The Sewing Place

Anyone got a Knitmaster 600/700?

Bodgeitandscarper

Re: Anyone got a Knitmaster 600/700?
« Reply #15 on: September 09, 2020, 09:32:10 AM »
That's brilliant!  Have fun, and don't forget the pics  0_0

Elnnina

Re: Anyone got a Knitmaster 600/700?
« Reply #16 on: September 09, 2020, 11:03:22 AM »
Greybird so pleased that you have sorted this and got the machine running smoothly.  Now all you have to do is re familiarize yourself with the machine and away you go - enjoy your time in the knitting department.

Oh a good few years ago now a lady in the USA produced some beautiful patterns that are a bit different, she is Ricki Mundstock, I wonder whether you can find any of these on the internet.

I really must get back on to my machines - most are in a cupboard together with their ribbers, and my cabinet housing my main machine is covered with loads of files, in order to get to it I would have to stop sewing altogether and move things around big time - but I cannot see that happening any time soon.

Greybird

Re: Anyone got a Knitmaster 600/700?
« Reply #17 on: September 09, 2020, 11:11:50 AM »
@Elnnina - I did find some Ricki Mundstock patterns - thank you. Do you remember if they include block diagrams? I always use a charting device so these are essential for me!

Celia

Re: Anyone got a Knitmaster 600/700?
« Reply #18 on: September 09, 2020, 14:53:45 PM »
Really pleased to hear it, do let us see what you are making.

Elnnina

Re: Anyone got a Knitmaster 600/700?
« Reply #19 on: September 09, 2020, 15:10:55 PM »
Greybird, well I have good news for you.  Whilst I have many Ricki Mundstock patterns, I cannot get near to them without a major upheaval in my room, so rather than keep you waiting I spoke with Anne Smith of Machine Knitting Monthly as she really is a mine of information  Bless her she could get at her copies easily and went off to have a look, and yes there are diagrams, she said some were better than others, but you should be able to draw out the shapes following what you see easily enough onto your Knitradar sheet.  She also said the Aran type ones are just squares of knitting, and dropped shoulders.  I must say I much prefer the clean smarter lines of the set in sleeve although I am guilty of knitting the drop shoulder style in the past - but not any more.

Whilst I was chatting to her (I have spoken to her many, many times, and is always happy to have a chat) I asked her about the needle retaining bar mainly as I think my one - I have a Knitmaster 560 Electronic - may need replacing and she said the Silver place in Northampton is the best place to go. 

So I also asked about the needle retaining bar for Brother and also about needles for the Brother, and here is the interesting part for any machine knitters who have a Brother machine.  There are no spares of genuine Brother parts anywhere in this country, any parts offered are a poor substitute and are made in China, their steel is not as good as the Japanese Steel.  However if you are needing a needle retaining bar, you can apparently use a Silver (Knitmaster) one on some models, only the length of these means that the ends are likely to stick out a little each end, therefore you could not put its lid on.  The Chinese type needles do work on the Brother machines, but it is best to keep an eye on them.  Apparently many e-bay people are trying to sell spare parts for the Brother machines and there are a lot of dodgy parts - so it is best to try and find a dealer who knows what he is doing with regards to the imported Chinese parts.  The last snippet I had about the Brother parts is the needle for the Garter Carriage, these are so difficult to find they  are like hen's teeth, so it pays to try and be careful and make sure there are no damaged/bent needles on the main machine.

Another useful snippet of information is that the Bedford Sewing and Knitting place in Bedford have stopped doing knitting machines altogether, and Metropolitan Knitting from Nantwich in Cheshire has also gone.

Right let me get back to patterns, Anne Smith was very friendly with the late Carl Boyd, and before his untimely passing, he gave Anne all his patterns that he had produced for her to use in the magazine, which she has been doing.  Carl designed some beautiful patterns, so if you know of him and his patterns, and suddenly think you would have liked that or that, then get in touch with Anne and I am sure she will be able to tell you if the magazine it was published in is still available.  Carl was excellent on designing some beautiful but different necklines.

If I can help you any more with regards to patterns or refreshing your knitting skills, please feel free to ask.  Back in the day I acquired many, many books on machine knitting, and I still have them.  Back then Kathleen Kinder's books were so difficult to get hold of, I bet now there are many on e-bay and the likes, the same goes for Mary Weaver books.  I was a member of Chiltern Machine Knitting Club for many years, sadly the club folded a long time ago, but we used to have people come to give us a talk or demonstration.  One of these people was Pam Turbett and she was a dressmaker not a knitter, but she got someone else to knit her really long lengths of knitting and then treated this as dressmaking fabric - she used, plain, lace or patterned lengths and the results were excellent, and she published a few books on the techniques she used.  You may remember from your days as a demonstrator the technique of Knit Weave, and Knitmaster brought out a special weaving arm or  carriage (again I cannot get at mine that easily) - this was  to make the process of knit weaving a lot easier.  Then a lady in South Africa - Audrey Palmer - produced a few books on Knit Weaving - and they are quite something.  As machine knitting seems to have gone out of favour, I bet there are hundreds and hundreds of books on this subject available on the internet and e-bay - I have only mentioned a few, but I have an enormous shelf full of all things machine knitting, so if you are looking for a something specific , I may well have it and can give you the correct title.

Now go and have fun, shall watch with interest as to what you are going to knit.

Greybird

Re: Anyone got a Knitmaster 600/700?
« Reply #20 on: September 09, 2020, 16:30:07 PM »
Thank you @Elnnina ! I don't know anyone who is as thorough as you! Nice to know about the diagrams on the patterns. I do have a weaving arm for my machine and it's brilliant. None of the other manufacturers managed to compete with this as they couldn't get round the Knitmaster patents. I am looking forward to using it again.

I am on the lookout for some of the books by Diane Bennett. I was lucky enough to be taught by her just before she branched out into the wide world (having previously been a maths and geography teacher). There are some for sale at the moment but not ones I want. One of them has an illustration on the front showing one of the girls who was in the same group as me.

Rather than a drop shoulder you can cast off 2 -3 centimetres each side and then knit straight up to the shoulder. When you stop shaping the sleeve, knit straight for 2 -3 centimetres. This will give you something just as easy as a drop shoulder but with a better fit. It sews up much more neatly too, especially with mattress stitch.

Elnnina

Re: Anyone got a Knitmaster 600/700?
« Reply #21 on: September 09, 2020, 16:57:15 PM »
Greybird - thank you for your kind comments.  I must admit I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to knitting, sewing and embroidery!!

Oh I remember Diane Bennett and yes she came to us at Chiltern Machine Knitting Club, and I have a few of her books as well.  When Designaknit came out I had this system on two floppy disks - in fact I think this is the version I still have, only the rapid change in computers operating windows system means that I would need to change this over to a DVD or whatever they are doing at the moment.  I ought to investigate this further because I am a real scaredy cat when it comes to computers and some of the terminology they use leaves me helpless.

When machine knitting was in its heyday, I had two specific friends that were also machine knitters, Twopence on TSP, and another friend who incidentally won the first Knitmaster Competition oh so many years ago now.  Then in later years there was another lady from Chiltern Machine Knitting Club that won that competition and another who was a runner up.

Thank you for the tip about the alternative to a dropped shoulder, but having sort of perfected by trial and error a set in sleeve, which is drawn on my Knit Radar/Contour what ever they call it these days, I am going to stick with that. A long time ago now, I knitted a boucle sweater using two ends one a very fine industrial boucle yarn and a matching 2/30's yarn.  When completely knitted I then joined the seams on the sewing machine as this gave such a neat finish and with wear it became almost invisible.  I had also finished the neckband in such a way that it was almost impossible to undo.  The sweater was laying on my bed and I was looking at and thinking there is something wrong - that part is a different colour, yet it had all come off one cone.  The more I looked the more obvious it was and I was right it was a different shade.  So I set to to unpick and unravel - only I had plated this which made it far trickier to undo.  I only wanted to undo the front to where the line was that showed the beginning of a darker shade - oh I was so careful in not letting the stiches run, and I managed to pick up all the stitches successfully, and then undid that row whilst it was back on the machine, and then proceeded to knit back up to finish off the front again.  If you have ever plated you will know that this is not the easiest thing to do knitting wise but does make for a nice sweater.  Now you cannot see that anything other than a perfect front has been knitted.  All the hem bands on the sweater and sleeves and the neckband I have knitted (still plated) but reversed the knitting so that these show the knit side as the outside whereas the body shows the purl side as the outside -this shows up the lovely boucle yarn.

Have you looked on abebooks.com for the books you are wanting? a brilliant second hand book place.

Celia

Re: Anyone got a Knitmaster 600/700?
« Reply #22 on: September 10, 2020, 09:54:13 AM »
Do you know the name of the Diane Bennet book, I still have quite a bit of machine knitting stuff, Diane used to live quite near me many years ago and either myself or my friend Who still machine knits a lot, might have a copy.

I have put a silver reed sponge bar in my Brother 965i and it is fine, a bit long but I can get the lid on as long as you make sure you get it centred.  If anyone is desperate for bits for a Brother machine do ask me as I might be able to help, all my stuff is original Brother and the spares parts etc are new, I have never got around to getting rid of the remains of our business, there is not a lot left but you never know I might be able to help.

I also have a couple of knitting machines looking for new homes, I have not advertised them due to the current situation but if anyone is interested let me know.


Greybird

Re: Anyone got a Knitmaster 600/700?
« Reply #23 on: September 10, 2020, 10:28:17 AM »
@Celia the ones I would like are the more basic ones, not specific to a device or machine (like the garter carriage or electronic machines). I don't have any of her books and I would like a couple for old times sake. I still exchange Christmas cards with Diane but haven't seen her for many years.

Did you live in Yately? The class I went to was held there - I lived in Fleet at the time.

Celia

Re: Anyone got a Knitmaster 600/700?
« Reply #24 on: September 10, 2020, 18:33:47 PM »
@Greybird  not in Yateley but not too far from there, I know Fleet well, my Uncle lived there when I was a child and my friend still lives there. I will see what I can find for you re books but I have a nasty feeling I may have parted with the ones you are looking for some time ago.

Greybird

Re: Anyone got a Knitmaster 600/700?
« Reply #25 on: September 10, 2020, 20:08:07 PM »
@Celia don't worry about the books - they'll turn up some time. I lived on the corner of Kings Road and Guildford Road. It seems a long time ago now - I left there the year of the Charles and Diana wedding and we sold the house to someone from 2 Para who had just come back from the Falkland Islands.