trouble with icord maker (french knitter, spool knitter, knitting mill, etc)

hi all!

trying to make icord using my embellish-knit hand cranker, and it’s giving me more problems than i’ve ever had. i’m trying to use crochet cotton (vintage, but aunt lydia’s type, #10 fine mercerized), and it’s double-stranded to break up the color striping. is it the cotton too slick and that’s causing me problems? or is it the double-stranding that it doesn’t like? is it something else? i’ve already checked the pull-weight, the 4 latches, and the instructions to make sure they’re all ok and that i’m cranking correctly (been a while since last use, but they are and i am)… anybody with experience using one of these with a slick and/or yarn held double, let me know some tips/tricks. thanks! :wink:

cheers, 'topher

Hmm…I’ve only made icord by hand, but I’ll bump this to see if anyone knows.

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I’ve never tried double strands or crochet cotton. Are you watching the latches to make sure the thread is being captured with each stitch? I occasionally have missed stitches then remember to watch carefully.

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hi beth! thanks for chiming in… i have been watching the hooks/latches, and they’re catching the double strands just fine, about 90% of the time… i’m going slowly and correcting any mistakes as they happen. sometimes i’m having latches not pop back up right away, so i’m fixing those as i see them, but maybe that’s an issue. another issue seems to be more in the center finished cord feeder tube; things are getting tangled. i’ve tried the weight that comes with the machine, i’ve tried less weight, more weight, none of those are working. i haven’t had that issue before with acrylic or wool based yarns of any size.

thanks jan! :wink:

Greetings!!

I’ve only ever used the spool knitters by hand. Haven’t tried the “turn the handle” ones so I’m only taking a guess here. But maybe u could add more weight at the bottom?!?!? If your thread is lightweight it might be getting stuck in the mechanism. When I do it by hand, I pull down on the finished rope every time I lift a loop over a nail.

Without being able to see what’s happening, it’s difficult to determine the problem!!! If u haven’t tried this yet, try turning the handle vvvveeeerrrryyyy slowly and see if the rope is getting stuck somehow.

Sorry!!!
Knitcindy

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Sounds like you’re doing everything possible! Good luck!

Beth

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