For Knitters and Antique Mechanical Enthusiast Types

[Willa]

A good YouTube video of a Circular Knitting Machine, with the operator making a sock.

I guess these were sold to farm wives as a new fangled and "easy" way to make money. There is certainly a learning curve, but once an operator learned how to use it, it DOES work very well. All kinds of interesting parts like weights to create tension in the item being knit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7N7hsho4Sjg

I also discovered that there is a Circular Knitting Machine Society, and places online that sell refurbished antiques if anyone wants to give this a try. Personally I anticipate this tool would create a great deal of weeping from sheer frustration but others may be made from stronger stuff:

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[awomanwithahammer]

Wow! Not only a practical machine, but also a thing of beauty!

Here's a video of a female Australian software engineer. She bought a 1980s knitting machine, hacked into it, and wrote programs to knit extremely intricate designs, such as this huge map of the constellations:

https://www.space.com/41683-hacked-knit ... r-map.html

It's fascinating and intimidating in a different way from the sock machine. I'd love to give it a shot.

[Gothichome]

There will be no end to the making of tube socks to the truly ambitious operator of that gadget.

[awomanwithahammer]

To clarify, I'd love to try the sock machine, not the computer knitter!

Ron, you could make tube socks with this machine, but I actually watched the whole video and she was making socks with turned heels. And it was very complicated, but fascinating. I've never tried socks before.

[GinaC]

Ehhh... I think I'll stick with crochet. My nana from Italy taught me when I was 12. I made my first pair of crocheted socks a few months ago and they turned out well -- and probably not all that much slower than this machine!

[Manalto]

I understand why you posted this, Willa. Thank you. It's a fascinating bit of machinery and just looking at that sock at the end made my feet feel good.

[Willa]

Wow! Not only a practical machine, but also a thing of beauty!

Here's a video of a female Australian software engineer. She bought a 1980s knitting machine, hacked into it, and wrote programs to knit extremely intricate designs, such as this huge map of the constellations:

https://www.space.com/41683-hacked-knit ... r-map.html

It's fascinating and intimidating in a different way from the sock machine. I'd love to give it a shot.

That's pretty great. I have great appreciation for the people who are able to grasp programming and actually make it work. I am so analog.

Do you know about artist Nina Paley ? She made the feature length animated film "Sita Sings the Blues", and fought a bunch of copyright battles along the way for her use of expired music in the film. The film is very entertaining and complex. It is available for free, streamed online, as per her wishes.

She has experimented with all kinds of mediums for animation, including even embroiderd and quilted animation . She is involved somehow with this place that makes very complex quilts using computerized something. The prices are quite affordable for a single colored quilt, that you can even have inscribed with words of your choosing in a modern style, or gift the science person in your life with a Periodic Table Quilt. I thought her money quilts were quite amazing:

http://www.palegraylabs.com/quilts-1/

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[Corsetière]

LEGWARMERS FOR ALL! lol!

Very neat piece!

[awomanwithahammer]

Willa, somehow I missed your reply. That quilt is amazing! I have never heard of Nina Paley. I'm blown away by the things women have accomplished in technology that we're just now learning about.

[Gothichome]

LEGWARMERS FOR ALL! lol!

Very neat piece!

Yes leg warmers and nylon tights with loose blouses. I’ll look for my low hipped plaid baggies and platform shoes. Oh! to be twenty again.
Strangely enough I saw a YouTube add for a new fangled tube sock maker by Singer, only in cheap plastic, same type of tools and everything. This has to prove that nothing is really new.