Zen and the art of machine knitting

It's been quite awhile since I've posted here. It isn't due to a lack of machine knitting. For those who don't know, I've been blogging at Crafting Fashion, my site devoted to sweater knit fabrics and how to cut and sew them. Also I have a nascent enterprise selling my sweater knit fabrics. Already, I've had several inquiries and sales of my fancier fabrics. I have yet to sell anything of the plain variety, but even they are lovingly knitted of luxurious materials and may find their market yet. For now, fancy seems to be the way to go.

Back in the 90s when I worked professionally as a stitch pattern designer, my product was the 12 x 12-inch swatch. My product now is never that small. It averages a couple of yards long and however wide a full bed of needles lets that particular stitch pattern become. After the usual yarn selection, stitch pattern designing, pattern card programming, and gauge test swatching, I cast on. And after I cast on, I knit. And knit. And knit. Sometimes I change cam settings or yarn colors at regular intervals. But I never stop to increase or decrease or to put a few needles in non-working position. I just knit.

And the act of just machine knitting is sublime.

Proper posture

We've had this discussion in a couple of machine knitters' forums: It really is better to machine knit while standing. I'm aware that not everyone can stand while knitting. But for those who can, it's worth the extra effort to make it happen. Some people use spacers to raise their traditional knitting stands to a good standing height. Others have custom stands which hold the machines at a suitable height for standing while knitting. All the industrial hand frame machines I've ever seen are already at a height to be used while standing.

My Passap DM-80 remains on its official stand. I have managed to knit while standing without altering its height. Instead I rhythmically change my height with a series of lunges while I knit. (I was thrilled to learn on a couple of machine knitting forums that I'm not the only machine knitter, who's discovered this technique!) 

I stand with my toes pointed straight ahead.  My feet are parallel and slightly greater than shoulder width apart. My knees are soft -- not bent and not completely straight. A deeper bend of my knees in this position would bring my navel directly opposite the two numerals "1" on the front bed of the machine. (Japanese-style machines, I believe, have a "0" at the center point.) I hold the handle of the lock (carriage) with both hands. When the lock is on the right, I'm lunging to the right. As I bring the lock back to center, I return to my centered soft kneed position. My lunge to the left is synchronized with the passing of the lock to the left. It's important when lunging to keep the heels on the floor and knees over the toes, as one is told to do in a dance or yoga class. In other words, if I were to look down directly over my bent knee, I wouldn't be able to see my foot. My knee is blocking the view.

Those are the basics. Easy, yes? Machine knitting this way gives me an excellent workout, and I work up a sweat once I'm at it for a good bit of time.

So perhaps knitting in the fastlane has more in common with the Slow Movement than I originally thought. The process was always important. I suppose this is Intentional Machine Knitting. In my next post a future post I'll discuss variations and a few more details.