Crankin’ Away

I went to Cape Girardeau, Missouri this past week to pick up my circular sock knitting machine and participate in the Annual Open House and crank-in that is sponsored by the Erlbacher Gearhart Knitting Machine Company.  They make reproductions of the antique Gearhart sock knitting machines that I have mentioned previously.  I love to hand knit socks, but cannot keep up with my family’s demand much less make enough to sell.  Socks also take long enough to knit that a pair would cost over $100 to make it worth my while to sell them.  Since one of my goals is sales, I wanted a hand cranked machine that worked correctly right at the start.  I also wanted one that I could easily get extra cylinders and ribbers for so I can make different sizes. For those reasons, I chose to buy a new one instead of an antique.

Their usual models of the machine come in green and yellow (think John Deere colors) or red. I got one of their last Pink Lady machines, a special paint job on 25 of them.  Part of the profits went to support a fundraiser in honor of a friend of the Erlbacher family who died of breast cancer.  The money would be used to help fund mammograms and support breast cancer patients in need. A woman in Chicago had purchased the machine, but after 2 or 3 weeks decided she did not like knitting on a machine and preferred to knit her socks by hand after all.  (The Erlbachers refer to this as “stick knitting”.)  So I got it at a good price with some extras.

machine

I had a great time there and learned the basics of how to use the machine.  In fact, I even learned how to use the ribber which is something they don’t recommend learning until you have knit a few sock with a turned hem and stockinette or mock rib leg.  I decided to make sure I knew how to use it while I had someone by my side to help and to make sure my machine worked correctly with the ribber dial on.  I am currently working on the matching sock to the one I knit at the crank-in.

Here is a little movie of it in action.

Crankin’ away at home.

A video posted by Nancy (@measuredthreads) on

 

Sock Knitting Wins the War

wwi knit poster

In WWI our soldiers were suffering trench foot due to spending most of their time in the wet trenches on the front lines.  Often, it caused gangrene and resulted in amputation. They needed to change socks several times a day to avoid this.  An all out effort was made by the Red Cross to get people to knit all kinds of wool garments for the soldiers, especially socks. Wool is a miracle fiber, a fantastic insulator, naturally repels water for a time, can absorb up to 30% of its weight in moisture and still feel dry.  It can keep you warm even when wet.

 

Multiple songs were written about knitting for the soldiers. Here is one example that is specific about how important the socks were to these men.

Knit, Knit, Knit Sister Sue

“A soldier who was fighting with the enemy in back,
With bullets buzzin’ ’round his ears, took down his old knapsack.
He wrote a letter, on a shirt front Sister Susie sent
And then he went and got it signed by all his regiment.
He said ‘Dear Sue, we’re stong for you, you sew those shirts so neat.
But how are we to beat the foe when we’ve all got cold feet?     So—”

“Knit, knit, knit a little Susie,
For what good is a shirt
when all our ‘Tootsies’ hurt?
My poor big toe sticks out,
You know it doesn’t like the snow.
Oh my left foot is red white and blue.
‘Pon my sole, there’s a big blister too.
The soldiers toes are froze to bits,
‘Holy Hoses’ Susie,
It’s a long tramp, tramp to Tipperary
So knit, knit, knit Sister Sue.”

“Don’t knit them white,dear Sister Sue, ’cause white will be no use.
While hanging on the firing line, they’ll look like flags of truce.
Don’t knit the kind that’s itchy, Sister knit them nice and thick.
We’ll put on two pairs at a time and charge them double quick.
The socks we wore before the war are full of darn old darns.
They won’t be hard to make; the daily papers full of yarns.     So—”

Music: Raymond Walker, words: Chas. McCarron, 1914, Broadway Music Corp., NY.

groupcsm

People would knit every where, even school children learned to knit socks and knit during breaks at school. People who couldn’t knit were urged to buy wool for the knitters and children were urged to do the housework for mom so she could spend her time knitting. The knitters could not keep up with the demand for socks since even a fast knitter could take up to a week to knit a pair. So, the International Red Cross gave people hand cranked circular sock knitting machines and wool if they promised to knit at least 30 pairs of socks for the war effort.  Knitting rooms were set up and production increased enough to help with the goal of knitting almost 400,000 pairs in 3 months that was set.  These Circular Sock Machines (CSMs) produced socks quickly and as high a quality (or better depending on the knitter) as those made by hand.

Antique CSMRecently there has been an interest developing in restoring and using these cranky old machines to knit with modern sock yarns. People love handknit wool socks, but again, they take so long to knit, that hand knitters can’t keep their own families in socks, much less knit them to make for gifts or to sell. To make it worthwhile to sell a pair, you would have to charge more than $100 if you wanted more than $2 an hour for your time.  (High quality sock yarn alone retails for $18-$25.) Finding parts to repair and cylinders to change the sock sizes in these antique machines has been a challenge. Enter PeeWee Erlbacher and the Erlbacher Gearhart Knitting Machine Company!

 

Wrapping up the Towels

CH Towel 1 CH Towel 2

CH Towel 3 2015-04-01 14.23.32

 

Pictured above are the 4 tea towels off my warp of 8/2 cotton woven with cotton/linen blend weft threaded in the Caroline Halvorsen pattern in Davison’s A Handweaver’s Pattern Book.  Each one is a different treadling pattern.  The fourth towel is my own treadling variation using an M and W treadling, but I think I like personally like pattern 3 the best.  I will probably keep one and sell the rest once I have them hemmed. They will $23 each right now to local folks who can pick one up and pay by cash or check, if you want one, send me a note.  I plan on creating a shop page before the end of April. If I use Etsy or another shopping cart service and take credit cards, the price will be higher due to their fees.   I have hand knitted cowls for sale as well and will post about those once I can get a couple of pictures taken.

 

Star Pupil!

2015-03-31 10.15.37

 

Here is one of my star pupils, Sharon, in her lovely sweater!  She finished it in just 4 weeks of class and learned a bunch of new skills in the making: swatching, increases, mirrored decreases, picking up stitches, ribbing, pattern reading and problem solving. The yarn is Juniper Moon Farm Moonshine a wool, alpaca and silk blend, and is the perfect color for her.  My two other students are well on their way to finishing and I will hopefully show you their pictures in a couple of weeks.