On Tue, 14 Mar 2006 00:37:34 GMT, wrote:

NP Aaron,

Thanks!! That is the info that I wanted.

To be a little more specific, if you're interested in a Bond knitting
machine, to do fair isle, you don't need any special tools. They
explain how to push the contrast color needles all the way forward
into what's called holding position, knit the rest of the row like
normal, which the carriage does not knit the needles in hold, and then
you take contrast yarn across and manually knit the pattern by hand.
If you're doing a complicated all over fair isle pattern, they may
recommend (and I agree with) getting a fair isle speed selector, which
is an clear heavy duty plastic bar with smaller pieces embedded in it,
which is different from regular needle selectors, which are fixed and
unchanging (2 x 2, 3 x 3, etc). On the speed selector, you match the
smaller pieces to your pattern, as you're given special graph paper to
lay out the pattern on. Then, you take your speed selector and put it
on your knitting machine against the needles, and since it's spaced
like your knitting machine (they come in different sizes), each tab
can match up to a needle, but the tabs that are pushed out of the way
where you aren't doing patterning don't push needles forward that will
take it. I hope that makes sense. It's not needed, but for more
complex patterns, it does save time on fair isle.

For aran, you get some tools that come with your machine. It's been
so long, I forget which, but I think you only get the 3 x 3 transfer
tools, which means you can make a 6, 9, or 12, etc stitch cable. They
also make 2 x 2, and I think those are special order. There's also 1
x 1, which is used not only for very tiny crosses, but also twisted
stitches. I got the special tools kit a long time back, and now I
have 1 x 1, 2 x 2, and 3 x 3. In addition, it came with a "latchet"
tool that I never use for doing stitch reforming to turn a knit stitch
on the right side to a purl. Most of us finds it splits the yarn or
snags it and use crochet hooks instead. In addition with special
tools, I got a double ended "latchet" (aka tappet tool according to
other knitting machine maker's terms), which they say makes things
like seed stitch, but I also don't use it, because in the middle of a
big piece, it's hard to reach around both sides of the work to reform
stitches. I got a "bodkin", which is a double eyed needle, eyes on
both ends, which is actually used on a double bed knitting machine to
transfer stitches from one bed to the other, but they are vague about
what you can use that for since the Bond is a single bed (they haven't
made a ribber for it for ages). The most useful of the special tools
I got, I think, was the stitch picker. If you drop a stitch, you know
how they tend to shrink up and are very hard to rescue without
running? Well, this tiny hook looks like a dental cleaning tool, and
works like a charm to grab those stitches before they run if they
drop.

For intarsia, you can get a special "keyplate", which is the plastic
thing that forms the stitches as the carriage goes across the row.
The other KP's only give you varying gauges for various yarns.
They've improved the gauges, but I think made the carriage more
difficult to deal with. They claim it's improved for faster color
changes because the front is open, but you have to be more attentive
to make sure the yarn doesn't pop out of the front and not knit. Some
people have found modifying a paper clip and hot gluing it to the
carriage to feed the yarn through keeps it from popping out. I
haven't tried it on my USM carriage, because while I got the upgrade
kit, I still use my ISM carriage. They also made the new carriage
smaller, so while the Ultimate Sweater Machine (USM for short) KP's
will fit into an old Incredible Sweater Machine (ISM) carriage, your
ISM KP's will not fit into the USM. So if you go for auctions online
to save $$$ in getting things for a Bond, if they are selling ISM KP,
remember they won't fit into a USM carriage. You can do intarsia by
hand, but the KP certainly does speed it up. What it does is knits
the row after you lay the yarns, and it pushes all the needles all the
way forward, open and ready for the next lay of yarn. Doing it by
hand, you have to push all the needles foward yourself. A single
intarsia KP gives all regular KP gauges and all half sizes, 1, 1.5, 2,
2.5, 3, 3.5, 4. Some people bought them before the 2.5 and 3.5 sides
were added to the basic KP set to give the in between gauges, as it
can be used for plain knitting as well.

Just a bit about KM gauge: The "bulky" Bond takes baby yarn, sport,
worsted, bulky, and super bulky. Baby yarn doesn't work quite as well
on it as a "midgauge" machine like Studio's LK-150, which is a lot
more expensive than a Bond, but it's passable for most purposes using
the #1 KP. Sport yarns work great with the 2 and 2.5 KP. Worsted
weight works great with the 2.5, 3, and 3.5 KP depending on how tight
you want the fabric. The #4 is for bulky and super bulky, and while I
tried it out and like the bulky results, I don't use super bulky yarns
and can't comment on how working with SB yarn works on the machine.

Machine gauge itself is different than stitch gauge and refers to how
many mm there are between needles. A standard gauge, the fancier
electronics like Brother and Studio's non-hobby machines, have 4.5 mm
between each needle. Midgauges are funny. They have anywhere from 5
mm (Passap which was also called their standard gauge) to 6.5 mm
(Studio) to 7 mm (Bond's long discontinued Elite) between the needles.
I think the most common is 6.5 mm. The bulky ones (Bond, Brother
which is discontinued a few years now and hard to find, and Studio)
run 8 mm (Bond) to 9 mm (Brother, Studio). Plastic "hobby" machines
don't have ribbers available, but I think someone wrote up online how
to make a ribber out of a second Bond machine. Hobby machines vary
greatly in cost. The Bond costs about $120-$180 depending on where
you shop and whether you get the deluxe (30 extra needles, row
counter, and sometimes the intarsia KP come included with the deluxe,
and all are worth it IMO), while Studio's LK-150 costs $400 to start.
Used Bonds can go from $50-$150 for a used ISM (because the carriage
is more popular) on Ebay. You can also find an LK-100 (only 100
needles) or LK-150 (150 needles) on Ebay for varying prices (depending
on if parts are missing). You can also look into Brother's KX-350,
which I understand was their midgauge hobby machine, and I have no
idea how much that would put you out I think that's a midgauge
machine like the LK-150.

Studio went out of production in the US for a few years, but when
Brother decided to stop making them, they came back. Passap went out
of the KM business everywhere and no longer make parts to fix their
machines. There are also various other older names you'll find out
there, but most of those have lots of parts missing.

HTH

Leah