PLATING ~ Hints and Tips

Plating allows you to run one colour behind another, not to the extent that you will have 'black' on one side and 'white' on the other - but it gives an even displacement of colour avoiding streaking. When knitting Hobby and Silky together, you may find the Silky a shade different to the Hobby, so when knitted through the normal feeder streaking occurs. If the garment is plated, then there is no streaking, also it allows you to use different combinations of yarn to enable you to use different weights of fabric together. If your Brother or Toyota machine plates you will have a separate feeder for this purpose. An easy way to check is to see if the screws on your carriage front, either side of where you thread the yarn in, unscrew. If they do, you can plate. For those Brother ladies who cannot, ask a friend if you can borrow their main carriage front plus plating feeder, they are interchangeable. Silver Reed look in your handbook, you use the same feeder, but thread the plating yarn to the back of the main feeder.

POINTS TO REMEMBER

The yarn in the back plating feeder appears on the purlside of the knitting

Use your ribber clamps (if you have them) so your machine is tilted, but keep your yarn mast in the position for single bed work, so it tilts away from the machine. It gives better tension to your work.

Keep a good tension on masts, slack yarn causes problems. Knit through all MY on first ndl before beginning knitting, it stops you knitting across with only one yarn. (on first row only, or when joining in yarn)

You can knit with the plating feeder threaded in one feeder only - the front one is best

Stand yarns on the floor Some machines hate joining fabric together with the plating feeder.

If you have problems, change back to main feeder.

If you own more than one machine have a second complete carriage front to hand. One front to plate and the other to get you out of trouble with the standard feeder.

When holding and plating, take up any slack yarn before knitting back across needles

© Notes to help your knitting.....Posh Frocks by Ann Brown