Look what Ian bought for me at the thrift store. Its a Knitting Machine! As Seen On TV! In 1974!
Well, he says he bought it for me anyways, but I don’t know, he seemed pretty excited to try it out himself (although he did manage to tangle the stitches enough that I had to pull them all out).
Look at how fast my hands fly on that baby!
Look, I can make tubes. And circles. And…. well that’s it really.
But the box has all these other creations, mainly through stitching the circles together. I could see maybe making one of those blankets. Or, you know, the shirt, just to wear about town.
Unfortunately, it didn’t come with a manual. Good thing for me that the miracle of the internet is in my life, because obviously someone has helpfully posted a manual online. It’s for a barbie version, so it only has patterns for barbie tube dresses, but there are some other ones here too.
Posts
Incredible!
What luck!
sara
7/7/2005 @ 9:18 pm
Cool! I’ve been seeing those in some old McCall’s Needlework and Crafts mags from back in the day. What a man to pick that up for you
7/7/2005 @ 10:13 pm
I don’t know if you remember, but I used to have one of those. I don’t remember making anything useful. It was just fun to see how long a tube I could make before getting bored.
7/7/2005 @ 10:24 pm
that’s too funny! I kinda like the cat tail for dress-up; never know when one of those will come in handy!! I think it has potential!
7/8/2005 @ 1:47 am
i used to have one of those too! my mom found one at a thrift store for my sister and i when we were kids, and we did indeed make many, many barbie dresses. and potholders. no one ever burned a hand in our house, and barbie was always dressed.
7/11/2005 @ 2:44 am
where di you find it? fantastic
7/19/2005 @ 10:45 am
I have the machine and the catalog. I have made many baby and adult blankets. They are beautiful. I am looking for another one. Anyone have one for sale????
11/5/2005 @ 7:21 pm
Thank you, I was cleaning out my garage that I had things stored in for twelve years and found my machine. Its been so long I forgot how to use it thanks to you I can show my neice and she can make barbie clothes the way I use to. Thanks again for the instructions.
11/13/2005 @ 10:35 pm
I was looking for a fast way to make Barbie clothes for my daughter and her friends
After looking at your page I went on ebay and bought one. Thanks for the info on this machine.
12/6/2005 @ 3:04 pm
There’s a later version of that machine with a switch on the front that allows it to do flat panels instead of tubes. There’s three or four larger versions with more needles currently in production, all of them can do yubes and panels. RoseArt makes the largest one, so if you’re looking for something a lot less $$$ than a flatbed knitting machine but still want to be able to do flat stuff, that’s the one to get. The RoseArt machine might even be big enough to knit adult size socks.
11/27/2006 @ 7:41 am
I bought a rose art knit and gem machine, but it doesn’t crank all the way around, took it part to see that some of the needles had been stuck under the cam, is there a drawing somewhere of how the thing should fit together?
3/31/2007 @ 5:09 pm
Okay, I just got one and took it apart because I had the same problem.
There’s sort of a track around the inside, with a part that brings the hooks up to be threaded. Your problem is that the pegs are on top of the track instead of inside it. This is why the ones that are messed up stick up a bit and hang down if you turn it upside down. When the pegs of the messed-up hooks reach the part that brings them up and then back down, they don’t have any track to follow, so they jam. If you want to fix it, you’ll have to take the whole thing apart. Get a Phillips-head screwdriver ready! Turn it over. You’ll see 4 deep screw holes and 2 shallow ones. Unscrew the 4 deep ones, and the two halves should come apart, held together only by the crank. Pop the top half out of the crank handle base. You’ll find 2 plastic ring thingies with holes in them on top of the thing that holds the hooks. Take the first one off. Use a flat-head screwdriver to take the other one off (you’ll need to kind of pry it off). Around the base of the hooks and the hook-holder you’ll find a translucent piece of plastic screwed to the bottom of the case. The space in between this piece and the bottom is the track. Locate the hooks that are messed up. At the base of these, you’ll see a peg sticking out above the plastic ring. Unscrew the screws holding the ring to the bottom, making sure to save them and keep the ring right-side up, as the distances between the screws aren’t exactly the same, and it won’t line up if you put it on upside-down. Unscrew the 2 shallow screws from the bottom. Remove the plastic ring, hooks (in holder) and the translucent plastic piece with a track in it. To put it together, screw the screws from the ring (the ones with collar-like things around them) partially into the ring, so that they barely stick out the other side. Twist the ring so it’s sort of straight, and fit it around the hook-holder so that ALL (this is vital) of the pegs are UNDER it. Put the hook-holder into the bottom of the case, and line up the gap with the spot where the two half-hook things stick out of the top of the bottom. Screw in the plastic ring around the hook-holder. Pop (this takes a little doing) the transparent piece with the track in it into position. Screw in the piece from the bottom. Pull up on the hooks in the area of the piece you just popped in until they pop into position. The ones in the very center will stick up the most. At this point, check to make sure your crank is still working, and then place the top of the case on the top, popping it into the handle base.Put the silver things in position (masking tape works well) and screw in the 4 deep-set screws in the base.Peel off the tape, and you’re all set!
Any1 know which direction 2 set the switch on the front to do what, and how to actually get the thing to knit? All I’ve gotten was tangles, and since I got mine from a thrift store, it didn’t come with a manual, and there are no directions on the Internet. Did yours come with directions?
6/29/2007 @ 7:57 pm
I just found one of these yesterday! Mine came with the instruction booklet that shows so many different projets one can make with these little puffs. What a great find!
9/8/2007 @ 7:51 pm
where do you find it? fantastic
9/30/2007 @ 12:59 pm
I got mine from a local thrift store for 75 cents, mostly because it was broken and I don’t think any of the employees knew what it was. I’m not sure what brand it is, but it’s pink with purple handles and yarn thingy, and swirly silver legs. Trust me, it’s very difficult to take apart, but worth it. I recently loosened the screw in the end of the handle to make it easier to turn, and Vaselined the internal gears. It’s working out very well, but doesn’t work very well for me on thicker yarn, and I can’t figure out how to get it to do panels. Maybe it has something to do with that one piece I threw out when I took it apart?
9/25/2008 @ 5:55 pm