Ribbing attachment Brother KR551 was released to the market in the mid-1960s. It has 200 needles positioned 4.5 mm apart. This ribber fits Brother KH500, KH550, and KH551 knitting machines. Since other 4-pushbutton machines are identical to KH551, it is very likely Brother KR551 ribber would fit other 4-pushbutton knitting machines: Brother KH511, KH521, and KH531.

I saw a social media post where the KR551 ribber was paired with a Brother KH552 knitting machine. Since KH552, an 8-pushbutton machine, is structurally very similar to other 8-pushbutton machines (needles are the same, needlebed length and width are the same), I suspect that KR551 might fit all other 8-pushbutton machines (Brother KH561, KH571, KH581, KH583, KH585, KH587, KH588, KH601, KH610, etc.).

It is one of the first ribbing attachments released to the market yet it is still capable of doing a lot of different patterns.

I used to own one Brother KR551 ribber but I passed it along before I was able to test one. I am bummed but by looking at the whole setup, I concluded that it would work the same as Brother KR580 ribber. Namely, the main carriage slides first and then the ribber carriage. So, read more about how this type of ribber works in my KM Encyclopedia article on Brother KR580 ribbing attachment.

Despite my owning Brother KR551 ribber in the past, I did not take good pictures of the setup. All pictures in this blog were provided by a generous eBay seller, for which I am very thankful.

If you purchased this ribber in a rough shape, check my article on the steps I take while cleaning and servicing ribbers, especially those showing some rust.

If you have a well-serviced ribber, check the steps I take while testing the ribbers.

Happy Knitting!