Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Machine Knitting - Part 4

Those are pretty fancy stitches on the blankets. How do you do that?

The lacy stitches on the blanket are called tuck stitches. Selected needles hold the stitch in the hook for one or more rows instead of knitting it off. Then all the stitches on that hook are knitted at once. This gives an interesting open pattern. I use a double bed tuck on the blankets - double bed means I use the main bed and the ribber. So on the blankets, I switch from tuck, to double jacquard and back to tuck. The tuck gives the lacy texture and the double jacquard puts in the name. This is all controlled by how I tell the computer to knit and how I adjust the carriage.

But that is not all the stitches I can do! Slip stitch passes the yarn in front of selected needles to form a pattern that is different from tuck. Do a slip in 2 colors and you have another intersting pattern. I can also do a weaving stitch to make thing like placemats. This allows me to use a heavier yarn than my standard maching usually can handle by passing the yarn in front of the needles and not through the carriage. Then there is plating where 2 yarns are knitted together with one yarn showing on one side and the other on the back.

Ok, OK - but what about those starched baskets? They look like they have holes in the knit! Yep - part 5 will let you in on the secrets of lace knitting.

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Barb this is great how you are stringing us along.....
get it...string....yarn.....Well I thought it was funny.

Zuda Gay Pease said...

Funny, Joan! Great post, Barb!! I am really enjoying this! I would love to watch!

Judy Nolan said...

What strikes me about using a knitting machine is that there is a LOT to learn! Great reading.--JN Originals