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Thrifty Knitting Machine – Singer Silver Reed LK-140

A couple of years ago, I really wanted a knitting machine. I like yarn and the thought of making pretty things with yarn has always appealed to me. I started teaching myself to knit and crochet while I was pregnant with Finn. He is eleven now, and it takes me two days of work to make a single dishcloth. So, a knitting machine seemed like a good compromise to speed things up a bit. They are kind of hard to come by, though, especially a well made machine. Besides, I knew nothing about how a knitting machine works, so I got my embroidery machine instead.

Fast forward to two Sundays ago. The family and I were having fun thrift shopping for some office furniture. (That could also read as, “Chris and I were dragging the kids around to thrift stores, with much protesting on their part.”) The first Goodwill store we went to didn’t have much in the way of office furniture. They did have lots of bins out full of miscellaneous stuff that I really wasn’t interested in digging through, until I happened to notice this long rectangular box poking up out of one bin.

That’s the one. It for is a Singer LK-140, made by Silver Reed. It is a plastic bed hobby machine, but a durable hobby machine. I’ve since learned that, except for having ten fewer needles, it is identical to the newer LK-150 knitting machine. That means parts are easy to come by.

The box was so well taped, and it had a good weight to it, so I decided not to even open it before buying it. I figured I probably wouldn’t even know what may have been missing. Also, let’s zoom in on the price tag:

Back when I was actively looking for a knitting machine, I would have thought getting one for $80 on eBay was a fairly good deal. At $5.49, it was worth it even if it was only good for parts.

When I finally opened it at home, I did notice a few parts were missing, but only the table clamps, manual and transfer tools. I found a free manual online, and the other two items are easily and inexpensively replaced. They also aren’t essential, so I have played with it a bit.

I did need to replace the sponge strip. That’s pretty standard for an older machine. Luckily on this machine, foam weatherstripping works great as an inexpensive replacement. I also needed to clean the needles, because they were covered with gunk from the old sponge strip. With that, I was able to set it up and play.

There is definitely a learning curve, but it is fun. I have noticed, though, that you can still tell it is my own handiwork.

See the dropped stitch. It’s like my signature. The best part, though, is it only took me a minute or two to make that swatch, as opposed to a day or two. A little more practice, and I might be able to make two or three dishcloths a day without dropped stitches, or a scarf with a few holes. Seriously, though, it is fun, and I look forward to coming up with new projects and products to make.

As for office furniture, I felt bad that I got a new toy but we hadn’t found the thing we really needed, so I did a quick craigslist search. There just happened to be a desk posted locally in the free section.

Excuse the mess. That photo was taken while everything was getting tossed around with moving in the desk. There is a trim piece that needs to be put in place on the top. Overall, it is in good shape. More importantly, it provides us with the two main things we needed for the office: more desk space and shelving. Best of all, it was free!

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LK-140 Knitting Machine

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Wisdom Teeth and a Smoothie

Last Wednesday I had my wisdom teeth taken out. All in all, it was relatively easy. To me, the worst part of the procedure was the shots of local anesthetic. I opted for nitrous oxide instead of full iv sedation, though. That gave me the added benefit of no needles prior to being very relaxed by the gas.

At this point, I’m feeling pretty good, although I do suspect I’m fighting off the full effects of dry socket in one location. Rather than subject you to photos of my swollen face or worse, I’ll share a yummy staple of my liquid diet: Blueberry Pineapple Smoothie.


Ingredients (measurements are approximate):

3 chunks of frozen banana

1/2 to 1 cup of frozen blueberries

1/2 to 2/3 crushed canned pineapple (fresh is better, if you have it)

1-2 tablespoons of vanilla Greek or regular yogurt

1-2 cups or as much almond milk as needed to get the consistency you’d like.

Blend all ingredients and enjoy!

I love that it’s not too sweet, but yummy enough to hide the yogurt flavor. It has lots of pineapple, which has pain-relieving properties.

In the background you’ll see my knock-off Instant Pot: an 8 quart Go Wise pressure cooker with something like eight different settings. I received it as a Christmas present this past year. In the near future, I’ll give it a proper review. For now, lets just say it has already replaced my much-loved crock pot. It is great for when you’re really busy or really lazy or slightly bitter at the thought of cooking food that requires chewing.