Sunday, September 27, 2009

Plaited possum and cotton

I finally got it done - a plaited scarf using one strand of 2/20 mercerised cotton and 2 strands of possum yarn. The colours are close and the difference in yarn ratio created enough rippling to mimic the collapse weave /ribbed like effect.

I only have 2 claw weights that came with the machine but found what I think is a cast on comb? The cotton section is so delicate that it needed an even weight across the width of the whole piece. even then, I couldn't knit more than 15 full passes without it jumping off the needles.

The rippling effect was beautiful. I wonder what it would be like if it was done on a ribber. I haven't learnt any double bed knitting yet - only how to maintain it and how to set it up.
I know one of the effect of single bed knitting is the curly edges. No matter how much I steamed it , it did not flatten out. I have not knitted (hand or machine) enough to learn how to block things either.
The washed sample below has flattened out a bit but the overall effect is still there. There are still a few more ideas to try out with this technique and I think that they will create some interesting textures!