Saturday, October 26, 2013

Plating...Who Knew?

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Have you used the plating capabilities of your Brother standard knitting machine for plain stockinet stitch?  If so, you've seen that if you’re using 2 colors of yarn that the front of the fabric will be one color and the back will be the other color.  At our last knit meeting, one of the gals showed some of our favorite tuck dishcloths that she’d made by plating the yarns.  When not plating the yarns, our tuck dishcloths develop randomly placed stripes in the fabric.  Her plated dishcloths were nice solid colors and didn’t show the random stripes that we usually get with not plating.  Granted both colors showed through on each side but there were no signs of unpredictable striping.

I’ve never done plating before so thought I’d give it a shot.  It’s very easy to set the machine up for plating.  Follow your machine user’s manual to replace the regular yarn feeder assembly in the main carriage sinker plate assembly with the plating yarn feeder assembly that came with your machine.  Take out 2 screws, remove the old assembly, insert the plating yarn feeder and replace the screws.  Easy. 
2 color tuck dishcloth with no plating


I found that threading and unthreading the darned thing is a bit awkward however.  I’m sure that’ll get easier with practice.  And there’s no little latch to close to hold the front yarn in place and I had 2 instances where the front yarn hopped out of the feeder.  It was my own fault though.  I was wearing long, floppy sleeves when I reached across the feeder to change tensions and I must’ve brushed up against the yarn and dislodged it.  I just need to be more aware and careful.  Everything went just fine after that.  While threading the feeder, make sure that the yarns aren’t twisted and that both yarns are properly seated as it shows in the manual.

NOTE:  Check out a comment I received from Aminetta below.  She very thoughtfully suggested that threading the plating yarn thru the spring wire on the upper mast of a Brother machine would hold the plating yarn back so that it doesn't pop out of the feeder slot.  Thank you Aminetta.


Also, placement of the yarns in the feeder affects how your fabric will look.  The yarn in the front slot will be predominant on the back side of the fabric. The yarn in the back slot will be predominant on the side visible to you while knitting in tuck.

One of the other gals at the meeting said that she uses a thin plating yarn if she’s working with some pesky yarn or when she wants a bit more body to the fabric.  And another said that she used plating when making her baby blankets to give a nicer look.   So there are more applications for plating than just stockinet stitch work.  I think you’ll be pleased with the results of plating if you try it.

Friday, October 18, 2013

A New Machine Knitter

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Me telling our granddaughter that she couldn’t ‘confiscate’ a scarf that I’d made for myself and saying that I could make her one later or better yet, I’d teach her how to make her own turned out to be the best thing that I could’ve replied.  She took me up on the offer to make her own and we now have a new machine knitter in this world.  I was sure hoping that one of the girls would become a machine knitter and it was looking like the odds were getting slimmer, but here she is.

I set up my little KX-350 midgauge machine on the kitchen counter for her a couple months ago and it’s still there.  The tuck lace scarf was only the beginning.  Since then, she’s knit a huge paneled blanket (in Dallas Cowboys’ colors, of course), several tuck dishcloths and lastly mittens.  She’s been pilfering through my stash, which also turns out to be a good thing.  And she’s got all kinds of plans for Christmas knitting this year.

Yay for her, I’m so proud of her!

Several years ago, I gifted my KX-350 to our other daughter-in-law when it looked like she was going to machine knit but then life got too busy for her with kids and working full time.  She has given that machine back to our granddaughter so she even has her own machine now.  (Yes, I did replace my machine that I gave to our daughter-in-law).

Enjoy the pictures and notice the smiles!

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Felted Fingered Mitten

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I really like the looks and warmth of mittens but I don’t wear them at all because they’re so clumsy.  I like to be able to use my fingers without having to take a mitten off.  So I got to thinking and looking around and thought that I could easily use my felted mitten pattern to add a finger just as I did the thumb.  One finger is better than none at all when it’s really cold.

My felted mitten pattern features a shortrowed fingertip but only one side of the fingertip is shaped on this mitten so I used decreases in the center of the mitten to get the shaping I needed.  It’s not hard at all but does take a bit more time than shortrowing.  These too can easily be made in the round on a machine with ribber.


So, here’s my take on a fingered mitten.  They look kind of strange but they work for me.


FELTED FINGERED MITTEN

Size:  Woman’s Medium
Machine:  KX-350 midgauge
Yarn:  Interlacement’s Sweet Feet sock yarn (2 strands), 4 oz
           (400 yds = 4 oz)
Gauge:  Pre-Felt 5 sts, 6 rows = 1”

CUFF:
1)   CO 42 sts with waste yarn and ravel cord.
2)   With main yarn, e-wrap each needle by pulling the e-wrap thru the stitch already
       on the needle created by the ravel cord.
3)   RC000, T6, K6R.
4)   Work 2x1 rib with latch tool, beginning with the 2nd stitch.

WRIST:
1)   RC000, T7,  K20R (or desired length). 

THUMB GUSSET:
1)   RC000, T8, with 2 prong transfer tool, increase 9 sts on each side by increasing 1
      st on beginning of every row 18 times for a total of 18 added sts.  Fill in the empty
      needle with the heel of the previous stitch from the main body.  Knit across so
      COR. 

2)   Opposite the carriage, scrap off 8 sts with several rows of waste yarn.
3)   K1R, opposite the carriage, scrap off 8 sts with several rows of waste yarn.

HAND:
1)   RC000, T8, K17R on 44 sts.
2)   For finger, opposite the carriage, scrap off 7 sts with several rows of waste yarn.
3)   K1R, opposite the carriage, scrap off 7 sts with several rows of waste yarn.
4)   Continue to knit on 30 sts until RC026, COL.

FINGERTIP SHAPING:
1)   RC000, decrease one st on needle L1 and move all stitches on carriage side in to
      fill the empty needle, K1R.
2)   Decrease one st on needle R1 and move stitches on carriage side in to fill the
      empty needle.  K1R.
3)   Continue decreasing one stitch in the middle on alternating sides, move stitches in
       to fill the empty needle and K1R, until 20 sts remain, RC010.
4)   With 2 prong transfer tool, decrease one stitch on each side, along with the one in
       the middle, K1R.
5)    Repeat step 4.  (14 sts remain)
6)    Scrap off with several rows of waste yarn.

FINGER:
1)  With wrong side facing and finger pieces in the middle of work, hang a total of 16
      stitches with the 7 sts from the left finger section, 1 stitch from that edge of the
      mitten body, 1 stitch from the edge of the right hand mitten body and 7 sts from the
      right finger section.
2)   RC000, K14R.
3)   With 1 prong transfer tool, transfer EOS to its neighbor to the right and move
      stitches together.
4)   K2R.
5)   Dec EOS as above, move stitches together.
6)   K1R and gather.

THUMB:
1)   With wrong side facing and thumbs in the middle of work, hang a total of 18 stitches with the 8

       stitches from the left thumb section, 1 stitch from that edge of the mitten body, 1 stitch from
       the edge of the right hand mitten body and 8 stitches from the right thumb section.
2)   RC000, K2R.
3)   With 2 prong transfer tool, dec 1 st on each edge.
4)   K12R even.
5)   With 1 prong transfer tool, transfer EOS to its neighbor to the right and move stitches together.
6)   K2R.
7)   Dec EOS as above, move stitches together.
8)   K1R, gather and secure.

FINISHING:
1)   Vigorously stretch fabric lengthwise to set stitches.
2)   Loosely graft the fingertip together from purl side.
3)   From the public side, loosely sew all seams with Bickford style stitching.
4)   Felt to desired size.


 
















 


Saturday, October 5, 2013

Felted Mittens

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I’ve been machine knitting for many years but I've never made a pair of felted mittens.  I’ve been wondering what I could make with some worsted wool that I’ve had on hand for awhile, so guess it’s about time for some felted mittens.  They’re based on my favorite mitten pattern with size adjusted to compensate for the felting.  They feature a thumb gusset for better fit and a shortrowed fingertip.
One 4 oz skein will make the size in this pattern.  But they’ll take a bit more yarn if you need a bigger size or want longer wrists and cuffs.  To save on main color yarn, a contrasting color could be used for stripes or a contrasting cuff/wrist.   These are a basic mitten but could be dressed up with colorful yarns, fairisle or embellished with embroidery, needle felting, adding a braid or woven ribbon, line with a pretty fabric, etc.  Another nice option would be to knit a ribbed cuff in non-felting yarn and sew it to the inside of the mitten wrist.  Use your imagination.

The 2nd pair was made with 2 strands of Sweet Feet by Interlacements Yarns, a non-superwash variegated sock yarn, with a gauge of 5 sts and 6 rows per inch.  (3.7 oz)


Felted Mitten

Size:  Woman’s Medium
Machine:  KX-350 midgauge
Yarn:  Aussi Wool Worsted Weight, 4 oz
Gauge:  Pre-Felt 4 sts, 5.5 rows = 1”

CUFF:
1)   CO 42 sts with waste yarn, knit 6 rows with waste yarn and knit 1 row with ravel cord. 
2)   With main yarn, e-wrap each needle by pulling the e-wrap thru the stitch created by the ravel cord already on the needle.
3)   RC000, T6, K6R.
4)   Hand manipulate 2x1 latched rib, beginning with the 2nd stitch.

WRIST:
1)   RC000, T7,  K16R (or desired length).

THUMB GUSSET:
1)   RC000, T8, with 2 prong transfer tool, increase 9 sts on each side by increasing 1 st on beginning of every row 18 times.  Fill in the empty needle with the heel of the previous stitch from the main body.  (The last inc will be on RC017, then K across to RC018, with COR).
2)   Opposite the carriage, scrap off 8 sts with several rows of waste yarn.
3)   K1R, opposite the carriage, scrap off 8 sts with several rows of waste yarn.

HAND:
1)   RC000, T8, K26R on remaining 44 sts.
2)   Put machine on hold and half the stitches opposite the carriage into hold position.
3)   Shortrow on working needles down to 8 sts and back out.  (Use a simple shortrow, do not wrap needle on the increases).
4)   Cut yarn leaving a tail to be used for seaming.
5)   Scrap off both sections with several rows of waste yarn.

THUMB:
1)  With wrong side facing and thumbs in the middle of work, hang a total of 18 stitches with the 8 sts from the left thumb section, 1 stitch from that edge of the mitten body, 1 stitch from the edge of the right hand mitten body and 8 sts from the right thumb section.
2)   RC000, K2R.
3)   With 2 prong transfer tool, dec 1 st on each edge.
4)   K12R even.
5)   With 1 prong transfer tool, transfer EOS to its neighbor to the right and move stitches together.
6)   K2R.
7)   Dec EOS as above, move stitches together.
8)   K1R and gather.

FINISHING:
1)   Loosely graft the fingertip seam from the purl side.
2)   From the public side, loosely sew all seams with Bickford style stitching.
3)   Felt to size desired.  (Mine took 3 cycles of hot/cold).

NOTES:
1)   Use no knots in felted objects.  Knots will result in lumps that you don’t want.  Simply weave the yarn ends in as you normally would.  The felting process ensures that the yarn ends will not loosen and disengage.
2)   During felting, the fabric will shrink up more in length than width.
3)   Before starting the felting, I place plastic bags inside the mitten and pin in place with small safety pins so the layers won’t felt together.  After each wash/rinse cycle, I examine and reposition the safety pins if they’ve gotten dislodged and hidden in the fabric.  My felting for these mittens took 3 cycles of hot/cold wash/rinse and after the 2nd cycle, I removed the safety pins and plastic bags.
4)   All wool is not created equal and the felting process may vary with water temperatures and length of washing cycles.  So check your felting periodically….there’s no turning back if they get too small.

AFTERTHOUGHT NOTES:
1)   After making several of these mittens, I found that with some yarns the thumb base was a bit tight and needed some stretching while drying.  So I've reworked the instructions for the thumb gusset by adding 2 stitches.  Then when knitting the thumb, I knit 2 rows and then decreased 2 stitches, then knit the rest of the thumb as in my original pattern.  It works out well.
2)   I found it totally unnecessary to place a plastic bag inside the mitten while felting.  The sides do not felt together as I would have suspected.  But you can add the plastic if you're worried that they will.