Frustrated by the Singer Deluxe Knitting Machine?

I've seen alot of people complaining online about the Singer Deluxe Knitting Machine not working at all and being a piece of junk, etc etc etc. So...being the inquisitive person that I am, I had to get one and see what all the trouble was. :-) Of course I didn't pay full price for it (Gotta love those Joann coupons!), and since it also has claw weights that can be used on my Ultimate Sweater Machine, I thought of that as a cool bonus, w00t!



I figured out how to work this machine and even remembered to take a few pics to help things along. It's really simple once you've tried it, and it may just retrieve that machine out of the garbage.
First, do NOT thread the yarn through the tension thingy on the side of the machine. Only thread it through the top wire as shown in this picture.
















Then thread the yarn through the bottom hole of the carriage, and place the 2 levers as shown...left one up, right one down.

Now follow the directions in the booklet on attaching the "hem" and weights, which is to put every other needle in front working position and the remaining needles in non-working position with all latches open. Knit one row and hang the little plastic hem and weights on this. Also, instead of tying the yarn to the weight, simply hook a clothespin on it, which will weigh down the end enough to make the next row smoothly. Make sure to always have enough yarn taken out of the skein to go across the row, and let the yarn slide through your fingers. Do not put tension on the yarn, just kinda guide it.

Once this is done, place all needles into the working position as shown in this picture. The tops of the needles should match up with the little row of embossed dots on the machine bed.

Keep knitting back and forth and eventually you'll have something that looks like this. Ok, it may not look exactly like this since I tried getting a little fancy on a few places in this sample. ;-)

Remove from the machine using a crochet cast off or remove as instructed in the book.














Main things to remember:
Do not use the tension on the side of the carriage, only use your fingers, the top metal hole in the wire, and the bottom hole on the carriage.

Line up top of needles with the embossed dots on the machine after the cast-on row.

Weight is important. You may wish to add a little more if you can.

Knit slowly and steadily...do not try to knit overly fast with this machine.

Have fun!