Machine Knitting Guild of Minnesota

One of our talented knitters in the guild has started a blog for the group. She has done a really nice job. There are only a few entries so far, but it is packed with information about the craft of machine knitting. Every month we have a program so she has described the lesson and added lots of pictures. You will want to bookmark the site so that you can benefit from all the info. Click on the title of this entry or the link in the sidebar to get there. Thanks to Rebecca for a nicely done blog!!!

OH! and by the way, we would love to have you join our guild if you live within driving distance of Minneapolis/St. Paul. Our meetings are held in Richfield. Write to me if you would like more information.

Hats, hats and more hats!

I finally finished 29 hats for the Minnetonka High School Alpine Ski Team. They were cute, and not hard to do, but knitting 29 of the same thing gets boring. I'm glad I'm done and they've been picked up. Now I can move on to other knitting. Aren't the tassels cute, though? And, how about the form on that skier?




Last night I knit a tam on my midgauge.
I don't look so spiffy in ski hats myself, so this one looks a little better on me. It's starting to get cold here, so when walking the dog, a hat is needed. I don't have a good picture of it. Just shoved it under my scanner, so you can't even see the whole thing at once. It is there, tho. In case you can't tell, the pic on the left is top-down and you can kind of see the little nubbin on top. On the right is the underside showing the brim. I didn't do any ribbing. I just knit several plain rows the size of my noggin and let it roll. Easy---the hat took about an hour to make.Machine: Midgauge. I used Brother KX 350 Yarn: Medium worsted weight. I used Patons Merino Wool
Gauge: Body of the hat 4 st x 6 r at T 10. = 1”
Directions: You will start with the body of the hat and rehang the bottom to make the brim. You can either knit the brim in stockinette and let it roll, or knit 1-2” of ribbing.
Body of hat- Cast on over 130 needles with wy and knit a few rows at T 10. (Loosest T.) With main yarn knit to RC 22. (If you want a floppier hat, knit more rows here.)
Begin decreases:
1. Transfer N 4 to 5 across (3 n in work, one out of work across). Remove on WY and rehang so there are no empty needles. Knit 6 rows.
2. Transfer N 3 to 4 across (2 in work, 1 out of work across). Remove on WY and rehang so there are no empty needles. Knit 6 rows.
3. Transfer N 2 to 3 across (every other n in work). Remove on WY and rehang so there are no empty needles. Knit 4 rows.
4. Transfer every other st to neighbor (every other n in work). Remove on WY and rehang so there are no empty needles. Knit 2 rows.
5. Double up stitches and K 2 rows.
6. Double up so that you have 4 stitches in work. Knit one row. Don’t break yarn.
“Nubbin” - Push in one part button. Make an I cord at T 10. with the 4 stitches, 10 rows. Transfer all st to one N and bind off. Leave a 12 inch yarn end to sew up the seam. Set carriage to normal again.
Brim- Decide which side you want to be the public side. Turn hat upside down with your wrong side facing and hang stitches decreasing to 74 stitches. At T 5 knit 12 rows. At T 2 knit 2 rows. Bind off around the gate pegs.
Finishing- Tidy up the little nubbin at top and seam the side with a mattress stitch. Reverse on brim to hide seam.

Give it to Kari! She likes it!

It's not easy for a mother to knit something that the daughter likes. At least that's been the case at our house. I finally hit the jackpot with the Circle of Life sweater. On Kari, it's more like a coat since she is a little vertically challenged, as my husband teases. You can turn the coat upside down and it is a waist length, large collared sweater. You can see the sweater on another model at http://www.knitwords.com/. Mary Anne keeps the pictures from the current issue up until the next one comes out.

I really had fun designing and knitting this garment. It's different from anything else I've made and it combines a lot of techniques. I made it out of Forsell's Pure New Wool, which is a very nice yarn. (Maybe I said that before when it was in progress.) Needs steaming now and then, I noticed.

If I were to knit this again, I might make it as a semi-circular shawl and omit the sleeves. The swirls created by the short-rowing are graceful. If you click on the smaller picture, you will get a larger pic that shows the swirls better.

So now, I'm on to another project. Pictures to follow. Stay tuned!