Friday, December 16, 2011

Best Gifts for a Machine Knitter

I was thinking today that maybe there's a Santa-baby out there who is looking for excellent gift ideas for a beloved machine knitter. 

Here are some of the accessories that machine knitters absolutely love - and I've included links:

1.  Replacement ribber comb wires - these are so vastly better than the ones that come with the Brother ribbers that I think absolutely everyone who uses their ribber more than once a year needs a set!  Purchase from Helen Griffiths.  Be a hero for less than ten bucks!  Bulky wires, long $2.50; standard wires long $2.25; and medium for bulky and standard same size $2.00.

2.  Terrific garter bars from Kris Krafter.  A little expensive, but quality U.S. construction and one of the most useful accessories to ever hit machine knitting!  Contact Kris if you aren't sure about the sizes.  And buy a stopper, for heaven's sake!  I'll throw in a plug for my own garter bar course, if you know a knitter who has one and doesn't use it much.

3.  For the beginner in your life, the Beginner's Course from my own products.  The fact is, most of the machine knitters I know haven't had the opportunity to get a lot of personal lessons, and here is a big, fat assortment of video lessons in meticulous detail, enough to take anyone who practices them a little bit well out of the beginner stage.

4.  A Jumbo Yarn Winder is a great thing for almost any knitter to have.  I used to be a big fan of the regular small winders, but the Jumbo winder holds so much more yarn and winds so quickly that now I'm hooked on that one.  Here's one from Amazon.

5.  A new sponge bar.  These things wear out, and once they're flat and yucky, the machine won't knit properly.  I put in a link to the Knit Knack Shop, which has quite a lot of different sizes and is a great, fun place to browze for MK gifts. 

6.  Your knitter needs triangle weight hangers!  This is an accessory that I use constantly.  I carry them from machine to machine.  These weight hangers work well in many different situations!  This link is to Custom Knits and Manufacturing.  She has a lot of fun things at her site, too.

7.  A subscription to Country Knitting of Maine or Machine Knitting Monthly!  Either of these magazines will give your knitter hours of enjoyment and inspiration. 

I can easily think of two dozen other great gift ideas, and maybe some of my readers will chime in with great gift suggestions.  Here are a few more:  a yarn tree for storing lots of cones of yarn; The Prolific Knitting Machine, a wonderful book; Make Your Knitting Machine Sing, a book on tuning up your machine; or how about some luxurious cashmere yarn?

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