Singer 9000

Single Bed Pin tucks

Must admit I have not been that busy for the past week or two, apart from knitting a jersey for my other half. This jersey was a pattern from one of the old Machine Knitting Monthly Magazines and was a saddle shoulder in with a zip (just for the collar) and pin tucks from arm level upwards. I chose a gorgeous Shetland yarn in a marled maroon and began – I decided to knit it on my Singer 9000 (without the electronics) and it was fairly easy till I came to the pin tucks – I assumed they would be simple enough, the pattern was actually knitted for a Brother but the pin tucks were a single bed type – try as I might, I could not get them to operate on the Singer – for all sorts of reasons. So desperate measures were called for after a half a day of trying to get it to work, I decided to knit off the front by waste knitting and then I transferred it to my Brother 940, followed the instructions for the single bed pin tuck and that was that. I did worry about the change in tension but it seemed to have no effect. I then finished the jersey on the Singer. It looks good; I even managed to sew in the zip after finding one among my ton and half of odd and sods. After having read a few old mags I came across an article about pin tuck on the Singer but it was a double bed fabric and I am almost sure it would have done the same job, ie easy when you know how I suppose.

Singer 9000 Consul

At that time, I decided to knit another of my favourite polo neck jumpers ie by Doris Paice - ie all in one polo – and this was easy enough on the Singer with the motor as it’s a simple 2 x 2 industrial rib – and once finished, I read another article about the patterning system on the Singer 9000 and decided to try it with the consul only – and it was fun, no hassles trying to set up ancient television screens – just put in the floppy and follow the clear instructions from the consul – and when you get used to the method, it’s a fairly easy way to knit some very complex patterns. In my case, I wanted a wide shawl or wrap-around based on the same colourway as the polo neck – I did not have loads of yarn left but I thought, enough to get a decent sized wrap – and this gave me the opportunity to test some of the Singer 9000 patterns and in particular pin tucks – they are so easy to knit and so sculptured – the pics in the book seem to have a 3D effect on my eyes, blink and they change – making them quite difficult to see properly. However, I knitted 150 rows in one type, then tried another, then another – the Singer is the easiest machine I have ever used to pattern with – once you set the cursor, its all systems go – that evening I was reading even more of my old mags ie year’s 91 and 92 when I came across a series of articles by George Le Warre, a specialist in Passap and Singer and author of the famous Duet Magazine, his style of writing is superb as are his instructions and this gave me the incentive to try some of the jacquard fabrics highlighted in the Singer pattern book

Singer 9000 Jacquard

I used a contrasting colour in a fine yarn to go with my other colour and set the disks up following his clear instructions and off I went, first knitting reversible double jacquard – then I tried another pattern – it takes no time at all to enter in the numbers, and change from one pattern to another. I had a feeling by this time I was going to run out of my original yarn so I simply used some of a second yarn in a fine cashmere cerise in a full needle rib for around a couple of hundred rows then worked the whole thing backward so that both sides matched – all was going fine until I came to around 150 rows from the end, and damn damn and double damn, I ran out of the main colour – well it’s a designer’s right to have something different (that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it) – so I just used the second colour to finish off the pin tucks – good job it’s a quality yarn, however, I was a bit concerned that it might outshine the finish of the main colour, an industrial nibbed mix but it worked out fine.

Fringes

Next day decided to do a fringe and used a method taught to me, ie its knitted over 80 needles, with 6 needles either end and in fisherman’s rib but I forgot the main thing ie a couple of needles in the centre so that you know you are cutting the fringe straight, the fringe was knitted in the cerise – now knitting the fringe was another thing – ie too much hassle on the Singer, so I did this on my Rolls Royce – oh sorry my Passap – so simple with the pushers and the motor – 1000 rows done in no time – I then stitched the fringe onto the wrap and cut it – then I decided to plait it – not so fussy that way. When I wear the wrap, I turn a slight collar over (this is where the double jacquard is) and the fronts hang sweetly, whilst the cerise colour at the back drapes (thanks to the cashmere yarn) beautifully.