The Crowood Press has released quite the handful of machine knitting books recently, and you won’t want to miss them. Bill King, someone you might recognize from his regular contributions to Machine Knitting Monthly, shares his wealth of knowledge in this Cables edition of Machine Knitting Techniques.
Once a few basic techniques have been mastered, the number of cable designs available is virtually endless.
The Crowood Press
The Details
| Published: 2023 | Publisher: The Crowood Press |
| Format: Paperback | Pages: 112 |
| MSRP: $21.99 | Canada: $28.99 |
Chapters
| The Basics of Cable Knitting on the Machine | Press Off Relief |
| One Tool Cables on the Single Bed | Super-sized Grafted Cables |
| Racked Cables on the Ribber | Cables and Fisherman’s Rib |
| Deflected or Moved Ribs | 3×1 Mock Rib Cables |
| Partial Knit Cables | Cable Miscellany |
| Pattern Collection |
Overview
Bill King is a freelance knitwear designer and technician who has worked extensively for the knitwear industry in the UK and overseas. His designs have sold to Calvin Klein, DKNY, Anthropology, amongst others. With 40 years of knitting experience, Bill holds regular knit workshops and seminars in the UK and has written the Masterclass feature in Machine Knitting Monthly for the past ten years.
Vogue Knitting Live
Machine Knitting Techniques: Cables is a skill book and focuses on instruction rather than patterns, though it does offer four patterns with instruction for three sizes each at the end of the book.
Examples are shown on a standard 4.5mm gauge machine, and most use a ribber bed, so you will need a ribber bed to get the most out of the book.
Instead of schematics, it has needle layout diagrams. If you are new to this type of diagram, it might take you a bit to get used it, but they are straightforward. Over a grid where each square represents one needle, a “|” symbol denotes a needle in work while an “o” denotes a needle out of work. You might sometimes encounter this type of diagram without the grid, as well.
Each new skill has an accompanying exercise with step-by-step instructions so you can practice. From intarsia to plating to tuck stitches, almost every type of cable combination you can think of is in this book.
☼ Project Idea! Keep your exercise swatches and make a patchwork sweater! ☼
Bill King Has Me Thinking More Like a Machine Knitter
The vast majority of my yarn friends are hand knitters or crocheters, and Ravelry is still my go-to for pattern browsing and inspiration. I’ve hand knitted so many cabled things and designed a few of my own, so I’d say I’m at least an intermediate cable knitter. Well, hand knitter.
I never thought about things like Press Off Relief or Mock Ribs. I didn’t need to think of things like that in hand knitting since I could simply knit a few stitches a little bit looser or perform a purl stitch to make a rib. The confines of my hand knitting didn’t need that sort of experimentation or modification. If I wanted to experiment with cables and crossing stitches, I just picked up my needles and started knitting.
Bill King doesn’t shy away from the limitations of the knitting machine. I feel like he leans into them. By making sure the reader understands what things that don’t work well, he reminds the knitter that there are possibilities in the workarounds. Because I spent a decade hand knitting before approaching machine knitting, I found myself thinking “that just doesn’t work well on the machine, so I’ll do it by hand.” King has not only proved that notion wrong, but has inspired me to experiment more with what is actually possible on the machine.
I appreciate the years of industry knowledge King shares in the Cables technique book. If you’re looking for an extensive look into cabling on the knitting machine, you need to pick up a copy.
Where to Buy
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Thank you for joining me on my machine knitting journey! Do you have Machine Knitting Techniques: Cables by Bill King? What is your favorite new cable technique? Let me know in the comments!
ELY Knits 