Tag: knitting machine

Imperia sock machine in action

On By vikkihaffendenIn Circular sock machines, craft, creativity, Knitted textiles, knitting, knitting machine, Machine knitting, makingLeave a comment

I restored this Imperia sock machine for the Stanmer Preservation Society in Sussex. It was a treat to find this video of me working on the machine at the Heritage Open Day at Stanmer Park in 2021. The event focused on the heritage crafts of spinning, weaving, knitting, linen and lace making. The Preservation Society had grown its own flax crop and were processing it from straw to yarn in preparation for weaving it into linen cloth.

Me enjoying a glitch-free session with the Imperia in the charming barn at Stanmer Park

I can’t believe that this was five years ago! I had my own machine then, an AKMC made by the Automatic Knitting Machine Co, and now I also have an Autoknitter. The AKMC, although a gorgeous and better made machine has more needles so I actually use it less because it comes up a bit wide in diameter for socks, whereas the Autoknitter has the perfect number of needles. Of the top of my head I seem to remember that the AKMC has 84 needles and the Autoknitter has 64 needles, but don’t hold me to that. I dearly wish I had the compound dial for the AKMC to make smaller diameter tubes.

Fortunately I have ribber dials for both machines which makes a difference. The AKMC knits great socks in rib.

The manuscript for my latest book on machine knitting has gone to the publishers, (printers)

On By vikkihaffendenIn book, books, clothing, craft, Creative machine knitting, creativity, educational, Flechage, industrial knitting, Knitted textiles, knitting, knitting books, knitting machine, knitting patterns, knitwear, Machine knitting, Machine knitting; knitmaster;silver reed; knitting, making, Passap, Short-row shaping, Short-rows, socks, Textiles, Translating between hand and machine knitting, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The Machine Knitter’s Guide to Partial Knitting; Seamless Pattern, Shape and Form

I wrote this post last July, and thought I would share it with you in retrospect, as the book has now gone to  print.

July 2025

Finally, after a long and fraught 18 months it is done!

I signed the book contract only a few weeks before we moved house. After several false starts with the sale of the house we thought we would be staying for a while and would lose the property we wanted to purchase. However, the way it happened in the end meant that we had to rush into moving in a 3 week window.

Which meant of course that we had to pack what we hadn’t already packed in a hurry, and organize everything else and then move and organize this end when we arrived. Settling in took far longer than anticipated due to unanticipated building work through last summer. It wasn’t until late autumn that I was able to safely unpack a machine and start to knit and write in earnest. Then the arrival of our first grandchild interrupted my flow for a while, the sun shone and the garden needed work done. All in all, let’s say life got in the way!

The last month has been full-on working on the book, so it was wonderful to finally send it off. Of course they will be editorial suggestions and corrections to do, and then a final check once it is laid out for printing, so it’s not finished yet.

May 2026

If you have persevered and read to this point, you might like to know what the book is about. This book, my third about machine knitting focuses on short rows, or partial knitting. It is suitable for any machine with holding position, single bed, double bed, plastic or metal bed, and any gauge. I particularly wanted to include the popular plastic bed, mid-gauge machines like the LK150. Rather than struggle to emulate the punchcard machines with repeating patterns, short row pattern and shaping can be as easily done on either type of machine.

A quick peak at my latest book

On By vikkihaffendenIn book, books, craft, Creative machine knitting, creativity, Flechage, Knitted textiles, knitting, knitting books, knitting machine, knitting patterns, Machine knitting, Machine knitting; knitmaster;silver reed; knitting, making, Short-row shaping, Short-rows, Textiles, UncategorizedLeave a comment

‘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!

Seeing up at Craft 4 Crafter’s show -updated

On By vikkihaffendenIn book, books, craft, Creative machine knitting, Devon, Knitted textiles, knitting, knitting books, knitting machine, Machine knitting, Machine knitting; knitmaster;silver reed; knitting, Textiles, the knitting bookLeave a comment

It’s been a busy day today setting up the Taunton Machine Knitting Club stand at Craft 4 Crafter’s exhibition in Exeter. The Club is pleased to have recently become a branch of The Knitting and Crochet Guild, making us part of the wider UK knitting community.

The display features work by most club members including lace, intarsia, knitweave and double jacquard. Throughout the three day exhibition members will be demonstrating different techniques such as cables, bobbles,  shaping and short row knitting.

The display is finally ready, and I am not  climbing a stepladder again today!

I will be giving a talk on Friday about my books, ‘The Knitting Book’, ‘Translating Between Hand and Machine Knitting’ and ‘Single and Double Bed Machine Knitting; the Designer’s Guide’.

The table will have to be large enough to fit four copies once my latest book, ‘The Machine Knitter’s Guide to Partial Knitting’ is published later this year.

Update

The show went really well. There was lots of interest in the club,  machine knitting in general and the Knitting and Crochet Guild.

The machines were a great draw
Yarn winding for those who bought yarn in hanks
three knitting machine punchcards

Holes and blanks: reading a knitting machine punchcard

On By vikkihaffendenIn craft, Creative machine knitting, Knitted textiles, knitting, knitting patterns, knitwear, Machine knitting, Machine knitting; knitmaster;silver reed; knitting, UncategorizedLeave a comment

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:

Knitmaster/Silver Reed (KM/SR) machines only knit pattern from the punchcard when the side levers are at the triangle and the pattern cam dial is set to the relevant stitch type; F, S, T etc.

Brother machines only knit pattern from the punchcard when the KC dial is set to KC, KCI or KCII, as appropriate to the machine, and when the relevant pattern cam buttons are pressed, MC, tuck, part etc…

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.

Brother machines, both punchcard and electronic, pre-select needles before knitting the row. Therefore, the pattern can be interrogated by looking at the needle selection in conjunction with the needle positions listed above.

KM/SR punchcard machines have a card reader with feelers. These are selected according to the punchcard pattern but the actual feeler action is hidden behind the carriage. The pattern line can be manually interrogated by locking the punchcard.

KM/SR feelerspunched move up and inblanks stay down and out

Download a printable version here.

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

What a lovely review of ‘Single and Double Bed Machine Knitting; the Designer’s Guide’

On By vikkihaffendenIn books, Creative machine knitting, knitting, knitting machine, knitting machine maitenance, Machine knitting, Machine knitting; knitmaster;silver reed; knitting, UncategorizedLeave a comment

November’s edition of Machine Knitting Monthly has a great review of ‘Single and Double Bed Machine Knitting; the Designer’s Guide’. Amongst other nice things, they mention the broad scope of the book’s contents. I deliberately wrote so that it is suitable for any machine owner from Brother to Passap with lots of hints and tips to work on different types of machines. Thank you Machine Knitting Monthly!

Read excerpts from the review here.

‘Single and Double Bed Machine Knitting; the Designer’s Guide’

On By vikkihaffendenIn books, clothing size, craft, Creative machine knitting, educational, Flechage, Knitted textiles, knitting, knitting machine, knitting machine maitenance, Machine knitting, Machine knitting; knitmaster;silver reed; knitting, making, Passap, Short-row shaping, Short-rows, Textiles, UncategorizedLeave a comment

The advance copy of my new book arrived today, and you can see some pages from the book here.

Meanwhile here is a quick look at the book.

I have made a more in depth video introduction to the book, and if you would like to watch this, please keep on scrolling down the page.

Proofreading ‘Single and Double Bed Machine Knitting; the Designer’s Guide’

On By vikkihaffendenIn book, books, craft, Creative machine knitting, creativity, Knitted textiles, knitting, Machine knitting, Machine knitting; knitmaster;silver reed; knitting, making, Textiles, Translating between hand and machine knitting1 Comment

I am now part way through proofreading my latest book. It’s a lot knottier checking double bed as well as single bed instructions!

The book covers, without stating the obvious, single and double bed machine knitting techniques and design. Brother,  Silver reed/Knitmaster are the main machines, but Passap machines are also included in some sections.

Step by step instructions are illustrated as well as explained in the text and at the end of each chapter there is a Design Studio exploring how to develop the techniques discussed in the first part of the chapter.

It’s got to be done before Christmas, so early mornings and late nights are the order of the day. I’m baking mince pies when taking a rest from the screen.

If you enjoyed Translating Between Hand and Machine Knitting, or are looking for the definitive book on machine knitting I think to will want this book.  You will be able to pre-order soon so keep an eye out.

‘Single and Double Bed Machine Knitting’; The Designer’s Guide‘ will be published in Spring 2023. Yippee.