Dear Anne
I’ve come back to machine knitting after very many years. I was surprised to find out that all the magazines I remember for machine knitting have disappeared. I was even more surprised to see patterns in MKM for something you call ‘mid gauge machines’. I have Brother 838, 881 and 950i, so are they mid gauge? In between times I’ve been hand knitting and I’ve loads of double knitting, so can I use it? Best regards, Maureen
Thanks for asking and all your Brother machines are standard gauge models. You can knit soft DK yarn at high tensions (Tension Dial 10+) on standard gauge machines and low tensions on chunky machines (Tension Dial down at 1 or 2). Mid gauge machines are absolutely ideal for this weight of yarn. Whilst we’ve all been beavering away, often on our obsolete machines, a new generation of knitters has become hooked on machine knitting. The LK150 has been marketed as the ideal machine for hand knitters who would like to try out machine knitting for the first time. It knits yarns from DK to super thick weight over 150 needles with manual needle selection. To make a start, I suggest you clean your Brother machines, replace the sponge bars and buy a cone or two of decent quality 4-ply. Get back into the swing of machine knitting and then discover how much tolerance you have at the top end of the tension dial range. You may be surprised at the all-round performance of an old steel bed machine.