Knitting machines · Generica Mono Finezza 7

Casting on

Putting the first row of stitches onto the needles. Everything else hangs from it: if the first row is wrong, the piece is wrong.

On the Generica Mono Finezza 7.

Written from the manual of the Brother KH-860. The steps below have not been checked against this machine — read them as a guide, not as its manual.

Before you start

The machine is clamped to the table, the carriage lock is off and the row counter is on its studs.
The yarn runs through the yarn tension unit and comes off it smoothly, with the end clipped to the yarn tension rod.
You can tell the four needle positions apart. They are marked A, B, D and E on both sides of the bed, and every method below moves needles between them.
The tension dial is set. Start from the yarn thickness, then take the number from your swatch — not from the table. The manual's table gives a range to start from, and says outright that it cannot tell you the number because there are too many yarns. The number that matters is the one that produced the gauge your pattern was calculated on.

The ways to do it

Open the one you need. Which one is right depends on the edge the garment wants at this point — inside a pattern, Tricotta picks it for you.

Open cast-on, on the comb open edge not recorded yet

Use it when this edge is not the finished edge of the garment: a hem to be turned up, an edge to be picked up or grafted later, a rib to be added afterwards, or a swatch you will unravel.

The first row is only held by the comb. Off the machine it unravels — that is the point of it, and the reason not to use it at the bottom of a finished piece.

We have not recorded whether this machine has: takedown_weights, cast_on_comb, weights, needle_pusher — check on the machine before you rely on it.

Set the carriage for plain knitting and set the tension dial.

K carriage · cam buttons · tension dial
With the 1/1 needle pusher, bring the needles you need forward to position B, centred on the 0 mark — half of them each side of it.

How many: the pattern says. Open this from your garment and the number is filled in.

1/1 needle pusher · needle position B
Check that the front and rear feet of the carriage sit on the bed correctly, then run the carriage across and back to straighten the needles into B.

K carriage
Park the carriage at the right of the machine, and set the row counter tripper to working position.

K carriage · row counter tripper
Hang the cast-on comb on the gate pegs: hold it with the clip facing you, turn the levers on both sides towards you, then set both hooks on the gate pegs — keeping the two sides level.

A comb hung crooked pulls the first row unevenly and the edge comes out slanted.

cast-on comb · gate pegs
Turn the yarn feeder lever to the left, thread the yarn into yarn feeder A, hold the end under the feeder with your left hand and close the yarn lever.

yarn feeder lever · yarn feeder A
Move the carriage to the left, holding the yarn end with your left hand at the right edge of the knitting.

K carriage
Take the comb off the gate pegs and lower it by turning the levers on both sides towards you. Make sure the comb pegs have caught the yarn between each gate peg.

This is the step that hangs the knitting on the comb. If a comb peg missed the yarn, that stitch has nothing pulling it down and will drop.

cast-on comb · comb pegs · gate pegs
Free the yarn between the comb and the carriage so that it passes under the last comb peg — the one next to the end needle — and above the others.

comb pegs
Clip the right end of the yarn.
Move the carriage to the right slowly.

K carriage
Carry on back and forth. Take the carriage all the way across until you hear the click at the end of the row, and keep the same speed on every row.

Stopping short of the click leaves the last needle unknitted; changing speed between rows changes the stitch size, and it shows in the fabric.

K carriage

Do not run the carriage far past the knitting, and never reverse it in the middle of a row.
Do not make the first rows tight: the comb is doing the pulling and it cannot pull what is jammed.

From 3-1 · pages 20, 21, 22, 23

Closed cast-on, by hand finished edge not recorded yet

Use it when this edge stays as the edge of the garment and you want it made with the working yarn, needle by needle.

We have not recorded whether this machine has: takedown_weights, cast_on_comb, weights — check on the machine before you rely on it.

Hang the cast-on comb on the gate pegs.

cast-on comb · gate pegs
Put the carriage at the right, and bring all the needles you need forward to position E.

E is the holding position: the loops you are about to wind stay put on the needles instead of sliding off.

How many: the pattern says. Open this from your garment and the number is filled in.

K carriage · needle position E
Make a loop in the yarn coming from the tension unit and fasten it on the end needle at the left.
Wind the yarn round the second needle from the left, anticlockwise. Then round each needle in turn, left to right, the same way.

Same direction every time: one loop wound the other way sits differently and shows on the edge.
Push the loops back onto the stems of the needles. Do not make them tight.

A loop pulled tight round the hook will not let the latch close on the first pass.
Thread the yarn into yarn feeder A.

yarn feeder A
Move the carriage from right to left, lifting the yarn up slightly.

K carriage
Release the cast-on comb and carry on knitting.

cast-on comb

From 3-3-1 · pages 24, 25

Closed cast-on, with the latch tool finished edge not recorded yet

Use it when this edge stays as the edge of the garment and you want a chained edge — the same chain the latch-tool cast-off makes, so the two ends of the piece match.

We have not recorded whether this machine has: takedown_weights, cast_on_comb, weights, latch_tool — check on the machine before you rely on it.

Hang the cast-on comb on the gate pegs.

cast-on comb · gate pegs
Put the carriage at the right, and bring the needles you need forward to position E.

How many: the pattern says. Open this from your garment and the number is filled in.

K carriage · needle position E
Make the first chain stitch with the latch tool.

latch tool
Keeping the loop behind the latch, put the latch tool between the left end needle and the next one, push it up and hook the yarn, then pull the tool through the loop sitting on its stem. That is one stitch.

The loop must stay behind the latch: in front of it, the latch cannot close and the stitch does not form.

latch tool
Repeat all the way along. At the right-hand end, do not make the last stitch — put the yarn into the needle hook instead.

latch tool
Thread the yarn into yarn feeder A.

yarn feeder A
Move the carriage to the left, lifting the yarn up slightly.

K carriage
Release the cast-on comb and carry on knitting.

cast-on comb

From 3-3-2 · pages 25, 26

Closed cast-on, with the weaving levers finished edge not recorded yet

Use it when this edge stays as the edge of the garment and you want the machine to do the work — the carriage lays the first row for you instead of your hands doing it needle by needle.

We have not recorded whether this machine has: weaving_levers, needle_pusher — check on the machine before you rely on it.

Bring the needles you need forward to position B.

How many: the pattern says. Open this from your garment and the number is filled in.

needle position B
Set the carriage for plain knitting with both weaving levers at W.T. and the change knob at N.L., and put it at the right of the machine.

K carriage · weaving pattern lever · change knob
With the 1/1 needle pusher, bring every other needle forward to position E.

Alternate needles in holding: the yarn laid across is caught by half of them and passed by the others, which is what makes the edge close on itself.

1/1 needle pusher · needle position E
Thread the yarn into yarn feeder A. Holding the end in your left hand, lay the yarn across the needles that stand forward.

yarn feeder A
Pulling the yarn down gently with your left hand, move the carriage slowly with your right to knit. Keep hold of the end for the first few rows.

There is no comb pulling here: your left hand is the take-down until the fabric is long enough to hang.

K carriage
Put the weaving levers back to N and let go of the yarn end.

weaving pattern lever

From 3-3-3 · pages 27

When it goes wrong

The needles do not take the yarn — the carriage goes across and nothing knits.

Is the yarn actually in yarn feeder A? Nothing knits until it is.
Is the carriage seated on the needle bed correctly?
Is the change knob at N.L.?
Is the sinker plate assembly on the carriage correctly?

From 4-1 · pages 28

The carriage is hard to push back and forth.

Are the tension dial and the tension discs set for the thickness of this yarn? Too tight a stitch fights the carriage.
Is the yarn threaded correctly through the yarn tension unit, and does it come off smoothly?
Is the machine clean and oiled?
Do the wheel brushes turn freely?

From 4-2 · pages 28, 29

The carriage jams part-way across.

Do not force it. Take the yarn out of yarn feeder A, loosen the knobs and lift the sinker plate assembly off the carriage, then start that row again from the beginning.

From 4-3 · pages 29

The parts by name

needle position A: Out of work. The needle sits back and does nothing. Everything goes back to A when you fold the machine away.
needle position B: In work. The normal working position.
needle position D: Pattern position. The needles the punch card has chosen are pushed here by the carriage.
needle position E: Holding. The stitch stays on the needle until it is let go. This is the position behind short rows, necklines and darts.
cast-on comb: The toothed bar you hang on the first row. With the weights, it is what pulls the knitting down.
gate pegs: The row of small posts along the front edge of the bed. The comb hangs on them, and the yarn passes between them.
comb pegs: The teeth of the comb. Each one has to catch the yarn between two gate pegs.
K carriage: The knitting carriage: the thing you push. It carries the tension dial, the cam buttons and the yarn feeder.
yarn feeder A: The main yarn feeder on the sinker plate. The yarn has to be in it for anything to knit.
tension dial: The numbered dial on the carriage, 0 to 10, each gap split in three. 0 is the tightest and smallest stitch, 10 the loosest and largest.
cam buttons: The row of buttons on the carriage — PLAIN, TUCK, MC, PART — set by hand, one setting per kind of pattern.
change knob: The knob at the right of the carriage. It has to be at N.L. for ordinary knitting.
weaving pattern lever: The two levers on the carriage used for weaving — and, at W.T., for the machine-laid cast-on.
sinker plate assembly: The front plate of the carriage, carrying the yarn feeder. It comes off with the knobs when the carriage has to be freed.
latch tool: The hooked tool with a latch, used to chain stitches by hand — for this cast-on, and for the matching cast-off.
1/1 needle pusher: The comb-shaped tool that pushes needles forward, either all of them or every other one.
row counter tripper: The arm on the carriage that trips the row counter. It has to be in working position for the counter to count.
yarn tension unit: The mast the yarn climbs before it reaches the carriage. It keeps the yarn under an even pull, and the end of the yarn clips to its rod.
tension discs: The discs on the yarn tension unit that grip the yarn. Set with the dial, they are the other half of how hard the carriage is to push.
yarn feeder lever: The small lever that opens and closes yarn feeder A, so the yarn can be put in and then held.
wheel brushes: The brushes under the carriage that keep the needle latches open as it passes. If they stop turning, the carriage drags and stitches are missed.

What we do not know yet

A manual states; it does not always prove. These are the places where we would be making it up, so we say so instead.

In cosa DIFFERISCONO i tre bordi finiti (a mano · uncinetto · leve)? Elasticita', spessore, aspetto, tenuta?
NON RISOLTO. Il manuale descrive i tre metodi e non li confronta mai: non dice quale sia piu' elastico ne' quale convenga a un polso. Qualunque affermazione in merito oggi sarebbe inventata.
L'avvio con le leve di tessitura vuole il pettine o no?
Il manuale non lo appende e non lo nomina (p.27). Registrato cosi'. Da verificare sulla macchina: se in pratica serve, e' una correzione da `research` a `measured`.
Per l'avvio aperto, quanti giri di filo di scarto prima del filo buono?
Il manuale non lo dice perche' non tratta l'avvio aperto come avvio ma come esercizio di lavorazione liscia. E' conoscenza di mestiere, da prendere dalle bibbie o dal fondatore, non da stimare.

Källa: BROTHER KH-860 KNITTING MACHINE INSTRUCTION MANUAL. The procedure is retold in our own words; the drawings are our own.