{
"type": "entry",
"published": "2025-10-02T21:00:38-07:00",
"url": "https://beesbuzz.biz/blog/4967-Some-updates",
"category": [
"bloggin",
"music",
"disability",
"health"
],
"name": "Some updates",
"content": {
"text": "Just some brief stuff:\nFinally followed through on my intention to remove (most of) my music from Spotify. I hope this doesn\u2019t turn out to be a huge mistake.\nI got an update on my disability process in that it\u2019s moved to final approval\u2026 right before the government shut down.\nPain-wise I\u2019m doing okay, not great, and same for fatigue. I\u2019m still not driving.\nThings are progressing with the game I\u2019m working on, but I\u2019m worried about its financial future due to being NSFW and sex-work-positive.\nI\u2019m pretty worried about the current timbre of American politics right now, what with being both trans and an atheist. Also my passport won\u2019t be eligible for renewal until mid-December and I\u2019m not sure the gender marker thing is going to hold out that long.\nWho cursed me to live in interesting times? They can fuck right off.",
"html": "<p>Just some brief stuff:</p>\n<ul><li>Finally followed through on my intention to <a href=\"https://sockpuppet.band/blog/2156-Where-d-your-music-go\">remove (most of) my music from Spotify</a>. I hope this doesn\u2019t turn out to be a huge mistake.</li>\n<li>I got an update on my disability process in that it\u2019s moved to final approval\u2026 right before the government shut down.</li>\n<li>Pain-wise I\u2019m doing okay, not great, and same for fatigue. I\u2019m still not driving.</li>\n<li>Things are progressing with the game I\u2019m working on, but I\u2019m worried about its financial future due to being NSFW and sex-work-positive.</li>\n<li>I\u2019m pretty worried about the current timbre of American politics right now, what with being both <a href=\"https://www.them.us/story/trump-admin-fbi-trans-nihilistic-violent-extremists-terrorist\">trans</a> <em>and</em> an <a href=\"https://youtu.be/dJ9Zk4qcUUQ\">atheist</a>. Also my passport won\u2019t be eligible for renewal until mid-December and I\u2019m not sure the <a href=\"https://www.erininthemorning.com/p/trump-files-emergency-scotus-motion\">gender marker thing</a> is going to hold out that long.</li>\n<li>Who cursed me to live in interesting times? They can fuck right off.</li>\n</ul>"
},
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "fluffy",
"url": "https://beesbuzz.biz/",
"photo": "https://beesbuzz.biz/static/headshot.jpg"
},
"post-type": "article",
"_id": "46127895",
"_source": "2778"
}
Looks like Vimeo is being acquired. To my eyes it appears to be a private equity play by a private equity player with a history of making a mess of their toys.
I know that some folks have seen Vimeo as an alternative to the algorithmic ad-ridden hustle-bustle hell-world that is YouTube. For example, Vi Hart moved all of her 10+ years of YouTube to https://vimeo.com/vihart ! I worry for the future of all those works.
For my part, I uploaded a single video to Vimeo almost 16 years ago to see if it would be a suitable place to post video for sharing to the social networks I was on at the time. I guess I didn’t love it. I’ve now mirrored that single video to my own site. No big deal: MakerBot #131 printing bike handlebar mount bottom
{
"type": "entry",
"published": "2025-10-02T10:15:11-0400",
"url": "https://martymcgui.re/2025/10/02/101511/",
"category": [
"Vimeo",
"capitalism",
"video",
"hosting"
],
"syndication": [
"https://news.indieweb.org/en/martymcgui.re/2025/10/02/101511/",
"https://fed.brid.gy/"
],
"content": {
"text": "Looks like Vimeo is being acquired. To my eyes it appears to be a private equity play by a private equity player with a history of making a mess of their toys.\nI know that some folks have seen Vimeo as an alternative to the algorithmic ad-ridden hustle-bustle hell-world that is YouTube. For example, Vi Hart moved all of her 10+ years of YouTube to https://vimeo.com/vihart ! I worry for the future of all those works.\nFor my part, I uploaded a single video to Vimeo almost 16 years ago to see if it would be a suitable place to post video for sharing to the social networks I was on at the time. I guess I didn\u2019t love it. I\u2019ve now mirrored that single video to my own site. No big deal: MakerBot #131 printing bike handlebar mount bottom",
"html": "<p>Looks like <a href=\"https://investors.vimeo.com/news-releases/news-release-details/vimeo-enters-definitive-agreement-be-acquired-bending-spoons-138\">Vimeo is being acquired</a>. To my eyes it appears to be a private equity play by a private equity player with a history of making a mess of their toys.</p>\n<p>I know that some folks have seen Vimeo as an alternative to the algorithmic ad-ridden hustle-bustle hell-world that is YouTube. For example, Vi Hart moved <em>all</em> of her 10+ years of YouTube to <a href=\"https://vimeo.com/vihart\">https://vimeo.com/vihart</a> ! I worry for the future of all those works.</p>\n<p>For my part, I uploaded a single video to Vimeo almost 16 years ago to see if it would be a suitable place to post video for sharing to the social networks I was on at the time. I guess I didn\u2019t love it. I\u2019ve now mirrored that single video to my own site. No big deal: <a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/2009/10/10/130000/\">MakerBot #131 printing bike handlebar mount bottom</a></p>"
},
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "Marty McGuire",
"url": "https://martymcgui.re/",
"photo": "https://martymcgui.re/images/logo.jpg"
},
"post-type": "note",
"_id": "46123856",
"_source": "175"
}
{
"type": "entry",
"published": "2025-09-22T10:46:00-0400",
"url": "https://martymcgui.re/2025/09/22/machine-knitting-carriage-return-to-work/",
"category": [
"machine-knitting",
"maintenance",
"hats"
],
"name": "Machine knitting: carriage return to work",
"content": {
"text": "As mentioned in my first-hat\u00a0and forbidden socks posts my Brother KH-930e knitting machine was unable to knit two-color Fair Isle patterning due to two cam buttons being stuck together.\nI didn't really know where to start with figuring this out. I remember doing some semi-fruitless web searching, before finally deciding to learn how to disassemble the carriage enough to look at it and see if I could find something obvious.\nI started by hunting down the service manual PDF for my machine and following the instructions there. Those instructions and diagrams helped me get the handle and the cover off, as well as most of the way to removing the cartridge-like structure that mounts the cam control buttons. I was scared off by the \"remove these springs\" steps, as I did not see a way to remove the small springs without bending them.\nAt the end of this process I was able to determine that the buttons themselves were not stuck together. It was the plates that each of these buttons controls. If I wanted to get inside to see what was going on, I would definitely have needed to get those springs out, and plan for some messier and more fiddly work.\nDisappointed and anxious, I reassembled the carriage. Thankfully, it still worked, though still without Fair Isle support. Between the mess of old oil and grease, and my anxiety about getting the carriage apart and together again, I didn't even take photos of this part of the process.\nThat's when I found the videos that would have saved me all the trouble!\nThis Cleaning Brother Carriages\u00a0from theanswerladyknits on YouTube\u00a0has\u00a0so much information about Brother (and other) knitting machines, in-depth disassembly and cleaning videos, lists of what to buy, and even explanations about common issues like the exact button-sticking problem I was facing. I cannot stress enough how relieving and exciting it was to find these videos.\nI went a little overboard and bought their whole deep-clean-and-restore shopping list, which ended up being a little over $100 worth of oils and solvents and lubes and oil-soaking rags. I only planned to use 2 or 3 of these, in order to unstick the button cams, but wanted the other stuff on hand in case I needed to go further.\nOnce I had all the\u00a0fluids, I picked up an aluminum turkey pan as a portable work tray. This served to keep all the oil and gunk away from the surfaces in our small apartment, let me spray next to a window for better ventilation, and store it out of the way as I let things soak.\n\nBrother KH-930e carriage in a turkey pan. Let's... cook?Metal internals of the carriage with the top handle, tension dial, and plastic cover removed. Yellow-orange grease is visible around the tension dial.\n\nOur carriage was pretty clean, overall, but with old yellow-orange grease pretty visible. According to the videos on theanswerladyknits channel, this is old lithium grease, likely from when the carriage was first assembled. That suggests our machine had not seen much use since its early days.\n\nCarriage resting on blue shop towels with white plastic dial and button covers removed. Visible grease has been wiped away.Angled view to better show the cam button assembly. There are 6 metal tangs. Two pairs on either end are side-by-side, while the middle pair are stacked vertically.A finger indicates the space between the cam cartridge and the carriage bottom, where oil will be applied.\n\nI removed the plastic parts for the buttons and knobs for hand-cleaning and wiped away the visible globs of grease that I could see, then sprayed \"aero kroil\" into the cam button assembly, especially focusing on the bottom area where the \"tuck\" \"multicolor\" cam plates need to slide past one another. Within minutes, the kroil had done its work and I was able to slide the two plates independently, hooray!\nI let the kroil work overnight. As\u00a0theanswerlady's husband \"Ask Jack\" tells\u00a0it, kroil a \"creeping oil\" that works its way over and between metal parts, freeing them up, then also works its way\u00a0out. However, he also says that we don't want to leave any hydrocarbon oils inside the machine.\nSo the next day, it was time to chase out all the kroil, and as much of the old lithium grease and any other \"crud\" it had freed up. I used a can of LPS-1 to spray into and through all the nooks and crannies of the carriage that I could get to, using a stiff brush and blue towels to try and \"mop out\" all the gunk I could reach.\n\nMe holding the carriage as I mop out some gunk with a blue towel. My turkey-pan work station is on a window sill by an open window. Blue towels soaked in oil and silicone lubricant line the pan. A small brush, roll of blue shop towels, and spray can of LPS 1 are visible.\n\nAfter the scrubbing I propped up the carriage for an hour or so to let the LPS 1 drip out before flipping it over to let it drip some more. I bagged and tossed the soaked shop towels and used some fresh ones to lightly blot away obvious pools and drips as I re-assembled the carriage.\nBefore testing things out, I sprayed the underside of the carriage, as well as the machine's needle bed, with \"ask Jack\"'s recommended \"LPS FG\" food-grade dry silicone lube, and gave everything a good wipe down.\nAfter a couple of false starts I got things going and everything moved\u00a0much\u00a0more smoothly than before. I set up some waste cotton yarn across all 200 needles and knit a long swatch at varying tensions, working the mechanisms and soaking up any excess lube and junk that might come out.\nFinally, I pulled out the hat pattern I had worked out for Producer Amy a couple of weeks before, knit the hem, and engaged two-color Fair Isle pattern knitting...\n\nMe hunched over the machine, transfer tool in hand. A wide rectangle of black and gray knitting hangs from the needle bed.A black and gray beanie with a black brim. The main body of the hat has a clear pattern featuring a diagonal grid.\n\nI think we're in business!!\nReturning to my original \"curriculum\":\n\u2705 Do some swatching\n \u2705 Make a single-color hat\n \u2705\u00a0Make a two-color hat with a Fair Isle pattern\n \ud83d\udd1c AYAB time\nLooks like I have \"no excuses\" left not to disassemble the on-board electronics to replace them with AYAB. \ud83d\ude33\nIn truth, I would like a bit more practice with Fair Isle using the \"vanilla\" machine. Specifically, the hat above is done with an overall repeating pattern, but there are different techniques if you want to do a \"motif\" that is constrained to just one part of the knitting. I want to make some swatches with isolated patterns and end-needle selection, practice managing floats, get used to the way pattern knitting row counts feel \"off by one\", see how Fair Isle affects the finished gauge of the fabric, etc.\nMeanwhile, I've started a basic sweater with\u00a0hilarious results. Stay tuned, like and subscribe, etc. etc. etc. \ud83d\ude0e",
"html": "<p>As mentioned in my <a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/2025/09/08/machine-knitting-whats-up-with-that/\">first-hat</a>\u00a0and <a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/2025/09/18/machine-knitting-forbidden-socks/\">forbidden socks</a> posts my Brother KH-930e knitting machine was unable to knit two-color Fair Isle patterning due to two cam buttons being stuck together.</p>\n<p>I didn't really know where to start with figuring this out. I remember doing some semi-fruitless web searching, before finally deciding to learn how to disassemble the carriage enough to look at it and see if I could find something obvious.</p>\n<p>I started by hunting down the service manual PDF for my machine and following the instructions there. Those instructions and diagrams helped me get the handle and the cover off, as well as most of the way to removing the cartridge-like structure that mounts the cam control buttons. I was scared off by the \"remove these springs\" steps, as I did not see a way to remove the small springs without bending them.</p>\n<p>At the end of this process I was able to determine that the buttons themselves were not stuck together. It was the plates that each of these buttons controls. If I wanted to get inside to see what was going on, I would definitely have needed to get those springs out, and plan for some messier and more fiddly work.</p>\n<p>Disappointed and anxious, I reassembled the carriage. Thankfully, it still worked, though still without Fair Isle support. Between the mess of old oil and grease, and my anxiety about getting the carriage apart and together again, I didn't even take photos of this part of the process.</p>\n<p>That's when I found the videos that would have saved me all the trouble!</p>\n<p>This <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLezPGIR4gsIeW2j1sifx1xLJkIoPAv2s1\">Cleaning Brother Carriages</a>\u00a0from <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/@theanswerladyknits\">theanswerladyknits on YouTube</a>\u00a0has\u00a0<i>so much </i>information about Brother (and other) knitting machines, in-depth disassembly and cleaning videos, lists of what to buy, and even explanations about common issues like the exact button-sticking problem I was facing. I cannot stress enough how relieving and exciting it was to find these videos.</p>\n<p>I went a little overboard and bought their whole deep-clean-and-restore shopping list, which ended up being a little over $100 worth of oils and solvents and lubes and oil-soaking rags. I only planned to use 2 or 3 of these, in order to unstick the button cams, but wanted the other stuff on hand in case I needed to <i>go further</i>.</p>\n<p>Once I had all the\u00a0<i>fluids</i>, I picked up an aluminum turkey pan as a portable work tray. This served to keep all the oil and gunk away from the surfaces in our small apartment, let me spray next to a window for better ventilation, and store it out of the way as I let things soak.</p>\n\n<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/ca/8e/9d/38/c08611f685c888a41398577fe4f437b4cc597634b37ebbe561cc197e.\" alt=\"\" />Brother KH-930e carriage in a turkey pan. Let's... cook?<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/60/bb/a5/16/01b6b4b10b59c7d6565ef5051f759810ce7ebb64a7e308054c99b88a.\" alt=\"\" />Metal internals of the carriage with the top handle, tension dial, and plastic cover removed. Yellow-orange grease is visible around the tension dial.\n\n<p>Our carriage was pretty clean, overall, but with old yellow-orange grease pretty visible. According to the videos on theanswerladyknits channel, this is old lithium grease, likely from when the carriage was first assembled. That suggests our machine had not seen much use since its early days.</p>\n\n<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/07/fe/14/76/adbec1a42ac66a152a691547df7d2307c3f818fd0d14127694c6b625.\" alt=\"\" />Carriage resting on blue shop towels with white plastic dial and button covers removed. Visible grease has been wiped away.<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/e3/1e/8c/54/4e77649ddd3a7f2f68f6888d0513d133c5d826b6234bdf1068b44ab9.\" alt=\"\" />Angled view to better show the cam button assembly. There are 6 metal tangs. Two pairs on either end are side-by-side, while the middle pair are stacked vertically.<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/c0/a2/5c/1b/fe41dbe97a8b9602d4d0b3666e0973c5fd9ce0dc828f947755e35ac4.\" alt=\"\" />A finger indicates the space between the cam cartridge and the carriage bottom, where oil will be applied.\n\n<p>I removed the plastic parts for the buttons and knobs for hand-cleaning and wiped away the visible globs of grease that I could see, then sprayed \"aero kroil\" into the cam button assembly, especially focusing on the bottom area where the \"tuck\" \"multicolor\" cam plates need to slide past one another. Within minutes, the kroil had done its work and I was able to slide the two plates independently, hooray!</p>\n<p>I let the kroil work overnight. As\u00a0theanswerlady's husband \"Ask Jack\" tells\u00a0it, kroil a \"creeping oil\" that works its way over and between metal parts, freeing them up, then also works its way\u00a0<i>out</i>. However, he also says that we don't want to leave any hydrocarbon oils inside the machine.</p>\n<p>So the next day, it was time to chase out all the kroil, and as much of the old lithium grease and any other \"crud\" it had freed up. I used a can of LPS-1 to spray into and through all the nooks and crannies of the carriage that I could get to, using a stiff brush and blue towels to try and \"mop out\" all the gunk I could reach.</p>\n\n<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/89/3c/43/c7/e58f9e8d8408b1bded6b0535deb083c9f5661d251cc4ec48e2b59c44.\" alt=\"\" />Me holding the carriage as I mop out some gunk with a blue towel. My turkey-pan work station is on a window sill by an open window. Blue towels soaked in oil and silicone lubricant line the pan. A small brush, roll of blue shop towels, and spray can of LPS 1 are visible.\n\n<p>After the scrubbing I propped up the carriage for an hour or so to let the LPS 1 drip out before flipping it over to let it drip some more. I bagged and tossed the soaked shop towels and used some fresh ones to lightly blot away obvious pools and drips as I re-assembled the carriage.</p>\n<p>Before testing things out, I sprayed the underside of the carriage, as well as the machine's needle bed, with \"ask Jack\"'s recommended \"LPS FG\" food-grade dry silicone lube, and gave everything a good wipe down.</p>\n<p>After a couple of false starts I got things going and everything moved\u00a0<i>much</i>\u00a0more smoothly than before. I set up some waste cotton yarn across all 200 needles and knit a long swatch at varying tensions, working the mechanisms and soaking up any excess lube and junk that might come out.</p>\n<p>Finally, I pulled out the hat pattern I had worked out for Producer Amy a couple of weeks before, knit the hem, and engaged two-color Fair Isle pattern knitting...</p>\n\n<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/4b/76/7b/55/77c67d0842997a90c251663e9da3bbe34e7d47972995a6d2bdd5d479.\" alt=\"\" />Me hunched over the machine, transfer tool in hand. A wide rectangle of black and gray knitting hangs from the needle bed.<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/31/7a/e9/59/f49b14a709ff906fd63bbae1b2ae1e4106f3159fa803596c092650de.\" alt=\"\" />A black and gray beanie with a black brim. The main body of the hat has a clear pattern featuring a diagonal grid.\n\n<p>I think we're in business!!</p>\n<p>Returning to my original \"curriculum\":</p>\n<ul><li>\u2705 Do some swatching</li>\n <li>\u2705 Make a single-color hat</li>\n <li>\u2705\u00a0Make a two-color hat with a Fair Isle pattern</li>\n <li>\ud83d\udd1c AYAB time</li>\n</ul><p>Looks like I have \"no excuses\" left not to disassemble the on-board electronics to replace them with <a href=\"https://www.ayab-knitting.com/\">AYAB</a>. \ud83d\ude33</p>\n<p>In truth, I would like a bit more practice with Fair Isle using the \"vanilla\" machine. Specifically, the hat above is done with an overall repeating pattern, but there are different techniques if you want to do a \"motif\" that is constrained to just one part of the knitting. I want to make some swatches with isolated patterns and end-needle selection, practice managing floats, get used to the way pattern knitting row counts feel \"off by one\", see how Fair Isle affects the finished gauge of the fabric, etc.</p>\n<p>Meanwhile, I've started a basic sweater with\u00a0<i>hilarious results</i>. Stay tuned, like and subscribe, etc. etc. etc. \ud83d\ude0e</p>"
},
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "Marty McGuire",
"url": "https://martymcgui.re/",
"photo": "https://martymcgui.re/images/logo.jpg"
},
"post-type": "article",
"_id": "46074638",
"_source": "175"
}
{
"type": "entry",
"published": "2025-09-18T19:13:00-0400",
"url": "https://martymcgui.re/2025/09/18/machine-knitting-forbidden-socks/",
"category": [
"machine-knitting",
"socks",
"making"
],
"name": "Machine knitting: forbidden socks",
"content": {
"text": "Before I reveal the story foreshadowed in my post about machine knitting some first hats, a digression.\nOne of my main goals with machine knitting is to be comfortable enough with the machine and techniques required to make custom two-color patterns with AYAB. To that end, I had given myself a very short syllabus:\n\u2705 Do some swatching\n \u2705 Make a single-color hat\n \u274c Make a two-color hat with a Fair Isle pattern\n \ud83d\udd1c AYAB time\nMy attempt at a two-color Fair Isle patterned hat came out as a cool-but-wrong tuck stitch patterned hat. The \"MC\" button that activates multicolor Fair Isle knitting sits right over the \"T\" (tuck stitch) button, and they were well and truly frozen together. I will save that story for another time.\nMeanwhile, the machine could definitely still knit, so I had no excuse not to keep learning and practicing.\nWhich brings me to socks.\nAs knitting project go, socks would appear to be small, fast, and easy. Depending on whose pattern you are following, there are a few techniques to learn. Plus you have to make two of them, so you are tested on your consistency.\nUnfortunately, a lot of sock-knitting content is for circular knitting machines, or double-bed knitting machines with ribbing attachments, or for hand knitters.\nWhich is why I became\u00a0obsessed\u00a0with Diana Sullivan's No-Sew Socks\n<iframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/hiFB5KsnEN0?si=wumuFG8pI8PEd717\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen></iframe>\nThese socks are designed to be made on a single bed standard gauge knitting machine - like mine! They are knit top-to-bottom, back-to-front starting at the rear ankle hem, going down to a rounded heel, across the foot bottom, and around the toe. At that point, you switch techniques, picking up the stitches from previous rows to work your way back up and over the top of the foot, ankle, and hem. When it comes off the machine, it's a whole sock. You just need to hide the end threads, wash it, and block it.\nWhile my machine matched the pattern requirements, Diana's pattern calls for thicker wool-blend sock yarn than what I have on-hand. In my \"practice phase\", I'm using thinner two-ply cotton, which means I have to adjust the row and column counts from Diana's pattern by a conversion factor - a multiplier based on the ratio of Diana's sock yarn gauge measurements with my own.\nWhile some of this is easy multiplication, some of the techniques require adding or removing stitches at some \"rate\". In this case, creating the curved heel and tow areas involves \"short rows\", where more and more end needles are held at their current row while more rows are added to the middle. When the number of rows and stitches changes, you've also got to change instructions like \"add one stitch into hold at the end of each row\". Thankfully, my gauge's stitches-per-inch measured \"close enough\" to Diana's pattern, so I only needed to deal with the difference in rows - my thinner yarn came out to about 1.5x rows-per-inch compared with Diana's.\nI did my best! Here's the pattern I came up with to try and make socks for Producer Amy.\nPink sticky note with calculations and knitting instructions in pencil.My pattern mostly follows Diana's until we get to the short rowing. Here, she calls for putting one needle into hold on each side as you knit each row, down to a certain number of needles, then short row back out at the same rate. The one-to-one ratio really simplifies the technique. Comparatively, I would need to knit 1.5x the number of rows with my thinner yarn. So I came up with a three-step waltz that moves two needles out of (or into) work every 3 rows.\nWith carriage on the right, put the left-most needle in hold position and knit right-to-left.\n With carriage on the left, put the right-most needle in hold position and knit left-to-right.\n Leaving needles alone, knit back right-to-left.\n With carriage on the left, put the right-most needle in hold position and knit left-to-right.\n With carriage on the right, put the left-most needle in hold position and knit right-to-left.\n Leaving needles alone, knit back left-to-right.\n Repeat! (And when short-rowing out, put needles back into work rather than into hold.)\nThe resulting socks have some holes of various sizes in the short row areas. Being new to this technique I can't be sure whether each hole is from a mistake I made in the technique or because my two-stitches-per-three-rows adjustment needed an extra needle wrapped here or there.\nAnyway. Sock photos.\nFirst sock, \"good\" side. It's ankle length in blue yarn. Sew-as-you-go and short-rowing seams are subtle but visible.First sock, \"bad\" side. A large hole is visible where the heel seam meets the sew-as-you-go seam, and there are several small holes in the toe area.Both finished socks. The top sock in the image is the second one I knitted. There are fewer issues with holes, but the front hem is very loose because I forgot to adjust the tension for the hem.Despite some issues, they look like socks! But do they sock??\nA socked foot in the air viewed from the side. The sock seems to fit well in the foot area but is loose around the hem.Two socked feet viewed from the side.Two socked feed viewed from above. Both seem to fit well, but a little loose, in the foot but are loose around the hem. The sock on the right has the overly-loose front hem.Something is... not right with the final seam inside the front hem of the socks. I\u00a0think\u00a0perhaps I am finishing them off the machine too tightly. Or perhaps a different yarn would have more give. Whatever the reason, these were really difficult for Producer Amy to get on her feet, stretching only up to a point and no further. These photos were taken before washing and blocking, which I knew would shrink the final socks further.\nAfter washing, these look a little better! The fibers have pulled together. The too-loose front hem on one sock is more visible.\nNeither of these are wearable now, unfortunately. But I learned a lot and got experience with some important techniques. I look forward to trying again with some actually-meant-for-socks yarn that more closely match the pattern. And some more practice!",
"html": "<p>Before I reveal the story foreshadowed in <a href=\"https://martymcgui.re/2025/09/08/machine-knitting-whats-up-with-that/\">my post about machine knitting some first hats</a>, a digression.</p>\n<p>One of my main goals with machine knitting is to be comfortable enough with the machine and techniques required to make custom two-color patterns with <a href=\"https://www.ayab-knitting.com/\">AYAB</a>. To that end, I had given myself a very short syllabus:</p>\n<ul><li>\u2705 Do some swatching</li>\n <li>\u2705 Make a single-color hat</li>\n <li>\u274c Make a two-color hat with a Fair Isle pattern</li>\n <li>\ud83d\udd1c AYAB time</li>\n</ul><p>My attempt at a two-color Fair Isle patterned hat came out as a cool-but-wrong tuck stitch patterned hat. The \"MC\" button that activates multicolor Fair Isle knitting sits right over the \"T\" (tuck stitch) button, and they were well and truly frozen together. I will save that story for another time.</p>\n<p>Meanwhile, the machine could definitely still knit, so I had no excuse not to keep learning and practicing.</p>\n<p>Which brings me to socks.</p>\n<p>As knitting project go, socks would appear to be small, fast, and easy. Depending on whose pattern you are following, there are a few techniques to learn. Plus you have to make two of them, so you are tested on your consistency.</p>\n<p>Unfortunately, a lot of sock-knitting content is for circular knitting machines, or double-bed knitting machines with ribbing attachments, or for hand knitters.</p>\n<p>Which is why I became\u00a0<i>obsessed</i>\u00a0with <a href=\"https://www.dianaknits.com/\">Diana Sullivan</a>'s <a href=\"https://dianaknits.square.site/product/No-Sew_Sock/49\">No-Sew Socks</a></p>\n<p><iframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/hiFB5KsnEN0?si=wumuFG8pI8PEd717\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>\n<p>These socks are designed to be made on a single bed standard gauge knitting machine - like mine! They are knit top-to-bottom, back-to-front starting at the rear ankle hem, going down to a rounded heel, across the foot bottom, and around the toe. At that point, you switch techniques, picking up the stitches from previous rows to work your way back up and over the top of the foot, ankle, and hem. When it comes off the machine, it's a whole sock. You just need to hide the end threads, wash it, and block it.</p>\n<p>While my machine matched the pattern requirements, Diana's pattern calls for thicker wool-blend sock yarn than what I have on-hand. In my \"practice phase\", I'm using thinner two-ply cotton, which means I have to adjust the row and column counts from Diana's pattern by a conversion factor - a multiplier based on the ratio of Diana's sock yarn gauge measurements with my own.</p>\n<p>While some of this is easy multiplication, some of the techniques require adding or removing stitches at some \"rate\". In this case, creating the curved heel and tow areas involves \"short rows\", where more and more end needles are held at their current row while more rows are added to the middle. When the number of rows and stitches changes, you've also got to change instructions like \"add one stitch into hold at the end of each row\". Thankfully, my gauge's stitches-per-inch measured \"close enough\" to Diana's pattern, so I only needed to deal with the difference in rows - my thinner yarn came out to about 1.5x rows-per-inch compared with Diana's.</p>\n<p>I did my best! Here's the pattern I came up with to try and make socks for Producer Amy.</p>\n<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/47/5b/07/e3/faa65618106e9dda67b0bcd19f3f20bcef765d6cda3c95b793260911.\" alt=\"\" />Pink sticky note with calculations and knitting instructions in pencil.<p>My pattern mostly follows Diana's until we get to the short rowing. Here, she calls for putting one needle into hold on each side as you knit each row, down to a certain number of needles, then short row back out at the same rate. The one-to-one ratio really simplifies the technique. Comparatively, I would need to knit 1.5x the number of rows with my thinner yarn. So I came up with a three-step waltz that moves two needles out of (or into) work every 3 rows.</p>\n<ul><li>With carriage on the right, put the left-most needle in hold position and knit right-to-left.</li>\n <li>With carriage on the left, put the right-most needle in hold position and knit left-to-right.</li>\n <li>Leaving needles alone, knit back right-to-left.</li>\n <li>With carriage on the left, put the right-most needle in hold position and knit left-to-right.</li>\n <li>With carriage on the right, put the left-most needle in hold position and knit right-to-left.</li>\n <li>Leaving needles alone, knit back left-to-right.</li>\n <li>Repeat! (And when short-rowing out, put needles back into work rather than into hold.)</li>\n</ul><p>The resulting socks have some holes of various sizes in the short row areas. Being new to this technique I can't be sure whether each hole is from a mistake I made in the technique or because my two-stitches-per-three-rows adjustment needed an extra needle wrapped here or there.</p>\n<p><i>Anyway</i>. Sock photos.</p>\n<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/85/2e/a7/b7/f722d4071a8553670d31e2d386faf28b0819a139a97037f473c52af1.\" alt=\"\" />First sock, \"good\" side. It's ankle length in blue yarn. Sew-as-you-go and short-rowing seams are subtle but visible.<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/84/05/df/fe/ec6a4f7fa982d5f1cae9f9e7be6a9e0692ece0b3976144169420484b.\" alt=\"\" />First sock, \"bad\" side. A large hole is visible where the heel seam meets the sew-as-you-go seam, and there are several small holes in the toe area.<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/8b/76/b5/5f/68cd1cd4e8b4d521aadb78d8221e246b57d0b8db2fd67c323fa2c789.\" alt=\"\" />Both finished socks. The top sock in the image is the second one I knitted. There are fewer issues with holes, but the front hem is very loose because I forgot to adjust the tension for the hem.<p>Despite some issues, they look like socks! But do they sock??</p>\n<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/10/6b/7a/3e/6c518a44a0c4b86e01efec506321e75b72d0f69d485214ad1232e07e.\" alt=\"\" />A socked foot in the air viewed from the side. The sock seems to fit well in the foot area but is loose around the hem.<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/dd/65/ed/b5/a7dc939c4ab4751b0019bb3925dca4fb38853bd662614e41a06c886a.\" alt=\"\" />Two socked feet viewed from the side.<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/8a/ec/06/45/52aaaa3c919c3c4cd97f1bdbd5d722253735f6ac758f6582a183ad20.\" alt=\"\" />Two socked feed viewed from above. Both seem to fit well, but a little loose, in the foot but are loose around the hem. The sock on the right has the overly-loose front hem.<p>Something is... not right with the final seam inside the front hem of the socks. I\u00a0<i>think</i>\u00a0perhaps I am finishing them off the machine too tightly. Or perhaps a different yarn would have more give. Whatever the reason, these were really difficult for Producer Amy to get on her feet, stretching only up to a point and no further. These photos were taken before washing and blocking, which I knew would shrink the final socks further.</p>\n<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/cc/3c/85/ab/515e51cd02997f2858ded97a2f5adcfd40948a29f7c8e4cda0145262.\" alt=\"\" /><img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/72/6e/29/20/4ba289202a7d1d7f22fae930e41dc1cb0885bfef92b4e90fd86ba060.\" alt=\"\" /><p>After washing, these look a little better! The fibers have pulled together. The too-loose front hem on one sock is more visible.</p>\n<p>Neither of these are wearable now, unfortunately. But I learned a lot and got experience with some important techniques. I look forward to trying again with some actually-meant-for-socks yarn that more closely match the pattern. And some more practice!</p>"
},
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "Marty McGuire",
"url": "https://martymcgui.re/",
"photo": "https://martymcgui.re/images/logo.jpg"
},
"post-type": "article",
"_id": "46047838",
"_source": "175"
}
{
"type": "entry",
"published": "2025-09-12T13:00:00-0400",
"url": "https://martymcgui.re/2025/09/12/machine-knitting-taking-a-stand/",
"category": [
"machine-knitting",
"3DP",
"3DPrinting",
"making"
],
"name": "Machine knitting: taking a stand",
"content": {
"text": "In my apartment we are lucky enough to have a big countertop, open on three sides, creating a nice flat project surface for even sprawling projects.\nHowever, we also have a lot of projects that compete for this space! Producer Amy is often working on increasingly complex sewing projects that require the entire surface. Likewise, the knitting machine occupies an entire edge of the space. Both of these are time consuming, with potentially complex setup and teardown procedures. How can we accommodate both fiber arts hobbies?\nYou may not be surprised to find that I found inspiration from Carson (@KnitFactoryImpl) on YouTube. In her videos I noticed a low-profile metal stand that basically amounts to a single horizontal bar and four splayed legs, clamped together by a couple of big screws. She mentioned briefly that they aren't manufactured anymore, but you can find them on eBay \"from time to time\".\nWith the fear of scarcity in my heart, I jumped when I found a similar one on eBay a few days later.\nBlack metal stand parts organized on a background of green carpet tiles.As you can see in the photo, the stand can break down quite small! Pictured here are 5 of the 6 parts required for it to work. The long body bar has circular recesses where the knitting machine can be securely clamped, as well as slots for the legs. Each leg splays out at an angle to withstand the force of moving the machine back and forth. The body bar and legs are held together with a pair of screws and wingnuts, and the screws are at the end of long bent metal bars which do double-duty to provide some stability for the mounted knitting machine, as well as providing a place to rest the top of the knitting machine.\nYou may note that I said \"5 of the 6\" in the previous paragraph. One of the screw/bar pieces was missing. Thankfully the seller had simply misplaced it and, after contacting them, they found it and mailed it to me.\nMeanwhile... If you have a keen eye you may have noticed another missing part. Because each leg splays out at an angle, each also has a rubber foot with a special shape to let it rest flat and provide traction. One of the legs was missing this foot.\nIn this house we 3D print, so I dusted off my calipers, OpenSCAD, and trigonometry skills to make a replacement. I'll attach the OpenSCAD and final STL files to this post for posterity, but I definitely hit a point where the math looked right but the piece looked wrong, so I did some eyeball-based adjustments when tweaking the foot's resting face angle and a fudge factor to help the foot slip onto the machine leg.\nBambu X1C printing a foot in bright red TPU filament.Close-up of the four machine legs lined up against a wall. Three legs have black rubber feet and one has a bright red 3D-printed TPU foot.Now I can machine knit without taking up the countertop space. This reduces my anxiety about having the machine \"out\" for long periods of time as I practice skills or work on more time-consuming project.\nBlack metal stand with Brother knitting machine mounted on top ready to knit. The whole setup is up against the back of a sofa. The red 3D-printed TPU foot is visible on one leg of the stand.Of course, there is floor space to talk about, but that is slightly easier to negotiate at this point.\nFiles\n \n machine-stand-foot.scad\n \n 1145 bytes. Updated September 7, 2025.\n machine-stand-foot.stl\n \n 2084 bytes. Updated September 7, 2025.",
"html": "<p>In my apartment we are lucky enough to have a big countertop, open on three sides, creating a nice flat project surface for even sprawling projects.</p>\n<p>However, we also have a lot of projects that compete for this space! Producer Amy is often working on increasingly complex sewing projects that require the entire surface. Likewise, the knitting machine occupies an entire edge of the space. Both of these are time consuming, with potentially complex setup and teardown procedures. How can we accommodate both fiber arts hobbies?</p>\n<p>You may not be surprised to find that I found inspiration from <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/@KnitFactoryImpl\">Carson (@KnitFactoryImpl) on YouTube</a>. In her videos I noticed a low-profile metal stand that basically amounts to a single horizontal bar and four splayed legs, clamped together by a couple of big screws. She <a href=\"https://youtu.be/-2-l4-icr_c?feature=shared&t=112\">mentioned briefly</a> that they aren't manufactured anymore, but you can find them on eBay \"from time to time\".</p>\n<p>With the fear of scarcity in my heart, I jumped when I found a similar one on eBay a few days later.</p>\n<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/ce/81/6f/53/991dc2b1c1b84e9fa37eb7a624a200224d284d00adecd828506ee114.\" alt=\"\" />Black metal stand parts organized on a background of green carpet tiles.<p>As you can see in the photo, the stand can break down quite small! Pictured here are 5 of the 6 parts required for it to work. The long body bar has circular recesses where the knitting machine can be securely clamped, as well as slots for the legs. Each leg splays out at an angle to withstand the force of moving the machine back and forth. The body bar and legs are held together with a pair of screws and wingnuts, and the screws are at the end of long bent metal bars which do double-duty to provide some stability for the mounted knitting machine, as well as providing a place to rest the top of the knitting machine.</p>\n<p>You may note that I said \"5 of the 6\" in the previous paragraph. One of the screw/bar pieces was missing. Thankfully the seller had simply misplaced it and, after contacting them, they found it and mailed it to me.</p>\n<p>Meanwhile... If you have a keen eye you may have noticed another missing part. Because each leg splays out at an angle, each also has a rubber foot with a special shape to let it rest flat and provide traction. One of the legs was missing this foot.</p>\n<p>In this house we 3D print, so I dusted off my calipers, OpenSCAD, and trigonometry skills to make a replacement. I'll attach the OpenSCAD and final STL files to this post for posterity, but I definitely hit a point where the math looked right but the piece looked wrong, so I did some eyeball-based adjustments when tweaking the foot's resting face angle and a fudge factor to help the foot slip onto the machine leg.</p>\n<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/12/e8/aa/08/8e9d4c4968215c34f3c9c5514c648acf2ce21ee51c1da25f7f68d6d6.\" alt=\"\" />Bambu X1C printing a foot in bright red TPU filament.<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/b6/6d/bc/04/7b67a91aa1584e4e2c28722f204edb10c4694b51c80dd4c8abec5304.\" alt=\"\" />Close-up of the four machine legs lined up against a wall. Three legs have black rubber feet and one has a bright red 3D-printed TPU foot.<p>Now I can machine knit without taking up the countertop space. This reduces my anxiety about having the machine \"out\" for long periods of time as I practice skills or work on more time-consuming project.</p>\n<img src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/39/8c/4b/44/265d2a0ca94b77163185659d3d809db1b7da8c72cc610e73e9770086.\" alt=\"\" />Black metal stand with Brother knitting machine mounted on top ready to knit. The whole setup is up against the back of a sofa. The red 3D-printed TPU foot is visible on one leg of the stand.<p>Of course, there is <i>floor space</i> to talk about, but that is slightly easier to negotiate at this point.</p>\n<h2>Files</h2>\n \n <a href=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/e8/46/3c/b5/5dec059c4c6d591fb5b22efd3e8aef2a5306bc8be46345a785e526d1.scad\" class=\"u-url p-name\">machine-stand-foot.scad</a>\n \n <img class=\"u-featured\" src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/4e/ad/2c/4b/9069c783aab8283cd263169f24381395dc04b9a0cd42d4e653af898f.png\" alt=\"9069c783aab8283cd263169f24381395dc04b9a0cd42d4e653af898f.png\" /><span class=\"p-size\">1145</span> bytes. Updated <time class=\"dt-created\" datetime=\"2025-09-07 16:45:00 -0400\">September 7, 2025.\n </time>\n \n \n <a href=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/fb/bc/83/67/e06be38fb7b2d6fabc7e48aab540cc8b3f0346b61e5f58220a0dadee.stl\" class=\"u-url p-name\">machine-stand-foot.stl</a>\n \n <img class=\"u-featured\" src=\"https://media.martymcgui.re/4e/ad/2c/4b/9069c783aab8283cd263169f24381395dc04b9a0cd42d4e653af898f.png\" alt=\"9069c783aab8283cd263169f24381395dc04b9a0cd42d4e653af898f.png\" /><span class=\"p-size\">2084</span> bytes. Updated <time class=\"dt-created\" datetime=\"2025-09-07 16:45:00 -0400\">September 7, 2025.\n </time>"
},
"author": {
"type": "card",
"name": "Marty McGuire",
"url": "https://martymcgui.re/",
"photo": "https://martymcgui.re/images/logo.jpg"
},
"post-type": "article",
"_id": "46045421",
"_source": "175"
}
