DIY-Loom knitting

Round loom knitting, have you heard of it? This is a type of knitting that uses a loom instead of using knitting needles. I never learned to knit with needles, my mother like to crochet. She always had something going on her lap. Mostly baby related, baby blankets, baby booties, baby sized hats and outfits. I think it was an unfulfilled wish that she had to be surrounded by babies.

She taught me how to crochet, though it was a challenge for both of us, she was left handed, I being right handed. But I learned, thanks to a patient mother. I learned the chain stitch and the next stitch after that. Unfortunately, being young, I had zero patience, it just didn’t go fast enough for me and I was not able to appreciate the zen like qualities of just working on something and watching it grow.

A few months ago, I discovered loom knitting, I joined a few chat groups and started looking at YouTube videos about loom knitting. I learned as much as I could without actually having one in my hand. I learned that loom knitting goes a lot faster than crocheting or knitting. I ordered a set of looms, a needle/hook and a pattern book. Once I received everything, I promptly set everything aside, I had a few other projects I needed to finish before starting on a new hobby.

Once I completed my other projects, I purchased lots of thick, fuzzy yarn and began to learn how to use a round knitting loom. Thanks to some very talented people on YouTube who made some great tutorials, I am now the proud owner of a knit hat. I’ve also made one for Bob, we enjoy wearing the warm, fuzzy hats, it makes a big difference as to how warm it makes me feel. I am now working on another hat, this time using a finer gauge knitting loom. The smaller gauge makes the stitches smaller and closer together.

While in town a few weeks ago, I went to a super WalMart, they had a pretty good selection of yarn, I purchased more yarn, another pattern book and a different set of knitting looms. The first set I ordered was a round loom set, this set I just purchased is rectangular shaped with about an inch opening between the rows. They also have a smaller gauge, the pegs are closer together and slightly smaller.

I am really enjoying working with my hands and making useful items. So far everyone who has seen our hats say that they would like to have one… I’m thinking about making hats, scarves and mittens as sets and selling them next fall/winter. These things will also make good gifts too. We’ll see what comes of it.

I have already figured out a couple of things to make the knitting go faster and smoother, one thing is I took an ink pen top apart, I enlarged the small hole with a hot nail, I thread the yarn through that and use it to load the yarn on the loom pegs. It works much better and faster than using just your fingers. The other thing Bob came up with, the knitting hook, this is what you use to pull and push the yarn loops over the pegs, the yarn tends to ride up the shaft of the knitting hook, I asked Bob if there was a way to re-bend the hook to add another “bump” on the hook so it would catch the yarn instead of allowing it to slide all the way up the shaft. I had an extra hook that came with one of the knitting loom kits I purchased, I gave it to Bob and told him that he could experiment with it, if it broke, it didn’t matter, I have several more just like it.

This hook came with a flexible plastic sleeve that covers and protects the tip, the sleeve is about an inch long and just fits over the tip. Most people remove those and throw them away, Bob slid the sleeve further down on the hook, the tip of the hook was sticking out about a half inch, this made a “lip” for the yarn to catch on. I tried it and it worked like a charm, so between those two tips, this knitting loom hobby should go lots faster for me, which is good, I don’t have a lot of patience for things that go too slow.

Now it’s been many months and many hats later, I have been back to town several times and purchased more yarn. It’s officially my hobby now. I have learned more stitches and how to put a nice crocheted edge on my projects, I never thought my crocheting knowledge would ever be put to good use, fortunately it’s all coming back to me. I know my mother would be proud.

I am considering making my own looms using wood frames and cotter pins, this way I can make whatever gauge and size I want, that’s a later project though. For now, I have what I need to make just about anything I want.

Yesterday I was in town and purchased some cotton yarn, I want to make wash cloths and hot pads, you need cotton for those, not acrylic. I decided that if I made all of those out of cotton, I’ll never accidentally grab the wrong one and burn myself or melt my washcloth thinking I can use it for a hot pad.

If you have ever wanted to knit, or tried and couldn’t do it, consider giving loom knitting a try, it’s easy, fun and you can make some very useful things. Do you loom knit? If so, leave a comment and tell me about it. :)