So after working hard into the night trying to figure out this beast of a machine, I finally decided to pack it up and give up and start fresh in the morning. I brewed a pot of coffee, put on the dvd and followed along with the lady as she set up the machine. I was reassured I had been doing everything right. Then, she goes and starts the first row of yarn and so do I.... WHOOOSH. My carriage flies right across the needles, and doesn't knit a stitch.
WHAT DID I DO WRONG??
I rewind the video, go back. Everything is the same. Here goes nothing, I think. WHOOSH. This time, a beautifully knit row! WHOOSH. Another row. WHOOSH. and again! I think I'm getting the hang of this. WHOO-CRUNCH! My carriage is jammed. WHAT? I was doing so well! The video says to tug on the hem a little to wiggle it around. The carriage is freed, I continue to the end, no problem! Yay! WHOOSH. success again! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOSH. Whoa that went way to fast and I have half a row done and the other half not. The video says to pull out the row. (Which looks easier to the woman on the video than it does at my table) Ten minutes later, I'm back to whooshing. Then, WHOO-CRASH! the hem and the whole piece drops of again. I give up and bind it off.
I'm still pretty impressed with myself- here's the small sample that I ended up with. More testing will definitely be required, but this is much farther than I made it last night. Another attempt, or two or three will be made.
However, here are four freeze frames that I took from the video that are super helpful in understanding most of the written directions in the book. (Maybe I should read that again now that I've watched the video)
These pictures show you the four different needle positions. It's important to understand that unless the needles are in the Working Position or the Forward Working position, the needles won't knit. Sometimes it's hard to tell which position that you are in, but these pictures can help you with getting going.
Well, I've successfully completed one swatch, now I'm off to try for some more. I think with these, I'll work on some different binding off techniques too! :)