Out of cobwebs, into cowebs...

Got a new load of books from the library including Nicky Epstein "Knitting never felt better", I like the eye candy of her books. Of course got me on another tangent I had to try one of the bobble scarves. As I am reading the tips, she suggests that "if you have a knitting machine, now is the time to use it". Well.... I got mine out of the cobwebs. The poor thing was so dusty and rusty and sad, that what would have been a day of knitting transformed itself quickly into a day of fixing. First locating all the parts took the better part of the morning, by one I had the whole thing taken apart, needles everywhere, and after a thorough cleaning and fixing it was ready to go.

Then of course I had to remember how to do it, another hour went by, but I would not give up!!! I was like a dog with a bone, don't talk to me, am working on this frustrating project, I will get it done regardless of time or need of those around me. What I like about this machine is that it will let me do bulky and even homespun, the needles are twice the size of a regular machine, and it is supposed to be easy! Right. Anyway I did do it, a few rows completely wonky, a random lace look, (holes here and there) and ta da, a very small silk/mohair scarf ready to bobble...

45 stitches wide, 1 ball of 25 grams silk/mohair, final knitting 1/2 hour, complete time 6 hours...It is shorter than I thought, the next one am casting on 40 only, I am amazed if it goes around a child neck by the time I full it...

As I was doing it I remembered some negative comments about machine knitting being not as crafty as hand knitting. Some seem to think that because you use a machine, it is not valid as a hand knit!!! Let me tell you that you have to be hands on all the time even with such a tool, picking up stitches all the time, you have to pay very close attention, fixing mistakes is not as easy as with 2 needles, and besides what is the difference with a weaver using a loom. It is still handmade. You just use 40 needles at once...Way more complicated in my opinion.

Oh well it was actually fun, I can see tons of possibilities, my brain cant stop designing, am off and running again....