Newsletter: Feature

from Colette Emilian

Our January 2023 Colorado Springs Crank-In was a blast!

Our group included a wonderful range of CSM knitters.The room was abuzz with comments like “I didn’t know there were other crankers in Colorado Springs” and “I made my first sock!”

We met at ZoneFive, a recently renovated, beautifully decorated, art studio right in downtown Colorado Springs. We had plenty of space with lots of natural light streaming in the windows. The resident Carpenter, Dave, helped us with machine setup and mechanical problems.

The crankers who came are  amazing people! There were two experienced CSM knitters who met at a crank-in 20 years ago and have been the best of friends since.  A brand new CSM knitter who has had her vintage machine for 2 years without taking it out of the boxes it came in. With our help she not only assembled it but made her first sock!  An Alpaca farmer with babies on the way! A teacher who has been cranking for a year and brought a whole bin full of delightful socks offered up for sale… Sisters who enjoyed a visit with each other while cranking away!

 One of our talented crankers streamed her talents on TikTok, amazing the rest of us with her Social Media skills.  The weather cooperated enough that even a creative CSM knitter from the mountains where they get a ton of snow, was able to join us. There was a CSM knitter who hand dyes yarn. She is an independent artist working to make beautiful yarn available locally and on the web. After the crank-in several of us visited her studio- full of absolutely beautiful soft yarn!

We met for two full days of pure joy. We had door prizes just for fun! We cranked, shared tips, tricks and general amazement for the CSM machines that enable us to create beautiful warm socks!  We had vintage LeGares and Auto Knitters, NZAKs, and several Erlbacher Gearharts to drool over. It was wonderful to meet so many interesting and talented CSM knitters!

The Public was invited to visit each afternoon. We wowed many curious onlookers who asked lots of good questions.  We provided posters and handouts with information on CSMs, including history and  resources to go to for more info, including the CSKMS! One of our visitors already has a machine on order!

Thanks to the CSKMS for providing a generous grant to make this event possible. We hope to make it bigger and better next year!