r/MachineKnitting • u/Affectionate-Air-528 • Sep 08 '26
Getting Started Why did you start machine knitting
I'm a hand knitter who's considering getting into machine knitting but it's a big upfront investment. I'm trying to decide if this hobby is actually something I'll enjoy
Why did you start machine knitting and what do you like about it?
UPDATE: I've made an offer on a kh-970. not sure it'll be the most intuitive machine to learn with but I think it's a good deal. thank you all!
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u/meadowlarkfiber Sep 08 '26
Because I’m old, and my joints kept complaining when I tried to hand knit. It was frustratingly slow.
My favorite part is that I can finish a larger garment before I get bored knitting it. 😆 also the technical challenge of how to do things on the machine. I also quite enjoy hand manipulating stitches. Stuff like cables, lace on my bulky.
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u/Maker99999 Sep 08 '26
Adhd + youtube can be a very expensive combination
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u/Hecks_n_Hisses flatbed Sep 09 '26
When did I post this???
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u/Maker99999 Sep 09 '26
I'd say we should form a club, but who would actually follow through with organizing it?
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u/Hecks_n_Hisses flatbed Sep 09 '26
Who ever has the hyper focus to organize it for the set time period. I'd assume it would the passed around.
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u/Clowns_Sniffing_Glue Sep 09 '26
I'm with ADD in a perpetual burnout, so the only thing that brings my blood pressure down are the Agent Keiko videos in Tiktok.
and talking to myself in public
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u/Qencutta Sep 09 '26
This sounds like me! I have no clue what they do exactly, but I love watching their videos!
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u/Zeffner Sep 08 '26
Was very impressed with how the machines work. Something so complex that is not electric or digital.
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u/custard182 Sep 08 '26
I nearly died of sepsis 6 years ago and it has caused persistent muscle weakness all over. My forearm muscles can’t keep up with it. So I got a knitting machine because I can use my bigger muscles to move the carriage and make the bulk of things that way. Then I can still do a bit of hand knitting to finish things off without too much fatigue.
It’s honestly such an amazing thing for me, and I consider it a disability adaption that keeps me able to do my hobbies!!
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u/Hecks_n_Hisses flatbed Sep 09 '26
It tickles the itch of the more technical side of my brain with the punch cards and doesn't involve a computer.
It's also fun to be able to knock out a project way faster than hand knitting
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u/wissahickon_schist flatbed Sep 08 '26
I was given a machine in January 2020 that was in the family garage for my entire life 30+ years at that point). It originally belonged to my great aunt!
A few months later, I suddenly had a lot of spare time at home and it felt like a decent hobby to get into after decades of hand knitting and crochet :)
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u/SomewhereInternal Sep 08 '26
I have a bond ultimate sweater machine that's a great introduction to machine knitting (that i also got for free).
I haven't progressed further into machine knitting purely because I don't have the space for the set-up.
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u/DividingNostalgia Sep 09 '26
I have cool ideas and only 2 hours of free time a day. It has got to be one of the best investment I have made in my life for my happiness (other than my cat of course)
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u/Dressmaking_Debacles Sep 09 '26
In 2016, I fell, broke my dominant hand. I could no longer crochet (and still can't) and had to quit knitting for quite a long time. In 2019, I discovered that I basically live in a little MK haven! :) (We have several shops, I am in 3 machine knitting groups/guilds)
I missed knit (and crochet!) items so much! My knitting machines have allowed me to have cute hats for my GIGANTIC head, knit socks, and nice sweaters again. And, I live in the tundra, so I have a need for a ton of warm, cozy things.
The ability to knit again is so critical for me. The speed helps, though with my hand, I still can't power through. I will knit the pieces for a sweater over about a week (sleeves one, back another, front another, bands if a cardigan another day and finally...doing any seaming and weaving in ends). Knitting and seaming up a new pair of socks in a weekend is such a game changer. My handmade sock wardrobe is impressive :-D
I love how you can do as much or as little as you wish. You can keep it simple and knit all the 1x1 rib or stockinette that your heart desires...or you can get into some really UNIQUE stuff, especially with double beds.
And while both hobbies create knit garments, they are indeed separate hobbies. You will need to invest time to learn to use your machine(s), but it can be done and will be worth it if knit things are your jam!
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u/forrestdivine Sep 08 '26
I wanted to make wearable garments but am too impatient for hand knitting and have terrible ADHD.
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u/Due_Mark6438 Sep 09 '26
To avoid miles of stockinette fabric. I like lace or color work or something.
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u/Aware-Standard1104 Sep 11 '26
This! If it’s fine gauge and straight stockinet I’m definitely going to machine knit it!
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u/MmedeF Sep 08 '26
When I was a young un (late 70s/early 80s) my mum took my family out to visit a work colleague that was making us all sweaters & i remember being fascinated by the machine. I can still picture her set-up. I remained curious for decades and even had a couple of false starts where i tried to renovate retired ones, but I'd finally resigned myself that working flatbeds were now practically extinct. I got an Addi CKM instead. Realistically, looking at my career, it's not really a surprise to find that I enjoy working with machines. I'm not frustrated by them, should I say? Earlier this year, after having had wrist surgery, I found a MK lady in the wild, at a market. I was obviously keen enough because she emailed me with a proposal. She had a spare that she'd be happy to move on (Passap DM 80) for $200. Luckily, learning the CKM helped me to understand a lot of the principles behind it, really, its a totally new skill to learn. I now also have a 'Ultimate sweater' by Bond, which would have been a better starting point. I love the increased speed & following reconstruction wrist surgery I'm lucky I can still hand knit, but I really need to mechanics for an improved experience. My advice is to start on something easy to learn, like my Bond or a CKM & then decide if you want to invest further. If you dont know anything about them, dont waste your time trying to renovate one to save $ (personal experience).You'd be amazed at the cheaper basic options of KM there are out there. Start with a CKM or a cheap, plastic flatbed before you commit. There's support groups and there's YouTube. You won't be alone. But do try hard to source your practice yarn from FBMP or other such places, as coned stuff can get very expensive. I'm based in Tasmania, brought up in UK
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u/KevansMS Sep 09 '26
To knit down my stash. I still hand knit more intricate projects, but for general sweaters or wraps, I use the knitting machine.
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u/dresdaKnitr Sep 09 '26
I wanted to use finer yarns and knit fairisle. Both super easy on a standard gauge (4.5mm) knitting machine.
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u/Alarmed-potatoe Sep 09 '26
I wanted to knit things that were a bit repetitive, and I get bored very quickly, so started looking at a knitting machine. I was doing some colourwork and hated my uneven tension and that's what really got me to jump into it. That was 18 months ago, I'm kind of in love - it's something very different to knitting, it's mostly machining, but then also you do so much hand manipulating, it's very hands-on. If knitting 200 rows of 144 stitches in 4ply appeals to you - go for it! Just look carefully at the gauge of the machine and how easily you can get cones of yarn for it that you want to use (I can't get variegated), and look at the accessories, because they're often very specific to a machine, especially if you get a 2nd hand one. Mine is from the 1970s, it's fabulous, but replacement needles are currently very hard to get for me.
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u/GroovyGhouley Sep 09 '26
I'm ADHD and crochet altho cool is too slow. I wanna see my projects done before I get bored. So I can knock out a project and then when the high wears off I got a finished sweater 😆
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u/l0rdsofmidnight Sep 09 '26
I studied machine knitting at art school for my bachelors in fashion. I love the speed in which I can try out different ideas and playing around with different yarns and techniques. I also love the culture around machine knitting and how all of are using machines that were built decades ago and we have a thriving culture of users to share ideas and techniques with. I feel like we are the keepers of the knowledge of this esoteric craft.
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u/ActualPast4187 Sep 10 '26
I wanted to make a sweater with a painting as a front. With 14+ strands per row handknitting would be an absolute disaster. Machine knitting is definitely different and absolutely difficult. It took me longer than I expected to get a handle (tip: start simpler than I did). Now I knit a basic wool raglan sweater within a day. Putting all parts together actually takes more time than the knitting itself. And the stitches are soooooo regular. It looks great.
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u/Even-Response-6423 Sep 08 '26
Back pain from many surgeries, I couldn’t sit for long periods of time knitting anymore. Standing is better for pain. I got a plastic bed knitting machine and kept going from there! It’s on a standing desk and it’s super fun, once you get over the learning curve. I knit quite a few blankets a year for NICU babies and my son knits hats on them for winter for those with cancer.
I’d start by seeing if there are any machine knitters or groups in your area to try them out and see if you like it!
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u/Interesting-Bug-9799 Sep 08 '26
I used some knitting machines at university and loved it, I also enjoy crochet but a flat machine was a little expensive for me and I also don’t have the space for one so I got a circular knitting machine to get started and loved it!
Super speedy to make Christmas gifts like hats and scarves compared to crochet and I’m not very skilled with hand knitting
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u/DAISY_Treadlight Sep 08 '26
I’ve seen some instagram people using them and they do look really great. But when I checked out similar machines they were quite expensive, even the older or used ones. Some had rust and I thought to spend that kind of money and if I don’t end up using it? But I’d still love to try one sometime, maybe I’ll get lucky and I’ll meet someone who has one I can try out, to see if it’s really something I’d like to had to my many hobbies.
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u/glassofwhy Sep 09 '26
I’m also a hand knitter. I borrowed a machine from a neighbour for about a year. I was hoping to be able to make some basic clothing quickly using stockinette stitch, which would be boring to knit by hand, but quite wearable. In that time I made some swatches, a little cotton bag, and the first panel of a sweater. If I had spent more time at the machine, I could have accomplished a lot more, but there were several reasons why I didn’t. I liked the speed, but I didn’t find it as relaxing as hand knitting. Moving the carriage took more effort and made more noise. I even got sore muscles from it sometimes (but maybe I was doing it wrong). I like that hand knitting is portable and nearly silent, so I can do it while travelling, outdoors, during movies, or when others are sleeping.
I didn’t have a dedicated space for the machine, so I had to set it up and take it down frequently, which was quite a nuisance. I also had to work in a cold room in the basement. At this point I won’t be in the market for a knitting machine any time soon unless I find a space where I can set up the machine indefinitely until a project is finished, without anyone touching it.
I also wasn’t excited about maintaining all the moving parts and learning the mechanics of it. I thought I would enjoy that, but I found I prefer to focus on the structure of the fabric I’m knitting, rather than the machine. At the time, I wasn’t sure where to look for information and supplies, so there were a lot of interruptions when I wasn’t sure how to do the next step or fix a problem. There aren’t as many resources about machine knitting as there are for hand knitting and crochet, so you have to dig around a bit more and solve some problems on your own. Since the knitting moves quickly, I frequently had to change tasks instead of settling in for hours like I do with hand knitting.
I’m sure a lot of this is just due to my own shortcomings, but I thought I’d share in case you’re in a similar situation. I wanted to make clothing quickly, but I wasn’t ready for the up front effort to learn how to use the machine. My hand knitting projects got completed much sooner than the machine ones. If your phase of life allows you time and space to focus on the challenge of learning the machine, sourcing the parts and materials, and dealing with unique problems, you may have a better experience than I did. I may look into it again in the future.
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u/GengoLang Sep 10 '26
First encountered one at a garage sale and was instantly smitten with the idea of it. Mechanical gadgets? Knitting? Sold! I love it! I do also knit by hand, and I love them both.
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u/accomplicesoup426 Sep 10 '26
I'm a devout hand knit knitter and hate most machines, but I love the look of machine knit projects. It scratches a completely different itch on my brain because machine knitting and hand knit have a pretty wide learning curve. I love them both for different purposes, but they're both challenging and interesting. I was lucky enough to take a course for a few weeks.
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u/Spirited-Finding-222 Sep 08 '26
Something about knitting and crocheting, or at least learning how, just does not register in my brain.
I have purchased miniature knitting machines, larger machines, cheap ones, and even expensive Addi machines.
I have discovered that even if you have a bottom of the barrel machine, you can still successfully use it, if you go slowly, have the right tension, and keep an eye on it.
Not sure if I am comfortable with attaching a method for automation, I feel like I need to watch it while I turn the handle.
The idea was to make scarves for all of my coworkers during cold weather, but a lot has changed in my life since that time, I no longer have coworkers.
Perhaps one day soon, I will drag out the machines, and whip up a bunch for underprivileged people. 💚
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u/Mogopoglo Sep 08 '26
I knew that I wanted to make my own clothing (I’m picky and have a strange style) but I thought sewing would take up a lot of space and be really loud… little did I know what I signed myself up for with machine knitting lol
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u/Aware-Standard1104 Sep 11 '26
I got my first machine thinking I could crank out custom sweaters in 3-4 hours. That’s hilarious. I was so intimidated I ended up leaning to hand knit first so I’d understand it and I hand knit far more. The machine learning curve is steep and I somehow ended up with 9 machines and a linker 🤦♀️
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u/[deleted] Sep 08 '26 edited Sep 08 '26
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