Machine Knitting: A Beautiful Basic

I am so proud of this scarf!! It is not terribly exciting...it's a scarf, right? It's just a rectangle.

But, I sat myself down and decided to make this scarf on Saturday afternoon. And while MK can be extremely involved and time consuming, some things can be accomplished pretty quickly. Speed is definitely not the primary factor (I would still hand knit if I could!), I will say that I sat down to my knitting machine around 3:15 p.m. and was pulling this off the machine before 5. 

I knit some swatches and decided on an approximate finished size of 8" x 60".  I then cast on 80 stitches (the standard gauge machine has needles that are 4.5mm apart (or a little under 3/16") which gives you an idea of the yarn it can knit (for hand knitters it's ~lace through fingering, and some sport weight). I calculated approximately 10 rows per inch and figured I'd need about 600 rows. 

I knit 596 rows, moved the needles from the ribber to the main bed, and then knit one row. But it is easier to cast off when the carriage is on the right, so I knit one more row! LOL! For a total of 598 rows. The final measurement is 7" wide (without stretching the ribbing) and 66" long. 

I have another video to watch on avoiding the wavy 
edge that can sometimes happen with ribbing

One of the critical aspects of machine knitting is properly weighing down the work. I'm still figuring out what's necessary there (the ribber manual does tell you how much weight to use based on number of stitches in work, but it seems like a skill too, knowing how much weight to use). About 160 rows in, my work was nearing the floor. And thank goodness for You Tube, The Answer Lady Knits had a clear and easy video on how to rehang the work. 

Here you can see how the cast-on comb holds the work, and in that hook is a hanging weight

After the comb was repositioned 

Admiring my work while watching videos to be sure I'm getting it right :)
You can see the comb and weights on the floor

I'd knit about 160 rows and I discovered a dropped stitch! ARGH! At some point, the needle started to knit again, so I pinned the live stitch to fix later. I know now that it would have been super easy, once I caught the stitch, to re knit the entire row and put that stitch back into work. Instead, I fixed it after the fact by knitting it up (laddering) and then using a scrap yarn to do a duplicate stitch for security, and then did some really, really thorough weaving in of the ends :)

I steam blocked it and left it overnight and what a happy surprise when I came downstairs this morning! It was laid out just waiting for me to revel in it's squishy-ness!  

The yarn is an acrylic from either Knit and Sew World in St. Peter or from Cindy's Knitting Room in Princeton - both great resources for machine knitters! How do I know it's acrylic? I did a burn test! But, I was not my normal self. Normally, I would get tweezers for the yarn (or fabric), and always work at the kitchen sink because it's stainless steel. When the yarn caught it kind of poofed and I freaked that it might be a natural fiber (and thus would burn all the way to my fingers) and the yarn swung toward me and landed on my belly (over my clothes). WHEW! So now I have a little burn mark on my overalls. OY! LOL! Never skip safety precautions!

Simple project but a major win. Can you believe I did not have a black scarf in the collection (I do live in MN after all!)?! I can't wait to wear it!

photographed on my quilt that lives on my couch!