A quick peak at my latest book

‘The Machine Knitter’s Guide to Partial Knitting: Seamless Pattern, Shape and Form’, is available to pre-order in the UK from Crowood Books, and online retailers. In the US it can be ordered from Blackwells.

Learn how to control short rows and create fab effects with this fascinating technique.

I’ve always been fascinated by short rows, or partial knitting as this technique is also called, so when the opportunity came to write a whole book about the technique I was super excited. The book opens with some interesting information about short rows to whet the appetite, the first chapter is about the absolute basics, so is ideal for people who have not worked with short rows before. The chapters progress through the different ways of using short rows; shown with examples, diagrams and written instructions. Some also have half scale sample patterns for practising the techniques which include more advanced uses, such as 3d shaping.. There are step-by-step instructions and each chapter builds on the knowledge of the previous chapter. The book ends with a chapter of patterns exemplifying the techniques covered throughout the book.

I so look forward to receiving my first copy!

three knitting machine punchcards

Holes and blanks: reading a knitting machine punchcard

This is something I used to struggle with when first starting to machine knit, and to be honest, it still sometimes needs a bit of thinking before I get it right.

So I put some information together which I hope will be useful to others who find the holes and blanks a bit confusing. It also has some helpful ways to read what is actually being read by the card-reader, rather than what is visible above it.

Lets start with the fundamentals:

However, on both makes the needle positions are the same

Pattern cam settingPunched holesNeedle positionBlanksNeedle position
2-col-in-a-rowknit with 2nd colourUWPknit with MCWP
tuckknitUWPtuckWP
slip/partknitUWPslipWP

On both Brother and KM/SR machines, the punchard line being selected is hidden inside the machine. Seven lines below on a Brother, and five below on a KM/SR.

Download a printable version here.

To read more about how a punchcards, read my post ‘Knitting Machine Punchcards, How do They Work?’