Best Knitting Machines in Australia (2026)

A knitting machine turns a fortnight of evenings into something you finish while the kettle boils. You clamp it to a bench, thread the yarn through a tensioner, turn the crank, and a knitted tube grows out of the bottom at a rate no pair of hands can match. For a beanie, a scarf or a set of Christmas presents, that is the difference between finishing and not finishing.

The catch is that "knitting machine" covers two very different things in Australia. There are the old flat-bed machines from Brother, Silver Reed and Passap that machine-knitting clubs still run, sold mostly secondhand through dealers. And there are hand-cranked circular machines, the Addi and Sentro class, which is what almost everyone buying a first machine online ends up with. This guide is about the second group, because that is what you can buy today and have working on your bench this weekend. We looked at needle counts, what yarn thickness each one takes, how it mounts to a bench, and what owners say after a few hundred rows.

What is the best knitting machine in Australia?

If you want one machine that will still be running in five years, buy the Addi Express King Size. It is the dearest of our picks and the most-reviewed machine of our seven, with a metal and plastic build, proper table clamps and spare needles in the box. If that is more than you want to spend on a hobby you have not started yet, the Sentro 48 Needles is the sensible first machine for most people: 48 needles, a row counter, and a switch between tube knitting and flat panels, for around $68. And if you genuinely just want to find out whether you enjoy cranking, the Fulasun 22 Needles is the cheapest of our seven picks and holds the highest star rating of the group, although on a small number of ratings.

The needle count is the single number that decides what you can make. Twenty-two needles gives you a narrow tube: beanies for kids, cuffs, cord, wrist warmers. Forty needles gives you an adult beanie and a decent scarf. Forty-eight needles will knit a tube wide enough to become an adult jumper body or a cushion cover. Nobody selling these machines explains that, so buyers routinely order the 22 and wonder why the hat only fits a toddler.

How do our seven knitting machine picks compare?

Every price, star rating and review count below came straight from the Australian listing. Needle count is the number the manufacturer prints on the machine.

How did we choose these knitting machines?

• We shortlisted complete machines only, so no looms, spare needle packs or replacement hooks, and we removed anything whose title described a different product.
• Every price, star rating and review count was checked fresh on the day this guide was written, straight from the Australian listing rather than a cached figure.
• We read the listing specification tables for needle count, yarn thickness range, dimensions and what comes in the box, and we did not use a number we could not find on the listing.
• We weighted rating volume as well as rating value, so a machine with a few hundred ratings carries more weight here than one with a handful.

Best knitting machine overall: Addi Express King Size

The Addi Express King Size is the machine that machine knitters in Australia keep pointing beginners towards, and the numbers back the reputation up: it carries a 4.4 star rating from 4,662 ratings, the largest review base of any pick in this guide. It is also the only one of our picks whose listing lists metal among its materials, which matters more than it sounds. The failure point on a cheap circular machine is a plastic hook snapping mid-row, and once one goes the whole machine starts dropping stitches.

The listing gives the item length as 35 cm and the packed dimensions as 60 by 33 by 14.5 cm, with a weight of 2 kg. That sits solidly on a bench, and the box includes table clamps, feet, an Addi stopper and spare needles, which tells you something about how the machine expects to be used: bolted to the edge of a solid bench and cranked hard, not perched on a coffee table. The clamps are the part beginners underestimate: a machine that moves while you crank drops stitches, and a clamped machine does not.

What you get for the money is tolerance. A smoother crank, a row counter you can trust, and a machine that can be pushed for a long session without you babying it. If you already knit by hand and you want to speed up the boring parts, this is the one that will not frustrate you. Addi also sells through specialist yarn retailers in Australia as well as online, so parts and advice are easier to find here than for the generic circular machines.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

It is the dearest of our picks, and for a hobby you have not started that is a lot of commitment. The 2 kg weight and the clamp setup also mean this is not a machine you casually pack away after every session; it wants a spot on a bench or a craft table. And like every circular machine here, it knits tubes and flat panels, not shaped garments, so you still have to seam and finish by hand.

Best value knitting machine: Sentro 48 Needles

The Sentro 48 is where most first-time buyers should start, and for good reason: it does the thing people actually want, which is knit an adult-sized tube, at a price that does not require a family discussion. It holds 4.1 stars from 914 ratings, and the listing confirms 48 needles, a row counter and two knitting modes, flat and round, switched with a conversion key.

Those two modes matter. In round mode the machine knits a continuous tube, which is what you want for beanies, cowls, socks, leg warmers and jumper bodies. In flat mode you crank forward and back, and the machine produces a flat panel with two edges, which is what you want for scarves, blankets, cushion fronts and anything you plan to sew into a shape. A machine that only does tubes is a much narrower tool than the price suggests.

The listed dimensions are 40 by 37 by 22 cm with a weight of 1 kg, so it takes about the footprint of a large mixing bowl and moves with one hand. The row counter is mechanical and sits on the top plate, and it is the single feature that turns this from a novelty into something you can follow a pattern with. Without a counter you are counting rows out loud and losing your place. Crank slowly and evenly and it will knit metres of even fabric; crank fast and it drops stitches, which is the technique problem behind most of the four-star reviews in this whole category.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The build is plastic throughout, the crank has more play in it than the Addi, and the printed instructions are thin enough that most owners end up watching a video before their first successful row. Suction mounting on this class of machine also struggles on textured benchtops, so you may end up clamping it or working on a smooth board.

Best cheap knitting machine: Fulasun 22 Needles

If you are not sure machine knitting is for you, this is the low-risk way to find out. The Fulasun 22 Needles is the cheapest of our seven picks and carries 4.5 stars, the highest star rating in this guide, although that sits on just 9 ratings, so treat it as encouraging rather than settled.

The listing gives dimensions of 20.5 by 20.5 by 19 cm and describes a plastic build with a hand crank, a crochet hook and a needle included. Twenty-two needles is a small circle, and it pays to be realistic about what that produces: a tube roughly the circumference of a child's beanie, a wrist warmer, a cosy for a jar or a mug, or lengths of knitted cord for bag handles and drawstrings. Adult hats are a stretch on a 22 and adult jumpers are out of the question.

What it is genuinely good at is teaching you the motion. The whole skill of circular machine knitting is in the first three or four rows, where the yarn has to catch on every hook before the fabric starts feeding down through the middle. Learning that on a small circle is faster than learning it on 48 needles, because a dropped stitch on a small machine is quick to spot and quick to fix.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Nine ratings is a thin evidence base compared with the rest of this guide, and the small needle count is a hard ceiling on what you can make rather than a starting point you can grow past. Expect to want a larger machine within a few months if you take to it.

Best small knitting machine for hats and cord: Addi Express Small 15 cm

This is the Addi build quality in a small circle. The Addi Express Small carries 4.4 stars from 2,954 ratings and the listing describes a 15 cm diameter machine weighing 800 g, with a stated capacity of 22 stitches, capable of tubular fabric or flat pieces with minor adaptation.

The comparison that matters is against the budget 22-needle machines rather than against the King Size. Same circle size, same kinds of projects, very different feel under the hand. Addi has been making this machine for years, the listing gives Germany as the country of origin, and the crank action is the reason people who own one rarely go back. If you know you want hats, cuffs and cord and you want the machine to feel good rather than merely work, this is the version to buy.

At 800 g it is genuinely portable, which is worth more than it sounds. Machine knitting is a sit-in-front-of-the-television hobby for a lot of people, and a machine light enough to carry to the lounge room with a bag of yarn gets used far more often than one clamped to a bench in a cold laundry.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

You are paying Addi money for a small circle, and the specification table on this listing is thinner than we would like, with no stated yarn thickness range. The 22-stitch limit is the same limit the budget small machines have, so the upgrade you are buying is build quality and feel, not capability.

Best knitting machine for matching your yarn: DoubleCare 40 Needles

This is the only one of our picks whose listing states an actual yarn thickness range, and for a first machine that removes the most common cause of disappointment. The listing specifies 40 needles suitable for 1.5 mm to 4.5 mm yarn, a flat panel width of about 32 cm and a knitted tube diameter of about 24 cm. It holds 4.4 stars from 64 ratings, sharing the second-highest rating in this guide with both Addi machines.

Australian yarn is sold in ply, not millimetres, and that mismatch is why so many first projects fail. As a rough translation, 8 ply is the standard everyday knitting yarn most Australians reach for and sits comfortably in the middle of that stated range; 4 ply is finer and will knit loosely; 12 ply and chunky yarns sit at the top of the range or above it and are the ones that jam a circular machine. Having the range printed on the listing means you can stand in a craft shop and know whether the ball in your hand will work.

The 40-needle circle is a genuinely useful middle size. The stated 24 cm tube diameter is adult beanie territory, and the 32 cm flat width is a proper scarf. The listing also describes a gear switch between flat weaving and ring weaving, with the flat mode requiring you to reverse the crank at the end of each row rather than turning continuously.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Sixty-four ratings is a modest evidence base, and 40 needles will not knit an adult jumper body in the round, so this is a hats-scarves-and-panels machine rather than a garment machine. The flat mode needing a back-and-forth crank action is also slower than continuous tube knitting.

Best knitting machine kit for a first project: SNOUUOSN Sentro 48 Needles

This is the 48-needle Sentro pattern with the fullest accessory list of any pick in this guide, which suits anyone who would rather not place a second order the day after it lands. It holds 4.2 stars from 116 ratings.

The listing itemises a crochet hook, three hand needles, a tensioner, wool thread, a screwdriver, a manual, four suction cups, four screws and four legs, across a 15-piece set, with machine dimensions of 38 by 38 by 19 cm. It is the only one of our picks whose listing includes suction cups, and that is the detail worth pausing on: it means the machine is designed to be stuck down to a smooth surface rather than clamped to a bench edge, which suits a kitchen benchtop or a glass-topped table in a rental where you cannot fix anything permanently.

The included hand needles matter more than the price suggests. Every circular machine produces a tube with a live top edge and a cast-on tail, and finishing means threading yarn through those loops and pulling them closed with a blunt yarn needle. Without one you have a knitted tube and no way to turn it into a beanie.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The brand name on this listing is not one most Australians will recognise, and 116 ratings is a smaller sample than the better-known Sentro listings. Suction cups also only work on genuinely smooth surfaces, so on a textured laminate or timber bench you will be back to clamping or working on a board.

Best knitting machine for colour changes: FYGAIN 48 Needles

This 48-needle machine carries 3,651 ratings, the second-largest review base in this guide, and holds 4.0 stars. The listing calls out dual modes, a row counter and easy colour changing as its headline features, and it weighs 1 kg.

Colour changing is the feature that turns a machine-knitted tube from something obviously machine made into something that looks designed. On a circular machine you change colour by cutting the working yarn, tying on the new colour and cranking on, and machines that make that easy have a tensioner and yarn path you can get at without dismantling anything. Striped beanies, colour-blocked cushion covers and rainbow scarves all come out of that one capability.

Everything else here is the familiar 48-needle package: a tube wide enough for adult projects, a switch between round and flat knitting, and a mechanical row counter so you can follow a pattern properly. The listing describes a plastic build and lists needles and a screw among the included components. At 1 kg it is light enough to shift between the kitchen bench and the lounge room.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Four stars is the lowest rating of our seven picks. The specification table is also lighter on detail than the others here, with no stated yarn thickness range.

Which knitting machine should you buy for your situation?

Match the machine to the thing you actually want to make, not to the biggest number of needles you can afford.

What should you look for in a knitting machine?

Needle count first, then yarn range, then how it stays still on your bench. Everything else is secondary.

Needle count sets your maximum width. On a circular machine the needles sit in a ring, and the circumference of that ring is the circumference of your tube. Twenty-two needles is child-hat and cord territory. Forty needles reaches an adult beanie and a proper scarf. Forty-eight needles is the size that opens up jumper bodies, cowls and cushion covers. If you are buying one machine and you want it to cover the most ground, 48 is the number.

Yarn range decides whether your stash works. This is where Australian buyers get caught, because our yarn is labelled in ply and machine listings are specced in millimetres. Standard 8 ply, the everyday yarn on every craft shop shelf here, is the most reliable starting point for a circular machine. Very fine 4 ply knits loosely and slips off hooks, and chunky 12 ply and above will jam a machine that was not built for it. If a listing states a range, as our DoubleCare pick does at 1.5 mm to 4.5 mm, that is a genuine advantage.

Mounting is the hidden spec. Circular machines need to stay dead still while you crank. Table clamps are the sturdiest option and work on any bench with an accessible edge. Suction cups are the renter-friendly option and work brilliantly on glass and smooth laminate and poorly on anything textured. Legs and feet without either are the least stable arrangement. Look at your bench before you choose: a machine that shifts a millimetre per row drops stitches.

Think about parts before you need them. The hooks are the wear item on every circular machine, and how easily you can source replacement hooks varies a lot between the established brands and the generic listings. Brands sold through Australian specialist craft retailers are the easier ones to get spares for.

Worth saying plainly: a knitting machine is not a substitute for a sewing machine and will not replace one. It makes fabric; a sewing machine joins fabric. Most machine-knitting projects need both, so if you do not own one yet, our guide to the best sewing machines in Australia covers what to look for. If you are comparing an electric version of one of these circular machines rather than a hand-cranked one, check the listing shows an Australian plug rather than a travel adapter in the box.

How do you look after a knitting machine?

Keep it clean, keep it still, and never force the crank. Circular machines have very few parts that can fail, and almost every failure comes from one of those three being ignored.

Lint and yarn fluff build up around the hooks and inside the needle track, and that is what makes a machine start feeling gritty. A soft brush around the hooks every few projects, and a wipe of the needle track with a dry cloth, keeps the action smooth. Do not use household spray cleaners on the plastic body; solvents can craze it.

If the crank suddenly gets hard to turn, stop. That resistance is almost always a dropped stitch that has wrapped around a hook, or yarn that is too thick for the machine binding in the needle track. Forcing it is how hooks break. Back the crank off a quarter turn, find the caught loop, free it with the crochet hook that came in the box, and carry on.

What else will you want with a knitting machine?

The machine on its own gets you a tube. These are the things that turn tubes into finished objects.

• 8 ply acrylic knitting yarn, 100 g: standard Australian 8 ply is the most reliable yarn to learn on, and acrylic is cheap enough that a failed first project does not sting.
• Large-eye blunt tapestry needles: you cannot close the top of a beanie or seam a panel without one, and they are the most forgotten purchase in this category.
• Hand-operated metal yarn ball winder: machines feed far better from a centre-pull cake than from a loose skein, and winding by hand gets old quickly.
• Circular knitting machine pattern book: patterns written specifically for Addi and Sentro circle sizes, which saves a lot of guesswork about row counts.

What else did we consider?

The Addi Express King Size Extended Edition, at around $444, sits at the top of this category and adds an improved mechanical row counter over the standard King Size. We left it out because the extra spend buys a refinement rather than a new capability, and at that price the honest comparison is against a secondhand flat-bed machine.

Flat-bed home machines from Silver Reed and Brother, including the LK150 that Australian machine-knitting circles rate highly, are a genuinely different tool: they knit shaped garment pieces with proper stitch patterning rather than tubes. They are mostly sold through dealers and clubs rather than online, and have a much steeper learning curve. If you already knit seriously and want fitted garments, the machine-knitting associations in each state are a better starting point than a marketplace listing.

Knitting machine questions Australians ask

Are knitting machines worth buying?

Yes, if you want finished knitted items rather than the meditative process of hand knitting. A circular machine knits a tube in minutes that would take hours by hand, which makes beanies, scarves and cushion covers realistic to finish. It is not worth it if you enjoy hand knitting for its own sake, because the machine takes the slow part away and leaves you the finishing work.

How many needles do you need on a knitting machine?

Forty-eight needles is the most useful single choice, because it knits a tube wide enough for adult beanies, cowls, cushion covers and jumper bodies. Twenty-two needles is limited to children's hats, cuffs and knitted cord. Forty needles handles adult beanies and scarves. The needle ring sets the circumference of your tube.

What yarn works best in a circular knitting machine?

Standard 8 ply is the most reliable yarn to use in an Australian circular knitting machine. It is the everyday weight sold in every craft shop here and sits in the middle of the range most machines are built for. Finer 4 ply slips off the hooks and knits loosely, while chunky 12 ply and above can bind in the needle track.

Can a knitting machine make a jumper?

A 48-needle circular machine can knit the body of a jumper as a tube and the sleeves as narrower tubes, but you shape the armholes, join the pieces and finish the neckline by hand. Circular machines make fabric, not shaped garment pieces. Flat-bed machines with a ribber shape garments properly.

What is the difference between Addi and Sentro knitting machines?

Addi machines are German-made and built around a sturdier mechanism with metal in the construction and table clamps for mounting, while Sentro machines are plastic throughout and sit at the entry end of the category. Both knit in the round and in flat mode. The difference shows up over time in how the crank feels and how well the hooks survive heavy use.

What should you set up alongside it?

A knitting machine usually arrives as part of a wider making habit. These guides cover the rest of that bench.

• Best crochet kits in Australia for the hand skills that finish machine-knitted work.
• Best cross stitch kits in Australia for a quieter evening project.
• Best dressmaking mannequins in Australia for fitting the garments you seam together.
• Best wool blankets in Australia if you want to see what good wool fabric should feel like.
• Best throw blankets in Australia for the sofa your knitted panels end up on.
• Laundry setup guide for organising the room most of these machines end up living in.

About the author

Anish Puri founded NestPath in 2026 after going through the Australian first-home-buyer process himself. NestPath focuses on Australian first-home buyers because the existing review sites are American, generic, or both. Anish handles editorial selection across the homeowner hub. Reach out: hello@nestpath.com.au