Does anyone have any experience with kids knitting machines? Saw one at A.C. Moore the other day & thought of my kiddo who wants to learn. Just want to make sure it’s worth it first. Any advice will be appreciated.
Thanks, Christina
Question about kids knitting machines
Was it one of those round things that yoiu turn the crank and it knits up a tube (or if you reverse it it knits up flat)? I’ve never used one, but my nieces got one for Christmas one year, and they brought it over for me to try and figure out. The concept is OK, but theirs kept having problems with not all the “hooks” or “needles” (or whatever you want to call them) catching the yarn as you turned the crank…and yoiu’d never get anything useable.
Personally, I wasn’t impressed. We tried about 10 times to get the darn thing to work, but as it was all plastic I was afraid to try and get too much into it…and we never could get the “needles” to work in sync.
JMHO.
Ditto on what miccisue said. Thumbs down. I played with one at Michaels and got frustrated and quit. Go for the Knifty Knitter instead. You get multiple sizes, actually do the work, and there are tons of patterns out there when they get bored with hats and scarves!
Kelly
Yeah it’s one of those round jobs. I’ve been trying to teach him with needles & he does ok but he gets frustrated b/c it doesn’t just magically go how he wants it to. So, I have to stop what I’m doing & help him constantly. Thought maybe a machine would help him get granny’s scarf done without me doing most of the work 
Thanks for the info.
-Christina
As kellyh57 said go with the Knifty Knitter instead. The other day I was in Micheals and met a family that knit using those Knifty Knitter looms. The woman I was talking to said that her mother knows how to knit on needles but the rest of them use the Knifty Knitter looms because they have trouble with knitting needles. I’ve been told it’s pretty easy to use. Although you can’t use fine yarn since the knitting is akin to knitting on larger size needles. Again what I’ve been told.
I just got one of the tube knitters for christmas (my sister bought it for me and after I opened it she asked me, "So, what does that thing do, anyways? haha) and It took a little while, but I got it to work just fine. There was a bit of a learning curve, but after an inch or so, I got it working.
However, I would still suggest the knifty knitter because it is really easy to use. I bought mine on sale last year for about $7
I had a child’s knitting machine when I was a kid that knit flat pieces. Basically a smaller version of a “real” knitting machine. I loved it but it only knit in stocking stitch, pieces about 15 -20 inches wide, so it told you to sew smaller pieces together to make a jumper etc. It was bright pink though so I doubt your son would appreciate the colour. I can’t remember who made it…
I’ve got one of those! My nephew spotted it at his Scout group jumble sale and saved it for me, bless him! It only cost £1 too! :yay: Mine is made by Tomy.
I think I still have mine upstairs somewhere in the bottom of the wardrobe - didn’t want to throw it out but prob wont use it again except for fun
I’ve only used mine for a play. I don’t think I can manage to make anything useful out of it, despite the patterns and pictures in the manual :??
Think I made lots of draw string bags when I was wee, and scarves. Don’t think Tomy make them anymore. Out of interest checked Ebay and there’s one there for £50… bit steep
I have a son who recently learned to knit (he’s 9), but a couple years ago I bought a knifty knitter loom set and both he and his younger brother (now 7) were able to use them. I agree with the earlier posts that you don’t want to use fine yarn because it’s like knitting on large needles, but kids CAN actually produce something easy with it and you don’t have to worry about issues with the item malfunctioning, just the user!!! They have booklets you can buy pretty cheap that show how to make something other than just strips with them, too.
That’s the one I’ve got! £50 :passedout: And that one is missing the claw weights so mine is more complete.
My niece got one for Christmas last year. They were cranking out scarves like crazy–made two while we were there for about 2 -3 hours. However, my knitting dd and I found it most unsatisfying. While regular knitting is relaxing and you use your hands to create something, this machine (the pink one I assume has been mentioned) was just a matter of hooking up the yarn, and then turning the handle–like cranking out a churn of homemade ice cream! The scarves are knit as tubes, which we didn’t care for, either.
I understand you’re supposed to be able to knit flat as well, but we didn’t get that demonstration!
So, without more research, I personally wouldn’t bother with one. I don’t know that much about the Knifty Knitter looms, but I have seen someone working on one. It’s not what I’d enjoy,but it looked more interesting and involved than turning a crank.
Probably a lot depends on whether you’re in it for the process or the product.
I recently bought the Innovatons Knitting Machine. I wanted to get rid of all that old Red Heart yarn that I don’t really care to knit by hand with anymore. I was able to make several tubular scarves fairly quickly…in about 4 hours each. But it does have a problem with dropping stitches frequently. I had to crank very -slowly and keep a close eye to spot where it was going to drop a stitch. It was a bit maddening and most times you couldn’t prevent it from happening. I would say that half the 4 hours was devoted to repairing mistakes. I will still probably use it to make quick last minute scarves, but I wouldn’t let my kids use it. It’s very easy to use, but even easier to make mistakes, and kids won’t have the patience to constantly go back and fix them. Also is says it’s great for several weights of yarn and types of yarn. Not true. Anything fuzzy gets caught up in the hooks and thin yarn has a tendancy to break if you crank too quickly. Double stranding is impossible because of the tendancy for the machine to drop stitches. I haven’t tried eyelash yarn, but I imagine that like the fuzzy yarn, it would get stuck in the hooks. I have mostly tried Red Heart worsted which was fine…except for the machine dropping stitches. I imagine that a bulky yarn would be fine too…except for the dropping of stitches. Great concept, but poor execution.
This Innovations machine is a teal and white one…I think a bit bigger than the pink machine that comes with a ball of yarn in the box.
Did I mention that it drops stitches more often than I blink in a minute?:wall:
Those things are horrible! If you miss one stitch, then you miss the next, and the next… As the end result, you get a giant hole in the middle of your work.
I have one of those pink hand turny cranky things … I think its got a real name, but you know lol.
Could anyone please be so kind as to drop me a line, explaining how to knit a flat panel with one of these cranky machines?
I bought it because it was cheap and I found it amusing, but cant, for the life of me, figure out how to knit a flat panel! The ‘instruction manual’ is very poorly translated from another language and I cant figure it out 
Please and thank you.
Cheers,
-Pud.
I think (and it’s been a while, so my memory isn’t that fresh) that you stop where your first stitch would be, and turn the crank in the reverse direction. Then, you keep going back and forth until you have the length you want…might try that and see if it works…
The only time I saw one up close was at Mary Maxim, and yeah…as I have seen posted previous, there were loops missing…and it really only does one gauge…and the crank aspect, has no learning qualities to it what so ever! It would get a big ol’ raspberry from me!
Well … thats what I tried. But when I get to the end of the row, when I try to turn back the other way, the yarn has nothing to ‘catch’ on and so have huge loops at both ends and it just dosnt work.
I suppose what I want to know, is where should the yarn go when I get to the last needle?
Thank you for your reply though 