Friday, June 16, 2006

Ah, the knitting machine

Some of you astute blog groupies may have caught on to the fact that the two Wendys and I have a little group project coming up. We started with a basic sleeveless shell, with options for waist darts and short row darts in the bust. Wendy B finished her shell really quickly, which is no surprise. Garments seem to fly off her fingers at a record speed. Wendy W has had a harder time finding her groove on this project. And me? I was engulfed in pattern-writing for the soon-to-be-released cardigan, and didn't give much thought to the shell project. Other than writing the bare-bones outline that we all started with. (No, not really even a pattern. Just the stitch counts for full bust and a few other parts.)

On June 8, I sent this photo to the two Wendys, showing my bottom edge border:


Tonight I went to my basement lair and hung that paltry little border on the machine. Even with fiddling with internal shaping (rather than at the edges of the piece), I got that shell back done in about 2 hours. Tomorrow night, if the gods of knitting are smiling on me, I'll get a front done. And then VOILA! A new pattern, not too long after the one that seemed to take forever.

(Have I mentioned that my kids are on summer vacation? Have I mentioned just how much that cramps my time for knitting and designing? Have I mentioned that I'm already living for September? And we still have to get through the rest of June, and all of July and August. Good thing I'm a natural born night-owl.)

There are some projects for which a knitting machine is very well suited. And the shell is one. Mostly stockinette, worked in pieces and seamed. Yes, the internal shaping is a bit slow, because my biggest transfer tool is only 3 st. wide. Even so, with my bad left hand it's a joy to make a half a garment in 2 hours. At 5 st. per inch, I might add.

3 comments:

Jerry & Maxy said...

The knitting machine sounds magical. I'm glad you were able to get some good progress without stressing out your left hand.

From other blogs I've read, you're not alone in living for September.

YarnThrower said...

My aunt once told me that her least favorite phrase is "I can't wait...", because time goes so fast as it is. It got me thinking... I keep reminding myself of that with my kids now, too. They are getting so big so fast, and though things are more hectic with both of them around for the summer, my boys aren't going to be living at home forever (that's the goal, anyway)...and September will come so fast.....

I really enjoy your blog. Your pathway looks great! Where did you get your solar lights?

entrelac said...

Okay, that decides it. Where and how can I get my hands on a knitting machine like that one? This whole 12 to 18 months to knit one item is really starting to get on my nerves.