AYAB and Penguicon

There is nothing like a deadline to get you moving.  Especially one where it is public if you miss it.    I've just completed my #Penguicon presentation.  I am happy to report that it seemed to be well-received by most attendees.

I had two sessions:  The first was a background/prerequisite course "Introduction to machine knitting" where I discussed the history of knitting and machine knitting, the technology,  and the  types of fabrics that can be produced.  I passed around acrylic, wool and wool/rayon swatches that exemplified the types of stitches that can be produced on a knitting machine.  Tuck, fairisle, slip stitch (mosaic) and showed slides of various types of patterning mechanisms, internal and external storage on the machines.

The second  session was a discussion of the AYAB knitting machine hack for KH-910, KH-930, and KH-940 model machines.  I demonstrated the AYAB software and spent a lot of time discussing the problems associated with creating a two-color input pixel-per-stitch input file.  I mentioned that Photoshop, GIMP, and Paint.net had been suggested as editing tools. I used Cochenille's Stitch Painter, Paint, and IMG2track as editors.   We created Word Art in Microsoft word and used the resulting image to knit a word "Penguicon"
I showed pieces I knit prior to the conference:

I showed the samples that I had created before the session: a random llama, a cute baby photo, and a cross-stitch design I copied from Pinterest.

U TT

There was a positive response to the punchcard designs that I showed, especially when I mentioned the usefulness of a knitting machine that does not require electricity in the event of a Zombie apocalypse. Side note: There was a car in the front of the hotel that was prepped for a Zombie apocalypse, unbeknownst to me.

I showed a design that I intend to re-knit, a Rowan design that I punched manually, and compared it to the punchcards I used to knit it.  Some of the attendees were taking pictures, I hope they hash tag with #Penguicon or #AYAB