Gave my knitting machine and ribber a whirl yesterday

I was like a bumbling nincompoop.  I had forgotten so much, even how to thread the yarn (wool)!  Good job I have all the manuals.

It took three or four attempts to cast on the ribbing correctly.  It knitted just fine once started.

I gave the machine a good oiling first so thought I would give it a test run.  I can tell you it isn't like riding a bike!  You do forget, well at least I did.

I made my customary Barbie dress which is what I turn all my practice pieces into.  Have to sew it together and put a row of crochet around the bottom to save it curling.  The top is a bit wrinkly because I forgot to reduce the tension when casting on but hey ho, it will be a feature 😉

My Barbie doll model and her clothes went home with the littlest grand daughter this past visit so no model to display it on.

I might look for an American doll in a garage sale and make some clothes for it both on the knitting machine and sewing machine. I fancy doing something like that for a bit.

Today I will get the big guy out, the battered up old SK151 (see posts below for it's history) and oil it and give it a whirl.  No ribber for that one so hopefully an easier session.

The saga of the SK 151

I was a little concerned that I had forgotten so much so checked back on my blog and it had been three years since I had used the machine and made something so I didn't feel quite so bad then.

In the way of everyday stuff, my husband is having to get plasma exchange every three weeks now and the last one didn't seem to help much.  He may have to go back on the immunotherapy with the chemo drug but he has to be careful with that, last time it wiped out all his white cells. He isn't feeling too well since the procedure last week, lots of dizziness and weakness,  Hoping he will rebound soon.

We had a visitor this week, unfortunately!  Haven't seen any in a few months but this one showed up today. He looked like he had been dead a while though so he may have just been under the dresser or something.  Will be keeping a sharp look out from now on though.