I have two knitting machine floppy disk drives, one a Brother FB100 and the other a Knitking FDD19, that have sat on a shelf for years. About a month ago I decided to dust off their boxes and fire them up.

Unfortunately, all I got were some whirring noises and error messages, despite very little use.

Depending on what equipment I had plugged the drives into, be it a PPD or an actual knitting machine, the error messages came with different descriptions and numbers. Most suggested that the unit wasn’t working because it had no power, recommending that I check cables and/or replace batteries.

On the PPD, I got “Error Message 4 – To find error of external device check following points:

1. Setting Place
2. Power Supply or Battery
3. Interface connector

Turn off switch of pattern programming device, switch on and start all over again”

When the drive was plugged into the knitting machine, it depended on which machine I used which error message I got.

On the 930e I got error message 3.

The manual on page 164 indicates this is due to “The interface cable is not connected”

On the 950i I got error message 2.

The manual on page 102 says “either no batteries have been fitted into the unit, or the AC power adapter is not connected”

The drives definitely had power and connected interface cables. What they both also had were completely stretched out drive belts.

Upon opening the drive, it was obvious from pushing with a finger that it was very loose. The belt could no longer grip the wheels to turn them.

It doesn’t take much stretch – my worn out belts measured 9.25 inches, a mere quarter inch beyond the length of new replacement belts.

To fix the drives, you will need to watch the excellent repair video by Diana Sullivan.

Then, you will need to order a new belt. I found conflicting references online that either said the drives required a 9″ x .025″ x .125″ flat belt or other sites that said an 8.5″ x .025″ x .125″ flat belt was better for these Tandy built devices.

Since shipping was the biggest expense for what are essentially fancy rubber bands, I ordered both 8.6″ (the closest size to 8.5″) and 9″ online from Suburban Electronics. The flat belts arrived quickly and both sizes worked. Time will tell which size is best.

The belts cost $1.39 each plus a flat rate of $7.95 for shipping. I ordered a total of eight belts and the shipping was still $7.95 – a great option if ordering for several knitters in your guild.

Now, back to knitting.

The post HoW To Repair A Brother Knitking Floppy Disk Drive first appeared on knittsings | Knitting Machine, Passap, Free Knitting Patterns Blog.

This doily was demonstrated at my local knitting machine group last fall. We were having some trouble understanding the vintage handout directions. Here’s a photo tutorial to hopefully make it clearer.

Lace Circular Doily

Depending on how big you want the doily to be, cast on 12 -18 stitches in waste yarn. Gauge or type of machine doesn’t matter much. After you’ve made one, you can increase/decrease any combination of stitches cast on, yarn thickness, tension setting, or machine gauge to make the dish rag larger or smaller.

Pick a tension appropriate for your chosen yarn. If you want to use it as a dish rag, cotton yarn is highly recommended.

This sample used 15 cast on stitches. To help keep track of the lacy increases, cast on needles 1 to 15 left of center. After a few rows are knit with waste yarn, hang a weight at each end

Remove waste yarn and insert main yarn.

RC 000
Carriage is on right to start. (COR)

Row 1 and 2:
Put carriage to hold

On left side, pull left most needle to hold position.

On right side, move 3 stitches one position to the right with a three prong transfer tool.

Leave empty needle in work position.

Knit 2 rows
RC 002
COR

Row 3 and 4:
On left side, pull left most needle in work position to hold position.

There are now two needles in hold.

On right side, move 3 stitches one position to the right.

Leave empty needle in work position.

Knit 2 rows
RC 004
COR

Row 5 and 6:
On left side, pull left most needle in work position to hold position.

There are now three needles in hold.

On right side, move 3 stitches one position to the right.

Leave empty needle in work position.

Knit 2 rows
RC 006
COR

Row 7 and 8:
On left side, pull left most needle in work position to hold position.

There are now four needles in hold.

Rather than moving stitches to form more lace holes, it is now time to bind off the three stitches you’ve added on the right side.

You can double check your progress by looking at your knitting. You should see three lace holes in the current section.

Pull out some extra yarn, holding the surplus with a clip if necessary.

Bind off the far right 3 stitches around the gate pegs with a latch tool, moving from right to left.

Hang the loop from your third bound off stitch to the adjacent needle. There will be two stitches on this needle.

For now, keep the bound off stitches wrapped around the gate pegs to maintain an even tension.

Knit 2 rows
RC 008
COR

Remove the bound off three stitches from the gate pegs and let hang.

At this point you are going to continue in pattern for the lacy points while building up needles in hold on the left side until a total of 11 needles are in hold.

Row 9 and 10:
On left side, pull left most needle in work to hold position. There are now five needles in hold.

On right side, move 3 stitches one position to the right. Leave empty needle in work position.

Knit 2 rows
RC 010
COR

Row 11 and 12:
On left side, pull left most needle in work to hold position. There are now six needles in hold.

On right side, move 3 stitches one position to the right. Leave empty needle in work position.

Knit 2 rows
RC 012
COR

Row 13 and 14:
On left side, pull left most needle in work to hold position. There are now seven needles in hold.

On right side, move 3 stitches one position to the right. Leave empty needle in work position.

Knit 2 rows
RC 014
COR

Row 15 and 16:
On left side, pull left most needle in work to hold position. There are now eight needles in hold.

Bind off the three stitches you’ve added on the right side. Hang the loop from your third bound off stitch to the adjacent needle. There will be two stitches on this needle.

Knit 2 rows
RC 016
COR

Remove the bound off three stitches from the gate pegs and let hang.

Row 17 and 18:
On left side, pull left most needle in work to hold position. There are now nine needles in hold.

On right side, move 3 stitches one position to the right. Leave empty needle in work position.

Knit 2 rows
RC 018
COR

Row 19 and 20:
On left side, pull left most needle in work to hold position. There are now ten needles in hold.

On right side, move 3 stitches one position to the right. Leave empty needle in work position.

Knit 2 rows
RC 020
COR

Row 21 and 22:
On left side, pull left most needle in work to hold position. There are now eleven needles in hold.

On right side, move 3 stitches one position to the right. Leave empty needle in work position.

Knit 2 rows
RC 022
COR

Row 23 and 24:
On left side, DO NOTHING! There are still eleven needles in hold.

Bind off the three stitches you’ve added on the right side. Hang the loop from your third bound off stitch to the adjacent needle. There will be two stitches on this needle.

For now, keep the bound off stitches wrapped around the gate pegs to maintain an even tension.

STOP!

Take carriage off hold.

Knit 2 rows
RC 024
COR

Remove the bound off three stitches from the gate pegs and let hang.

Repeat Rows 1 to 24 until you have enough wedges to form a circle. My sample needed a total of 6 repeats of the 24 rows. Depending on how large your doily is, you may need to knit more wedges for your circle to close.

When done, Kitchner weave the two sides together.

Enjoy and Happy New Year!

The post Lace Circular Doily Dish Rag first appeared on knittsings | Knitting Machine, Passap, Free Knitting Patterns Blog.

Whipup.net just highlighted two 20-Something knitters in Australia as they enthusiastically begin embracing all things knitting machine.

We know how great these machines are. It is so encouraging to read on a larger trafficked site that a new generation is feeling the love.

There are so many Studio and Silver Reed and Singer and Knitmaster and Empisal and Toyota and Corona and Juki and White and Superba and Brother and Knitking and Passap and countless other machines languishing unused all over the world.

Here’s hoping a new generation breathes fresh artistic air into our beloved craft.

The post 20-Somethings Embracing Knitting Machines first appeared on knittsings | Knitting Machine, Passap, Free Knitting Patterns Blog.

I’ve lightened up the photos a bit so you can see all the wonderful details.

The post Rick Owens Mock Neck Sweater first appeared on knittsings | Knitting Machine, Passap, Free Knitting Patterns Blog.

I spent part of Labor Day catching up on some knitting machine groups and found a lot of posts about DesignaKnit 8.

Yes, you read that right, DAK 8 exists and is currently being beta tested!

Here are links to a general brochure and upgraded features.

Per the general brochure, system requirements are:

Windows 98 SE or later.
Free USB port for optional cable links (does not apply to HandKnit).
Screen size at least 800 x 600 pixels.
Approx 500 Mb hard disk space (if install tutorials & manuals). 90 Mb without tutorials & manuals.

No word yet on availability, pricing, or how many lives we’ll get.

According to beta testers, DAK 8 will still work with XP and 32 bit systems as well as the more modern Windows 64 bit operating systems. Sadly, no Mac version. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for DAK 9.

If you have any news, feel free to add to the comments.

UPDATE
Softbyte has posted that registered UK owners of DAK 7 will get info in mid September on how to order the upgrade. Those of us in other countries are encouraged to contact our distributor.

The post DesignaKnit 8 Exists! first appeared on knittsings | Knitting Machine, Passap, Free Knitting Patterns Blog.

Here in the Pacific Northwest we rarely get cold enough for full on winter gear. DROPS free headband pattern is perfect for protecting the ears from bitter winds without messing up your hair too much.

It is a hand knitting pattern, but translates easily to bulky machines with ribbers. For other gauges, you will need to recalculate how many columns of rib you need as well as when to widen the hat for each section.

I used a thick/thin unidentifiable skein that has languished in my stash for years. It is worsted to worsted+ in weight.

I cast on 19 sts in waste yarn to allow for grafting later, knit a few rows, rearranged into rib pattern, put in main yarn at T6.1 and went for it. My sample showed I was getting about 2 rows per cm. So, for the first part of the pattern, I knit 16 rows to get to 8 cm for my first purl increases.

Lots of others have knit this hat with some pretty interesting modifications and posted their finished item on Ravelry. My favorites included either the addition of flowers or buttons.

My blue flower was something I whipped up on the machine to have long lines to balance the lines of the ribs. To either machine or hand knit the blue flower, cast on 12 stitches via a cable or crochet cast on. Immediately bind off loosely until only one stitch remains. Repeat, casting on 12 stitches and binding off until only one stitch remains.

Continue as many times as necessary for the number of petals you want. When done, join into a circle. This flower has an open center. You can fill the void with another flower, a button, or leave as is. You can also alter the number of stitches cast on in between if you want the petals to vary in length.

The center green flower is my machine interpretation of this pattern.

The post DROPS 86-10 Headband With Spider Flower first appeared on knittsings | Knitting Machine, Passap, Free Knitting Patterns Blog.

Nope.

Karen Allen uses two electronic carriages with many separate strands of cashmere, alternating the carriages to produce a subtle, color blending effect.

Click on over to the segment at MarthaStewart.com to see the process in action.

The post Karen Allen Machine Knits With Two Electronic Carriages In Same Sweater first appeared on knittsings | Knitting Machine, Passap, Free Knitting Patterns Blog.

Most of my sock knitting is for my husband. He likes them thick, a tightly knit gauge, and undeniably manly. This means worsted weight wool on 3.25mm (US 3) needles.

A few years ago, the only way I could convince him to wear two tones was if the second color was hidden in his shoe, preferably at the toe. He’s more flexible now.

Alma Mater Socks are great for using up odds and ends of wool. They also give you the chance to try out jogless joins where the stripes change on the upper part of the leg.

Materials
Worsted weight wool
3.5mm and 3.25mm needles
ravel cord to hold cast on stitches

This pattern fits an average width size 9 man’s foot.

Using 3.5mm (US 4), provisionally cast on 48 stitches with worsted weight wool main color (MC). The slightly larger needles give the rolled top a bit more give on the calf area.

Knit 10 rounds
Purl 1 round for top turning row
Knit 10 rounds

Bring the provisional cast on row up and knit together on the next round to close the top.

Once top hem finished, switch to 3.25mm (US3) needles and knit stockinette in the round until the piece measures 5 1/4 inches (13 cm)

Change to contrast color 1 (CC1) and knit 4 rounds. Change back to MC and knit 3 rounds.

Change to CC2 and knit 4 rounds. Change back to MC and knit 3 rounds.

With CC1, knit heel flap and heel turn.

When heel turn finished, change to MC to pick up gusset stitches and knit in 3 rounds.

Change to CC2 and knit 4 rounds.

Change to MC and knit 3 rounds

Change to CC1 and knit to toe.

I ran out of light blue so ended up with a two tone toe for one pair.

As mentioned at the top of the post, I decided to give the jogless join technique a try.

The first sock I didn’t do the jogless join and it shows.

Sock number two was my first attempt at the technique.

By the third sock, it’s looking pretty good.

The key seams to be how you weave in the ends. You want to cinch in the rows, rather than pull them apart.

I only did the jogless join on the stripes above the heel. I was concerned that after the gusset pick ups, it would rotate my foot stitches and twist the sock.

The post Alma Mater Socks first appeared on knittsings | Knitting Machine, Passap, Free Knitting Patterns Blog.

There is a detailed tutorial available if you want to hack too, complete with a photo tutorial on how to make a USB cable to connect your computer to the knitting machine.

This solution works, but is geared for someone comfortable with making a cable and using a command line interface program such as Terminal on the Mac. There is additional info at Steve Conklin’s Electroknit Technical Information page

I so hope these ladies’ efforts spur others to contribute their programming skills. Machine knitters need more open source options for interfacing our beloved equipment with modern computers, including the Mac.

Thank you Becky Stern and Limor “Ladyada” Fried!

The post If You Have A Brother Electronic Knitting Machine, This Is So Cool first appeared on knittsings | Knitting Machine, Passap, Free Knitting Patterns Blog.

Any thoughts on what it is? I’m guessing it’s either for yarn winding or noodle making. A neat contraption regardless.

The bottom photo shows it collapsed.

The post Is This A Yarn Swift For Small Skeins? first appeared on knittsings | Knitting Machine, Passap, Free Knitting Patterns Blog.