May is shaping up to be a very busy month inside the Machine Knit Community with a whole variety of machine knitting workshops, classes and live events - starting with our popular 21 days of Fair Isle Challenge. All our events are included as part of your membership. So if you are thinking about joining the Community in April, I thought it would be good to see what you will be able to enjoy in the first month of your membership. 21 Days of Fair Isle Challenge starts 1st May For novices or those looking to brush up on their skills (particularly if you are new to punchcards or Fair Isle) – thi ..read more

When was the last time you checked your spongebar? One of the (many) great things about knitting machines is their durability. Many of us are using machines that are well over 30 years old and they still work beautifully. But there is one part that is definitely not famed for its durability - and that’s the humble spongebar. Aside from knitting machine needles, spongebars are perhaps the only other part in a knitting machine that need replacing on a regular basis. But you’d be forgiven for not even knowing it existed! If you look in your instruction manual for your knitting machine, there is u ..read more

Most knitters know that choosing the right yarn can make or break a project.  With Fair Isle knitting this can be even more important as the way the different colours of yarn knit together is such a critical part of it.  That’s great when you are a hand knitter with an overwhelming choice of yarns at your disposal.  But for machine knitters, if you are looking for coned yarn to use to knit Fair Isle on your knitting machine, there aren’t quite as many options available to you and it can be hard to know where to look for really great yarn. That’s why I have given you a nice hand ..read more

A Knitmaster knitting machine I teach a lot of machine knitting workshops and classes, both online and in real life, and one of the very first questions I will students is what make and model of machine they use. I always want to know about their current level of machine knitting and what sort of things they would like to knit with their machine, but after that the make of their machine is the next most critical question and there’s a very good reason for that! Because whilst domestic knitting machines work in broadly the same way, there are a lot of things that are very different between the ..read more

When I was preparing my presentation for the MKC Christmas Party I spent a little bit of time looking back and reflecting on my machine knitting for the year to see what I had achieved.  I wanted to think more specifically about what I had personally accomplished on my knitting machine(s) this year.  I think it's an incredibly powerful and positive exercise and so I am sharing my review with you in the hope that it might encourage you to spend some time thinking about your own progress and achievements as well. This can be a completely personal thing and you don't need to share it w ..read more

It's very satisfying to be bringing the year to a close with a final book review for another brand new machine knitting book that has been published this month!  This time it's a new book on Lace and Open Fabrics from Elena Berenghean which is now the fourth book in the new series on Machine Knitting Techniques from Crowood Press. My review copy arrived in the post last week and I have been eagerly waiting for a spare hour or so to be able to sit down with a brew and take a look between the covers.  Having published my own book at the beginning of the year (and through working with ..read more

A brand new machine knitting pattern! I’m delighted to announce the publication of my latest machine knitting pattern - the Lumb Bank Cardigan! This design was created for our MKC Retreat in Heptonstall earlier this year and now it’s ready for the outside world and lots more machine knitters. The design was inspired by the unique location for our Retreat at Lumb Bank - an 18th Century mill owners' house that once belonged to the Poet Laureate Ted Hughes (and is normally only used for writers' retreats). From old buildings with original architectural features, to a green and fertile landscape a ..read more

Bill King sits at his knitting machine at the MKC Retreat to demonstrate to machine knitters Machine knitting is undergoing a bit of a renaissance these days but many people are still using machines and tables that are decades old. We often think about upgrading machines to newer models - but what about how you set up your machine? Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting out, one of the other decisions to consider is whether to sit or stand while working at your knitting machine. We had a post about this both in the MKC and on our Instagram account recently and were surprised by the am ..read more

August 2023 And that's a wrap!! Our first ever MKC Retreat finished on Saturday and Steve, Szilvia & I have survived to tell the tale (just!)  It was an absolute blast and so much fun!  Although it was very hard work behind the scenes (especially in the weeks running up) it was more than worth it in so many ways. I wanted to share a flavour of the experience from my point of view so you can see what went on “On Retreat”! The venue We were lucky to hold the entire event in the beautiful surroundings of Lumb Bank, an old 18th century mill-owner's residence with accommodation for a ..read more

And learn more about how and why the Machine Knit Community started. The Machine Knit Community was founded in October 2020 by Nic Corrigan, a knitwear designer/maker and an avid machine knitter. Since then, the Community has grown to over 700 members around the globe who love having a private space to learn and share everything they love about machine knitting without any distractions. Nic - and the Community - is now supported by a small team who help to keep the wheels moving. Here you can find out a little bit more about them. Nic Corrigan FOUNDER & CHIEF KNITTING OFFICER I founded W ..read more