My Sentro Knitting Machine
Troubleshooting the Sentro Knitting Machine & Still Cranking Hats in Record Time!
Every year, around the same time I get an itch to create copious amounts of charity hats. Enter the Sentro knitting machine!
I never thought I would be interested in a knitting machine. After attending a knitting retreat with some friends and witnessing someone struggling with their flat bed knitting machine, I thought to myself, "This is not something I ever want to mess with - it looks way too frustrating!"
How things have changed!
I'm not sure how I first learned about the Sentro knitting machine, but I would guess it was by watching Felicia Lo of Sweet Georgia. She is really obsessed with her many knit machines, one of which is the Sentro. I thought, why not give it a try? So, I bought one and quickly set it up and within a few minutes was...
The Sentro Knitting Machine and Yarn Selection
I learned pretty quickly that the knit machine, indeed most knitting machines, are really finicky when it comes to yarn. This particular knitting machine enjoys DK weight the most, although I have been able to work with Lion Brand worsted weight. In general, for charity knitting, it is recommended that soft, acrylic yarn that is washable is used. This type of yarn works quite well with the Sentro knitting machine as well.
Tension on the Sentro Knitting Machine
Second, it is really important to manage the tension throughout the process of cranking. You do not want too much, because this makes it difficult to crank. You also do not want too little as the stitches can pop off. It's a good idea to weigh the fabric down with clamps from Staples. As the fabric gets really long, you might need to roll it at the bottom so that there is still some weight.
Tucks and Drops - When is it OK to Start Over?
Third, I learned that I wasn't very good at fixing stitches when they created either a tuck stitch or a dropped stitch. Both are absolutely terrible. Fixing stitches usually requires one to turn the crank the opposite direction when working in the round, which creates MORE DROPPED stitches. Alternatively, I would simply struggle to get the dropped stitch back on the hook without dropping other stitches - so annoying.
Ultimately, I pretty much just had to frog or redo everything. Believe me, this broke my heart when I was nearly finished with a hat. But I was determined and had to persevere. 😐
The Bottom Line - was it all worth it?
Despite all of the frustration of trying and failing to fix stitches, I actually enjoyed cranking. It's true! Honestly, the process of cranking knit hats is quite mesmerizing and relaxing despite the occasional struggle with tuck stitches. Once you got into a rhythm, it was almost difficult to stop. The stopping and starting of cranking was probably the riskiest in terms of potentially provoking a tuck stitch.
However, with all of that initial troubleshooting, it still took me record time to make 5 hats that I was able to quickly ship to the charity organization in time for the Holidays. Clarification: I did a crochet hat in a single day (this is seen on the left in the image below), but it only took me a day and a half to crank out 3-4 hats.
This is easily 3X more product than what I could have hand-knit on my own within that given timeframe!
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| Hats for charity |
As you can see in the picture, some hats are multi-colored. Changing colors was fairly easy. In the future, I may try a striped hat. Also, I can see where a stash-busting project would work well with this knitting machine.
I am certain this will not be the last post on the Sentro knitting machine.
What have you experienced with this or some other knitting machine? Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below!
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