Machine Knitting

A friend of min had some Lion Brand Mandala she no longer wanted. She gave it to me and I decided to turn it into hats. This is what it looked like on the machine before I started the decreases for the top of the hat. 

This photo, and the next, are more for me than you. Tension can be a tricky thing for a machine knitter. This is my tension setting on the yarn mast. I almost never change it. I just set it there and leave it alone. 

What I do change, is the stitch length selector. This gives me a big change when forming stitches. This is the setting I use for the body of the hat. I use a slightly smaller setting (4) for the brim. 

Here is an adult hat next to one of the baby hats I've been making. I think these came out great! I'll have to make a stack. 

Tools and supplies (affiliate links):

Fiskars 7 Inch Softgrip Student Scissors (snipping yarn)
5 Pieces 5 Different Size Bent Latch Hook Crochet Needle Hook
addi Express Hook

Silver Reed LK150

Knitting Claw Weights

Stanwood Needlecraft Large Yarn Ball Winder4

Machine Knitting

Sometimes when I get a little stressed I think I need more fabric or yarn. This past week was a yarn week. I popped over to the nearest craft store (big box craft store) and bought some Lion Brand Yarn. Most of this is Shawl in a Ball (discontinued, so if you like this ombre yarn head to your nearest big box store and stock up), with a couple balls of Heartland. It seems I was in the mood for purples. 

I used the Shawl in a Ball yarn to make a couple shawls on the LK 150. I made two different shawls with this colorway.

Both use short rows for shaping. This one, is a narrow triangle shawl that uses short rows with simple increases and decreases to shape the shawl. It also uses an interesting technique to make the fringe as you knit the shawl. 

I still need to finish the fringe. I really like this shape and will likely make another but leave out the fringe. This shawl used less than a full ball of Shawl in a Ball. 

The next one uses short rows to create multiple pie pieces that results in a half circle shawl. The colors of the yarn make this stunning. 

This shawl used more than a single ball of Shawl in a Ball. It is the same colorway as the first shawl and I have very little left over after using an entire ball and what was left over from the first shawl. I used a simple eyelet edging

What I really love about this shawl is the I-cord edging across the straight edge. It was the first time I enjoyed making an I-cord bind off and the results are so worth it. Now I need to figure out how to use this short row technique to make a poncho. 

Tools and supplies (affiliate links):

Fiskars 7 Inch Softgrip Student Scissors (snipping yarn)
5 Pieces 5 Different Size Bent Latch Hook Crochet Needle Hook
addi Express Hook

Silver Reed LK150

Knitting Claw Weights

Machine Knitting

If you think knitting machines can only knit large flat pieces of fabric you should check out this experiment. 

Here is the basic shape before blocking. This project used a single ball of Mandala by Lion Brand. This is the colorway Sirens. 

After steaming the edges don't curl as much. For this project I used yarn-over decreases combined with short rows to get the curved shape. I also added a couple rows of eyelets at the end. I think this could be so much more fun with additional rows of eyelets. I'll have to pick up some more yarn. It was a great experiment. I'm looking forward to the next experiment. 

Tools and supplies (affiliate links):

Fiskars 7 Inch Softgrip Student Scissors (snipping yarn)
5 Pieces 5 Different Size Bent Latch Hook Crochet Needle Hook (picking up dropped stitches)
addi Express Hook (picking up dropped stitches, hanging setup bonnet, finishing missed stitches)

The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns

Silver Reed LK150

Knitting Claw Weights