Review of 5 low-priced manual wool winders
Wool winders are an important tool for machine knitters of fine industrial yarn. I have acquired five wool winders of the past couple of years. I thought it was time to compare and report on their performance for knitting with fine yarn.
Twisting Stacks for Machine Knitting with Fine Yarn
If you are machine knitting with fine yarn a twisting stack that enables you to loosely twist up 2 or 3 strands of yarn is a very useful item to buy or make.
Machine Knitting with Fine Yarn (winders & home-made hats)
Wool winders and twisting stacks can make it easier for a machine knitter to knit with multiple strands of fine yarn.
Casting On: Using Weaving Brushes
The weaving brush cast on method is quick and easy. It is leaves a ragged edge but you can stretch or draw this up. Useful when doing a quick sampler or tension square.
Knitting Machine Maintenance (cleaning your machine)
useful information on cleaning and looking after your knitmaster knitting machine
Useful Resources for Machine Knitting
List of useful online resources for buying knitting machine, tools and accessories, yarns and patterns.
Knitting Machine Yarn
Yarn comes in different plies, counts and thicknesses. It is important to know what yarn is best for your particular knitting machine.
Machine Ready? Lets start knitting!
Hopefully you have read the previous posts and have now set up your machine and work area. You have a new sponge-bar and your needles and carriage are all ready to knit. . You have also ordered or found some suitable practice yarn. You also have opened your operations manual. We are ready to start knitting. First though, do not jump into trying to knit a garment. Now is the time to learn to create some swatches. You need to learn to cast on, knit and then cast off. There are different ways to cast on and cast off so this should be fun. . But first you need to…
Get some Practice Yarn
Yarn can be expensive to buy so it is important to find a source of inexpensive yarn that you can use for practice.
Setting Up Your Machine – Check the sponge bar
. Many of the domestic knitting machines contain a needle retaining bar also known as a sponge bar or sponge-bar. Passaps, Superbas, some plastic bed machines and some really old machines do not have a sponge bar. Check if your machine has one. . The sponge bar is a long metal metal bar that contains a strip of foam that holds down the needles. The needles will not knit properly without a sponge-bar in good condition. . The manuals do not seem to mention anything about the sponge-bar. The sponge-bar on a Japanese metal bed knitting machine is found in a channel near the front of the machine. You need…
