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Hey, Everybody! It's me, Margaret and if you've ever watched my videos for any length of time,
you'll know that I am in love with the Addi Express Knitting Machines. I have both the
Addi Express Professional size which is the smaller size. See, there's the little label...
Addi Express. And then I also own the Kingsize. And, again, it's called the Addi Express.
The Kingsize is larger. Now, these guys ARE pricey but they're the top-of-the-line when
it comes to knitting machines. And Pam Loomer, who is the owner/moderator (whatever) of the
Loomaholics group on Google+, did a video recently where she was talking about me and
my love for these machines and saying that she would really like to get one. But her
thought process was if there was a cheaper one she would want to use that one first to
see if she liked it which, in theory, makes sense. Problem is, she was looking at this
little Singer machine and I've got that one. See, Pam? And they sell for around $30 and
I got this one for 50% off ($15) at a closeout at Walmart. I couldn't resist it. I had to
buy it and try it out. And I will say that it works but... I worry, Pam, that if you
get you're going to find it frustrating and you're going to say, "Well, I don't like this
machine knitting. It's stupid." When there's really no comparison between this thing and
the Addi machine. So I thought I would give you a tutorial about this machine, and show
everybody, not just Pam, how it works and, uh, you can be the judge for yourself. Do
you want to save your $30 (or $15 as this case be) and put it towards the purchase of
a good machine or do you want to go ahead and go for it? So um, yeah... let's talk about
this today.
So here they are side by side and you can see the set up is very different. This one
attaches to the table and is very sturdy. This one does not attach to the table. The
bottom looks like this. Ok now you have a little handle here you know... for holding
purposes so, you know... whatever that's worth. They're approximately the same size around.
This one is 20 needles and this one is 22. This one measures 5.25 inches in diameter.
I did it from the outside to the outside. And this one was 5.5". So, um... very, very
similar in size. And this one, you have this handy-dandy yarn gauge, I mean, "yarn feeder"
like that where as this one... you thread it through this contraption first and then
up through here and it comes out here. Which is very smart. It's a smart design because
it holds the yarn right across and when you crank it's right in line to be picked up by
the needle. You'll want to see how those needles look. So that's good but it makes for a problem
when getting it off the machine which I'll demonstrate later but... anyway, there you
go.
Now to cast on with this machine is a little bit trickier than with the Addi Professional.
Do you see this part right here? It's a series of 3 holes, right here. Each hole has a slit
right here so you can pop your yarn in like that, pop it in on this side, pop it in on
this side THEN you put it through the bottom and out the top. OK? This one also does not
have different colored needles like the Addi Professional does but it does have a little
marker right here. It's a white triangle that shows you the first needle. So I want to start
it there. Alright, even the quality of the little plastic needle it give you is very
different. This is the one that came with the Singer and it is so "bendy bendy" and
not strong at all. This is the one that came with the Addi machine. It has much more body
to it. So I thought that was interesting. Not important though. Now, I use a needle
(I'm just going to use this metal needle) to set this up. I find it easier than to pop
it in and out of these little holes. So I'll just go in this one... back throug...this
way... so that you're kind of weaving. And then you go up through the feeder.
Now I'm going to cast on on this machine in the exact same fashion that I do on the Addi.
Down in the lower corner, I'm going to show you me casting on the Addi at the same time
so you can see how much easier it is on the Addi. But the process is still the same. Alright,
so I've got it caught here on the first needle and so let's go ahead and begin. So I want
it to go behind this needle. I want it to catch this one and I want it to go behind
this one. And you just continue on in that fashion which is not complicated by any stretch
of the imagination. Very simple. I'm using Vanna's Choice because Vanna's Choice is the
one I think works the best in my Addi. It seems to be a good, overall acrylic yarn.
Finished! Now you'll notice that I did kind of fudge a little bit and the Addi, too. Not
fudge.. but I fumbled a little bit on that as well. So even with fumble fingers you can
see how much faster it is to cast on with the Addi. Ok. I can still live with that,
right?
OK, I have difficulty working with this machine at this vertical angle like this. Well, let
me just show you. Making it lay down like this, I end up running my hand into the table.
So I'm going to raise this up a little bit so that the crank comes down. So that's what's
going on here. Alright. Continuing on.
Just like I do on the Addi, I'm going to hold this right here while I take the first stitch,
OK? And then continue to crank.
I'm going to do 10 rows. Alright, so see, it's getting a little awkward here. I can't
find a place to hold it still. I mean, to put equal pressure. I have no idea what's
going on here. First of all, I've lost count so let's count these stitches. I like to use
a loom tool for that. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
OK. I can't even finish this. Alright, that was my attempt at 10 and I couldn't even finish
it. So, if that gives you some idea. Let's try some different yarn.
Now normally if you want to take a project off... I want to keep this yarn. I don't want
to cut this yarn. Um, with the Addi, it's very simple. You just open your little gate
thing. But here, it goes though this tube and so you can't do that very easily. So...
what if I pull a whole lot of this? Now I have to struggle to make it go around without
catching any yarn. You always have to go around twice with the Addi and it just drops on off.
OK. So, see? Hmmm... Oh, where to even begin? See, this one never knitted correctly, right
here. Now I know there's people out there that make this machine work. So I"m not ready
to give up on it but my point is, I don't want Pam to buy this thing... spend her $30
on this thing THINKING she's getting a taste of what circular machine knitting is all about
because it's a very poor representation of it. OK. so see, I'm going to have to unhook
it. Maybe I can just speed this tape up for you so you don't have to sit here and watch
me struggle.
OK. Here it is. What a mess.
The Singer Machine gave me 2 skeins of yarn and both of them were fun fur that looked
like this. This is not the actual one but I can't find it. It was pink and purple. But
um, see how think it is. OK, so I thought to myself, "Well. Maybe we'll do better with
a much thinner yarn. So this is a Big Lots yarn. Of course it calls itself a worsted
but it's really more of a DK or Sport. So I"ve gone ahead and casted on. Let's see if
I can make 10 rows with this with a little bit more ease. I'm going to hang on to this
handle.
It's going better. That's ONE. And that's TEN! OK. So I had much better luck
using a thinner yarn. You can see it right here. So I'm going to go ahead and work on
this for a little bit so we can see what the finished product looks like.
Alright. Here are 2 samples. This was the Singer. This was the Addi. Um... Even though
there were 22 needles here and this one measured a little bit longer in diameter, it came out
finer. It's a little bit smaller. Now I did stretch these when I took them off. You know
how you need to do knitting. And... make sure we're equal and fair. Ok. And they are measuring
3 inches for this one and 2.5 for the DK weight yarn. I get about 3" on Vanna's Choice. See,
here's a snake scarf and he is measuring 3". If you can see that for the Vanna's Choice,
which is what this is. But um, here you can see the comparison and you know, while it
actually did the job, now granted it IS in pretty bad shape here where we dropped some
stitches or tucked some stitches or whatever the proper description is of that. WHEN it
works correctly, it does a pretty good job. But you can see with the Addi... beautiful.
Just beautiful. Love it.
So, first let it be said that I am in no way affiliated with the Addi company by any stretch
of the imagination! But I think you can see why I'm not going to recommend that Singer
machine. Maybe for playing, you know, if you want to SEE if you can figure out the secrets
to make it work more efficiently. Fine. I would not spend $30 on it. I paid $15 and
wish I hadn't. I would suggest in my own person, non-professional opinion, put your money up
for the good machines because they're worth it. I noticed ChiChi Sweets had pointed out
that The Fiber Factor used these in one of their challenges and I was a big Fiber Factor
Fan. I found it when it first come on. I did a whole video telling everybody to go and
watch it. And when it came out with that Addi challenge I got so excited and what THEY did
with it was totally amazing. I am by no means an expert. I still haven't even mastered flat
panels. I think I've only ever given it a try twice. But um, what you can do with these
things is just incredible. But as you can see, the Singer wasn't quite it's equal. So
I hope that answers some questions and uh, don't hesitate to contact me if you have more
questions. Bye!