Having a "staycation" this week. It was probably a daft idea to take a week's leave when only essential shops are open - I had to time it to match the Cog's contract ending - but we've had some nice walks out in the parks in Warwick and Leamington Spa. It's a pity the weather's not a bit nicer, but we have had fun visiting local farm shops and bringing nice food home. When all else is closed, food tourism is all there is!
Anyway, I thought I'd share how I have recently used my knitting machine to join a garment. It's knitted all in black, and after an abortive attempt I realised I couldn't face trying to hand sew it. So I used the Passap machine to join the neckband pieces (as the garment was knitted on the passap), and the SK840 to join the remaining seams. You could also use a device such as the Hague linker for this, which would be quicker. I sold mine a while ago as I was not really using it. I use this method for hanging neckbands also. This is done by knitting the ribbing, transferring to the main bed and knitting one row, and then hanging the garment onto the needles in use.
Using the knitting machine to join garment pieces aka I can't face hand-sewing this! :)
Preparation: Place the carriage on the right hand side of the machine bed (if you are left handed, put it on the left side of the bed).
Hold the knitting, right side facing you, slightly stretched against the knitting machine. Use the 2 prong tool to hang the end stitches at both ends, and use the single prong to hang the work in the middle. Make a note of what needle width you used so that you can use the same width for the other half of the garment. I like mine to divide by 10 because it's easier to remember. You can start from either end of the machine and don't have to concern yourself about centring the knitting on the machine.
Continue to divide the knitting across the needle bed by dividing up the space and pulling a needle through the knitting - try to aim for at least two threads on every needle, and try not to split the yarn.
Carry on until all needles are out, then use the ruler to push the needles back about 1 cm.
Hang the second garment piece, wrong side facing you, in the same manner. Be sure to match any details eg ribbed cuffs. When this is complete, use the ruler to close all the latches - failure to do so could damage needles and cause jams, especially when joining side seams.
Thread the carriage. Using maximum tension, slowly knit one row. Pull the needles fully out (keeping the knitting against the gatepegs) and cast off the stitches using the latch tool. Complete the rest of the seams in the same manner, and weave in the ends.
Current mood: 
hungry
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