Okay, so, I’ve been meaning to get into machine knitting for a while now. It’s just so much faster than doing it by hand! I finally took the plunge and got myself a machine.
Finding patterns, though, that’s been a bit of a trip. I started by looking all over the internet. I found a couple of places that had some free patterns, but the selection was pretty limited. * and * weren’t bad, and I even made a free account on Lion Brand to see their free stuff, but still, not a ton to choose from. I even went to *, but it was overwhelming.
Then, some kind soul on a forum mentioned Ravelry. That was a game changer! It’s amazing how you can search by the type of yarn and everything. I started looking for “free” patterns on there, and boy, did I find a bunch! It was much more detailed than the others.
I decided to start with something simple, you know, just to get the hang of the machine. I found this pattern for a “Machine-Knit Bold Strip Scarf” by Lynn Acquard and Stephanie Wagaman. It uses bulky yarn, which I had a ton of lying around. Seemed like a good starting point.
I set up my machine and got to work. Following the pattern was mostly okay, but I did have to figure out a few things on my own. The instructions weren’t always super clear, and the machine is way different than hand knitting! It requires manual adjustments, so I’m not just sitting back and relaxing.
- First, I wound the yarn onto the machine. That was an adventure in itself!
- Then, I had to cast on. This is way different than casting on by hand. Took me a few tries to get it right.
- Once I got going, it was actually pretty fun! I made a few mistakes, of course, but I learned from them.
- Changing colors was a bit tricky, but I eventually got the hang of it.
- Casting off was another challenge. I messed up a few times, but I finally got it.
Here is what I did:
In the end, I made a scarf! It’s not perfect, but I’m pretty proud of it. It’s a “Quick project” compared to hand knitting, I guess. And I learned a ton in the process. Next, I want to try something a little more complicated, maybe a “3-dimensional pillow cover in one piece” that I saw on one of those sites. Or, who knows, maybe I’ll dive into making a sweater or some mittens! The possibilities seem endless now that I’m getting the hang of this machine knitting thing. I heard that some machines use a particular method to read designs, but mine is a bit older, so I’ll just keep experimenting with simple patterns for now!
