Welcome to the year of Stash Diving!
2022 at River City Yarns is all about using up some of the precious fibres and stashes we've accumulated. So here's a handy tool to help you knit thru your stash just a little bit quicker.
Barb has been a fan of machine knitting for years, has several types of machines, and always comes back to her first flat bed machine, the LK-150 to sample new yarns and make swatches. It's great for stockinette stitch projects, like the Easy Folded Poncho and will make garter stitch, fairisle, slip and tuck stitch too, with a little practice and some stitch manipulation.
In our opinion, machine knitting complements hand knitting and we're excited to be able to offer, on a Pre-order basis, the LK-150 to our customers. Light weight and portable, the LK-150 Silver Reed offers a quick and easy way to create any width of flat knit fabric on it's 150 needle bed.
The LK-150 operates manually, by you sliding a carriage back and forth over the needles. Patterns like stripes, slip stitches, fair isle and tuck stitches are easy to do and you can hand manipulate stitches to create ribs and cables. Shaping is done with simple increases and decreases, and you can even transfer your hand knitting onto the machine or vice versa; machine knit and finish by hand.
This hobby machine is just that. If you intend to get into production or commercial knitting, let us know and we will refer you to our distributor for a wider range of machine choices.
Yarns: While the LK-150 can knit a wide range of yarns from fingering weights to bulky, it really excels with quality, pliable yarns and natural fibres in sport, DK and 4ply worsted weights. Sort your stash and avoid any yarns that are not pliable as that can cause stress on the carriages.
Features:
- compact and lightweight, you can use this mid-gauge knitting machine in the smallest of spaces and carry and store it easily
- The dual tension yarn feed regulates tension and reduces slack
- The sponge bar holds the needles in position
- Stitch Types: Stockinette, tuck, slip, plating and fair isle (slip stitch - one yarn feeder only)
- Yarn: Ideal for sport, dk, worsted and aran weights
- Needle Selection: Manual
Specifications:
- Needle Pitch: 6.5mm (3.9 gauge) /*13mm (2 gauge), 6.5mm Needle Spacing
- Number of Needles: 150, metal
- Dimensions: 1083 x 95 mm (1139mm with extension)
- Weight: 4.7 kgs (10 lbs) - Packing 2 lbs extra
- Made in China. Distributed and shipped from Canada.
Included in price:
- English Instruction Book (available as in French by special request)
- 2 Bed Rests
- Warranty: Canada: 1 year on defects in materials. (physical damage to needles and plastic parts is not under warranty). Outside Canada: 30 days parts and labour.
- LK-150 Machine Knitting Support Group - We host a zoom Machine Knitters Group that meets once a month to do a show and tell, and talk about projects and key learnings. Your LK-150 order thru River City Yarns includes an invitation to join the group. From time to time we also place group orders on cool accessories like garter bars from companies like Kris Krafter and others, and share the costs of shipping and handling.
Education: If you have not machine knit before, we strongly recommend doing research before you purchase an LK-150. Here are links to free online videos and Facebook groups for LK-150 machine knitting enthusiasts. Ravelry also has machine knitting patterns.
- An educational video about knitting machines and the similarities and differences to hand knitting done by Fruity Knitting where Andrea interviews Susan Guagliumi, an expert in machine knitting who also teaches classes on Craftsy.
- We like going to Youtube and often reference Diana Sullivan's videos on casting on binding off and making no roll edges. Creative Tien's youtube videos onhow to set up an LK150 knitting machine, and make projects with the LK-150 knitting machine are widely viewed.
- Susan Guagliumi is an expert on machine knitting, and has a website filled with videos, patterns, tips and techniques and links to workshops and classes. You can find her here.
We highly recommend taking some classes online:
- Once you have an LK-150 we highly recommend signing up for Susan Guagliumi's Craftsy Videos, so you can follow along step by step from set up of your machine thru trouble shooting, stitch manipulation, finishing and much, much more. Excellent instruction for new machine knitters and well worth the investment!
- Love making sweaters? Knit it Now, is a membership site for excellent machine knitting instruction done with video tutorials. They also have a range of pattern templates to help you create your own pattern designs.
Shipping: these machines are carefully packaged in a long oversized box and are encased in a sturdy styrofoam insert to protect the machine bed, carriage and accessorys. If you would like your machine shipped to another location in Canada or the USA, email barb@rivercityyarns.com or call Barb at 780-477-9276 for a shipping quote.
Ordering: Are you interested in ordering an LK-150? Do you have questions about this machine and what it can do? Send an email to info@rivercityyarns.com or call us at 780-477-9276 and we can help answer your questions.