Hey everyone, I’m back with another hands-on project! Today, I got my hands on the Addi Express King knitting machine, and let me tell you, it was quite the experience. I’d heard a lot about these machines, so I was pretty excited to try it out myself.
Unboxing and Setup
First things first, I started by unboxing the machine. It came nicely packaged. I took everything out and laid it all on my work table. I grabbed the instruction manual, which, thankfully, was pretty straightforward. Setting up the machine was a breeze. I fixed it onto my table using the clamps. It was not hard to follow and there were enough pictures to easily understand what I was doing.
Casting On
Next up, casting on. This was the trickiest part for me, at first. I chose some yarn from my stash – a nice, thick wool blend. After a few failed attempts and some more careful reading of the manual, I finally got the hang of it. I used the crank to rotate the machine, making sure the yarn caught each needle properly. There are 46 needles on this thing, so it took a bit of patience to get it right.
Knitting in the Round
Once the yarn was on, I started knitting in the round. I slowly turned the crank, and it was so satisfying to see the tube of knitted fabric starting to form. I kept going, row after row, and it was surprisingly quick! After a while, I had a decent-sized tube going. I did have a few dropped stitches here and there, which I had to go back and fix manually, but overall it was pretty smooth.
Flat Panel Knitting
I also wanted to try the flat panel setting. Switching the machine to knit flat panels was easy – there’s a little switch that I just had to flip. I started cranking again, and soon I had a flat piece of knitted fabric. It was a bit wider than I expected, but that’s not a bad thing. It was a good feeling to see how versatile this machine can be.
Binding Off
Finally, I got to bind off. This was similar to casting on, but in reverse. I carefully followed the instructions, making sure not to drop any stitches. Once I finished, I pulled the fabric off the needles. It was a little stretchy at first, but it settled into shape nicely. I was thrilled with how it turned out – a soft, seamless tube and a wide flat panel, all from one machine!
Overall Impressions
Overall, I’m really impressed with the Addi Express King. It’s a bit of an investment, but it is well-built and feels like it’ll last a long time. Sure, it takes a bit of practice to get the hang of it, but once you do, it’s a ton of fun. You can make a bunch of stuff – hats, scarves, even sweaters and blankets if you’re feeling ambitious. It is also interesting to find that the seller thinks it is valuable because it is old. But sometimes it is missing necessary parts. So, it is good to do research before buying. And I found that there’s a smaller version of this machine too, which I might try out next for smaller projects like preemie hats.
If you’re into knitting and looking for a way to speed things up, I’d definitely recommend giving this machine a try. It’s a cool gadget to have in your crafting arsenal. I hope you found this rundown helpful, and I can’t wait to see what you all create with it! Happy knitting!
