Knitting Machine Guide: What Crank and Flatbed Machines Can and Cannot Knit

How to knit a hat on a crank knitting machine

1. Clamp the machine at elbow height. Fix the machine firmly to a sturdy table with its clamps so it cannot walk as you crank. A table edge near elbow height keeps the crank motion comfortable for your shoulder.
2. Choose a smooth yarn. Wind a smooth light or medium weight yarn into a center-pull ball or cake so it feeds freely. Fuzzy, splitty or very thick yarn is the most common cause of dropped stitches.
3. Cast on in circular mode. Thread the yarn through the guide and follow the cast-on described in your manual for the first slow round, making sure every needle catches yarn before you speed up.
4. Add weight to the fabric. Once a few rounds hang below the machine, clip a light weight or clamp to the fabric. Gentle downward tension helps stitches form evenly and reduces dropped stitches.
5. Crank and count rounds. Turn the handle at a steady pace and watch the needles. Use the row counter, such as the one built into the Sentro 48, so every hat in a batch comes out the same length.
6. Remove the tube. Cut the yarn with a long tail, thread it through a tapestry needle, and take the live stitches off the needles onto the tail, following your manual.
7. Gather and finish by hand. Pull the tail to gather the top closed, fold the lower edge up for a doubled brim, weave in the ends and add a pom-pom from a Clover Pom-Pom Maker Set.

What can you make with a knitting machine?

It depends entirely on the type. A circular crank machine knits one stitch: stockinette. In circular mode it makes a seamless tube; in flat mode it knits back and forth to make a strip. Anything that is a tube or a rectangle of plain stockinette is a good machine project. Anything that needs ribbing, cables, lace, increases or decreases needs hand knitting or a flatbed machine.

Yardage figures are published planning ranges for hand knitting in medium weight yarn; machine stockinette uses similar amounts. See how much yarn for a hat and how much yarn for a throw blanket for every weight.

What is the difference between a circular and a flatbed knitting machine?

Circular crank machines arrange latch needles in a ring. A cam track inside lifts each needle in turn as you crank, so each full turn of the handle knits a round. They clamp to a table, need no electricity, and are learned in an afternoon. Their limits are built in: one bed of needles, no way to move individual stitches, and a fixed number of needles, which fixes the circumference of every tube.

Flatbed machines put the needles in a long straight row. You push a carriage across the bed, knitting one row per pass, and you can take needles in and out of work, which is how a flatbed shapes armholes and necklines. Many have attachments, such as a ribber (a second bed of needles for ribbing) or pattern systems for colorwork and textured stitches. Most flatbeds sold today are used models from brands that no longer make them, plus current machines such as the Silver Reed LK150. Expect weeks of practice before a first sweater.

Which crank knitting machine should a beginner buy?

Buy by the size of the things you want to make. The 22 needle machines make narrow tubes: the addi Express Pro lists a 4 to 6 in circular size and a 6 to 8 in flat width. The 46 and 48 needle machines make adult hats and wide strips. The addi Kingsize lists 13.8 in circular and 17.7 in flat. The Sentro 48 costs about a third as much and adds a row counter.

Crank knitting machines compared

Product	Price	Needles	Circular size	Flat width	Worth knowing	Buy
Sentro 22-Needle	$25.64	22	Not listed	Not listed	Flat and circular modes	Price
addi Express Pro 22	$95.75	22	4 to 6 in	6 to 8 in	Made in Germany	Price
SENTRO 48-Needle	$50.32	48	Not listed	Not listed	Row counter	Price
addi Express Kingsize	$157.12	46	13.8 in	17.7 in	5 spare needles, 2 clamps, 4 feet	Price
addi I Want It All Set	$410.00	46 and 22	Both machines	Both machines	3 pattern books, 2 packs of spare needles	Price

Owners of budget machines most often mention dropped stitches and worn needles as the problems that end a machine's useful life, which is why included spare needles matter. If you only want to try the craft, the Sentro is a sensible first step. If you already know you will crank out hats for gifts or charity, the Kingsize is the buy-once choice. Our side-by-side machine comparison goes deeper, and the best knitting machines roundup ranks every option.

What is knitting machine gauge?

On a flatbed machine, "gauge" means the distance between neighboring needles, and it decides which yarns the machine can knit. It is a different idea from the stitches per 4 in gauge in a hand knitting pattern. Machines are commonly grouped into a few broad classes:

• Standard gauge, about 4.5 mm between needles, for fine yarns such as fingering and sport. Many vintage punchcard and electronic machines are standard gauge.
• Mid gauge, about 6.5 to 7 mm, for sport to worsted weight. The LK150 is listed at 6.5 mm.
• Bulky gauge, about 8 to 9 mm, for worsted and heavier yarns.

Circular crank machines are not usually sold by gauge. Their needles are fixed, and owners consistently get the best results with smooth light to medium weight yarn. Check the yarn weight chart and the profile of medium weight yarn before buying yarn for a machine project, and check your machine's manual for the maker's own recommendation.

Can a knitting machine make a blanket?

Yes, and blankets are where crank machines save the most time. On a 46 or 48 needle machine, knit long flat strips, or flatten tubes for a double-thick fabric, then seam the strips side by side with mattress stitch. A throw is thousands of yards whichever way you make it: published planning ranges put a worsted throw at 2,250 to 3,125 yd knitted. Plan yours with the blanket yarn calculator, buy every skein from one dye lot, and wind them into cakes before you start so the yarn feeds without snagging.

That winding step is where a swift and ball winder pays for itself. The Stanwood metal winder and Amish swift bundle holds 10 oz cakes, big enough for jumbo blanket skeins. Seaming a dozen strips is also slow, careful handwork, so good light over your chair helps, such as the Daylight Slimline 4 Floor lamp.

Can a knitting machine make sweaters?

A flatbed machine can. A circular crank machine cannot, at least not a sweater you would recognize from a pattern. Crank machines have no way to shape a piece or knit ribbing, so the best they can manage is a boxy tube top or a stockinette panel you shape by seaming, which rarely fits well.

If fitted garments are the goal, you have two honest options. Learn a flatbed machine such as the Silver Reed LK150, accepting that it is a separate craft with its own techniques, patterns and learning curve. Or hand knit sweaters on a complete interchangeable set such as the ChiaoGoo Twist Red Lace set, which covers US 2 to 15, and keep a crank machine for the plain hats and scarves. Many knitters end up doing both, and a crank machine can also give hands that tire from holding needles a different kind of motion, which some knitters with sore hands prefer. Our crafting with arthritis guide covers that choice.