Archive of Thread: Old hand knitter, New machine knitter! Back

4 years ago
Hello everyone, I'm just introducing myself to the subscriber community here!

I'm an avid hand knitter and knitting blogger, but my husband unexpectedly got me a KM for my birthday. Ohhh it's the best thing since sliced bread. And for my stash. Except shhhh don't tell, I've started buying yarn for it too, oh dear.

I never even thought of having a machine, but my husband researched the whole thing and settled on a new Taitexma mid-gauge machine with a ribber. (Here's my blog post the day after receiving it). It worked right out of the box but FOR SURE being an expert hand knitter (and a scientist) has helped tremendously with the learning curve. I got it Nov. 26 and I've already made two tees, most of a long sleeved cabled sweater and an intarsia top. And THEN I knitted 10cm ribbing for a handknit (so easy!!) and majorly sped up a Chanel cardi I've been working on by knocking off the reverse stockinette sleeves in an evening. ðŸ˜±

YEP, my mind is blown.

I have a huge pattern collection but only enjoy hand knitting very complicated things. The machine has suddenly opened my mind up to so many patterns I wouldn't have considered before. I basically make a long swatch at different tensions until I hit the one specified and then I just follow the pattern a written!

I'm so happy to have found this community and have already learned so many tips from Sue and her videos. Here's some of what I've been working on. I'd love to connect with you on Instagram, I'm @dayanaknits



   

 

 

4 years ago
OMG!  I am so impressed!  Your ability to "translate" your hand knitting skills to machine knitting is so exciting!

By being open minded (everything doesn't have to be done on the machine) you will open up so many design possibilities for yourself.

Your choice if mid-gauge was a good one .. you can knit a wide range of yarns (and use up some of that stash) 

Welcome to our little community ... please share, share, share ... you are an inspiration!

Sue

4 years ago
[QUOTE username=knititnow userid=6379890 postid=1310573063]OMG!  I am so impressed!  Your ability to "translate" your hand knitting skills to machine knitting is so exciting!
By being open minded (everything doesn't have to be done on the machine) you will open up so many design possibilities for yourself.
Your choice if mid-gauge was a good one .. you can knit a wide range of yarns (and use up some of that stash) 
Welcome to our little community ... please share, share, share ... you are an inspiration!
Sue

Thank you so much for the warm welcome, Sue! These are very encouraging words and I will certainly continue to share with this community. I've loved starting with a mid-gauge as most of what I own is sport, DK and worsted. It's been part of the excitement to be able to get on the machine right away by just digging into what I already have. (also, when everything falls off the machine you have way less stitches to rescue than a standard, yikes). Your "gauge conversion tool" has been invaluable both for machine and hand knit, by the way!

I had a classic learning moment last night. I finished the last sleeve of the cable sweater above and tried it all on. The fit is so much better than I expected, but OOPS I clearly used a lower tension in the second sleeve as it's noticeably tighter and a tad shorter! Yes, I wrote the original tension down but of course I changed it up without jotting down the change. Just like you said in one of your videos -- "Write it down! You may think you'll remember, but you probably won't!" ðŸ˜‚ Case and point made, Sue.

The charm is that I can take it all apart and try the sleeve again without too much time lost. Here I am hiding the sleeves, but the cabling and body fit are lovely!

 

4 years ago
Love what you are doing. I"m a life long hand knitter (but not blogger) and got my first KM 6 months ago.  Started with a standard gauge as I mostly knit with fingering weight yarns but have realized that I'd really like to be able to finish off some hand knit yokes on a mid gauge ..ie from sport or DK yarns.  Just placed an order for Artisan 70D which has a main bed + ribber.  Can't wait - and your projects are an inspiration.

4 years ago
Carolyn, it's so great to meet you -- we are so similar! I think you made a great move getting a mid gauge. It's going to gel much better with what you normally hand knit. I have a 6mm and I find I can knit sport at a surprisingly tight gauge and worsted no problemo. Chunky is too hard, but if I use every other needle it works, too. Please do post what you are up to, I'd love to learn along with you. ðŸ˜Œ