While technically I am knitting them two at a time, I’m using two 9″ circulars, my needles of choice. I’m making the pattern up as I go along, but I think they’ll be fraternal pairs, and short ankle type socks. We’ll just have to see!
Here’s hoping I finish them this #Blapril2020 but if not that’s OK too. I’ve been trying to get a bit of creative stuff done each day to ease some stress, but sometimes it’s just not possible.
The above machine is from 1893, created by a company called Creelman Bros which was based here in Canada, in Georgetown Ontario. The design is quite simple, you crank a handle, needles move, yarn moves, and it stitches for you. There’s an attachment that fits in the top so you can do ribbing, too. They’re solid machines, weighing about 28lbs – and I recently purchased one off of EBay.
Why?
Because these textile machines absolutely fascinate me – and they’re no longer in production except for one company that creates reproductions for upwards of $1200 USD. It honestly blows my mind that something I am so incredibly passionate about hasn’t actually evolved or changed over time, it is that niche.
It hasn’t arrived yet, but I’m excited to try it out and see how well it knits. The test samples shown seemed to work well, but sometimes you just don’t know when it comes to EBay. I certainly didn’t pay as much as the reproductions go for, but it wasn’t a light sum, either. Hopefully I’ll have an update on the purchase in a week or two.
Well, almost. I’m still adding a border to it right now (I’m doing two rows of grey then a row of black then I’ll assess if I want more) but it’s looking really nice and hopefully my daughter gets lots of use out of it. It was simple, a lot faster than knitting a blanket (bit over a month, at my pace that’s pretty good) and a pretty good size, too. I’ll most certainly try more C2C blankets in the future.
I’ve been trying to make an effort this year to use up some handspun yarn, but honestly since I’m so new at spinning not all of it suits the projects I like to knit. I did make a scarf that I love, but there’s still lots of yarn to turn into something pretty.
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It weighs about 20lbs but it’s glorious and I love it.
stargrace