Clay said "Still, back when the machines were something of a novelty, there was a basic machine (made by "Bond" as I recall), that simply knitted. Any color work, cables, increases or decreases, etc., all had to be made by hand. So, people who made a garment on the Bond knitting machine were allowed to enter it to be judged in the same category as hand-knits."
Looking at this from both sides, as I have a computerised machine and Mum used to judge knitting classes, the argument is flawed. A computerised machine can only select needle combinations, so the fancy knitting is *limited* to things such as fairisle, tuck stitches, weaving, and some lace patterns which can be produced by by working on some needles and not on others. It can't automatically do cables, any lace pattern that requires increasing stitches on one row and decreasing them on another, anything that requires short row knitting such as socks or bobbles. It also can't do the increases and decreases. All these are hand manipulated. But on the other hand, what any knitting machine can do, from the basic Bond or single bed to the most modern, is produce absolutely even stocking stitch, and if a ribber is available as well, very even rib stitches. Even when hand manipulating the stitches for cables and lace, this even tension is maintained. As the eveness and tension of the knitting is one of the biggest considerations when judging, next to the sewing up and finishing, it seems to me that for a considerable percentage of the possible marks, the machine knitter has an unfair advantage. Add to that the fact that even with a lot of hand work added, machine knitting is always quicker than hand knitting, then I consider it most unfair that they were allowed to compete in the same class. Jacquie in Lincolnshire - To unsubscribe send email to majord...@arachne.com containing the line: unsubscribe lace y...@address.here. For help, write to arachne.modera...@gmail.com. Photo site: http://community.webshots.com/user/arachne2003
