Some More Knittax Goodies

A picture of the pattern reader, which looks interesting but it works a bit differently to the knitcontours and knitradars for modern machines. The difference lies in how the swatch is measured. Of course I am curious to know how the lever on the reader is tripped and how it attaches to the machine bed. It looks too far away in the picture, but perhaps it was placed in that manner for the advertising photo.

Samples Again!

Here is another sample of tuck stitch using the pattern wheel which brings out every 4th and 6th needle. It's very interesting, the left retractor button is pushed in, and the dial is turned consecutively from 1-6 every second row. However, I did a variation, by turning the wheel 1-6 and then 6-1, as you can see it produced this lovely zig zag pattern!


Here is another very neat tool, the adjustable needle selector. It has these wire prongs which can be pushed out to either side of the selector. It's so nice to have this tool, so easy to adjust and use for different variations. I wish a similar tool was made for other machines. The downside in the Knittax tool range is not have having double ended transfer tools (i.e 2X1 or 3X1), like the Japanese, Superba and Passap tools.

I Got The Weaving Tool!

My weaving tool arrived today, I played a bit this afternoon. It wasn't working initially, but then I realized that I had to push the cam control buttons in (of course this depends on the pattern). Worked like a charm! Sometimes with no instructions it does take a bit of trial and error :). As you can see, it's not very complex, and looks almost exactly the same as the LW1 for the LK 150 plastic bed machine.

Pictures of the tool from both sides. This tool was made in Argentina, and is the same colour as the later P200 machines that were made there as well.
I have been visiting Argentinian Ebay (AKA Mercado Libre), and there is a ton of Knittax machines, accessories, pattern books etc. on there. I even saw a motor table last week, but it was scooped up! Not surprised, since those are so very rare.

More Knittax News!

A few people have joined the Knittax group, and I have learnt so much more about these machines. Knittax made another ribber called the P200, which has a tension dial, a handle and a bed of 198 needles. Of course needless to say, I am dying to get my hands on one of those!

I continue to have lots of fun with the machine, it really does knit so beautifully! A former Knittax dealer gave me a very good idea, she suggested I make a hole in the bottom of the yarn holder, so that I could used coned yarns by bringing up the yarn through the hole and up to the tension mast. It works so well and thank you Phyllis!
I also went ahead and drilled a hole in my knitting table to help things along even further. So far I am very pleased with the results.

I have also managed to get the weaving tool! I am so excited about trying it out as I love to do knitweave, it's my favourite stitch pattern.

Samples Of Tuck Stitch - AM 3

Here are some samples I knitted on the AM 3 machine with the pattern wheels. The first was knitted using wheel 3, where every second needle is brought out to HP going from right to left, and the needles are knitted back going from left to right, with the left retractor button pushed in. Actually I made a mistake, I forgot to turn the dial to 3, where every third needle was supposed to be out in HP. Oh well, it still looks quite nice!

This second tuck stitch is made using wheel 4 A, where EON is in work, it's the wheel that is used when knitting heavier yarns. But in this case I used the same 4-ply yarn. With the gate peg towards the back, every second needle is brought out to hold position going from right to left, then 4 rows are knitted over the HP needles, the needles are then brought back to knitting position going from left to right, with left retractor button in, then changing the dial to number 1, the first and every third needle is brought into HP, 4 rows knitted etc. It's quite a lovely pattern too, and makes a nice firm fabric.

This third sample is using Bernat's Lana worsted weight yarn on EON, it knits beautifully! I have never really been able to knit heavier wools on any standard gauge machine, but with this AM3 it's a dream!! The stitch is also a tuck stitch, but produces a mock rib pattern, with right retractor button in, it tucks on every second needle, going from right to left, and knits back going from left to right. The purl side looks quite nice, but it's for show only as the fabric is not stretchy, it would make a lovely jacket! You can see the knit side in the picture on the right.

All knitted without weights, even the Bernat Lana knits and tucks without weights, those spring sinkers are quite amazing!

Knittax AM 3 Accessories

I have just received a whole bunch of magazines, all from the 1960's and 70's for the Knitking (or Knittax) machines. The patterns are really interesting and some of them are quite lovely, knitted in more updated colours, they are very contemporary! I love looking at them, it reminds me of my childhood. In fact I came across a top that I had a child, in navy and white broad stripes, I still remember it!!

The other interesting thing in these magazines are the various accessories made for this machine (and other Knittax versions). There was even a motor, which was marketed as a motorized table!!!! A colour changer I wrote about before, various other kinds of tables, a weaving arm and a pattern reader (basically a charting device), various bags to carry the machine and ribber, wool winders etc. I will post pictures as I scan them. Here is one of the motorized table.

Here is one of the colour changer in use, note how they talk about the "compensator" dial, which was added to later versions of the machine, but the older carriages could be updated to use them. The compensator helps when increasing or decreasing in pattern (I am still not sure how it works, or what exactly it's function is).

AM 3 Explorations Continue!

As I keep exploring this machine and it's capabilities, I learn new things everyday. I don't like the yarn holder very much, I prefer having a stationary tension mast. There is a colour changer for this machine that uses this system. I also don't like centre pull balls, they don't really work well, I much prefer the yarn to flow from the outside (like coned yarns) this provides a much smoother feed.

I did take the bed apart and gave it a good scrub. It's very simple really, nothing too complex there. The re-assembling was very easy as well. Putting back the spring sinkers take a bit of time, but it's not difficult at all. There is a fork like tool which they provide for this purpose. Unlike the older versions of this knitting system, there is no cord or braid for the keeping the needles in place. A long spring is used for this purpose (much like what is used in the Superba and Passap machines).

How tightly one screws on the front rail determines how easily the needles move. I discovered if it's screwed on too tightly, the needles are more resistant to easy movement, so I just screwed it back on snugly and everything is fine. If ever the spring gets damaged and a replacement can't be found, I think cord or braid will work just fine too.

So far so good, I really like it. However, I have to find another way to tension the yarn. Anyone have a colour changer for this machine they would like to part with? :)