It is very easy to make horizontal button holes for small buttons when knitting projects using garter carriages. This blog is a text version of the video posted on the same subject.
First, decide the position of the button holes. Pick two stitches (in my demo, I decided to pick two sets of two stitches where I knew the machine needles, not the carriage’s, would knit). Move the left stitch out of these two to the stitch to the left of it and the right stitch to the right of it. Push the freed needles back to B position.
Knit one row with your usual pattern. The needles that were empty, now have yarn hooked on them (no stitch formed). Using a double eyelet tool, take the yarn off one hook, twist it, and then put back into a needle. You just formed a loop. Do it for the remainin needles in the button hole.
Brother KH840 knitting machine is a standard-gauge machine with 200 needles, 4.5 mm apart, and punchcard reading capabilities for patterning. Read more about the pros and cons of this model in my Knitting Machine Encyclopedia. This post is dedicated to a specific Brother KH840 serviced and tested in my shop in November/December 2025.
Per my usual routine, I deep-cleaned the punchcard reader, the timing belt cams, and the carriage. I removed all needles, cleaned them, and inspected. First visually and then while knitting on the full bed to ensure all needles (even after they passed the visual inspection) form the correct stitches. See the video of these tests. I knitted tuck, slip/part, and two-color fair isle. All tests went great with no mispatterning.
In the video, I forgot to attach the row counter during my tests. But a new row counter (new stock) will be included with the setup. The lace carriage was not tested but all buttons and levers move freely. It is a simple carriage and does not need extensive testing.
I treated minor rust spots on the inside of the case cover with a protective coating and Rustoleum. The needlebed itself did not have any rust spots.
The machine will come with all major accessories and with only some minor accessories missing.
The lid has new plastic end caps. The old ones were cracked. Thus, you might see some color difference between the case end caps and the lid end caps. I also attached the lid end caps with brand new snap clips instead of old, yellowed ones.
Table clamps, row counter and claw weights are new (new stock).
The missing accessories are:
Tapestry needle (any needle of your choice will work)
Lubricating oil (use Hoppe’s oil available on Amazon)
The cast-on combs are not original to the KH840 setup but I am including a two-part Brother cast comb with a clip for extension.
All 25 punchcards are included but they are not the original Brother KH840 cards but they are for the Brother punchcard machine. The lace card #25 was damaged, so I replaced it with a card from another set. Some cards match those in the manual, and some don’t.
Imperfections:
The case has some very minor scratches (not shown)
some mismatched discoloration because of the age-related yellowing and some parts being new(er).
handle for the main carriage has some very minor scratches
After this thorough cleaning, the machine behaved really well despite some minor imperfections.
Brother KH860 knitting machine combined with Brother KR830/850 ribbing attachment is a powerful standard-gauge knitting setup capable of producing garments, blankets, and other knitted items. Read more about pros and cons of KH860, KR83,0 and KR850 in my Knitting Machine Encyclopedia. The post below is dedicated to the particular setup serviced and tested in my shop in November 2025.
A typical first step for any needlebed is to remove, clean and inspect all needles. Bent needles or those with bad latches are replaced with new stock. Then I clean the needlebeds and carriages from old gunk and grease. I opened both carriages and cleaned under the lids as well. All the needles were then tested while knitting various fabrics: tuck, slip, fair isle and ribbing (see the videos of the ribber and the machine).
Knitting machine:
I replaced the end caps for the lid and the main bed as they were cracked. You might see slightly different colors between left- and right-hand side plastic caps.
The machine was tested on all needles. I knitted tuck-, slip- (same as part) and two-color fair isle. I discovered several faulty needles during these tests and replaced all of them.
Punchcare reader was cleaned from old grease, insides were cleaned from lint and old gunk. Its functionality and needle selection were tested using card #1, where every other needle is selected on every other row (easy to see if there are any problems).
The machine came without many accessories, but I collected a nice, almost all-new stock of accessories.
The missing items are: oil (use Hope’s oil, available on Amazon); a tapestry needle (any needle of your choice will work); and wax.
Brand new (new stock) Brother row counter. Because it is new, its color is lighter than the plastic panels of the needle bed (they show yellowish discoloration due to the sunlight, which is typically seen with these machines).
The cast-on combs are in good shape, too.
New tension mast (new stock). A tension mast that came with this machine did not include a slot for the wax and a slot for the garter carriage sensor. The only “original” accessory is probably the carriage lock.
This KH860 does not include built-in garter carriage rails (in the past, I worked with some KH860 that indeed include those).
Imperfections:
Overall, the machine is in great shape. The case and the case lid are in good shape. The lid has one medium-sized ben,t but overall is almost free from scratches and scuffs.
2. Carriage has some minor rust spots on the plate where the sinker plate attaches, which I treated but not painted with Rustoleum (it sometimes creates too thick of a layer and might prevent smooth gliding). No rust inside the carriage or on the undercarriage side.
3. The lace carriage has a superficial crack and some minor scuffs on the handle.
4. The retaining bar with a newly replaced sponge strip goes in with a bit of effort. This configuration is the only one out of several I tested (I had to reglue several different sponges) that provides 100% accurate patterning on the whole bed. If the tape on the ends wears out (which happens if you remove the retaining bar often to replace needles, etc.), just tape with very thin medical tape with just one (non-overlapping) layer. Medical tape is the best because if it comes off, it is not as gluey as other tapes (like electrical tape).
Despite all the imperfections and a couple of missing minor accessories, the machine works great (see the video). The carriage slides on all needles (without yarn) very easily, with just one hand, with different carriage settings. Even with the yarn, it glides easily.
RIBBER:
The ribber bed is KR830 model but the carrigae is for the KR850 (the lili buttons are a give-away).
The carriage was deep-cleaned and inspected. All buttons, levers, and pressers work and move smoothly (see the video).
The ribber brackets were cleaned of old grease to ensure smooth movement (but you don’t want it too smooth to prevent the ribber from unplanned sliding down).
The machine comes with all accessories (including a hard copy of KR850 manual; KR830 can be found online). When attaching the needlebed, refer to the KR830 manual. When operating the carriage, refer to the KR850 manual. I do not have a plating feeder at the moment; that is an accessory to the KR850 carriage. Nor do I have the pressers (when I knitted, I did not use them at all). My understanding is that these are not all that critical. Most knitters do not get that advanced in choosing plating.
KR830 accesories
KR850 accessories
The ribber was tested using two different combinations of every other needle (it is easier to knit on every other needle than on all needles: problems associated with yarn and tension selection are less pronounced) to ensure that all needles form the correct stitches. I used two separate yarns but they are only different by color.
BTW, I am including the yarn I used while testing the ribber (the bluish one) for you to practice with a knwon-to-work thread
I am also including a manual for the KR850 for the carriage functions. I do not have a spare manual for the KR830 but it is available online for free. The only difference between KR830 and KR850 beds is the brackets: how they are inserted and attached to he main bed. All other settings and functions are the same. As a result, some of the accessories that typically come with the KR850 ribber bed will not be included with this KR830 bed.
Imperfections of the ribber:
The cast-on combs are not as smooth as I wished, but the yarn does not get pulled. So I left them alone.
The knob for the I-II change lever (at the bottom of the carriage) is in a bit rough shape. But it sits pretty tightly, so I left it along.
When attaching the connecting arm to the main carriage, sometimes the plastic from the oister screw-on knobs comes off as small shavings (the metal screws rub against the thread on the oister knobs). It is pretty typical for these old machines.
These imperfections are mostly cosmetical. They still did not interfere with me knitting several pieces of fabric that I converted into the items below.
Knitking RK900 ribber fits most Brother and Knitking knitting machines with punchcard and electronic capabilities. It is identical to the Brother KR850, KR890 and KR900 ribbers. Thus, read the corresponding articles about their pros and cons in my Knitting Machine Encyclopedia. The rest of the blog post below is dedicated to a specific ribber, serviced and tested in my shop in November 2025.
Before I even started testing the ribber, I removed all needles, cleaned them and inspected each individually for any bents, flaws, sticky latches, etc.
I then tested the machine using three different yarns. One yarn is a sport-yarn thickness with wool content (50%), and two others ones are thinner 100% acrylic yarns. The machine handle all of those wonderfully. The tests were done on small number of ever-other-needles, on two configurations of every-pther-needles, but on the full bed and on all needles on a select number of needles. The machine behaved really well during the tests: watch a video I recorded to confirm that.
On one of the knitted panels, I saw an area with an ok-formed stitch but not super even. I was not sure what it was (probably because I mistakenly moved forward several needles on the main bed to B position, not every other one). I tested that middle section on ALL (not on every-other-one) needles. Because all the needles were selected, the carriage moved a bit harder. But all stitches formed beautifully. So: false alarm.
All carriage buttons and level move freely. The little round knob on the carriage bottom lever is missing but will be replaced soon.
The machine will come with all accessories. A lot of these accessories look brand new (from my personal stash), especially the cast-on combs and the barrel weights. Several are indeed new from new stock (double eyelet transfer needle, needle selection comb, ratchet tool, claw hanging weights).
A hard copy of the manual is included as well (it is marked as Brother KR900, which is the same model).
CONS and IMPERFECTIONS:
Carriage cover has some minor scratches and spots (none affect the functioning)
The only, very minor “accessory” missing is a spare needle case
Attaching the connecting arm might need paying attention (see below)
Cam lever knob is missing (but is replaced soon)
The way I figured out the best way for this setup to attach the connecting arm is this: insert the connecting arm into the main carriage, slightly fasten the oister knobs, move the carraige+connecting arm to connect to the ribber carriage; after it snaps into the ribber carriage, finish fastening the oister knobs, but do not overtighten it. I found out that this is the best way to securely and reliably tighten the connecting arm to the main carriage and to the ribber carriage. When I tried the usual method (completely insert the connecting arm, tighten and then attach to the ribber carriage positioned to the left of the carriage, they did not feel all reliable and did not nest as snugly. My TLC-method is also shown in the video.
The panel knitted while testing this ribber were converted to a hat (the brown ribbing in on the “right” side and the greyish ribbing is on the inside), which will go to charity during our local Thanksgiving and Christmas hat and scarf drive.
Brother Profile 551 (Or KH551) knitting machine is a standard-gauge knitting machine with 200 needles, 4.5 mm apart. Read more about the pros and cons of this model in my Knitting Machine Encyclopedia.
The article below is dedicated to a specific machine tested and serviced in my shop in October 2025.
The machine was cleaned and oiled. All needles were removed, cleaned, and inspected individually. Their latches and straightness were checked and confirmed. The carriage was cleaned and serviced (oiled and inspected). The sponge in the metal retaining bar was replaced with a new one.
I first knit a swatch while testing the machine to demonstrate that the carriage, all its levers, buttons and knobs as well as the needle selection mechanism, work well.
Additionally, I tested the machine on all needles to ensure the needles form correct stitches. The video of these tests is posted on my YouTube channel. I used several different yarns. All tests went really well. I tested the machine using several different yarns. I will include a skein of one of the yarns I used and liked the most for this machine.
In the video, you will see that I first checked how smoothly the carriage runs on the needlebed. I moved forward (to B position) one section of needles at a time and ran the carriage in different settings across these needles. Thus, I ran the carriage across the needlebed after moving the Russel levers to I, II< and III positions and pushed the “tuck” and “part” buttons on the carriage.
When knitting the “butterfly” pattern (the very first “holding” pattern) I deviated from the pattern and instead of alternating between pressing buttons 1 and 3, I pressed 1 and 3 and then 2 and 4 to demonstrate that machine, buttons and needle selection function properly.
The machine will come with all major accessories and almost all minor.
The accessories that are not included are:
one of the yarn hangers, used in the plating type of knitting (page 19 in the manual). On one of the previous machines, I used a paper clip. My experience also shows that knitters rarely use these.
oil. It was too old and I discarded it. Use Hoppe’s gun oil available on Amazon.
A tapestry needle was rusty and I discarded it as well. Any needle will suffice.
A hard copy of the manual will not be provided.
The original manual can be found online, but the resolution is poor. For patterns, it is better to use this manual, which is for the 8-pushbutton machine, but the functions of the carriage are all the same. When converting those patterns, in the pattern table, cut the number of buttons by half and just follow the rest of the directions.
I noticed that the claw weights do not come with this machine. But you can easily order them on Amazon (as well as a smaller cast-on comb for swatches). The price on Amazon is even better than I would offer.
When knitting tuck patterns, especially on every other needle, watch that the stitches come off the round section of the needles. Always remember that the tuck (other stitches too, but tuck especially) is always an interplay between the correct yarn, tension, carriage settings, and static, among a few aspects. I will include a skein of yarn I used for my tets to use as a reference yarn.
A couple of hints to avoid mistakes with the set lever and pushbuttons:
Make sure the ratchet tool goes ALL THE WAY to the left when activating the needle selection and all the way to the right (to the OFF position); otherwise, incorrect (or incomplete) selection might happen.
general rule of thumb: tuck requires higher tension (smaller number on the tension dial) than stockinet. So does slip/part.
Notice in the video that I am adjusting the tension as I am going from stockinet to tuck/slip.
For consistency, I recommend the very last two needles (on each side) to be in B position. For example, in the video when i was knitting tuck stitch, I was checking if the last needles are in B or C position. I like my last needles to be in B position, so I moved the needles pushed to C position up.
PROS:
Overall the machine is in great shape with no visible rust
cast on combs are in great shape: all teeth are straight, and there are only a couple of minor scratches
Most of the tools are original
Imperfections:
couple of missing minor accessories and a hard copy of the manual
minor scratches (some of them are shown below)
some minor discoloration on the pushbuttons (shown below)
cast on combs have just couple of minor scratches (not shown)
The case and the lid are in great shape with only minor, barely noticeable, scratches (not shown)
Picture showing minor scratches on the carriage:
Picture showing pushbutton up close to demonstrate the minor discoloration and minor scratches:
Please keep in mind that my house is a dog-friendly household, so some dog hair is unavoidable.
Hope all looks good and if it does – Happy Knitting!
What the two-color garter carriage did for me is hard to put in words. My journey with knitting machines started when i realized i had too much yarn on hands. After experimenting the crap out of Addi (I knitted sweaters, with cables, after NUMEROUS hats, scarves, and fingerless gloves) and Brother KX350 (also seaters with cables and socks), I needed more challenging projects. I could not decide which machine to choose, so to try them all I ended up buying multiple second-hand knitting machines… All kinds… So many that I started running out of space so I had to pass along all those machines. I cleaned them, tested them, figured out what I like about them, and did not. Moved on to the next one. … But I still really never had a chance to sit down and experiment and craft with all that yarn I accumulated…
Then I discovered Garter carriage. Thank god, out of a dozen garter caraiges I picked up along with the mahcines, one was fully operations (I am still fixing 11 others). The minute it created the perfect 1×1 ribbing, without curse words and snags that I was getting on the ribber, I was in love. I immediately knitted a blanket, and, as usual, multiple scarves and hats. I would not say I got bored (there were so many patterns and projects still to experiment with). But I saw the wonderful effects that two-color garter carriages created, so I wanted to continue to experiment (and along the way, to use all that yarn I have). So, I got the adapter.
After overcoming the initial learning curve, I started enjoying watching my two-color garter carriage making various fabrics so much, that I would bring my coffee into the room and just watch it knit. I would be combing impossible yarn. Consult with my son, who is an artist on colors and designs. Create my own designs… Oh boy. I finally had that long-awaited creativity and experimentation that I was yearning all this time. I still fix my machines and pass them along, but I also create these new designs, comine colors, test new patterns, create my own patterns…. The level of satisfaction it brings is just indescribable. Being creative and crafting, according to smart scientists, increases the levels of dopamine… These levels are now spilling to other areas of my life. Double benefits. Thanks, two-color garter carriage. I cherish and appreciate you!!
… in progress as I am still learning and discovering …
I’ve spent the last two weeks fixing, disassembling, servicing, and cleaning all kinds of Garter carriages. I went through a mix of emotions: from agony of trying to identify the problem to fix to make the garter carriage work to complete awe watching the garter carriage knit a whole baby blanket just after I pressed all the necessary buttons.
In fact, it was so relaxing to watch Garter Carriage knit that my family would find me drinking coffee in front of it (instead of TV or a FaceBook page). Check out my pages with my projects, advice/notes, and patterns.
While being enthralled, I knitted swatches, hats, custom patterns, multicolor (just stripes, not using a true 2-color GC), blankets on all 200 needles…. So, below are my observations and notes.
Garter carriage is a bulky (meaning, big) carriage but unlike a main machine carriage, it knits on its own but slow. Garter arriages are temperamental. In fact, VERY! Som below I am compling a list of commonly appearing quesionts, my observations, and knowldge (acquired by making a LOT of mistakes).
The garter carriage moves too slowly.
If you want you GC to move faster, adjust the dial on its power supply. Right (“H”) is to increase the speed. If this does not change the speed, it is very likely that either the motor is malfunctioning or there is gunk in the carriage preventing it from moving faster.
The garter carriage stopped and is not moving.
The service manual describes some of the possible reasons:
Check if the power supply is actually working. My carriage stopped working literally in the middle of a project, and i could not figure out what was going on until I decided to try a different power supply. Well, the previous power supply decided to die without a warning.
The motor is not running. There are several reasons for that: bad motor, incorrect connection to the electrical outlet, yarn sensor is down, your row counter is at zero, a knot in the yarn feeder… Refer to the service manual for more detailed information.
What might cause garter carriage to randomly drop stitches?
bad (bent needle): it might have a sticky latch, be bent, misaligned or stuffed with lint. Check this first.
yarn is too thick. Solution: decrease tesion (increase the number on the dial) or switch the yarn. I was able to use yarns on garter carriage that a regular standard-gauge machine cant. BUt there is always a limit.
problematic yarn: fuzzy, or with boucle, or staticky, or stretchy yarn, or simply yarn that does not want to knit on the garter carriage (it happened to me; I put it in a bag and marked “GC cannot knit”).
check sponge bar: the spongy part needs to be about 1 cm above the metal sides. also: is it still spongy? is it even across the length of the retaining bar?
gate pegs might be bent or out of line. Check gate pegs from different angles.
clean the brushes from fluff and dust.
insufficient or too much weight
Overall, Garter carriages are quite temperamental.
Why does my garter carriage turn in the wrong place?
There are actually a lot of reasons for that, and they depend on the situation.
old grease and gunk. Solution: open up your carriage and clean it up.
if you recently disassembled your garter carriage, check if the turning cams are installed correctly
check the manual: it says for the automatic “turn” function, the slider needs to be moved to “G” first otherwise it causes problems.
make sure your needlebed DOES NOT miss any needles. It will trigger the turning cams incorrectly.
Are extension rails necessary?
It depends on the width of what you are knitting and also on your comfort level. It also depends on your machine. For example, the needlbed of the Brother KH930 is pretty wide (beyond where the needles are nested). In additional, the end cap on the right-hand side is wide too. So, even if you are moving the garter carriage past the sensor (to activate the “GC ON” light on the machine), rails are not necessarily. Thus, even if you are knitting on the full bed (like shown in this video), rails are not all that necessary.
What are good yarns to use with the garter carriage?
Gareter carraiges can handle yarns thicker than the standard machines can. Mostly because it knits one stitch at a time and pulls the yarn to form one one stitch at a time. Couple of examples: For example, I made a wonderful blanket with “we love yarn” (400 g/1312 m; 100 g/328 m) per ball) which is considered pretty thick for standard-gauge machines. This yarn creates beautiful texture and is machine washable at 104 F. I made a blanket with the cream yarn with tension 9 for the border and 10 for the main body. One skein of mega ball was enough. Two color garter carriages will need thinner yarns (for both feeders). But in both cases, knitters need to experiment with yarns and tensions. The golden rule: if the machine struggles, increase the number on the tension dial (which loosens the tension). Still struggle: the yarn is not compatible with your garter carriage.
Do I need to remove the ribber bracket to use the GC on my machine?
Just the brackets should not affect GC functioning. However, some believe that the best angle for GC to work properly is when the machine is flat. Thus, use the flat table clamps, not the S-curved ones (those that we use to attach our machines to ribbers).
Do I need to use cast-on comb?
Yes and no. Some knitters like to hang the cast-on comb on the 3rd or further rows. Some knit without it. I found that with thicker yarns and for two-color carriage, cast-on combs benefit me. Again: try and see for yourself.
Why are GC needles so expensive?
Simple answer: supply and demand.
My garter carriage is mispatterning.
Again, there are several reasons, including, gunked-up machine. But also:
you forgot to activate the GC light on the machine (if your machine is electronic)
I found a brochure in my stash showing which knitting machines and their accessories were released as anniversary editions (which means the machines had a slightly different color combination but the same functions as their non-anniversary sisters).
Brother KH-260E knitting machine and Brother KR-260E ribbing attachment
Garter carriages KH-93E and KG-89II
Knit leader KL-116E and Color changers KRC-900E and KHC-820AE
Although the color combination is not seen very well in this brochure, all anniversary editions have baby-blue color: buttons, electronic panel, logo, etc.
Brother KR230 ribbing attachment works with only one knitting machine: 9 mm -gauge (bulky) Brother KH230.
This post is dedicated to the KR230 ribber I refurbished in my shop.
To learn about the overall pros and cons of Brother KR230 ribbers, refer to my other blog post in my Knitting machine Encyclopedia.
The ribber came without a lot of accessories but I was able to collect most important ones.
Thus, all major accessories will be included with the ribber with the exception of:
yard tension stand: since the machine I tested did not have the original (to the KH230) tension rod but a generic Brother tension rod, the yarn tension stand was unnecessary. But if you are buying JUST the ribber from me, and your Brother KH230 has the original tension mast, contact me, and I might be able to source the original yarn tension stand for you. I am actually not quite sure why the ribber came with this special yarn tension stand – maybe to create a right angle for the tension mast because it is quite unique and is unlike any other Brother knitting machine tension masts.
cast on thread: any silky and strong yarn will work
case for the needles
Knit leader setting plates: the machine did not come with those. Typically, new knitters new to machine knitting rarely use the knit leader and as a result, these parts get misplaced. If you advance enough to use KH230/KR230 setup with knit leader, these setting plates are available online for a reasonable cost.
hard copy of the ribber will not be included, but it can be found online. Keep in mind that the manual is written pretty poorly with typos.
I cleaned the needle bed, and side brackets. I cleaned and inspected all needles individually. Needles in good condition but with some minor rust were polished until they are smooth to touch (however, some discoloration might still be visible but it does not affect the needle functioning). I inspected the carriage and the connecting arm thoroughly too and replaced some broken plastic parts in it.
I included a brand new retaining bar with a brand new sponge.
I am also including new table clamps for the ribber (not shown). All tests were done with these table clamps (incorrect table clamps can create an incorrect angle between the main and the ribber beds and cause misalignment and, as a result, missed/dropped stitches).
The cast on combs that came with the ribber are in great shape.
I also sourced out completely new setting plates for KR230. Notice that the setting plates are asymmetric, unlike settings plates for all other ribbers.
One feature that I like about the KR230 ribber is that there are markings on the needle bed for the working position (position B) of the needles.
I serviced and oiled the connecting arm to ensure that the wheel inside it moved freely as it is responsible for the indicator arros as well as for lifting the pressers to assist with pushing the stitches down.
To ensure all needles knit properly as well as other are no hidden problems, I knitted on 20-30 needles as well as on all neeldees using several different yarns: acrylic sport-weight yarn, double-thread worsted-thickness acrylic-wool blend yarn, and a mohair-blend with Lurex thread in it. The machine handled all the yarns like a champ!
These tests are shown in my video. Prior to the tests, I made sure the distance between the needlebeds was adjusted to the optimum to ensure no missing stitches during the cast one and further one.
Below are the finished projects made from the panels knitted on Brother KH230/KR230 setup using the two out of three yarns I mentioned above.
Let me know what you think.
The ribber does not come with its original packaging. It will very likely be shipped in two different packages – long one for the needle bed and a smaller one (in size) for all other parts.
takes a variety of yarns (thickness- and texture-wise)
comes with all major accessories
CONS:
some minor accessories are missing (see above); however, their absence does not affect the functioning of the ribber.
The part of the side bracket that gets inserted into the machine on the left-hand side was a bit bent and I straightened it. (The top surface of that section has scratches as a result of my strainitening it). The series of pictures below shows that bracket and that area from different angles. Again, it did not affect setting up the machine but the bracket needs to be pushed in with a bit more force than the other one. Just something to keep in mind when connecting the ribber to the main bed.
As you can see, I invested a lot of both time and money into this ribber to ensure it has all accessories and that it functions well before I pass it on to other knitting machine enthusiasts.
This Brother KR830 ribber was prepared (cleaned, serviced, and tested) in January 2025. This post is dedicated to this specific ribber. Refer to my Knitting Machine Encyclopedia to learn the pros and cons of Brother KR830 ribbers.
The ribber did not come with a carriage. Thus, I used a carriage from my stash. However, the carriage is from Brother KR850 ribbing attachment (which is a bit more advanced – read here): you can see “lili” buttons on the carriage picture, which are specific to KR850 ribbers only.
However, as shown in my video, KR830 needle bed, KR830 sinker plate, and KR850 carriage worked well in tandem with my Brother KH940 knitting machine. In fact, the carriage slides easily even with the yarn fed through it (as also demonstrated in my video).
Despite being not for the KR830 machine, the carriage works great and is in great shape. All levers, knobs and buttons move on both sides of the carriage.
The ribber came without some other accessories. I put together a set of accessories. All major accessories will be included.
The original cardboard box will not be included. Regardless, the machine will be packed for shipping really well.
The table clamps are exactly those used during the tests. So the angle between the ribber bed and the main bed will be the same. The needle selection ruler is new stock as well.
The aluminum claw weights are new. The rack lever is new (thus, it is lighter in color than all other plastic components).
The hard copy of the manual for the Brother KR830 will be included as well.
I cleaned the ribber, thoroughly oiled it, and removed old grease. I inspected all needles (individually and then by knitting on the full bed) and replaced the bent and faulty ones with the needles from a new stock.
I dedicated a lot of time to adjusting the distance between the main bed and the ribber. It is one of the most important parameters during knitting.
Knitting on a machine attached to a ribber is often an interplay between the yarn the knitter is using, tension, and the angle between the ribber and the main bed. The distance was adjusted for the thin yarn (boucle) and slightly thicker than the sock-yarn-thickness yarn (see my video).
During the tests, while the tension was chosen too loose for my first yarn, I was losing stitches (shown in my video – see a clip starting at 2 min 30 s). But as I adjusted the tension, the knitting became flawless.
I knitted on the full bed to demonstrate that all needles form nice stitches. If the latches did not work well or if the needles were bent, it would manifest itself as tucked or missed stitches.
Typically, it is challenging to need a full ribbing on the full bed (All needles are in working positions). Thus, I chose an every-other needle ribbing pattern and knitted on two different sets of every other needle.
I would not recommend beginners to start knitting on the full bed since there are several challenges associated with it:
hard to insert the side hanging weights when all (or almost all) needles are in their working positions (you can see of bit of this struggle in the video);
the knitter needs to pay especially more attention to the carriage position on the edges of the needle bed and to the yarn tension to avoid side floaters (I experienced them – see my video)
Pattern one (see video) had three needles NOT selected on the ribbing attachment. It used slightly thicker yarn. Pattern two had two needles not selected on the left-hand side of the ribber bed. I used thinner but boucle yarn. Both yarns produced wonderful fabrics. I made two great hats out of the knitted panels.
Imperfections:
1. The main bed has two minor rust spots underneath that I covered with the rust-stopping liquid. It is not pretty but at least it prevents further corrosion.
2. The cast-on combs, both small and long, had rust spots that I also covered with Rustoleum. I know it does not look pretty after i applied to liquid but it stops further corrosion. I did not have problems with the yarn catching on the rust spots. These are mostly cosmetic defects.
One cast-on comb side has more spots than the other (on both combs).
The yarn holder looks a bit rusted too but is relatively smooth to touch:
The plastic fine knitting bar is packed inside the ribber itself:
BTW, the hats were donated to a woman, who hand-embroiders the textiles ( as a hobby) and then donated to the women who lost hair due to the alopecia.
Overall, I am very pleased with the performance of this ribbing attachment. Hoping you will be too!
