Susan from Minnesota writes in:
I am going to be the new proud owner of a used knitting machine that I am getting through our local “Freecycle.” I am a knitter, but have never worked on a machine. Do you have any information, websites or references you could share with me?
I recently acquired a knitting machine myself, and I had to do a lot of research about them before picking one, then had to bid on many eBay auctions to get one I actually wanted. The most important resource for you as a new owner is the manual for your machine. Mine came with the complete manual, and I look at it at almost constantly while using the machine. It should explain the workings of your machine in great detail. If yours didn’t come with its manual, you may be able to download it from online. Try typing the make and model number into a search engine, for example “Brother KH930E manual,” and see what comes up.
There’s a great roundup of knitting machine resources on about.com, actually, which links to the best pages (some quite old, but then again, so are these knitting machines) with resources for machine knitters. The woman I got my machine from on eBay restores machines with missing parts and then resells them, and is extremely knowledgeable on the subject. Her name’s Patricia, and if you send her a message on eBay I’m sure she’d help you out.
If you have a question for Ask CRAFT, email me at becky@craftzine.com or drop us a tweet!
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Yes, About.com is a great resource. You might also want to check out the Craftopedia at k2g2.org. It’s still somewhat sparse and it’s a little bit on the geeky side, but it’s a great starting point for open source machine crafting :)
If you are a complete beginner it’s also a good idea to check if there is a machine knitting circle in your vicinty. Dedicated machine knitters are always happy to share their knowledge – learning by doing with some experienced folks around is much more fun than searching the internet, trying to figure out which information is relevant …
oh, awesome! i got a knitting machine at a thrift store last year, but i haven’t even had a chance to play with it yet. thanks for the resources!
I was surprised to find youtube tutorial videos for my handmedown machine, and they were much more helpful than the pictureless manual.
You can probably find lots of help from the Machine Knitters Guild of Minnesota. They meet monthly in Minneapolis – you can get their meeting dates and contact info from the Textile Center http://www.textilecentermn.org/organizations.asp. This bunch is SO enthusiastic about machine knitting, and it’s amazing what they can do.