Hi Peter,

Is there a machine knitting group near you? Check the Guild of Machine Knitters website.

You will find that all knitting machines come with a manual which explains the basics: what the tools are called and what they are used for, casting on and off, increasing and decreasing, buttonholes etc. Some machines are very basic and do not have automatic patterning, others use punchcards and there is also quite a range of electronic machines.

If you buy a used machine, make sure it has the manual with it. You can also use the manual to check that the machine is complete and has all the tools that it came with when new.

Silver are the only machines still being manufactured; they advertise in MKM. The website "Scan the Cat" has lots of information on Brother machines and "The Knitting Machine Museum" has useful information on all the different makes of machines. A search for "machine knitting" on the Internet will produce lots of useful information and there are quite a few demonstration clips on u-tube.

Metropolitan Machine Knitting have comprehensive correspondence courses, both for single bed Japanese machines - Brother, Silver/Knitmaster and Toyota and for these machines with a ribber attachment - and Passap/Pfaff. They also have separate courses for Silver electronic and Brother electronic.

Check the adverts in MKM for places that sell used machines; I'm sure they would be happy to give you advice if you contact them.

I hope you find what you are looking for and enjoy learning how to use it.

Regards,
Sue.