Friday, October 22, 2010

Interesting Tucked Rib at Art Machines!

Art Machines: Утепляемся!
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15 comments:

  1. AnonymousOctober 23, 2010 at 8:13 AM

    Hi Diana, I looked at this link and wondered if it can be done without a punch card. At least can the cables be done without a punch card?

    Thanks
    Charlene

    P. S. Is there a way to translate pages in other languages?

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  2. Diana L. Sullivan, CPAOctober 23, 2010 at 9:56 AM

    First question: yes! If you have no patterning device, you can hand-pick needles. It simply requires patience. You can make it a little easier by making cardboard pushers, putting marks on the bed, or whatever.

    Almost everything we do with the new machines was done with the older ones without patterning devices. It is very labor-intensive and error-prone.

    Secondly, check out Google Translate and other translating gadgets. I have it on my machine and it offers to translate web pages for me. I have to admit, though, that it does a terrible job getting Russian syntax into anything English readers can understand. I marvel at some of the translations I see, but since I don't speak Russian and she's so talented, I'm grateful for anything I CAN understand.

    I also love Maquina a Trico, a Brazilian blog that is absolutely incredible. She's very nice and helpful, but the patterns translate quite oddly using Google from Portugese to English. I had to learn that "careers" is the translation Google gets for "rows" and "points" for stitches. Guess what, my lovely new friend who speaks Portugese says points and careers, too!

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  3. Diana L. Sullivan, CPAOctober 23, 2010 at 9:56 AM

    Oh, and I added a translate gadget to my own site. if you want it in Spanish or French or whatever, you can choose and it'll translate.

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  4. OsloOctober 23, 2010 at 5:06 PM

    Diana, my precious friend!

    I would LOVE to have your comments on this cap. I _think_ I shall be able to figure out how to do the stitch pattern, but a word or two on how to do the decreases to make a cap would be very much appreciated.

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  5. Diana L. Sullivan, CPAOctober 23, 2010 at 5:25 PM

    I've seen this sort of stitch before in Kathleen Kinder's ribber book. That's easy enough.

    To shape the crown, I'd start by turning off the pattern so it's just ribbing. Stopping the tuck stitch will make it narrower immediately. Then, you're either going to have to gather it and have it a bit lumpy at the top, or you can shape it by putting all the stitches on the main bed, decreasing evenly across, moving the rib stitches back to the ribber, knitting a few rows and repeat the decreases. To decrease evenly across, you'd use either waste yarn or a garter bar. You can get a little shaping by tightening the tension, but there are limits to that!

    Alternatively, you could hand-knit the crown of the hat. It's not that large of a project.

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  6. OsloOctober 24, 2010 at 10:13 AM

    Thanks a bundle for the book recommandation. I found Kathleen Kinder's book on Amazon and ordered it right away.

    You are right: Recreating the pattern by itself isn't all that difficult. I punched a card according to Anna's diagram, and had at it.

    However after having knit 20 or so rows in this pattern things starts to get messy. The stitches that tuck won't knit off properly, then the yarn gets caught behind the gate pegs and that's pretty much the end of my swatch.

    The first 20 rows are very promising, though.

    Any ideas on how to move on with this project? More weight? Thinner yarn?

    The yarn I'm using is a nice, soft alpaca. I have made some fisherman's rib scarves in this yarn, and this knits well on tension 9 with 3 large weights for 60 stitches' width. I do have to hang some small side weights to ensure that it all knits off properly.

    The problem with the stitches not knitting off seems to be more prominent in the middle of the bed than on the sides (yes, I am hanging claw weights on the sides). Does this mean that more weight is likely to solve the problem?

    Btw I don't think that doing decreases for the crown will be necessary. There is so incredibly much pull and elasticity in this stitch pattern that it will probably be nice to just leave it as it is and pull the thread through all the stitches and pull it together.

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  7. Diana L. Sullivan, CPAOctober 24, 2010 at 12:50 PM

    Interesting. I haven’t had a chance to try it, myself, with getting ready for seminar, but I like it and want to try it. I think it might make great blankets and scarves.

    Kathleen Kinder’s book will make your eyes bug out, her stuff is so pretty. Some of her instructions are a bit skimpy, but you'll be fine if you work samples in the book's order.

    I use that exact double-birdseye for tuck quite often. It ought to knit off the needles okay. Try it main bed only, first, I guess. Next thing is, use enough weight and use the fine knit bar with the ribber. Your tucking is on the main bed, so absolutely plain settings are needed for the ribber. Put the slide lever on the looser setting and make sure your tension isn’t too tight.

    Tell me how it turns out? Or send a photo? Or write a guest blog post?

    Thanks!

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  8. OsloOctober 25, 2010 at 3:42 PM

    Yup. More weight, thinner yarn, a loose tension, a freshly cleaned and oiled machine and a good night's sleep did the trick. Using a thin alpaca, 50 grams = 167 metres (182yds), this pattern knits beautifully and flawlessly on tension 7 with 4 (!) large weights to 80 stitches.

    I think I am going to make a cap out of this.

    It will definately make a very beautiful scarf too. However a fisherman's rib scarf is going to feel softer and more comfortable against the skin.

    I have mostly men in my family, and men will choose comfort over fashion any time. I need to consider this very carfully.

    Whichever the style I choose I reckon that it will take 6 balls of this yarn, 50 grams each, to make a good 2 metre long scarf. Will keep you updated on how this goes.

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  9. Diana L. Sullivan, CPAOctober 25, 2010 at 3:57 PM

    Glad it's working now.

    But, is it scratchy? What about it makes it uncomfortable, compared to fisherman rib?

    I am curious because I think it's really great-looking.

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  10. OsloOctober 25, 2010 at 4:13 PM

    The fact that some of the stitches are done on the ribber makes a lot of creases, and so the knitwear feels stiffer and more rugged. I am going to leave my swatch until tomorrow and examine it more closely then. I believe that if it is left for a couple of weeks and the tension in the knitwear wears off, it will feel softer.

    I don't know anything that is as soft as fishermans' rib, though, which makes it a favourite for scarves :-)

    We are preparing for a fimbulvetr, by the way. We already have nightfrost here in Oslo, which is very early. Thick, warm scarves, mittens and caps will be very much needed.

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  11. Diana L. Sullivan, CPAOctober 26, 2010 at 9:34 AM

    What's a fimbulvetr? A cold storm of some sort?

    I went to Norway once, a gorgeous week in summer. Loved it. Knitted stars and dots for months afterwards. It's my Norway period in my designs.

    In Austin, its 80 degrees F (about 27 degrees C) and later we'll have frost in winter and plenty of rain. The weather is dramatic, changes quickly. However, it'll be warm through October. I do get tired of looking at men in shorts...

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  12. OsloOctober 26, 2010 at 4:25 PM

    Fimbulvinter is a term from Norse mythology. The ancient Scandinavians believed that the end of the world would begin with a terrible, horrible winter, fimbulvinter (the mighty winter), which would exterminate all life on earth.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fimbulvetr

    And so Scandinavians, who at times might exaggerate just a tad, use this term to describe unusually hard winters. Last winter was bad, and now wise men have studied how and where squirrels store nuts, how the berries form on certain trees and how birds and animals prepare winter nests, dens and burrows, and they predict that this winter is going to be even colder and have even more snow.

    Now, much as I dislike being superstitious, I find myself stocking up on wood, gas and paraffin, not to mention comfort clothing and foods. There's just no reason why we can't be comfortable during a harsh winter.

    It's nice to hear about the Norwegian influence. As soon as I get around to it, I will start punching cards for the Fanakofte (traditional cardigan from Fana, near Bergen). We have some children in the famliy now, and I would like to make them some good, ol'fashioned garments.

    Heh - I haven't really reflected about winters in Texas. I have visited New York, California and some of the states in the Mid-west, but I haven't yet had the opportunity to visit the South. I associate it with tropical fruits, spicy dishes, country music and oil wells, and not with snowfalls. I guess I need to read up on this a bit ;-)

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  13. Diana L. Sullivan, CPAOctober 26, 2010 at 4:37 PM

    Central Texas is beautiful with gentle hills, lots of trees, winding rivers and creeks, and wildflowers in the spring. Many of the trees are green all year. I'm from California, mainly, but grew up all over the country.

    The weather here is very dramatic and changeable - it can be sunny one moment and rainy the next. We get ice storms, very subtle sleet which builds up and makes the roads too treacherous to travel. Because of our winding river, most of Austin's roads have lots of bridges which ice over badly.

    We also get terrible hail. We replaced a roof because of hail, then had to do it again only 3 years later.

    I love that legend! I wonder, why do the animals know when we're in for a bad one?

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  14. Diana L. Sullivan, CPAOctober 26, 2010 at 4:40 PM

    Oh - read The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder if you get the chance. She wrote Little House on the Prairie, and it was all based on her actual experiences growing up. She died in the 1930s so you get a feel for the pioneers, but The Long Winter is an amazing story.

    The local Native Americans warned the settlers that they were in for a very, very bad winter.

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  15. sarahjeanne18February 27, 2017 at 8:10 PM

    Hello Diana,
    I have seen you refer to Kathleen Kinder's books on a couple of your posts as well as Carl Boyd in reference to some amazing tuck rib combinations making amazingly textured fabrics. Unfortunately the link to Carl Boyd's page doesn't work anymore because his site is no longer up but I am very interested in Kathleen Kinder's books. Is it her Book of the Ribber Volume 1 or Volume 2 you are referring to? Thanks!

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