Kentoys Product

Magic Knitting Machine

Made by Kentoys Ltd, Hong Kong


It is such a shame that these knitting
machine toys are no longer being made.
I was fortunate recently to find these
two old stock toys - so there could be more
still around hiding in some dark box in the
back of an old toy shop.
There is no date at all to be found on
the toy, the package, or with the
directions.

However, there was a patent applied for and this
can be found on the internet.
The inventor of this particular knitting machine is
a Mr. Wai Kwok Wu of Hong Kong.
The date of the patent is Aug. 21, 2001.
Below are just two of the pages in the application -



There are eight characters in the series - Grandmother, Lady,
Little Girl, Little Boy, Duck, Chicken, Bird, and (I think it is.....a)
Squirrel? (click to enlarge photo)
Added March 15th - I have now found out that the "Squirrel"
is an Owl.


The above Little Girl is the model in the
Patent's illustrations.

Early in 2008 I did a post on plastic knitters.
I introduced these Nitta Crittas by Moose Enterprises
Pty Ltd, a Melbourne company but
the toy is Made in China and they are
Carly Cow, Doris Duck, Penny Pig
and Fran Frog.
No date again so I cannot say if these were
earlier or later than the Kentoys' model.





These appear to be as rare as hen's teeth
much like the Magic Knitting Machine.
If, by chance, anyone reading this has any or
knows where I might find any of these little
machines, both the Kentoys Magic Knitting
Machines and the Nitta Crittas,
I would dearly love to hear
from you. I am very keen to find more
of these!

---oooOOOooo---

PLASTIC TWO

I am back to plastic again for this post.
Below - one that I am sure is familiar to a
lot of you. Being of very recent manufacture,
is this very solid plastic French Knitting Bee from
"Classic Knit" and Made in China which comes
complete with dual size
pom pom maker and awl (to use
with the knitting bee).

Next, we have a cheaper knitting toy "Jeannette" by
Jean Hoefler & Co. of West Germany.
The spool knitter is of a firm plastic but with
hard play I would say it would easily break.

Now for something a little different is this child's
"first cool knitting machine".
These are available worldwide under other brand
names. This one is by Moose Enterprise Pty Ltd
Melbourne, Australia - and it is Made in China.

This one is called Carly Cow. The
base is turned to operate the mechanism just
like the other hand held knitting machines
that are currently available.

Some other characters available are - Doris Duck,
Penny Pig, and Fran Frog (and I have seen others as well).