Machine knitting: what's up with (t)hat?

One of my main goals with learning machine knitting is to replace the electronics on my Brother KH-930e with AYAB (All Yarns Are Beautiful) to create multi-color patterned knits of whatever sicko stuff comes to mind. But home knitting machines aren't a fire-and-forget type of machine. They require a lot of manual effort - from fine stitch work to good core strength - a lot of which requires practice for technique and feel.

So, after taking a machine knitting workshop at Brooklyn's Textile Arts Center, I started absorbing a ton of how-tos, mostly in the form of videos (and those mostly from Carson at her amazing KnitFactoryImpl channel, but also old websites, shopping guides, and more. I ended up making a sort of "curriculum" for myself.

First up: I ordered some pre-coned yarn (I'll cake later, when I know my machine works well), got the ol' machine out of storage and confirmed it all still moved and grooved, made some gauge swatches. And then... needed a project!

I decided to make a hat, following a combination of techniques from these KnitFactoryImpl videos:

That last one is for a very different machine from mine, but more clearly shows the steps and techniques.

Anyway, I made a hat!

Brother KH-930 knitting machine mounted to a gray countertop and surrounded by accessories. A large piece of knitting takes up almost the entire bed. The piece is in the process of being gathered up onto a long tail to be sewn up.

It was fun learning to do some of the pre-planning work, like measuring for a pattern, calculating stitches and rows, and writing out a pattern.

Two pink sticky notes with illustrations, measurements, and calculations.
A hat starts off as a rectangle as wide as your head circumference and half as tall as the measurement over your head from the bottom of one ear to the other. The pattern on the left was calculated for a tighter tension and says 'NOPE' because it added up to 211 stitches, while the knitting machine only supports 200. The pattern on the right says 'Yep', along with some notes about the final fit.

When actually working the pattern on the machine, I also practiced hanging a hem, gathering up onto a long tail to make the pinched hat top, and mattress stitching the seam. Practices in patience, eyesight, and fine motor skills.

Me making a face while wearing my new pink hat, after make-up but before washing and blocking.
Me with the hat pulled entirely over my face.
Post-wash - it fits! Me in the pink hat, giving the camera a "would you look at that, it works" look.

I ran it through a load of laundry and it came out much better!

The fit seemed a little loose, but I feel like it sits on my head the way the Carson's sits on her head at the end of her video. I'm taking that as a success for process!

From here I thought a good level up would be to make a new hat with some design tweaks and, because I want to rush to get AYAB working some Fair Isle patterning using the Brother's built-in patterns. Consulting with Producer Amy, I decided to double the length of the brim without lengthening the hat overall. Amy picked a pattern, and I decided to try creating a stripe of it between the brim and the top of the hat.

Another two pink sticky notes with illustrations, measurements, and calculations.
On the left is the pattern I made from Amy's measurements that resulted in the hat below. On the right is the revised pattern for some time in the future, based on fit test and Amy's requests.

Something was not quite right with the knitting carriage. The "MC" button used for two-color Fair Isle knitting was stuck to the "T" button below it, which engages tuck stitching. The result is that the pattern came out all wrong and also this whole paragraph is foreshadowing for some later posts.

The hat rectangle fresh off the machine. It really wants to curl up so I'm using random objects from the kitchen counter to hold it flat.
Flipped over part of the rectangle to show the reverse side of the pattern.
Me wearing the finished and washed hat. The fit is good!

The pattern should be gray contrast on black to match the rest of the hat, but instead is mostly-gray with some black peeking through, as well as some interesting texturing from the machine treating the pattern as a tuck stitch.

Despite the patterning issue, I am pleased with how this came out. It's made of cotton rather than wool, so it stretches out a bit as it is worn, but it's still pretty cozy! Producer Amy requested that the next version have patterning from the brim to the top. I look forward to trying that again soon... when I am able! (That's still foreshadowing.)

Okay, that's it! See you next time!

#machine-knitting #hats
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