The Magic of Automatic Patterning - Replay Live Archive

Punchcards or Electronics, automatic patterning is one of the many reasons we all LOVE our knitting machines.
Think about how quickly we can knit in multiple colors. Adding texture to your knitting with tuck and slip is a snap!
Let's take some time to marvel at the brilliance of these wonderful machines.
Without getting nerdy and technical, expand your understanding of your machine. It will go a long way the next time you sit down to knit in pattern and help you troubleshoot when something goes wrong.
Think about how quickly we can knit in multiple colors. Adding texture to your knitting with tuck and slip is a snap!
Let's take some time to marvel at the brilliance of these wonderful machines.
Without getting nerdy and technical, expand your understanding of your machine. It will go a long way the next time you sit down to knit in pattern and help you troubleshoot when something goes wrong.
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. . Automatic patterning on our knitting. machines is almost magical.. . Do you remember the first time that you. played with stitch patterning?. . I remember crawling under my machine. and looking back to see the results.. . But often we make things harder. than they really need to be.. . Many a knitter has gotten discouraged. because of all those buttons and levers,. . and it just seemed too complex,. complicated and overwhelming.. . We're presented with diagrams that look. like this or a bunch of translated. . Japanese in a manual. that really isn't clear.. . No matter what machine you're using,. there are really only three things. . to learn and understand when it. comes to automatic patterning.. . Let's consider a manual knitting. machine for just a minute.. . In order to create, say,. . tuck on a manual machine,. you'll manually pull out some. . of the needles all the way and then. set your carriage to hold.. . As you push your carriage across,. . some needles will form stitches. and other needles won't knit at all.. . You'll do this three times and then cancel. . hold, knit across and you've. created a series of tuck stitches.. . Are you with me?. . So two things happened.. . Needles were positioned by you and the. carriage was set in a certain way.. . Now, let's take this a step further.. . The first puzzle piece is the automatic. needle selection mechanism.. . Oh, that's a mouthful.. . Let's call him OTTO.. . We're going to tell him what to do.. . Automatic patterning machines have. . a mechanism that cuts you out of the loop.. To form stitch patterns.. . needles are selected automatically.. . How does OTTO know what needles to select?. . Well, he isn't really very smart.. . He relies on instructions. from punch card or electronics.. . Hole / no hole, on/off, black. square/ whitesquare, ones/zeros.. . Auto only knows on and off.. . Now, once upon a time,. machines had actual mechanical switches. . that you could turn on and off. to create stitch patterns.. . No matter how you do it,. . flipping a switch, reading a punch card or. electronics translates to positioning. . the needles as you knit. to the correct position for patterning.. . So needle position is. puzzle piece number two.. . Now, we don't have to worry too much about. . this because OTTO takes care. of the positioning of needles for us.. . Moving on the automatic. needle selection mechanism.. . OTTO has read the ons and offs and he's. selecting positioning needles for us.. . But how does he know what. stitch pattern we want to knit?. . As I said, the device isn't really very. smart and it certainly doesn't read minds.. . The third piece of the puzzle is. the carriage or cam settings.. . It's the carriage that pushes those. . needles back and forth,. forming stitches as we knit.. . All of the different brands of machines. call these settings something different.. . And the buttons and levers are all located. in different places on the carriage.. . This gets especially confusing when you. work with different knitting machines.. . Now, if you have one machine or multiple. machines,. . the secret is to understand the function. of the cam levers or buttons. . and their relationship to the other two. puzzle pieces OTTO and needle positions.. . Your challenge is to locate. and identify the OTTO on your machine.. . Introduce yourself to OTTO and appreciate. the fact that he's keeping track. . of the stitch patterns. and pulling needles for you.. . Be aware of the different needle. positions and their function.. . A-B-C-D-E-F OTTO is going to select. . the needles for you and the cam levers. and buttons will control those needles.. . But if you have to rip or bind off or. . troubleshoot in some way, it's critical. that you understand the needle positions.. . Lastly, your challenge is to identify. the specific cam buttons or levers. . that control the needle movement. to create specific stitch patterns.. . For example, once you have the first two. . puzzle pieces in place,. which button or lever do you set to knit. . fairisle?. . What about tuck? On some of the machines. . this is pretty clear.. . This clearly tells me. this is my tuck setting.. . But part what does that mean?. . Maybe there's just a symbol.. . You need to translate for yourself. . the settings for the different. stitch techniques on your machine.. . The very best way to cement these concepts. for yourself is practice and repetition.. . Step one meet OTTO. What's. his name on your machine?. . Step two understand the needle positions.. . ABCDEF, the letter really doesn't matter.. . You need to understand what happens. in each of the positions as you knit.. . Step three identify and learn each. . of the settings for each. of the available stitch techniques.. . Tuck, slip, fairisle weaving,. lace, thread lace.. . All of the beautiful stitch patterns. we can create automatically.. . Understanding the three steps will put you. in the right track for success. . with patterning on your. machine with less gray hair.. . Happy knitting..

Links mentioned in the Meeting
You NEED your manual - get a free copy hereAll about punchcards - Punchcard Classroom
NEW COURSE: "Automatic Stitch Patterning"

Sue J J thanks everyone "see" you next time! |
Dawn W Thank you Sue. |
Maurie H Yes and she was very expensive and to get her book it is almost $5000.00 no kiddingalmost $5 |
Mary J meant to say each lever should move and return the same speed on each lever. |
D M What happened to Manon Salois? |
Wilma T I think the cheat sheets will be so helpful!!!! Thank you Sue and Matt |
Marjorie M what was the class you mentioned earlier? |
Carol E Thank you Sue. I think understanding the carriage actions are imperative to understanding your machine. |
Mary Ann B That was very helpful. Not to just remember to take a breath and check all items BEFORE i pass the carriage and drop the knitting |
Nancy M on my 601 there's thecaddition of a reverse lever that switches the needles that work dont work. |
Patricia H Thank you Sue! |
Maurie H they both are working will do it one more time and it better work |
Priscilla D I have used a label maker on all my carriage and main bed symbols |
Mary J crazy laptop. fairly quickly. |
Pauline P Very helpful as always Sue. Thanks a lot. I look forward to next time. I hope you all keep well and safe. Pauline |
Morag W Thank you Sue I want to do another knitalong this knitting is addictive!! |
Mary J maurie, make sure the flippers on each side are moving quicker than the other.airly quickly. Sometimes one will work |
Catherine G That was great, thank you Sue! |
Wilma T I thought we were talking about the silver reed side levers not lever next to the punchcard mechanism |
Maurie H did everything, and my flippers are moving the way they should |
Uchenna A Hi everyone |
Marjorie M Pauline P Thank you. If that is consistent, I golden. I did do the marker thing on my LC2. If that is consistent across carriages, the marker is coming out on all of them. |
Silvana J Great idea, I love cheat sheets they help me a lot |
Catherine G Triangle and circle ... I think of driving and road signs (UK). Circle is stop, don't go, doesn't happen. Triangle means go ahead but with caution. Hope this helps a bit! |
Nancy M Mauri, check that the carriage is lint free on those flippers...if one doesn't flip right it'll mess up |
Wilma T The LK150 also has the circle and triangle for slip and tuck. No punchcard there Pauline, so not helpful for this machine. I always do it wrong, need to grab my manual each time |
Marilynknitnsew Hello from Michigan |
Maurie H did about 50 times or so it just tells me where to go, |
Pauline P Marjorie, circle - needles knit in stockinet only. Triangle - knits patterns using a punchcard. Hope this helps. Pauline UK |
Nancy M set to stockinette for sure!! been there dropped that. ! |
Maurie H What is driving me crazy right now is that I can do every stitch on my Singer 560 but no fair iles or knit in and I cannot figure it out |
Marjorie M Do you have a good memory aid for the Silver Reed side levers? Triangle and circle, I canât keep them straight. |
Glenda M Hi Sue happy I cud make it! |
Morag W I just moved the lever on the front of carriage that nice to see what goes on underneath |
Silvana J It makes total sense, thanks for explaining it so well |
Nancy M great explanation! |
Mary Ann B Nice to know what KC means. |
Cathy R Good morning |
Karen M Hi from Scotland |
Joan Hi from Thursday in New Zealand |
Sue C sue corcoran MA |
Elizabeth G Hi from Vienna, VA |
Wilma T Hi from the Netherlands ð |
Ronda H Hi from North Idaho! |
Marjorie M Hi from Ann Arbor |
Lea B Good evening From België |
D M Hi from DC |
Sue J Hi from Arkansas Sue |
Catherine G Hello, signing in from North Oxfordshire, UK |
Pia L Good evening from Sweden |
Maurie H Maurie H from Mississauga On here |
Carol E Joining from sunny windy New Mexico |
Jenny M B Hi from N Wales, everyone! |
Silvana J Your audio is a bit off sinc with the video, but I don't know if it's my connection |
Kelly P Good Morning from Seattle |
Pauline P Raining here and weather fluctuates from chilly to hot! Pauline UK 6pm |
Hanneke K Hannukay from ontario, canada here! |
Joy G Hello from Norfolk in the UK :) |
Nancy M Sue, i gave up looking for that yellow redheart and bought more... |
Mary Ann B Good Morning from cloudy muggy Minnesota |
Morag W Hello Sue from ughy Dundee |
Pauline P Hello Sue - Thanks for your welcome and great to be back. Pauline UK |
JOANN C Good Morning from Oregon |
Janice B Happy to be here from Virginia! |
Nancy M good morning from KSS |
Hanneke K Ontario, Canada here! |
Silvana J Hello from hot and muggy Michigan |
Ritta K Hello from sunny Florida |
Marvel D good afternoon from Minnesota |
Dawn W Good afternoon from SW Ohio. |
Marvel D if you click on the arrow it goes to utube |
Morag W You don't have to be a member anybody can come |
Sue J J whoo hoo! |
Joy G That's better :) thank you |
Sue J J try refreshing ... it's no longer private |
Marvel D no |
Sue J J can you see the countdown timer? |
Patricia H Hi Sue!! |
Marvel D mine |
Marvel D so does moine |
Sue J J how about now? |
Joy G Hi Sue, hope you're well! my page says the video is private, will it change when you start? Thank you, Joy :) |
Sue Jalowiec hello! we'll be starting soon! |