Vintage Machine Knits with Adeline

Last night, I discovered that I could use this weight three yarn on my knitting machine if I only used every other needle! I kinda got lost in my knitting and knitted way more than just the swatch I intended 🤣 I was just excited it was actually working, what can I say!

The right side looks so nice and I love the texture ❤️ I think I’m going to aim for a baby blanket and do a crocheted edge after blocking it to help with the edges curling.

Machine Make/Model: Brother KH-601 Knitting Machine

One of my favorite sites for finding all sorts of information about my vintage knitting machine is MK Manuals. Here is a list of some of my favorite free stitch pattern books for push button patterning knitting machines from their site.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ Jones 8-Button Patterns - Part 1

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ Jones 8-Button Patterns - Part 2

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ Jones Knitting Pattern Book - Part 1

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ Jones Knitting Pattern Book - Part 2

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ Empisal Knit 'n' Weave Push Button Pattern Supplement

Some push button patterning knitting machines have two holding cam levers (hcl's) as opposed to just one. Many of these patterns reference a carriage with two hcl's, so here is a conversion chart that shows you what to use if your carriage only has one.

Techniques/Patterns

My first attempt at manually dropping stitches and creating ribbing was a success! I’ll have to practice a bit more to get the hang of it but I’m excited.

Eventually, I’d love to invest in a ribber for my machine but that’s quite a ways off since they can be quite costly.

I’m thinking about using this tuck pattern to make a baby blanket once I get some yarn ordered. It’s such an easy and pretty design. It’s just a repeat of the same four rows so it’s great for beginners!

Pattern Source: Jones Knitting Patterns (Book) - Pattern #456, Section - Tuck Stitch Patterns

Lace Carriage

My second attempt at using my lace carriage! Not too shabby if I do say so myself. It’s definitely going to take a bit of practice to get good at it, but I think it turned out great for a second try.

I wanted something a bit more complex for this go round, and opted for this pretty diamond pattern that I found in the Empisal KH-610 Instruction Manual. Some of my holes aren’t perfect, but I think it has to do with the tension of my yarn.

I’ve already added a yarn winder to my wish list for this year! It should help with my tension issues (I hope).

Pattern Source: Empisal KH-610 Instruction Manual (Page 52)

Lace Carriage

This was my very first attempt at using my lace carriage alongside my knitting carriage. To be honest, I have a basic understanding of how a lace carriage works and that’s about it which is why I chose such a simplistic design for my first attempt.

When you realize you lost your yarn bowl so you use a plant pot you got from dollar tree instead 😂 At least my yarn doesn’t roll off the table anymore!

I can’t get over how pretty my machine is! The color scheme is *chefs kiss* I can only imagine how beautiful it would be in pink 🥹

Knitting Machine Setup

It’s far from perfect, but it’s mine and I love it ❤️❤️❤️

Also, I finally realized my machine came with rails for holding my carriages out of the way when I’m knitting lace! I’m hoping to try my hand at using the lace carriage soon.

Pattern Storage

I think I’ve managed to combine my love of spreadsheets with my love of knitting machines 😅

All of the push button patterns I’ve managed to find online are rough-looking or scanned pages. I wanted a prettier way to keep up with my favorite patterns so I put together a base chart using Google Sheets and Canva. Now, I can just print out a chart, fill it in, and stick it in my notebook! It also means I’m not having to scrounge around the internet trying to remember what website had which pattern on it.

How do you like to store your favorite patterns?

Machine Maintenance

My knitting carriage was having some trouble gliding easily so I thought I’d give it a good rub down with my Singer All Purpose Machine Oil to see if it might fix it. Of course, I had to watch my favorite TV show while I worked! Any guesses as to what I’m watching 🧐

To get into the tight spots, I recommend using cotton swabs. Be sure to only apply a light coating of oil and wipe away any excess before resuming knitting. Excess oil will get onto your yarn as well as gunk up your knitting machine over time. I concentrated the most on moving pieces as well as the rails that the carriage slide on.

When oiling your machine, it is also a good idea to take a moment to check that all pieces are moving smoothly and freely.

Products Used: Singer All Purpose Machine Oil

Recently, I was having issues with my carriage only knitting right to left, and just laying yarn along the front of my work when going left to right.

After researching for several hours online, I figured out that the main metal arm on the right was getting stuck in “part” and wasn’t returning when “plain” was engaged.

Following a tutorial from TheAnswerLadyKnits on YouTube, I carefully disassembled and removed my knitting carriage cover until it looked like it does in the video. Once I had full access to the stuck lever, I very gently cleaned and oiled it until it began to move more freely.

After a little bit of work, I was finally able to get it moving properly when the buttons were engaged. The right lever was a bit slower than the left at first but has continued to loosen over the last few days and is now working great!

WIP

Worked on my scarf a bit more last night. I’m hoping to finish it up by sometime tomorrow but we shall see 😅

Also, please learn from my mistake and don’t wear any knitwear while working with a knitting machine like this. The needles will absolutely catch in it and I accidentally put a hole in my favorite shirt yesterday 🥲

Pattern Source: Empisal KH-610 Manual, pages 21-22

Machine Make/Model: Brother KH-601

WIP

This yarn is knitting up even better than I’d hoped! The silver accent pops beautifully in person 🧶

Can’t wait to finish this scarf!

Machine Make/Model: Brother KH-601

Right before Christmas, I scored this beautiful vintage Brother KH-601 knitting machine on eBay! With a little bit of elbow grease and some great advice from experienced machine knitters, I've gotten this gorgeous machine up and running pretty smoothly.

Luckily, the seller had almost all the original pieces, and everything is in great shape considering its age. As with any older knitting machine, be sure to check your sponge bar to see if it needs to be replaced. Mine had completely disintegrated with age but was easily replaced.