Exploring the world of fiber, one draft at a time

My posting can be as frequent or infrequent as my spinning, so be as patient as that fiber, sitting in my stash.

Thursday, December 30, 2004

Machine Knit scarves


A sampling of the 18 scarves I made on my knitting machine.

OK, so they are basic, not fancy and acrylic. Still, they were welcomed by everyone that got one for Christmas, and I had lots of fun feeling productive. I used the thin yarn my standard machine needs, knit them twice as wide as needed and doubled the scarve longways and sewed a seam. I left the ends open but once I had turned the scarf inside out, I closed the ends with the fringe.

I am still at the base of the learning curve on my knitting machine, and I get frustrated everytime I try something new. These scarves gave me a project that required no new learning, gave me the fun of seeing the yarns I bought turn into cloth and satisfied my need to give handmade gifts to my husbands large family.

Machine knitting is deceptive though. One thinks a project can be whipped out in a fraction of the time it takes to do by hand, which is true. What a knitting machine does not do, is cut the finishing time on that project. It takes just as much time to finish a machine knitted item as it does a hand knitted one. I think my knitting and spinning buddies thought I was going to be putting fringe on scarves till the day after Christmas, it was my constant project over the month of December meetings.

Still the finish work is what makes the project look good and it is worth the time in the long run. When I had all 18 scarves all washed, fringe trimmed and a final pressing, folded up and ready to wrap, they looked great.

I really need a challenging project now on the knitting machine. I have the time and no pressure of gifts to give. I think I need to paste a picture of these scarves by the knitter, just to keep the enthusiam they created into the next project.

CW

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