Utilizing the Silver Reed …
Overview
The Silver Reed SK840 knitting machine is a 4.5mm standard-gague knitting machine that’s supposed to be used with 3- and 4-ply yarns. The Silver Reed handbook is out there on-line here, and we have now a paper copy within the workshop (as the web copy is poorly digitised, we can even make a greater copy quickly). You should be skilled by a member of workers (at the moment, ask Agnes) earlier than utilizing the machine — this information is right here for reference and troubleshooting.
The SK840 is a home knitting machine, and requires some handbook enter to function. Absolutely-automated machines are usually known as ‘industrial’ knitting machines, to distinguish them from their home equivalents. Regardless of the shortage of full automation, home knitting machines are sometimes utilized in style for prototyping and designing new textiles. To study extra about industrial machines, this video offers an outline of frequent sorts, and this video is an efficient intro information to knitting normally. If you wish to look deeper into industrial knitting ideas, the Indian Institute of Expertise’s textile expertise division has a whole lecture series on-line that is very clear and offers a large amount of element.
This submit is not an in depth tutorial, however as an alternative ought to function an introduction to the capabilities of our machine, an thought of various avenues to discover, and an outline of the steps concerned in creating knitted textiles within the CCI. Machine knitting is detailed and sophisticated, and requires time to study and develop method.
Methods to seek for knitting tutorials
When on the lookout for guides on-line, you’ll discover many variations in machine make and kind, together with machines with plastic beds, doubled beds, completely different needle gagues and instruments, and quite a lot of carriages. Whereas there are particulars specific to the Silver Reed, plenty of method can be realized from basic ‘knitting machine’ tutorials on any machine because the core operation of the needles and carriage may be very comparable. The caveats to this are when somebody is utilizing a carriage we do not have (e.g. a lace carriage), or utilizing each beds of a double-bed machine (in the event that they’re utilizing one mattress, it’s very fantastic). In case you’re uncertain, simply ask (extra probably than not, we are able to do it on our machine).
Steps to Create Knitted Textile
In machine knitting, knitted material is created by manually sliding the carriage backwards and forwards over the needle mattress, which loops a single strand of yarn a row at a time. Knitting is distinct from weaving: in weaving, material is created by interlacing 2 units of threads at proper angles to at least one one other, whereas knitting entails taking a single thread and looping it round itself, one row at a time. (we at the moment haven’t any weaving capabilities within the CCI).
Casting on and off
Due to the construction of knitted material, the highest and backside edges of the textile have to be made utilizing a particular sew, to stop the material from unravelling. At first of the piece that is known as ‘casting on’; on the finish it is known as ‘doing away with’. Relying on the yarn, in case you are simply experimenting with samples then you will get away with out doing away with (the material will nonetheless be susceptible to unravelling), although there is no such thing as a solution to knit with out casting on.
Casting on
There are just a few completely different cast-on strategies that can be utilized on the Silver Reed, 2 of that are enumerated within the handbook:
- weaving forged on — that is the best methodology on the Silver Reed, although has the draw back of leaving a barely scrappy-looking edge. It is nice for fast sampling, although. The handbook accommodates a superb information, as does this video
- e-wrap forged on — it is a forged on method frequent to all knitting machines, and is the “official” methodology that gives you a neat edge. There’s a detailed information here
- ravel-cord forged on; just like the e-wrap method however entails knitting with waste yarn (forged on with a fast methodology like weave) for just a few rows, then knitting in a silk thread (known as a ‘ravel wire’), then doing an e-wrap forged on. When the piece is completed, the silk thread is pulled out, leaving a clear forged on edge that is been given structural assist by the waste yarn. The handbook has a superb information to this, additionally a video here
Casting/binding off
Getting rid of is a crucial method to study, and whereas sluggish at first will get a lot sooner over time. The overall thought is to bind off one sew at a time by looping it into the subsequent sew alongside, working your approach throughout the material till there’s a single sew left to tie off.
There are 2 fundamental strategies: latch instrument cast-off and switch instrument cast-off. Switch instrument is a bit slower, however significantly simpler to study (and the one I might advocate beginning with). This video does a superb job of demonstrating each strategies.
Completely different Kinds of Sew
The SK840 helps a variety of choices for various sorts of sew, which will be chosen by altering the dial on the highest of the carriage. Many of those stitches might also be used alongside the
The SK840 could also be computer-controlled utilizing the DesignaKnit software program and SilverLink module, that connects to the knitting carriage. At present at CCI we don’t have both a lace carriage or a ribber. A key to the core machine elements is pictured beneath:
The only knitting type on the machine is named ‘Stockinet’ — it is a type of knitting that may lead to a clean ‘knit’ facet on one facet of the material, and a rougher ‘purl’ facet on the opposite.
Stockinet
That is the best type of knitting, and equal to a ‘knit-purl’ alternating sew in hand knitting. It produces a flat, clean facet (the ‘proper facet’) and a rougher facet (‘incorrect facet’). To knit stockinet, choose the ‘O’ sew setting on the carriage.
All sew varieties listed right here nonetheless require a stockinet cast-on.
Honest Isle and Patterning
Honest Isle knitting is a typical approach of making patterns in knitted textiles, by alternating between 2 colors inside every row. On the SK840, that is additionally one of many three stitches (the others being slip and tuck stitches) that could be robotically managed utilizing the SilverLink controller; it is fairly low-effort to supply some actually lovely, spectacular issues that it will be very laborious to knit by hand.
To knit Honest Isle, the machine ought to be linked to the pc by way of the SilverLink, and DesignaKnit ought to be in interactive knitting mode. The carriage ought to be turned to ‘F’ for Honest Isle, and the arm ought to be threaded with 2 yarns (the primary in place 1, the second in place 2).
This video reveals the method utilizing punch-cards reasonably than the pc, however the core concepts are the identical. For extra steering on creating patterns utilizing DesignaKnit, see the wiki web page on Creating Digital Knitting Patterns with DesignaKnit.
Slip Sew
Slip sew is a knitting method the place a sew is skipped (or ‘slipped’), that can be utilized so as to add texture to knitted materials both manually or robotically (utilizing the SilverLink). Skipping stitches creates patterns within the strands of un-knitted yarn, and is usually used alongside different texturing strategies.
Tuck Sew
Tuck sew is a knitting method that entails tucking a sew from one row right into a row above. Like slip sew, tuck sew can manipulate the feel of the knitted material, although considerably extra dramatically, as relying on the depth of the tuck the material will be structured in all types of attention-grabbing methods. Stitches could also be tucked robotically utilizing the SilverLink.
Tuck Mosaic
The two colors listed below are knitted in horizontal stripes, however with an everyday sample of stitches ‘tucked’ into the sew above, manipulating the construction to resemble vertical strains. The outcome seems to be very lovely, however it’s time-consuming to alter the color each 2 rows.
What’s attention-grabbing about tuck patterns is that they give the impression of being nothing just like the patterns that produce them. There’s a terrific and extremely detailed blog post on Alessandrina (very useful knitting weblog) which explains in nice element.
Mock Rib
Many knitted clothes are hemmed with a stretchier ‘rib’ edge (assume cuffs, collar and backside of a sweater, for instance). This provides structural stability to the material and likewise seems to be nice. Sometimes that is achieved utilizing a ‘ribber’, or a double mattress machine, which we do not have within the CCI. Nevertheless, it is completely potential to make a mock rib utilizing a single mattress machine that is functionally very comparable.
I watched this video for steering, which was fairly good (it is in Norwegian, however English subtitles), which supplies a superb information to making a ‘mock’ rib on a single mattress machine.
Knitting with each different needle
That is used to knit yarns like mohair, or chunkier yarns. This video (it is in Norwegian, however has English subtitles) offers a superb demonstration of the cast-on method required: after casting on, knit as regular, however with solely half the needles engaged.
Intarsia
The Intarsia Carriage is an alternate carriage for the machine that permits a number of colors for use in a single row, with out having runners alongside the again like in Honest Isle. It produces massive blocks of color (if you wish to use fantastic element, Honest Isle is generally a greater guess), although requires significantly extra handbook effort than
Automated Color Changer
We’ve got an computerized color changer within the CCI, that makes altering color between rows significantly sooner, and likewise permits choice between 4 yarns, reasonably than 2. It can not change colors inside a row (for that, you need both honest isle or intarisa) — as an alternative consider it as a approach of constructing stripes much more environment friendly. It is significantly helpful when knitting tuck mosaic patterns that require common color change. The automated color changer might also be used with fair-isle or different patterning strategies (see instance beneath), although when utilizing 2 yarns (as in Honest Isle) just one could also be modified robotically.
Please speak to Agnes earlier than utilizing the automated color changer for the primary time.
The knitting machine can be used to create textiles with digital properties, together with conductive and stretch sensors, and even radio elements. Please see this guide to knitting with conductive yarn for extra data.