I put the set aside stitches back into play and wound up the ravel chord and put it in the tool box which is an integrated part of the machine.
I started on the second side, did three rows and the carriage jammed big time. I couldn't move it either way. I took of the plate and pushed the needles out to the holding position (D) and released the carriage top but it still wouldn't budge. Upon closer inspection I could see the ravel cord was caught up in it. The whole chord still tied in a knot! I snipped away at it with scissors so I could get ends to pull out, but that didn't work too well so I got my long nose pliers (which incidentally are great for straightening bent needles) and was able to pull the bulk of it out. Then I got the other strands and was able to take off the carriage and get the rest out. An end of the chord must have been sticking out of the tool box and got grabbed by the carriage. The ravel chord now has a new home well away from the machine! My fault, wasn't careful enough but a lesson learned for sure.
The good knitting fairy was with me because the carriage was not damaged and I was able to complete the front.
I took it off the machine but the ribbing was not good.
So does any one have any advice for me as to why the ribber is doing this?
It was working perfectly then started acting like it was drunk last week.
I am going to play around with it some before I redo the front. Had it have been the back I might have let it go but it shows up too much on the front.
I know I promised no more pictures until it was completed but need to show it in case anyone can help.
So a mixed day, good that I found out that I can hold stitches on the ravel chord and not have to take them off the machine, bad that the ravel chord got caught up in the machine, good that it didn't damage anything and good that I could complete the front despite jamming it. Good that I did the split for the V neck without any problems. Not so good that the ribber isn't working correctly. I know it is user error, either the yarn isn't feeding into it smoothly or I have the tension too tight for the yarn or the ribber isn't fitted quite right or it needs adjusting somewhere. Hopefully I will sort it out soon and get going again.
The good thing is there were more 'goods than 'bad's.
That's the sort of thing that happens to me but normally it's not something getting caught in the carriage, it's me forgetting to change a setting on it.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure about your ribber problem. Have you got enough weight on?
Normally that happens to my ribbing when the yarn in the yarn mast gets caught and the tension goes really tight on the yarn through the feeder. This leads to sections in rows becoming knitted very tight, which gives a similar look as to what I see in your photo. The fact you say the carriage started to drag also sounds like this is a likely cause, but I may be wrong. Maybe it could be this? Try knitting a rib swatch and see how it knits in rib, making sure that the yarn is at the correct tension throught the yarn mast. Hope this helps Maureen.
ReplyDeleteThanks Suzy and Phil. Phil, I think you are right, I tried yesterday again by taking the yarn feeder tension down and it was better. I did a huge swatch of rib and it was OK so I redid the front of the sweater and it was OK as far as the ribbing is concerned but.........(see my next post)
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