Hi. I’m Hannah.
The Mother of Cats was cleaning up the yarn stash and found a little bin with all of these crocheted squares. Here’s the thing: the Mother of Cats had been knitting a chicken out of Noro wool yarn, and I wanted to help her… like a lot!!! I kept climbing into her lap so I could give the yarn a good grooming, and she just WOULDN’T let me help her the way I wanted!!!! I just love, love that wool yarn! The little squares that she found were made with the same type of yarn, so…
The Mother of Cats has been knitting some chickens; she has two finished but not sewn and stuffed yet. Kind of cute colors, right?
Why aren’t those chickens stuffed yet? Well… it is because of the knitting machines that the Mother of Cats bought. The new machine is large enough to make a hat.
The Sentro machine is the one that she uses to make the hats. Lots and lots of hats. The machine works when you turn this little crank on the side, and she has been cranking and cranking like crazy during the heat of the day. I hate the heat, so I just sleep on the coffee table next to the machine while she works. Hey, there is a fan blowing on the table! The Mother of Cats just needs to work around me because I am so cute, and I also have claws! Not that I would ever use the claws on the Mother of Cats… Anyway, she is making a couple of these hats every day and they are starting to pile up in the donation boxes. I like the hat machine, even if it gets used on my coffee table, because there is a lot of potential for fun.
This weekend the Mother of Cats pulled out the little knitting machine and spent hours trying to make some wrist warmers. It got a little ugly. She couldn’t get the machine to knit the sock yarn that she wanted to use. She watched lots of YouTube videos. She tried at least four different yarns. She hung weights on the knitted fabric attached to the machine. She forgot to give me my TUNA!!! Finally, today she tried one last yarn and bingo: it worked!!
She is pretty sure that she knows how to get the little machine to make more wristers, so the weekend ended up on a high note. That’s a good thing, because there certainly was a lot of cranking… the Mother of Cats has contracted CRANKITIS!!
Well, that’s all for now.
This is Hannah, signing off.
>^..^<
Notes from the Mother of Cats
- Hannah’s blanket is made from the squares that I made following the pattern for the Square Scramble Sack.
- The little knitting machine is an Addi Express Professional machine.
- The big machine is a Sentro 48 needle machine. I bought the Sentro after seeing some hats that another Frayed Knots member had made using fingering yarn. Just what I needed! I have so much yarn in the stash that I need to get put to a good use.
- The lighter weight yarn that worked in the Addi was Noro Silk Garden sock yarn. It is smooth, one ply yarn that isn’t very elastic. I think that it is about sport weight, but the manufacturer lists it as DK weight.
- The Addi machine is more robust than the Sentro, but the Sentro is very easy to work with and quieter than the Addi.
- The Addi machine is not knitting the fingering weight yarn yet, but I haven’t given up all hope. The Sentro, however, is knitting the fingering weight yarn with no issues at all. Since the Addi requires a heavier weight yarn, I tried making wristers using (duh) heavier weight yarns. I knitted with a worsted weight yarn, switched to a sportweight silk blend yarn, pulled one end of the tube up through the inside, and then closed the stitches with Kitchener stitch.
Pretty slick, right?
It’s exciting to crank away and get so much yarn that was languishing in the stash put to good use. This is fast, too. I can get a hat done in less than an hour.
Yarn, Books & Roses 
So what IS the yarn that finally worked, Marilyn ? – it looks a bit like fingering, but I suppose it might be sport weight … Must be lighter than DK, anyway.
Oh, sorry, Hannah – hello ! Yes, I’m sure you’re a huge help to the MoC. Like, not much … [grin] But isn’t she good to take time to put together that pretty blanket for you, eh ?!
I remember seeing a necklace ornament of kitchener stitch, a while back, so took time to find out what it is. But then, that was in my knitting days …
Your snapdragons are looking gooood ! – as always.
Big hug !!!
Once again, I’m realizing that I need to update the post after reading your comment. It is good to have an editor. 🙂 That yarn is Noro silk garden sock yarn, and it is maybe sportweight. The attributes that made it work was the lack elasticity, smooth round shape, and fact that it was single ply. The soft, elastic yarns kept getting split or caught in the teeth of the knitting machine. Now I know. It’s because the machine is designed to be a workhorse and is meant to be used with DK or worsted weight yarn. I wanted to hack it, but the machine was like… nope!! I’m debating buying a little Sentro machine but the one for sale doesn’t have a row counter, which presents new problems. I’m now thinking… just knit out the whole skein, measure and cut the long tube into segments, and then stitch each segment into a wrist warmer. I have an icord machine, and that’s how I make ties for baby booties. After years of sock knitting, I kind of like Kitchener stitch, so that would work for this.
The snapdragons are from seeds that I collected last year. I let them fight it out in the pot (Darwin style) and I plan to collect the seeds from the winners.
Oh ! – are snapdragons perennials then ? Guess they must be. Sighh … Never too old to be ignorant. 😦
That process sounds awful complicated, Marilyn. But then, you are a knitting perfectionist. For all those charity things you’re making I suppose I must agree that machines are best, inasmuch as they’re not creative items. But I miss your own real and very beautiful knitting.
Snapdragons are sold as annuals, but mine come back for more than one season, and they reseed like crazy so I have lots and lots of snapdragons in the yard.
It is a little fiddly to cut and sew the wristers together, but much, much faster. I met with several of the scleroderma support group buddies to pass off their chickens, and they struggle with cold hands and Raynaud’s too. I just can’t hand knit up stuff fast enough to fill the need, and to be frank, the stash is huge and now it is a race to get it used up within my lifetime.
The chickens will all be hand knit, of course!
I should’ve said that I understand well the need for you to avoid tiring and repetitive work; so your need to make the charity items i met well by the machines.
You and me both are now saying stuff about ‘within my lifetime’ …
I really like the colour blends
That yarn does all the work!
I’m fascinated by those machines, Marilyn. It’s impressive that you can turn your stash into useful and pretty hats and wrist warmers.
Hannah’s new blanket is another great use of your stash. Our kitties love wool as well.
I’m glad you have enjoyable creative tasks for these too-hot days.
I hope you are feeling well.
I’m staying indoors as much as I can: hooray for the knitting machines. I am so happy to be cranking out the hats like crazy, depleting the stash and using my creative energy and knitting chops to make the emotional support cats. They are fast hats, and don’t look handknit, but they are made with nice superwash yarn, and I hope they are useful to the recipients.
I’m sure they will be. It’s a wonderful gift for someone in need. I’m smiling that you’ve moved on to emotional support cats. You’ve created an impressive array of useful and beautiful items.
Thank you! I’m working on wristers now, and I just figured out that I can make octopuses on the knitting machine!!!
Wow! You are on a roll.
I can see you flying through your stash with the gadgets plus the chickens. I wonder what it is about that yarn that makes Hannah like it so much.
One hour for a hat? That is fast! Hannah’s new blanket is super cute!
It is really rewarding to churn out hats so fast with yarn that has been languishing in the stash. They aren’t handknit, but they are made with nice yarn.
They may not be knit-by-hand, but they are individually machine knit by a real person, which is still not the same thing as commercially made. They’re still a lot more personal and individual.
That’s what I tell myself. Also, I am using nice yarn (superwash merino sock yarn) so the hats are really soft and squishy and should perform well in use.
They sure look lovely!
That is a pretty slick machine for sure! What a great way to make some donation items much more quickly and easily!
Hannah – that is a beautiful blanket and you are a beautiful girl!
Love the square scramble pattern. So much more interesting than all squares the same size — and yet still just squares.
Your wristers reminded me immediately of the Wristies I’ve been buying for years. Just a tube with a thumb hole. Keeps hands and wrists warm, without all the short fingers that are usually too bulky, too itchy, awkward length, etc. Thumb hole ensures the Wristie will stay down over the back of the hand. A very simple design, yet very effective.
Love that multi-colored chicken.
I have knitted many a wristie shaped just like you describe. I wear those microfiber athletic tops that have long sleeves with a hole for the thumb that also help in cold weather. I’m still figuring out how to made a wrister like that with the knitting machine.
Wow that is fast! You’ll be using up stash like crazy.
Lucky Hannah kitty with her own personal blanket, it looks so cozy
Yesterday I cranked out 5 hats!! This is really rewarding as I can make the hats without hurting my hands and still have time to hand knit things that I love like chickens and sweaters!