Hi All,
We’ve briefly discussed the Hermes Hat Machine a few times, well, we are ready to give you guys the details now. The Hermes is Daedalus's take on a large frame circular knitting machine, primarily for making hats and cowls but capable of so much more. Like always we only use ABS for our 3D printed parts and Carbon Fiber for the mast. Dave has designed a variety of cylinders which allows for the construction of hats from child size to a large adult hat. You can use a wide range of yarns from lace(#0) to sport(#2) on the 140 and 120 needle cylinders and from lace (#0) to dk(#3) on the 100 and 80 needle cylinders. Happy Cranking everyone!
We would prospectively like to begin emailing the first names on the queue on March 31st, 2025. I don't know how many we will email, it will not be the whole list. The goal is to ship either immediately before or directly after Maryland Sheep and Wool. If you haven't signed up yet and are interested in a Hermes Hat Machine please join our queue here join our queue here.
Our first public debut of the Hermes Hat machine will be at Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. Come by the booth and pick one up. We will have a limited number. We will do 3 hat machine demos if you would like to see it work please stop by at 3 pm on Saturday or Sunday at 11 am and 3 pm, demos will last 15-20 minutes only.
Attached is a video of Lindsey Hoehn making what we call a “5 Wedge Beanie” on the Hermes during early testing. It's an interesting construction, you begin at the top and essentially make 5 short row heels, then pick up the stitches and crank a tube, finished with a hung hem. Please enjoy, and follow along with us as Lindsey makes a hat.
Hermes Kits and A La Carte Items
We have several packages for the Hermes Hat machine available, these have been designed to accommodate all of our customers regardless of experience level.
We are offering a Base Kit for $720, designed for people who are already circular knitting machine owners, who probably already have some items (like weights). However, it does come with a generous array of accessories to help get you started. This package includes the machine itself, 120 Needle Cylinder, 150 Needles, 1 Spring, 75+ Bonnet O-rings to make your first bonnet, and many other items (see chart).
You can add our Weights Accessory Kit for $80 to the Base Kit with just the click of a button. This is ideal for beginners who will need these weights. This kit includes (1) Weight Buckle, (3) Heel Forks, (3) 500g Weights, and (1) 1000g Weight.
We are also offering a Complete Kit for $965. This is comprised of our Base Kit ($720), Weights Accessory Kit ($80), all three of our additional Cylinders (80, 100, 140 Needles ($75)), 50 additional Needles and 1 additional Springs ($50), (1) 70 O-ring Hand Cranked Bonnet for 140 needle cylinder ($60), Waste Yarn ($20), 225 additional flexible bonnet O-rings ($16). Plus much more. This is a retail valued package of $1021 that has been discounted to $965 when you buy it bundled.
We will also have a wide variety of A La Carte Items such as Needles in packs of 50 ($40), Springs in 2 packs ($20), Hand Cranked Bonnets with Flexible O-rings for each size cylinder (80 needle/40 O-rings ($45), 100 needle/50 O-rings ($50), 120 needle/60 O-rings ($55), 140 needle/70 O-rings ($60)), all of our individual weights, and much more.
Please see the tables below for a complete listing of our Kits and A La Carte options.
Items Included | Base Kit $720 | Weight Kit $80 | A La Carte | Complete Kit $965 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Machine (Includes Base and Colorwork Mast) | x | x | ||
Heel Stem Weight | x | x | ||
Row Counter | x | x | ||
80 Cylinder - 12-16" Circumference | x | x | ||
100 Cylinder - 15-19" Circumference | x | x | ||
120 Cylinder - 18-22" Circumference | x | x | x | |
140 Cylinder - 20-24" Circumference | x | x | ||
150 Needles + 1 Spring | x | |||
200 Needles + 2 Springs | x | |||
2 Table Clamps | x | x | ||
Tool Kit* | x | x | ||
75 Flexible Bonnet O-rings | x | |||
300 Flexible Bonnet O-rings | x | |||
100 Flexible Bonnet O-rings | x | |||
3 Heel Forks | x | x | x | |
Weight Buckle | x | x | x | x |
3 (500g) Weights | x | x | x | |
1 (1000g) Weight | x | x | x | |
Waste Yarn | x | x | ||
1 Hand Cranked Bonnet (with 40 Flexible O-rings) | x | |||
1 Hand Cranked Bonnet (with 50 Flexible O-rings) | x | |||
1 Hand Cranked Bonnet (with 60 Flexible O-rings) | x | |||
1 Hand Cranked Bonnet (with 70 Flexible O-rings) | x |
Tool Kit (Included In Base and Complete Kit) |
|---|
Pick Tool |
Latch Tool |
2 Weighted Clips |
Darning Needle |
3mm Wrench |
2.5mm Wrench |
Super Lube |
A La Carte | Price |
|---|---|
Acrylic Waste Yarn 1kg cone | $20.00 |
Needles 50pk | $40.00 |
Springs 2 pk | $20.00 |
Cylinders (No Needles or Springs) | $25.00 |
Weight Buckle | $15.00 |
Heel Fork 3pk | $15.00 |
500g Weights | $15.00 |
1000g Weights | $20.00 |
100g Heel Weight | $10.00 |
2pk Weighted Clips 12g each | $10.00 |
100 Bonnet Flexible O-rings | $8.00 |
80 needle Hand Cranked Bonnet with 40 Flexible O-rings | $45.00 |
100 needle Hand Cranked Bonnet with 50 Flexible O-rings | $50.00 |
120 needle Hand Cranked Bonnet with 60 Flexible O-rings (comes with Base Kit) | $55.00 |
140 needle Hand Cranked Bonnet with 70 Flexible O-rings (comes with Complete Kit) | $60.00 |
Additional Supplies
You will need a table to clamp your Hermes CHM to. We recommend the following table from Black & Decker (Workmate™ Portable Workbench, 350-Pound Capacity $37.99) - https://www.blackanddecker.com/products/wm125?variant=43291373699293
Lubrication (we provide 2g to get you started but extra will be needed (Please only use this as other types could damage your device)) - Super Lube 51004 Synthetic Oil with PTFE High Viscosity(4oz, $7.72) - https://a.co/d/cXTJUcW
Hat Sizes
Cylinder Size | Size Hat In Inches | Who it Fits |
|---|---|---|
80 Cylinder | 12 - 16" circumference | Small Child |
100 Cylinder | 15-19" circumference | Youth |
120 Cylinder | 18-22" circumference | Average Adult |
140 Cylinder | 20-24" circumference | Large Adult |
Examples of hats made with the Hermes by Lindsey Hoehn. Tie Top and Wedge Style.
For those of you who have questions about the Hermes, the Kits, or Sale System, we are happy to help please feel free to email support@daedalusspinningwheels.com and we will get back to you as quickly as possible.
I’d like to include a special thank you message for our testers including a direct thank you to Lindsey for the beautiful hat photos. We at Deadalus would like to send the biggest, warmest, and somewhat sloppy hug of THANKS to our testers, Thanks to this fabulous group of hard working people we have been able to delve into this new area of the fiber arts community. Also a special shout out of thanks to Lindsey Hoehn for helping us make the attached video and for the lovely pictures of her family in the hats she has made during testing. We could not do it without all of you so thanks again for working with us and trusting us.
-Team Daedalus