Knitting Machines galore since one is never enough, photo tutorials, and knits gone wild

I was up early and just happened to see the segment on the CBS Sunday Morning Show about Karen Allen, Marion Ravenwood in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

She reinvented her creative life to run Karen Allen Fiber Arts, a successful couture machine knitting shop in Massachusetts.

Karen, your use of color and texture is wonderful. Please consider a few designs targeted to machine knitters as stand alone patterns. I’m thinking something like what Adrienne Vittadini did for hand knitters. There must be a way to do this without threatening your high end clothing sales.

A Very Parental Edition of Yarnival is up at Needle Exchange.

In addition to my Lady Bug clog entry, Eve has several links from around the knitting blogosphere for all to enjoy. A few of my favorites:

• The chemistry behind blocking lace
• A winged heart tattoo to knit
• Sequin Vogue dress from the 1960’s

I love peeking at knitting spaces. Here is my corner of the basement at the start of this blog.

Remember my inaugural pair of socks from my first blog post? This is what they look like now after a boy scout snow cave outing. Worn only one weekend and never been washed.

Continue reading…

The opportunities to create reversible textured fabric with a Passap are endless. These samples use the FX lock setting, hand selected pushers, and no pattern card. When pushers are up in working position, the machine knits normally. When pushers are down in rest position, the machine knits fishermans rib. The finished fabric is beautifully patterned on both sides. Continue reading…

The cotton socks I started last May are finally done. I had to do a bit of surgery to remove the old checkerboard top. I underestimated how much yardage I had and came up short on the second sock. Continue reading…

Yes, I realize I’m the last knitter in Knitville to jump on the Fetching bandwagon. They are still a perfect portable project.

Both pairs were made with size 6 (4 mm) needles with the cable cast on recommended in the pattern. I tried a long tail cast on and found it was too rigid. The cable cast on allows the fabric to move and mimic the look of the picot cast off. I lined up the picot bind off with the final purl columns. I added rows in the finger zone for my large hands.

The dark pair is Reynolds Eternity, a machine washable wool blend of 51% wool and 49% microfiber. It is so soft. Even with size 6 needles, the mitts are firm and elastic without being cardboard stiff.

The light pair is an unidentifiable wool mohair blend from my stash. It is wonderful finished. Horrible if you make a mistake and have to rip back. Continue reading…

My first Stitches event did not disappoint. I flew back east to spend the weekend with a dear friend and walk the market floor. I’m pretty proud for heading home with only five pairs of future socks. Continue reading…