Almost everything I have done in the last 10 years has been combo, because I have made all my sample garments for shows this way. I have used Lopi-lett (HK needle = 9US) on my SK150-you definitely need a 9mm gauge machine to knit this yarn. I don’t know of a KM that will handle Alafoss Lopi (the chunky weight, HK US 10-10.5) without going eon, and the bulky is out of the question. But there are 2 other weights: Einband is the Lopi "lace weight, more like fingering, and then there is plotulopi, which is unspun, not good for KM.
If I were going to knit a Lopapeysa as you suggest, this is what I would do:
the machine done pieces need to be flat, unless you have a bulky gauge machine with ribber that will knit circularly. So you need to add edge st on each side of a flat piece for the seaming.
I would do not only the yoke but also all of the ribbing by hand. It gives a more professional finish, and for me it’s faster. For the sleeves & lower hem I would use a provisional caston to pick up & knit the cuffs down circular after seaming. This would be my personal preference, but maybe not yours.
If you want to do the lower edge ribbings on the machine, I would recommend S Guagliumi’s figure 8 e caston over 3 st–it is very stable, and a beautiful finish. Remember if you want to do this rib on a machine, you must not only lower the SS but also add st for the main stockinette piece, which involves a lot of moving of st across the bed. Part of what I’m saying here is that I don’t think you’ll be able to reduce the SS enough on a bulky machine to achieve a stretchy rib cuff-you’ll have to add st to the first row above the cuffs to get the width you need. For me it’s just easier to knit the ribbings by hand top down after decreasing. But you have to decide this for yourself
You know the woodworker’s rule “measure twice, cut once” ?? This is doubly important here–you must do the stitch counts for every piece in advance to make sure that your stitch count when you reach the yoke is the correct multiple for the yoke patterning after seaming. It might sound easy, but even knitting the entire thing by hand doesn’t guarantee accuracy, and if you get off just 2-3 st it can really be a pain to fix. Liberal use of markers on the flat pieces, keyed to the yoke repeats, will be helpful.
Happy to help–let me know if you have more questions. Laurel (aka Wyogal, aka “the Lopi Queen”, and owner of Handknitting.com, which sells more Icelandic wool than any other retailer in North America)
Yes! I have 2 Artisan metal bed machines one is standard gauge, the other mid gauge. I also have an old Passap Vario and a Bond Elite ( don’t use it, no space to set it up, she needs a new home! other than under the bed) Shame on me. Any way. I am using the mid gauge right now to make a lacy scarf. In now hurry to finish.
Hello! I have two machines - a Brother 230 (bulky) that I’ve had for several years, but it has spent most of it’s life in storage, and a Toyota 950 (standard) that I found on craigslist earlier this summer. I have a Toyota 901 & 501 ribber coming soon, but I will be looking to rehome those. I bought them because they had a lot of accessories I wanted for the 950, but the owner wouldn’t break up the package… so I bought the whole mess, and will resell the stuff that I don’t want. Hopefully, I’ll make enough on the other stuff to cover the stuff I wanted! LOL!
The Toyota has a punchcard which would select the needles properly, but wouldn’t advance the card automatically. So, I called on dad (yes, I’m in my 50’s, and dad’s in his 70’s) and he took it home, took it apart, and got it working! YAY DAD!! He felt that most of the issue was that the lubrication had gummed up after many years in storage. That, and a spring had lost it’s sproing, so he created a replacement part with a spring from a ballpoint pen. Gotta love having a dad who is a retired engineer and loved the challenge of getting the machine working again. Sadly, since I got it back, all I’ve had time to do is set it up, reinstall the sponge bar, and run the carriage across the bed a few times. Grandbabies are visiting, and I haven’t had time to mess with it.
Before I sent it off for repair, I had knit some cast-on rags, and was starting to knit some samples - I will be demonstrating with the knitting machine at the Fall Fiber Festival at Montpelier (home of James Madison) in October, and would love to have a display of the huge variety of stitches and techniques that can be done on a knitting machine… Grandbabies are probably headed home next Monday, so I’ll have more time to knit after they are gone.
[SIZE=14px]Wygal: Thanks for all of the suggestions for knitting Icelandic sweaters. So, far, I’ve done what you’ve suggested. I’m currently working on two lopi sweaters and I’ve handknitted the cuffs and body rib/colorwork by hand. Yes, I’ve added an extra stitch to each side of the sleeves and body pieces for the machine knitted portions. I’ve also done the short-rowing on the machine, which means I’ve knitted up, beyond the point at which the sleeves are combined. As I knitted up, I also added an extra stitch on either side of each piece for seaming. I mattress stitch all of my seams before starting the yoke. I have found it’s pretty easy to make larger sizes by simply adding in blocks of eight stitches (or whatever the pattern repeat is) to the total stitch count. By the way, I also have an SK150, with ribber. I also have an SK155 which I haven’t yet learned to use.[/SIZE]
A friend ask me if I could knit a ripple afghan for a baby and I didn’t want to hand knit it, so I looked around and found some videos to help me. I casted on last night on my SK150 and have knitted about six inches. On EOR, I am reforming the stitches on the sides to create garter stitch, and I’m transferring stitches to create the ripple design. By golly, it’s working! It’s a slow process, but much faster than hand knitting.
I also have the Addi machine, the king size. I primarily use it for scarves and hats. I purchased a very good book that is helping me with special stitches, etc.
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