The Ultimate Sweater Machine

This is the Bond Ultimate Sweater machine. I bought it at Jo-Ann Fabrics online when they had a 50% off coupon on any item. It's not electrical. I spent a couple days learning how to use it, and now I really love it. This machine has 4 carriages and can achieve a range of gauges from about 16 st/4" to 20 st/4" with worsted weight yarn. In addition to stockinette, you can use it for eyelet, cables, ribbing, intarsia, and fair isle, but I like to stick to just stockinette. The special stitches require so much hand manipulation, you could do them faster and in a more comfortable chair by hand.

Each stitch is held by a little metal hook.

This is a sweater front in progress. The machine has very ugly colors.

I mark every tenth row as I go so I can keep track of the count. This is much more reliable than a row-counter. The fabric is stretched downward significantly during the process, so there is no way to eyeball or even measure the length of what you're knitting. You have to know the row gauge ahead and count to arrive at the correct length.

The finished knit pieces curl even more than they would if you hand knit them, but it all comes out in the blocking.

Long-Sleeved Wool Sweater

The camera wasn't working well at the beginning.

The sweater body was knit with the machine. The cuffs, waistband, and collar were done by hand. I'm so happy with this sweater I'm going to reuse the pattern immediately.

seed stitch collar

Messenger Bag

I made a bag to carry to school. This is how it works.

Striped Hat

After making the underhat I knit this to layer over it, but they look stupid together so I'll save this for warmer days. Doesn't it make me look thin from the back?

Underhat

I've been working toward making a really warm hat that covers the ears and doesn't let cold air in. My last solution (the ear-warming hat) works well and depends on elastic thread sewn through the opening to keep the hat in place. The only problem is that when the elastic is tight enough to keep the hat snug, it's also tight enough to leave a ridged indentation on my forehead that remains for several hours after the hat is removed. I came up with the pattern above (the underhat). It has a fleece lining and knit outside, and is contoured to fit the head and cover ears snugly. The lining is rolled to the outside and hand-stitched to create a tight roll that helps keep it against the head. It works very well but is ugly. It looks like a helmet liner. The solution is to wear it under a regular hat. The combination is super warm, and layering is a nice thing to do.