Industrial Yarns

Sorry I have not been on much during the last few months, I have been kept busy trying to keep my grounds under control and with the rain we have had it’s a job and a half.  I did however manage last week to take a look at my industrial yarn stock and I have a lot, so I decided to mix a set of industrials to see what turns out.  I mixed 2 lilacs, one pink and one white and I came up with a gorgeous mix of yarns, so I decided to knit my favourite polo jumper by Doris Paice of New Zealand featured in the Passap Duet vol 9.  Note I do nothing special except run them from cones on the floor then all through one tensioner. My tip is if you use a motor, try it by hand to start with and if it does not run smoothly and easily then adjust the tensions until it does.

This is a 2 x one industrial rib and it stretches depending upon the weight of yarn eg the thinner the yarn the tighter the jumper, well I have knitted so many of them I no longer worry, I may knit a back and think about the size and alter it accordingly.  It is such a clever design that incorporates the polo neck directly onto the front and back.  I gives the brain a serious workout believe me.  When putting the garment together you have to sew up the neck via the sides but the lovely shape of it makes it worth while.  I knit this jersey because I live in an old 18th century stone house with a log burner for heating only, so believe me when I say it’s a lovely warm and comfortable jumper and goes well with anything and if you are really keen keep going to knit a lovely dress.  I wear denims most of the time with thick socks that I knit up on my sock machine.  Why the sock machine, well again, it keeps this lovely machine in working condition and of course it does something the domestic flat bed machines cannot do and that is rib in the round.  One thing I did discover when using my beloved Passap E6000 was that my battery replacement with soldering did not work unfortunately, now it keeps going to the language question every time I turn it on.  Just wish there were some knitting machine mechanics in my neck of the woods

Another thought is that a number of vintage machines and how to source them depends upon where you live in the world, in my case France offers a selection of Passaps, Superbas and if you are very lucky an occasional Pingouin, if you live in the UK you get a good selection workhorse machines, ie Knitmaster, Brother , Passap and the like, however in America there are quite a few unusual ones, such as the sort of brothers in a tin type. if you live close to Japan so who knows what can be sourced, in Australia, you may be lucky enough to get your hands on another rare beast the Prior. My collection is at a standstill right now as I am full up , and beginning to realise I must exercise control and perhaps operate a one in and one out system still such is life but I am always on the lookout for something unusual.