Hi all!!! First, as always thank you all for supporting Indie crochet artist and their blogs!! Without your blog support, we couldn’t do what we love doing and share it with the world!!!
I have a new way for you to support my FREE PATTERNS!! I know many or most of you love supporting us makers – the truth is that is takes a long time to create a pattern and then write it and then edit it and get it proofed and tested – and then publish it – then you have to link it everywhere – its a lot of work, but us makers do what we do to share our love with you. And, if you have followed my blog you may know that I do not run ads on my blog so all my support comes from PDF purchases. Some of you don’t need to purchase the PDF of my patterns, but still want to say a quick Thank you – so, you can now support my blog and my work.
Third, as a crocheter, I have never been successful at learning to knit. There was just something so awkward about trying to manage two needles when you are used to using just one hook – so, I jumped on the KNITTING MACHINE CRAZE!! At first I felt like a crochet traitor (hahaha!) – but, what I do really love is that I get a whole different look with the knitting machine and am able to offer my local customers something new. It is still a lot of work, but it’s different work. There are some of examples of what I have been doing further down on this post.
This post does contain affiliate links. I will get a small percentage from any purchase made through my page here, but your price remains the same. I appreciate any purchase made through my page as I can continue to offer free patterns here on my blog.
There are several types and brands of knitting machines. I struggled when I was thinking about ordering between the Addi and the Sentro 48. I decided to start with the Sentro 48 to make sure I was going to love it before investing in the pricier machine. I ended up loving my Sentro so much that I won’t purchase the large Addi, but I do have the small 22 pin Addi that I have been using for coffee mug cozies, scrunches and other small items. I recommend both of these machines. There are also some great Facebook groups to help you get some ideas – search for Addi Machine or Knitting Machine groups and you will find a great list. I love the group page by “JOJO JUJU” <3 Addi Express King Addi Pro or Any Brand Circular Knitting Machine <3
Now, from what I understand – maybe due to the popularity, but I am not sure – it has become very difficult to get the actual SentRO machine and what is most commonly available are knock-offs, but from what I have read they are made by the same place and the same way. I do not know if this is true. I ordered a knock off brand of the small 22-pin Sentro and it was not the same and did not work and I hated it so I ordered the small Addi. I would say that if you can get the actual Sentro 48 machine do it.
These three below are made using Lion Brand Mandala #3 Cake yarn and holding two strands. They are some of my favorite!!
These beanies and headbands in the next two photos were made using various scraps of yarn. Different yarns do work up different in the knitting machine and some aren’t a great fit for the machine, but you can tell after a few spins what works for you and what does not.
For the next set, I used my knitting machine to spin the cowl, but then added a crochet beanie. You are only limited by your imagination!!
Variegated and striped yarns work up very different using a knit stitch as opposed to crocheting with them.
I like to add fun altered shirts to my beanies in my Etsy Shop.
Add some pompoms!!! They are so much fun!!
Okay, that is almost it for my update.
If you are waiting on my of my Scrap Yarn projects, you might enjoy THE TWELVE DAYS OF CHRISTMAS SERIES that I did a few years ago.
You might also love this entire CROCHET TOYS FROM A-Z WITH ME that I did last year.
And last, one of my most popular blog post and pattern purchases ARE THESE CROCHET BASKETS made from all scrap yarn.
NOVEMBER 2021 UPDATE:
First, I finished my last thing I was working on for my Scraptastic Summer Series – this Yoga Mat Bag is so much fun! When I took a big handful to my Pilates Studio everyone loved them!!
Next, Here is another update from my Knitting Machine. I did these sets for my local business for Black Friday and Small Business Saturday. All of these examples use I Love This Yarn from Hobby Lobby. It is by far one of the best yarns I have found for the knitting machine.
The Headbands are about 85 rows on my Sentro 48 and the Coffee Sleeves are about 44 rows on my Addi 22. I also had some requests to do a video on how I sew the ends together and you can find that just below.
My tags all come from All This Wood on Etsy
XOXO, be back soon with a new pattern.
Kristi
