Tag: brother knitting machine

Brother Knitting Machine Reviews

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Brother Knitting Machine

The Brother Knitting Machines are the most popular brands of knitting machines in the United States of America and remain popular there and in many other places around the world. The Brother Knitting Machines are some of the most diverse and flexible and are well built and relatively easy to use.

Brother has been building Home and Industrial Appliances as well as business equipment since their inception in 1954 and they have maintained an excellent reputation throughout the years. That reputation was hard-earned and when Brother puts its name behind a product, you can rest assured that you will be getting excellent quality machines and an excellent value for your investments. The knitting machines built by brother are certainly no exception there.

Brother Knitting Machines come in a variety of shapes and sizes for all different manners of knitting. The Primary Knitting Machines are all of the KH series but you may occasionally see KR and KX in reference to these same machines. Do not let that throw you. The Brother KR Series is actually a set of Ribbing Attachments for certain individual knitting machines as well as two additional instructional and owners manuals for the Ribbing Attachments. There is also a KRC 830 which is a Color Changer. The KX 350 is the only machine in the KX series.

The KH series of Brother Knitting machines is a very extensive and comprehensive selection of equipment. While there will always be things that a human can do which a machine cannot, the people at Brother have done a pretty good job of making a selection and variety of knitting machines that will fit most of your needs.

No matter whether you are trying to automate part of your knitting production, just want to experiment a little or actually need the machines for mass production, the brother knitting machines are going to have something that does exactly what you want and need it to do. Many of the Brother machines come replete with a selection of patterns, punchcards and instructions to help you get started immediately. However, do not expect to master any knitting machine in the very first day.

The very first thing you need to do before you ever consider purchasing a knitting machine whether it is a Brother or any other brand, is to clearly define your needs and expectations when it comes to an “automated” knitting machine. There is not going to be any single machine that can do everything.

There are flat machines for knitting flat sections of cloth. These are generally very popular among artists and others who may want a unique background for a photograph, wall hanging or other work of art. The “Nine Millimeter” knitting machines are made specifically for heavier yarns and generally have a looser weave than the machines that are built for the baby yarn or thread-like yard often used in socks and even some clothing items. The machines built for the smaller yarns will never be useful for large sweaters, ascots, scarves and other items typically made with larger yarn.

Still, if you are looking for a reliable and dependable knitting machine that does have a number of options, the Brother Knitting Machines are never a bad idea. Given the ease of use, the readily available patterns, owner’s manuals and even instruction booklets straight from the factory itself make the Brother Knitting Machines a great option and a great overall value for the price.

 

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Do Hand Knitters Need A Knitting Machine?

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Machine knitting fans are ecstatic about how fast their equipment can produce elaborate stitches. But even with speed and volume advantages, machine knitting can’t absolutely replace hand knitting. They are two totally different crafts and, often, you will need to do a combination of hand knitting, machine knitting and crochet trim to finish a project.

With a knitting machine, you can weave large pieces with knitting machine yarn in a short amount of time without inflicting your hand with carpal tunnel syndrome. Machine knitting brings out your creative side – blending delicate lace with fancy patterns in exotic color mixes that might otherwise be tough to achieve when knitting by hand. Machine knitting also provides you with hundreds of patterns to choose from, pre-installed with your equipment so you don’t have to browse through several shelves in a crafts shop. A Brother knitting machine has more than 500 pre-set pattern options.

Despite these benefits, there is a downside to machine knitting. And it’s important to know about these disadvantages before you fork over all that cash on a knitting machine. First of all, knitting machines are way too bulky to sit on your lap. They would take up a large amount of space in your house. Also, knitting machines require tons of spare time when setting up and learning their complicated features.

Knitting machines can mean a large investment of money. Brother knitting machines can cost around $500 or more, depending on how fancy the features are. A knitting machine works with only one weight class, so you will need a different knitting machine for each different yarn weight you will use, plus expensive special attachments for ribbing or working knit/purl mixes. A Silver Reed ribbing attachment goes for around $700, an Intarsia carriage for $90, and yarn changer for $300 – these are all added costs that could drive your costs through the roof.

Flexibility is one advantage that hand knitting has over machine knitting. You can increase or decrease as many stitches as you want in the middle of a row just as easily as the beginning or the end. But to do ribbing or purl stitches on a knitting machine, you have got to drop all of the stitches on the row that you need purled and work them back up again. You can see both sides of the pattern while you are hand knitting, but you can only see the purl side when you’re machine knitting, making it difficult to see how the final result would actually look like.

If you are still set on buying a knitting machine, try out several brands and models as you begin your search. Ask other machine knitters for recommendations or attend knitting seminars. Machine knitting chat groups online are also great sources of info when deciding on the appropriate knitting machine for you.

The Right Knitting Machine For You

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Hand knitting is a craft that is enjoyed by many people, but if you’re way past the novice level and want to take on the challenge of knitting larger patterns, or your knitting business is at the stage where you can’t keep up with demand by hand knitting alone, or you just want to be able to knit up more items per hour, then maybe it’s time for you to invest in a knitting machine.

When you knit by hand, you create one stitch using two needles. Imagine how much work you can do with a knitting machine that constructs an entire row all at once!

There are three common types of knitting machines: bulky machines, standard beds, and mid-gauge versions. Some are simple looms while some can be highly complex with buttons and dials operating computerized functions.

Heavy sweaters are knitted on a bulky machine, which has needles set 9mm apart and hook and latches that are large enough to work on thick yarns. Bulky machines can also carry out Fair Isle, tuck, slip, lace, intarsia, and other knitting techniques. Studio, Brother knitting machines, and Silver Reed are popular brands of chunky machines.

These knitting machines can be mechanical knitting machines, which allow you to choose from selection of pre-punched cards as well as create your own patterns. Electronic knitting machines have more flexibility and a wider range of uses. They can have around 300 patterns stored in memory which you can turn upside down, mirror, reverse, or double the width or length.

Standard knitting machine beds are typically used to knit suits and lace curtains. Needles are placed 4.5mm apart and the hook and latches are smaller than those on bulky or mid-gauge machines. A standard bed knitting machine usually offers numerous stitch type options and can accommodate very thin yarns.

Electronic standard bed knitting machines allow you to choose from more than 650 templates with more room for customized patterns. Advanced models like the Brother KH970 come with an automatic lace carriage and a computer program that enables you to knit the same sweater with different yarns, gauges and stitch design without re-entering the garment piece.

Mid-gauge knitting machines produce the closest quality to hand-knitted fabrics. With needles set 6.5mm apart, these machines can knit a wide variety of yarns, including baby, sport and worsted types. Lace is done by hand and most models do not have stored patterns or automatic selection of needles. Mid-gauge machines can do some of the most common knitting stitches like stockinet, slip and tuck, as well as techniques involving weaving, plating and ribbing.

When choosing a knitting machine, decide on what type of yarn you want to use, what features you need, and how much you’re willing to spend. A row counter, ribber, and tension mast are necessities in a knitting machine. Some special features you may want to consider are lace carriages, garter bars, punch cards, automatic color changers, and intarsia carriages.

It is best to get a knitting machine with these extended features so that as you get more confident with machine knitting, your machine will be able to grow with you and allow you to take on more challenging projects.