Back to the Knitting Machine

Last year after Winter, I gave away virtually all my jumpers as by then they were three sizes too big and looked like a "hessian bag"! A trip to the shops recently to accumulate some warm gear for our cold winter was futile. There was just nothing in the colour, style or warmth that I was looking for.

I knew I had a stash of wool in the cupboard so decided I would make a couple of cardigans for myself. I have not been able to knit by hand for 20 years or so as the muscle in my left thumb is totally worn out and the right hand is not much better. The movement in knitting means that bone rubs against bone which is very painful, to say the least. Many years ago I purchased a Knitting Machine second hand. It was old when I bought it, so it is really vintage now. Evidently my Singer Memomatic 321 was made about 35 years ago, but it is the most wonderful piece of engineering and still works like a charm.

I hadn't used it for 4 years, so I needed a day to work out how to do everything. Then it was out with the wool - a lovely colour called "All Spice" from Bendigo Woollen Mills where I purchase all my wool -

then lots of arm exercise moving this gadget back and forth across the needles

and some hand tooling every so often to make the cables, and hey presto, the garment was complete!

3½ days was all it took, with supermarket shopping and housework in between. It takes as long to sew it up as it does to actually knit it! And it is just so lovely and warm!

I'm now on my second one. The sleeves are plain on this new one I'm making and so it only takes an hour to knit a sleeve! It puts a new slant on the term 'instant'.

Regards

Val