Superba ~ Singer ~ White ~ Phildar Hobby Knitting Machines: 9mm and 5mm Plastic Single Bed Hobby Models

Greetings!


The French Knitting Machine manufacturer S.I.T./Superba, which produced the Superba, Singer, White and Phildar brands of home knitting machine was known for it's metal and aluminum Double Bed model knitting machines.


They also produced a range of 9mm Gauge Hobby Machines.


These were sold as the following.






From Superba: The S9.
















The Hobby Knitters are single bed knitting machines that are made of a light weight plastic frame. They use metal needles spaced 9mm apart allowing them to knit hand knitting yarns that range from Double Knitting or DK weight, Worsted Weight and Chunky Weight.
In hand knitting terms, the Hobby Knitter models will knit yarns that work up on a US#6/4mm through a US#10/6mm.


These are the most basic model of machine as they only knit stocking stitch and there is no yarn tension mast. The carriage is actually an Intarsia carriage. You can see an Intarsia Carriage for a 5mm gauge machine compared with the 9mm S9 carriage in the photo above. The S9 and Easy Knitter models have 115 needles and the Big Phil 123 or 126. Not a huge difference.

Being a plastic bed machine makes them very light weight and portable. Hence the term "hobby" knitter.

My model, the White Easy Knitter, is shown below. You just clamp it to a table, select the needles you want to knit with, slide the carriage across and the needles align in positon #2 with the latches open.


Then, with your yarn resting on the floor by your feet, you lay the yarn across the needles and pass the carriage across to complete one row of Stocking Stitch.



A rather straight forward process and of course one can do many hand manipulated stitches like cables, lace, tuck and slip and multi-coloured Intarsia. These are excellent machines for knitting fabric to be felted.

There is no ribber or second bed of needles for these models so any Knit ~ Purl stitch combinations must be hand manipulated. Singer in the UK did make the attempt at a second bed of needles but from what I've read it was not worth the effort.

In these photos I am working with two qualities of Lorna's Laces Mohair in Pink Blossom:

• a Chunky Weight singles (when I say "singles" I mean that it is one thick stand of roving not plied)
• Grace, a medium bouclé which knits on a #US10 or 6mm hand knitting needle.
  

I started with a Waste Yarn/Ravel Cord cast on - always! Then I proceeded with a Double E-Wrap as the finished cast on in the Chunky Mohair. I used stitch size 12 to maximize the length and ensure a nice drape. The hobby knitter made very light work of this and, as I was alternating single rows of each quality, I simply had to remove the carriage and attach it at the opposite end every third row. No big deal. I used two medium weights and claw weights for the edge stitches.

I finished with a latch tool bind off, nice a loose with my tension as this piece of fabric was to be blocked after knitting and I needed the ends to have some s-t-r-e-t-c-h.
I was pleased with the pretty fabric the combination of yarn weights produced and as a result I had just enough yarn to knit my desired length. Just enough!! The bouclé ran out first but I'll use the remaining chunky mohair to sew up the side seams.

IMMERSION BLOCKING BASICS

After removing the knitted fabric from the machine I immerse it in a sink with WARM, tepid water. Not hot, not cold. I do not want to felt my fabric. Just condition it.

To do so I add about 3 tablespoons of a wool wash called Eucalan. This is a NO-RINSE wool wash (very low sudsing - perfect for pets as well!) made with Eucalyptus and Lanolin. The best thing for knits of any kind and other fine garments that you want to wash by hand. Remember - it's no rinse - which saves on water making this a very eco-friendly product.

I mix the Eucalan into the water with my hand to make sure it's disolved then I immerse the fabric, turning it a few times until it has absorbed the water. Top up the WARM water level if necessary. Then just leave it for 20 minutes.

In the photo below I got carried away with swirling the water - so try to mix the fabric wash with the water gently.


Come back, drain the water and squeeze out as much water as possible. DO NOT WRING AND TWIST LIKE A TOWEL. You will damage the fibres and possibly felt the material it if it's wool. If you have a lingerie bag, mesh bag or pillow case, use one. It will support the weight of the knit fabric and prevent stretching when you remove the piece from the sink.



Remove the fabric from the sink and grabbing a plush terry bath towel, we will now roll the knit fabric in the towel to remove the excess water.


What about the cookie you promised me?

Ok, lay the towel down then your knit fabric on top of this. The knitting will be about the same width as it was when it came off the machine. But now, on the lower edge, you can see I'm starting to block it out. I'm lightly stretching the rectangle to get it as close to it's finished size as possible. I do this all the way across and adjust it as I work my way up the fabric.

Next you will fold the lower edge of the towel up and over the top of the fabric.
Then begin to roll the towel into a tube.
Press firmly across the roll with the palms of your hands.
Continue to roll and press.

When you are finished, unroll the towel and tug the knit into a loose approximation of a square and hope for the best...or you can block it on a blocking/cutting board to an exact shape using pins. I would choose the latter.

These blocking/cutting boards are marked with a large grid in inches and centimetres and they last for ever. The one pictured is as old as the hills but still does the trick. I do have 2 others. They retail for about $15 and fold up for easy storage.
Oh, one more thing. Blocking wires. Yes, buy them, use them, wonderful. Especially for finer knits like those on the 5mm gauge machines. There is a great company here in Toronto (Mississauga actually) that sell them in all kinds of lengths. More on these later.
Alrighty then...I begin by blocking out the corners. See the huge pins. They are called t-pins for those not in the know. Perfect for this task vs. teensy sewing pins.


Then divide the side sections in half, then in four and so on, evenly distributing the fabric as best you can.



I pin at about a 1" or 2.5cm interval and readjusting the fabric and pins will be necessary. You can see from the photo below how much the fabic wants to contract. It is still slightly damp and therefore maleable.


Once I've completed pinning I leave it to dry overnight. I'll update you with the finished shrug in a week or so. This fabric stayed nice and flat and hardly contracted when I removed the pins. A 2x2 rib I knit in a Silk-Mohair obviously did but then that's the nature of the stitch.


UPDATED LINKS
Please check out the new "LINKS" I've put up on the sidebar. In the event you have not visited Knitty.com - do so. A fabulous on-line knitting magazine from the knitting capital of the world - TORONTO. Do visit Interweave Knits and Berroco for their great patterns. Check out the schematics on the Berroco site. Very cool. And of course go to www.villageyarns.com to order yarn and fabulous accessories.


Kind Regards,
Patrick Madden.
Toronto, Ontario CANADA
superbaknitting@gmail.com

Superba Knitting Machines: The "A" Card Stitches For Light Scanning Selection Box Models

Superba Knitting Machine models that have a Light Scanning Selection Box can produce simple stitch patterns without having to insert a Mylar Programme Card.

These are known as the "A-Card" Stitches.








The various brand models include the Superba S48:

The Singer 2330 series, which come in many colours:

The White 1602 (sold only in North America):

The PhildarMatic (sold only in France + Belgium):

These are the simplest of patterns to produce because they utilize a 1x1 needle selection.


Different subtle stitch effects are created by changing the position of the switches on the control panel of the Selection Box, and by selecting various stitch keys.


Simple stitch patterns can be created for all Single Bed and Double Bed Stitch techniques your Light Scanning Model is capable of working.


The stitch techniques I used when working the A-Card Stitches are Single Bed Tuck, Slip and Weave Effect. 


Learning to programme these 1x1 Stitch Patterns is a good way to learn the various stitch techniques your Light Scanning Model is capable of creating.


Also, sometimes when knitting, simple is best. It is one thing to be able to create large all over Jacquard and Fair Isle stitch patterns, but at the end of the day the question begs to be asked: Would you wear that?


The benefit of using such simple stitches is the subtle textures they create, especially when knitting Tuck and Slip Stitch.

These simple A-Card Stitches are perfect for turning a yarn that you may have bought and find to be too thin when knit up on it's own in Stocking Stich, into a lovely textured fabric, perfect for sweaters or a blanket simply by working the yarn in a denser 1x1 Slip Stitch effect.


I will show you in this tutorial how I used a fine Arcylic yarn as the "Ground Yarn" component for the Knit Weave technique. It worked perfectly, forming the frame work for weaving in all these left over balls of Black and Grey Yarns from hand knitting projects. 






Setting Up The Machine For A-Card Stitches.


I'll begin by showing you how to attach the Selection Box.


The Light Scanning Selection Box, when not used should be stor



The Superba Light Scanning Selection Box model knitting machines can produce simple "every-other-needle" stitch patterns without having to insert a Programme Card. This ability is built into all S.I.T./Superba models with electronic needle selection.

For the light scanning model these are known as the A-Card Stitches, and named thusly because the Stitch Patterns are listed A1 through A19.

Following the instructions on the programming cards for yarn weight, carriage settings, accessories and Selection Box switch settings, you can achieve 18 various stitch techniques using the basic 1x1 needle arrangement, including Single Bed Fair Isle, Weave Technique, Jacquard and Double Bed Tuck. The photo below shows stitch pattern A7, which is a Single Bed Tuck Stitch knit in Clea Cotton. This is shown in the programming "HOW TO" below.

**For persons new to Superba Machines: remember that all electronic stitch patterning takes place on the Back Needle Bed. Not the front. **


I have selected 3 stitch patterns for a close-up view so you can see the differences in proramming and machine settings.

A1 is a Weave Technique stitch. How do I know? Because, if we read the legend from Left to Right, we have a smaple photo, next column is the Suggested Yarn Weight which lists 2 weights. Weave Technique knits with a finer "ground" or base yarn and a thicker yarn is woven between the stitches. Next to that is the schematic for the Carriage(s) and Settings which is only showing 1 carriage in use. If this was a stitch technique requiring a double bed model, such as A12, then you would see the symbol of two carriages and the appropriate Stitch Keys to select.



Next to the carriage setting is the accessory information: in this case Weaving Brushes. That is the giveaway right there. Finally on the far right we have the Selection Box setting switches.

**A simple way to quickly remember the settings (you see this in old knitting magazines) is that there are 5 swithces, 4 with three positions. So the setting for A1 is "Centre-Up-Centre-Up-Up".**

The next photos show A2, which is a Slip stitch knit on the Single Bed or Back Bed and A5 is a Single Bed Fair Isle technique. The complete cards are below with copies of all 18 stitch settings .







SMART MOVE...
Quick Programming the Selection Box using these stitches is is a handy way to test new yarn to see how it knits up on the single and double beds without having to insert and program a mylar Programme Card.

Also, if the yarn you have is on the thin side but you still want to knit with it, I suggest using stitch patterns A2 and A3 which are single bed Slip Stitch techniques and A4, single bed Tuck stitch. These will bulk up your fabric nicely, and depending on the stitch size. produce some interesting fabric densities.

HOW TO INSTRUCTIONS....

Read my instructions first as the steps for programming the Selection Box for A-CARD stitches vary slightly from using the Programme Cards.

Then thread up your machine and try them all, in order, and keep these samples in a binder with the A-Card. This way you will have a reference for what kind of fabric each produces. This is a very good way to introduce yourself to the various stitch techniques a Superba can produce.

FIRST....
My example in these instructions uses stitch pattern A7, which is a Single Bed Tuck Stitch. The carriage is set with both the Tuck and Circular keys selected. I used Clea Cotton for this sample which is a 4-ply (gauge of 28-30 stitches/4") hand knitting and crochet cotton.


Before connecting to a power source make sure the back bed carriage is at the right hand side. Next you want to select a number of needles to knit with; ie. 40. So push 20 needles to the left of centre "0" on the graduated scale and 20 to the right to position No.1.
Please set the Selection Box switches to the following positions:




Various settings of these Selection Box switches will produce different effects: For A7, the switch settings are "Centre-Up-Centre-Up" - and "Down" for now, simply because the far right switch is the On/Off switch and we have not turned the box on.
Set the Programme Changer to the lower position - the Geometric setting. By doing so before the power is turned on indicates to the Microcontroller that no Mylar stich pattern sheet will be used and it will automatically charge the needle bed for a basic Geometric Programme using a 1x1 needle selection.

Next you can plug the Selection Box into a power source. I suggest you connect it to an extension cord with a power surge protector built in to protect the electronics.

Then switch on the Selection Box by moving the switch on the far right to it's upper position. You will see the Light Scanner light up and the Selection Box will issue a beep.

You then want to start sliding the Cursor on the back bed of the knitting machine and as you move the Cursor on the machine . . .

the Cursor Indicator on the Selection Box should be moving at the same time. You want the White Reference Mark to be in the first square on the left-hand side on the indicator.
The photo above captures a picture of the Cursor Reference Mark - it is the white square, the photo below indicates it should be all the way to the left in the first square. This aligns the Selection Box Cursor Indicator with the Cursor on the back needle bed.

Next we switch the Programme Changer to neutral position. This locks the Selection Box Cursor into position.

Now we need to tell the Selection Box which is the first needle or starting point of our stitch pattern. For Superba machines the default is always Needle No. 1 to the left of centre "0".
So bring the centre of the Cursor on the back bed directly opposite the first needle to the left of centre "0" on the graduated scale.

Now set the Programme Changer back to the Geometric or lower setting.


Finally, bring the Cursor on the back bed to the same side as the carriage and lock it into place.


On your back knitting carriage select the Tuck & Cirular Key together, thread the carriage and commence knitting your sample or garment.
Tuck & Circular stitches knitting cams selected together produce the fabric shown below.



SELECTION BOX NOT SCANNING?
If your Selection Box is damaged and will not scan a Mylar Programme Card, there may be a good chance that it will still knit these most basic of A-CARD stitches. Try it out. You don't need to thread the machine to test it. Simply follow the programming steps and pass the carriage back and forth across the selected needles and watch to see that every-other-needle is being selected row by row. If they do then you are in luck.

Patrick Madden.
Toronto, Ontario CANADA