Hand Knitting vs. Machine Knitting:
What’s the Difference?
Hand knitting and machine knitting create the same basic thing: knitted fabric made from loops of yarn. But the way that fabric is produced, and the techniques that work best, can be very different.
This is especially important for experienced hand knitters considering their first knitting machine. A knitting machine can produce beautiful garments remarkably quickly, but it is not simply a faster pair of knitting needles. Some techniques that are effortless by hand are cumbersome on a machine, while other techniques that take considerable time by hand can be accomplished very quickly by machine.
Who would enjoy a knitting machine?
A knitting machine would appeal to someone who has designs in their head and want the machine to help in the process. While they may enjoy using the equipment, the final completion is the reward. The reward of a design in their head to be completed and worn. But a machine may not appeal to someone who knits because the process is so enjoyable; creating each individual stitch from the comfort of your favorite chair. Where the final result is rewarding, but nearly as therapeutic as the process to get there. Then there are people who might enjoy both depending on their goals. Flying to Mom's? Definitely need a knitting project for all that "hurry up and wait" time.
Understanding those differences will make the transition from hand knitting to machine knitting much easier.
Hand Knitting and Machine Knitting Use the Same Yarn, But Not Necessarily the Same Machine
With hand knitting, you select a needle size appropriate for your yarn and the fabric you want to create.
Machine knitting works differently because the needles are permanently spaced in the bed of the knitting machine. That spacing, called the machine gauge, determines the range of yarn sizes the machine can comfortably knit.
A single knitting machine cannot knit every weight of yarn.
For example, a machine designed for lace and fingering weight yarn cannot simply be adjusted to comfortably knit bulky yarn. The needle spacing and the size of the latch hooks are different.
If you are choosing a machine based on yarns you already enjoy using, see our Knitting Machine Yarn Guide for a more complete explanation of which yarn weights work with the different gauges of knitting machines.
Stitch Gauge Works Differently on a Knitting Machine
Hand knitters are accustomed to changing needle sizes until they achieve the desired stitch gauge.
A knitting machine has a tension dial that controls the size of the stitches, but the numbers on that dial do not correspond to hand knitting needle sizes.
It may take several swatches to get the fabric and stitch gauge you want.
There is another important difference: you cannot accurately measure the fabric while it is on the knitting machine.
The stitches are being held apart by the machine needles and the fabric is under tension from the weights. Once removed from the machine, the fabric needs time to relax before an accurate gauge can be determined.
I normally remove the swatch, roll it up and gently pull it lengthwise to help the stitches settle, then allow it to rest before measuring.
For machine knitting, a good-sized gauge swatch isn't optional. It is part of planning the garment.
Row Gauge Is Especially Important in Machine Knitting
Many hand knitting patterns say something such as:
Work until the piece measures 12 inches.
That's easy when you're holding the knitting in your hands. You simply stop and measure it.
You can't do that accurately while the fabric is hanging on a knitting machine.
A machine knitter needs to know ahead of time approximately how many rows are required to produce those 12 inches.
If your machine-knit row gauge doesn't match the hand knitting pattern, the number of rows in the pattern will need to be recalculated.
This is one reason I often find it easier to work from the schematic and finished measurements of a hand knitting pattern rather than trying to reproduce every stitch and row exactly.
Stockinette Is Easy on a Knitting Machine
This is one of the biggest differences between hand and machine knitting.
When you knit back and forth by hand, you turn the work at the end of each row. To create stockinette, you normally knit one row and purl the next.
A flat-bed knitting machine doesn't turn the fabric.
The latch-hook needles pull the loops through in the same direction every row. As a result, the natural fabric produced by a flat-bed knitting machine is stockinette stitch.
If a design contains large areas of stockinette, the knitting machine is very much in its element.
Garter Stitch Is Easier by Hand
Here the advantage flips completely.
Garter stitch is one of the easiest fabrics to produce by hand. Knit every row, turn the work, and continue.
On a flat-bed knitting machine, the fabric isn't automatically turned. Producing true garter stitch requires the direction of the stitches to be reversed.
There are several ways machine knitters can accomplish this, including:
- using a garter bar to remove, turn and rehang the stitches
- reforming stitches with a latch tool
- using a ribber and transferring stitches between beds
- using certain older specialized equipment, such as Brother's garter carriage
All of these can produce the desired fabric, but none is as simple as knitting every row by hand.
If I wanted a garment containing a great deal of garter stitch, I would seriously consider whether that portion of the project would simply be faster and easier to hand knit.
And that's perfectly fine. The goal isn't to prove that every stitch can be done on a machine. The goal is to choose the best tool for the project.
Seed and Moss Stitch Are Also Easier by Hand
Seed and moss stitches alternate knit and purl stitches across the fabric.
By hand, that's straightforward.
On a single-bed knitting machine, producing individual knit and purl stitches across the same row requires additional manipulation. Stitches can be reformed manually with a latch tool or transferred between the main bed and ribber, but across an entire garment this can become tedious.
Machine knitters will sometimes substitute a machine-friendly texture instead.
Tuck stitch, for example, can produce wonderful textured fabrics very quickly on a knitting machine. It isn't identical to seed stitch and isn't reversible in the same way, but it may give the design the texture you were looking for without requiring extensive hand manipulation.
This is an important part of learning machine knitting: instead of asking only, “How do I reproduce this hand knitting stitch?”, also ask, “What machine knitting technique could give me a similar effect?”
That small change in thinking opens up a lot of possibilities.
Lace Is Created Differently
Both hand knitters and machine knitters create lace by moving stitches and creating openings in the fabric, but the mechanics are different.
In hand knitting, a yarn over is made by wrapping the yarn around the needle.
On a knitting machine, stitches can be transferred from one needle to another, leaving an empty needle. When the carriage passes across the bed, yarn is laid into that empty needle and a new stitch is formed.
Depending on the knitting machine and the type of lace being produced, these transfers may be performed manually or with a lace carriage.
The finished fabrics can look very similar even though the method used to create them is quite different.
Shaping Is Different, Too
Increasing and decreasing stitches is another area where hand and machine knitting use different motions to accomplish essentially the same thing.
A hand knitter makes increases and decreases while working across the row.
A machine knitter generally moves stitches from one needle to another with a transfer tool.
For decreases, stitches are transferred toward the center of the work and the empty outside needle is taken out of work. For increases, needles can be brought into work and stitches positioned as needed.
Once you understand the direction in which the stitches are being moved, left- and right-leaning decreases are actually very logical on a knitting machine.
Casting On and Binding Off
Both hand and machine knitting have several methods for casting on and binding off.
Some even produce remarkably similar finished edges.
For example, a latch-tool cast-on on the knitting machine can produce an edge similar in appearance to certain hand knitting cast-ons.
Binding off is mechanically different because machine knitting may have 50 stitches sitting on 50 individual latch-hook needles rather than 50 stitches held on one hand knitting needle. A latch tool is commonly used to work a chain-style bind-off across the machine.
The motions are different, but the finished edge can be quite familiar to a hand knitter.
Waste Yarn Is a Machine Knitter's Friend
Machine knitters use waste yarn constantly.
A piece may be started with waste yarn before the main yarn is introduced. Stitches can be knitted onto waste yarn temporarily and removed from the machine. Sections can later be rehung for additional knitting, finishing or joining.
Hand knitters certainly use waste yarn too, particularly when holding stitches, but machine knitters tend to use it as a regular construction tool.
Once you become accustomed to it, you'll probably start finding uses for the same technique in your hand knitting.
Can You Use a Hand Knitting Pattern on a Knitting Machine?
Sometimes, but it usually shouldn't be approached as a row-for-row translation.
First look at the construction of the garment.
A fairly straightforward sweater worked primarily in stockinette may translate beautifully to the knitting machine. A design containing extensive garter stitch, seed stitch or complicated combinations of knit and purl stitches may require considerably more hand manipulation.
Then look at the schematic.
If you know the finished measurements and have an accurate machine-knit gauge, you can calculate the stitches and rows necessary to produce the same garment dimensions.
This is often much easier than trying to force your knitting machine to exactly duplicate the gauge and every instruction in the original hand knitting pattern.
Is Machine Knitting Faster Than Hand Knitting?
For the actual knitting of many fabrics, absolutely.
A knitting machine can produce rows of stockinette extraordinarily quickly. Fair Isle and other patterned fabrics can also be produced very quickly on machines equipped with automatic patterning.
But speed isn't the whole story.
Machine knitting requires preparation. You need the correct yarn for the machine, an accurate swatch, stitch and row gauge, and a plan for shaping and construction before you begin.
Some techniques also require manual manipulation that can erase much of the machine's speed advantage.
So a knitting machine isn't automatically faster for every knitted project.
It is incredibly fast at the things it was designed to do well.
Hand Knitting and Machine Knitting Work Beautifully Together
One of the most useful things a hand knitter can do when learning machine knitting is to stop expecting the machine to behave like a pair of knitting needles.
Learn what the machine does naturally.
Learn its stockinette, tuck stitches, slip stitches, Fair Isle, lace and other techniques. Learn how stitches are transferred and how garments are shaped. Learn what your particular machine likes and doesn't like.
Then bring your hand knitting knowledge back into the picture.
There is no reason a project has to be exclusively hand knit or machine knit. A garment can have a machine-knit body, hand-knit trim and even crochet finishing.
Sometimes the knitting machine will be the fastest and easiest tool.
Sometimes your knitting needles will win.
And sometimes the most interesting projects happen when you use both.
Written by Angelika Burles. Copyright Knitcraft Inc. All rights reserved. This chart and guide may be printed for personal use. Please do not reproduce it on another website or in commercial or noncommercial printed materials without permission.