Hand knitting is something you have to be really patient with but I am not a very patient man. Every time I knit, I always notice how short the knit is even though I have spent hours on it. Even when I cheat with a chunky yarn and a big needle, my boredom gets the better of me and I end up with items that are neither here nor day. And garments like knitted sweaters are usually relegated to dream status.
Therefore, you must understand how excited I was when the course leader I am working for ordered a flat knitting machine to be used by his students. I had seen the students knit samples in just a few minutes and my over ambitious mind got the better of me and I decided to use the flat knitting machine to knit a sweater. With just a few quick lessons from the students and various youtube searches, I armed myself with a basic knowledge in flat machine knitting and tackled this latest project of mine.
I started of with a sample and a pattern of a sweater. I did all the calculations to determine the number of rows and which parts required increases/decreases and off I went on my machine knitting adventure.
I chose a Donegal tweed wool yarn in Blood Red as I never had anything in that colour before. The yarn has specks of other colours as well and it made a very interesting knit. The website said that I needed 4 skeins (roughly 4 x 200g balls) but in reality, I only used 3.
This project took me roughly a few afternoons to play around with the machine, 2 afternoons to make the sleeves and one day to make the front and back plus sewing it up. The result was quite impressive seeing that this was my first attempt.
Here is me wearing my sweater, hot off the machine, with a Yohji-esque trouser I made a while back.
I am very pleased with this knitted garment as it was a very successful first attempt and I made it in time to be worn for Christmas. I am tempted to make a few more in different colours but until then, I am going on a knitting course to broaden the possibilities. I am so excited and can’t wait to show more knitted garments in my blog.
Stephen Yong 