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This page is written in memory of

Janet Kruzenger

MAKING A TAM O' SHANTER

ON YOUR BROTHER KNITTING MACHINE

The "Tammy", abbreviated from the Tam O'Shanter (after Burns' bibulous hero) became popular wear for young ladies in later Victorian times. The Fair Isle version had a long popularity. Generally today stitches are cast on for the brim; there is a short ribbed band; the pattern is introduced and the stitches are increased to the widest part, and then reduced to form the crown. Some have continuous increasing and decreasing; others fit any change of size into plain rows between narrow bands of different patterns as is also done for some yoked jerseys. Some have a very little shaping between the brim and the beginning of the wheel pattern, relying on dressing to give the tammy its shape by stretching the knitting. The finished tammy is dressed on a suitably-sized plate or piece of firm card, and should lie flat. (from The Complete Book Of Traditional Fair Isle Knitting by Sheila McGregor)

I didn't really want to get into short rowing and all the complications of charting a Tam on my KM until I saw one published in Machine Knit America several years ago. THEN I became interested in doing my own. I shamelessly admit that if I had been able to knit the one that was published in MKA, I would have, but it was written for the Singer or Studio machine and at the time I knew nothing about those machines. Also, the fair Isle pattern was left out of that article so I decided to figure the whole thing out for the Brother machine. I also shamelessly admit that I did use the idea that article used....rather than short rowing, they knitted the circle in pie shaped sections. This works just great as long as you pay attention to what you are doing.

The picture shows a finished Tam. I made mine out of Denys Brunton Magic Color, for 2 reasons. First of all, they really show off the differences in the colors of Magic Color, and how the background color can change the total look of the item. Also, they are so quick to knit that and look so great with Magic Color, I don't know why anyone would want to make them out of anything different except that my daughter Miki made a couple and when I saw hers I may be forced to change my mind and go back to traditional yarns and give them a try. She was using bits of Alpaca with wool. YUM! (see Miki's HK pattern here )

The Tam pictured above was knitted by a very dear friend of mine, Janet Kruzenger of San Pablo, California.. She died a couple years ago of Breast Cancer and I will admit that I still feel very sad when I think of her. I met Janet on Compuserve years ago and Janet and I wrote back and forth via Email for several years. I didn't know her personally but I felt that I did and I certainly suffered for her during her bout of cancer and the treatments she underwent. Now when I see this picture, it reminds me so much of her. She is the one who tested my pattern for me. I knew I could knit it correctly but I wanted to make sure someone else could. Janet cheerfully agreed to give it a try. Then she sent me the picture. I'm dedicating this entire page to Janet. She was a fighter, a wonderful person and loved her KM right down to the bitter end. I know lots of you know her via the Internet. One more note of interest. Janet was such a machine knitter, her name was mentioned in Alles' 25th Anniversary Issue, Janet had subscribed to Alles News and Views for 25 years!

Knitting Your Tammy

MATERIALS:
4 ply Main Color
Denys Brunton Magic Color for Contrast Color (cc)

Ribber Tension 3/3 II
Fair Isle Isle Tension 7 (Gauge not too important
Gauge: Any electronic 24 stitch punch card or electronic machine (instructions written for Brother)

DIRECTIONS:
RC 00

With ribber cast on 182 stitches and work 11 rows 1 x 1 rib, ending with carriage on left.
Transfer stitches to main bed.
At this point, make absolutely sure you now have needles 91 and 91 in work.

RC 00
Set carriage for Pattern # 1 and all-over fair Isle (selector # 1, KC 1)
Work pattern. (you will have 2 plain rows in the end).
Remove ribber cast on comb.

Scrap off work into 26 stitch sections. Starting at the left side, take sts 66 - 91; 40 - 65; 14 - 39 off onto scrap yarn.. Then to the right side take sts 66-91; 40-65, 14-39 off onto scrap yarn. Leave the center 26 stitches on the bed.

*Pattern notes: You will not be knitting a single motif as opposed to all-over fair Isle. There is no need to wrap stitches as normally done in single motif work. As you decrease, make absolutely sure you watch the selected needles. You could easily corrupt your star by not leaving the correct CC needle forward.

Set carriage for KC II or so that end needles are not selected. Set machine for single motif (selector 2 on Compuknit machines). Program Pattern # 2.

910 and 965 users, set FNP at Y 12.
Hang claw weights on remaining stitches.

RC 00 start pattern #2. (first 2 rows across will be plain MC, second row will select for pattern)
Decrease 1 stitch each end on 3rd row and every 3rd row to RC 18
RC 18: Decrease 1 stitch each side EOR to end of pattern
RC 25: Remove all weights. Set carriage for normal knitting. Break off CC. Continue decreasing EOR until 1 stitch remains, take off. *

Repeat from * to * until all sections are knitted.

FINISHING: Sew seams carefully making sure star points meet and match. When sewn, place a dinner plate inside the Tamm, working and stretching until the fairisle pattern between the first 2 argyle patterns is on the edge of the plate. Steam well, being careful not to steam the ribbing. When finished, your Tamm will lay flat. You can crochet a chain to put in the very center or put a tiny pompom or a small tassel.

The information, patterns and images contained on this page are for personal use and may not be altered, converted nor uploaded to any electronic system or BBS nor included in any compact disk (CD-ROM) or collection of any type

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The information, patterns and images contained on this page are for personal use and may not be altered,
converted nor uploaded to any electronic system or BBS nor included in any compact disk (CD-ROM) or collection of any type without the written permission of the owner