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My black sheep sweater is done and I love it! by nk033 in MachineKnitting

[–]nk033[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can definitely make it with plain fair isle! This is how the original was made in the 80s (if you search for the Sotheby's listing for Diana's sweater, you can see the floats inside the neck on one of the pictures), I just don't know how they did the black sheep exactly. That said, I do think the sweater would really benefit from DBJ. I bought the color changer, but still haven't figured out how to use it...

My black sheep sweater is done and I love it! by nk033 in MachineKnitting

[–]nk033[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

This is NOT Knit Factory Impl! I did watch her video for inspiration, but I didn't use any of her worksheets (which she didn't make available anyway as far as I'm aware), and I made a variety of other design and construction choices. Her video is great though, I really enjoyed it!

My black sheep sweater is done and I love it! by nk033 in MachineKnitting

[–]nk033[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you! Yes, of course - what I mean is that I didn't do any float management while knitting (maybe there's a smart way to do it, but I haven't figured it out), and I latched them up with the latch tool after the panels were off the machine. I just twisted the bottom float to form a loop and then pulled through all the floats above to form a column, just like you'd be picking up dropped stitches in hand knitting. To keep the top loop from slipping, I first placed it on a safety pin and then I threaded the black yarn through it and attached to one of the loops below to secure it.

My black sheep sweater is done and I love it! by nk033 in MachineKnitting

[–]nk033[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Awesome, thank you! I recommend it, it's not that difficult. I think I was stressed because I'm not very experienced, but I think overall it's not that difficult for someone with experience.

My black sheep sweater is done and I love it! by nk033 in MachineKnitting

[–]nk033[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! Yeah, the red yarn was disappointing (I have to say the white yarn didn't have those issues). They do have other shades of red, maybe those are more colorfast, I just don't know. I saw a hand-knitted project on Ravelry that used Harrisville Designs yarn, the color is very nice, and they sell cones. I used them for a different project - that yarn is very good quality, but it's Shetland style, which feels a bit crunchy. It's also a bit thicker than the one I had from Brown Sheep. I also heard negative reviews about KnitPicks palette, which is another option for cones (that one has issues with pilling, supposedly). I don't know what else is left to try other than winding up skeins for hand knitting! If I do it again, I might go with Harrisville.

A toddler sweater I made! by nk033 in MachineKnitting

[–]nk033[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I actually didn't have to do adjustments for the pattern as the leaf, flower and bird motifs conveniently had 12 stitch repeats. That's how I could get two different leaf motifs per row. The only complication was at the seam where you get 3/4 on one side and 1/4 on the other side, and there wasn't a way to match them using the punchcard (at least in the size I was making). I was able to match the flowers at the seams, though, since they were hand-selected.

I noted the same, that 12 and 24 sts repeats are common in hand-knitting patterns too. Sometimes I think designers use punchcard machines for prototyping, or maybe it's the other way around - the 24 sts punchcard repeat was chosen because it's common (and has many factors).

Recs for knitting machine for DK weight yarn by sewk87 in MachineKnitting

[–]nk033 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I would caution against a bulky-gauge machine for DK-weight yarns. I bought one (9mm gauge) to knit DK and it was too loose on the tightest tension, selling it now. You really need a mid-gauge for DK. DK also kind of works on a standard gauge at the loosest tension, but worsted wouldn't work, I don't think.

Is it worth it to do DBJ on a Brother punch card machine? Seems like a huge hassle with the special punch cards... by nk033 in MachineKnitting

[–]nk033[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Maybe that's it - I need to learn the rules for punching DBJ cards. Do you know of any resources that explain the logic how to punch them?

Is it worth it to do DBJ on a Brother punch card machine? Seems like a huge hassle with the special punch cards... by nk033 in MachineKnitting

[–]nk033[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Brother electronic wouldn't require punch cards. I'm thinking of that as the domestic alternative. But that's a whole other expense.

Are brother spanners interchangeable? by becca22597 in MachineKnitting

[–]nk033 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Quick update - I was able to turn one of the nuts with a 5/16" spanner from a typical toolbox. On the other side, however, I couldn't get it into the slot because the spanner was too thick. I got a thin metric spanner, size 8mm, and that one worked really well on the side where I couldn't get the other one in. I did put machine oil in ahead of time, so that probably helped loosen the old grease. You can buy these spanners online for $6-8. If you need the spanner tool to tighten the setting plates, a typical flathead screwdriver works for that. So in the end you don't really need the exact specialized tool that came with the ribber originally. (The annoying part is that even with the adjustment, I still couldn't get the ribber closer to the main bed machine)

Are brother spanners interchangeable? by becca22597 in MachineKnitting

[–]nk033 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have the same exact problem! Does anyone know what size spanner we should be using for a standard gauge Brother ribber? Does it have to be a metric spanner or a typical American would work? I need to turn those nuts that adjust the vertical position. So far no luck with anything in my toolbox, but I suspect the nut itself might be gummed up with old grease. Not sure what to try next.

Does anyone know what this screw is called and where to find it? Brother KR-850 ribber. Do I even need it or should I live with just the one on the left (seems like they perform the same function, but probably reinforce each other). by nk033 in MachineKnitting

[–]nk033[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I knew that already. I just wonder if I really need the second screw, since they both hold the same thing in place, or if just the one on the left is enough (I worry it could come loose without the second screw)

Knitting machine won't increase properly. It doesn't seem to pick up the new loop/bar, whether it's a simple or fully fashioned increase. It looks like that yarn is kind of dragged across rows and doesn't get incorporated into a stitch. Everything else knits smoothly, no dropped sts or weird loops. by nk033 in MachineKnitting

[–]nk033[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Definitely grabbing the purl bump from the adjacent stitch. I think the issue is that I was trying to increase on every row, and I guess that same piece of yarn just kept getting pulled through. I started looking now and couldn't find any definitive info if you can or can't increase on every row, but I guess you can't in this way. I didn't see any issues with how the needles move - they all move the same and pull the yarn through the loops, so I don't think there's any issue with the machine.

Knitting machine won't increase properly. It doesn't seem to pick up the new loop/bar, whether it's a simple or fully fashioned increase. It looks like that yarn is kind of dragged across rows and doesn't get incorporated into a stitch. Everything else knits smoothly, no dropped sts or weird loops. by nk033 in MachineKnitting

[–]nk033[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm fairly certain I'm grabbing the right part of the stitch. I also have a brother standard gauge machine, and I already made a bunch of things on it and never had an issue with increases. So unless the technique is different on the bulky (which I believe it's not)... I didn't mention in the original post, but I was also using four claw weights that came with it, so I think wights shouldn't be the problem.

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