Hi it’s by a while since I’ve been on this site.
Iam intermediate knitter and not long ago brought silver reed lk150 machine.meduium guage.
The problem I have is finding patterns to knit on the machine. In need of some help and would like to ask if anyone knows of any patterns or can recommend books I would be grateful .
I don’t know how to transfer knitting patterns so not sure if that’s an option.
Thanks in advance .
Krissy.
Knitting machine patterns
Does this site help or do you need patterns specifically for your Silver Reed model?
http://www.needlesofsteel.org.uk/freepatterns.html
@FluffyYarn @Beth_Leatherman have you any recommendations?
This is a good resource. You can use any pattern on any machine, but you may have to adjust for gauge. Needles of Steel shows which gauge the pattern is written for. The LK150 is a mid-gauge machine. YouTube is a big help with machine knitting. Search for “LK-150 knitting” on YouTube or “LK-150 patterns” on Google.
Hi. I agree with Beth. You have a midgage machine. Look for patterns for a midgage (any midgage pattern). Then be SURE to do an large accurate gauge swatch. If it matches, you are good to go. If not, beware. The weights will distort the size as you knit and you won’t know if things are going awry.
I don’t care for Pinterest, but here are some pictures of midgage items for inspiration. https://www.pinterest.com/michaelbecker33/knitting-machines-mid-gauge/
Also Susan Guiglianni is the Queen of hand manipulated stitches and she has some special advise for midgage machines, which are ideal for hand manipulation, IMO. Be sure to look for her (might have misspelled her name. But if you copy it and add knitting machine, you should get her stuff)
Good luck.
Hi there thank you ,
Thanks everyone
Everyone? Okay you are welcome, but I only read this thread.
@salmonmac, @Beth_Leatherman, @FluffyYarn are some of the helpful members on here.
Hiya! I was predominantly a hand knitter and bought an LK150 in 2019- it took me a year to get it out of the box!!
My first pattern was the honeycomb sweater and that was a massive learning curve but I did get to understand how the machine worked and all the pitfalls to watch out for!
At the start, the biggest problem was to manage the tension - the slightest restriction on yarn flow can cause massive issues.
The biggest problem now is that it is much harder to notice and correct mistakes than it is in hand-knitting!
In terms of patterns, I adapt from hand knit patterns. For starters, anything stocking stitch based can be worked fairly easily and most patterns, except circular yokes, can be modified to include seams. Circular yokes can however be worked as hybrid - part hand, part machine.
I’ve managed to work fair isle, mosaic and lace by reforming stitches by hand. I’ve made projects with 4ply to worsted on the LK150.
My Ravelry profile (melbroomhanger) includes all of my LK150 projects with notes, so feel free to filter the machine knit ones and see what you can do!!
I bought all the Susan Guiglinni books and they have lots of helpful tips!
Happy to discuss further if you’re interested!
p.s. this is a great one for your lk150 with almost no pattern translation! I worked the button band by hand as there were too many stitches, and that took longer than it took to knit the rest of the cardigan!!
https://www.ravelry.com/projects/melbroomhanger/wardie
Hello Krissy. I read your post last night and wanted to congratulate you on your purchase and share my experience.
I rarely use a pattern specifically for the knitting machine instead I have created a guide for the yarn and pattern I prefer to use from swatches that I use as a starting point for a project. Over the years I have collected articles for specific techniques. I usually work cuffs, welts and bands by hand either to start and/or finish a project. I find the “sideways” technique useful for many projects especially hats.
Tip, I leave a swatch to “settle” overnight if possible it shrinks quite a bit after taking it off the machine resulting in a failed project.
My overall advice is enjoy your machine and think outside the box…
My Guide for Category 4 Worsted Weight Yarn on a medium/mid gauge machine looks something like this. Mast Dial Tension +1
Tension Dial Setting 3 for 5.5sts/6 rows per 1" Needle Size US5/3.75mm
Tension Dial Setting 4 for 5sts/6 rows per 1" Needle Size US6/4mm
Tension Dial Setting 5 for 4.5sts/6 rows per 1" Needle Size US7/4.5mm
Tension Dial Setting 6 for 4sts/6 rows per 1" Needle Size US8/5mm
He’ll flknit5 ,
Nice to meet you Thanks for your help and advice it will come in handy.
I don’t know how to transfer patterns by hand on to knitting machine .How do you transfer tha handknitting on to the machine bed ?
Iam an intermediate hand knitter and still trying to use my machine .
Krissy
To transfer stitches from hand needles to the machine I like to use my single stitch transfer tool. With the carriage on the righthand side of the machine bed. Pull the number of needles you need to the edge of the bed and make sure all the latches are open (I have a fine knitting needle I use to open the latches). With the wrong side of your work facing you hold the needle in your left hand with the point pointing to the right. Use the transfer tool in place of a needle in your righthand and slip the stitches one at a time onto the transfer tool as if you were going to knit the stitch then place it onto an empty machine needle working from right to left.
I suggest making a practice piece by casting on about 10sts, knit a few rows and transfer. Occasionally I will transfer more than one stitch at a time but usually I take the extra time and do one stitch at a time.
I typed “how to transfer stitches from hand knitting to a machine” into my browser and the first youtube picture was a demonstration of this method.
Collect articles and create your own personal “how to book”.
To transfer hand knitting patterns to the machine I make a swatch with the yarn I am going to use, match the tension/gauge of the pattern. Then follow the pattern directions. If you are able to print a copy of your pattern you can make notes for next time, for example if the pattern says “work until 6 inches from the beginning” and your tension/gauge is 6 rows to 1 inch, you will have to do the math 6" times 6 rows equals 36 rows, write this on your pattern. Why? Because machine knit fabric shrinks.
If you don’t have a yarn winder I would recommend investing in one.
My Rules for success: Start small. Take the time to practice. Don’t give up, if something is not working take a break and go back to it. Think outside the box you have the basic skills you just need to figure out how to apply them.
Feel free to contact me if I have helped you.
Hi. Thanks for the link & correction. I found an excellent interview featuring Susan on Fruity Knitting.
The interview is broken into 2 segments
The 1st starts at about 19:00.
The 2nd at about 1:05:00.
There is also another machine knitting segment between these. Lots of excellent info and also leads to more information. I think you will enjoy this.
Thank you!
Thanks flknit5, for you help i will give things ago and i will let you know how things go . It’s really nice to have help and advice and others who are there to chat with .
Hello Krissy I have been going through my notes and remembered about Susan Guagliumi - search for her here on KnittingHelp.com, look her up on Ravelry, Craftsy and Facebook. She provides classes, patterns, tools, books, DVDs, PDFs to download and much more on machine knitting. I subscribed to her classes on Craftsy and found her tutorial methods extremely informative and easy to follow her emphasis is on the mid-gauge LK140 & 150 machines. I thought this might be useful information for you and any other machine knitters who follow this forum. Happy Knitting Everyone.
Hi flknit5 , Thanks for message I will certainly have a look and see .
I found another video focusing on the LK150 & 2 really kewl accessories for it. Dianna Sullivan is another machine knitting name to know.