Friday, July 22, 2011

Cast-ON Rags



Today I want to talk about Cast-On Rags. I learned about them from a machine knitting book that described how to make them. I was a fairly new machine knitter then, & didn't really understand the instructions very well, but did get the general idea.  I set out to make myself several of them. 

I have recently watched several U Tube videos on how to make them. I make mine a little differently, based on the instructions from the MK book that I had, & my own inclinations. 

1. Decide how wide you want the rag to be. Most of mine are 100 stitches.  They can be as wide or as narrow as you want.

2. E-Wrap cast on as many stitches as you have chosen. Knit a few rows & add your weights. 

3. Knit 30 rows & then knit a very loose row. 

                4. Knit another 30 rows & knit another very loose row. Do this 3-4 times. 

5. When you have about 124 rows hang the e-wrap cast on & bind off. At this point you have a tube.  Turn the tube inside out. You should have the purl stitches on the outside.  

You will use the loose stitches to hang your rag on the machine. You can use all 100 stitches or less. You can also use 2 rags together. 

      I like to make my rags in 2 colors so that if I am working on a garment that is a similar color I can use the contrasting color. When they get dirty just throw them in the wash. 


This is my cast on rag for my sock machine. I knit it on the mid gauge machine with a cuff to it, so I could hang it like a set up basket. The bottom of the cuff holds the weights.


Sunday, July 10, 2011

Hand Knit Baby Poncho

Here's a hand knit baby poncho from Lion Brand. I have been meaning to make one of these for my g'son but haven't gotten to it yet. These are sooo cute!! & easy to hand knit., but I am going to adapt it to the machine, & see if I can knit it in a worsted weight yarn on my SR 860. I esp. like the little pocket on the front.  

I haven't done much knitting the past weekend. I have been busy reorganizing my knitting room. I have taken down one of my standard gauge machines & also my bulky.  I am still working in there, but I hope to have it finished up today. I left my long bed machine up. 

 I am moving things around in there to get some more space. I have a heat press that I use to print Tee-Shirts. Also, sewing machine, serger, linker, & embroidery machine. & 2 yarn trees so there isn't much room t0  maneuver around. 

My g'son has been here all week. We were watching the show 'Hoarders" on TV when he piped up with 'G'ma, you're a yarn hoarder!!'  Yes, I am. LOL But I love all of my yarn & am working to get it under control. I have seen worse, but I don't think it's a bad thing. I wonder if they have a 12 step program for 'yarn hoarders'?? 


Friday, July 1, 2011

Guesstimating???

Usually I'm pretty good at estimating how far my yarn will go. It took years, but now I can look at the cone or hank & pretty much know what the biggest size of scrappie I can make with it is. This time I ran out of rose too soon. I thought that with a couple of stripes of another color across the front & back that I could stretch out the rose & get the complete back & front finished. I was a little bit off. I debated ripping the sweater out, but since this is for a little girl, I decided that the lavender would look okay.  I was disappointed though. I like to make the front first just for that reason. 

We are going away for a couple of days this weekend. I am taking my laptop with me to stay connected to my store. I have had a couple of small orders come in but it is still slow.  I am going to do them today before we leave.  

Right now we are waiting for the yard service to get here & cut the grass before we leave.  I hope that we can beat the traffic out of town. Happy 4th of July. (Please drive defensively  all!!)