Derby University

Recently I contacted Derby University to ask if I was able to go and use their shima seiki knitting machines as at Norwich we have very limited knitting facilities, so to my happiness they said I could. 

I visited them on Friday and met Kay the course leader and also John who was the man who does everything with the Shima machines.  

Firstly i got shown around all the bits in the Britannia Mill, where they have screen printing, Ceramics, Weave, and Knit. It was amazing to see just how much they had there and the range of equipment that was available, they must of had around 30 little table top weaving looms and two digital ones and one big digital one. 

Below is the big digital weaving loom

 Above is one of the special knitting machines that knits in a circle ( can't remember what it was called)

 

Below is the Shima knitting machines, the closest one is a chunky more hand knit feel machine and the far one is a very very fine gauge which you could knit things like monofilament on

 It threads up much like a dubied knitting machine but its very fiddly to do 

 Here you can see some of my work coming off it, this is a pattern i had already made myself and John loaded in into the special shima computers first to tell the machine what i wanted i.e stitches, double bed, single bed etc.

 

What i loved most about the knitting that comes off was the fact it was double sided some you couldn't see any floats and it had my pattern on both sides which made it a great fabric and something you basically wouldn't have to do anything to.

 

There were loads of different amazing yarns that the University had as well and I loved the one above, it was very much like a towel type yarn. 

Above is my samples that i got off the machines and i love the towel yarn one, it was just such a different yarn to what I'm used to using and it turned out great. 

I'm defiantly going to go back and keep in contact with Derby as they were such a great help to me and really opened my eyes to shima and also different types of knitting machines and all the possibilities that there are out there for me.