We believe Kniterate is especially useful for small businesses, research labs, textile universities, makerspaces, schools, etc.

If you’re wondering whether the Kniterate is the right choice for you, please don’t hesitate to contact us at support@kniterate.com. We’re here to help!

Kniterate brings the best of both worlds. It provides a compact version which a hobbyist can have at home or share with others at a local makerspace, and also the capabilities of an industrial knitting machine, to work faster and scale up production.

Kniterate is suitable for research applications, offering the flexibility to work with a wide variety of soft materials while ensuring highly repeatable results. Its ability to independently adjust parameters gives researchers the precision needed to meticulously study the effects of different variables on material behavior.

Due to its size (60″ x 28″ / 152cm x 70cm) it can fit in almost any lab. Some labs optimize space by placing the machine on a wheeled table for extended mobility. This versatility means that Kniterate can be conveniently stored out of the way when not in use and swiftly moved into position whenever required, making it an ideal tool for environments where space is tight and flexibility is crucial.

Kniterate can be thought of as a hybrid between industrial and domestic knitting machines. With a footprint a bit larger than a domestic machine but with most of the functionalities of a modern industrial one. For example Kniterate will do the shaping automatically for you.

You can control all the needles in the machine to knit and transfer stitches and create very intricate patterns, with a great range of types of stitches and shapes, all being automated.

Kniterate has many of the features of an industrial knitting machine, the most important being automated knitting and transfer of stitches. This allows it to do automatic shaping (it can increase or decrease stitches, cast-on, bind-off, etc.).

Key differentiators are its price and size, which allow it to be transported and installed without the need of special equiment.

No. We are focusing on manufacturing a 7 gauge Kniterate knitting machine and developing exceptional software and capabilities for it.

Our headquarters is located in Barcelona, Spain, which is where we manufacture all our machines and provide support. This means that support is available during Spanish working hours, in the CEST timezone.

Our customer support email is: support@kniterate.com

We’ve created an extensive collection of free online resources to ensure you have everything you need to successfully operate the Kniterate machine. These resources include:

• Our support page
• The user manual
• Our YouTube channel
• Our blog

Additionally, we provide onsite workshops at our headquarters in Barcelona for a more hands-on experience.

Yes, if you are located in the Americas we recommend you to book a demo with Olgalyn, based in NYC.

If you are located in Europe please book a demo with Robert, based in London.

You’ll be able to get answers to your questions and see the machine in action.

Note that both demos are English. If you need a demo in a different language please write us at support@kniterate.com

Yes, except for easy wear and tear parts like needles.

Please reach out at support@kniterate.com and let us know where you are located so we can provide further details.,

You are responsible for following the instructions issued by us to operate the machine and avoid voiding the warranty.

We are incorporated in the US, the UK, and Spain, where our headquarters is located.

We currently have permanent offices in Spain and China.

Yes, we ship worldwide.

Yes. All fees (taxes, tariffs, and customs duties) are the responsibility of the recipient. That means that buyers are responsible for paying all import duties, import taxes, brokerage charges, and Value Added Tax (VAT), where applicable. These are typically charged based on what you originally paid, but we can’t assist you in calculating or estimating these amounts. In some countries, this may add up to a significant amount.

All the machines are made and shipped from Spain.

All the machines are manufactured in Spain.

For volume orders, please contact us at sales@kniterate.com

Yes, please visit our careers section for more information.

No, Kniterate is not an open source project.

Kniterate is a self-contained technology and the basic software to run it will be free, but you will need yarn.

We recommend placing your Kniterate on an industrial workbench or table that can carry at least 500 kg / 1100 lbs and leaves at least 10 cm / 4 inches around the footprint of the machine, which is 48cm x 135 cm.

The table should not be able to sway. Although not ideal, you can use wheels, as long as they brake very well so they aren’t affected by the momentum of the carriage.

The machine will have a cord plug that works on standard outlets.

How does Kniterate operate, and what maintenance is required?

Kniterate runs on yarn and electricity.

Over time, certain components may need maintenance or replacement:

Needles and jacks: These may need to be replaced if they break or wear out due to heavy use.

Brushes: These will wear down over time and require replacement after regular use.

The needle beds need to be clean and lubricated appropriately.

The faster you want your piece to be produced the louder the machine is. Speed (therefore, noise) can be regulated at any time.

As with every mechanical product there is a chance this will happen. During knitting fiber fly and needles can get damaged and end up in the carriage or in the needle beds. You should aim to keep them always clean to avoid this. The machine is equipped with shock sensors to detect any collision.

In the event that yarn breaks or runs out, a knot is caught, yarn piles up in the needle bed or a collision occurs, the machine will stop and wait for your supervision, to resume or cancel the job.

The machine has an emergency stop button that will cut the electricity, stopping any operation instantly.

Yes. You can adjust the sensitivity of the sensor according to the thickness of your yarn and the knots you want to allow to go through.

It is a safe knitting machine with security features built-in, but because of its size, weight and mechanical power we recommend supervision when people, especially kids, are around it. The machine is fully enclosed and it has sensors that stop it when doors open, and also includes a fail-stop button. The knitting machine requires a strong base to support it. (FCC and CE marks in the works)

Kniterate needs to be on a solid table. If you believe the table could be affected by strong vibrations we recommend that you bolt the machine to the table and the table to the ground.

No, the knitting machine only works with the built in motor. When not running,  you can move the carriage easily from its built-in controller.

Yes, you can do that when the machine is fully stopped. You can access all the needles of the needle bed and move them freely by hand.

7 gauge, seven needles per inch.

There is a needle every 3.63 mm.

252 per needle bed, 504 needles in total.

29″ / 74 cm. The knitting width of the machine is not necessarily the width of the piece that can be knitted.

The current maximum speed is 0.4m/s. We are improving this value and we are confident the machine will be able to run faster than that.

Kniterate can be used for small to medium scale production runs.

Yes, double bed in solid steel, it’s one of the key elements to having a highly reliable automated knitting machine.

The knitting machine has 6 yarn carriers which means you can use up to 6 different yarns (different colors and/or materials) per row.

No.

Yes. It can increase, decrease, cast on and bind off stitches.

It can do short-rowing but only on the edges of the piece since that allows the rollers to pull it down.

Short-rowing in the center of the piece for more than 2 or 3 rows is not recommended. The machine has no sinkers so the garment would come up.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes. Shaping operations are limited when creating tubular structures though.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes, with limitations. The machine can’t combine tuck and knit within the same traverse movement, they have to happen in different traverse movements. That means, for example, that you can’t trap the yarn to avoid long floats, so it’s ideal to make a great variety of stitches rather color patterns.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes. To do it you would have to knit every other needle on both beds, such that you always have an empty needle in front of a loop in the opposite bed. That empty needle is used to knit the purl stitches. Knitting with every other needle means that you are working with half of the gauge (3.5 instead of 7).

Yes, but limited to short floats/strands (we recommend a maximum float length of 5-6 stitches). This is because it can’t both tuck and knit in the same traverse movement, so it can’t anchor long floats between knitted stitches.

It potentially can, we haven’t tried yet. It would be tiny, though.

Yes.

It is possible but with important constraints on the pattern. The machine can’t both tuck and knit in the same traverse movement, so it can’t anchor long floats between knitted stitches. To have a different image on both sides the pattern is limited to short floats (max recommended floats of 5-6 needles).

The knitting machine will only stop automatically if the yarn breaks, the spool runs out of yarn, a large knot is detected, yarn piles up in the knitting area or if the carriage finds mechanical resistance. In this cases, you can potentially solve the issue and resume the job.

When knitting complex structures or testing yarns for the first time you should supervise the knitting machine. If something goes wrong you can quickly pause the machine and try to fix the issue. You have access to all the needles and can move them freely.

If the machine is not being supervised and there is an issue not related to the list above, the machine will continue running until the job is done.

Not in the standard way. The knitting machine has no sinkers so when short rowing in the interior of a piece, the operation required to knit the heel for example, results in issues. Short rowing on the edges works fine.

Some of the garments we’ve produced with the machine have been assembled by hand, others with a linker, and yet some others with an overlocker.

There are many ways to complete this process and it really depends on the finish you want and the speed at which you need to produce. We would advise you to have a linking machine if you want to produce a high volume of garments with the best possible finish.

We will have Youtube tutorials to guide you through the different assembly processes.

The variables that define resolution in knitting are gauge, yarn, tension and stitch density.

Yes, in the onboard screen.

Yes.

You can use any of your yarns of the right weight, like in any other knitting machine. We will partner with yarn suppliers and build a store to offer a great selection of yarns for the knitting machine.

This really depends on the garment, its size and its pattern. The best solution is to weigh a similar garment and then find out the cost of the yarn you would like to use. We will offer information of this kind for our templates and the yarn provided in our website.

Yes.

The machine is designed to work with most of the yarn cones available in the market. Although, if you have a cone that is too big and can interfere with a neighboring one, you could put it on a table behind the machine, or even on the floor.

Each yarn requires its own parameters, so if you selected them appropriately the range of options is quite generous. We will work throughout the year to test as many yarns as possible so that we can let you know. We will also elaborate a list of parameters for the yarns we test, and select for you to minimize the sampling time.

The yarn count should be around Nm6 – Nm7 (including Nm2/12, Nm2/14 etc.). Those are ideal for a 7gg look and feel. Thicker yarn would be problematic for the machine.

You can compare this industrial used yarn count to a light fingering or 2 ply hand knitting yarn (needle size around 2mm).

Please note: Hand knitting yarn counts are quite inconsistent internationally and are not suitable for the use with our machine.

We haven’t tried working with metallic yarns yet.

Yes, please get in touch sales@kniterate.com

60″ x 28″ x 26″ / 152cm x 70cm x 65cm (Width x Height x Depth)

It currently weighs 463 lb / 210 Kg. This number is subject to change until we finish the optimization

Domestic socket 110-240V 10A. Max consumption 1000W. CE compliant.

To open this technology to a broader audience we’ve had to readapt some of its features and its control system, making the machine lighter and reducing speed a bit.

Industrial grade solid steel.

Yes, the machines are going to be thoroughly tested. First we are taking four months to optimize the speed and weight of the machine. After that each machine will be quality tested in the factory, which has over 30 years of experience making industrial knitting machines.

Upgrades will be software based and will not require changes in the knitting machine, which is manufactured for years of use and will benefit from software that constantly improves. We will also provide spare parts. We can’t guarantee that as newer versions of the knitting machine come out some parts will become obsolete. Mechanical improvements may require that we eventually redesign important aspects of the knitting machine, as is the case with cars.

No. The needle bed is made of solid steel designed to last many years.

This is an industrial grade machine, so it’s built to last many years under intense daily use.

There are no critical parts made out of plastic. All the parts that receive intensive mechanical stress are made of steel. Built to last many years.

If taken care properly, the machine can work continuously for a very long period of time with basic maintenance. There are mainly two things that need to be taken care of often: making sure that the needle bed is clean and oiled and making sure that the needles are all in good shape.

Our Youtube videos will guide you through this. If operated correctly needles can last thousands of hours of operation.

Yes it will come with 50 spare needles.

We’ll have them in our online store at very competitive prices.

We will have a spare part service stocking all replaceable parts of the machine in our North American and European warehouses.

We will not be providing a list of components. Repairs will be handled by our technical service.

We have been talking with knitting machine technicians and we are creating a network in all the places we are selling to offer a quick service in case it is needed. We are constantly reaching to more technicians and the network is extending. Drop us an email if you have experience working with knitting machine our would like to be trained to be one.

We don’t recommend you try to repair the knitting machine by yourself as this will void the warranty. We will provide instructions for our users to be able to perform the basic maintance tasks required for the machine.

This will void the warranty.

It can work on any operating system since it’s browser-based.

Our software comes with a learning curve, but don’t worry—whether you’re a knitting pro or a complete novice, you can control the software and start using the machine in just a few weeks, even with no prior knowledge.

On our support page, we offer a wealth of free resources, including the software manual and articles filled with knitting tips and tricks. Regularly, we also update our blog with deep dives into specific knitting topics, ensuring you have all the information you need to get started.

Plus, we are here to help! We provide quick technical assistance through our support email, so you’re never alone in your knitting journey!

They will be the same or similar ones.

Yes. At the moment we are working on setting the foundations of the software to have basic templates for different garments so you can quickly start creating knitwear.

We will keep an open communication with our users to implement requested features.

Yes, the design app is currently free and anyone can create an account to use it. That way, a knitting machine can get all the use it deserves.

No, it will only be browser-based.

K-code files with an SD card.

Hacking Kniterate will void any warranty the machine has. We have developed software to make sure the machine receives correct instructions during the entire process and the hardware doesn’t get damaged. This is a powerful machine and we can’t take responsibility for the control software you may develop.

Our design app shares some of the features of industrial machine software but it is being created specially for the Kniterate machine.

The design software is in constant evolution and we are aiming at building a software that streamlines the design process, which doesn’t require you taking a multi-week training course and years of experience.

No, this is not a service we will be providing, but we will provide a platform to reach out to owners of knitting machines who may do it.

We are aware of the importance of the software and we are going to put a lot of energy into developing it to deliver the best possible experience. We started working on it in March of 2016 and we’ve gone through several iterations and tests.

We are now building it from scratch with some improvements and new features and we are eager to listen to your needs and suggestions to include features that might be important for our users and which we may be not prioritizing.

We ship machines worldwide.

Once your machine is nearly completed, we will request your shipping details to get a quote from our shipping partner.

Once we get that quote, we will ask you to pay for it before the machine is shipped.

Prices vary by location and country, so there isn’t a fixed number that we could use.

No. All fees (taxes, tariffs, and customs duties) are the responsibility of the recipient. That means that buyers are responsible for paying all import duties, import taxes, brokerage charges, and Value Added Tax (VAT), where applicable.

The machine is delivered to the street entrance of your place, not inside (also known as curbside delivery). You will have to arrange transportation from that point to the final destination of the machine.

We do it this way because every customer has different requirements when it comes getting the machine inside. Most of the shipping companies don’t offer this service either.

The size of the wooden crate is approximately 67″ x 28″ x 28″ / 170 x 70 x 70cm, and the weight around 530 lbs. / 240 kg. Measure the width of your doors to see if the knitting machine will fit through.

Here is a video tutorial that explains how to do it.

Additionally, the machine can be broken down into two main blocks to make transportation easier. Here is a link to a document that explains how to do it (video coming soon).

Yes. We encourage you to keep the crate just so you can protect the machine in case it needs to be transported again.

Yes! We’d be happy to meet you in person and let you pick up your machine from our factory in Barcelona. Take into account that you’ll need at least a large van to fit it in.