machine knitting

Tie Dyed Knits!

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Have you ever tie dyed your knits? I’ve always wanted to but was nervous that I wouldn’t like the result and cry about all of the time I spent knitting. I’ve definitely had my tie dyeing efforts on my own clothes go south, but at the same time, sometimes they turn out amazing! Ultimately I decided to be brave and try something new. I had some white fingering weight yarn in my stash from Knitcrate that was meant to be experimented with and dyed, so I knitted up my “Girly Knits Bra Top” and “Lounging My Best Life” pants pattern on my knitting machine and gave it a go. Thankfully, they turned out as fun and colorful as I was imagining!

The dye that I used was a highly rated kit that I found on Amazon in “Unicorn” colors, which you can find here. My vision was to have an ombre effect of pastel colors. While these colors were a bit brighter than I was going for, you can’t deny that they are fun! I invited some friends over to tie dye their white goods alongside me, and it was a lot less nerve racking doing this process with their support. As you can see, all I did was tie rubber bands around sections of the top and pants, and use a different color dye for each section. The second photo was the set in a bucket after I rinsed the dye out, which clearly did not fade!

Part of the fun of tie dying is that you do give up a bit of control, and let whatever colorful artistic magic is going to happen happen. It was very exhilarating to take off the rubber bands and ultimately see the end result. Here is the finished set below, I like to describe it as what I would look like if I collided with a rainbow!

I hope you enjoyed seeing this knitting tie dye journey and perhaps inspires you to give tie dying your knits a go!

Happy Knitting!

💜 Lauren

How to Knit Lace on an LK150 Knitting Machine using the Needle Beetle

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Hello! Today I have a new video tutorial where I will be showing you how to knit lace on your LK150 knitting machine using the Needle Beetle by Kris Krafter. The Needle Beetle is an automatic needle selector and will help you knit lace by selecting which stitches you will need to transfer each row for your lace pattern, eliminating potential mistakes and making the transfers much easier to see. The Needle Beetle selects repeats of 8, so you can use it with any pattern that is a multiple of 8 stitches. Check out the video to learn more about the Needle Beetle and see it in action to fully understand how it works and can help you knit lace.

In this demo I show you how to read a lace chart and translate that to the Needle Beetle. I walk you through every row of a 26 row lace chart which is the lace pattern featured in my two newest designs, “Awesome Blossoms” Lace Sweater and Dress and “Lace for Days” Leg Warmers. After the lace demo, I show you how to do a latched up ribbed edge, a technique used in the leg warmers pattern. To give you an idea of how quickly you can knit lace on a knitting machine using the Needle Beetle, the picture below is the front of the sweater which I knitted in only one day!

LK150-lace-knitting-pattern-using-needle-beetle

“Awesome Blossoms” is a machine knitting pattern that can be either a sweater or a dress, and is based off of an existing hand knitting pattern I designed years back called “Take a Bow”. This sweater is updated from the original design to have a crew neckline and sloped shoulders so that you can add sleeves. I’ve added an additional .pdf to “Take a Bow” so you can make these mods with the hand knitting pattern – if you have purchased the pattern you should have received an update! I love this design as a drop shoulder sweater with sleeves, and I hope you do too.  The yarn I used for this sweater is a gorgeous DK Merino Silk blend which unfortunately is discontinued, but a yarn that has the same fiber content and is just as beautiful is Knit Picks “Gloss DK” which I used for another one of my machine knit samples as well as the original hand knit version.

I hadn’t thought of this dress design being a beach cover up before, but this cotton yarn I used from Knitcrate inspired it! This yarn is so much fun – it is a Pima Cotton with a subtle variegation that almost makes it look tie dyed when knit up, especially in lace. It was a limited edition yarn called Uru Yarn Cotton Basic that is now sold out, but I’m wondering if there’s something similar out there? If a yarn comes to mind let me know! I’ve also seen knitters make this dress into a graduation dress, a wedding dress (!), and an everyday top, it’s so versatile! Any DK yarn will work with this pattern (as long as you’re able to get the gauge stated) so I encourage you to go ahead and use your favorite.

This is another version of “Awesome Blossoms” with just a touch of lace, that is included as an option within the pattern. This version is nice in that it knits up faster with less lace, and that you can just wear a bra with it without worrying about having to wear a tank top underneath. Which version do you prefer? One knitter pointed out that this lace pattern looks like tulips which was inspiration for the name, do you see them?

“Lace For Days” is a leg warmer pattern that features the same lace pattern as above, but on a much smaller scale if you want a quick win! Wear them under boots, over tights, or to lounge around in to make your legs look pretty. Available in 5 sizes to fit Girls-Adult, this is both a hand knitting and machine knitting pattern and you will get both when you buy the pattern. They feature Skacel Knitting’s “Simplicity” Metallic which has just a hint of glimmer to give your legs some extra sparkle.

A couple other things I mention in the video are the handheld steamer I use, and an invite to join my machine knitting facebook group!

I hope you enjoy this tutorial and and learned something new about using the Needle Beetle.  If you do make any of these designs, please share photos on Ravelry or Instagram where I’m @girlyknits, I would love to see what you make! To see all of my LK150 machine knitting patterns, check them out here.

Happy Knitting!

💜 Lauren

How to Knit a Lace Dress on a Knitting Machine – Beginner LK150 Tutorial

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Hey there!  I’m super excited to be back again today with another machine knitting tutorial!  This time we’ll be knitting lace which is so much fun!  There are so many interesting things you can do with your knitting machine, and lace is one of those techniques that it so rewarding and fun to watch take form.

In this video tutorial, I’ll be walking you through all of the techniques used in my new dress design “Wild Irises”, which is available as a Girls Dress Pattern and Adult Dress Pattern.  Not only is this a machine knitting pattern, it is a hand knitting pattern as well and you will get both when you purchase the pattern!

  In the video tutorial, I first show you how to cast on and do a decorative picot hem. Then I walk you through every row of the lace chart and how to read the symbols. Next I show you how to scrap off and rehang your knitting to create a gather, then how to finish your knitting with a picot edging. Lastly I show you how to add I-Cord straps directly onto your knitting, and all of the finishing techniques I used for the dress.

Here is the chart below for you to follow along with while watching the video tutorial.  In the video I take you through each lace row and explain what the symbols mean, so no worries if it doesn’t make sense yet!I hope you enjoy this tutorial and that you have as much fun as I did knitting this lace pattern!  If you do make this dress, please share photos on Ravelry or Instagram where I’m @girlyknits, I would love to see what you make! 😊 To see all of my LK150 machine knitting patterns, check them out here.

Happy Knitting!

💜 Lauren

Here are the links mentioned in the video:

Girls Dress Pattern: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/wild-irises-girls-dress

Women’s Dress Pattern: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/wild-irises-lace-dress

Yarn Used in Demo: Lion Brand Low Tide

Yarn used for other Dresses: Knit Picks Brava Worsted

7-Prong Transfer Tool

Handheld Steamer

Here is a list of times of everything demonstrated in the video in case you’re looking for help with a specific technique:

Casting on with waste yarn – 4:42

Using ravel cord – 5:35

Joining main yarn to knit picot hem – 5:45

Eyelet row for picot – 6:11

Fold and hang hem – 7:22

Joining row – 8:01

Knitting lace chart – 8:43

Row 0 – 9:24

How to do a double decrease – 10:36

Row 2 – 16:23

Row 4 – 21:23

Row 6 – 26:08

Row 8 – 28:33

Row 10 – 30:48

Row 12 – 34:40

Row 14 – 36:30

Row 16 – 38:16

Row 18 – 39:04

Row 20 – 40:30

Rows 22-31 – 42:05

Removing waste yarn – 43:02

Row 32 – 43:29

Rows 34-45 – 47:10

Rows 46-66 – 49:27

Steam blocking your lace – 51:40

Gathering the skirt – 53:47

Scrapping off with waste yarn- 53:56

Removing work from machine – 54:35

Rehanging knitting – 54:49

How to hang 2 stitches together – 55:34

Knitting gathered row and bodice – 56:33

Removing waste yarn from gather – 57:25

Eyelet row for picot edge – 57:54

Last row to prepare for chain bind off – 58:55

How to do a chain bind off – 59:34

Seaming picot edge – 1:01:33

I-cord straps – 1:04:32

Picking up stitches for straps – 1:05:15

Setting up to knit in I-cord – 1:05:56

Binding off straps – 1:06:43

Finishing straps and tying knot – 1:07:48

Seaming strap to inside of picot – 1:08:37

Conclusion – 1:10:51

How to Knit Shorts and Pants on a Knitting Machine – Beginner LK150 Tutorial

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lk150 machine knitting patternHey Guys!  I’m super excited to be back with another machine knitting tutorial!  This time we’re talking about shorts and pants, woohoo!  I have two brand new designs, “Cozy Up With Me” Shorts and “Cozy Up With Me” Pants.  They come in sizes 0-26 and have tons of options for making them custom to you.  The techniques used for both designs are the same so you can use this video tutorial for either pattern.  And, if you’re a hand knitter, I’ve got you too!  These are also available as knitting patterns (featured in fun colorful yarns!) as “Ombre All Day” Shorts and “Ombre All Day” Pants.

In the video I demonstrate making the size Small Shorts, and walk you through every step including how to cast on with waste yarn, knit and join the bottom leg bands (including how to do a picot hem), how to bind off for the crotch, shape the front and back, do short rows at the top of the shorts, knit the waistband, add an eyelet for a drawstring, how to fold and join the waistband on the machine, and bind off using a backstitch bind off. I then show you how to seam the 2 legs together, and finally demonstrate the steps for knitting an i-cord drawstring on your machine. I hope you find this video tutorial helpful and that you learn some new things!

lk150 machine knitting pattern  lk150 machine knitting patternlk150 machine knitting pattern  lk150 machine knitting patternThe yarn I use in this tutorial is Lion Brand “Touch of Alpaca” in Blush, the grey shorts pictured use Knit Picks “Brava Worsted” in Cobblestone Heather, and the yarn I used for the knitted pants is Lion Brand “Pound of Love” in Charcoal (and I only used 1 skein!)  These are all great options that come in beautiful heather colorways, but any worsted weight yarn you like will work.

If you make either the of these designs please post a photo on Ravelry, or tag me on instagram, @girlyknits!  There is nothing I love more than seeing your creations!  To see all of my LK150 machine knitting patterns, check them out here.

Here is a list of times of everything I demonstrate in the video 😊 :

Casting on with waste yarn – 2:59

Using ravel cord – 4:05

Joining main yarn to knit the bottom band – 4:25

Knitting a row of eyelets for a picot hem – 5:07

Picking up and joining the hem – 6:10

Joining Row – 7:26

Knitting the inseam and tips for length – 7:55

Binding off crotch – 8:49

Decreasing at front and back – 11:28

Additional back decreases – 12:16

Removing waste yarn – 13:55

Short Rows – 14:14

Knitting the waistband – 17:44

Eyelet for drawstring – 19:25

Picking up row to join waistband – 20:36

Joining waistband – 24:15

Backstitch bind off – 24:46

Removing shorts from machine – 26:56

Seaming inseam – 27:15

Seaming backs together – 28:50

I-cord drawstring – 30:45

E-wrap cast on – 31:05

Drawstring tips – 32:35

Conclusion – 33:39

💜 Lauren