Concentrating on Charity Knitting

At our February meeting of the guild, we talked about stepping up our knitted contributions to the Salvation Army (kids' hats, mittens and scarves), to Project Linus (baby blankets) and to Minnesota Nice (slippers for the troops). To rev up some enthusiasm, Ellen and Maria Ann gave us some patterns they had developed and collected over the years, mostly designed by guild members. They were done on different gauge machines. Examples knit with these patterns were on display. Seeing them in person is worth a thousand words.



Ellen brought her Silver Reed LK 150 to demonstrate one of the mitten patterns we were given. It went quickly and looked very nice.


Always a popular part of the evening, the show and tell items were great this month. Must be all that blustery weather that encourages people to stay inside and knit. There were baby sweaters, felted slippers, felted purses, sweaters, scarves, even a Vikings sweater. Here are some of the items:

If you live in the Twin Cities area and are interested in machine knitting, join us at the Textile Center. We meet every 4th Tuesday (except December) from 7:00-9:00. The Textile Center is located at 3000 Southeast University Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55414-3357. We have all skill levels and most machines represented in the group. There's parking along University Avenue and behind the building. We have a lot of fun and learn from each other. Please join us!

November 09 Program: End of Year Holiday Knits and Decoration Contest by Maria Ann Youngs

One of Guild members' favorite parts of the meeting is "show and tell", and understandably so, as it's such a wonderful time to see what everyone has been creating over the last month or so. For our 2009 year-end meeting, we decided to give a theme to our monthly "show and tell" and encouraged everyone to knit holiday inspired projects. Those who participated, arrived at the meeting with their items in un-marked brown paper bags. One person revealed all the wonderful machine knit projects and as a group we voted on our favorites, and the project receiving the most votes was awarded a trophy.......

Mar Heck's Santa, was overwhelmingly the most popular machine knit holiday item at the 2009 year-end meeting. He is fabulously cute! It's also noteworthy that Santa is Mar's own, original pattern. Congratulations to Mar on winning 1st Place, as voted on by her machine knitting peers!

Enjoy some of the other great holiday projects by MKGM knitters! We are all winners!

Maria Ann Youngs' Holiday Wind Sock

Jane Niemi's Felted Decorative Mittens

Amanda Young's Holiday Stocking for Zoe

Ellen Levernier's Mini Holiday Stocking and Candy Cane

Kevin Young's Light-Up Wreath (That's right, the lights actually work!

Donna's Festive Snowman Cap

Rebecca Yaker's Hannukah Ball Trio

Polly Sonifer's Santa and Angel (and double Pollys!)

Happy New Year and see you in 2010!!

September 09 Program: Garter Bar Tips & Techniques by Judy Snyder

We all own garter bars, but may not exactly know how to maximize on their potential.

The first, and perhaps, most obvious, use for the garter bar is to aid in creating the garter stitch. In hand knitting, the garter stitch is popular for new knitters as only 1 stitch, the knit stitch, is ever used. While the garter stitch is easy to produce in hand knitting, it cannot be done simply on a knitting machine. Using the garter bar is one way to do so. In short, the garter bar is hooked onto the main bed needles and the fabric is pulled off the machine and onto the needles of the garter bar. The bar is then removed and flipped, so that the knit side is now facing, and the fabric is returned to the machine. You will notice that if you are using the garter bar to turn several rows, the process can be rather slow. You may find "Double Garter Stitch" a little quicker, as the work is turned every 2 rows.

Say you have finished your knitting project, and it's time to bind off. Instead of sitting at your machine, you can remove it onto your garter bar and make your bind off technique portable! The first is the Quick Garter Bar Bind Off, which is simply a running stitch through every loop. This creates a nice loose edge, which matches a woven cast on. It is best for finishing off knit swatches or other edges which will be enclosed or hidden.

The second bind off you might enjoy is the Regular Garter Bar Bind Off. The technique is simply a backstitch through the loops. The finished result is similar to an e-wrap cast-on and has the same stretch, flexibility, and appearance. The technique is as follows: Thread your needle and yarn up through the 1st loop, up through the 2nd loop, and back through the 1st loop. Skip the 2nd loop, and thread you needle up through the 3rd loop, and then back through the 2nd. Continue cross until all stitches are complete.

The garter bar is also an excellent tool to increase stitches at the center of your work (such as for a dart) or evenly throughout a row. Remove all the stitches onto the garter bar, but do not turn the fabric over. As you replace the stitches onto the needles, skip a needle wherever you need to make an increase. When all of the stitches have been returned to the main bed, fill the empty needles by picking up the purl bar from an adjacent stitch to prevent forming holes (aka eyelets).

Similarly, the garter bar also aids in decreasing at the center (such as a dart) or evening through a row. First make your transfers on the main bed, which will result in empty needles. Now remove all stitches onto the garter bar. Return the stitches to the main bed, transferring a few stitches at a time. Replace only the first group of stitches, up to the empty needle, lift the garter bar slightly and shift it over one needle so that the next group of stitches can be returned to the main bed, leaving no empty stitches.

Use the garter bar instead of holding position to divide necklines. Remove the stitches for one side of the neckline onto the garter bar and you should be able to hook the eyes of the garter bar onto the sinker posts. Please press down gently until the garter bar hangs down from the base of the sinker posts so that the carriage can safely pass over it.

The garter bar is also handy in place of scrap knitting to remove shoulder stitches from the machine. You can hang two sets of stitches on the garter bar with right sides facing and then bind them off together in a smooth seam.

The garter bar has so much potential! You can use it to remove work from your machine, to hold stitches for partial knitting, to aid in shaping necklines and shoulders, to create picot edges, eyelets, and cables to name a few.

For more techniques on how to use your garter bar, be sure to check out Diana Natters Garter Bar video tutorials. Her step-by-step instruction will make learning these techniques a breeze!

Don't have a garter bar? You could always try making your own, although results may vary.

August 09 Program: Weaving Techniques by Polly Sonifer

Most knitting machines allow you the ability to experiment with the weaving technique. In machine knitting, weaving yarns are secondary yarns which are not technically "knit", but rather travel behind, in front of, or around stitches in your work to decorate your fabric. In stockinette knitting, it is up to you which side of the work to make the "public" side. In weaving, the purl side of the fabric becomes the "public" side, as the inlay yarn (weaving yarn) shows on the knit side of the fabric.

Top image is the knit side of fabric, while bottom image is the purl side of fabric, where you can see the weaving pattern very clearly. You will note that weaving does create a slight shadow or "grin through" on the knit side of the fabric.

Weaving presents an excellent opportunity to experiment with different yarn combinations and using them in unusual and/or experimental ways. After some experimentation, you will find that a wide variety of yarns can be used for weaving. Because the yarn itself does not need to fit into the hooks on the machine, you can use much heavier yarns. Anything from thick to thin, and do be aware that using fine thin yarns may lead to delicate floats which may easily snag. In this case, it may be best to pay attention to your float distance, minimizing then to 1 or 2 or 3 needle widths. That said, weaving patterns can be varied greatly by hooking them up on needles every few rows.

Knit on a standard gauge machine, a sport weight variegated yarn is used for the background, while a worsted weight solid yellow is used for weaving.

Spend some time with your manual to determine the appropriate settings for your machine. You'll want to be sure to have your weaving brushes engaged, as they help prevent the floated yarn from jumping off the needles. You will find that weaving yarns can be worked horizontally, as well as vertically.

Polly in her fabulous woven coat. She does an excellent job of showcasing both sides of the fabric.

Weaving yields a very stable fabric with great reversibility. This fabric will also not unravel easily and is very suitable for cut and sew techniques. Weaving can also be used selectively to create decorative edges and fringes. Susan Guagliumi's book Hand-Manipulated Stitches for Machine Knitters presents an excellent chapter on weaving techniques to get you started.

Here, the colorful side is the woven side (purl side) of the fabric.

July 09 Program: Necklines and Collars by Joanne Zutz

Ready to branch out and create some interesting new necklines for your lovely machine knit sweater or dress? The most common neck opening is the jewel neckline - or crew neck. This neck opening simply follows the curve of the base of the neck. The back usually has a slight curve of only 3/4" deep, while the front neck depth is anywhere from 3-3/4" to 4-1/4" deep. The curve of the neckline falls mainly at the center front with the sides going straight until they reach the shoulder seam.

A boat neck is simply a cast-off top edge to a knit front and back that have a straight or shaped top edge. Here's a great boat neck tip: Gather your back shoulder edge slightly when attaching the front shoulder to allow the front neck to drop slightly.

Other common neck opening shapes are square, curved, v-neck, as well as a variety of other shapes.

Neck edges can be finished in several ways:

• Faced - A separate piece of fabric is made the same shape as the neck opening and is attached to the neck edge and turned to the inside along the seam where it is sewn to the garment.
• Hemmed - In knits, this is usually a hung hem, or tubular edge.
• Bound - Binding is usually knit separately from the garment and is either applied later by hand, or with the use of your knitting machine.
• Hand Finished - This technique is often very decorative and may employ either lace or crochet.

Mastered the various (or at least a few) necklines? Try adding a collar! It is exciting to note that collars can be added to many of the necklines listed above and are a great way to finish the neck opening of a garment.

There are many types and styles of collars - below is a list of some of the more common variations:

Peter Pan Collar - This type of collar treatment lies flat against the garment and is curved to match the neck opening. To achieve this collar shape, simply short row around the front outer edge of the collar to the neck edge, opening tension slowly.

Mandarin Collar - This collar stands straight up from the garment and has either a straight or very slightly curved edge which attaches to the garment. You may choose to try ribbing to achieve a slightly firmer collar.

Tie Collar - This is an extension of the Mandarin Collar. There are tie extensions added to the center front edges of the collar which allow it to be tied into a bow.

Turtleneck - This is also a variation of the Mandarin Collar, but is taller which allows it to be either turned or scrunched down to cover the entire neck. By comparison, a Mockneck only covers part of the neck.

Convertible Collar (aka Polo Collar) - This collar typically comes to a point. It is often necessary to create a collar stand so the center back of the collar sits slightly higher than the front points. The collar can be worn either fastened at the front, or worn open creating a shallow "V" shape in the front. This style of collar is often used for tab front garments.

Shawl Collar - This collar is created through an extension of the front band and extends to the center back. The outer layers of the front band turns under to become the bottom of the collar and the inner layer of the front band becomes the outer layer of the collar.

Cowl Neck - This collar treatment actually reverses the curve of the natural neck opening to create a drape in the center front that lays in a series of gentle folds, depending on fullness.

Good luck and have fun when creating your special neck interest!

June 09 Program: Knitting Fun with the Glitter Knitter of the Yarn Garage!

We couldn't have imagined a more fun and creative June Program than the program we enjoyed courtesy of our special guest, Steven Berg of the Yarn Garage!

Located in Rosemount, Minnesota, the Yarn Garage is a full service - yarn, knitting and needlework station - everything you need and more to get your knit on! Steven, together with his sister Monika, started the Yarn Garage in 2003 as the roving, gypsy yarn and fiber art studio. They are always helping knitters and the needlework challenged and have put a modern twist on some great old traditional crafts by using unique and unusual novelty yarns!

Here's the kicker - Steven's yarns aren't just for hand knitting and crochet - you can use many of his fine fibers on your knitting machine too! To prove his point, he brought lots of yarns - luxury, novelty, and all great quality to show off. He gave each group member a skein of yarn and a Scrappy Hat pattern to try out at home. Above all, Steven reminded us to expect and ENJOY the unexpected when knitting, especially with his yarns.

Follow Steven's lead and be sure to give your project a unique personality using clever and creative yarns!

May 09 Program: Thread Lace on a Bulky by Ellen Levernier & Cindy Schmatz

This past February we explored the Thread Lace technique on standard gauge machines, but did you know you can also create beautiful Thread Lace patterns on a Bulky machine? Make sure your bulky knitting machine has a fairisle setting, and you can get to work creating beautiful and unique BULKY Thread Lace!

When selecting your yarn and pattern to create Thread Lace, there are a couple of things to remember:

• For cohesive results, it's a good idea to ensure your thread and yarn colors match. That said, do a few test swatches experimenting with different yarn and color combos
• Use a heavy yarn and a thin yarn for best results. For the "heavy yarn" you can use a double, triple, or even quadruple strand of your yarn. Ellen liked working with 4 strands of Alpaca Lace, while Cindy chose 2 strands of Yarn Country. Lace, Sport, and Fingering weight yarns are great options.
• Avoid long floats.
• Use weights - be sure to place them evenly along your work, moving them up as you knit.
• The thread in feeder 2 or "B" will knit the pattern. Both yarns will knit together on non-patterned areas, so be sure to set the tension for knitting both threads together.
• Set end needles to working position every row to ensure that both threads knit together.

SK Machines (Silver Reed, Studio, Singer): put end stitches in hold every row.
KH Machines (Brother, KnitKing): Push back the end needles if selected by pattern every row.

• Either side of your knitted work can be the right side, depending on your visual preference.
• If you use tuck stitches in your pattern work, your piece will not curl.
• Knit with a smooth rhythm, and pay attention to your edge stitches.

It's scary to think that it's already time to start planning your winter knitting projects. Why not deviate form a basic scarf by sprucing it up with a little Thread Lace!

Note: The terminology Thread Lace refers to that produced on a Brother machine, versus Punch Lace on Studio, Singer, and Knitmaster machines. In the end of the day, Punch Lace and Thread Lace are the same technique.