Purple Alpaca Mittens on the Addi Knitting Machine

  I did it!  I made a pair of toasty warm alpaca mittens on the little Addi Knitting Machine.

The first thing I did was to ply 3 balls of this wonderful purple Alpaca yarn (Thank you, Nancy Schmidt, for gifting me the yarn.) into a bulkier yarn.  The bulkier yarn seems to work better on the Addi where you only have 22 pins.  It makes for a tighter knit, less lacy product.    3 balls of yarn plied together was just enough to make 2 mittens.

Thanks to this video for showing me how to make mittens on the Addi:



You can get the official pdf pattern here on Ravelry.

As always with Addi tutorials, practice makes perfect.   I ripped it out several times before I was happy with the final product.  Fortunately, these knit up quickly on the Addi, compared to doing it by hand.

The crucial points are where you might be likely to drop stitches, such as when you are doubling up the cuff.  The hardest part for me was the thumb flap.  I kept losing stitches along the edges, and even had to put an extra stitch on the waste yarn because I kept losing them when I only caught 3.  I finally got it to work -- with a little practice.

Here's a detail shot of the thumb.  I thought this might come out a little clumsy, but it looks ok, and it's solid (no holes) with 6 stitches for the thumb flap. 

My pattern was slightly different from the video, in that I did 4-5 extra (29 total) rows for the thumb flap, and 3 more rows for the fingers (dome) part of the mitten.  It probably would have been ok with the recommended 30 rows for the dome. 

If I were to make them again (and I just might do that!), I might do a shorter cuff, too.  Maybe only 2/3 of what she did in the video.

Here are my notes from watching the video:

1) Knit 5 rows (or more) on waste yarn.  Use a contrasting color so it's easy to see.
2) Make a slip knot in your main yarn, and loop it on the first peg.  Knit 30 rows for the cuff.
3) Fold over the cuff by reaching into the middle of your tube and attaching Row 1 (after the waste yarn) to Row 30.  This takes a little time ...
4) Knit 12 rows to the base of the thumb.  Go slow with the first row, as it will be the hardest.  Watch the stitches and make sure they drop below the lip so you don't lose them.
5) For thumb (16:41 min in the video),  Switch to Flat Panel knitting on 6 stitches only.  Secure the 3-4 stitches on either side of your thumb flab onto waste yarn as they are likely to fall off.  This is stitches 7-8-9-10 and 19-20-21-22.    Knit 29 rows for the thumb flap (She says 25 in the video). The lst row should be facing <.
6) Pick up the stitches on the waste yarn to either side of the thumb flap.  Try not to split the yarn.  Place them back on the open needles.  Don't remove the waste yarn until you know the stitches are secure.  It will be easy enough to pull out when you're finished.
7) Knit 30 rows for the dome of the mitten to cover your fingers.  You can add more rows if needed to fit your hand.  This will vary with the yarn you may be using, and the size of your hand.
8) On the last row, cut a long tail, and thread it through the final row of stitches on the needles.  This will create a draw-string action to cinch up the top of your mitten.  Secure the tail.
9) Turn the mitten inside out and stitch up the sides of the thumb.

That's it!  Toasty and warm!

Now I'm trying to decide if I will make a lining for these ... I guess I should try them without first to see if it's needed.

Good Starter Tips for using a Circular Knitting Machine

For anyone considering getting a "starter" circular knitting machine (CNM), Margaret Olander at Sheepishly Sharing offers this helpful video:



At Margaret's recommendation, I decided to purchase the larger, pink generic CNM that she uses in the video above.   She offers a list of recommended CNMs at Amazon. 

 

I'd been considering the Knit Quick Knitting Machine by Loops & Threads that you can get at Michael's.  It would have been about $45 with a 40%-off coupon, but the reviews on it were terrible -- Most people said it was a piece of junk that wouldn't last long--In many cases, not even 1 day!  In the video, I believe it's the Knit Quick machine that Margaret said she took apart after it broke to find the gears were stripped--She showed that in another video.   Yes, I could have given it a try, and returned it after it broke, but I live 30 miles from the store, so the hassle factor would have out-weighed any temporary convenience.

I wanted a larger CNM to make sock blanks for dyeing yarns.  Yes -- I caught the bug from all the neat experiments Chem Knits has been doing!  But I didn't want to spend $200 on the Addi King, even though I have the Addi Express that I've very happy with it!   I did buy the generic pink circular knitting machine that Margaret using in the video.  I used my points at Amazon and got it essentially for free.  It shipped in 2 days.  

Let's hope this is a better investment for my purposes.

Preparations for the next Yarn Dyeing experiment.

Sock blank wound into a doughnut, awaiting the next dyeing experiment.

More useful links for CNMs from Margaret O.

Loom Knitting 2 ways

I made a pair of fingerless mitts for OKL's birthday on the green Boye knitting loom -- slow work, but done in 2 wkds.


When I finished his this morning, I got out the Addi Express Knitting Machine and tried to make the same thing on the little knitting machine.  It worked beautifully, simple and easy! 

Here's the comparison:

 OKL's half gloves on the green Boye Knitting Loom by hand (slow work).

And here are the ones I did this morning on the Addi Express in less than an hour (90 minutes to finish everything).  It's almost hard to tell the difference, since I used the same yarn.   But these are indeed 2 separate pairs of Half Gloves.

I think I'll have to stitch some stars onto mine, just so we can tell them apart.
It is a good day!

Quick Black Fingerless Mitts on the Addi Express

Who-hooh!  It worked!  Quick Fingerless Gloves on my Addi Express.



I found this video by Elisabeth Craft on making a simple pair of fingerless gloves on the Addi Express.  No fancy (or even simple) ribbing, or extra stuff for the thumb holes.    And because I used a thicker, chunkier yarn than for the first attempt, it worked out beautifully!

The Addi Express seems very happy with this yarn : "I Love This Chunky ..."

It's 100% acrylic.  Color is : Heathered Charcoal.
I love the color because it reminds me of my old Newfie, Maggie.

I did do a couple of practice runs -- which I would recommend to anyone who is new to working a circular knitting machine.  It knits up so fast, that it's easy enough to pull out and start over, too, if you have a mistake.  The thumb hole was a little tricky, but I finally got it figured out.  I can't believe how fast it went on a Sunday morning!  I had both tubes made in less than an hour.  Finishing took a little longer, as there was no video for that. Also, I rolled the cuff under so they appear a little shorter than Elisabeth Craft's in the video. 

Fascination with Circular Knitting Machines

Since last summer, I've been fascinated with circular knitting machines -- the mechanical kind. The really nice ones (and even the vintage / antique ones) are unbelievably expensive at around $1800 - $2000. Whoah! You can buy a lot of socks for that price!

Why am I so fascinated?  Look at how fast you can knit a pair of socks ...

Watch this 8-1/2 Minute Sock video, and you'll catch the bug, too.  Just the thought ob being able to knit an entire sock in just 8 minutes is incredible!




Here's another one - Sock Knitting Machine Demonstration -- easy enough for a kid to do for a school project!




Really interesting lecture, and it truly did feel like a college lecture ...  She starts off with a book review of The Enchantress of Numbers, historical fiction about Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron.  She is considered one of the mothers of modern computing and programming.  I just love hearing about women's history like this ...  Women who made a way when there was no way for them.

Fascinating history of these little machines, and their evolution.  Interesting to hear why there are so few of them out there today -- Turns out is has to do with WWI (There were lots of them as women were asked to make socks for soldiers in WWI to help prevent trench foot.  They were still popular during The Great Depression as a way for women to make a little extra money.  By the time WWII came around, many of them were being recalled for the metal.  They were melted down for the war effort.

Finally, she talks Jamie Mayfield of the Erlbacher Knitting Machine Company, where they make these little beauties to order.  Yes, they are still available, but very expensive ($1800 a pop).  


Yay for Yarn's You Tube playlist for using the Addi Circular Knitting Machine



I watched one of her videos and thought "Yes, I could do this."  They look good, and they look quick.  She's a good teacher, and explains things very well.   And the price of an Addi circular knitting machine is much more affordable than the classic old timey ones.  More like$100 vs. $2000!

I'm hoping to get one of these little Addi Express Professional Knitting Machines  for Christmas this year.  We'll see ...  My husband was just as fascinated watching the old-timey mechanical knitting machines work.  It is mesmerizing, and so cool to have a whole row done in 5 seconds.

Gramma Pickles used to have knitting machines, on which she would make sweaters for all of us.  I still have a few of her sweaters.   I made sure to put one of her sweaters on display at her funeral last fall--One that she was often photographed wearing.    ;-)