Sept 8
Got an Addi King Express in the post today! The reviews were so mixed that I’m not expecting much, but it should be fun for experiments.

Experiment 1, using Bendigo Woollen Mills Stellar 12ply (bulky weight bamboo/wool 50/50) got frogged after an inch, because I don’t know how to pick up dropped stitches. I haven’t watched the DVD yet, and I’m just not used to looking at the purl side of the fabric.

Experiment 2, using the whole ball of Stellar (200g/284y) made it to the end of the ball. It took about 1hr 15, and I found a good rhythm after a while. I had to set up the AKE between two chairs so the fabric had somewhere to go. I also had to pull the yarn from the ball first, so there was no alteration in tension.

Cranking: I have to turn the crank about 12 times per round, and can do about 5 rounds a minute, which is 230st per minute. Could crank faster, but I didn’t want to drop stitches. The fabric is quite airy, and probably compares to knitting with 6.5mm or 8mm needles. I use 5mm needles with this yarn.

The first 20 rounds had some dropped stitches and dodgy bits. I think the weight helped, after that. I might always start with scrap yarn, and see if that helps. I frogged that part afterwards, and used a 6.5mm needle to join one side and the other with a few inches of 1x1 ribbing.

I wish the tension was tighter. No way I could knit socks at this gauge, but still too small for hats. Maybe felting afterwards would make some interesting things. I’m not sure it would handle two threads at a time, but I’ll give it a try some time.

It’s 190g, and the fabric (not including fringe) is 94cm long. We’ll see what blocking does to bamboo… ;)

later: Stretched, hung on the line, and dried. Ended up being 140cm long, which is fine for a scarf for Jasmine. Took some pictures, and said she could keep it.

Experiment 3, using 2 skeins of Madtosh Chunky, first in Cousteau and second in Firewood. This yarn behaved beautifully and didn’t drop a single stitch. Each color is 55cm long and 35cm around unstretched, and the fabric is airy but much nicer. I’m hoping I can turn each of them into a double-layered hat, so I’ll unwind the ends to be hat tops (with decreases) and the center, unevenly, so that the leftover bit can be turned into ribbing.

Unwound 7 rounds where the colors changed to use as the decreases for the top (should be 10 rounds). Using 6mm needles, I did the first round
(K4, K2tog)x3, K5, (K4, K2tog)x3, K5. (40).
After that I did a plain round, and then decreased 8 every other round until 8 were left. I made a hat top on each end, and then folded one end into the other to make a double-thickness hat. Great! Will buy more Chunky to make more of these.

Experiment 4 using 2 balls of Craftworks Acrylic Print (two kind of horrible cheap balls of yarn my hubby let my kids choose me for Christmas one year). They’re 8ply, 350y and 100g, so I cranked the first ball straight, and the second ball with two strands held together. The single strand section was 115cm long, unstretched, and very loose looking, but I like the purl side. The double strand section was 50cm long, a little wider, more difficult to crank (no stretch and the machine was clicking more loudly) and a denser fabric, of course.

Not sure what I’m going to do with it. It’s quite tough, scratchy acrylic. Perhaps after a steam it will make a hat-scarf. Anyway, it took 90 minutes to crank, surprisingly, 45 minutes each.

Later: sewed the single-strand end together with two rows of garter and 5mm needles and JSSBO. Pulled out some of the double-strand end and sewed a few rounds of 1x1 rib (about 4 rounds) with 5mm needles and JSSBO. Then I steam-blocked the whole thing except for half the hat part, and it stretched out and softened nicely. The single-strand section is now 175cm long, the double-strand about 60. The hat bit is still a bit acrylic-scratchy, but you don’t want to steam rib or you’ll lose the elasticity. The finishing took about 45 minutes.

Total time: 2hr 15. Total yardage: 525.

Experiment 5 - handspun.
I made this 6ply so it would be nice and thick for the AKE. This time it did drop a lot of stitches, and I thought I had the knack of putting them back on. Alas, they look wrong when you actually look at the right side. Perhaps I should watch the DVD that came with it… ;)

(eta: the DVD is pointless, unless you can’t figure out how to turn the handle. Youtube to the rescue.)

I used up the whole skein (180g/200y) and then pulled out the ends to make a double-hat again.

Time: 1hr 30. Yards: 200.

Experiment 6 - sock blank

For this experiment I used two balls of Stroll Glimmer, and holding two strands together I tried to make a flat piece. Well… I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, but the edges are terrible. It kept either making or dropping new stitches, and nothing was tight or neat. Also, one strand would often drop (though I could have twisted them together, perhaps). Anyway, it didn’t matter for a blank, because it’s just to be dyed and reknit into socks.

Next time I make a sock blank, though, I’ll make a tube.

Experiment 7 Ton of Wool Project 10ply

This stuff works great. Thought I’d attempt a tube where the cast on and cast off edges were kitchenered. Bit messy, mostly because I ran out of yarn. But I hid that part on the inside. Double sided cormo cowl in a goes-with-anything white :) Might have to get another skein or two for a matching hat and armwarmers. (P.S. Tried Noro just before this. Disaster. And I still can’t pick up stitches right!)

Experiment 8 - Madelinetosh chunky. This time I cranked 3 skeins. I used yarn cakes and pulled the yarn from the center, which worked great. Cranked three in one hour, although the first (light grey) dropped several stitches. Not sure why, but the weight seemed to help. I pulled the tube up inside itself so it wouldn’t drag on the floor. I’m going to make these into two-color double-thick hats with a ribbed brim.