Monday my DD & I are taking the box of scrappies to the Women's Shelter. I still have plenty more yarn to work on through. It is a very satisfied moment for me! I hope I get to see at least one child wearing one. That's the only thing I don't like about charity knitting. You don't get to see your garment being worn. Seeing someone wearing & enjoying a garment that I made for them really lifts my spirits.
As you know, I do volunteer work for the Catholic Community Services. I was helping a mother of 4 last week. She had some medical problems, & life is very difficult for her & her children, esp since her DH left. She had some knitting that she was working on & I commented on how beautiful the yarn was. I told her that I hand knit & machine knit. She said 'that's something I would really like to learn, machine knitting.' That was music to my ears. I have an Artisan 70D that has been in garage for several years. I have heard that machine called 'the worst knitting machine ever' by more than one person, but I used it in my business for 5 years. It was my first mid-gauge machine. I bought it when they first came out so it doesn't have the newer carriage that turned out to be such a disaster. I told her if she was interested, she could have it. I also told her all the negatives that I've heard. She jumped at the chance. We are going to take it over to her as soon as we can get to it. My garage is packed & we have to move a lot of things to reach it. Score one for Machine Knitters!!
9 comments:
Yes!
Another mk'er - the world is getting to be a happier place already!
With four children she is certainly going to have a lot of simple sweaters and socks to make. You did a really good deed there, Sheryl.
I just love all these beautiful scrappy sweaters that you are making.
So often, ugly mistakes and failed experiments are what are donated to charity.
It means so much to someone's self-confidence to dress nicely when they are financially stressed.
For kids, it is a necessity to have nice sweaters so they don't get picked on either.
I agree with you 100%. Since I am a compulsive yarn shopper & machine knitter is is nice for me to have some place so close to home to donate to.
Another good way to help, is to donate mittens to the elementary school in your neighborhood. It uses up all the leftover skiens & cones that are just sitting around gathering dust. The staff at the school will know who needs them the most & hand them out. & you have the satisfaction of knowing that the old cones & skiens are going to good use, keeping some little kids hands warm. Thx Sheryl
That's a great story, Sheryl. Are you going to teach her how to use the Artisan too? I hope she has Success with it!
Mar
Yes, I told her I would be available to help her learn the machine. That machine is completely manual & I never did patterning on it other than birdeye tuck for children's mittens. But I did do some inatrsia & am going to give her that carriage too. I think it is going to be a lot of fun!! S
I have a new Artisan 70D, bought a year ago, and the carriage truly is a disaster, though the rest of the machined is OK. They have already replace the carriage once for me, and now the row counter tripper has fallen off and I have to work the row counter by hand each row. Very frustrating. Wish I knew where I could get one of the older, better carriages.The tension dials are not accurate either.
Hope your friend makes out OK with the one you are giving her.
I don't know why they don't just admit that the newer carriage is a disaster & go back to the old one. I feel so bad for the people that buy the 70D in good faith, only to find out they have bought a lemon. We need to help new machne knitters learn to machine knit, not dscourage them with a costly machine that doesn't work. If you bought the machine from Mike Becker he might be able to supply you with one of the older carriages.
I don't know why they don't just admit that the newer carriage is a disaster & go back to the old one. I feel so bad for the people that buy the 70D in good faith, only to find out they have bought a lemon. We need to help new machne knitters learn to machine knit, not dscourage them with a costly machine that doesn't work. If you bought the machine from Mike Becker he might be able to supply you with one of the older carriages.
Yes, I did get it from Distinctive Knits through a dealer here in British Columbia where I live. I imagine she has the older type carriage on the one she has. Mine is actually a 70D plus. I will consider asking Mike about an older type carriage, but I kind of hate to spend more money on the machine (I've spent $1,000 now for it, with exchange, customs, etc.). It cost me $25 just to send the first carriage back. But, anyway, thanks lots for the information. I appreciate it very much.
Jo Ann
The first 70D that came out had a seperate carriage for intarsia. The 70D Plus is the newer machine that uses the main carriage for intarsia, along with stockingette & you don't need a seperate intarsia carriage. That carriage has NEVER worked right no matter how many times you have it fixed or exchanged. The people that sell those machines know that. I'm not talking so much about the dealers, but where the machines are made. The dealers are losing money on them because so many are returned. I really think that the 70D Plus carriage does more to discourage MK than any other machine on the market. Esp. when it is their first or only machine. They can't make it work & so give up when it is the carriage & not the operator causing all the problems. Machine knitting really is my life (after family etc.) & I would love for other people to enjoy it as much as I do. I am so sorry that you ended up with such a machine. Let me know how it goes. my email is chinadoll2055@hotmail.com
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