The KM 100, 230 & 250 Knitting Machines Revisited
- Maggi Bloice
- Jul 15
- 4 min read
Its now Mid July and its seriously hot here in Brittany. My main task is to try and keep my collection maintained. Sorry no new machines on this blog, but a look at a set of under rated wee Knitmaster machines which often go for very little money but come packed with some interesting features, however I will state that they are, in my opinion a perfect beginners machine. The KM 100 to 250 range are 5mm machines that can with a bit of patience knit up to UK double knit yarn, a handy facility. They are metal bed machines and mine are all like new, if fact I doubt they have ever been used but you know this place and its humid climate makes most machine storage difficult, however I was pleasantly surprised that the boxes as opposed to the machines seem to suffer the most.
I have take several new photos of the machines whilst doing the usual cleanup, and the colours are wonderful and note this, these machines do not require a needle retaining bar replacement sponges as they have a metal retaining bar. . A quick clean and oil and they were up and working again in no time. The 250 and the 100 in my case, also came packed with a needle selector carriage, plus loads of needle selector combs with a load of pattern and instruction books.
The literature for the KM 250 boasts of its ability to knit up to chunkier yarn but believe me, if it does it would be hard work.
The stitch pattern book supplement states the following
“many customers have asked us if we could not produce a knitting machine with which they would be able to knit thick yarns. The is what we have done, We have now eliminated the smallest stich sizes 0 1, never used, and made provisions for larger stitch sizes 10 to 14, now you can knit really thick yarns on your machine” I note they include a pic of weights and pins for hanging so perhaps this is the way the knit thicker yarns. " (Accessories recommended.)
Only problem that I can see with this is that the needle spacing is still 5 mm. I used a UK DK yarn and just about managed to knit with it on the highest setting so I dunno. (as Aran is 2 x DK – no chance). However that being said it is still a very well built machine and perfect for those who like to do their own thing. The 250 and 230 have 180 needles and the KM100 has 166 needles.
The simple pattern selector is a handy wee gadget that selects from right to left only, but it is so easy to remove and replace – what’s to lose? OK so you have to select the first few needles but after that it’s a breeze.
As I have said before, I am the most bone idle knitter so this machine would not be for me, I like computer downloads and someone else to do the patterns etc etc but for those who buy plastic machines, well the sky's the limit.
What is the difference between the KM230 and the KM 250, well I believe the 250 included the pattern selector gadget. The price quoted on this leaflet for the KM 130 is 46 pounds and 75p at 7.85 deposit and 5 payments of 7.82. I reckon this was about 1969.
I have researched the punch card needle selector for this machine but it seems to be a lot of hassle when you could easily buy the next one up ie the Knitmaster 321 range and knit garments a lot quicker, so surely this gadget is just of interest for collectors. The basic needle selector does a similar job but the problem with both of these gadgets is the necessity to move the gadget only from right to left before having to select again, now personally if I was knitting tuck stitch for instance, I would use the selector to select the needles to holding position and continue with hold position for the rest of the pattern. The setting they quote means that you have to take off and reselect the holding needles every row. Mad or what?
Anyway have a play around with it if you have it – its all the fun of the fair. Like most of these quirky needle selectors or in particular the punchcard gadgets which are rare and cost too much money for the actual person who just wants to knit, beside which they include a fantastic set of rulers that you can use to select different needle selections. I am unable to find any sort of a ribber made for this machine but the pattern book highlights plenty of substitutes.
I do note that my favourite site – machineknittingetc.com has all the instruction manuals required – always check this site first. The Knitmaster range comes usually in a cardboard box with polystyrene cutouts and is well packed with a good range of stuff, and from my recent research, I believe there is a weaving arm too, not that I have that. Like I say if you want to go further into say fairisle etc than go up a grade, all Knitmaster machines do what it says on the tin, great workhorse machines.
