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Brother KH890 knitting machine is one of the latest knitting machine models with punchcard-based patterning capabilities that Brother made. More will be coming soon in my Knitting Machine Encyclopedia on this model.

In the meantime, about this particular KH890 machine.

It was tested on tuck-, slip-. stockinet and fair isle patterning on full bed to ensure all needles function properly and do not have any faulty latches. All tests are shown in my video. All went great without ANY hiccups, which made me very happy!

It comes with all major assesories, including cast-on comb, lace carriage, tension mast and a row counter. Hard copy of the  manual will not be included but can be purchased downloaded for free.

The cast-on comb is of a later model, where it consists of two parts – small and a larger one and they connect together by a metal clip to fit the full bed.

I put together a set of most minor assesories, including a brand new 20-card punchcard set. The claw weights are also brand new (from new stock). So is the row counter (this is why the color is different).

All these minor assesories fit into a built-in box with a lid.

The minor assesories that are missing are:

• wax – it was too old and I threw it away
• crochet needle – any will work. It is not even needed for machine knitting – just sometimes for the work on the knitted panel
• tapestry needle – any needle will work
• oil – it was old and I discarded it. I use Hoppe’s Elite Gun Oil for all my knitting machine needs
• Cast-on thread is not included but any strong and silky yarn/thread will work the same

Now about some minor flaws:

• The lid and the case are in pretty good shapes but might have minor scuffs and scratches.
• The plastic layer delaminated slightly on the carriage. It is mostly visible around the bottom right-hand corner where the brand name is

• There is a slight crack on the carriage handle

• There is a discoloration on the handle. It is very likely that this machine was attached to the motor for a long time. The plastic around the mount to the motor got UV damage and under the mount did not. Thus, different shades of plastic.

• There is a small crack on the yarn feeder lever

None of these minor flaws prevented the machine from knitting. This machine is sold out but other are available in my store.

Brother KR830 ribbing attachment fits a lot of Brother knitting machines with standard gauges (4.5 mm distance between the needles). It features 200 needles and is capable of creating purl stitches when hooked up to a knitting machine. It does NOT knit on its own. Read more about Brother KR830 ribber in my KM encyclopedia.

Now about this particular ribber.

It was cleaned (brackets, bed, carriage). All needles were removed, cleaned and inspected. Needles that did not pass the inspection tests were replaced with the new stock. Then the ribber was tested. I knitted two 1×1 ribs. Tested using KH840 knitting machine. All the tests are in this Video. First, I knitted on the first set of every-other-needles and then on the second set of every-other-needles to make sure all needles work properly. I also knitted on various yarns: thin wool/acrylic blend, boucle yarn and fuzzy mohair-based blend. The ribber performed really well.

Here is the whole panel I knitted while testing this ribber. It took a while to figure out the correct tension but once I did, I had a blast! Tension and the distance between the main bed and the ribber are actually the most important parameters when knitting with a ribber.

This Brother KR830 ribber comes LITERALLY with all accessories. Compare the assesories shown above against the manual. The spare needles are also from the new stock. I am even including a hard copy of the manual – I had extra!!! Who will be a lucky gal/guy to get all of this treasure??

I followed a nice video on how to adjust the distance between the ribber and the machine to form nice stitches and not to have dropped stitches. To obtain the optimum distance, I had to unscrew the brackets that some Brother KR830 ribbers come with (probably to fit older models of knitting machines).

I strongly encourage you to text me prior to purchasing this ribber from me. I would like to know the knitting machine model number that you are buying this ribber for.

About imperfections:

The connecting arm had some very minor rust spots. I cleaned them (with a soft rush-removal brush) and then covered with two coats layers of special anti-rust coatings to stop the rust and to cover it. Thus, this strange discoloration but it is still smooth to touch and will not affect the functioning of the machine. In fact, all tests in my video were made AFTER I painted the connecting arm and as you can see, there were not problems (like yarn sticking, etc.)

Below is the picture with rust before I cleaned the rust off and covered it with rust-oleum.

Below is the picture after the rust was removed and the exposed (from the rust) metal was painted.

I did not notice any other imperfections. The machine worked great and I highly recommend knitting on your machine with a ribbing attachment: opens so many possibilities.