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ruffle | Posted in General Discussion on

Does anybody out there  do machine knitting any more ?? Is it dead….and do you think it will ever come back?? I still do it.

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  1. stitchmd | | #1

    I think knittersreview.com and the about.com knitting forum have sections for this topic, you might want to try those. Since Threads switched to all sewing topics this forum has very few knitters.

  2. MarshaK | | #2

    Hi ruffle, yes, there are a few machine knitters out there, I am one of them. Although I must confess, my machine and all the accessories that go with it have been packed away for the past couple of years. Some day it will come back out again. I have made several great friends in England and Australia who are machine knitters, one even knit her daughter's wedding dress, it looked fabulous. I think if people were familiar with the 'cut-and-sew' technique perhaps more machine knitters would be out there. For those not familiar with 'cut-and-sew', a piece of 'fabric' is knitted, pattern pieces laid out, cut, then sewn up into a garment. A serger is a great machine to use with knitted yardage. The design possibilities are endless, knitting machines are not just for sweaters and scarves! I think this type of knitting should be included in Threads, at least to let others know they can knit their own fabrics, quickly.

    Marsha

    1. ruffle | | #3

      Hi Marsha.....gee it's so wonderful to hear from a KNITTER!! I have just taken the cover off mine hah  hah  !! I almost feel I have to read the books again....of  which I have hundreds. When I learned machine kniting, I learned all the drafting my own patterns, which I find now is very time consuming and difficult. For years now I only knit on the knit radar. ..set up from my swatch of course. It is SO MUCH EASIER!! When I gain weight, all I have to do  is draw another few centimeters to my pattern.I remember in the first year of knitting, one day I picked up a copy of Threads in the store, and there was lots of machine knitting patterns in it. As a matter of fact, I thought the whole magazine was so difficult looking, I never subscribed to it right away. But today, I must admit, the whole mag. looks so primary, and easy, and not much to get my teeth into. ( I do keep a content page of all the Threads tho' in my computer, and it is good for reference). I also find the QUALITY of the pictured garments, is not always good, and I would not be happy , if I had sewn it. It comes vey expensive, because we use Can. money. However I will still get Threads, because there are a couple of things in each mag. that I can put in my brain. I just wish they would elevate the standard a bit, as there re LOTS OF MAGS out there to teach the the primary elements of sewing, but not many mags that give you a   challenge.   Oh well!! It used to be cheaper to MAKE a garment, but it isn't any more, and I guess we all at some time or other , capitulate to buying it off the rack.  Ruffles

      1. FitnessNut | | #4

        I'm another knitter too, but haven't done it in ages. I put my Bond machine away when I went to design school nine years ago and haven't had it out since....let's just say I've been rather busy in the interval. But I'd like to get it out again sometime soon, now that I'm not working (at a job that is, LOL!). I've never done the "cut and sew" method, but I've read about it. Seems like that could be a way to combine my design, patternmaking and knitting/sewing skills into interesting garments.I noticed that you mention using Canadian money....I live in Canada too, just outside Ottawa. Where are you from?

        1. MarshaK | | #6

          Hi FitnessNut, the 'cut-and-sew' method of machine knitting is an excellent way to incorporate fabric that you design and make yourself into a garment of your own design. All the knit garments that I made were never 'true' to the patterns I used from the magazines, I always had to change something or other, or just made up the pattern as I went. The Garter Carriage on my machine allowed me to make knit yardage with texture or cables, depending on the card that went in. It was fun creating, I think I'm almost ready to go back to my machines, and do some knitting. I have a standard guage and also a Bond, that I have never used yet.

          Marsha. (Also a Canadian)

        2. ruffle | | #7

          Hi Fitness...yes I live in Langley, which is a suburb of Vancouver. I wish that I had travelled east in Canada iinstead  of taking other holidays in th rest of the world. I would especially like to see Quebec, but the older I get, the further that idea becomes. The furthest east I ever got was  one night in Toronto. hah  hah  .I think PEI and Nova Scotia would be nice too.

          Edited 2/20/2006 1:06 pm ET by ruffle

          1. FitnessNut | | #9

            I'm just making the rounds ;-) My husband is in the Canadian military, so over the past 18 years we have lived in Toronto, Calgary, Winnipeg, Montreal, Edmonton and Ottawa, in that order. He is originally from Toronto and I moved there in my early teens (Dad was military before that). Seems my oldest son is following in the tradition and starts basic training in a week. Its been a great experience to live in all these places, but has been he** on my career.

          2. ruffle | | #10

            Fitness...you missed the best place of all..VANCOUVER!!  Have you ever been here?.......

          3. FitnessNut | | #11

            Unfortunately not....I'm sure we'll get there to visit eventually. There aren't that many career opportunities for DH there these days. We were supposed to be headed to Norway instead of Ottawa this past summer for three years (amazing place), but it was messed up by an out-of-control teenager. :-(

          4. Jean | | #12

            Well, look who's here!  I have a couple of Brother machines languishing here next to my computer. The computer is getting all the attention. :(  I have enough cone yarn to start my own store, not kidding. I stopped knitting when my grandkids showed a preference for fleece.  I hate that stuff myself. I hope that knits come back into style--other than novelty yarn scarves that is. I keep hoping anyway.  I'm still wearing pullovers that I made for myself 20 years ago. They're great now that we have the thermostat set a little lower.

          5. FitnessNut | | #13

            Hiya Jean! Nice to see you over here again....its been awhile. I was posting to Gatherings long before I headed over to CT (under my real name once-upon-a-time, LOL!)I adore sweaters of all variety, though I have to admit that fleece is a easier to care for. I just don't really like the "syntheticness" of it, if you know what I mean. However, I live in t-shirts these days, with cardigans all over the house for emergencies....the body thermostat has gone whacko! My boys live in fleece and refuse sweaters, so there are only the two of us to knit for anyway. And we have a great collection from years ago, when I knit (and sewed) constantly.I should probably go through my wool collection. Inspiration may hit me upside the head ;-) I'm in need of some creativity right now.

      2. MarshaK | | #5

        Hi ruffle, I have found over the years that Threads has changed the type of articles they put into the magazine, I really liked the ones that would take you into the studios and lives of the designers and showed how they do things. Machine knitting had their own magazines, I used to subscribe to just about every one there was, from England, Australia, US, and there was even a Canadian one. I don't know if it still exists, rather doubt it. The British mags were the best, I found, although a bit expensive, when the Canadian dollar was converted into the Pound Sterling. Yes, I have kept every one, perhaps some day if I decide I don't want them, they'll go up for sale. I think Threads should do an article or two about machine knitting, after all thread of a sort is used, isn't it?

        Marsha.

        1. ruffle | | #8

          You know , like everyting else, I think it will return  someday. If there were a few mag articles put out about i, then people who have never done it, would be inquisitive.I think what really killed it, was the instruction mags became sold out to the (gosh I even forge what they called them) computer machines, and so many articles were written about them, and I was happy with the two machines (360 and chunky) that I gave up buying so many magz.  I see the same thing happening with sewing mags now, and at he sewing seminars, sooooooo   many embroidery machines, and what a huge price they are.

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