Thursday, January 27, 2011

Making time and space for Machine Knitting

    Repairing a thoughtless error in my calculations on a knitting pattern this afternoon, I noticed I was neither hunched over nor hurried as I sat at the knitting machine.
     The greyish light of the winter afternoon rested softly on the needle bed and I felt happily contented, mistakes and all, and wondered why I had waited so long to set up the knitting machine this winter right in front of the living room window.
     Since fall, it had nagged at me, this desire to move the knitting machine to somewhere warmer, but not in the way. This house is too small for both of those criteria to be met, so I finally decided that "in the way" is not so bad, after all.
     In the summer, the knitting machine resides in the office, which is actually a poorly insulated enclosed portion of the original back porch. I can bundle up and assemble spindolyns or pack orders, but I simply can not abide being cold while knitting. It is somehow counterintuitive, and I operate on a 50/50 mix of intuition and logic. This winter has defied both of those, averaging way below normal in temperature and above normal in gloom. I have been doing more spinning and handknitting and just plain missing my knitting machine.
    So now, it is finally crammed into the living room, with 3 warming dogs, two cats, JB and his music studio, the wood stove, the tv, the stereo, the books, 3 computers and so on. Funny thing how that kind of winter intimacy either makes you want to kill someone, or drives you into a personal space that is actually more productive. The latter is working for me, with the mk right there at the window, every time I look out the front window to check on the sheep and goats in the pasture or the birds at the feeder, I sit down and knit a few rows (or more) the same way one might casually pick up their hand knitting.
      I was originally worried that the sun coming in the window would be a problem........ha. what sun?

What is funny about this photo? I am repairing my mis-calcuation by adding more on to the knitting on the machine, by knitting it on by hand. When the table and the chair are nice heights to each other, this is as comfortable as lounging at the kitchen table reading seed catalogues and knitting.knitting machine knitting.jpg

1 comment:

  1. Thanks so much for sharing your machine knitting! I too machine knit, as well as hand knit, and appreciate your comments.

    All the best,
    Dawn Rene

    ReplyDelete

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