Archive of Thread: Buying a Ribber Back

4 years ago

Happy New Year  every one.  I love the new format.  It makes me sit at the machine for hours.  Thank you Sue. I want to knit everything.

 Question:  Which is a good ribber to buy.  The Brother or the Singer. I mainly do charity knitting.    But I  like  to have a rib on the hems and the sleeves.  I love a challenge.   
I've been machine knitting since April 2019.  I'm not an expert but I'm retired.  I knit hats, scarves, and sweaters. I can learn it if I put the effort in.
 

4 years ago
Hi,  
what kind of machines do you already have?    I only see you mention the LK 150. You can do ribbed hems on that machine. I found it easy to learn and to do rather quickly if you just want a few inches of rib. 

 Ribbers match the main bed.  If you already have a Brother or a Singer main bed, I would probably go with that at least in the beginning, so I didn’t need to buy another main bed too.  I have Brothers, but I think both are similar in many ways.  Both have those who say their is the best. I haven’t worked on a Singer, so I don’t know. 
When I got my first ribber, I didn’t know that they were hard to use, so the good luck of buying on in ready to use condition and assuming if you followed the directions all would be good, I had very little problem with getting started.
(Before the days of YouTube! ) 
There are websites that address compatibility between models. 

4 years ago
Hi Cleo,
I'll bet we could spend a ton of time comparing machines.  Brother vs Singer/Silver/Studio.

The only advice I give is to stick to one brand.  If you already have a Brother and are looking for another, try to find another Brother. 

It just saves you a little brain power in "translating" between machines.  But basically they all do the same things.  The names and locations of the buttons and levers differ as well as the needle selection in patterning machines, but the difference isn't that great.

If you can find a machine with a ribber that is in good, working condition and is priced within your budget... go for it!  You'll have a learning curve either way.  But you can do it!