Kegworth 24 Circular Sock Knitting Machine 'Heaven'

Last weekend we went to  a super circular sock knitting machine (csm) meet  in Kegworth along with 59 other enthusiasts. Most brought one, or more, of their csm machines with them. These were mostly vintage models but this year there were a few 3D printed ones. The weekend was organised by Mary Hawkins and Matthew Hamilton. The weekend had its origins at the Ruddington  Sock Knitting Machine Museum (1). 

This is the third event I have attended, 

Unfortunately I was unable to attend last  year as I was between cataract operations and had to pull out at the last minute. 

We travelled on Friday and were lucky to be able to set up my machine on Friday evening. 

My machine is being set up at the front 

My machine is a Berridge/ Griswold, I am told from about 1900-02! It is such a wonderful event as everyone is so helpful and gives freely of their time and expertise. A series of workshops takes place during each day, again given by volunteers and the workshops (2 per session) are duplicated on each day.  So for those of us, most of those there I think, we were able to go to all the workshops if we wished. There is also a dinner on the Saturday in the hotel.

Besides the workshops, there is an adjoining room for those new to sock knitting, and individuals help others. There are also competitions to enter, ideas for other things to knit besides socks, books, leaflets, an opportunity to sell and of course buy machines, a section of items for sealed bid sales, bits of machines, needles to be ordered prior to the event and picked up there, accessories, etc. and of course lots of yarn. If it sounds like csm heaven that is because it is! 

This is  a cupcake (on the left showing icing, purple below) that transforms into a doll, knitted on a csm.  I now have the pattern to try!

So this year I took my early number, thus very old, Griswold 84 needle machine, more about my machine in the blog post of 10 Jan 17. This came to me complete with a ribber and all the necessary bits. It only leaves my house to go to this event as it is very heavy. I was in touch with others, (2) about how to transport it. I use a very large, sturdy but non aesthetically pleasing box. I have this weekend now seen a system of 3 interlocking boxes that will work and am about to order one! (3) 

This is the new set of stacking boxes on its own trolley to transport it, care of Screwfix.

I was excited but fearful as I was going to let Gordon Steel  remove the bolt from  the bottom of my ribber, in his workshop at home. I had tried but could not budge it at all. I didn’t have a completely sleepless Saturday  night as I was too tired for that, but did think about it a lot. The ribber works beautifully and would function well even with the bolt stuck. 

When I arrived on Sunday, I was more than relieved that the bolt was now only finger tight! Such kindness. This made the whole weekend worthwhile in itself. 

This is a view, I forgot to take lots of pictures, there were many knitters missing from the main room as there were workshops going one. 

Another  view of the main room 

On Saturday I attended several workshops: 

3 x 1 Ribbed socks and how to remove the ribber while doing the heel, by Gordon himself. This was genius and I learnt several tips from that workshop. 

The home sock machine history - this was by Matthew Hamilton and was a very interesting  ‘PowerPoint’ covering needles, bearded to latch, round machines, the development of the ribber and then we saw picture of some of the machines used in industry in the past and current times. 

My third workshop was on ‘Spinning for my sock knitter’ by Jill Shepherd and was rather different from what I expected.although a spinner of many years,  I have not spun fibre for sock knitting as I concentrate on cobweb spun yarn for the fine lace shawls that I design and knit, inspired by traditional Shetland Lace Knitting. My preference for this fine lace spinning is however worsted spun and so I mainly spin worsted yarn.  I have, and still am, researching the history of this type of spinning, starting with fleece. The talk focused almost entirely on using prepared tops for spinning which is something I rarely do, preferring to know the source of my fleece and know that it is prepared it in a worsted manner as I have done it myself! (4) 

My fourth workshop was on colour work by Lina Lauren, who had travelled with her 3D printed sock knitter and rotating 4 yarn holder from Sweden.  As you will know, if you follow my blog,  I love colour work and Fair Isle knitting. Lina’s machine was a joy to see. She began by talking about colour and dominance, relating this to colour use with the csm. She showed us a couple of very creative ways, to  integrate coloured yarn in patterning, the latter she is developing to a high level. Suddenly we could all understand  her developing technique for what she was talking about. I am not sure I can adapt my vintage csm for this, but it may be a little awkward  so  perhaps I need a 3D printed version just for this! Lina’s talk, to my mind, was master level! I felt very, very lucky to be able to see and experience this. 

We had brought our motorhome so did not attend the dinner this year. We were both exhausted and retreated to our nearby campsite for the evening, cooked and collapsed into  bed, so I could repeat all this in a slightly different form tomorrow. 

Some  people had only been able to attend on Saturday and many more were arriving for Sunday. The real  treat in terms of csm eye candy for me were the two machines Bill King bought with him. One was a very old sock knitter and the even more special one, imo, was a tiny flatbed Harrison. 

I had never seen a Harrison Knitting Machine this small and so perfect. It was a double bed and Bill was demonstrating making a lace scarf. Not sure how he concentrated at this whilst talking, much counting needed. 

 

Also it had been explained to me that it would knit two legs which could be joined at the crotch, on the machine  and a top knitted to form ‘combinations’ or ‘long John’s’. 

He had original manuals and patterns and it was so great to talk to him  about this and sock knitting . 

I have a couple of very old knitting machines (discussed in my website ) but I had serious envy of this Harrison! 

Now that I had the bolt loosened on my ribber I was able to swap the ribber dial and try my 3D printed one that I had owned for just over a year. I had bought a 72 3D printed cylinder from Eric Sharp and that worked well. I had not realised before that it was possible to buy smaller 3D printed cylinders that would fit into my Griswold. That was the csm eye opener of 2022 . So I spent some of Sunday on that. So more things to try when I got home. 

I had also taken a couple of pairs of my csm knitted sock feet that I had hand knit short legs on  using patterns from the Japanese Pattern Bible, and these gave others ideas too. ( blog post 2 Feb 24  for examples ) 

I chose just to do one workshop on Sunday and that was Easy fingerless mittens. This was a great demonstration and there were lots of thought processes involved in these ‘easy’ fingerless mittens. Again, just watching the demonstration gave me lots of hints and tips, which could also apply to hand knitting. 

When one is fortunate to have a demonstration with really experienced csm knitters, such as I had this weekend the whole of the session is so valuable as they ooze precious snippets  through the whole time! 

My background is in teaching and the csm based workshops reminded me of a very experienced educationist who I much admired. He would tell his students to only aim to teach 1/10 of what they knew about a subject as a teacher. His view was those that follow his advice do well as their body language etc also gives more and this was true for all the cam based workshops. The problem is when a teacher only knows 1/10 of what they are trying to teach, errors occur, there is no coherence and it is a poor experience for the students. 

I felt I did well, my aim was to buy no more yarn, well I did buy enough for 3 pairs of socks, for experimental purposes. (I am trying to find fine worsted spun yarn with some nylon or preferably mohair ). I like to use very fine yarn but will try some some thicker ‘sock yarn’  on the Griswold and see how the 72 /36 needle cylinder and ribber react to this ‘normal sock yarn’ too. I also treated myself to a bobbin winder and was in luck when one of Anna Stocks’s trial 3D printed cone accessories fitted this. The very old with the very new. How great is that! the leather cord came with it and I am adjusting it to see if this is the best thing for it, hence the long threads!

 

..and all too soon the weekend came to an end. With huge thanks to Mary and Mathew for all you do before and I guess after the event too. It all works so smoothly that I know you work hard  beforehand. Fond farewells to old friends and to  new friendships formed, a tentative local meet up is being discussed and the beginning of March pencilled in for Kegworth 25. 

Notes

1. This is actually called the Framework Knitters Museum. It is a unique working museum in a 19th Century Framework Knitter’s yard. It is a few years since I have been. It was a great experience and you can see the original frames in action and have a go at knitting your own souvenir on a vintage machine. It is run by enthusiastic and knowledgeable volunteers, many who were part of the weekend) and now has a gift shop and it looks like a cafe in a van outside. Well worth a visit, check for opening hours. 
2. Many of us are in the fb group Vintage Krankers and one kind member, Janet replied that she had a suitable carrying system for a Griswold that I could see at the weekend. We arrived about the same time, she spotted out Wildax Motorhome and was also the ground owner of the same make. We are wondering if we can get together somewhere for our own csm meet and whether there are fellow Wildaxers who might like to be involved too! 
3. I have now acquired the stacking boxes. I can’t recommend Screwfix enough. Ordered before lunch picked up after lunch!
4. I have been disappointed, or rather very annoyed, by buying a wool/ silk mix from what I thought was a reputable supplier, only to find the silk was not silk, nor even nylon. Eventually, having been sent microscopic photographs of the yarn (the rogue 'silk' fibre did not take up the dye!) the cost was refunded but of course the time I had spent in dyeing using the yarn and convincing the seller was wasted. But worse than this I was not really believed and the first offer was replacement yarn from the same batch!