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DIY-Loom knitting

Looms for 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.

Loom knit hat

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.

Loom knit hats

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. :)




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10 Responses

  1. Hello. im new to loom knitting. i usually sew alot. can you advise me on some good tutorial books i can buy to help my child and i learn to loom. we are hands on learners, and a book with good picture instructions would help us alot. thank you Merry Christmas. -B

  2. I’m surprised to hear you say that loom knitting is faster than needle knitting or crochet. My experience is that it’s lot slower than needle knitting and can’t really be compared to crochet at all because they are two different ways of making fabric. But for me, crochet is even faster than needle knitting. I do agree that loom knitting might be good for someone who wants to knit but can’t use needles for some reason.

    1. Thanks Meg, for me loom knitting is faster. I do more crochet now, there are more options (for me) for patterns and such in crochet. I also suspect the speed of your knitting/crochet/loom knitting depends on your experience and skill levels.

      Wretha

  3. Thank you for your story about how your new passion came about. I am taking up loom knitting as well (already have round KK looms) and wish to make myself looms from some oak wood I have and need to order cotter pins- could you tell me what size please? thanks, kara

    1. Thanks Kara, unfortunately I know nothing about DIY looms using cotter pins, I’m sure if you did a search on line, you can find lots of links for that sort of thing.

      Wretha

  4. Wow, Wretha. You come up with the neatest stuff sometimes. Now I have another project to look forward to working on when I retire.

    BTW, I remember reading in Homepower magazine about a woman who created square and rectangular looms to make small rugs out of old t-shirts. She later made up smaller looms to use with plastic grocery-store bags to make stronger shopping bags and even over-size purses. I had thought about doing something like that, but I like your knitting looms better. :-)

    TheMajor’sLady

    1. Thanks TheMajor’sLady, it seems that I have infected quite a few people with the loom knitting bug. :) I’m working on a glasses case right now, learning a new stitch and how to make button holes.

  5. These looms are easy to use and you can whip up a scarf or hat in no time! I’ve even invented my own patterns for purses and slouch hats using the circle loom.

    I recently bought a large size loom to try my hand a afghans. Even for someone who doesn’t know how to knit at all, these are a great way to start. Once you learn more, you can vary your stitches and make more elaborate designs.

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