Kniterate: Like a 3-D Printer for Knitwear

If you’ve ever used a knitting machine designed for home use you know how laborious it can be. You still have to do a lot of the work by hand, such as ribbing, increasing and decreasing, and of course all the pieces of a garment would have to sewn together once the knitting was done.

Industrial knitting machines can do all that automatically, but they’re much too large and expensive for home use. Brother used to make electronic knitting machines for home use that some people have hacked in really cool ways, but there’s not a good option for people who want to use knitting machines at home that are more automated than the currently available models.

That may change with the advent of Kniterate, an automated knitting machine that will use more industrial needles and software to allow for more professional and varied knitwear design for home use and maker spaces. A report on Make talks about how the machine might work, as a purchased unit possibly with open-source programming and the ability to share patterns among users.

The machine is likened to a 3-D printer in the way it might revolutionize knitwear production for hobbyists and making protoypes. It sounds really cool and will be interesting to see how it all works out.

[Photo via Make.]

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Why should the fireplace get all the fun? Instead of knitting stockings this year, why not whip up a pair of Christmas themed socks? These Christmas sock knitting patterns are lots of fun to make and you can wear them to holiday gatherings for years to come.

For our friends in the southern part of the world, there are the Christmas in July socks from the Kiwi Lodge – Kylie (Ravelry link). These shorty socks are covered in Christmas trees and have bright pink heels and toes for a tropical feel. There’s also an option to make a longer sock if you celebrate somewhere it’s colder.

Twin Stitches Designs (Ravelry) has a fun pattern with mix and match colorwork motifs you can use to build your own cozy Christmas socks. From the sample socks I see Christmas puddings, trucks hauling trees, Santa belts, ornaments and a couple of different borders. There may be more patterns included but the listing doesn’t say. Make a pair that matches or use different motifs on each foot for extra holiday cheer.

If you want to stick to Christmas puddings on your holiday socks, check out this cute pattern from Stone Knits. These lovely socks feature a band of puddings around the leg and a bit of holly by the toes.

These vintage holiday light socks from Grey Owl Knits by Sarah are classic looking and lots of fun at the same time. I love this color combination but of course you can make your lights and stripes whatever colors you like or have on hand. They’re worked using stranded knitting.

And if you’d like even more of a mix of patterns for your socks, try Barbara Ceglédi’s Christmas Chaos socks, a free pattern on Ravelry. The pattern includes 25 little motifs you can choose from, ranging from snowflakes and Christmas trees to elf hats, reindeer and hearts.

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