organization

The Craft Cart

It’s not technically a knitting machine accessory, but it sure does make life easier! If you don’t use one already, consider getting a craft cart to help organize your machine knitting tools and accessories.

I use a three tiered craft cart to keep my weights, carriages, and accessories organized and contained while I work.

I’m a bit scatterbrained on the best of days, so having a system where everything has its place really helps me stick to a task without distractions. I’m much less likely to lose things when I have a system.

This cart used to be organized with one tier for each gauge and a miscellaneous hand knitting tier when I started machine knitting with just a Brother KH890 and a Passap Bulky Eight, but my collections have a tendency to grow, so I plan on setting up one cart per machine gauge–standard, mid, and bulky.

I keep my most frequently used bits in the top drawer of the cart and use small makeup pouches or pencil cases to keep things like scrap yarn, ravel cord, and safety pin style stitch markers separate.

The middle tier holds plating and ribber accessories …

… and so does the bottom tier. If those ribber weights are on a tabletop somewhere, I can guarantee you they’ll find their way to landing on my foot, so those things get corralled!


My cart doesn’t always look this organized. Of course I cleaned it up for pictures! I often use clip boards or binders to keep my patterns and notes contained, so they float between tiers. Post-It notes with ideas and pattern modifications get scribbled and stuck to the nearest surface so I can continue working with fewer distractions.

I use a metal tilt stand for my standard gauge machine, and it has a shelf for the lid that I use to store the cast-on combs. My LK150 sits on a table or a counter, so I’m looking at a cart with a pegboard-style organization system that hangs down the side.

I’m currently using a lop-sided trash can that was slightly crushed in our move to keep my mid-gauge accessories in one place, so whatever system you decide to use, I’m definitely not going to be judging it.

It’s just important to have one!

How do you organize your knitting machine accessories? Do you have any suggestions for my system? Let me know in the comments below or contact me!

Thanks for reading and joining me on my machine knitting journey!



Knitting Machines, resources

Resource Roundup- YouTube Edition

Do you have a favorite machine knitting YouTuber? You will after this post!

Each channel name links to the channel, so check them out!


Anna Haferman

Anna has a tutorial about using a KnitLeader with the LK 150! How awesome is that?

She also has project videos with really clever ways to work fair isle among other things. I’ve been watching her channel a lot lately, and she might be my favorite machine knitting YouTuber!


Diana Sullivan

Diana’s channel features beginner lessons along with cast-on, cast-off, and edging videos.

This pinwheel baby blanket was one of my very first machine knitting projects. (Her channel doesn’t allow embedding videos, so there won’t be a preview for this one.)


Creative Tien

Creative Tien features machine knitting, crochet, and sewing tutorials. I found the channel very recently but have really been enjoying it.

I really like the scalloped edges from this video:


Knitology 1×1

Channel owner Elena works in London as a knitted textiles designer and shares stitch and project tutorials.

The braided cable in this tutorial makes a lovely tank top strap that I can’t wait to try:


Claire Newberry

Although she only has a few videos, they’re worth the watch. Plus, she wears gorgeous sweaters as she films!

I particularly enjoyed her bead knitting video. The swatches she displays at the beginning are gorgeous!


Carole’s Country Knits at Rocking Horse Farm

I believe they might be more active on Instagram, but the Rocking Horse Farm channel is still worth a visit!

My brain isn’t quite happy with the 90 degree rotation from flatbed to circular sock machine, so this short rowing video has been helpful:


The Answer Lady

You may know the channel from the Ask Jack machine maintenance videos, but channel also includes pattern tutorials, tips, and tricks. I’ve seen Circular Sock Machine tutorials recently, too!


The Knitting School Online

TKSO offers more classes on their website than their channel, but you can get a good idea about their paid content through their YouTube content.

This double bed jacquard video made me excited to try out my color changer attachment.


Roberta Rose Meads (previously Roberta Rose Kelly)

Some videos may be “old” by YouTube standards, but the channel is a wealth of knowledge.

I’m obsessed with short rows, so learning you can do intarsia using short rows was amazing! Check it out:


Susan Guagliumi

In addition to her books, Susan Guagliumi has Craftsy videos! Not all of them are on uploaded to YouTube, but if you’re looking to see if her Craftsy content is worth it, and I’ve had many people tell me it definitely is, check out her channel!


Knit It NOW

Sue at Knit It NOW has a wonderful website with a yearly subscription that she introduces on her channel. You can have a free membership with access to some of her content on her website, but YouTube is still a good way to browse some of what you can find at her main site. (Her channel doesn’t allow embedding videos, so there won’t be a preview for this one.)


While in-person learning will always be my learning preference, I love finding new machine knitting video resources!

Who am I missing? I’d love to watch your favorite machine knitting YouTubers.

Thanks for tagging along with me on my machine knitting journey!

resources

Looking for Machine Knitting Media? Pin it!

Sometimes you just want to scroll the internet and see what others are doing with their knitting machines. You might use Facebook groups or your Instagram feed, but what about Pinterest?

I’ve used Pinterest since it began in 2010. I planned my wedding by making mood boards and plotted out interior designs for our first house. Now I use it for nail art inspiration, bullet journaling spreads, hair styling tips, and yes, machine knitting.

Pinterest’s machine knitting recommendations for me

I’ve been making stockings lately, so I searched Pinterest for punchcard patterns.

search results for machine knitting punchcards

Not bad! But I should’ve specified “Christmas punchcards”….

Sometimes Pinterest gets hand knitting, machine knitting, crocheting, and other yarn crafts confused, but that’s okay!

They’re at least knitting charts!

Don’t be upset if your search brings up hand knitting or even cross stitch charts! Remember that you can hand transfer lots of lace patterns and hand select colorwork patterns, so even if a chart wasn’t originally meant for the knitting machine, you can still put it to good use!


You can check out my Machine Knitting board on Pinterest here and follow it if you want.

my machine knitting board

What sites do you use to find machine knitting inspiration or patterns? I’m always on the lookout for new inspiration!