u/FancyGoatTote

I bought the Kandy Diamond, ‘Discovering Machine Knitting..’ book. It’s lovely, full of colour and nicely explained. One of the projects is this top made of square panels.

Looks like a simple first proper project (I’ve only ever made swatches so far). I do know a bit about how to increase/decrease and neck shape, but this seems like I could have some first success without too much worrying about fit.

However, has anyone got any experience of what this might look like on an actual body? It’s very square (obviously). I don’t want to waste my yarn, so am wondering whether I should just try to add shaping to my first top, or whether this boxy top will look nice on.

I’ve recently started machine knitting, and have been using my kitchen table. It’s a big old rustic table that is practically bomb proof - and works brilliantly.

However, I want my machine to have a more permanent home upstairs, in a much smaller space. I’ve been trawling through past threads and unfortunately cannot see a lot of the Imgur pics that people have kindly shared (not available in the UK apparently?).

I’ve considered that two Ikea mittback trestles side by side with a solid top could work (see terrible drawing). Do you think this will be solid enough? Can anyone see any pitfalls?

I like the idea that the height is adjustable and I can have quite a shallow depth to the table top.

Edit: Thanks for the comments. I went to IKEA, rattled all the desks hard and came away with a Mittzon standing desk that goes up and down. It seems very solid, so I’m looking forward to testing my machine on it tomorrow. It’s deep enough to hold other bits and tall enough for storage underneath.

I think I must win a prize for the most ridiculous knitting machine injury.

I leaned across the machine to fiddle about with the carriage and actually hooked myself (underneath the elbow) onto the needles. I had three needles pierce into the skin and I ended up fully stuck to the needle bed for a good few minutes whilst I tried to free myself without breaking or bending any needles.

What an absolute muppet.

Edit: It really didn’t occur to me that the machine was in any way sharp, or that I could impale myself on it.

I’m honestly thrilled to hear I’m not the only one who has done this.

I suppose I had better be a bit more cautious…

The elastic is going in the thigh of my bib shorts. Admittedly, my thighs are probably a bit wider than they were when I first bought the shorts.

I have newer pairs, but I don’t really want to wear them out on my daily commute. I’d like to repair these if possible. I’m just wondering if whacking a patch of Lycra over the top would be serviceable, or whether I should deconstruct them and put in a new panel (annoyingly the wear is right over the curved seam).

Has anyone ever attempted either? I’m tempted to just bin them, but I’m trying to be more conscious of waste. I have quite a bit of dressmaking experience, but have never worked with Lycra.