Prism99

Am I crazy?

Being away from my quilting for so long (working on house rehab for daughter), I picked up my hand knitting again. As a child, when we got together to play dolls, I always wanted to be "the dressmaker", and I find hand knitting at night very soothing. I do not have the patience for people clothing, especially since I am an extremely slow hand knitter, so I hand knit doll clothing. I have not mastered seaming yet, so all my doll clothes are unfinished.

Apparently, in my retirement, I still want to be a doll dressmaker.

Anyway, what I am looking at is purchasing a Silver Reed LK150. I have researched the topic over at the knittingparadise forum.

Any experiences, comments? It seems as if machine knitting is a dying hobby, but it does interest me.

QuiltnNan

Most of the brands are no longer manufactured. I have two machines... A regular gauge KnitKing and a bulky Brother. I wouldn't give up either of them... I love them both. I knitted on a Silver Reed once... didn't like it probably because I was used to my own machines. I used to own 5 of them. Seaming is an art in itself. I belonged to a knit club in south Florida and we all learned so much from each other. I ladder stitch my vertical seams from the right side and they are invisible.

Barb2018

I have one but have not used it in years. My daughter came back to live with us along with two dogs and three cats. It lies under the futon on the porch gathering dust.
However when I did use it I loved it. I made several afghans and baby blankets as well as getting into making sweaters. Look up Diana Sullivan; she used to have many wonderful videos on YouTube about the LK150. If you Google it, you'll find many forums and groups devoted to machine knitting.

Moira in N.E. England

My first knitting machine was a Silver Reed LK150. I bought it a few years ago when I first started machine knitting - it is a lovely machine to start machine knitting on. The 150 is classed as a ‘plastic bed’ which makes it lightweight and, therefore, relatively easy to move. The bigger machines are ‘steel beds’ - these are much heavier.

I used to knit baby and children’s sweaters on it as my 6 grandchildren came in rapid succession and all the non-knitting mums wanted hand-knit items!

The only disadvantage I found with the 150 was that there was no ribber attachment for it. With many steel beds there is the option to have a ribber attachment. This enables you to knit in rib, make button bands etc. I used to get round this by simply knitting the ribs by hand then placing the stitches onto the machine.

I ended up with 3 machines, 2 with ribbers. As my grandchildren got older they no longer wanted hand knit items and, as I did not knit for myself, I got rid of them all.

I also used to use the Knitting Paradise forum. There are some very helpful member in the machine knitting section.

You are not crazy!

RJLinkletter

This brings back memories for me as a child (maybe 10-12). I got a knitting machine for Christmas and although it must have been a kids one I loved it! I made so many scarves and stripy cushions haha.

I say go for it

sewbizgirl

I used to work on a knitting machine... manufacturing knit bikinis in Hawaii in the 80's. I am very glad to not be working on one anymore!

bakermom

I have one, bought it nearly 40 years ago. had the lace carriage and i bought the ribber too. I had a lot of fun with it but haven't used it in years. Made a lot of sweaters as gifts as well as for my kids. problem was, at the time there was only one place to buy the cone yarn needed and it got expensive with a growing family. I don't know if the newer ones require it now. it's packed away in the attic, maybe i'll revive it someday.

SusieQOH

Prism, I also love to knit but have no knowledge of the machines. Let us know what you decide. I loooove yarn!!!!!
I buy hand knit socks on Etsy that are fabulous. I prefer the machine knit to the hand knit ones.

jokir44

I had a wonderful machine I bought from Bernina and made lots of nice things. After about a year I traded it in because I missed the hand knitting. Just wasn't the same feeling at all.

Ginaky

I have 4 of them, the LK150, Brother 260 (Bulky), Brother 965i and Brother 910. Right now I'm in to quilting, but I'm not parting with them! I will start knitting again one of these days! I also have 2 garter carriages for the standard gauge ones. They are a lot of fun to use, you still have to manipulate the shaping, but I love doing it.