For this assignment, I decided to create a piece on the knitting machine based on a fractal tree pattern like the one that we used for the embroidery machine tutorials. I was interested in getting more experience with the knitting machine and taking advantage of its ability to create prints based on algorithmically-generated patterns.
I adapted Leah's randomized fractal tree code to create a variation with three separate fractal trees, one large central one and two smaller ones, one on each side of the main tree. I wrote the code in Java using Processing libraries so that I could easily save a screenshot to a .jpg file that could be imported into the knitting machine's pattern design software. I built in a keyboard command to generate a new randomized fractal tree, and a keyboard command to save a screenshot. This way, I could easily have the program generate a number of three-tree patterns and save the ones that I liked most. For the final piece, I selected an image that had fairly even trees and less white space than others. While I had generated 200x200 images, I reduced this to 100x100 in the knitting pattern generator for a more appropriately scaled piece.
My selected pattern:
Other interesting patterns generated by the program:
Challenges and lessons
My primary challenges with this piece were in setting up and running the knitting machine. I learned how to replace needles, as a few of those needles had latches that were not closing properly. Additionally, I ran into difficulties and some dropped stitches at one end after casting on a few rows and attempting to begin the pattern; I had replaced the carriage back to the standard carriage from the lace carriage, and had neglected to plug in the cord that controls the patterning. Interestingly, nowhere in the software or hardware did I get a notification that this had occurred, so when I began the pattern software and started moving the carriage back and forth, it made rows of the incorrect length containing only contrast thread and did not show pattern progress on the computer. Plugging in the cable easily fixed this issue.
There were also a few places in the middle of the pattern where the machine dropped a stitch, which would then make a run down part of the piece. I'm not sure what caused those dropped stitches. Perhaps switching colors with improper tension? (My addition of the tension weights at the beginning did not catch every stitch perfectly).
Although I had attempted to limit the lengths of single-color knitting in each row to avoid loose threads on the back of the piece that could be inadvertently picked up by the machine, the fractal design still had some large stretches of white background. Particularly when these long stretches occurred at the side of the piece, the loose contrast yarn occasionally got picked up incorrectly.
