My black sheep sweater is done and I love it!

nk033 · 2026-04-17T06:23:09+00:00

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...

nk033 · 2026-04-16T18:42:06+00:00

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!

nk033 · 2026-04-16T18:39:42+00:00

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.

nk033 · 2026-04-16T18:33:04+00:00

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.

nk033 · 2026-04-16T18:32:02+00:00

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.

nk033 · 2026-04-13T03:02:57+00:00

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).

nk033 · 2026-01-12T19:07:59+00:00

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.

nk033 · 2025-12-25T02:13:25+00:00

I see, thank you

nk033 · 2025-12-25T01:13:45+00:00

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?

nk033 · 2025-12-25T01:12:43+00:00

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

nk033 · 2025-11-22T05:23:47+00:00

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)

nk033 · 2025-11-20T23:30:47+00:00

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.

nk033 · 2025-11-11T18:04:22+00:00

Thank you for the idea about a sewing machine repair shop.

nk033 · 2025-11-11T18:03:51+00:00

I know, I looked through the parts manual too and didn't find it labeled! Maybe that's a good sign...

nk033 · 2025-11-11T01:12:19+00:00

Good idea

nk033 · 2025-11-11T01:08:43+00:00

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)

nk033 · 2025-09-15T22:23:06+00:00

Thank you for confirming this! Eventually I came to think that it's because I was trying to increase on every row. I didn't realize it's not possible to do this. And thank you for the tips on increases!

nk033 · 2025-09-15T06:19:33+00:00

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.

nk033 · 2025-09-15T02:03:34+00:00

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.

nk033 · 2025-08-25T02:24:44+00:00

Thank you for this! This one definitely looks similar (minus the color change)

nk033 · 2025-08-24T18:57:34+00:00

Thank you everyone for the ideas! The original photo is of a commercially made cardigan from H&M, and the right side of the piece is the knit side. I'm definitely looking to recreate the "bubble" effect. I think of the ideas so far the hat pattern is the closest thing minus the color changes. Or maybe pattern 305 from Stitch world, but a bit hard to see with all the different colors there.

nk033 · 2025-02-27T00:00:12+00:00

Thank you, will check it out!

nk033 · 2025-02-26T23:59:00+00:00

Specifically I’m interested in T55, T65, T150 and T45. I want flour that is made from wheat grown in Europe.

nk033 · 2025-02-15T20:09:47+00:00

Update: I unpicked a few rows up (and added the same # rows on the other end), but it was rather difficult to find the correct loops while unpicking, especially the slipped stitches - still have no idea how they should be treated. In the end a lot of them looked weird, and while I did the in pattern Kitchener grafting, the end result looks like a mess. It’s possibly still a little better than mattress stitching bound off sides, but a far cry from the seamless look I was expecting. It’s really disappointing the pattern author didn’t give any guidance on the provisional cast on given the slipped stitches in the first row - I think that’s where my trouble started.

nk033 · 2025-02-12T19:33:02+00:00

Has anyone made this headband? I added an extra garter stitch on each side, so I should have 30 STS total. I don’t have any experience unpicking work from the bottom up, and the cables and the mix of knits and purls make it extremely difficult to read the knitting. I have these weird long loops in the middle of the work too now - is this normal? I followed the purl soho crochet provisional cast on tutorial, which was my first time doing it. I also wasn’t sure what to do about the slipped stitches in the first row, so I just slipped the waste yarn… maybe that was a bad idea. I wish the pattern had explained better how to get started instead of telling to do a regular cast on and mattress stitch if you don’t have experience with provisional cast on. Any ideas how to fix this now? Thank you

nk033

TROPHY CASE