In Vogue again

The Vogue or Swiss Knitter

knitting machine

Today after an email enquiry re the Vogue, I decided to take another look. This is a well-made machine – the bed is stainless steel and the case has a leather look. I have some original letters to the owner of the machine, which are dated October 1962. Obviously she was having problems – the sinker plate is fine when you know how to attach, but that is not as easy as it sounds. You have to take the carriage off the machine and turn it upside down to attach the plate, and it has to be done correctly ie under the rubber knobs and this takes a bit of wangling until you get used to it. It has an unusual yarn tensioner that attaches to the carriage and it knits smoothly again providing you thread it properly – took me ages to get this done as the books pictures are not too clear. Once threaded correctly it knits well and at a reasonable pace. I used the ewrap cast on with a 4 ply and even though this machine has been sitting for a while it still knitted smoothly and purrs like pussycat. It has a holding position and an unusual fairisle device (actually it is part of the machine) called the “magic device”.