Machine Knitting Basic Ribbing

Service Description

Your single-bed machine can only make one stitch. Add a ribber and everything changes: knit and purl columns side by side in a single pass, made at machine speed instead of one stitch at a time. This class takes you from an unmounted ribber sitting in its box to a finished fisherman's rib hat. We start where most people get stuck, with mounting and alignment, and we don't move on until your cast-on works every time. Don't own a ribber yet? You don't need one. Studio machines are available in standard gauge and bulky at no extra cost. Plenty of people take this class to find out whether a ribber is worth buying. MACHINES COVERED Standard Gauge and Bulky Gauge ribbers available. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN - Mounting and aligning a ribber so it actually knits - Pitch, half pitch, and the racking handle - How the second bed forms purls, and how two tension dials work together - Casting on for 1x1, 2x2, and full needle rib - Seven fabrics: 1x1, 2x2, full needle rib, English rib, fisherman's rib, waffle, and punch tuck rib - Increases and decreases across both beds, edge and full-fashioned - Transferring rib to the main bed, stretchy bind-offs, and rescuing a dropped stitch THE CLASS - Setup and your first rib. Parts, mounting, alignment, pitch and racking, then the rib cast-on practiced until it's reliable. - The rib family. Six swatches, finishing with your hat yarn. - Shaping, finishing, and your hat. Swatch numbers into hat numbers, shaping in rib, clean finishing, then knit the project. YOUR PROJECT A fisherman's rib hat: 1x1 brim, fisherman's rib body, transferred to the main bed for a gathered crown. Every technique in it is one you'll have already knitted in class. INCLUDED A printed handout for each session with carriage diagrams, settings tables for every fabric, a quick-reference card for the wall by your machine, and the hat pattern. PREREQUISITES Our Beginner Flatbed Class or equivalent single-bed experience. You should be comfortable casting on, knitting stockinette, and using a latch tool. WHAT TO BRING Your own machine and ribber, or use a studio machine: tell us which when you register. If choosing the bring your own yarn options bring smooth yarn in a light color: texture and dark colors hide what your stitches are doing.