# Garter carriage(G Carriage or Turtile because it goes slow)



## duo80green (Mar 12, 2011)

It's a separate carriage that does the knit and purl stitch on the Brother machine. I make baby blankets with bunny, bear or any other animal in the center. I also made a afghan for my niece with the bride and groom in the center panel with doves at the top and bottom and two side panels with the doves at the top and bottom. I finished the top and bottom with crochet. I also did gansey sweaters with the G-Carriage. It is not cheating. You can make a lot of clothing for your family faster, althought it takes longer to sew together. If you are good with the sewing machine, you can sew them together. It is a lot of fun working with the knitting machine. I made a pair of capri's for my youngest son's fiance this summer and they fit her perfect. I just knitted two pieces on the machine and sewed them together and put elastic in the waist. I followed a pattern. I get my article started and make sure it is working allright, then I go and do other work around the house, but I listen to the G- Carriage to make sure it is running OK. Duo80green


----------



## ScotKnits (Sep 2, 2011)

I have a 930 & a 940 & one machine is designated for use with the Garter Carriage. It's slow but I can work on the other machine while the garter carriage is clicking away!!! I don't care if someone thinks this is "cheating". It's no different than an embroidery machine that embroiders by itself! (I have one of those also). Both great tools to use to get stuff done.


----------



## sistermaide (Jul 17, 2011)

I agree fully!  

I see no difference.



ScotKnits said:


> I have a 930 & a 940 & one machine is designated for use with the Garter Carriage. It's slow but I can work on the other machine while the garter carriage is clicking away!!! I don't care if someone thinks this is "cheating". It's no different than an embroidery machine that embroiders by itself! (I have one of those also). Both great tools to use to get stuff done.


----------



## susieknitter (Jul 14, 2011)

ScotKnits, I have just seen that you have a 930 and a 940.
There is a debate going on here, under the heading 950i or 965, as to the difference between your two machines.
You are the ideal person to settle it. Please give us your knowledge!
Sue.


----------



## Lyndee (Nov 5, 2011)

I have a KH930, and as I understand it, the KH940 is the same but has a larger memory for creating your own patterns. Thats the only difference I am aware of, but there could be more.


----------



## euvid (Apr 2, 2011)

Larger memory.


----------



## KateWood (Apr 30, 2011)

My information is that the 930/950/950i uses mylar sheets when you want to use a new pattern and the 940/965/965i eliminated the mylar sheets new patterns are electronically input on the console.


----------



## euvid (Apr 2, 2011)

THe 930 does not use a Mylar sheet. Check out this site it lists everything.

http://www.scanthecat.com/html/bnro_machines.html


----------



## susieknitter (Jul 14, 2011)

Kate the 930 doesn't use Mylar sheets, the 910/950/950i use mylar sheets.
The 930 looks the same as the 940, the difference seems to be something about the memory.
Scotknits, on here, has both machines and I have asked her if she will inform us in what way they differ. She has said that the 940 takes a garter carriage and the 930 doesn't on another blog.


----------



## susieknitter (Jul 14, 2011)

I need to apologize, SORRY, it is here That ScotKnits says that she has the two machines and rereading what she has put, it is that she chooses to use one for the garter carriage while using the other. SORRY SORRY SORRY, IV'E LOST THE PLOT.


----------



## jkt (Apr 14, 2011)

You can even use the garter carriage with a punchcard machine.
Julie


----------



## euvid (Apr 2, 2011)

WHat beautiful puppies


----------



## susieknitter (Jul 14, 2011)

I dont know which, but some models do not have a rail for the Garter carriage. I think that those that don't are the older models of punchcard machines though.


----------



## euvid (Apr 2, 2011)

I have an 881 which does not have the garter rail. However the garted carriage that was made for that machine 88II has rails that fit over the existing rail allowing to use use the G carriage. My 891 is the same machine as the 881 except that it has a rail the works with the garter carriage. That is a 89II.


----------



## jkt (Apr 14, 2011)

euvid said:


> WHat beautiful puppies


Thank you. They are six months old now, but all gone. My sister and daughter's sister and law and one of my husband's friends all took one, so I still get to see them grow. One of them got 2nd place at Nationals in puppy division. I don't really know what that means, but sounds good!


----------



## MarieDe (Mar 27, 2011)

Hi Suzieknitter, JKT and Scotknitter. 4 points please: 1.) The G-carriage DEFINITELY works on the Brother 930 2.) the Brother 930 DOES NOT USE MYLAR sheets, it's totally electronic. I use it all the time. 3.) the Brother G-carriage CANNOT work on a Brother punchcard machine because the G-carriage is electronic and a Brother punchcard machine normally is NOT (its not equipped to plug into any electrical outlet where the G-carriage MUST be plugged in! 4.)using the G-carrige is NOT CHEATING -- to take it to a further step, perhaps you can look at using a knitting MACHINE as cheating because we're not using 2 needle hand knitting....or even further, is it cheating to use a sewing machine rather than just a needle and thread?? LOL just taking a point too far here, no harm intended.


----------



## jkt (Apr 14, 2011)

MarieDe:
You CAN use the G-carriage with a punchcard machine if its the right punchcard machine because I have done it!!!! The G-carriage plugs into the wall, but the patterning is done by the rails(I don't know technical term of the rails) I haven't used the punchcard since I got the 940, but I think it was a brother 890?


----------



## MarieDe (Mar 27, 2011)

Hi JKT, well then I stand corrected. I never knew a G-Carriage could work on a punchcard machine, as a matter of fact, I upgraded my old 890 to a 930 just because my knitting machine supplier told me I couldn't have the G-Carriage on the 890. Well, I'll be. (P.S. I'm still glad I upgraded to the 930.) Take care and thanks for the info.


----------



## susieknitter (Jul 14, 2011)

I do know that the Brother KH930 doesn't take Mylar sheets.
I also know that you can use a Garter carriage on a punch card machine providing it has the correct rail to run it.
What I wanted to know was, what is the difference between the KH930 and the Kh940.


----------



## jkt (Apr 14, 2011)

MarieDe said:


> Hi JKT, well then I stand corrected. I never knew a G-Carriage could work on a punchcard machine, as a matter of fact, I upgraded my old 890 to a 930 just because my knitting machine supplier told me I couldn't have the G-Carriage on the 890. Well, I'll be. (P.S. I'm still glad I upgraded to the 930.) Take care and thanks for the info.


The only problem with a punch card vs. electronic, you are limited to the 24 stitch pattern, so the electronic is a lot more versatile. I think it has to be a certain model of g-carriage as well. Like I said, its been awhile..... but for those that can't upgrade, its still possible to do.


----------



## jkt (Apr 14, 2011)

susieknitter said:


> I do know that the Brother KH930 doesn't take Mylar sheets.
> I also know that you can use a Garter carriage on a punch card machine providing it has the correct rail to run it.
> What I wanted to know was, what is the difference between the KH930 and the Kh940.


From what I understand the 940 has more memory.


----------



## susieknitter (Jul 14, 2011)

MarieDe:
When you put your own patterns into the 930, how many stitches and how many rows can you enter. Also can you tell us how many of your own patterns will the 930 store.
Thanks Sue.


----------



## MarieDe (Mar 27, 2011)

Hi Susie, ok to answer your questions will take 2 parts: 1.) you can theoretically do up to 200 stitches per row (the full bed)....however, I tried it a couple of times but working patterns directly to the end needles cause hanging on problems (where the stitches get stuck on not only one, but several end needles) so I never do any pattern which takes up more than say 190 (tops) total stitches per row. Now, that is ALOT of stitches in 1 row of a pattern and let me tell you it takes quite a long time to pattern that into the machine (1 black or white dot per stitch) so with that being said, it is still quite possible if you have the patience. On say, a "landscape" type of pattern (which I did one of a tree w/leaves over the full front of a sweater) it took almost a full day to input the pattern into the machine. (but the sweater came out really nice.) Also, the more stitches used per row will determine how many rows can be held in the memory. you could probably do 100 or more rows x 190 sts per pattern. Note: If its a complete pattern of say 180 to 190 stitches but it is a repeat type of pattern you can always only program half of it and then use the mirror image for the other half. 2.) the machine itself cannot hold too many of your own patterns IF you're using large intricate designs, but I have stored up to 30 or more patterns in the machine that only went say 50 sts x 15 or 20 rows long. Unfortunately, you'll not know you've run out of memory until the blasted buzzer goes off (of course midway thru a pattern!) BUT 2.) there is a disc drive called a PPD that holds your patterns on a disc so as not to load up the machines memory. You can store 10 or so patterns on each disc. Unfortunately, I do not know what their availability is. You could check ebay or craigslist or google. You pattern the program into the machine, upload it onto the disc, then when ready to knit it again, you download it and it does not interfere with the machines memory. WOW I know that might be a lot of info for 2 questions you have, but I thought it best to give you as much as I know right from the get go. You know, one question leads to one answer which asks another question with another answer etc etc etc Cheers!


----------



## funthreads623 (May 25, 2011)

I have a G-carriage for the 965, and love it, although I haven't used it for several years; I made pleated skirts, etc. on it; I would set it, and go to work, go home at lunch, and reset it, and go again! yes, it's lots of fun...check out one of my skirts in my pictures.


----------



## funthreads623 (May 25, 2011)

if this is cheating, then so is: 
the computer
the phone
the car
the microwave
the washing machine
the dryer
the hair dryer
the mixer
the oven
the iron
the refrigerator
and on, 
and on, 
and on....c'mon; who wants to go back to the OLD days?
NOt me!



MarieDe said:


> Hi Suzieknitter, JKT and Scotknitter. 4 points please: 1.) The G-carriage DEFINITELY works on the Brother 930 2.) the Brother 930 DOES NOT USE MYLAR sheets, it's totally electronic. I use it all the time. 3.) the Brother G-carriage CANNOT work on a Brother punchcard machine because the G-carriage is electronic and a Brother punchcard machine normally is NOT (its not equipped to plug into any electrical outlet where the G-carriage MUST be plugged in! 4.)using the G-carrige is NOT CHEATING -- to take it to a further step, perhaps you can look at using a knitting MACHINE as cheating because we're not using 2 needle hand knitting....or even further, is it cheating to use a sewing machine rather than just a needle and thread?? LOL just taking a point too far here, no harm intended.


----------



## susieknitter (Jul 14, 2011)

MarieDe, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.
I actually asked this question for someone else on the forum. They had been told that the memory in the 930 was smaller than that in the 940. From all the information that you have, SO KINDLY, took the time to type out, I would say both machines have the same amount of memory.
I have a 965 and a 970, but I have never tried to program in all 200 needles so your information has helped me.It is a very clever idea of yours to use the mirror image on the machine, I never thought of that. We can all learn something new from each other. I would love to see some pictures of the work that you have done, they sound wonderful. Thank you again for taking the time to answer this enigma.
Sue.


----------



## susieknitter (Jul 14, 2011)

FUNTHREADS, I have always said the same as you.
I have a friend that has a Brother 900 electronic machine. All she ever does on it is plain knitting or hand tooling, using a brought paper pattern.
When I had spent days designing and knitting a babys blanket that had pictures, babys name, date of birth and weight on it, I proudly showed it her. She turn round and said "YES, BUT THE MACHINES DONE THAT, ALL MY THINGS ARE MY WORK AND DONE BY ME, YOU CHEAT" 
We are still friends, I'm very forgiving.
Sue.


----------



## susieknitter (Jul 14, 2011)

The same friend gave the following answers to these statements.
You use a electric mixer - I use a wooden spoon. (seen the mixer in action)
You drive a car - I'm selling that. (still has it 4 years on)
You use a auto washer - every one does. ( Tribes in Africa)
You use a hair dryer - no I dont. (it broke not long ago, she rushed off to the nearest shop to replace it)
I could go on and on, but it gets sadder.
Sue.


----------



## ScotKnits (Sep 2, 2011)

susieknitter said:


> ScotKnits, I have just seen that you have a 930 and a 940.
> There is a debate going on here, under the heading 950i or 965, as to the difference between your two machines.
> You are the ideal person to settle it. Please give us your knowledge!
> Sue.


Sorry I didn't respond to this sooner. There is no difference between the actual 930 & 940 Brother Machines and they operate exactly the same. If you purchased a disk with designs to use on the disk drive, the 930 could only handle so many rows of the design at one time and needed to be split into tracks on the disks. So you would enter the first track number into your machine computer & knit the required number of rows for that track, then you would need to enter the next track number and knit the required number of rows for that track etc. The machine would "beep" when each track was completed. On the 940 the design on the disk did not need to be split into tracks so there was only 1 track that did the complete design. The same process applies when you enter your own design into the PPD or the computer on your 930 or 940 machine. The problem is the Disk Drive - I have 3 of them and none of them work anymore. They're expensive to buy (there's no new ones available) & expensive to repair. So my next major purchase will the the DAK! Maybe I'll get lucky & "Santa" will get me one for Christmas!! LOL

As for the Garter Carriage, it works exactly the same on both the 930 & 940. I just dedicated one machine for the Garter Carriage so I didn't have to keep changing it to the other machine & used the other machine for other knitting projects.


----------



## caroleg51 (Apr 19, 2011)

scot knits, you mentioned DAK, I just got a 940 and I was going to search for a floppy drive for it, because I have several floppys from Uniquly yours designs. Will Dak work with a 940? I dont know anything about it. I am really wanting to knit some of the uniquely yours designs but they are on disk, well the pattern is there too, but thats alot of manual input to knit them.
thanks
merry christmas
carole


----------



## jkt (Apr 14, 2011)

I have a 940 and use Designaknit. I have the brother USB cable and it plugs into the back of your knitting machine - so much easier than the floppies. But if you have the floppies and want to get the patterns off them, you will have to have the floppy drive --you can transfer from the drive to the machine, then into your laptop. Maybe you can borrow a floppy drive or have someone transfer them for you. The advantage of having them stored in your laptop/computer rather than on floppies is that the floppy drives, from what I've been told, are no longer being made -- but I don't know that for positive. 
Since you say the pattern is there too, you could imput the pattern into designaknit by hand, alot easier than imputing manually on the knitting machine.
Julie


----------



## caroleg51 (Apr 19, 2011)

Julie
thanks for the information, yesm the design somes on boh the floppys and a graph, so all I am concerned with is getting the design into the machine, with out alot of work.. so, it can be put into DK and then I need a cable to send it to the machine? I dotn have a floppy, Dak or a PPD yet, so, I am looking for the best way to be able to use these designs..
where do you get the brother cable?
thanks carole


----------



## euvid (Apr 2, 2011)

caroleg go to this site http://store.dknits.com/cat_software.cfm I gave you the page. I have a 930 and bought something (can"t think of what it is called right now) but it plugs into the machine and transfers what you have on the cartrige to the machine. Mike Becker sells somethng called a Super----- it's on the page and he has all the cables you would need to contect it to a computer. I spoke wrote him and he advised me as to what I would need. I just needed the super cartridge and along with what I had I can download from my PC. He has all kinds of options to make it work including the DAK


----------



## caroleg51 (Apr 19, 2011)

Thanks s bunch, I will go check it out..
carole


----------



## jkt (Apr 14, 2011)

I think this is where I got my cable:

http://home.comcast.net/~kidoodles/dak_usb.html

Julie


----------



## digoer (Oct 18, 2011)

Hi I have the 940 do I need to do or have anything special to use the garter carriage? I hate manipulating stitches so I need to get it going quickly. Thank you.


----------



## jkt (Apr 14, 2011)

There are garter stitch patterns in your instruction book that are built into your machine to work with your garter carriage. You only need the DAK and cable if you want to download your own designs to your knitting machine.


----------



## digoer (Oct 18, 2011)

So I can put this thing on a let it go?


----------

