Bond Elite Knitting Machine
Loretta Johnson
Hello fellow knitters!
I am a handspinner and am interested in purchasing a bond elite knitting
machine. I understand that this is a mid-gauge machine which is in the
range of the yarns that I spin. I would be interested in hearing from
anyone that has had experience using one of these machines for their
opinions. Is it easy to use, come with good instructions, etc.?
Apparently, this type of machine has keyplates which change the needle
sizes. Is that aspect of the machine hard to work with? Also, how
difficult is it to adjust the tension? Any information would be greatly
appreciated. Thank-You!
-
LORETTA JOHNSON NWE...@prodigy.com
Jenny Kosarew
Loretta,
>I am a handspinner and am interested in purchasing a bond elite knitting
>machine. I understand that this is a mid-gauge machine which is in the
>range of the yarns that I spin.
The Elite will handle anything from UK 4-ply (28 sts/4") to Aran weight
(around 18 sts/4"). You can also knit bulkier yarns and mohairs using
alternate needles, though I haven't tried that myself yet. If you want
to knit adult sweaters using the finer yarns in that range, you will need
an extension (or come up with an ingenious design), as there are only 130
needles on the Elite.
>I would be interested in hearing from
>anyone that has had experience using one of these machines for their
>opinions. Is it easy to use, come with good instructions, etc.?
New machines come with a fairly good instruction book and a video, and
there are some other books available from Bond including a very good
Hints and Tips book. There is also a Bond mailing list full of people
willing to help as much as they can (although most have the Classic/ISM,
which is slightly different from the Elite).
>Apparently, this type of machine has keyplates which change the needle
>sizes. Is that aspect of the machine hard to work with? Also, how
>difficult is it to adjust the tension?
The keyplates are the equivalent of the tension settings on a normal
machine, and are easy to use ... 4 double sided keyplates, which you
choose according to the gauge you want and the thickness of your yarn.
and which slip into the carriage very easily.
I haven't used a 'normal' KM and I've not had my Elite for long, so I'm
no expert, but I haven't found the Elite particularly difficult to use.
It will do most of the things any other machine will do, it just takes a
little longer and needs more intervention from the user, but it is still
a lot quicker than hand knitting (unless you are a *very* fast knitter).
If you like hands-on involvement and a lot of control over what you are
doing, you would probably like the Elite. If you don't like having to
fiddle around on all the pattern rows, and just want to churn out stuff
with minimum fiddling, then you probably need something more automatic.
I haven't got the ribber attachment, so I can't say anything about using
that - I'm still looking around to get one secondhand.
The Bond list was set up by Lea-Ann McGregor <knit...@mixi.net>, who
sells Bonds and accessories. If you want to ask more questions, I'm sure
she would be happy to answer them. There are also some WWW pages with
info about manual knitting machines:
http://www.mixi.net/~knit2day (Lea-Ann's page)
http://www.tiac.net/users/tinanh
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/1647
I hope this helps,
--
Jenny Kosarew jk...@escher.demon.co.uk
from Reading, England http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/3968/
ctim...@mdc.net
> I haven't got the ribber attachment, so I can't say anything about using
> that - I'm still looking around to get one secondhand.
>
I have the ribber and it knits more readily with some yarns than others.
The problem with it is that if you drop a stitch it is a horrible
problem to pick it up while the ribber is in position. I find that when
it is good it is very, very good, but when it is bad .... [shudder]
Cathy