How can I do Sock Machine Selvedges?

By Amelia © May 27, 2010

A question from a reader of this blog ...

My question is: I have recently purchased a Legare 47 and need to know if it is only possible to make a selvedge "cast-on" at top of sock in 1 x 1 rib, or can it be done with 3 x 1 or others? For me it has only worked using the 72 cylinder and doing 1 x 1 rib. Won't work with 54 cylinder. Any ideas?

Thanks for asking ... it's nice to do a sock machine post, as I was recently knitting on mine and even playing with selvedges. I'm going to assume you have a 72-slot cylinder, a 54-slot cylinder, and a 36-slot ribber. This gives you a few options...

First one ... if you want to do a 3/1 top edge, you could put a needle in every cylinder slot, without the ribber on yet, and use an e-wrap to make a selvedge. You wrap every needle from where you would start to knit with an "e" of the yarn you plan to knit with (pull along tail through so you can get all the way around with it), counterclockwise around the cylinder, in the same order the needles will knit. Then, knit one row. This makes a selvedge that won't unravel. At this point you can put the ribber in and transfer stitches from cylinder needles (removing them!!) and onto ribber needles as you like.

I admit, this selvedge is fiddly -- the number of times I have dropped a stitch in that first ribber row, I hesitate to count. I've been very pleased in the reliability of my NZAK to not drop ribber stitches, so I can use this selvedge when I want to. It has the virtue of working no matter what ribbing I want -- 3/1, 2/1, 1/1, or mock rib.

Second one ... a mock rib hemmed selvedge. For this, you leave out every n-th needle. For a 3/1 mock rib, it's every 4th needle. And, you just start knitting with your real yarn once you have your waste yarn knitting cleanly. Once you have 10-40 rows (how many defines the depth of your hemmed top), you pick up the first knit row's stitches and put them around the needles with the current row, so the first row is knit into the next round of knitting.

Third one ... there's a great selvedge you can do with a 36-slot ribber and 54-slot cylinder. If you use only every other slot in the ribber, you can set up for a 2/1 ribbing. Once this knits cleanly with the waste yarn, attach your sock yarn and continue like so:

1. Knit one row with the sock yarn.
   
2. Lift the first cylinder needle of each pair all the way around (well, as around as you can ... just be sure to continue with this step as you start the next one...).
   
3. Knit two complete rows with that first-of-each-pair needle not knitting. Yes, this puts a bar of yarn in front of it each time.
   
4. Now lower the out-of-work needles, carefully, so their latches are open and above the bars, and knit the next round.
   

Whew! This is actually a fairly easy selvedge, and my favorite for 52-cylinder socks and mittens.

You mentioned the 1/1 ribbing; you could, if you want a 3/1 sock on the 72, use 1/1 ribbing just for 3-4 rows and then convert over to 3/1 ribbing for the rest of the leg.

There have been other selvedges I've played with -- e-wrap on cylinder needles, then starting ribbing needles by picking up the bar from the row below (not easy!); and a variety of sewn selvedges after taking the sock off the machine -- but I'm going to guess you're looking for a cranked selvedge, not a hand-done selvedge. So go ahead, experiment -- try out a variety of selvedges, knit short tubes, and see if they hold or let stitches run.

I've been happiest with 1/1, 2/1, and mock rib hemmed-top socks, all of them pretty deep -- I'll do 25 rows of ribbing, and 40 rows before hanging the hem of a mock rib. I used to only do 5-10 rows, but it doesn't make a deep enough ribbing to hold the sock up well. 3/1 topped socks haven't stayed up that well for me, so I don't tend to use it at the top edge of a sock.

The socks up at the top have a 1/1 top, 3/1 leg and foot; they are tiny ... knit on my NZAK's compound cylinder :-).

~~~~

Related posts:
Sock machines: hem or ribbed top?
Sock machines: How do you put a selvedge on a 3/1 sock?
Sock Machines: Can you use a 36-slot ribber with a 54-slot cylinder?

~~~~

© May 27, 2010 by Ask The Bellwether, posted at http://askthebellwether.com/blog

How do you unwind from an odd-shaped spindle?

By Amelia © May 20, 2010

Although round whorls are most common, these days a spindle whorl can have any shape at all -- square, triangle, even an irregular shape. If you usually put the spindle in a bowl, a round whorl will roll easily on the sides. But a spindle whorl that's square will not unwind as smoothly.

So, how do I deal with that? It depends on my mood ... I might slide the cop onto a straw and unwind from that, or put the spindle in a spindle kate to unwind from it. I have some "real" ones but I've also been known to cut key-holes on two sides of a shoe-box and use that. Keyholes are round holes about an inch or so from the top edge of the shoe-box with lines cut up to the top of the box. I can squeeze the spindle in by pushing down, and the lines stay closed while the spindle rides in the round holes below them -- if they fail, a bit of masking tape will hold them shut, and is easy to cut or remove once I'm done.

I've also been known to slide the first spindle-full off onto a straw and then put that cop and the second spindle-full, still on the spindle, on my bed to wind together into a plying ball.

When I'm winding off of the spindle after plying, I'll usually skein off by holding the spindle like a lollipop and rotating it in my fingers as I wind it around the niddy-noddy or body-noddy.

For an authentic Andean experience, you'd stick the bottom pointy end of your bottom whorl spindle in the ground or between your toes or feet, and then pull the yarn off the end. This does change the twist a little bit, like pulling up from the center of a center-pull ball, but unless your yarn is on the border of too loose to be yarn, the difference will be minor. Still, if you do not want to affect your amount of twist, you'll want to use one of the other methods above.

~~~

This post inspired by a question on the Spindlers Yahoo List.

Related articles:
Can you spin a sheep?
How do you wind a plying ball?
Does the ball-winder add twist?
How do you wind yarn on a niddy-noddy?
10 things I learned on my summer vacation
What is Andean spindling?

For more spindle-specific posts, see the Spindles topic.

For even more spindle management tips for top-whorl, bottom-whorl, and Turkish spindles, see my book, Productive Spindling.

~~~~
© May 20, 2010 by Ask The Bellwether, posted at http://askthebellwether.com/blog

Balancing creativity...

By Amelia © May 7, 2010

Every so often, I lapse into a "meta" phase of considering my direction and environment. A step back really helps me evaluate, improve, and re-energize my goals.

Henry of Wake Up Cloud recently helped with that, asking what the biggest blocker was in pursuing my dreams.

My current goal is to explore weaving and find what I like most about it, as I continue to explore the ins and outs of spinning.

Having been spinning for 9 years now, and mastering a variety of skills to the point of teaching and selling handspun, I enjoy the activity and continue to find ways to expand my skills. I would say it's only in the last few years that I've finally developed a rhythm for consistent singles. My forays into fine spinning have been developing to new lengths (pun intended!); that aligns nicely with my desire to weave fine threads.

Weaving is a fascinating art as well. The perfectionism of weaving fabric provides a nice balance to the more care-free nature of spinning. I have, of course, thrown my handspun on the loom in a variety of ways (perhaps not quite as care-free as WeaveZine's silly string method...) and luckily had success with that. I know my future weaving will involve handspun.

As with all fascinations, these interests of mine can overwhelm the day-to-day living of raising a family and caring for pets, flock, and home. My current meta-goal, then, is finding a balance -- keeping family and all content while continuing my fiber explorations.

Sometimes it means teaching my children a bit more cooking and cleaning so they can help out on the family side. They're used to mom teaching them things, being spinners themselves and exploring needle-arts, felting, dyeing and weaving alongside mom. Since we all enjoy that, it's perhaps no surprise that they are happy to learn cooking and take great pride in the meals they've prepared.

Sometimes it means taking personal time -- this weekend, for example, I'm attending a workshop by Anne Field on Collapse Weave. A few years back, I might not have let myself go away for 3 days; but now I know the family will do well and even benefit from the time without mom at the tiller.

I know I'm not the first artisan to go down this path ... I recently read Anita Luvera Mayer's books and was struck how, in the forwards, she grew as a person. In her first book, she notes how family needs and wants kept her from the loom for many years. In her second, she mentions the difficulty of leaving them to go to shows and workshops. And in the third, she celebrates the growth of herself and her family to function both together and apart. I plan to continue reading her books, "I don't do guilt anymore" really sounds like it will be a fun read from a woman who has definitely arrived.

~~~~

Similar posts:

Simplicity and Craft

How Can I be more Productive?


~~~~~~~

© May 7, 2010 by Ask The Bellwether, posted at http://askthebellwether.com/blog