Stitches

knitting machine?

I want to purchase a knitting machine and want to know which one would be the best one... Can you use all different weights and types of yarn or only certain ones? What features should I look for and what should I stay away from?

Public Comments

1. I have the "Ultimate Sweater Machine". You can use all weights of yarn and some of the fancy yarns too. It has some issues like not picking up the yarn and then you can loose the whole thing you are working on or spend a lot of time repairing dropped stitches. I actually had better luck with some of the "bulky weight" yarns on it. I also need more practice with it and I haven't had the time. I might be interested in selling my unit cause I don't have time to work with it. Email me at treecelynn@yahoo.com if interested.
2. I'm sure the 3,600+ members of the Knitting Machines Yahoo Group can give you some great advice: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Knittingmachines
3. Take a look at this site that explains what you can (and can't) expect from a knitting machine. http://www.yarn-store.com/hand-and-machine-knitting-the-differences-and-similarities.html Basic knitting machines knit stockinette very quickly and with many you can knit cables, fair isle, intarsia, and other stitch patterns with manual intervention. Generally stitch patterns with mixed knit & purl stitches on the right side like ribbing, garter stitch, seed stitch, moss stitch, etc., require manual manipulation. How much manual intervention varies depending on the capabilities of the machine. Some have ribber attachments that you can purchase. A knitting machine is not as portable as hand knitting. A knitting machine is clamped to a table which means you are confined to one location. There are many on-line machine knitting groups that you can learn a lot from: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/incrediblesweatermachineclub/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Knittingmachines/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LK-150/
4. First you must decide if you want to knit with fine, medium, or thick yarns. There are so many different machines, you might want to join yahoo knitting machine groups, and ask the members for input. Jeannette