Punch/Thread Lace

I recently acquired a Singer 500 electronic knitting machine. The reason I "needed" to have it was so I could knit punch/thread lace. Of all the amazing machines I own and use, none of them were able to perform this particular form of knitting, so of course, I had to have it. Talk about any excuse to buy another old machine. The irony is that if I had a few thousand dollars I could buy a newer SilverReed electronic machine that would have the ability to do all the things I want from my knitting, but until then, I have my collection of machines that individually do what I want. When I want DBJ and tubular knitting like socks, I use the doublebed, transfer lace from a Brother card is accomplished on my Toyota KS901, All In One transfer lace cards for the S/S/S/K machines are knit on my Toyota KS950 etc. I know, it sounds like a lot of hassle, but really, it keeps me interested in my knitting machines and designing different fabrics :)


My first test to see if this older Singer machine was knitting properly and that the electronics were ok was a huge success, there are a couple of miss patterned stitches, but that's a-ok, I've been advised that it's a sticky latch on the needle issue and I have lots of extra needles that came with it to replace them.


My next step was to design my pattern and color in the squares on the card. After I got my design transfered I decided to test it in fair isle. I love it! So, next came the punchlace test swatch.


After this mess, a good friend pointed out that my design didn't allow for any actual lacy spots. It was a great DBJ design, but "where's the lace part?" Back to the drawing board and a new and improved, punchlace design. Of course, all my self teaching is surrounded by lots of drama and this was no exception. I had spent so much time finding the right ink for my White 1602 mylars, I made the assumption that the Singer would use the same thing. Come to find out, the Singer scanners read reflections from soft lead, not light blocking ink. Oops! Wasted a very expensive blank card, but learned alot, and after figuring out what I had marked incorrectly on the card, another online knitting buddy helped me figure that little mistake out, I have SUCCESS!!


I still need to change out the bad needles, see the columns of stockinette? Those are the bad boys. I also need to fine tune my design, there are some places on the card that I need to shorten the number of unknit cotton thread stitches and change where some of the solid squares are, but all in all I consider this a huge success for my prototype. I'm going to space my roses out a little differently too, so there is a better balance on the panel, but this is where it stands right now. I also need to thank another knitting list pal for the gift she sent to me of the clear nylon thread so I could try this technique.

Since I'm moving soon, I had to give it up and pack up my knitting machines so I could concentrate on packing and organizing for the move. A list group friend gave me a really good laugh by ssaying she figured I would have at least one machine set up in the back of the moving van so I could knit during the long drive LOL!! Does she have me pegged or what!! Unfortunately, I have to drive my car with my kitty cats in it so it will be hand knitting at stop lights, traffic jams and waiting in drive thru food lines :)

White 1602 Doublebed Jacquard Experiment

WOW!! This is so cool! The top scan is the public side of a fair-isle design knit on my 1602 with the light scanning needle selection box. The picture is on the mylar, the machine knits it. Very cool. There are a few pattern mistakes, but they are in the same section so I'm thinking it might be that my mylar isn't clean enough, or maybe I need to check my needles in that section, or maybe I just need more practice. Either way, I am very very pleased and this piece will be a little purse/pouch bag. Not bad for my second try at this kind of knitting on this machine :) The first try was a bit of a disaster, it miss patterned everywhere accept in one column of the design, but I discovered that I hadn't centered the mylar correctly.

This is the back (non-public) side. I tried 2 different methods. The bottom one almost looks a little woven, the top one is nearly reversible and according to a book I have on creating machine knit fabrics, there is a setting I can use to create true reversible fabrics. Right now I'm going to bask in my success on this and figure out a project to use it on. I used to have a dream of knitting holiday afghans using this kind of knitting. I have a ton of holiday punchcards, I now wish I had holiday mylars. Looks like I'll be surfing around for clipart soon and trying out the picture knitting option of these machines :) Oh Boy!

Bernat Softee Baby Sport DK

Well, this little experiment didn't work. I had swatched this yarn and it had trouble, but I thought I'd give it another try and just treat it like cotton, more weight, run the carriage slower and give it a good tug down after each row is knit, hoping that would do it. Well, I don't know if you can see it, but down by my hand it's quite obvious that it just isn't going to knit on my Toyota KS950 standard gauge. There were so many split stitches mucking it up, had they been more evenly placed, they could have been a design element. I was even careful to check each row for splits and re-formed them by hand. Guess I didn't catch enough of them LOL!!

This was to be another All In One Baby Caridigan, and I so wanted to knit it with this super soft cottony feeling Bernat yarn. I use Mary Lou's Solo all the time on this machine and I even knit a tuck stitched queen sized bed cover for a wedding present with Lion Brands new Baby Soft Sport on this machine. I should have saved myself the time and set up the LK140 mid-gauge :( The one good thing from it is that I believe I know why it won't knit when the other inexpensive readily available baby sport weights will knit on this machine.

Because it's just like cotton, it also has the same amount of stretch and give as cotton. None. No elasticity at all, so I'm thinking that this is how this particular machine gets away with knitting the tiny bit thicker yarns. The strand thins down and seats itself into the needle latch with the little bit of added weight pulling it down.

Now, this bootie was knit with the Knittery Bootie punchcard, using Bernat Baby Coordinates on the same machine, Toyota KS950 standard gauge and I also knit a pair using the Red Heart Baby Soft yarn that is about the same yarn. So you see? I had every reason to believe I would be able to bend the Softee Baby to my will, guess who one, yet again. I've pulled my LK140 mid-gauge out and am currently looking for a safe place to set it up LOL!!!

As soon as I quite screwing around and having all these "learning" experiences, I should have a few things to send off to my new grand daughter :)

S.I.T. Cursor Stops/Carriage Release

This subject comes up quite frequently with new users. Especially when the knitter is used to Japanese machines that don't use cursors or the stops. It can be very confusing, so here is a couple little video's that I hope will help folks out. My camera only takes a few seconds at a time so I had to break it up.

Cursor Stops Part 1

Cursor Stops Part 2

Removing the Back Carriage

Please keep in mind that these machines were built in the 1980's and have probably been packed away gathering dirt and grime until it found it's way into your loving hands. The parts can be very stiff and require cleaning and oiling to work properly. When you are cleaning up your machine, be very careful to keep oil away from the copper strips on your cursor. They need to have a clean contact for the electric current to cause the needles to select.

The first time I played around with the cursor and the stops, I just knew I was going to break it. It was very very stiff and it took several passes back and forth, releasing and catching the cursor both directions before it finally loosened up and didn't jar my arms when the carriage hit the stops. I hope this helps newbies out, these little things can be so frustrating when we are learning something totally new :)

12 st Patterns on 24 st Punchcard Blanks

This question is popping up quite a bit lately so I thought I'd go ahead and share this on the blog. Click on the picture for a larger, legible version of the punchcard. When using a 24 stitch blank card for a bulky 12 stitch punchcard pattern, you skip the column between punched columns. This will work on the 12 stitch punchcard BULKY machines. The older Toyota 12 stitch 4.5mm standard gauge punchcard machines like the KS858, require punchcards made specifically for them. The spacing for the punches is different and the 12 stitch cards made for them are not interchangeable with 12 stitch cards for the bulky machines. If you are having trouble with 12 stitch blanks, hold a card up to a 24 stitch card and see if the holes line up. If they are off, then you have the wrong blanks for your machine, the right cards will line up with every other punch space on the 24 stitch card.

I will have both types of machines and figuring out which card will work with which machine could get tricky so I am only buying 4.5mm gauge 12 stitch blanks for my KS858 and will be using the 24 stitch blanks for my 12 stitch bulky. This should help me keep them straight :)

Easier still would be if I just had all 24 stitch punchcard machines, or better yet, electronic patterning machines in both pitches, but then, what would be the challenge with that LOL!!

Ladder Eyelet Join

Ok, here's a mini video showing a variation on the traditional eyelet join for connecting knitted panels. This "Ladder Eyelet" (http://www.dimitysdrygoods.com/ click on Techniques on the left hand menu and then click on Strip Tease Knitting) is accomplished with using inside stitches through the eyelets which gives it a laced up affect instead of pulling the edge stitches through the eyelets, which creates a more Braided looking join. This technique has shown up in several magazine articles and books by several different authors and they all appear to have their own copyrights. I'm just showing how it's done and I have not refered to any books or articles other than the above mentioned website and a discussion based on a photo from an ebay auction. I hope that's enough disclaimer to keep me out of trouble :) I'm not claiming anything other than I know how to do it.

I used stitches 3 and 4 from the edge in this video to pull through the eyelet but you can use stitches 2 and 3 or any other stitches further in. The further in you go, the larger overlap of loose edge you will have. I sure hope that makes sense :)

Back Stitch Bind Off/Seaming with Latch Tool

Poor quality but I think it shows enough so you get what I'm doing :)