Tag: yarn

Reviewing the Caydo Automatic I-cord Machine

On By vikkihaffendenIn Knitted textiles, knitting, knitting machine, Machine knitting, making, Textiles, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Hands up who doesn’t like icord? It’s an extremely versatile little tube that has many uses, amongst which is as a trimming or tie cord, or standalone as a thick yarn. Reach back to your childhood memories and you might have used a ‘Knitting Nancy’, or even a cotton reel with nails driven into the top to knit i-cord. You can hand knit i-cord with double pointed needles or even on two straights, with a bit of slipping and reverse knitting.

To my joy you can also knit it on a bed domestic knitting machine. On a double bed machine, or a single bed with a ribber attached, on each bed you cast on half the number of stitches that you wish to have around the i-cord, (for example, two needles on each bed will create a four stitch i-cord), then set one bed to slip and one bed to knit. This creates a tube of circular knitting. When using just a single bed, this is also an easy setting. Cast on four stitches, set your carriage to slip in one direction, and off you go. The slip pulls the yarn around from the last stitch directly back to the first needle and then you knit all four stitches again. After which the yarn goes back to the first needle again, and it makes a very nice little tube.

I have knitted i-cord by hand and on my knitting machine for many years, and at one point I purchased a hand-cranked, four needle circular i-cord machine, (I think it was a Prym?) which meant I could knit yardage very simply without blocking the use of my main knitting machine. I found the design to be quite awkward to use, so a bit later on I purchased another model, (it might have been Clover, but I think it was a French make). This is a much better designed piece of equipment, it fits well in the hand and is far more cheerful to look at because it is bright yellow and purple. The big plus is that any of these machines produce a consistently even i-cord. However, althouigh its faster than hand knitting, it still requires hand cranking.

Apart from these little i-cord machines I also have a plastic, twenty-two needle Addi circular machine. The Addi clearly knits a bigger tube that the little four-needle machines, but it works on the same principle with a revolving cylinder of vertical needles into which the yarn is fed through a statioary feeder. This means that the knitting coming out of the bottom of the machine turns with the cylinder of needles and can (and will) tangle.

The drawback with all these circular knitting machines described so far is that the knitting hangs down in the center of the cylinder and requires considerable weighting to make sure the stitches clear off the needles. Once the weights reaches the floor they stopped doing their job and unless rehung further up towards the cylinder, the stitches will miss-knit. If the knitted tube is turning at the same time as the weights descend, there is clearly far more potential for disaster to happen as the weight swings and the knitting twists. That is why the four needle i-cord machines and the Addi are my least favorite to use.

My pride and joy is a vintage, and very heavy, solid metal, circular sock machine. Although this still requires weights and they are very heavy weights, this knits in a slightly different way, with the feeder revolving around a stationary cylinder of vertical needles. This means that the knitting hangs straight down and does not twist as it is made. The advantage of this is that you only have to keep an eye on the weight, and do not have to untangle the knitted tube every so often.

Whilst working in industry, and at the University where I taught, I worked with what are called ‘strapping’ or ‘cording’ machines. The ones in use were small cylinder circular machines and fine gauge, so had tiny needle hooks and required thin yarns. These operated on the same principle as the CSM, but instead of weights, the cord winds onto a vertical frame which is synchronised to revolve at the pace necessary to keep tension on the cord as it descends towards the frame. This automates the process; the only human interaction is to change yarns and swap full frames out for empty ones. I suspect that the latest models will be almost totally automated with automatic yarn splicing.

Which brings me to the purpose of this post. At last! Because of the problems already discussed I was interested to try out the Caydo Automatic I-cord Machine. On close inspection, Caydo seemed to have addressed the problem of the knitting twisting by adopting the idea of a static needle cylinder and a revolving feeder, and overcome the weighting by laying the machine on its side and adding rotating cogs to tension the completed i-cord. I was intrigued as to whether this machine would prove to be as good as it looked in the adverts.

My verdict is that overall I really like this machine

I love gadgets, and this looked like a great gadget with thoughtful design which suggested to me an improved user experience and a positive practical outcome. Caydo kindly provided me with a machine to test and review, so that is where we are now. My video review is quite long, but I wanted to share the unpacking and assembly, (minimal) as well as explore the knitting process. My verdict is that overall I really like this machine.

It doesn’t like fancy yarns, but thats not uncommon

The machine won’t knit well with fancy yarns, and works with a limited range of yarn weights, but that is true of all domestic knitting machines. I met a lady the other day, and when chatting about the machine she was disappointed that it would not knit with chenille, but I am not sure that is a reasonable expectation as it clearly says in the manual what is and isn’t suitable.

I experimented a little, but as my aim was to review the machine as it stands, these were quite limited. I found that the harsher/firmer the yarn, the less the machine liked it. For example, I tried some crepe yarn and although it worked, the machine was not as happy as with less tightly spun yarn, until I helped by unwinding the yarn from the ball, the machine dropped the occasional stitch. I have had reports from other users that hand knit DK cotton works really well, but have not so far tested this out. The size of the hooks dictate the thickness of the yarn. Aran is listed as the thickest, but if not sure, lay the yarn in the hook and see if it sits there comfortably without being compressed.

Things I found that helped if the machine struggled:

  • manually wind to begin with and start with slow speed until you are satisfied that all is well
  • check that the yarn is in the tension disk correctly
  • watch for the yarn ball flipping over, this will tug on the machine
  • rewind the yarn onto balls that will pull-off easily, (if the machine has to tug at the yarn it stutters)
  • waxing as you rewind can help smooth the yarn
  • manually unwind the yarn before it gets to the machine if it is sticking to itself on the ball
  • listen to the machine, you can detect problems early by a change in rythmn/note

Be thoughtful when choosing yarns

The machine has weight, so does not shift around in use, and the case seems pretty robust. I am a little concerned about the rather delicate design of on/off/speed lever, as that is your ’emergency stop’ and might need to be turned quite rapidly, but so far it feels strong enough in use. The ‘knit/purl’ dial rotates when the machine is working, and yarn might get caught on this, so keep your work space clear of odd bits of yarn. I obviously don’t know how long the machine is going to last, and my guess is that the mechanism inside is largely plastic, (but I’m not taking it apart to find out). In my experience plastic cogs, such as those in ball winders are susceptible to strain and if worn may start to slip. The needles are metal, unlike the Addi, so should give stalwart service, as long as the latches don’t get bent. The needle ‘tricks’ in which they slide in and out are also plastic, but once again, provided they do not get burred or dented, they should wear smoothly, much as those in the larger, flat, plastic bed machines. If they do get dented with a sharp edge on one side of the indentation, the needle may catch on them as it slides in and out and could cause jams, (that is the voice of experience speaking). Over-thick and fancy yarns will contribute to all these potential problems, so be thoughtful when choosing yarns.

I was provided with a machine so that I could write/film this review, but have tried to be unbiased in my opinion and when describing my experience whilst using it.

‘Wool’, a lovely yarn shop in Bath

On By vikkihaffendenIn craft, fibre, hand knitting, Knitted textiles, knitting, Textiles, UncategorizedLeave a comment

A couple of weeks ago I spent a weekend in Bath in the Somerset with some friends.

On our first day we did the touristy things like visiting the Circle and the beautiful Royal Crescent and had tea in one of the numerous teas shops. Quite by chance, the one we picked happened to have been featured in Bridgerton as the Modiste shop.

Food featured heavily in our weekend, cake being a particular favorite, so the next day we visited the historic Pulteney bridge and the tea shop which is situated on top of this bridge.

We are all knitters, so were pleased to discover there was a yarn shop close to where we were staying in the city centre. So, before leaving on our last day we paid a visit to ‘Wool’. There we found a wide selection of yarns to please all price points, that catered for all types of knitting or crochet work. Yarns included individual spun, Rowan Kid Silk and some very good value Tweedy Superwash Merino wool by King Cole. I am a bit of a sock yarn addict and bought a 100g ball of Lang sock yarn, which I have not tried before, and some 100% wool double knit in pretty pastel colours.

Someone else chose a DK pattern for a simple sweater shape which she intends to knit up in a wool and Alpaca blend yarn. The yarn is being reclaimed from a partially-knitted garment that her mother never completed, I think this is a lovely way to maintain a thread with the memory of her Mother, but to end up with a garment that she will want to wear.

The staff in the shop were particularly helpful over this explaining to my friend how to substitute a yarn in the pattern and helping her decide if she would have enough of the existing yarn. Although I could have helped her with this it would have felt a little like a busman’s holiday to do so ‘on the fly’. However I did of course tell her she could ask me later if she ran into problems.

I will certainly go back to ‘Wool’ next time I’m in Bath.

image of fruit with colour chips extracted from image

Talking to Techknitters Machine Knitting Club

On By vikkihaffendenIn book, books, knitting, knitting books, Machine knitting3 Comments

On Monday I had the pleasure of talking to Techknitters Machine Knitting Club in Chicago about my book ‘Single and Double Bed Machine Knitting; the Designer’s Guide’. Although this was published in 2024 the UK, it was not published in the USA until 2025 and I was due to talk to the group in December of that year. Moving house and having a lot of building work in progress meant that I couldn’t manage an online talk at that time, so we rescheduled. The new date came around quickly, doesn’t time fly?

Although several members indicated that they already have the book, I decided to discuss the overall content of book for those who do not yet have a copy. During this I explained my thinking behind the plan of the book and the main intention behind my writing. Following on to this, I concentrated on snippets from each chapter.

One of the reviews of the book mentioned that it is unusual to find design development and process included in a knitting book, so I took this comment as the focus of the rest of my talk working with material from the chapters, ‘Designing with Colour’ and ‘Finding Inspiration and Designing Pattern’.

This section of the talk started by looking at extracting colour inspiration from one of the images used in the book, and then reviewing a sample from the book that had been designed using these colours to work stripes. The practical part of the talk was about selecting yarns, designing another stripe, and revising and developing the design. Each step was shown and design rationales discussed. The sample was knitted and a finished and steamed version was reviewed to which the group gave feedback on how it might be improved/adapted. All in all it was an enjoyable experience.

I will be talking to the group again in August about my latest book, ‘The Machine Knitter’s Guide to Partial Knitting; Seamless Patter, Shape and Form’ which is due to be published in Spring 2026 by Crowood Press.

Irish tension on a Schacht Matchless

On By vikkihaffendenIn alpaca, craft, creativity, hand spinning, hand spun, spinning, Spinning wheels, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Yesterday, a friend who I think has more spinning wheels than even I have, brought an older Louet wheel along to the monthly meeting of the Brighton Textile Arts Group. She didn’t know the model, and I still haven’t found it online, but that’s sort of irrelevant as it’s the Irish tension that caught my eye.

I have learned from many texts and posts online that ‘Scotch’ and ‘Irish’ don’t really relate to geographical origins. I also understand that ‘Scotch’ and double drive are both flyer-led and ‘Irish’ is bobbin-led (literal and more accurate descriptors), but the terms Scotch and Irish tension are in common use so I will stick to them here. In flyer led systems the wheel drives the flyer around the bobbin, and the bobbin is braked by either the brake band or the second loop of the double drive band. In bobbin led systems the bobbin is driven by the wheel so spins constantly, but the flyer, which feeds the yarn onto the bobbin is braked by either a leather band at the front (as on the Louet) or by using a brake band. In both systems, the spinner restrains the yarn from being pulled through the hooks/flyer and onto bobbin as twist is introduced in to the fibres and then releases their hold to allow the yarn to be drawn onto the bobbin. Both systems rely on some slippage of the bands, which is something I have not fully understood as yet, and am not sure is really necessary, but fascinating all the same. So far I am not sure how the difference in circumference of bobbin and flyer whorl affect each other in Irish tension as they do in double and Scotch tension systems. Another interesting thing to spend time testing out.

I learned to spin on a Westbury wheel, which was a gem of a wheel. My Mother bought it in Glastonbury as a kit – she was so excited, and my Dad built it for her and stained it dark walnut – not a fashionable option today, but it did look charming. The Westbury has both double drive and Scotch tensions, but I only used the Scotch option as we really didn’t understand the double drive. After this there was a gap in my spinning and Mum didn’t carry on with it for long, so that wheel has long gone, (something I really regret).

My interest in yarn design endured, but was industrially focused, so it was quite a few years later that I resumed hand spinning. I now prefer double drive but have several wheel which are switchable and value the flexibility this gives me. So that I can share with you, these are a Wee Peggy and a Schacht Matchless and an Ashford Traddie that I have converted to double drive but which still retains the option of Scotch tension. Of these the Matchless is a recent purchase, chosen after trying lots of wheels over longish periods of time, (hence my collection of wheels) and is my absolute favourite. It is a dream to spin on and has double treadles and a central orifice which is super ergonomic; I find single treadles can make me twist and lead to back and hip ache nowadays so can’t spin for too long on these.

So let’s get back to yesterday and the Louet wheel. Which is a sweetie I have to say. I like Louet wheels, (and of course own one) because they are so thoughtfully designed and this was no exception; sturdy with a central orifice and an onboard Lazy Kate, all made in lovely wood – very nice apart from the rather high treadle position. I’ve not used the Irish tension system before and so was keen to try it. I didn’t actually shove her out of the way, but hovered and green-eyed it and eventually asked if I could have a go. Generously she gave me fibre, and left me with it, saying she found it quite a challenge to be able to control what she was spinning, although I thought her samples were soft and pretty even. However, she was right!

After a while I managed to set the leather band so that the fibre wasn’t ripped from my fingers, and could start to spin. I found that very little tension was needed, which I am not sure is normal. We inspected the tension band, orifice and brass bearing and whilst the band didn’t look worn at all, the orifice outer was a bit sticky and the brass bearing seemed a bit rough. We cleaned these as best we could with what we had to hand which helped a little, but probably a gentle swab of alcohol on the orifice outer and brass would be a good idea.

Once it was going I was really surprised how different the Irish tension felt to the two other systems, and can see why it is good for thicker yarns because of its pretty intense pull-in. Plus I imagine it is great for plying. However I managed a reasonably even singles that was indeed thicker than I usually spin double drive, so that sort of proved it to me.

Being an equipment squirrel I immediately wanted an Irish tension wheel. So imagine my joy when I found that my Matchless would convert to Irish tension! In my excitement of first owning the Matchless I tried both double and Scotch tensions and have been using these both since then, but I clearly forgot that it has three tension modes. I’m not sure it tells you in the manual, but you simply swap the drive bands over. The wheel drive band goes on the bobbin, and the Scotch brake band on the flyer whorl. I have set mine with the larger bobbin whorl to the back with the medium flyer whorl, there may be better arrangements but I have yet to try these out.

The result felt very similar to the Louet, with the brake band needing hardly any tension, so maybe that is normal after all. I found starting needed care so that the fibre doesn’t pull away too rapidly, but once going it went well. It might be me, but most times after I moved hooks the pull-in became stronger, then settled down again. This must be because the smaller circumference of the bobbin to start with pulls the yarn in faster. Because of this I can see why a Woollee Winder type system might be useful with this tension system, but I am not tempted due to price. The hooks will do me just fine and I really don’t like the sliding hooks on any make so far.

As you will see in the photos, the singles I spun are nothing to write home about, but its early days for the Irish tension set-up. The fibre is onion-skin dyed Lleyn blended, (rather poorly because I was in a hurry) with rust coloured Alpaca, then taken as tops off the drum-carder.

The Irish tension set up on my Matchless. The drive band is the one I use for Scotch tension – I have a cotton one for double drive. They both stay on the wheel tucked underneath. I am wondering what will happen if I put the brake band on the smaller flyer whorl?
The Lleyn was deliberately left with nepps to create a textured fibre, and the way the onion-skin dye has taken differently on the nepps enhances the texture. Roughly blended with the Alpaca – ‘do what I say not what I do’ is the underlying message here! I think I will ply with a finer singles made from undyed Lleyn for a tweedy final yarn.

Long staple Scotch Mule fleece

On By vikkihaffendenIn British wool, craft, creativity, fibre, fibre preparation, hand spinning, WoolLeave a comment

I purchased these two fleece in July and due to family and work things didn’t get around to washing them until August. They are what I believe is called Scotch Mule, a cross between Blue Faced Leicester and Scottish Blackface. These two were classed as ‘more BFL than Blackface’ which is what attracted me.

I set up a suint bath for them which is still going strong, (and I mean STRONG in an olifactory way when it is disturbed. The suint does clean well, but my family are threatening to leave home if I continue for much longer. Only four more bags need to be washed, and are soaking in the ghastly liquid right now.

They have come up nice and white with delightfully soft locks. There is stil some VM to be picked out during combing, but it wasn’t too bad overall. Some dirty tips have had to be removed.

I am very excited about starting to process the fleece using a set of Viking wool combs. I used these for a Lleyn fleece last year and was pleased at how fast I got at the combing (though sadly not as fast as carding).

Should I dye the locks before hand or after spinning? To be honest there is so much I could do some and some. The average staple in one fleece is 7″ and the other is 9-10″, which is going to lovely for worsted spinning.