2011: There are several brand KMs still around and in use, most are no longer being manufactured. Questions often come up on how to use one KM brand pattern card on another. Card readers inside the machine are below eye level, so exterior number/other markings on cards or mylars reflect that, providing the knitter with … Continue reading Revisiting use of lace patterns Studio vs Brother machines
There have been several previous posts on “crochet” like stitches and “tuck lace”, this is another variant. The needles need to be arranged as in the diagrams below. After the first preselection row, the carriage is set to tuck the full punchcard T= areas where tuck loops will occur, K = knit columns, o = … Continue reading “Crochet” meets machine knitting techniques: tuck lace trims or fabrics 2
Hand knitters may be familiar with drop-stitch patterns where the yarn is wrapped multiple times around the knitting needle, followed by knit stitch(es). On the next row, when the wrap is reached, the extra wraps are dropped off the needle, and the remaining single loop is knit in a regular manner. On the knitting machine … Continue reading Revisiting drop / release stitch lace 1
I previously posted on both single and double bed pleats. In light of the recent thread on mesh, I am sharing some of the information on pleats created using lace transfers, working out gauges for knitting predictable size fabric using them, and published in the Brother techniques book
Eons ago I owned a BitKnitter for my Passap machine, and to this day I miss it and some of the other Cochenille software that is no longer available, especially when working with multiple colors for color separations of any sort. When using it for downloading the resulting motif, picking the same exact color for … Continue reading A lace mesh series: using GIMP
Any discussion of crochet like fabrics on home knitting machines, whether single or double bed, invariably lead to looking at gathered loops, whether created as a hand technique using holding or automated by using the tuck setting. The function of the card remains the same when cam buttons are engaged, regardless of whether knitting single or … Continue reading “Crochet” meets machine knitting techniques: tuck lace trims and fabrics 1
I began to think about color separations again, in reference to pile knitting and returned to the chart used in the circular shape in the #1 blog post in this thread. While studying it, it occurred to me that the fabric might be created by releasing the stitches at the end of the knitting. Brother punchcard … Continue reading Geometric shapes in drop stitch lace 3, end release
These pattern repeats may become quite large, and are suitable for designing and downloading with software. Testing repeats in a small section to start with insures methods and accuracy when planning the larger ones. Here I would prefer a wider, brick repeat, however, I am working with mylar on a 910 so in this test, … Continue reading Geometric shapes in drop stitch lace 1, Brother KM
Working with 2 carriages when both are selecting needles brings up some interesting issues. Studio machines are able in most instances to select and knit in the same row. Brother preselects needles for the subsequent row, and on that row, while knitting the preselection, once again, the preselection is made for the next pattern row to … Continue reading Combining tuck stitches with lace 2 (automating them)
This is a blog post I actually began working on in November 2013, and never quite completed. A Ravelry thread on a hand-knit lace to machine knit pattern translation made me think of it, so here are my working notes on one approach to charts designed for hand knitting that require transfers every row, with … Continue reading Hand knit lace to KM: combining different meshes, alternative methods