# Is a Knitmaster 321 worth buying, advice please.



## Shirl03

Hi everyone.

I've been searching for a Passap Duomatic but no joy just yet. However a Knitmaster 321 has just come for sale near me and i'm wondering if its worth a shot. Its only cheap and I know its an old model but someone told me the Silver Reed 280 is based on it and its a nice machine. 

So what do you think? Will it serve me well as a starter machine? Also I fancy doing intarsia when i'm a bit better, is it a good machine for this?

Thanks everyone


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## KateWood

If its in good condition there's nothing wrong with the 321.
Scroll down on this page to view the 321s manual;
http://www.aboutknittingmachines.com/SilverReedManuals.php


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## Shirl03

Thank you for the reply.

I didn't know whether it would be too old hey I'm sure i've got better as i've got older lol!


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## susieknitter

Shirley the Knitmaster 321 was one of the first punch card machine that they did. I had one (sold it) and I have a Silver Reed 280 and wouldn't say they are alike at all. Take a look at the following.
I don't know what you call cheap but I most certainly wouldn't pay much for it.
http://www.knittingmachinemuseum.com/Knitmasters_321_s.php


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## Shirl03

Good morning Sue. Its getting closer to the 18th and i'm looking forward to the knitting group.

Its only £25 and my son said he would buy it for me as its my birthday tomorrow. It will give me something to play on for now!


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## Kathymacau

You may need to clean the needles, replace the needle retainer bar and oil the carriage but for 25.00 it would give you a starting point.


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## Shirl03

Thank you.
It will be a good machine just to explore I imagine. I haven't even hand knitted before so I need the practise!

We are picking it up this afternoon so I can have a little play on it tomorrow, whoo hoo!


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## KateWood

Good for you, let us know how you're doing with it. Hopefully it'll work good as new when its all cleaned and lubed. Fantastic deal over one of the manual plastic bed machines.


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## Shirl03

Unbelievable. I look all this time for a Passap Duo 80 to no avail. I contact this lady and buy the Knitmaster and someone has just replied to my advert with a Duo 80!

I will still get the Knitmaster as I already said I would buy it. But it looks like there may be a Passap in my future!


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## Mari-Ann

Hi! I have a studio 321 that I have been knitting on since 1972 and it is still working great. Love it. Good choice!


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## Piper Too

It's a good solid starter machine, but didn't come with an Intarsia carriage, so you will have to do Intarsia by another method.


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## Shirl03

Thanks everyone. 

I have it home now. It looks pretty clean but of course I will give it a clean anyway. I pulled out the sponge bar and it does seem flat so i'm going to have to find one of those before I get knitting. It looks like the punch cards haven't been used and all the brushes are still in shape.
Looks like i'm going to have some fun with this!


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## KateWood

I'd say it was definately worth it


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## larayne66

I used to have a Knitmaster 321 then later a 326. IMO both are preferable to to the Passap. You can always add a ribber and/or intarsia carriage.

Larayne


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## Shirl03

Thanks Larayne, hmm thats interesting. Which Passap did you have? I'm going for the Duo 80 because I read how great it is. This 321 looks like a really solidly built machine. I will give it a go once I get a sponge bar but I wasn't expecting something so substantial looking.

I love your little doggy, I wouldn't be without my two!


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## Shirl03

Right i'm having real doubts about this Passap that I am thinking of buying. I am reading the comments on here and I keep going back to the 321 and thinking what a nice machine it looks. I honestly expected a bit of a toy but its big and very solid. Also as has been mentioned, I could add a ribber and do more or less the same.
I wanted the Passap after watching the youtube vids and people saying its the rolls royce of machines but then I look at this 321 and the lady I bought it from had kept a little swatch she made and it looked really professional.
I feel i'm rushing into it and not giving the 321 a chance


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## lindyloo2

i had the 321 and 326 models and did loads of knitting im sure you will have fun !


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## Birgitte

I had one years ago, it was great but it was harder to push than the 360 and 700 I have now.


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## Shirl03

Thank you. The sponge bar has arrived now so hopefully I will be able to have a play on it shortly. I will clean it up first even though its not bad. I just wish we had finished the upstairs so I could give it a proper home instead of perching on the dining table!


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## Studio Knitter

An Intarsia carriage from any of the standard gauge Knitmaster (Silver Reed) machines will work with it, and they can usually be picked up cheap.
A real time saver if one wants to do Intarsia.


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## sherrywb

Hiya at least you can have a go I brought a very old machine last year and cleaned it up got bits that were missing. Now it's great and I use it all the time so preserve with it. :thumbup: :thumbup:


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## simon723

i have knitmaster 323 great machine and most sliver reed fits to this machine great linda


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## KateWood

Shirl how are you doing with your new KM?


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## Shirl03

Thanks again peeps. KateWood I haven't even put the sponge bar in yet  We had a house fire back in September and are still getting straight. The builders have been putting the doors on and making such a mess with the wood shavings that I put the lid on the machine until its a bit less dusty in here


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## Studio Knitter

A very good idea to keep it packed away. My daughter had a house fire several years ago, and lost a lot of her precious belongings, but no one was hurt. 
It would have been much worse, but she had to run home to get something she had forgotten when she left. Thank God she did, or everything would have been lost!
I feel for you having to go through all of it, remembering only too well what she went through. Months of repair, scrubbing everything down, throwing away years of memories that had been damaged to bad to keep...keep the faith, you will come out of it all stronger than you went into it.
I think your machine arrived just in time to give you encouragement that it will get better soon. 
What a wonderful way to be able to celebrate, with a fun new machine, when all the work is done.
Don't forget, if you have problems and get frustrated, we are all here to assist you in learning the machine with a minimum of frustration. My first standard machine was the Singer 324, and there is very little difference between yours and my 324. It is a great machine to learn on. A little bit of practice, and you will soon be churning out some lovely summer tops!


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## Shirl03

Thank you for that lovely message Studio Knitter. It is a very tough thing to go through. We lost 90% of everything that was upstairs. The insurance company found themselves a loophole so haven't paid out so we had to instruct a solicitor to help us and it is now in the lengthy process of legal proceedings which is so unfair.. I hate insurance companies. 
But yes we are getting to the stage where we can start enjoying things again instead of cleaning everyday! In the early days I had no idea how to even start the process. I would stand in a room for an hour, looking around not knowing what to actually do. Anything I did clean turned yellow. Dark days indeed but now the house is all painted white again and we moved back in at Christmas. Hey ho, these things are sent to test us!


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## Maryknits513

Shirl03 said:


> Right i'm having real doubts about this Passap that I am thinking of buying. I am reading the comments on here and I keep going back to the 321 and thinking what a nice machine it looks. I honestly expected a bit of a toy but its big and very solid. Also as has been mentioned, I could add a ribber and do more or less the same.
> I wanted the Passap after watching the youtube vids and people saying its the rolls royce of machines but then I look at this 321 and the lady I bought it from had kept a little swatch she made and it looked really professional.
> I feel i'm rushing into it and not giving the 321 a chance


What type of knitting do you prefer? Stockinette, lace, or fairisle? Go with the 321. Or do you like very textured knitting or double jacquard? Then the Passap is the machine for you. Both machines do a lot of the same thing, but true lace has to be hand transferred on the Passap. Because of the way the patterning system work, fairisle doesn't always look the same as on a single bed.

If you like double jacquard, the Passap color changer works better than any other, IMO. You can get incredible texture on the Passap. I did a tuck stitch scarf on the Passap, and was able to get 8 rows of tuck on the needles. I tried to duplicate it on the Brother with a ribber, and could only get 4 rows of tuck on the needles. Blister fabric is another specialty of the Passap. Another plus: Passap machines don't use sponge bars. They use brake springs. I had my DM80 for 19 years, and never had to replace that spring.

I have knitted on both Brother and Passap machines for a long time. I wouldn't want to give up either type!


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## Studio Knitter

You are welcome. Having suffered indirectly through my daughters fire, I can understand the roller coaster of emotions that you have gone through.
Of course, what does a daughter do, after shes called the fire department...she calls her mother, of course. So, even though I was 40 miles away, I was in the midst of it, thanks to this age of cell phones!
I forgot to tell you the most heartwarming part of it all. My daughter was trying to get in the house, and people were holding her back telling her there was nothing in there worth risking her life for, and she informed them there was, her two cats were in there, and most likely under the bed, and the kitchen and bedroom were right over where the fire started (in the wiring of an overhead light) in the basement. When the firemen heard there was two cats inside, they asked her how to find them, and then put on masks and crawled through the house and rescued her precious fur children...


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