Easy knitting by machine

Press, 1 June 1977, Page 12

Easy knitting by machine

If you are still a handknitter, think about making life easier for yourself by investing in a knittingmachine. You’re never going to regret it.

Early knitting-machines were tricky to operate, but all that has been sorted out. Today’s computerised, push-button models are simple to operate, and have a speed and versatility our grandmothers never dreamed of.

Perhaps the biggest advantage of a knittingmachine is its instant output. When you want a warm jersey for golf, you want it now. When your husband needs a pullover for work, he doesn’t want to wait a month or so for you to hand-knit it. By the time you notice that the children’s school jerseys are skimpy and thin at the elbows, they really need replacing. This is where a knit-ting-machine earns its keep. You can knit a iersey in three to four hours, a dress in five and a pullover in two.

Of course you could buy the family’s knitwear, but garments can be machineknitted for a fraction of what you would pay for them in the shops. Nowadays, "knittingmachines take everything from a knitting cotton for lacey dresses and summer jerseys, to double 'knitting wool for those bulky ski jerseys. Using 1 ply wool and the ribbing attachment on your machine, it is possible to make warm, light-weight articles in skinny rib. A two-piece suit in skinny rib can cost as little as $6. Baby bootees can be finished in every detail on a knittingmachine, heels turned and all. You only have to add the ties.

Fair Isle knitting on machines can be done, in as many as four colours, and newer models, expected on the market

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soon, will make it possible for wools to be woven in at the back of the pattern. It is easy now to give your fashion knitwear a trim finish, with elasticised welts and basques, double-strength ribbed or patterned cuffs, neckbands and hems. Because of the wide range of stitches possible with today’s knittingmachines, many homeknitters are going beyond clothes for the family,' and branching out into bedspreads, cushion covers and lamp-shades. With tapestry and crochet effects possible, through the latest automated punchcard machines, there is endless scope for originality in design.