Superba Knitting: Baby It's Cold Outside...

Greetings!
How is everyone? I hope you are well. Like many of you living in the Northern Hemisphere, here in Toronto we are in the midst of very typical February weather; a mix of very cold frigid air, snow and lovely sunshine. As I work on this post, the snow continues to fall.

And some beasts just cannot get enough...

Or enough of it on them...

Back in January when I returned from my holidays in western Canada, the ever optimistic Ontarians thought they would continue to have mild weather for the rest of the season. Wrong! Never underestimate Old Man Winter. It makes for great knitting though.

Like this...

This sample is a work-in-progress that I am hand knitting for Village Yarns. A modular technique that is fun to knit with 6 Yarns in combinations of Garter, Stocking and Bobble Stitches. An odd number of stitches are cast on, IE 29, and then every other row one does a double decrease onto the exact centre needle (that's 2 decreases every-other-row) until 1 stitch remains.

The resulting squares can be sewn together or joined as you knit and produce stunning shawls and garments. They are a good way to utilize yarns sitting in your stash and look stunning knit up in a hand dyed yarn. And yes! this can be done on a knitting machine. Many variations can be done using Hand Knitting, Machine Knitting and Crochet.

WHAT'S WITH THE HAND KNITTING?
Well it's all about knitting, isn't it? I could care a less about machine knitters vs. hand knitters vs. Crochet. Such a stupid waste of energy, dividing ourselves into these various camps.

Yes, this blog is geared primarily to Superba Knitting Machines, but I am a Knitter first. I started this to help people with no access to information on Superba knitting machines but these techniques and skills all work together. As far as I am concerned, a knitting machine is just another tool, just like knitting needles and stitch markers. It is all about the process. Knitting machines are a great tool for persons who cannot or do not like knitting on two needles by hand. But they are not the end all to be all. I love and enjoy both and use them equally.


I also enjoy sitting outside and doing some work if the temperature is not too low. I know! "In this freezing weather?" Well, yes. Having a dog to walk several times a day acclimatizes you real fast and I always have several layers on so I'm well insulated. I have a neighbour whom I met for the first time at a knitting retreat I attended last August. In talking we found out we live around the corner from one another. We've been trying to get together since then for a glass of wine and a chat but she only sees me in the morning, on her way to work. There I am, out on my balcony, needles in hand with my hat and boots on. So call me eccentric!

I am always out on the balcony when the sun is shining. We get plenty of it as my apartment faces west. Zoe, my Bovuier des Flandres loves her balcony as well. What better place to sample a Single Crochet edging on a tension swatch?


PERSONAL KNITTING
If you are interested in improving and refining your knitting and crochet skills, then a certain amount of time must be used to practice and experiment. One of the best places to do this is on your garment/project tension swatch.

These are photos I took of my sampling a Single Crochet edging to the selvage of a Stocking Stitch gauge swatch. Rather than doing this on the finished garment, and then possibly ruining or distorting the garment edges by trying one size of hook and then having to rip back because I think a smaller size hook would produce a firmer edge, I do all this experimenting on my gauge swatch. That way I have all the finishing aspects worked out ahead of time and this speeds up the actual garment finishing.



In January, I had the pleasure of teaching a finishing class on "How To Insert a Zipper" as part of the DKC Winter Workshops sponsored by The Downtown Knit Collective which is Toronto's largest hand knitting guild.

The basic crochet edging shown above was one of the options I taught for finishing the centre front seam of a sweater prior to the insertion of a zipper. In preparing for these classes, so that everyone is on the same page, I knit up small rectangles to simulate sweater fronts that the students could use in the workshop.
And yes I used a knitting machine to knit these. I matched the gauge of 18 sts x 24 rws.


Here we see multiples in various colours being blocked after having washed all 32 of them by hand. In Eucalan!

I had a great time teaching and my class was well received. I have been asked by the DKC to teach two classes at their upcoming Knitter's Frolic, which is a day of workshops, talk, and shopping, all to do with knitting.
I am teaching my finishing class "How To Insert a Zipper" and "Tension Swatch Boot Camp". The Knitter's Frolic will be on April 28, 2007. For more information, please visit the DKC website...

http://www.downtownknitcollective.ca/index.html
Here we have 4 of the 6 Superba Knitting machines that I own. The missing two are single bed models, a bulky 9mm gauge S9 and a Single Bed S47. Three of the machines shown above are the "White Brand" and on the far right, at the front is my green Superba S48.
Depending on what yarn I have or have just purchased, I will work on 2 or 3 machine knit projects at a time. You may be the type of individual who only starts one project and completes it before moving on to the next. Bully for you pal. I work in a hand knitting store and I am surrounded by beautiful, inspiring fibres all day long. This tends to have an effect on the imagination and creative juices.
Having more than one machine, let alone brand of knitting machine at my disposal, I am forever trying to achieve what I can create knitting on two needles using a machine. This is not always possible as we are limited to the 110, 180 or 200 needles and the gauge of our machines. But that does not stop me from trying.


THAT'S NOT A SUPERBA!
Excellent observation! No, it is my trustworthy Singer SK360. (I can hear Alison in the U.K. shouting "Singer is Superba! That's a Knitmaster over here!!!) I thought that since we are on the subject of current projects I would show you this work-in-progress. As is often the case with photos on a computer, these don't really do the resulting fabric justice but I think it is stunning.

Like many of you with more than one machine and more than one model, certain machines have a charm all of their own and knit certain techniques more effectively than others. I use this machine mainly for transfer lace and weaving. I also have my two operational Superba models tied up with other projects on them, which you will see in a moment. You can do this technique on a Superba but to be honest, I have not experimented with it that much. The yarns I am knitting with in this photo are not cheap. Expensive some would claim. So I knew what I wanted to do with them, and taking the chance that they may or may not knit was not an option. I'll experiment more with weaving on a Superba later. Back to the samples....
This is a Knit Weave technique using Rowan Kid Silk Haze knit as the ground yarn and the Weave yarn is the stunning Blue Heron Yarns Cotton/Rayon Seed. I absolutely love Blue Heron Yarns. Our store is one of the few retailers in Canada that carry this line. Blue Heron is a hand-dyed yarn company based in Eastland, Maryland, USA.
Cotton/Rayon Seed has a lovely nubbly texture and the colour changes in this colourway are subtle and simply beautiful to watch work up against the background of the Lace Weight Mohair/Silk Rowan Kid Silk Haze. Below are the links to colour cards for both and of course they are available through Village Yarns.
http://www.villageyarns.com/ ...to order
http://www.diamondyarn.com/image.php?yarnID=759&imgID=s ...Rowan Kid Silk Haze
http://www.blueheronyarns.com/yarns/yarninfo.html ....Blue Heron Yarns

I just love the texture of this yarn and the resulting fabric has beautiful body and drape. This is not fast knitting. It is not painfully slow (for a machine) either. But you must pay attention. This is the first time I have knit with this Blue Heron yarn on a machine and one has to pay attention to the slubs as they feed through the Auto Tension Unit and the retainer feeder. I don't have to use many weights with this but occasionally a slub of yarn will catch, snag for a second then release itself, which causes the occasional skipped weave stitches, which I must reform by hand.
Eventually this will be a ladies jacket with fringe in both yarns. I will update you on it's progress.
MOHAIR LOVE AFFAIR
The view in the photo below is of Village Yarns and the section of the store where we stock our Mohair yarns. All weights of Mohair are stocked including the lovely Lace Weight varieties from yarn companies as Madil, Rowan, SR Kertzer, Filatura di Crosa, Fleece Artists, Hand Maiden and Alchemy Yarns of Transformation.

I am very partial to mohair as a fibre and Lace Weight Mohair in particular. The light, lustrous, gossamer qualities dyed in an endless colour range are feast for the senses. Wraps, sweaters, shawls, blankets, and gloves are just some of the possibilities when knitting with this weight.

Mohair knit on Japanese knitting machines snags very easily on the sinker posts (what we refer to as "Flow Combs" on a Superba) and one has to frequently check that yarn is not caught on these posts that separate each needle, or the machine will drop or skip stitches. This is not to say this doesn't happen whilst knitting mohair on a Superba, but not nearly as often. The shape and angle of the Flow Combs results in less "hairs" getting caught and wrapped over the combs on a Superba.
Please save me the suggestion of waxing my mohair before using it or putting it in the freezer. Forget it. I never wax my yarns. Never will. You can tsk tsk all you want but I've seen the results and, well, yuck. I have not spent the money I have on gorgeous yarns in fabulous colours to then take them home and coat them with a petrol chemical that may or may not wash out. If it won't knit up on the machine, then it will on two hand knitting needles.
Here we have Madil "Kid Seta" lace weight mohair currently on my White 1502 (same as a Superba S47, Singer Memo II/Singer 600). Yes, that is hand transferred lace you are looking at. And no, it is not possible to do this using the Garter Transfer Carriage. Superba machines produce another style of lace. But! the Garter Transfer Carriage is used in knitting this stitch technique. You can also use the standard Transfer Carriage as all needles are transferred, not selected stitches.
This is a shawl I am knitting as part of a christening outfit. The lace pattern is a repeat of 14 stitches by 18 rows.The pattern is knit 16 rows on the Back Bed (BB) and then all stitches are transferred to the Front Bed (FB), two rows of plain knitting are done, then all stitches transferred to the Back Bed (BB) and the stitch pattern repeats.

When knitting a Lace Weight Mohair on a Superba Knitting Machine I offer the following suggestions:

1. Always wind the mohair onto an old paper towel roll and push this down onto an empty cone. This keeps the mohair off the table surface and away from lint and dirt. Especially when knitting white, like I am.
2. Constantly dust the machine and table whilst knitting to remove dirt and be careful of getting oil from the needles and needle beds on your hands. I am transferring a lot of stitches so I wear an apron to wipe my hands on. I have tried gloves but I can't stand them.
3. Always cast on using Waste Yarn and a Ravel Cord to begin. And knit at least 10 rows of waste yarn. Then do a "closed" cast-on technique, such as e-wrap, over the ravel cord.
4. As for Stitch Size, nice and loose please. Mohair needs room for the loose hairs to expand and fluff out. If the stitch size is too tight, it will end up felting and looking like a wet Bouvier I know. Not very appealing and such a waste of a gorgeous fibre. This mohair I am knitting on SS10.



5. Ease off on your weights. I have a 172 stitches cast on and I am knitting this using two medium weights with the machine knitting just fine. As shown in the photo below, I added a third medium weight in the centre of the comb when it came time to transfer stitches using the Garter Lace Carriage. With this kind of knitting, dropped stitches are disastrous if they run. I remove the third weight when I resume knitting and transferring on the Back Bed (BB).
6. No fast knitting with this particular technique. Occasionally the hairs will curl around needles or a flow comb (the metal teeth separating the channels the needles sit in as pictured below) but most important, notice with this transferred lace technique how the fabric is starting to undulate? You can see it along the contrast line formed by the blue Ravel Cord.

7. As you begin transferring stitches, the needles which have 3 stitches on them (SL1, K2tog, PSSO) will cause the fabric to push downwards along this continuous line of decreases. The resulting empty needles (YO) will actually raise the stitch pattern upwards. This causes the undulating you see and the other result is that there is very little "tension" on these needles from the weights or comb as compared to their neighbouring stitches. So pay attention. The amazing thing for me was that the machine just zips along.
8. When using the 6-prong transfer tool, again, go slow at first to get used to picking up and moving that many stitches at a time. You might find it helpful to hold your needle pusher against the needle butts to hold them in place as you transfer the stitches onto their new needles.
9. As a *safety measure to ensure the stitches will knit after transferring, I push all my working needles to position 3, set my Needle Return Buttons down and knit. The needles will knit back into working position 1.
*Hand knitters will run a thread (known as a safety line) through a row of stitches that have plain knitting so that in the event something awful happens like dropped stitches, the stitches will only run to this safety line and no further. This way you won't have to reknit the whole piece


10. As with all fabrics when knitting the full width of the bed, mind the Racking Lever located between the front and back bed on the left side. When you begin knitting, ensure your Cast On Comb does not catch on this and get stuck. Otherwise the comb will stop pulling on your fabric and the machine may start skipping stitches.

I will update you on this as the project progresses.

Lake Louise, Alberta CANADA

I thought I would share some photos of my Christmas holidays spent in the gorgeous Canadian province of Alberta. I was visiting my sister Linda for three wonderful weeks in her city of Calgary. 40 minutes drive north west are the Canadian Rocky Mountains and we stayed 5 days at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. Lake Louise is located in Banff National Park, and at an elevation in the area of 7900'. Toronto is 375' above sea level so that is quite a difference. Adjusting to the altitude in Calgary alone took a few days let me tell you.


My sister Linda (seated) and our friend Darlene.


To walk out towards the lake and see this view was just brilliant.



You bet I went on a sleigh ride! In the photo below you can see the hotel in the distance and make out some of the 113 ski runs that surround Lake Louise. 113! And snow. Lots of snow!



We rang in the New Year dancing our asses off all night at the Vegas themed gala to a great band. Everyone was up dancing. It was lovely to be in the company of so many families celebrating together, many from Scotland, Germany and England. And the food was divine!

Village Life
Since I am in a chatty mood, I would like to share some photos of my other home and family. I am a very lucky person to be able to go into work every day and be surrounded by such positive and nurturing people.

Two treasures in my life are Karen Dinner (left), owner of Village Yarns and Gloria Williams who teaches at the store.

Karen makes it all possible and with changes in the demands of her personal life she has given me creative freedom to merchandise the store. With all this glorious colour around, I never get depressed in the winter months working here. Karen and I have fun deciding on feature products and she is always on the hunt for new and interesting display items.

Pictured below is a sampling of hand dyed yarns from Fleece Artist & Hand Maiden hand dyed "Rumple" silk.

Prism Yarns from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Alchemy Yarns of Transformation from California & Namasté Knitting Bags.

And a Bouvier des Flandres to gaurd the sock yarn.


In addition to retailing the finest hand knitting yarns, we are also known as a teaching store with many classes and workshops, including Project Groups...

Finishing Classes...
Crochet....
And Vogueing....

We also take time to compare notes and seek advice from one another regarding our own knitting projects. Rosa, pictured, and I are constantly schlepping 2-3 bags of knitting to work with us for show and tell. I love the comraderie, the sharing, the honesty that I get from these people.

And we're most happy when there is cake!

Gloria Williams, our teacher extrordinaire, chatted me up one day about cake and what my Mother made for me on my birthday as a boy. I told her stories of chocolate cake iced with 7 Minute Frosting and decorated in special ways. This was months ago. Well, was I ever treated on my birthday this month! Gloria made the cake from scratch using the 7 Minute Frosting and then using red licorice cord, hand knit a licorice trim for the cake. Yes, we're crazy but we'd not have it any other way.

Take Care of yourselves.

Patrick Madden.

Toronto, Ontario CANADA

Knitting Machines Abbreviations for SUPERBA, SINGER, PHILDAR and WHITE Brand Knitting Machines.

Greetings!

In this post I provide a summary of common Knitting Machine Terms and Abbreviations for owners of Superba Double Bed Knitting Machines.

I use a form of shorthand when writing my own patterns or for taking notes when working on a published pattern from a book or magazine. This can consist of both symbols and abbreviated words, influenced by years of following knitting patterns published for Japanese knitting machines like Studio, Knitmaster, Singer, Silver Reed and the Knit King, Jones, Brother knitting machines. Also, hand knitting references make their way in to my instructions.


For those of you new to knitting on a Superba Knitting Machine, you will undoubtedly encounter knitting patterns written from the perspective of the Japanese brand machines, the Swiss Passap system and you will find patterns written for Singer/Superba machines in publications from the United Kingdom, Germany and France.


As you work your way through these patterns or charts, you may find it confusing to understand the abbreviations and symbols used or how they translate to your Superba Knitting Machine. I have taken the liberty of creating this list of common Machine Knitting Abbreviations to help Superba Knitting Machine owners decipher this coded language when you encounter it.


HOW TO PRINT THIS
You may download and print a copy of this off of the Yahoo SuperbaWhite Group. The file format is Adobe pdf. Here is the link to the SuperbaWhite group. You must join this group before you can access this document.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/superbawhite/

For those of you not computer or web savvy, I am presenting it in it's entirety for your viewing pleasure here on my weblog. I know a few references/terms found their way into this abbreviation list but I felt it necessary to include them for clarification.

**NOTE: Abbreviations may have more than one term or reference. How this translates specifically to a Superba Knitting Machine is printed below each term in BOLD type. Depending on the way the pattern is written and where the symbol/abbreviation appears in the pattern will determine the context in which it is used.

This is just the beginning of this list. I will update and add information to translate Passap knitting machine terms as time allows.


I am also working on a Glossary of knitting terms for Superba knitting machines as well as compiling a list of Japanese Machine Knitting Symbols for those of you interested in creating detailed double bed and lace stitches by hand. This should be available shortly.

If you care to contribute something, or wish to see anything added, please email me or post it on the Yahoo Superba/White Group.

Take care and happy knitting.

Patrick Madden.
Toronto, Ontario CANADA
www.superbaknitting.blogpsot.com
superbaknitting@gmail.com

KNITTING MACHINE ABBREVIATIONS FOR SUPERBA~WHITE~SINGER~ PHILDAR
By Patrick Madden

A → Colour A, the Main Colour, Main Yarn, Yarn Feeder A, Background Yarn, Needle Position A or Non-working Position.
Superba: “Yarn Guide” on Single Bed Carriage and Double bed model Back Carriage. Also, Slot “D” on the Second Yarn Guide. The Main Yarn is threaded here.

A/H → Arm Hole

ALT or Alt → Alternate(ly)
Superba: Flow Combs Alternate, Alternate Needle Arrangement or 1x1

Approx → Approximately; an average, a ball park figure, a guesstimate.

atst → At the Same Time: Perform either the same technique or an alternate at this stage of knitting; IE decreasing armhole and then starting neck decreases.

B → Colour B, Contrast Colour, Background Colour, Background Yarn, Needle Position B or working position
Superba: Needle Position No.1, Second Yarn Guide; colour 2

BB → Back Bed; The main bed for Japanese Machines, the secondary bed for Passap.
Superba: Back Bed

Beg → Begin(ning); the start.

BET → Between.

Bind Off → To Remove stitches from machine, same as Cast Off.

BK → Back; IE BK Neck.

BO → Bind Off; same as Cast Off, to remove stitches from machine.

BOLT → Bind Off with Latch Tool, aka Crochet or Slip Stitch Cast Off.
Superba: Casting Off Method 2: page 35 of instruction manual.

C → Contrast, Centre, Colour C, Third Colour, Needle Position C; ie “ move needles in hold to C Position…:
Superba: Needle Position No. 2 stitches behind latches of needles.

C on → Cast On; to start knitting, establish stitches on machine needles.

C off → Cast Off; to remove stitches from machine, same as BO.

Cast On Loosely → One deliberately makes the cast on stitches or loops very loose so that the finished edge will stretched when blocked. Useful for lace or shawls.

CAL/COL → Carriage at Left/Carriage on Left; “With COL, Cast on 35 sts….”

CAR/COR → Carriage at Right/Carriage on Right; “End with COR…”

Carr → Carriage.

CB → Centre Back, the exact centre or vertical line along the garment back. 99% of knit garment pieces are symmetrical in shape, so shaping is usually the same on both sides. This is a reference point when shaping.

CC → Contrast Colour.

CF → Centre Front. See CB.

cm → Centimetre.

cntr → Centre. Or "Center", as spelled in the United States.

Cntr 0 → The exact centre of your needle bed. Usually marked with "0" along the numerical graduated scale printed or engraved on your knitting machine bed.

CO → Cast On; to begin knitting, establish stitches on machine needles.

COBH → Cast On By Hand; just as it says, “COBH using e-wrap method…”

Col → Colour, color.

Con → Contrast.

Cont → Continue(ing).

D → Fourth colour, Holding Position, Needle Position D; IE “Pull all ndls to D pos…”
Superba: Needle Position No. 3, holding position, pg. 11 of instruction book.

DB → Double Bed, two separate beds of needles positioned to face one another and knit intricate stitch combinations.

dbl → Double

dc→ Decrease.

Dec/dec → Decrease; reduce number of stitches or stitch size.

DETT → Double Eye Transfer Tool, for transferring single stitches between needle beds on Double Bed knitting machines.

div → Division, divide, dividing.

DK → Double Knitting;; a yarn weight achieving 22 – 24 stitches per 10cm/4”.

E → E position. Upper Working Position.
Superba: Needle Position No. 3, holding position, pg. 11 of instruction book.

ea → Each.

E/N → Every Needle.

E/R → Every Row.

EON → Every Other Needle; alternate needle selection IE 1x1 rib.

EOR → Every Other Row; alternate rows IE “ alt ndls will Tuck EOR…”

EOS/EOST → Every Other Stitch.

Ev → Every.

e-wrap → A cast on technique done by hand, wrapping each needle selected with yarn as if writing litle "e's".

F/Ft → Front.

FA → Feeder A, also “A Long, Long Way to Run….”

FB → Feeder B, Front Bed; this is the ribber or secondary bed for Japanese machines and the main bed for Passap.
Superba: Front Bed.

FF → Fully Fashioned, full fashion; decrease/increase techniques that take place within the fabric, not directly on the edge, creating a decorative line of shaping.

FNP → First Needle Position.
Superba: Needle Position No. 1.

FNR → Full Needle Rib, Double Rib; double bed stitch where all needles on both beds are selected creating a dense, close fabric.
Superba: Close Rib, pg. 47 of instruction manual.

FI → Fair Isle, aka “Knit-In”. A Single Bed knitting machine technique using two colours knit in the same row to a specific stitch pattern.
Superba: pg. 57 of instruction book. Knit on Single Bed or Back bed for DB Models. Use the 2nd Yarn Guide with special carriage settings.

Fdr 1 or A → Feeder 1, Feeder A. Main Yarn Feeder. The Main Colour is usually threaded in this slot on the carriage.
Superba: “Yarn Guide” on Single Bed Carriage and Double bed model Back Carriage. Also, Slot “D” on the Second Yarn Guide. The Main Yarn is threaded here.

Feeder 2 or B → Secondary Yarn Feeder. The Contrast Colour is usually threaded in this slot on the carriage.
Superba: Slot “E” on the Second Yarn Guide. “Second” yarn is threaded here.

Fig. → Figure; referring to a drawing or diagram, IE “Using the stitch design shown in figure A…”

Foll → Following.

g or gm → Grams, Yarn weight measurement, IE “ Zara is sold in 50g balls, 50 grams = 1 ¾ oz.”

GB or G-Bar → Garter Bar; a tool used for turning stitches over on single bed machines to create “Garter Stitch” fabric.

GC or G-Carr → Garter Carriage; an electric carriage that will automatically knit and reform stitches on single bed Brother/Jones/Knit King machines.
Superba: Garter Carriage/Garter Lace Transfer Carriage.

GLTC → Garter Lace Transfer Carriage. An optioanl accessory for Superba, White, Singer and Phildar knitting machines made in France by Superba. Used for transferring individual or groups of stitches to create combined knit/purl textured stitches and Racked Lace.

H → Hold. To place a specific number of stitches into Holding Position.

HP → Holding Position, referring to the needle position. This is usually position D or E depending on the machine. The needles are brought all the way forward and not selected to knit, which is used for “Short Row” or “Partial Knitting” shaping techniques.
Superba: Holding Needle Position No.3, pg. 11 and pg. 20 of instruction book, WITH the NRB’s or Needle Return Buttons on Carriage set to neutral, see pg. 13 of instruction book. Needles are at their highest position on the needle bed, and the needles do not knit but HOLD the stitches.

H/P → Half Pitch; for double bed knitting machines where needles are selected on both needle beds, and the FB is positioned laterally by half a needle position so the needles do not collide and break.
Superba: Flow Combs Alternate, Intermediary Lever on the FB set at Alt.

HW → Hang Weights.

In(s) → Inches.

Inc/INC → Increase.

K → Knit. Both a noun (the actual stitch) and a verb (Knit 20 rows).

KH → Main Bed, knitting carriage; a term used by Knit King/Jones/Brother machines to describe their single bed knitting machine models, IE KH-260.
Superba: The Single Bed Carriage, The Back Carriage.

KWK → Knit across, wrap, Knit back; an instruction to follow when “partial knitting” or knitting “short rows” shaping technique.)

K Carriage → Knitting Carriage
Superba: The Single Bed Carriage, The Back Carriage.

L or l → Left. Long. Length.

LC → "Left Cross" when producing Cable Stitches.

LHS → Left Hand Side.

lgth → Length.

LPC → Lock Punch Card. This is used to either memorize the first row of the pattern card, or to produce stripes in the knit fabric.
Superba: Pause Row Advance or Program the stitch pattern and begin 1st row, depending on context.

M → Main, Main Colour, Marker.

MB → Main Bed. For Japanese machines, this is the single bed knitting machine. For Passap machines, this is the Front Bed.
Superba: For Single Bed models this is the Main Bed. For Superba Double Bed Models, this is the Back Bed.

MC → Main Colour.

mm → Millimetre. Metric measurement.

MT → Main Tension. The number setting on the stitch size or tension dial. The main tension the garment is knit with.
Superba: Stitch Size (SS), see pg. 12 of instruction manual.

MT -1, -2, -3 → Main Tension Less 1, 2, or 3 number settings. Used for rib settings on Japanese machine patterns.

MT +1, +2, +3 → Main Tension Plus 1, 2, or 3 number settings.

MY → Main Yarn. The yarn used primarily in a garment. Same as MC.

n(s) / ndl → Needle(s).

ndls. → Needles.

NB → Needle Bed.

NRB → Needle Return Button. Found on Superba knitting machine carriages. These control needles in holding position and are used for knitting Fair Isle and Jacquard by selecting needles to knit the 2nd yarn colour.

NWP → Non-working Position. Position A on Japanese knitting machine needle beds. Needles are out of work.
Superba: Non- Working Needle Position No. 0, see pg. 11 of instruction book.

Notch → A yarn marker placed along both sides of a seam to aid in sewing sections together evenly.

Opp. → Opposite.

OWP → Out of Work, Out of Working Position.

oz → Ounce, ounces.

P → Purl. Plain. Place.

Patt(s) → Pattern, patterns.

PC → Punch Card, Provisional Cast On

PK → Partial Knit.

Pl → Plain.

PM → Place Marker.

PN → Place Notch.

PU → Pick Up.

Provisional Cast On → A temporary cast on method. See "WY/RC CO." In machine knitting this usually means with Waste Yarn, aka Auxillary Yarn in your Superba instruciton book. One will then complete a closed cast on immediately following or after the piece is removed from the machine.

R/r → Row, rows.

R/Rt. → Right.

RB → Ribber Bed. Most Japanese machines are sold as single bed knitting machines with a “Ribbing Attachment” or ribber. The ribber can be removed from the knitting machine when not needed. Also found as Rear Bed.
Superba: The Front Bed on Superba Double Bed models. A second bed conversion kit was sold for Superba Single Bed models to convert them to a fixed Double Bed machine. The second bed is not removeable. It is permanently attached.

RC/R.C. → Row counter. Also Ravel Cord. "Right Cross" when producing Cable Stitches.

RH → Right Hand, Rehang.

RHS → Right Hand Side.

RP → Rest Position.

RPc → Release Punch Card.
Superba: Activate Stitch Pattern and begin knitting immediately after programming stitch pattern.

RS → Right Side. Depending on the stitch technique used, the side that will be facing out on your garment.

RT/rt → Right. Rib Tension. The setting of the stitch size dial on Japanese ribbers.
Superba: Front Carriage Stitch Size setting.

RW/rw → Row.

Ravel Cord → Very thin Nylon cord, used for cast on procedures using Waste Yarn (WY). The Ravel Cord is knit between Waste Yarn and the Main Yarn (MY), making the removal of the WY from MY easy.

Rem → Remaining.

Rep/rep/rept → Repeat.

rnds → Rounds. Used when knitting "in the round" or Circular Knitting. In circular knitting, as the completed rounds stack up on one another like a coil, you must mark the beginning and end of a round, and count these completed revolutions in your knitting. On a double bed knitting machine, we would begin knitting with our carriage at the right hand side, thus the start of the round. In setting our carriages to knit circular, we would pass the carriages from right to left and the machine will knit on the front bed only and then moving left to right it will knit on the back bed only, completing one round. Thus, two passes of the carriages equals 1 round.

S → stitch.

SB → Single Bed.
Superba: Selection Box.

SC/sc → Single crochet.

SD → Stitch Dial. For setting stitch size or tension of knit fabric.

SH → Shoulder.

SL/sl → Slip Stitch. The stitch is not knit, the yarn passes in front of the stitch on the purl side and knits the next or corresponding stitch depending on the stitch pattern.
Superba: select stitch key 0 for slip stitch.

SR, SHR, s/r → Short Row. aka Partial Knitting. A shaping technique for shoulders, etc., where one selects only a certain number of your total stitches to knit. The stitches you do not wish to knit are place in "holding" position. On a Superba this is Holding Position No.3. To prevent holes forming between rows, the last needle closest to stitches knitting is wrapped with the main yarn to close any gap that may form.

SS → Stitch Size. The setting number of the tension dial on your carriage(s). Also, Side Seam.
Superba: See pg. 12 of instruction book.

St st → Stocking Stitch, aka Stockinette Stitch.
**The most basic stitch a Single Bed knitting machine can produce. For comparison, in hand knitting it is Garter Stitch (knit every stitch, every row – which is one of the hardest for a knitting machine to produce). In machine knitting, due to the fixed position of the latch hook needles, they always produce Stocking Stitch. The resulting fabric has a definite Knit Stitch side and a definite Purl Stitch side. The Purl side is always facing us when knitting Stocking Stitch on the back or main bed.

Sts → Stitches. Individual needles holding yarn formed in loops.

ST–RS– X’s → Stitches-Rows-Times. Garment shaping instruction formula, indicating the number of stitches one would inc/dec, the number of rows between and the number of times to repeat this, IE. 2-8-5 would read as Decrease 2 stitches every 8th row, 5 times. Used frequently in Japanese garment patterns.

sk → Slip Knot: A secure and discreet knot which loops over itself and tightens to look like any other stitch. Used when casting on by hand.

T → Tension.

TD → Tension Dial.
Superba: Stitch Size Dial.

TEN → Tension.

tog → Together, ie K2tog = Knit two stitches together.

TR → Turning Row, Transfer

Trans → Transfer. To move stitches, needle to needle on the same or alternating beds.

tt → Transfer tool. Tappet tool (see latch tool.)

UWP → Upper Working Position. On Japanese machines this is either needle position C, D, or E, depending on the context.
Superba: Working Position No. 2 or Holding Position No.3

W → Work. Wide. Width.

wd → Wide. Width.

WP → Working Position.

WS/ws → Wrong Side.

Wt/Wts. → Weights.

WY → Wast Yarn. Used in provisional cast on methods and closed cast on methods. One establishes stitches and a few rows of knitting before knitting with or casting on with Main Yarn. Superba: your instruction manual refers to WY as “Auxillary Yarn”. See pg. 31, “Closed Casting-On in Stocking Stitch by Hand”.

wy/rc co → Waste Yarn & Ravel Cord Cast On. Indicates that a provisional cast on is to be used beginning with rows of waste yarn, seperated by one row of ravel cord. One can then complete a closed cast on (usually by hand) or begin knitting with main yarn and return later to complete this edge.

X → Times. A multiple of…

YF → Yarn Feeder.
Superba: Yarn Guide.

YM → Yarn Marker. (See PM and Notch).

Patrick Madden.
Toronto, Ontario CANADA
www.superbaknitting.blogpsot.com