Sunday, September 27, 2009

Plaited possum and cotton

I finally got it done - a plaited scarf using one strand of 2/20 mercerised cotton and 2 strands of possum yarn. The colours are close and the difference in yarn ratio created enough rippling to mimic the collapse weave /ribbed like effect.

I only have 2 claw weights that came with the machine but found what I think is a cast on comb? The cotton section is so delicate that it needed an even weight across the width of the whole piece. even then, I couldn't knit more than 15 full passes without it jumping off the needles.

The rippling effect was beautiful. I wonder what it would be like if it was done on a ribber. I haven't learnt any double bed knitting yet - only how to maintain it and how to set it up.
I know one of the effect of single bed knitting is the curly edges. No matter how much I steamed it , it did not flatten out. I have not knitted (hand or machine) enough to learn how to block things either.
The washed sample below has flattened out a bit but the overall effect is still there. There are still a few more ideas to try out with this technique and I think that they will create some interesting textures!

5 comments:

Meg said...

My mother's absolutely favorite kind of red. Lovely!

sampling said...

Thanks Meg, and the possum yarn is from New Zealand!

neki desu said...

thanks for visiting my blog.
we seem to have lots in common as i am a weaver andi'm also teaching myself machine knitting.

Donatella said...

I've been curious about machine knitting for a while now and reading your post increased my curiosity! I love the ripples on your scarf - and your photos, as always!

Christine said...

Love your work Amanda, new things to look at on your blog.
One way to get a flat fabric from a single bed machine is to use tuck stitch. It needn't be a big obvious tuck, Card ! give a fairly subtle result.