Have you ever seen one of these hand-crank knitting machines by Mattel, Inc. that make cute little knitted yo-yos? I stumbled upon this vintage craft beauty – complete with two manuals – last weekend at an outdoor market in Fraser, Mich. (my hometown) and bought it for a dollar. I haven’t had a chance to test it out to see if it works, but I have high hopes that this machine still has a little life left in it. Something tells me it’s going to work better than the modern plastic version we have floating around the house. The date on the box says it was made in the U.S.A. in 1975.
Do any of you have one of these knitting machines? Does it work? Please do share what you know about it. It’s amazing how giddy I get over a $1 vintage craft find. What is the best vintage craft supply or product you’ve ever discovered at a thrift sale?
7 comments
My aunt had one. I played with it when I was a kid. Wish I could get my hands on a copy of that pattern book.
Check out this website with the manual in PDF format.
http://service.mattel.com/instruction_sheets/7830.pdf
Mattel Knitting Machine: I have had this since 1971 or 1972 . I was researching to see if I could find an instruction book again but I found a video on Hello Kitty instead. This is a great knitter. When I was pregnant in 1981, I made long tubes of neon colors then stitched the tubes together and added puff pods on the end to make a crib blanket. Still have this machine and ready to use it again. Enjoy yours.
I have a machine that we ordered from the tv when I was a teenager, finally broke in 2016. Tried greasing it too make it smoother….NOT a good idea. Loved it so much, I bought 2 more on ebay. Currently use it and my Addi Express machine to make hats and scarf sets for donations for homeless and low income children. Wonderful machine! Would love to find another unused one.
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