One Crazy Fiber Lady

Some called me out on it yesterday, yes there are two CSM’s.  Long story that I’ll eventually share, but suffice it to say I am weak and bought two of them.  The first purchase was in fact the eBay find, “no-name” as it isn’t labeled in any way.

I knew buying one on eBay was a bit of a crapshoot.  It could either be a lump of cast iron or a wonderful working machine.  While I hoped for the latter, I expected the former.  Sometime after placing my bid, I tripped on another yahoo group and found someone in the area who was selling a refurbished machine for a very decent price.   we all know I bought that one - the Auto Knitter.

The AK came with a 72/36 cylinder/ribber.  Works beautifully.  Only problem is my wee feet and that even with reduced needles, the socks were generally too big for me.  The yellow ones from the weekend were felted a tad smaller and fit fine.  The Duet Skinny are superwash and I’d have no such luck.

No-name came with the 72/36 combo, but also a 54.  This would allow for socks with fewer stitches without long gaps between stitches.  Just what I wanted.  It also has the side benefit of handling up to a worsted weight yarn.  I set up no-name Monday night with the 54 and some of the needes that came with it.  The thing cranked well in one direction, but would jam in the other.   A number of things could cause this, including mismatched needles or not enough oil. 

So last night I tried something else.  I took the 72 out of the AK and put the 54 from no-name in it,  using AK’s nice new matched needles.  It worked beautifully, in both directions!  I even made a bonnet to use for starting each sock.  YAY.  Small socks for me on the horizon.

Since that went so very well, I wanted to see what I could do with no-name.  I first tried AK’s 72 in no-name, but it was a tad too tight and I didn’t want to damage either piece.  I took out no-name’s 72.  It fit beautifully, turned oh -so-nicely, but as I went to put in a few of AK’s needles, found that the spring that holds the needles in was missing on the cyclinder.  I borrowed the spring from AK’s 72, popped in a bunch of needles and was able to go in both directions without binding.  I filled her up and cast on. 

See for yourself:

AK on the left and No-Name on the right

Both are working.  Sorry for the color.  The waste yarn is not quite that ugly, but close.  The camera exaggerated perhaps a tad.

I’m curious to know what No-Name really is.  I “think” it might be a Legare #400 as I’ve seen photos on web sites that are identical twin to this machine minus the badging.  There is absolutely no identification on it at all.  Here are more photos of the two side by side. 
(click to make big as always)

I promise to move off the machine thing for my next post

I’ll leave you with a picture of the cat we all know and love:

Craft on!