Sunday, March 22, 2015

How I use the Singer Knitting Machine to Make Knit Blanks for Dyeing

I purchased a $30 Singer Knitting Machine to create some custom knit blanks (pre-knit tubes that you dye and then unravel to knit or crochet).  Most of the blanks ("sock blanks") you find on the market are two strands of fingering weight yarn knit together so you can dye identical colorways for sock knitting.  You are limited to the fiber type and yarn weight that the manufacturers chose.


I DO NOT thing that the Singer Knitting Machine is a good tool for knitting a finished item.  (Except for maybe yarn bombing.)  I see it as a tool to make some really cool dyeing projects (See my dip dying a blank and handpainting for self striping yarn tutorials.)  I point out many mistakes to the knit fabric in this video, but since the point is to dye the yarn these mistakes don't need to be fixed.

I hope that you find this review helpful as you head off onto your own dyeing adventures.

Video Contents:
[0:00] Introduction
[2:02] Toggle Knitting in the Round vs. Knitting Flat
[2:38] Casting on and getting the right tension
[6:20] Knitting on the Machine
[8:59] Mistakes to the knit fabric that happen with the Singer Knitting Machine
[10:16] The Blank gets twisty behind the machine
[11:09] Casting Off (and seeing the machine act unpredictably!) 
[14:10] Securing live stitches
[15:48] Final Thoughts



"Unfortunately" I actually had a really good run with the machine and my tension was perfect (for the first time) so the machine never got stuck.  Next time I get the machine stuck I'll film it so I can show how I fix it.