Zoom

The video of me in the Griswold Room came out better than I expected - I think Matt had done some thoughtful editing over the spots where I said I didn't know what the make of the machine was!  The presentation seemed to go down well from all the reactions going on in the chat line at the side, especially during Nan's Story.  The Q&A session went on nearly as long as the video.  When I looked at it later, that wasn't too bad either, except I was sitting too close to the screen.  A couple of email conversations ensued over the next couple of days.  I have saved the basic video on a shared drive - contact me direct if you want to see it.  Otherwise, you have to me a member of the Circular Sock Knitting Machine Society to access the whole thing on their website.

And more good news - because of the presentation I got a 20% discount off my order for the equal slot ribber dial!  The items have now been shipped and are somewhere in the sky between Canada and here as I write.  I took my courage in both hands and some bicarb and vinegar, and took the pretty Cymbal to pieces again.  The right upthrow cam now moves freely.  So I have totally changed my attitude to this machine, but the oil is still coming away rather black.  

When the new 72 equal slot ribber dial arrives I will try it on this one first (because I know the original Cymbal will throw its usual hissy fit if its settings are changed).  On that, the handwarmers and socks are still piling up here.  The museum had to close again this week for the virus, so no sales are possible, staff are going in less, and it may affect the building work.  Goodness knows when the new shop area will be up and running - and there is still plenty of my stock there.  I am also racking my brain for more items that could be put on sale in the shop.  A small tissue packet cover does not look exciting enough.  The packet has to slip in with the side edge at the top.  To put it in flat, four "corners" of knitting stick up.  I know from the past that a square tissue box cover is a bit of a stretch -  but how about if every 4th stitch were dropped?  Would this slacken the fabric off enough?

Now at the end of October, it is time to review what I have been putting by for Crimble, and to see what more there is to knit.  I have totally lost the sugar pink Fair Isle Mouse.  It should have been side by side with the red one.  It will probably turn up on 26th December!

Gris-sold

On 7th September I referred to the Griswold machine I had bought in March, but only really got my hands on in early September.  I put it on my new knitting table.  The table top was originally a small shelf from the old curator's office in the museum.  Recent refurbishments meant there a was a skip full of bits and pieces just waiting for a new home.  I love the fact that the table has two square cut-outs at the back, where the original shelf supports went through - I can see speculation on the use of these at future events!  I haven't altered the size of the piece at all.  The base was from an old cast iron pub table, acquired at the March event the same time as the Griswold.  The table on its own sits very neatly in my utility room and I can open the freezer door (handy for resting stuff on) and get to mops etc the other side without moving it.  The white top makes it "disappear" into the wall.  I don't think it will ever get upstairs to my knitting room, which is fine by me!

I had to a wait for new needles to arrive from America before I could try the Griswold out for myself.  Matt had got it to the stage of ribbing and sock heel - I told him not to worry too much about the looks, just to get it running again.  So there was a bit of surface rust to deal with.  The machine, typical of factory machines, had been painted pale green over the black, and both were coming away in parts.  I took it to pieces twice for new oil, marking up one base screw and placing with red nail varnish.  No new screws or parts were needed, apart from a new needle retainer spring from Gordon, and a spare buckle.  Naturally, it was still rather stiff, but would get better.  I did my own sample sock with 1x1 rib, 5x1 rib, heel turn, plain half foot - no need to repeat myself with a toe or show off my Kitchener skills!  No problems.  However, I am not keen on needles falling into the cylinder if trying to get at one needle when half are up out of work, nor do I like the lack of adjustment on the yarn carrier, which preclude fiddling about with any yarn close to it, say should a hairy yarn get split by a hook.  These are typical of the Griswold brand, and most people wouldn't mind at all, but I do.  Also the stitch length adjuster doesn't like being altered where stitches are in work.  Again, not a problem once you know its preferences.

So I felt happy to advertise it for sale to four newbies who had been clamouring for a machine, as they do.  In the event, only one actually replied, and a bit of a discussion led to a nice price for the machine, and a goodly sum was duly passed over to the museum.  So now I am down to three machines, or two if you don't count the Ashcroft, which will be going to the museum one day anyway.

I am still waiting for an equal slot ribber dial before I make my decision on the "pretty" Cymbal.  I will definitely be selling this on, but whether with two cylinders/dials depends on how I get on.  Every time I go back to my original Cymbal, I realise how beautifully it behaves these days, how easy it is to crank.

Then it throws me a wobbler - not its fault, operator error (isn't it always?).  A couple of weeks ago I had a manufacturer's knot suddenly come undone in some slippery bamboo yarn, right just before the yarn carrier.  The rest of the yarn fell out back to the ball,  On the Cymbal, there are six places where the yarn is threaded through or under.  Number four from the yarn ball is a thin piece of wire bent into a square, the further end of which is a circle (number five).  I accidentally missed this out on re-threading.  Subsequently, I had a lot of problems with the yarn looping in both good and waste yarns.  The stitch dropped but often corrected itself a few rounds later, and with the ribber in place I wasn't seeing this.  I was getting ready to blame needles (I did find one slightly bent ribber needle latch).  On resetting the digital row b counter yesterday I spotted the threading a error.  What a difference it makes!  One can only speculate that the original yarn toppers were the cast iron with four holes design, an the wire was added later .

There's an exciting afternoon ahead - a video of me in the Griswold Room is making its appearance in the CSKMS AGM.  More later!

Smock

The smock is finished.  I did different patterns for front and back, and also only embroidered the boxes on the front.  Not my greatest piece of work.

 

That changing time of year

 

Fourth sock yarn blanket completed, with mustard edging.

Sep/Oct has always been a time of major changes for me.  Don't know whether it's because it was linked to school and university times, or my upcoming birthday.  This year the great surprise is that I now have arthritis in my left hip.  Hey ho, another thing to incorporate into my life.  I won't just be snuggling under this blanket, I have exercises to do.

A sock was knitted...

 ...washed and then accidentally went through the tumble dryer.  But a sock!  Only did 20 row rib, 20 row leg, then 30 row foot.  Both heel and toe ended at 16 needles.  Very "fat", but it has adjusted to fit my foot for the photo.  Tension was 6 or 7, have taken that down to 5 now.

No more problems than anticipated, heel tension spring performed well after a little tweak.  Some resistance in the cams on reversing, but could catch that and raise them by hand.  After that I used most of an old cone of sock yarn that was a tad thinner than the WYS , and am just cranking away to get it run in., and the cams seem to be getting used to it.   Oiled it heavily, and using a cloth to catch the drips.  I will use some of the tubing to make a cover for the old weights.  It will crank with one finger on plain tubing.

Up and running

 

The pretty Cymbal is now up and running, but makes quite a groaning noise.  I took a short video.    I didn't touch the timing screw for the ribber (old lesson, once learnt never forgotten - if it ain't broke, don't fix it).  You would think I now had a sense of achievement, but for some reason I don't.  I don't really think it was worth what I paid for it in the state that it was in, and I regret that.   It's not perfect now - the upthrow can plate screws are so loose they may as well not be there.  To get it up to serviceable level I shall have to buy some weights next, and opening clasp band.  I will do it, as I don't like things half complete.  Perhaps most of my disappointment comes from considered opinion of other people that the multi-coloured decals add nothing to the value.

It is not a beginner's machine, there are still some kinks to be worked out, but tomorrow I may, I may, knit a sock on it.

First count your damsons

 I got hold of some damsons,  They are too small to cut the stones out of, so I stewed them, then the stones were easier to remove afterwards.  But I wish I had counted them first!  Just swirled them with plain yogurt for  damson fool.

To relate this to knitting - damsons were allegedly grown in Belper to dye the stockings made there.  I found this note on the Internet many years ago and have not been able to verify it since - until today.  The village of Holbrook celebrates them with Damson Sunday on the 23rd Sep.

I got some new small screws for the pretty Cymbal from the Internet, and Ventured to the museum for the first time in six months.  Was able to sort out a ribber drive pin, a nut for the crank guard and Matt measured the larger shouldered screws needed for the ribber stop base plate with digital calipers, and re-bent the heel tension wire thread guide.  Anne suggested getting a new ribber dial to replace the missing 36 slot one - but to make it 72, from Dave Lord in Canada.  Lead-in time only three weeks (plus shipping).  Brilliant idea!  Will be able to make 2x1 rib

Also I brought back the Griswold I bought at Kegworth and which I let Matt get into working order for me.  Blummin' heavy, basic machine 13kg.  Where am I going to put all these machines, let alone have the space to use them?  I now have four, and I never intended to be a collector...