… in progress. Last updated: January 2026.

The Passap E6000 knitting machine was the second-to-last knitting machine manufactured by the Swiss company Passap. It was released to the market in 1988.

You all probably heard by now that Passap E6000 knitting machines are the Cadillacs of all knitting machines. Well: it is mighty for sure, but it is not as easy to transition to “drive” it as from Ford or Honda or Toyota.

I am a proud owner of a Passap E6000. Probably similar to you, I wanted this machine so badly, and I could not wait until there was one in the vicinity for sale.

But also, like you, I did not realize that the learning curve is steeper than I anticipated. So, I am still learning and collecting information about this beauty.

It is a double bed machine with needles 5.0 mm apart. However, knitters feel that the yarn required for this machine is typically thinner than for 4.5-mm-gauge Japanese machines.

According to the advertisement from a 1988 magazine, “Passap E6000 is the world’s most exciting and versatile knitting machine”.

It is electronic and features 600 patterns, 130 knitting techniques, and 40000 designs. Its memory is high enough to store and knit your own designs.

From the same brochure: “The capabilities of Passap E6000 are:

• Independent length and width enlargement, in stitches or cm,
• Enlarges patterns without losing definition, using the unique smoothing function;
• Rotate and mirror images;
• Three and four colors in one row;
• Superimposed patterns for additional three- and 4-color designs;
• Fully automatic intarsia;
• An optical scanner to input your own designs;
• combines or superimposes patterns from the memory with your own designs;
• Automatic lace;
• Built-in electronic shape leader for fully fashioned knitting
• no weights or castings or caombs required.”