part of a formal association, this is an informal group. Some of us might sell our work, but even if we do, we are in this for the satisfaction of creation. It is not school, where we have to pass tests, it's not work where we have to conform to an employer's directions and time frames, and it's not a competition. Although anyone is free, nay, encouraged, to partake in the retro delights of competitive knitting at the Royal Melbourne, and other Shows.
Our friends Jules and Amy are about to embark for knitting camp in Stirling in Scotland, and then they are off to explore all the excitments to be found in hallowed knitting territory on the islands.
With luck they will find the time and the connections to keep us posted here.