Knit Naked

Lace Rib Panel on the Knitting Machine

While I love to hand-knit, a few years ago my husband got me a knitting machine for Christmas. So far, it has been great for large panels of stockinette stitch but I decided recently to learn a new stitch. I wanted to make a prayer shawl for a friend and settled on the Lace Rib Stitch.

Everything was going very smoothly — I had the stitch down and probably had 100 rows finished. Now let me set the stage. I have my machine set up on my kitchen counter, which is bar stool height rather than table height. I prefer to stand while I run the carriage back and forth. Then I sit when I’m working the stitches, which puts me at eye level with the needles.

I had on a terry cloth swimsuit cover up that I wear around the house as a robe. As I ran the carriage across the needles, it crunched to a stop. Oh yes, I had caught the front of my robe in the needles! Because I was leaning over the knitting machine, it was impossible to unhook the robe from the needles while in it. So I had to wriggle out of the robe, pulling it over my head. (Here is the TMI part — send the children out of the room.) I was completely naked underneath the robe so I am standing in my kitchen, pulling it off over my head while attached to the knitting machine.

Had to run to the bedroom, put on another robe, then go take that thing apart and save the knitting I had done. Fortunately, after laughing, crying and a few 4-letter words, I was able to get back on track and resume knitting.

When I told my mom about this, she said the knitting machine company should probably put a warning on the product that suggests you not wear loose clothing or just knit naked!

The prayer shawl is beautiful. I single crocheted, then double crocheted around it for edge stability. Will gift it to my friend on August 1st. There was a lot of praying done during the making of this prayer shawl!

Completed Lace Rib Prayer Shawl