Kniterate Armband

The Kniterate machine is a digital knitting machine that allows users to customize their own garments and prodocue them at commercial rates. This document will outline the production of an armband prototype with a built in circuit for a feedback mechanism using the Kniterate.

1. Lab Toolbox:
2. Scissors
3. Seam ripper
4. Spare needles and jacks
5. Yarns (3xnormal, 1xconductive)
6. Laptop/PC with a SD port or an SD to USB adapter
7. Lillypad or arduino
8. LED

The first step in producing the armband is to produce the code in the online editor.

Canvas:

This is where you pick your base dimensions for the armband. I found a width of 100 fit my arm fairly well but you can adjust that to the user.

Height: 152

Each layer uses 50 rows and there are two additional rows to transition between single bed and jacquard

This parameter should not be changed unless you are using different electronics

Code: Front Knit

Yarn: Yarn 3

Free Edit:

Rows 0-8: Yarn 3, Front Knit

Rows 9-10: Yarn 4, Front Knit

Rows 11-38: Yarn 3, Front Knit

Rows 39-40: Yarn 4, Front Knit

Rows 41-50: Yarn 3, Front Knit

Row 51: Yarn 3, Knit Both, Rack +0.5

Row 52: Yarn 3, Front Knit, Rack 0

Rows 53-152, Alternate between Yarn 3, Front Knit and Yarn 5, Rear Knit

Cast On:

Selection: First Row [(1,1) to (100,1)]

Draw Yarn: Feeder 1

Waste Yarn: Feeder 2

Body Yarns: 3 4 5

Interlock Rows: 70

Once finished, export the KCode file to the Kniterate's SD card and ensure the title of the file is "command.kc"

Set up your kniterate with the following positions for yarns. The tension settings will depend on which yarns you select.

Feeder 1: Draw Yarn: It's helpful to use a yarn with a different colour from the rest of the knit

Feeder 2: Waste Yarn

Feeder 3: Body Yarn 1: Used for the bulk of the knit

Feeder 4: Conductive Yarn

Feeder 5: Body Yarn 2. This yarn will show on the exterior

Start the knit on the machine.

Items to monitor:

Cast on: Most errors of a knit occur during the cast on

1. Are there clumps forming? This is a sign that there is a broken needle that needs to be replaced.
2. Between row 50 and 60, the rollers should grab the knit and apply tension
3. Cut each yarn at the clamp when it gets caught by the rollers
4. Monitor each new yarn as it is introduced to ensure it:
5. Is each yarn correctly picked up by the needles (no skipped stitches)
6. Tension is correct (No dropped stitches around edges)
7. Stitch sizing is correct (No clumps or dropped stitches)

Conductive Thread:

1. The conductive thread (Shieldex Coaxial) is prone to getting caught and tangled in the yarn pathway which results in the yarn breaking and the knit failing. In general, lowering the speed is enough to avoid this issue. I recommend unspooling a large length of yarn before the knit and monitoring whenever it is used to ensure there is always slack in the yarn and that that slack doesn't tangle as an additional precaution.

Every 5-10 minutes after:

1. No stitches have been dropped
2. Any other potential issues noted during the cast on

First, remove the draw string to separate the cast on from the armband. Next sew the back and middle layers to the outer one as shown above. Leave a small amount of material on the outer layer for later use.

Sew the ends of the outer layer to finish the armband. You may need to trim excess yarn to clean up the final product

Tie your resistor and circuit in series together and connect the Lilypad to the other side of the circuit. I used a basic LED to demonstrate the circuit.