Knitting Machine Tips and Hints Mine and other Peoples

When Casting off 4 or 5 sts at armhole..... Normally when I cast off more than 1 or 2 sts I crochet cast off the sts. I am basically lazy and hated to take the yarn out of the carriage to do this. I would just pick it up and cast of. Usually, the yarn would hook up on the posts behind  the  carriage. Then I tried this: I hook the yarn over the Weaving Yarn Holder on my stockinette carriage and then do my cast off. This way  it doesn't get tangled up on the  posts or anywhere else... Once I have finished my cast off I just unhook it and away I go. No worries about where the yarn is behind the carriage.

Weaving ends in... Well I hate sewing all those ends in afterwards so I  really like this one. When the yarn ends and you have to start a new one, first off I move my carriage to the other side, ( do not knit any sts). Then I pull out 6 needles to Hold on the side with the  yarn end and starting at the first outside needle I weave the yarn, over and under until I reach the last needle and then I backtrack towards the edge weaving over two empty needles. I start my new yarn at the opposite side and knit one row.... then I go back and weave that end in. After about 4 rows I go back and cut off the tails, leaving about 1/4 inch. DONE!

Moving stitches ... leaving empty needles. I do a lot of FNR and when I do I used to have a problem with not always getting all the empty needles out of working position and then they would end up messing up my rib... now I  always make sure I push the needles right down to NWP as I take the sts off.... then they are out of position right away. After all the transfers are made I run the straight edge of a ruler across the needle butts to make sure they are completely out of the way.

Figure out where buttonholes will go while button band is still on the machine. After I make my button band.... and attach it to the front of the cardigan. I figure out which needles I will use to make my button holes. I usually make a full needle rib band so the  band is turned. So while it is on the machine, the end of the band that the buttonholes will be on... usually the  left end...  is in the right position to figure out which needles to use to make my buttonholes on the buttonhole band.. Using a straight pin I place the buttons on the band so they are evenly spaced in the right postion. Then I push the needles on the main bed up to the knitting at the buttons  and write down which needles are out. I can also look at the  space between the needles to make sure it is even and make any adjustments at that time. When I am ready to make the buttonhole band, I just need to make them over the needles I have written down.... works perfectly for me.

Casting on for a Rib.... when I cast on for a rib... I start with my carraige on the right. I pull out the needles I want to use and thread my carriage.Put a clothes pin on to weight the yarn, leaving a tail behind it. (I usually leave a fairly long end if it is the bottom of a sweater or the bottom of the sleeve. Then I use that end to sew up the seam after I am finished. One less end to sew in.) Run the carriage over the needles, T 0/0, zig zag row, and hang the comb. with one weight in the center. Set machine for circular, T0/2, knit 2 circular rows. Set carriage to MT. and reset carriages for rib. Thread a long length of crochet cotton on to the double eyed transfer tool. (I keep 2 lengths cut, 2x's the length of the bed for hems and one about 1x's the length of the bed for sleeve cuffs.) from underneath the bed bring up the needle at the right side and back down the left side leaving crochet cotton over the  stitches formed on the needle bed. (zig zag row) If you are going to do any other pattern ie: 2x2 or 2x1 ribs... move sts now. I usually put the side levers back at this point so that the needles on the top bed come out over the cord in advance of the carriage. Holding the ends of the crochet cotton and the single weight on the comb, knit one row slowly. Change weights... I usually hang two on the outside edges, inside the knitting at this point and remove the center one. Continue to knit your rib. When you take the knitting off the machine, grab both ends of the crochet cotton and pull them gently till the rib has tightened up. Yank firmly to set sts. and remove crochet cotton...

Oil or Grease on Knits  If you get some oil or grease on your knits, put some plain chalk on the spot and leave for several hours before washing. The chalk absorbs the grease and your garment is like new.

Protecting Stitches in Hold: When shaping a neck or shoulder and needles are in hold position, very often the yarn becomes matted from the cam wheel riding on the garment and this is very difficult to remove. To eliminate this, put scotch tape on the garment under the needle posts so the cam wheel rides on the scotch tape instead of the yarn.

Nylon Net Cast on: Cut the mylon net about 4 inches wide and as long as is needed for the amount of stitches to be used. Fold the net in half and using the fold and the one eye transfer tool, hang the net on the machine, putting tool in the holes of the net. Push needles into D position. Using scrap yarn, carefully runt the cam across. Knit several rows of scrap yarn and then one row of ravelling cord. Then thread cam with the main yarn. If ravelling cord is not used,  the nylon net man be cut away. When ready to finish the open edge, pull out ravelling cord.

Tool Holder: I have a chunk of styro-foam on each knitting table, into which I stick all my tools. I used double sided tape to hold the foam to the table... I mark each spot so everything returns to the same place.