The almost seamless jumper conundrum

Well, I was lucky enough to receive one of Bob's jumpers before Xmas. He had knitted one for the organiser of the Big Textiles Show in Leicester on the Saturday, and she was still raving about it (and indeed, wearing it) on the Sunday. I casually commented to one of the other club members that I'd love the pattern for it and thought no more about it; I didn't even get that close a look at it because it was ten minutes to opening time and I was setting up my workspace. A few weeks later, a jumper arrived in the post with no explanation - a bit of a shock because I don't know Bob's handwriting at all! I did send him a xmas card by way of a thankyou.

Now that the silly season is done and dusted I've had time to look at the jumper properly and figure out how it is constructed. It's a simple sideways knit in black mohair and would make a great holiday addition - it's as light as a feather and could easily sneak into a suitcase for an evening chill occasion. He does commission knitting for someone in the UK - not big production runs, knits just for her I think - so probably doesn't feel he can share the pattern directly. He does have an email address but never uses it and is on my mental list of people I wish would write books about their expertise (in fact he inspired this knit too). Ooh, talking of which, Bill King has a book out on cables soon! Deffo going onto my wishlist!

Anyway, the sweater is a sideways knit, fairly simple T shape. There's a seam running along the outside of the arm and along the shoulder to the neck opening on both sides, and a seam running up one side of the sweater to the armpit. That's it. It has had me scratching my head for a few days, but I think I've cracked it. I did wonder if the ribber was involved for the sleeves (u shaped knitting) but I don't think so (although we did have a ribber set up at the show). The sleeves have a slight taper, and there's a gentle scoop for the front neck although otherwise it's a boat neck. I may have a go making a baby one just to prove I have it right - but in the meantime, can anyone else tell me how it was made? Just for fun, no prizes! I will post the answer in a week or so... 

Current mood: mischievous

Pootling about on the Passap

Well, well, August already! The good news is I was given clearance by my neurologist to drive again at the beginning of last month. The down side is I'm out and about already (and £964 poorer, ouch!) so there's less time to craft. It's so nice to have my independance back, and the car is now squeaky clean too, inside and out. It cost £55 for two thirds of a tank of petrol, £55 never used to even fit in the tank before. Yikes! The only positive is it will take longer to run down as we're still WFH a lot.

100 stitches by 100 rows, ss5/5. Bottom swatch is 1066/149, top is tech 166.

Anyway, there was a Passap pattern called "Tangerine Dream" in MKM a few months ago, a very simple Tshirt type top. The pattern asks you to program in a simple checkerboard tuck stitch pattern, but I decided to be lazy and swatch two likely candidates from the pre-programmed ones instead, using a cone of red 4ply I happened to have hanging around. As luck would have it, the first swatch is pretty much to tension, the second was pretty close but I liked the first better in terms of texture. The tension was close enough anyway - I doubt I'll be wearing this as acrylic isn't my most favourite fibre to wear. So far I've managed to knit the back, with only a few oopsies. When you program the Passap at the start, you tell it to pattern over (for example) 70 stitches. Totally forgot that once I'd started the armhole increases that the pattern width would need to be expanded. Also I'm a bit vague on the needle rule - this pattern does alternate tucking EON on the front bed, and the back bed always knits, so I added an extra needle on the back. Actually I'm not sure that it made much difference, but there are a few dropped stitches on one edge to rectify when I seam it. The front is a bit trickier, because you have to cast off the front neck, and remove one shoulder from the machine whilst knitting the other one and then rehang and reset the pattern. No holding position on a Passap! That's a task for next weekend. I will edit this post when I've checked my notes and tell you which two techniques I swatched. They are lovely and squooshy and perfect for blankets. The top will be sewn up and the edges finished with crochet.

Next weekend (Saturday 13th) we're running our second, and possibly last, machine knitting event at the Alexandra Arts cafe in Rugby, 2pm 'til 4pm. £1 to park next door in the multi storey carpark (which is alas cash only). COVID seems to have made lots of folks reticent to travel, and I can quite understand that - it's such a pity though, it was a fun group. We're not going to attract younger people to the craft of machine knitting if we can only meet during working hours alas. If I didn't work I'd be attending the Long Buckby group, they are much better organised than I am! So I am not sure if it has "legs" any more. Ditto the Coventry knit wits - there are only four regulars now, two of us live in a different town, and we all struggle to get there after work sometimes. I do still get interest via Facebook, but the people rarely show up. I *think* there is still a Sunday afternoon group at the same venue (Golden Cross pub) but I am not certain.

Alas, some local oiks had already vandalised the postbox topper within a day of my taking the photos in the last post. I had to reseat the athletes - they actually have large bolts up their legs to help them stay upright, with big plastic "washers" on the underside of the main part, and luckily they are also sewn down in places. What anyone wanted with kebab skewers and a tiny tennis racquet is beyond me. I never went around destroying things as a teenager, I was too busy listening to music, climbing trees, making things and studying. Mental note, don't add props, the local kids can't resist them. I think the next theme is harvest festival, so props may be a moot point.

Current mood: happy

Some almost finished objects...

Almost finished a shawl! I'll either play yarn chicken, or I'll use the leftover yarn for a fringe.

Almost finished a cardigan on the Passap! I found this cone of Grigna-like yarn in the inventory last week. Not enough to make a cardigan for me, it's awaiting the addition of a shawl collar. I will probably knit that "as I go" on the machine, and then hope I can very gently steam it a bit flatter. For the charity pile!

Almost finished a Christmassy top (and yes, I know it's April!). The fabric called to me, what can I say? It's almost finished, because I need to tidy up loose ends and possibly do some overstitching on the sleeves. There are some mistakes on here but I did run it up in a few hours Friday night... I surely need to lose some weight though, it looks really big when it's not being worn.

The house is in uproar, as the necessary kitchen items are now in the dining end of the living room, and the unneccessary kitchen items are in the bath or the attic. There is another kitchen, flat-packed, in the garage. Pray for us and our ability to cook on a loaned electric ring and the microwave for the next two weeks (and not give ourselves food poisoning)...

Current mood: energetic

Productive weekend

Passap toque - I've made two of these now, and I suspect on my machine they'd be better worked over 152 sts and 150 rows.

Third time lucky hat - love this, worked really well!

Quick ribbed hats - another good pattern!

Scarf worked over roughly 80 sts with EON rib, ie ...I...I on both beds. Knitted until I ran out of yarn. Yarn ends have since been darned in!

I've been knitting these and claiming that they are from my pattern, but I think it's actually loosely based on a pattern from the Metbury Bitty book. In which case, my apologies! Because I love this heart and bird pattern, I made them a bit longer so that it's three full repeats. I also felt sure I'd knitted the three colour one a bit wider, because the red yarn was 4ply and made them a bit stiff, but alas I didn't write down what I did...

I had a good sort of yarn this weekend and discovered a massive box of yarn I'm never likely to knit with that can be donated to Ruddington next weekend. I've only about 4 or 5 cones of yarn that are big enough that I should think of a jumper-sized project to knit with them. I still need to do a proper inventory - one box seems to be chock full of fancy yarns, another is weaving yarns, and one is just a big patchwork blanket of samples I never finished.

Does anyone else find themselves going out just for the sake of it lately? I'm in two minds - part of me wants to stay home and avoid any chance of catching COVID, and part of me is desperate for a return to normality. This weekend we popped into town to replenish some supplies from Rugby Unwrapped, return some machine knitted items to a friend, pick up my favourite photography magazine and get some lunch. I couldn't talk the Cog into coming out again to partake of the local real ale festival. Yesterday evening we took ourselves into Leamington, hoping to sample a Japanese restaurant, but it was fully booked - ended up at a rather nice Chinese instead, so it wasn't all bad (plus there's more for tea tonight!)

Current mood: energetic

FO: some Passap jumpers

"Totally texture" jumper. Not entirely happy with the neck, but never mind...

Fisherman's rib sweater. These are both cut and sew necks

The downside of not speaking to someone when working remotely is that they have no idea unless they attempt to call you... sigh...

FO: Norfolk baby blanket

This was the blanket I so struggled with in October. Knitted in one go without a hitch (though I could have cast it off looser). It's a very pretty teal colour. Very pleased. It's not very snuggly (and it's kind of square) so I might toss it into the wash and see if it softens up any. You could also use this pattern to make squares and sew them into bigger blankets, I suppose. It's a very simple double-bed 4-row tuck pattern, which you could simulate with card 1 if it weren't for the 11 stitch border. Both patterns would work on their own, too.

Current mood: awake

Easy double-bed Passap cast off

I found this in Carmen Reuter's notes, and Sheila West very kindly posted a video of this on Facebook. I thought it was worth sharing because it's really easy to do. No more casting off by hand for me!

First, transfer all the stitches to the back bed, and knit 1 row right to left at ss 8/8

Drop the front bed. Using the yellow latch tool, pick up the first loop on the right and put it behind the latch. Pick up the new loop from the front bed, and pull it through.

Continue in this manner across the whole bed, until all stitches are cast off. Pull the last loop through and take off the machine.

It's worth practicing this on a swatch - I went straight in there and did it on black yarn for my first time, nothing like going straight for the deep end!

Current mood: working

Totally texture

I found this Passap knitting pattern in an old magazine, and decided to have a go (though using a built-in pattern).

It's probably not obvious on screen, but this tuck stitch pattern is really textured and spongy. Very nice! Though I think when I make the second front I will use weights, there are a LOT of tuck loops and at one point there was a big jam when some of them failed to knit off. I managed to rescue it and it's not too obvious. The post title is also the name of the pattern.

I treated myself to a little holder for the Passap machine, it works a lot better than the yarn bowls because it's deeper. A machine knitter's son 3d prints them and you can choose your colour. Of course I had to go for the hot pink!

The non-essential shops are now open in England, the first time since 2020. We are taking a trip into town tomorrow to window shop, I can't wait! Though I couldn't wait for a hair cut, I gave myself a fringe trim yesterday and it doesn't look too bad. At least it is out of my eyes, anyway.

I was pondering today how I've had lots of information in books in my collection, and yet it's taken a global pandemic for me to get to grips with the Passap. Seems like there has to be a right time to absorb the information - sometimes your brain is just not ready for it. Then bang! It suddenly all starts making sense. Weird.

Some spring pictures to cheer you up! Tulips are my favourite flower, and the pink geranium is blooming again. Not bad for a forlorn supermarket plant that cost me £2. I won a photo competition with these, think the prize was some mixed bulbs which have just turned up via UPS.

Current mood: awake

Experiments with double jacquard

If you are lucky enough to own a Passap E6000 you'lll know there are about 15 built-in variations of double jacquard, all of which produce a different texture and proportion of patterns. I thought I'd experiment and document my samples here, for future use. I love the fact that there's such variation in them - chequerboard backing, plain backing, vertical stripes, bumpy tucks.

Tech 180

Tech 181

Tech 182

Tech 183

Tech 184

Tech 185

Tech 186

Tech 187

Tech 188

Tech 189

Tech 190

Tech 191

Tech 192

Tech 193

Tech 194

Not much else to report lately. Easter went from pleasantly sunny to freezing cold, seemingly in the space of a day. I attended an in-person First Aid requalification course, and was never so grateful for my "cozy prison" having kept my coat on for two solid days - they had to have the windows open for covid reasons, and it was trying to snow outside. Not fun! I was lucky enough to catch up with a work colleague in a park that happens to be roughly halfway for both of us. 

Shops are reopening on the 12th. The enforced break in consumer habits has made me realise I don't actually really need much. Though I may treat myself to some more paintbrushes...

Oh, and I am knitting jumper number 4 from the black chenille - a variation on an old Kangamoo pattern, but on the standard gauge. I'll blog about that when it's finished. 

Current mood: amused

FO: piano scarf

Many years ago, the Cog and I visited Antwerp. I saw a lovely piano scarf in a clothes shop, on a poster on the wall. We then trawled both branches of the shop, in a fruitless attempt to buy it. I had completely forgotten about it until this weekend, when it suddenly occurred to me that I could knit one for myself! Well, I am a bear of very little brain sometimes. The weather was cold and dreary, so perfect for staying in and knitting. The stitch pattern for this was designed in Designaknit, and it is knitted over 60 sts at ss 4.5 on both beds, using technique 180, about 1640 odd rows (thank heavens for the motor!). Very pleased with it, though next time I will program the whole five repeats instead of as a repeating pattern so that I know when it's finished. I might have a go making a skinnier version too. Next little project is to knit some samples of the different DBJ techniques, using the same stitch pattern, so I can compare the handle of them. I like technique 180 (bird's eye slipped backing) because it comes out the expected proportions - some of the DBJs elongate the pattern. Oh, and I cast this off ON the machine, first time ever. Despite it being in black. Quite impressed with myself!

There are precious few advantages to the pandemic, but finally getting to grips with the Passap has been mine. You know you've achieved something in machine knitting, when you are master of the machines and not the other way around. I'm now really inspired to try other things!

Current mood: impressed

Free pattern: Passap DBJ hats

Well, I used the overlocker to trim down the two earlier attempts, and knitted myself a third one which worked out really well.

Machine: Passap E6000
Yarn: Oddments of 3ply acrylic

Cast on 2 (Duomatic users: Cast on for knit/knit)

St patt A: 180 which is BX <-- -->/LX - bird's eye jacquard - front bed pushers work a slip stitch pattern, back bed pushers are 1 up, 1 down for slipped background

St patt B: Your dbj pattern, technique 180. Pattern 1161 is roses, 1242 is squiggles, but you can use any pattern you like here. 

Cast on N/N ss 3, two rows CX/CX ss 4, final row N/N ss 5 over 110 sts. I found I got a neater edge by having both end needles in work on the back bed, so technically this is knitted over 111 sts. 

RC000. Knit st patt A in single colour. Knit 48 rows for a 1" brim, or 96 rows for a brim you can fold.

Set machine for st patt B and RC000. Knit 200 rows, changing the colour every 2 rows. On the E6000, the first colour is the background and the second is the motif.

Change to N/N and knit two rows in the background colour, then change to waste yarn and knit a further 10 rows and scrap off, or knit two passes of ravel cord on CX/CX and start another one. Use the latch tool to cast off the last row. 

Finishing - there are two methods here. You can either sew the side and top seams by hand, and then sew the corners to the centre of the top edge (the roses hat on the left). Alternatively, pin the hat so the wrong side is outside, and use a saucer and a marker to trace radiused corners. Use an overlocker to cut and sew the hat. If you knit the longer brim version, it looks neater if you mattress stitch the brim by hand from the wrong side. 

Picture showing sewn crown version

This hat pattern is loosely based on one from the Metbury Bitty book, and I got the idea for cut and sew from this post by Herman Hills Farm - a great way to use up old swatches, please check it out! 

I really love this rose pattern, I don't know why! I would like to have a go at reprogramming it to have  leaves in a third colour. 

The second time's the charm (almost)

Well, after an aborted attempt last night I got the first sleeve done, with (I thought!) no mistakes. Thanks to an ingenious suggestion from both a German and an American member of the Passap machine knitting group on Ravelry, I've now got a trick which makes working cables fool-proof. It's a hint that's so neat it's in the "why didn't I think of that?" category. When working a cable which alternates left or right, make the cross happen on an odd row, and cross towards the lock or carriage position. In this case, I did a left cross when the lock was on a row ending in 5 (lock on left), and a right cross when the lock was on a row ending in 0 (lock is on right). Lost track? Just look at where your lock is. Genius! Of course, as the increases are every 6 rows, it means a lot more stopping and starting, but never mind! An example of a lovely poncho was shared, which had a panel of about 10 cables up the front. 

You noted I said I thought I'd made no mistakes? Well, on each cable row I brought an empty back bed needle into work, to add extra yarn for the cable cross. In most cases I remembered - but not always. My partner came in to talk to me and I missed one - and the yarn must have snapped. Luckily the stitches didn't get very far and it's been (almost invisibly) repaired with a length of yarn. Only another knitter might spot it, and I'm hoping that once the garment has been washed it'll disappear. It's lambswool so it will felt and become self-securing. Hopefully!

Maybe I should invest in a "do not disturb" sign - as the Cog was coming to tell me about his latest guitar pedal, it felt cruel to be rude! He'd ordered one via Amazon, which turned out to be faulty (it buzzed as soon as it was plugged in) and clearly it was not even brand new nor well-packed. The second one came from PMT in Birmingham, well-packed and worked immediately with no buzzing. He did make me chuckle, showed me a page with a guitarist's version of the engineering flow chart. "Is it buzzing? Yes? You are a bee!" I used to have a print of that flowchart on my desk, back when we still had places we could pin things. 

The mood's apathetic. I'm trying to focus on staying positive and on things I can control. Little wins - watching good films and having laughs with my sweetie. Clearly I can't control how others behave at the moment, however much that might hurt me. We will all be changed by this I think. Let's hope it's for the better. 

Current mood: apathetic

FO: Mitten madness in August, and facemasks...

 

Why yes, I did take leave of my senses Saturday afternoon - after a disappointing wander around Leamington Spa, I came home and made these on the chunky machine, from a pattern in an old copy of Modern Machine Knitting. Leamington Spa was lovely as always - and I love the closed Parade, we walked down the middle of the road just because pre-pandemic that would have been impossible. It was disappointing because we were turned away by a miserable member of staff from an empty restaurant because it was "bookings only", which was fine, but hey, why not put up a big sign so I don't feel like stupid scum for daring to ask maybe? By the time we'd walked back around to Wagamamas (second choice), a queue had miraculously appeared from nowhere. M&S picnic it was to be, then... 

Sunday the weather was really good, so after a morning spent working on the gardens, I got my sewing machine out on the patio and made a few more face masks. Apologies for the corona hair, I'm actually about two steps shy of becoming a Wookie... 

   

This is the "chin gusset" pattern given to me by an old school friend on Facebook. It is still too close to my eyes despite my trimming this one back, and the chin gusset needs a pleat to fit my face. Himself seems happy enough with the fit but he is clearly squarer of jaw. The birds are sideways because this was leftover scraps from the beach shorts - when I've made the top from the remainder of the fabric perhaps I can make another one with birds the right way up!

   

These two are made from the Olson pattern - much easier to make, but I added bias binding to both so that I could add a twisty-tie nose wire. The fit is much better for me with these. There's a printing fault on the green one, it is not an extra pleat. Refusing to buy yet more crap online (ie nose strips) unless I have to - alas, the non-fruitful trip to Leamington was for some particular gardening books so I guess my options are limited. Lots of other Olson patterns here - I don't favour the simpler pleated design, only because I don't think they seal well aroud my face. Personal opinion and not scientifically tested! 

Current mood is apathetic. I feel isolated and abandoned (by everyone, by noone) - probably the same as everyone else! But to be fair, I've stopped making an effort too - I failed to show up to Wednesday's knit meet, and a zoom meeting organised by a crafting friend (to be fair I forgot about the latter and I don't know the rest of them so that makes it a bit weird). I just feel grumpy and fed up of lockdown and feel nobody probably wants or needs to talk about that (or anything else!) with me. I feel totally two dimensional, and I suspect nobody would notice if I wasn't here, asides from continuing to pay bills and taxes. Oh well, ho hum. Poor me. Yes, I'm being ridiculous, of course, and many are far worse off. I am privileged, yet still I whine. Well, if I can't be honest here... :) I guess the novelty of WFH has definitely worn off! And yes, my appetite for sugar / puddings has gone through the roof. Need to find a better comfort food...

  Current mood: apathetic