ink and yarn
If you don't push the tuck buttons, you don't get tuck stitch no matter what needles you select.
And finally, A HAT.
It might fit a child but still, I have proven my concept!
Yet another attempt at machine-knitting this hat (and this time you can see the glorious teal of the knitting machine). I made the plain part of the ribbing longer so it could be folded up. I figured out how to get the decreases to flow nicely from the ribbing pattern. I... ran out of yarn. Anyway here it is still hanging from the needles just after the decreases, which I totally fudged because, again, running out of yarn.
It's such a cool stitch pattern! I want to use it for everything. It uses up so much yarn though... maybe this will be a baby hat.
I remembered to push the buttons this time! ...but I'm not sure I like how the fabric poufs out after the switch from plain ribbing. I'm going to try again with the mistake-y plain rib from the first attempt as the brim ribbing, and then the tuck rib for the body of the hat.
The vintage pushbutton knitting machine developed a set of sticky buttons shortly after it came home with me, which was annoying but not terribly surprising for a 55 year old mechanical object.
I tried to see if I could fix it without taking it apart, but that didn't work. It wasn't actually the buttons that were the problem, it was the sliding needle selector plates which are controlled by the buttons. They're supposed to slide, but they were sticking to each other.
So with great apprehension I took the machine out of its case without breaking a single plastic rivet (there's a trick to it!), removed the pushbutton set, took the needle selector plate assembly apart and cleaned each plate with simple green, then put it back together. Now the buttons are all nicely clicky again and I'm so very pleased with myself.
(I bet this is the same thing I'm going to have to do with the punchcard machine... which is "only" 47 years old. If only the 38-year-old electronic machine could be fixed so easily!)
I'm working on recreating a hat that I saw in a picture. I was able to find hand-knitting instructions for the cables, but the technique for shifting stitches around on the machine isn't quite the same as doing it by hand. It's easier than I thought it would be, actually :)
This sample is knit at a tension that is too loose for the yarn, but I'm pleased to have figured out how to do the transfers.
Next up, figuring out how to do the decreases for the crown…
Some hand-knitting techniques translate easily to the machine, but others... not so much. I've been trying different methods for hat decreases to see which is easiest and still looks good. Details & side views at the blog:
https://www.knittingpirate.com/2026/04/12/in-which-the-pirate-learns-new-hat-decreases/
Okay so... I picked up another electronic knitting machine, because the one I already had *won't stop beeping*, and there's no way to make it shut up short of de-soldering the beeper from the circuit board (tempting, but I'm not sure it's fully functioning if something's making it beep like that).
I thought I'd test out the new one by making a hat. Hats are always nice, and if they're a little big or small - well, they'll fit somebody.
And check out this historic artifact that I found in the section of its memory for user uploads!
Blogpost about the new-old machine, if you're interested: https://www.knittingpirate.com/2026/04/10/in-which-the-pirate-acquires-another-knitting-machine-2/
Continuing with my punchcard experiments... this wolf pattern was published in a knitting magazine over 20 years ago. But howling wolves never go out of style, right?
https://www.knittingpirate.com/2026/03/23/in-which-the-pirate-howls/
200 clean(ish) standard gauge knitting machine needles after being soaked in 91% isopropyl alcohol and a few drops of oil. I think the pattern of schmutz they made on the cloth is kind of neat.
