# Question about brother machine knitting machines



## nsnewfie1996 (Nov 19, 2011)

Someone has the following items for sale. I would love to have a knitting machine but have no idea about these items. Can anyone tell me what they are?
Brother KR850 Ribbing Attachment
Brother KH892 Knitting Machine
Brother KH400 Convertible Home Knitter
Brother KA8300 Transfer Cartridge

thank you in Advance
Kat


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## Weegie (Sep 1, 2012)

nsnewfie1996 said:


> Someone has the following items for sale. I would love to have a knitting machine but have no idea about these items. Can anyone tell me what they are?
> Brother KR850 Ribbing Attachment
> Brother KH892 Knitting Machine
> Brother KH400 Convertible Home Knitter
> ...


Ok...let me see...I am no expert...just re-learning. The KH892 is the actual knitting machine....one of MANY Brother machines. The 850 ribbing attachment goes with many of the Brother knitting machines as far as I know...to do ribbing (cuffs, waistbands, etc) The Transfer Cartridge...if it's what I think it is...a transfer carriage...I believe transfers stitches from the ribber to the main bed of the machine. The 400 convertible home knitter sounds like an older machine....newer ones have higher numbers.
I am looking for that ribber....hope I can find one in good shape near me...???
Hope this helps a bit.
Betty


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## susieknitter (Jul 14, 2011)

What Betty has said is correct. The KH892 is a punch card metal bed machine, standard gauge 4.5mm, that takes light weight yarn. The ribber and transfer carriage go with this.
The KH400 is a plastic bed machine that is standard gauge 4.5mm for using light weight yarn but converts to a bulky 9mm machine to take the thicker yarns.


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## Entity (Sep 13, 2011)

In addition to Betty's and Sue's postings, below are a few knitting machine lists with their information.
http://www.aboutknittingmachines.com/BrothermostpopularKM.php
http://www.yarn-store.com/knitting-machine-chart.html
http://www.scanthecat.com/html/bnro_machines.html


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## bizzielizzie (Dec 9, 2012)

Have a look on Brother's site


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## euvid (Apr 2, 2011)

The KR-850 ribber is a seperate bed that hangs below the knitting machine and allows you to knit ribbing on your knit wear and other things. A very good ribber if it has all it's parts.
THe 892 ( sure it isn't the 891 which i tought was the last one they made)is a super Brother knitting machine. Uses punchcards that are readily out there.A metal bed machine.
THe 400 is a plastic convertible machine that comes apart and converts from 4.5 mm knitting to 9mm kniting. It is a wonderful machine for someone who has little space or likes to take their machine along with them when traveling.
It does not use punchcards. All fancy stitches are hand manipulted. I have one but they are hard to find.
THe transfer carriage moves stitches from the ribber bed to the main bed when you are finished doing your ribber boarder and want to go on knitting.



nsnewfie1996 said:


> Someone has the following items for sale. I would love to have a knitting machine but have no idea about these items. Can anyone tell me what they are?
> Brother KR850 Ribbing Attachment
> Brother KH892 Knitting Machine
> Brother KH400 Convertible Home Knitter
> ...


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## euvid (Apr 2, 2011)

check to see if she has all the parts (they are listed in the manual) and the carriages move. THe 892 could sellfor between $300- $450 the ribber around $350 or less, the 400 for $200 plus


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## nsnewfie1996 (Nov 19, 2011)

Thanks everyone. I am going to try to contact the seller tomorrow to get more information....You have all been very helpful.....


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## nsnewfie1996 (Nov 19, 2011)

I am sooooooo excited, I am getting all of the items listed above for $ 200...... cant wait to get my hands on them... I am sure I will be looking for loads of help :-D


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## euvid (Apr 2, 2011)

You are a lucky lady.


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## Yvonnek (Nov 19, 2016)

If you look on the web site, HKC Knitting, and look under guide Lional gives a comprehensive list of all Brother knitting machines and equipment, explains what they are used for. well worth a look.


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## Elizabeth WACHUKA (Mar 10, 2017)

how to knit with brother 710


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## Elizabeth WACHUKA (Mar 10, 2017)

hey I'm in Kenya I have a knitting machine brother 710 and I don't know how to use it. please help me with instructions. it was a gift to help me to earn for my kids


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## KateWood (Apr 30, 2011)

Hi Elizabeth, Congratulations on your gift. In case you haven't already done so, you will very likely need to do good clean and lube & put a new sponge bar in before you can knit on it. I'm not familiar with the pattern system on your machine but if you don't have a manual with it, you can find it here;

http://www.aboutknittingmachines.com/brother-manuals.html

Also, search youtube for brother knitting machine videos. You can watch them to learn the basics even if they're not filmed on your model.

Enjoy


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## Peanut Tinker (Oct 10, 2012)

nsnewfie1996 said:


> I am sooooooo excited, I am getting all of the items listed above for $ 200...... cant wait to get my hands on them... I am sure I will be looking for loads of help :-D


Good for you! It will be Christmas in May!


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## Elizabeth WACHUKA (Mar 10, 2017)

thanks for assisting me be ble


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## cherikey (Jul 19, 2017)

Some are attachments for a knitting machine but are useless if you don’t’t have the right machine for them to go on. I recently bought one but spent months researching them. All I wanted was a simple knitting machine that would take yarn off the shelf and that was easy find. I also wanted a machine that had a feel of hand knitting. Or at least as close as you could get . My conclusion was an LK150. It seemed to me that all other machine uses special yarn, therefore you had to buy specialty yarn... I live in Canada and with my research I found out that brother is the only one that now manufactures knitting machines. That’s not to say that older used ones aren’t good, but I want something that would be hassle free and easy to use for a novice. So I opted for new. However I was very surprised to see the difference in price range. I don’t know where you live but I highly sugest you do research if you want one.


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## oscall (Oct 3, 2017)

Elizabeth WACHUKA said:


> hey I'm in Kenya I have a knitting machine brother 710 and I don't know how to use it. please help me with instructions. it was a gift to help me to earn for my kids


Hi Elizabeth, I have this machine, you can watch videos on youtube, I put some links:





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4osqdpPV8U8&t=184s





Read the manual and try everything.

At the begining is a bit confusing but after some time you will get it.

I hope that helps.

<333333333


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## aprilla (Apr 4, 2017)

nsnewfie1996 said:


> I am sooooooo excited, I am getting all of the items listed above for $ 200...... cant wait to get my hands on them... I am sure I will be looking for loads of help :-D


That's fantastic, you got a great bargain and I hope you'll love machine knitting. It's quite similar to my set up (891&850) and while we have our moments I am really enjoying it... and even making some progress after a bit of a wobbly start.


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## susieknitter (Jul 14, 2011)

nsnewfie1996 said:


> I am sooooooo excited, I am getting all of the items listed above for $ 200...... cant wait to get my hands on them... I am sure I will be looking for loads of help :-D


This lady (nsnewfie1996) got all the items 5 years ago. I wonder if she still uses them now.


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## aprilla (Apr 4, 2017)

susieknitter said:


> This lady (nsnewfie1996) got all the items 5 years ago. I wonder if she still uses them now.


wow, thanks... I never noticed the dates. I wonder how it went now too


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## susieknitter (Jul 14, 2011)

Seemingly nsnewfie1996 hasn't posted on here since July 2016 and her last posts (prior to that date) are hand knits.


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## MaryAnneCutler (Jul 31, 2013)

nsnewfie1996 said:


> I am sooooooo excited, I am getting all of the items listed above for $ 200...... cant wait to get my hands on them... I am sure I will be looking for loads of help :-D


That is a good start. Make sure you get the manuals with them. Manuals are very important for learning to use the machines successfully.


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## randiejg (Oct 29, 2011)

Someone has already mentioned replacing the sponge bar. In your manual, this is referred to as the needle retainer bar, in the section about replacing a needle.

This is a really important part of getting your machine up and running properly. If the machine has not been used, or properly stored for a while, the sponge will have flattened and likely deteriorated. It's function is to hold the needles on the main bed down against the bed, so that they do not raise up when you pass the knitting carriage back and forth to knit. If the needles raise up, they can catch in the under side of the carriage and damage needles or the carriage itself. It will also greatly frustrate you when you try to learn to use the machine, by causing the carriage to jam, dropping stitches, etc.

There are online sellers from which you can purchase a new sponge bar for your machine. The one I like best in the U.S. is https://theknittingcloset.com/. On the landing page for this site, the first thing you'll see in the upper left corner is "Sponge Bars."
You order by your make and model of machine. Some people refurbish theirs with a home-made one, but personally, I would not recommend doing this. The sponge bars are inserted into the channel with the sponge down, resting on top of the needles, and the metal casing on top. The Brother ribbers do not come with a regular sponge bar, and just have a plastic bar in the slot.

If any of the tools, etc., are missing (there are pages at the beginning of the manual showing everything that should come with the main machine and the ribber), you can find replacements from sellers on eBay. My favorite is the seller leanneco. The Knitting Closet, and other online sellers also have some of the items you may need to replace.


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