Originally posted by Diva Ree:
[qb]It's not as easy as they make it look, but once you get the hang of it, it's better. For us, it's one of those things where you have to practice for a while before you get the hang of what the shuttle does. Once we figured out how the stitches were being made, it was easier to control tension and fix mistakes. It drops stitches once in a while, so you have to have a quick eye to catch it.
I thought I'd like it more, but it only does one stitch (stockinette), so it's pretty limited to the type of things it can knit. Also, the largest needle guage is size 10, so bulky yarns are out of the question.
I like using it, but I still do a lot of hand knitting. [/qb]
I was given one of these as a birthday present in August. After struggling and struggling with it for three months, I returned it. I hated it, I hated how difficult it was to get it started- I even bought a stand for it, and I still couldn't get it. I'm not one to give up on things, but I found the machine to be more stress than simply handknitting. Between the dropped stitches, the needles getting caught in the yarn, the time spent setting up to knit-- it wasn't fun for me.
I have thought about some of the other machines, though-- I think a good one requires a susbstantial investment.