Miscellaneous

Hi
I have one of these and Metropolitan supplied a laminated sheet with all the instructions on it. They are based in Nantwich Cheshire and are really helpful.
Alternatively if you email me at marydonovan@btinternet.com I will try to help.
Best wishes Mary

Hi

Have you checked the list of clubs on this website?

Also the Guild of Machine Knitters website lists clubs and their contact details. They have details for Mapperley Ollerton and Worksop. Perhaps one of those would be close to you?

Kind regards
Sue.

I have some instructions and a few patterns . Send me an email at
Lindawer@facebook.com and I’ll send you a list of what I have.

Linda

Hi Peter

Is there a machine knitting group near you? Check the Guild of Machine Knitters website.

You will find that all knitting machines come with a manual which explains the basics: what the tools are called and what they are used for casting on and off increasing and decreasing buttonholes etc. Some machines are very basic and do not have automatic patterning others use punchcards and there is also quite a range of electronic machines.

If you buy a used machine make sure it has the manual with it. You can also use the manual to check that the machine is complete and has all the tools that it came with when new.

Silver are the only machines still being manufactured; they advertise in MKM. The website “Scan the Cat” has lots of information on Brother machines and “The Knitting Machine Museum” has useful information on all the different makes of machines. A search for “machine knitting” on the Internet will produce lots of useful information and there are quite a few demonstration clips on u-tube.

Metropolitan Machine Knitting have comprehensive correspondence courses both for single bed Japanese machines – Brother Silver/Knitmaster and Toyota and for these machines with a ribber attachment – and Passap/Pfaff. They also have separate courses for Silver electronic and Brother electronic.

Check the adverts in MKM for places that sell used machines; I’m sure they would be happy to give you advice if you contact them.

I hope you find what you are looking for and enjoy learning how to use it.

Regards
Sue.

Another great source is utube Diana Sulivan has some excellent tutorials.

Hi Peter
If you decide to purchase a punchcard machine I can offer to help you use it. I have a Knitmaster 360 which is the same as the Silver Reed machines. I can also help you on a Brother machine and my phone number is 01237-431959. Hope this is a help to you.
Joy

Hi

If you haven’t cleaned the needles for a while it may be a good idea to do so.

Also check that all the latches are working smoothly and try loosening the stitch size slightly. Oiled wool is quite stiff compared to waxed yarns and doesn’t like too tight a tension.

Hope this helps
Regards Sue.

Thanks for your time and assistance. I cleaned my ribber and was surprised to find how much fluff was inside it. I realise I need to use a lower tension than manuals would indicate.

Hi Rachel

It’s worth checking the listings on ebay as needles are sometimes advertised.

I don’t know if it’s possible to use other needles – each make and model seem to have their own.

Regards
Sue

Hi Rachel
There are some needles on ebay now.
Sue.

Hi Sue
Thank you. You have been very helpful.
Rachel

Hi

I think you may find this website useful: http://thewoolendiva.weebly.com/mk-70-punchcards.html

It explains how to adapt a 24 stitch punchcard for use on the Knitmaster 18 stitch machines. You can download the instructions.

Hope you find it helpful

Sue.

Hi Jenny

There is a set of 10 blank punchcards for this machine on ebay at the moment. The listing ends on July 15th. Starting price is about £10.

Regards
Sue

Hi Fran

Sorry to hear you are having problems it’s frustrating to have to keep pulling down on the yarn but sometimes it is the only solution.

Is your tension suitable for the yarn you are using? I take it that you have tried tightening the disc tension. Make sure the yarn is on the inside of the pin between the discs.

Have you checked behind the plates in the tension discs? Fibres can build up behind them and cause problems.

Are you using a very fine yarn? Sometimes it helps to loop it right round the tension disc instead of just between the discs.

Hope this helps.
Regards
Sue.

Hi
I used to teach machine knitting at college. One of the ways of getting rid of looped yarn was to tape a plastic piece of tubing to the table under the yarn tension unit. Thread the yarn through the plastic piping and then through the yarn tension unit – and voila!

Another golden oldie was to use a tiered vegetable rack. Place the first cone on the bottom rack the second cone on the next rack up and so on. Thread the yarn through the centre of the cone above before threading through the yarn tension unit. This is great for multi-coloured cones and gives a better random appearance as it ‘twists’ the yarn as it feeds through the unit. I know that you’ve sorted your problem but it might be of some use to other members.

Hi Sue – thank you for your comments. Hubby got his screwdriver out and cleared out all the fluff that had gathered behind the spring – I was rather surprised how much there was as I have barely used the machine. Anyhow after trying again I noticed that it was not the tension rod but the ribber arm which ‘looped’ the yarn just before taking the carriage across. Fortunately I have two standard gauge ribbers and swapped the ribber arm – perfect! I think the other ribber arm may need some new brushes!!!Thank you for your comments though because I will make sure the tension spring is cleaned on a regular basis now. Best wishes – Fran