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About 12 years ago, I started knitting again, this time it became an obsession. About that time, I wanted to try sock knitting. So, I went to a local yarn store, and purchased a sock kit. The yarn was in a hank, so the store owner wound it into a cake for me using a plastic Royal Ball Winder. This is the first time I had ever seen such a thing. Very cool, very fast.

So, I later purchased both a Royal Ball Winder, and a metal and plastic swift. This combination served me well until this year. My only complaint is that it was plastic, and felt - well - cheep.

This past year, I got into flat bed knitting machines - and started down the slippery slope of ball winders.

I have had and tried the following in addition to the Royal Ball Winder:

• A Plastic & Metal Cone Winder - very nice, makes cones that are quite useful for knitting machines. Downside is that it is plastic and feels like a toy, also it can only handle small hanks of yarn (up to 4 oz).



• A Large Ball Winder - this was similar to the Jumbo Ball Winder shown on the Halcyon Yarn page linked above - this made beautiful balls of yarn, still felt plastic. Also, when the tension was uneven, the gears felt like they were going to strip. This was also large and difficult to store.



• A electric Silver Needles Cone Winder - WOW this was fantastic, made short work of hanks of yarn, winding them onto reusable cardboard cones. Beautiful for use with a knitting machine. The only real downside is the size to store and the fact that you have to plug it in to use. Oh, and the noise - it is a pretty noisy piece of equipment.



• A Strauch Jumbo Ball Winder - nice, heavy duty, made of wood. The only issue was that the table I had to attach it to didn't have a deep enough overhang, therefore the ball winder would wobble. If you have a normal table - this winder is hard to beat for both the price and the quality.



• A Heavy Duty Ball Winder by Nancys Knit Knacks - this is the one that captured my heart. Since it is made for yarn stores, and to essentially be abused - it is seriously over engineered. Smooth as silk, clamps to the very edge of a table - or in my case the corner of a desk. If you start the ball correctly as shown in the DVD that comes with the winder, the ball comes out as a nice cake. As a bonus they also sell cardboard yarn cores - because of this, I can replace the electric cone winder with this one - as the knitting machine works great using the yarn balls on the cores.



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My other adventure was into Yarn swifts.

• The first one was the Light Yarn Swift - very good, light, compact, works, smooth. Nothing really negative can be said about this. It is plastic and metal - so a bit cheep looking, but beautifully functional.



• The second one I tried was Baby Bear Yarn Swift by the Oregon Woodworker. This is now discontinued, but is nice and smooth, all wood, and came with a nice bag to hold all the parts. The pins to hold a skein of yarn seemed cheap as they are only wooden dowels. But are quite functional.



• The third one I tried was Will Taylor Clamp-on Skeinwinder/Swift in solid Cherry. Beautiful, smooth. The only complaint is that it is a bit tedious to take down and store, but if you want to just leave it clamped - its beautiful.



• My current favorite is a Yarn Swift with Folding Arms by texasjeans. I purchased this over Etsy and couldn't be happier. Its a bit large in the fold up state, but is so well made and beautiful it becomes a nice piece of art, and does not take up much room (a 6" diameter circle of space) when it is not being used. The best part is the storage of the pins, so clever - they store in the center of the swift when not being used, and are available when putting a hank on the swift. Very smooth, well worth the cost.

CSMSA 2010

I was elected to host the 2010 CSMSA conference. So, to that end have started a blog to document the process.

Enjoy.

Update

Ever have a friend that you loose touch with? A little times goes by and you say "I should call them". But then A LOT of time goes by and you figure that it has just been too long?


That is how I feel about this blog - and I have so much that has been going on!


To get you caught up, I sold the NZAK. We were not getting along well - I like to do things a certain way, and it didn't. So off it went to someone that really can care and treat it with all the respect it deserves. While we are on the subject of NZAK, the manufacturer made a great video showing how to caston and knit using the NZAK. Highly recommend it, even if you don't have a NZAK.




In the meantime I went through several of Circular Sock Machines before I found the two that I have now.

• There was the Verdun - very nice machine, knit like a dream - just wasn't "the one" for me.
  
• Then there was the Creelman - beautiful. The only problem was by the time I got the Creelman I had decided that I didn't like that style of machine.
  
• This was followed by the Project Legare 400 - loved that machine. I took it apart, cleaned and polished every piece knitted on it it was just a really nice machine. But by then I had 3 of them, and one had to go. It was the odd man out because the other two where the same style of Legare, and I wanted a matched set. So off that went to it's new home.
  
• That left me with 2 Legare 400 machines, both with the rounded base. Finally the search was over.
  

The best part about this machine shuffle is that I learned a HUGE amount about the different styles, how they work, what I liked/disliked. It was an excellent opportunity. But, I am glad to have my garage back though. Cleaning a machine takes me about two weeks - and takes over the garage. Now I can concentrate on socks.



About a month ago - I started thinking about flatbed knitting machines. humm.... I have a LK100 stored that my Mom and I purchased YEARS ago, never have I taken it out of it's box so I don't even know if it works. My guess though is that with a new sponge bar it would work great.


So, the cycle starts again, just trying to find the right machine. Something that does ribbing, color, etc.


So, I started off with a Brother KH830, cleaned it, put a new sponge bar in it - checked out that the punchcard works. Made a swatch. Great machine - but these knitting machines take up so much space, even when put away....


Next I thought I would try out a Singer SK700, I have no opinion about that machine - the quality of the packing done by the seller was, well, non-existent. The machine arrived all dented and damaged - the carriage was wrapped in fiberglass insulation. Ugh. That went back, still waiting on the final resolution.


Then there is the Passap DM80. Now I purchased this through Craigslist, but what the seller forgot to mention (and I forgot to ask) was that the machine had had a tumble. So, this weekend I spent taking the machine apart, removing the frame (which is bent) so that next weekend I can put in a new frame. Other than the fact that I have to rebuild from the ground up - I am completely in love with this machine. It really speaks to my geeky heart.


That means, that the Brother is off to be sold. Only have room for one full sized standard knitting machine - and that Passap is a bit chunky.


What else?


I made a video on YouTube showing how to graft toes when they come off a sock machine...




I have learned a slight modification to the technique shown that gets rid of the "ears".

Socks!!!

Socks!!!, originally uploaded by eirual.

It took me all day from about 7am until 8pm today.

What are looking at is one completed pair of socks, no dropped stitches, both the same size, toes nicely closed using kitchener stitch.

Best part - they fit great!

Look what followed me home...

Schacht, originally uploaded by eirual.

Check out the new wheel! The yarn displayed is spun from the roving that came with the machine. I am getting better, still a bit novelty but getting better.

NZAK - Houston we have a tube!

NZAK - Houston we have a tube!, originally uploaded by eirual.

Whoo hoo!!! I can now knit a tube!

This is my new toy - a 2007 NZAK.

Lessons in spinning

This weekend I took up spinning again. From this I have learned several valuable lessons:

1. The WoolLee Winder is the single best invention in the pursuit of spinning. Bar none. This thing is awesome, smooth, even feeding of yarn onto bobbin, worth every penny.


2. There is no substitute for a Lazy Kate. No, putting wire through a cardboard box is not a viable substitute. So, I am in search of a Lazy Kate - because I am not going to deal with the alternative again - it sucked.


3. On my PVC Niddy Noddy - shorter arms would have been better (I am thinking that 4.5" would have been much better than the 6" that I made them. It's an easy fix though)


4. Although my cats loved playing with the wool - they were good enough not to break up the roving too bad.


5. I DESPISE the plying head that came with my Lendrum - and will sell it and all the original bobbins as soon as I take a picture of them. The WooLee Winder is that good.

Here is my creation - an entire 3 day weekend spinning and this is what I get 250 yards of what can only generously be called Novelty yarn.

PVC Pipe Niddy Noddy

I picked up spinning after about 8 years. It's amazing but it all comes back to you - just like riding a bike :) One thing I have needed, but never purchased is a Niddy Noddy. I saw some really nice ones at MD Sheep and Wool this year but could never bring myself to purchase one.

Since I am toying with the idea of dyeing my own fiber/yarn, I liked the concept of a niddy noddy made out of pvc. Cheep and durable.

After using the directions found here for the general concept and arm length information, as well as here for the specific center post lengths. I was able to put together 2 complete niddy noddys from a 10ft piece of PVC pipe (obviously if you only want to make one niddy noddy - you only need a 5 ft piece). Total cost, including pvc cement (for use on the T's, and 3 of the 4 endcaps) was $7.

So, for $3.50 I have a 1m, 1.5m and 2m niddy noddy (obviously not all at the same time).

Not bad - eh?

Pretty new brooch

I have been working on a shawl - and to commemorate almost finishing it, I got this really pretty brooch from Celtic Swan.