Burgundy Mohair Scarf: Important Notes About End Needles

First of all, I apologize for not including information in the video about end needle selection.

When you use a punch card or an electronic pattern with end needle selection turned on, every time you select, the machine picks out the end needles as pattern needles. That's fine unless you're in a needle setup with needles out of work! In this scarf, I'm doing 1 x 1 ribbing, so every other needle on the main bed is back in A position. End needle selection will select every needle, because, to the machine, every needle looks like an end needle.

Brother machines sometimes have a KCI and a KCII setting on the dial. The KCI setting selects needles and has end needle selection turned on. It's very useful, because you often do want end needle selection turned on. KCII turns it off - and that's what you need for this situation, with 1x1 ribbing.

My machine has KCII and I completely forgot that some machines don't. You can still turn end needle selection off, though, even without KCII, and it's not much trouble at all. Take the carriage off the machine and turn it over. Toward the back rail side, away from the presser plate, are the grooves where the needle butts travel, and there are two colored pieces. Insert a transfer tool in the little black part inside the colored piece and turn it 90 degrees. Flat is one setting, vertical is the other. You have to do it on both pieces, or else it will only turn end needle selection off on one end of the knitting. Test it before you knit, and you're off and running.

When you want end needle selection back on, flip it over and change it.

By the way, we do this with lace carriages as well for a very cool technique to show in some future video.

I will try to get some photos this evening, as I must work now. I think pictures will make it easier to follow, and redo this post with photos.