charting heaven
WHY USE A CHARTING DEVICE?
I consider the charting device 'the Best Thing Since Sliced Bread'.
No need to match your tension swatch to the requirements of the written pattern.
No need to use a particular yarn or stitch pattern.
So easy to use and follow. The chart is in front of you and turns as you knit. (No looking away to follow a pattern and loosing your place.)
No need to buy expensive computer driven machines or programme software.
WHY THE WEBSITE?
I have been machine knitting since the early eighties. I was lucky enough to be able to buy my 2 machines, a Brother KH910 standard gauge electronic and a Brother KH260 chunky punchcard, from new with matching ribber attachments. What I didn't realise at the time was how important the purchase of a charting device, the Knitleader, was going to be to me.
I have never made a garment without the Knitleader.
I never realised how much of a bubble I have been in till I ventured onto Facebook a while ago and realised what the machines developed after mine were able to do.
However I have realised that I don't need any fancier machines (unless I ever wanted to make fancier stitch patterns than my Electronic and punchcard machines are capable of).
I can make everything I want to, and design any shape I want to, with the machines I've got, and my trusty Knitleader.
I hope you will discover the freedom and simplicity of use of the charting device that I find inspiring.
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BACKGROUND
I am actually a Ballroom and Latin dance teacher and I also have been making Ballroom and Latin competition dresses for the last 55 years.
(This is why my online shop is on my dance centre's website.)
During lockdown, the dance centre was closed and nobody wanted dance dresses as there were no competitions.
There was only a certain amount of cleaning, clearing out and decorating I could do and I really have enough cardigans etc I could ever wear. (That last statement is obviously not true, there is always another one I want to make/design or some new yarn I want to try).
My neighbour had a grandson so I asked her what he would like on the front of a sweater I would make for him. She said a dinosaur and because I hadn't got a design, I decided to make my own.
I used my Craftartist (I was also a crafter) to design some dinosaurs and got a bit carried away. The result was a book of dinosaur designs for punchcards and electronics with charting diagrams for children's sweaters in a range of children's sizes, plus instructions for a variety of neckbands.
If your interested in this please go to www.dinosaursgalore.co.uk for more info.
After that I thought that maybe some of the designs I'd formulated for my Knitleader would be helpful to beginners.
Looking through Facebook I saw that there are new people coming to machine knitting all the time.
So the patterns you find here are my humble offering.
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