A New Toy - So Exciting, and What Were Your High School Songs?

Welcome to a new month. We're having an early Fall this year, probably about one full week ahead of normal schedule, so our leaves should be peaking right about now. I wanted to drive around a bit yesterday and take photos to share with all of you, but I ended up too busy to take the extra time. After a very busy morning shopping at Target and my local grocery, I took a deep breath and decided to start cleaning Sewing Cabinet #3 - the set closest to the exterior wall. 

With the exception of the manual which is slightly 
different and updated, this is exactly what I had in 
my box. An LK-150 knitting machine with all of 
the various necessary parts. It's absolutely beautiful. 

This area has been a triage location for years - an "I'll put it down here and find a place for it later" place. Those are the nightmare places, no doubt. Before diving into cleaning, however, I opened my latest present to myself. This is my Holiday Gift for me, and I'm thrilled. I bought a knitting machine, and I wanted to open the package, make sure everything had arrived in good condition, and pull the instruction booklet for reading. 

I'm a TERRIBLE knitter, and I've never been able 
to master cable stitches at all. I knit Continental 
style because my mother taught me how to knit, so 
most of my American friends are already flummoxed 
by the fact that I hold my needles and yarn differently, 
but I'm also a really poor knitter and don't find the 
process enjoyable. I'm hopeful that the machine will 
allow me to knit items quickly with much better 
tension than I was ever able to achieve. 

It's beautiful. I started research on knitting machines a month or so ago. Most of the machines that were available twenty years ago aren't any more. The industry took a dive down in the 2000's, but there are still some manufacturers out there. I went onto a lot of websites and watched a lot of You-Tube videos. I came away from my research with the idea of either a Brother or a Silver Reed machine, and the Silver Reed was the one I really wanted. 

When the machine is assembled, it looks like 
this. The yarns are drawn up and over through 
a tensioning device, then into the large 
movable carriage in the front. The carriage 
puts the yarn onto the selected needles which 
occupy the bed of the machine, rather like 
the keys on a piano. 

There were some available on Ebay, but I was reluctant. I wanted a new one, not a used one, because I wanted to make sure everything necessary was in the package. I finally started doing a serious hunt for a new LK150 and found the manufacturer in China, still selling the original machine. I really didn't want to order from China, but Amazon had it available on their website, and I knew if there were problems, I could work with them. So, I gritted my teeth and ordered it on the 22nd with an expected delivery date of mid-November to mid-December. Imagine my shock when the Fed-Ex man came through the shop door late Tuesday with an unmistakable long box. I had my knitting machine within a week of my order! 

I also ordered several different books on 
machine knitting, none of which are available 
digitally. So, I'm adding four machine knitting 
books to my crafts library and not super 
happy about the fact that digital copies 
didn't exist. But I want to learn this 
equipment. It makes no sense to spin yarn if 
I can't use or sell what I spin. 

So before I started cleaning, I unpacked the machine. It doesn't have a case, so I replaced in into the box after making sure everything was there and in good condition. I grabbed a luggage strap to put around the box and keep it closed, and put it into Sewing Cabinet #1 - the narrow one. I also put a roll of Canadian heavyweight wool into that cabinet, wool I had bought to make a short cape for DH so he could be warm at Renaissance Festival. After that, I started cleaning. It's still going to take one more week of serious clean, but I'm happy with what I accomplished so far. I also found a bunch more exquisite wool and silk for spinning - enough that I started a second "Big Bag of Wool". I'll continue the project next week. I want my area clean and able to be worked in once again. 

Top 10 Songs of 1972

• 'Smoke on the Water' Deep Purple. ...
• 'You Wear It Well' Rod Stewart. ...
• 'Rocket Man' Elton John. ...
• 'All the Young Dudes' Mott the Hoople. ...
• 'School's Out' Alice Cooper. ...
• 'Ziggy Stardust' David Bowie. ...
• 'Heart of Gold' Neil Young. ...
• 'Tumbling Dice' The Rolling Stones

On a final note, a friend posted the query of "What were the top-10 songs when you graduated High School?" That interested me - but of course, I had to at least choose Rock Songs, because that's my genre. So here's the list of the Top 10 Rock Songs in 1972, the year I graduated High School. What were yours? It's rather fun to recall memories tied to the music. I'll be back tomorrow, please stay safe and wear your mask.