designer knitting……..vintage knitting machines
Machine Knitting is a very misunderstood and underrated skill, in my view. It is not just a machine doing the knitting for you. Does anyone think a sewing machine does the sewing for you? A knitting machine is a marvellous thing. Along with my sewing machine it allows me to make most of the clothes I wear. But using a knitting machine is more complicated than using a sewing machine when one considers the different textures that are made at the same time as shaping the garment to fit.
When do I choose machine knitting over hand knitting? Usually if I want a very neat finish eg in stocking stitch as a machine gives a very professional finish; or of course if I want one of the textures that can only be found on a knitting machine. The fact that I can knit faster is a bonus rather than a reason for me choosing to knit with a knitting machine.
I have a range of knitting machines and attachments, but I still use for choice my orginal Brother 830 punchard machine, which I think was produced in 1976 and which I bought then. I also have a couple of the, at that time, rival brand Knitmaster. These standard gauge machines are good at knitting yarn from fine crepe (about sewing thread thickness) to Shetland jumper weight yarn. I do have a chunky machine which knits thicker wool but given my love of fine yarns I use the standard machines much more often.
I approach making a machine knitting garment as I do hand knitting (see designer knitting page) and know that I will spend much time in planning and finishing.
Another huge advantage to using my knitting machine is that I can trace the shapes of the item I am knitting, eg back, front, sleeve, onto a sheet. By knitting a sample (and finishing it as I would the finished item eg washing and blocking) and measuring the length of 40 stitches and 60 rows I can use any suitable yarn for the knitwear. Numbers are simply added to the knitting machine, the sheet rotates, relative to the row tension. This is mechanism shown on the back of the machine above. Numbers on the card guide tell the knitter how many stitches numbers should be knitted , based on a tension calculation. Thus, I know the stitches to cast on, when to stop knitting for the armhole etc. it is. It is a very simple system that works well.
I have selected the following to show different features of machine knitting.
This design is one of my favourites for a cowl. I have knitted them in many colours but this colour is also my favourite. This stitch could not be done by hand. it is knitted in fine crepe.
The knitting machine is also excellent for producing Fair Isle such as below. There are several different hues in the coloured cardigan jumper and it was quite challenging making sure the correct colour was knitting for the correct row. Also planning was needed to get the sleeves tops to match up. This is a ‘set in’ sleeve jumper and many Fair Isle jumpers have dropped shoulder sleeve lines, which do not give such a good fit. The neckline is done by ‘cut and sew’ which gives a very professional finish. The wool is Shetland wool from Shetland. The pattern is a 24 stitch repeat width wise, I punched holes in a card and it is read by the machine.
My knitting machine has a separate additional carriage to be used for knitting patterned lace. Many rows are ‘knitted’ using just the lace carriage which reading a punchcard will move a stitch to an adjacent stitch. When all the stitches have been moved then 2 rows are knitted with yarn to fix the holes, the equivalent to a decrease and yarn over in lace knitting.
Designing and making such a punchcard helps with the understanding of how hand lace works! It requires (for me anyway) deep concentration!
The effort is rewarded however.
Another ‘unique to machine knitting’ stitch is knitweave, where one thread, usually a thicker or fancier thread is caught by some of the stitches and looks as if it is sitting on the surface of the knitting. As in other skills, one is only limited by one’s own creativity with this technique. One ply crepe and 4 ply yarn on the left, 1 ply crepe and a thicker fancy yarn on the right.
Another technique which is so much easier on a knitting machine is slip stitch( mosaic stitch) which gives a very nice even finish on the ‘private’ side with no loops as would be found on the reverse of fair isle. I have recently seen hand knitting books and workshops where the author has ‘invented’ the technique but it has been a machine knitting technique from at least the mid 70’s!
Again the design of the punchcard stretches the brain but the finished effect is well worth it. I call this my Art School jacket as it reminds me of Glasgow School of Art, the pink is a cotton yarn the black is Shetland jumper weight in charcoal.
The example at the top of the page uses the main bed and the ribber bed to give a very textured fabric, this time is in lace. The example on the left shows a rather different effect using both the main and ribber bed.
Sources
I admire greatly the knitters who used the early knitting machines, they worked out stitches and knitting methods from first principles. Their books are out of print, several were self published but in my opinion these are worth searching out. They contain a wealth of information and very little published recently goes anywhere near the level of detail and explanation the earlier books offer. Look for books (and spiral bound booklets) by these authors: Denise Musk, Kathleen Kinder, Mary Weaver. Publications by Iris Bishop and Elaine Cator are also great for techniques.
Nabney, Janet : Designing Garments on the Knitting Machine is a great book which is also useful for designing for hand knitting too.
Thomson Erica: A Machine Knitter’s Guide to Pressing and Finishing – good advice for all knitters
It is worth keeping an eye out for older knitting magazines, again these contain patterns as well as many helpful tips and are good value. Some of the designs might seem extreme but rarely have I seen an old knitting magazine that I did not learn something from.
There is an excellent YouTube channel called Diana Natters, some of the videos are quite old now but they are great at showing individual techniques if you are new to machine knitting.
The face book group ‘machine knitting sales’ is great for finding machines, accessories, magazines and books that are pre-used.
©Janet Major All rights reserved
Janet Major 