NERDY KNITTING BECOMES DAILY HABIT

As a grad student in sculpture with a penchant for crafting, I acquired a computerized knitting machine to try to knit some big, soft art pieces. But I quickly realized I could easily and speedily “print” out all kinds of patterns because the machine is a well-built workhorse. It was so fun and rewarding to use that I started to sell nerdy machine-knit scarves and accessories online. I thought of my knitting machine as an “expensive toy” at first—a major splurge that was probably not going to stick. But now I use it so often that it never sees the inside of its case.

I’m impressed that this piece of technology, manufactured more than 20 years ago, is still functioning perfectly. Like a car, the parts that are likely to break are easily replaceable. The eBay seller who sold me my machine spends her time collecting and restoring old knitting machines. She swaps out parts and relists complete, functioning machines with copies of their manuals, which is a must for learning the confusing dials, buttons, and controls.

My favorite thing about my knitting machine is its ability to store two color pixel-stitch patterns in its memory and execute them in yarn over and over. I like to program a pattern, then try it out in several different color combinations. It’s easy to iterate new designs and really get my creative juices flowing.

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