OT: Knitting Machines

Charlotte,

I have the Bond knitting machine sitting down in the basement. I've never used it, bought it second hand and by the time I ordered the instructions I lost interest and I have never even set it up.

What machine do they have at Joann's?

Judie

Charlotte wrote:

I don't have one, but it is something I have mused over. I think the big thing for me was that the need to have yarn on cones really cuts down on what is available. I'd need to know I had a good supplier because it's not really something you buy in stores. Obvious things to look at are how wide it is, ease of creating alternative stitches, you do that by sliding some of the needles back, so a fast way of switching it into common things like rib is desirable. I haven't looked at them for a long time, so I'm probably missing advances in technology!

Cheers Anne

I looked what machine it is and found their website, it's

it has complete video instructions. Personally I'd go no where near it, if it were cheaper, maybe, but it's basically the machinery, with none of the gizmos, you do rib by undoing half the stitches and redoing them by hand!

Watch the videos and see if it does the things you want.

It doesn't need the yarn to be on a cone, which means you are having to feed it yourself. It would be good to try how that felt, I'm imagining trying to use a sewing machine whilst holding the top thread in one hand!

Did you see this article

I can see that this would suit some people, but for me, this one has too big needles, it's a bulky weight machine and it's definitely for things that are mostly stocking stitch. It might be just right if you are wanting to do afghans as if I'm understanding it right, it extends easily, though obviously that adds to the cost. I bet there is a yahoogroup, maybe you could join one of those and lurk for a while and see if the kind of things people are doing are the kind of things you want to do.

Cheers Anne

I was given a top of the line Brother with all the bells and whistles a couple of years ago, and all of the extra stuff, too. (A lady who had spent thousands on it had died, and her husband just wanted it GONE, so it showed up on my doorstep since he knows I knit and crochet.) Anyhow, it was a beast to set up and took up my dining room since I don't have a separate large flat space for crafts. It did a decent job, but only worked properly with cone yarn, and was just plain WORK rather than relaxation the way knitting pleases me. I put everything back in its boxes, rescued my dining room from bad language, and sent the entire thing out to a local auction house where it was sold and became someone else's nightmare. Personally, I wouldn't have another knitting machine in my house.

I urge you to test them out yourself before spending a single dime! If you like it, you will know what you are getting yourself in to. If not, think of the money you will have saved.

That is what they have at Joanns. I hope that I can use a 40% off coupon on it, but we shall see if they let me.

I am hoping to use up the large yarn stash I inherited from DH's grandmother. I have 5 30-40gal. totes full of yarn with some stashed in other places too. I do crochet and am using some of it up that way, but this would be a faster way to get it used up. I also have some afghan patterns for hand knitting that I would love to make, but so far my knitting leaves little to be desired. The one a Joanns claims you can uses those on the machine so that would be nice as well, but I'm not sure how easy it is to do that or how good of a job it would do. That is what I want to try to find out before I spend the money and find out I was better off adding to my quilting stash instead ($150 could be a nice pile of fabric).

That's the one.

I have an enormous stash of yarn I want to use up so this is what I want (I think).

I have joined one and have just gotten my approval message so we shall see what they say over there. I was just curious what my fellow quilters had to say about them. Thanks for the advise Anne!

Thanks for you input Mary. I am looking at one from Joanns that is reg. $150. I would like to use a 40% coupon, but I don't know if they would let me. That way I would have less invested. Still, I am afraid that I will get it realize it is too hard to use, or won't do what I want and have wasted good fabric money on it.

Hi Charlotte,

Please contact me by e-mail. I have one of these!!

Nana

I don't know what a Bond cost now, but I had one and used it regularly. I liked that it took regular yarn, and a variety of weights too. I gave it to my SDIL a year or so ago, as quilting takes all my time, and since I follow the endless summer (snowbird), I don't have as much need for sweaters, plus no grandchildren. My SDIL loves it and has used it a lot. She found that she needed a longer bed (more than 100 needles) so she bought one on ebay and added it to her original. Like anything, it has a learning curve, and you really have to make a gauge piece with each yarn to make sure it is correct. She has used it with many specialty yarns as well. Hope this helps. Good luck in your search. BTW there are lots of free patterns on the web for the Bond.

I have the BOND Knitting Frame. I think nowadays they call it the Incredible Sweater Machine?

Loved it when I used it. In Indianapolis there were even groups that met. And there are online groups.

The coolest thing I did with it was made a chuck of knitted "fabric" then cut a dress pattern out of it!

I now have a bond. It is wonderful. I am working on making an afghan with it, but right now I have 2 quilts with deadlines so it has gotten pushed aside for the moment. I think my quilitng time is going to suffer here for awhile because it is fun and easy to use.

Charlotte, I had a knitting machine before I tried quilting :) It was a brother and was very nice. I have to say I enjoyed it but wasnt as adictive as quilting. If you have baby or sport weight yarn go with a regular machine but if it is 4 ply or heavier you will need to go with a bulky. Using a 4ply, like red heart or something is not easy to do on a regualr machine, nor does your machine like it. Many many years ago I paid about $600 for mine then with the ribber, color changer etc I had about $2000 in it. If at all possible try one out or find a used one ..probably a lot of them on E-bay. Its a lot of $$$ if you dont use it a lot.Good Luck. Lyn

I'm glad you are having fun, I know it would be a disasterous choice for me, but when I looked at it, it was clear that for some it would be a great tool, you just have to identify whether you are that person or not!

Anne

My SDIL got a second "Bond" on ebay and has made a longer needle bed. She found that being limited to 100 needles made some patterns difficult. She has been very successful at converting regular knitting patterns to the Bond, and has even made a cable knit sweater. Happy knitting and quilting

I can see where some of the nicer machines would be wonderful. They just don't fit my budget. For now, this fits my needs - faster and easier to learn than by hand. I doubt I will ever advance to a better machine 'cause it isn't what I enjoy most (I'd rather quilt or cross stitch), but there is always that option.