First, we had to figure out how the machine works. We did that by looking at the documentation of other students, reading the manual and watching YouTube videos.

The challenge was that we were using special yarn: the recycled yarn from the ITA, which is about 50% recycled materials. That causes the yarn to tear more easily.

First swatches

During our first swatches we had some trouble figuring out the machine, which is why there are some holes and imperfections. At this stage we mostly figured out how to thread the machine and needles, what different settings there are like the size of the stitches and what the settings on the carriage need to be for a basic textile.

We tried different methods to use the recycling yarn, like using two strings of it at once or combining it with a different yarn. We mostly used secondhand yarn to combine it with the recycling yarn so it would tear less easily. That method worked pretty well and allowed us to create different things with the recycling yarn. It still teared sometimes but less often and we were able to just knot the torn yarn back together and continue normally.

In the picture you can see some of our swatches, showing different stitch sizes and the combination of recycled yarn with a blue/white yarn.

Testing the stability

The problem of the recycling yarn is that it tears easily, so we wanted to test whether the finished garment would tear too or if it would be more stable. Though it may not be the most scientific method, we just tried pulling on it as hard as possible and couldn't get it to tear. This was a swatch done with recycling yarn only, showing that the yarn may not be the most stable but once it's knitted, it's pretty durable.

Issues with the machine

After testing different types of yarn and figuring out the machine, we tried to make a beanie. This is where we noticed that the metal on the right side of our machine was bent, increasing the resistance of the needles, which was causing the stitches on the right side to become tighter than on the left side. This makes it impossible to create a textile that's the same length on both sides.

It is still possible to create a beanie with this but it's very inaccurate, which is why we decided against making that our prototype with this machine.