Loom Lore

2011 projects at a glance

2012-01-01T15:28:00.003-05:00

Taking the lead from June Gilbank from PlanetJune, I decided to make a photo montage of most of the projects I have completed during 2011. I say "most" of the projects, because this montage does not include eight baby hats I designed for Simplicity Creative Group. Also, not included are three UFO projects (Christmas Hat for my grandson, a baby blanket, an adult turtleback shrug) and another project that I have initiated in the past few days.

As you may have noticed, many of the projects pictured have not been featured in past blog posts. Copyright issues have become such a problem, that I refrain from posting many things that I would have gladly shared in the past. While I have never charged for anything, I do expect to be given credit when credit is due.

So, what's in store for 2012? I have no idea! I quit making resolutions many years ago, because I tend to be a "spontaneous" person who works on whatever inspires me at any given moment. If I make resolutions, I feel locked into a predetermined set of goals, laying inspiration aside, and then when the year is over I feel like a complete failure when I don't meet my original expectations.

So stay tuned and see what "mania" Loom Lore's wild ride will take in 2012.

Holiday projects

2011-12-20T00:17:00.000-05:00

I've been busy designing baby hats for Bernat, so I've not had much time for personal knitting. However, before the holidays zipped on by, I wanted to post some pictures of some of the little items I've done on the side over the past month or so. Unfortunately, I don't have time to include pattern instructions, but perhaps you can look at them for your own loom knitting inspiration.

Santa face pin or fridgie

Every since I first spied these crocheted Santa face motifs a couple of years ago, I've wanted to make something similar on the knitting loom. Well, I finally sit down and figured one out. I used 12 pegs of the 24-peg Knifty Knitter large gauge round loom for the most part with one strand of Red Heart Super Saver yarn. The mini-pompoms for the hat and nose were completed using a four-prong fork. These are so much fun to make!

Loom knitted snow flakes

The Yahoo Spoolknitter Group recently had a Snowflake Competition. There were some really creative snowflakes made mostly with I-cords. The following include some of my experiments:

Two more berets

I did these berets back in late October. Both were done on the Knifty Knitter large gauge round loom using one strand of chunky Loops & Threads Charisma. The gray one is based on a DROPS design called Basque.

The red beret below is an original design for a basic beret. Both berets are made sideways using short rows, but the brims are made after adding the body of the completed hat back to the loom.

Make your holidays be bright and joyful!!

Acorn tawashi

2011-11-23T21:41:00.001-05:00

The late night TV programming has been intriguing lately: Deadly Women, Snapped, Who the [Bleep] Did I Marry?, Wicked Attraction, and my favorite - Tangled ......I know, I know, strange mix. So what has that got to do with knitting? Well, the kids are in bed, hubby is asleep in front of the computer, my is dog curled next to me so now I can knit and solve crimes at the same time while the rest of the household sleeps.

One of my recent fun projects was a loom knitted version of a needle knitted pattern, Acorn Tawashi by Marte Fagervik from Ravelry. I made mine in the round on the Knifty Knitter Long Loom without the loom clips. I've found that omitting the loom clips and just crossing over to the opposite side of the long loom works great for items such as a tawashi or a potholder and it helps the finished item to lay flat.

My loom knit version is actually a very loose translation of the original version and there are a number of things I would change if I made another one. What I want to do is create a similar acorn, but with different proportions (i.e., shorter body, bigger cap, etc.). Perhaps if I paid more attention to my knitting and less attention to the TV the acorn would have worked out right the first time.

May the bounty of the season fill your heart and home!

Indian Corn Hot Pad

2011-11-07T02:19:00.000-05:00

Indian Corn Hot Pad or Potholder

Remember the Indian Corn project from last November, where I used the reverse side of the linen stitch to create the "Indian corn" look. Well, I liked this stitch so much that I decided to design a large (9 inches square) super thick Thanksgiving hot pad or potholder around it this year and I'm really pleased with the results.

The Indian Corn Hot Pad was designed for the 36-peg large gauge round loom, but could easily be adapted to any of the large gauge looms with an even number of pegs. Also, I used double worsted weight (8 ply) 100% cotton yarn by Peaches & Creme in Shaded Brown, which is the equivalent of using two strands of the regular 4 ply cotton yarn. The double worsted weight Peaches & Creme yarn is hard to find, but it is a joy to knit with on the large gauge looms.

Construction of this hot pad is a little different from any I've seen elsewhere. It is made in the round using the 36-peg large gauge round loom, but since the reverse side of the linen stitch was used for this project, I placed markers on pegs 18 & 36 and purled these pegs. When the hot pad was removed from the loom and turned inside out, the purled pegs formed a chained or braided stitch pattern along the sides which helps define and maintain the flat square shape. The tube is flattened and closed along the cast on and bind off edges using any form of grafting technique or slip stitch crochet. This is an easy way to create a super thick hot pad using a variety of stitch patterns that might otherwise be difficult to do a knitting board.

Indian Corn Hot Pad

Materials

Large gauge round looms with even number of pegs & loom tool
Yarn: 100% cotton worsted weight or double worsted weight in variegated shades of brown
2 stitch markers
Other supplies: scissors, crochet hook, yarn needle

Gauge: 8 stitches X 16 rows = 4 inches

Finished Size: 9 inches (36-peg loom); 7 inches (30-peg loom) or 6 inches (24-peg loom)

Linen Stitch Sequence (Modified for this this pattern. A detailed explanation of this stitch, which is typically used on an odd number of pegs, can be found in the Indian Corn pattern.)

Sequence A: k1, *sl1 wyif, k1; repeat from *
Sequence B: sl1 wyif, *k1, sl1 wyif; repeat from *

Close-up: Linen stitch reverse side

Instructions for 36-peg large gauge round loom

Place markers on pegs 18 and 36.
Cast on all pegs in the round using one strand of double weight or two strands of regular worsted weight cotton yarn.
Round 1: Work stitch sequence A on pegs 1-17; p1 on peg-18; work stitch sequence A on pegs 19-35; p1 on peg-36.
Round 2: Work stitch sequence B on pegs 1-17; p1 on peg-18; work stitch sequence B on pegs 19-35; p1 on peg-36.
Repeat Rounds 1 & 2 until hot pad measures 9 inches (approximately 36 rows) from the cast on edge.
Bind off loosely and remove from loom.
Turn knitted tube inside out since the inside will be considered the right side.
Shape into a double flat square by folding along the purled side stitches.
Close the cast on and bind off edges by either stitching using a yarn needle or slip stitch with a crochet hook.
Optional: Chain or I-cord a hanging loop in one of the top corners of the square.

Enjoy and use when things are too hot to handle!

Fleur-de-lis Jack

2011-10-30T20:32:00.002-04:00

Happy Halloween

from Loom Lore!

My grandson's jack-o-lantern was carved as part of the local Boy Scout's Pumpkin Carving Contest - thus the "fleur de lis" face.

This is "Trixie", the little witch with a "magnetic" personality. She was knitted on a little spool loom as my contribution for the October Halloween Fridge Magnet Competition on the Yahoo Spoolknitter Group.

Baby Gran Afghan

2011-09-18T14:16:00.001-04:00

About a year ago I taught a class in Yahoo's LoomClass where the featured project was a motif I designed called the Baby Gran Squares. Today I want to share with you a beautiful afghan that Swapna Biswas, one of my star students, has recently completed. Swapna describes the afghan as follows:

I used Brenda's Baby Gran Square for the 24-peg large gauge round loom
Each completed motif was a 3.75 inches square
165 squares were used (11 squares wide X 15 squares long)
With a crocheted border added, the afghan is 4 ft. wide X 6 ft. long

Here are additional pictures of Swapna's "loomchet" afghan:

Individual motifs ready for joining

Close-up view of afghan

Crocheted border

Great job, Swapna!! Thank you for sharing your project pictures.

Patriot Pin

2011-07-02T13:15:00.004-04:00

The Patriot Pin is a quick-knit just in time for July 4th. So simple to make, but very festive! Here's how:

Size: 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter

Materials

Knifty Knitter Flower Loom
Loom pick
Red Heart Super Saver yarn in red, white and blue
Crochet hook or yarn needle to secure yarn tails
Small sequin star or button for center

Note: Pin was worked in a counterclockwise direction in the round using one strand of yarn with the indicated colors and the 12-peg loom. The direction you work in really doesn't matter, but is stated here for clarification of the bind off explanation.

Instructions

Cast on using the drawstring method (see Techniques in right sidebar).
Rnd 1: Flat knit all pegs.
Rnd 2-3: Change to white; flat knit both rounds.
Rnd 4: Change to red; flat knit all pegs.
BO using an I-cord Picot method as follows:
1.) Bring the working yarn from the last peg knitted and wrap it across the next two pegs as pictured below.

Flat knit the bottom loops over the working yarn on these two pegs.

2.) Reach below the first peg knitted and lift the strand of yarn onto the peg; knit off. (This removes the gap between the last row and the picot bind off edge.)

3.) Continue wrapping the working yarn across both pegs and knitting off three more times. After completing the last I-cord stitch, the working yarn will be at the second peg.

4.) Lift the loop from the second peg, place it on the first peg and knit the bottom loop over the top loop. Return this loop to the second peg.

(Note for peg-1 only: After binding off peg-1, reach down and lift the base of the I-cord stitch and place it back on peg-1. This will be used when knitting the last I-cord picot stitch at the end of the row.)

5.) Bring the working yarn from behind the current peg, wrap across the current peg and the next peg.

Flat knit the bottom loops over the working yarn on these two pegs.

6.) Repeat steps 2-5 until one loop remains on peg-12. Cut the working yarn and pull the ending yarn tail through the last loop. Use a crochet hook to fasten the ending I-cord stitch into bind off edge.
Cinch the drawstring cast on tightly; knot to secure and trim.
Add the sequined star or star shaped button to the center. (Note: I found my sequined stars near the scrapbook section at Michael's.)

Now you are ready to attach a pin to the back and wear with pride!!

May you have an awesome 4th of July!!!

Quick can koozies

2011-05-28T12:32:00.000-04:00

Whether you call it koozie, coozie, cozie, kozie, huggie or holder, this is the perfect warm weather project for the loom knitter. Made using Red Heart Super Saver Economy yarn on the 24-peg large gauge round loom (Blue Knifty Knitter), the basic project works up in about an hour or so from start to finish. While I used patriotic colors, any combination of colors, both variegated or solids could be used. These could also be embellished with duplicate stitch embroider to personalize or add a team logo.

Cotton is a wonderful absorbent fiber, but I prefer using 100% acrylic instead of cotton for the koozies. One of the reasons is the acrylic knit dries more quickly than cotton without the worry of mold or mildew. Also, wet circles on tables and other surfaces where cans/bottles are set results from condensation running down the sides to the bottom of the can. The knit can koozie hugs the can preventing the moisture from running to the bottom - instead it is disbursed through the knit stitches in the koozie and evaporates evenly around the side surfaces of the can. Cotton is absorbent and will not allow the moisture to evaporate as quickly as the acrylic, so the cotton will remain damp longer.

Anatomy of a can koozie

To reduce the bulk on the bottom of the koozie, a single stand of yarn is used for the drawstring cast on (see Loom Knitting Techniques in the right sidebar) and the first three rows. A second strand is added on row four and the remainder of the project is knitted using two strands as one. A garter stitch pattern is used in rows six to eleven to create the rim along the bottom of the can. After completing the bottom garter stitch rim, the body of the koozie is done completely in a flat knit stitch. I usually close the drawstring cast on edge sometime after row fifteen or sixteen. As you can see, the bottom begins to take shape:

To match the bottom rim, the top rim is finished using six more rows of garter stitch pattern and then a basic flat panel bind off is done along the top edge. Below is a bottom view of the completed can koozie:

This koozie will not only fit on a 12 ounce drink can, but it also fits many brands of water bottles. Below is a picture of the koozie on a 20 ounce Vitaminwater Zero bottle.

Fresh off the press, the pattern can by accessed in the Pattern Box on the right or by clicking the link: Quick Can Koozie.

Here's is a little trivia - just in case you are in doubt about the spelling of "koozie", which seems to be anybody's guess. I had seen it spelled so many different ways that I had to research this one before deciding on which spelling to use. I googled it four different ways: cozie, coozie, kozie & koozie. Here are the results:

cozie: This resulted in assorted images, a few of the things like I made (beer bottle covers, toaster cover, etc.) but most relate to other topics as a derivative of the word "cozy". However, the most disturbing was how the Urban Dictionary defines cozie: "An underage girl who loves dressing like a ho (hozy) but her main focus is trying to get cozy with older men; they can usually be found in groups of 2 or 3 sitting at the bus stop but never catching the bus. Example: Check out those cozies sitting at the bus stop. They must be 13 years old!!"
coozie: Google asked did I mean "koozie". However, this is a viable alternate spelling since the can & bottle covers come up in abundance in the images section.
kozie: Kozie chrbty (Slovak, literally "goat ridges") are a mountainous area in Slovakia, part of the Carpathian Mountains, where uranium ore may be found. The images section show smiling goats, mountains, a few things I had rather not have seen, and only one can cover.
koozie: Wikipedia actually has an entry for Beer koozie and there is a site dedicated just to the Beer Koozie. Also, just about all the images for this spelling display the can & bottle covers, so, this is why I decided on the "koozie" spelling as the one of choice.

Who knew knitting can/bottle covers could be so educational?

Baby Gran hexagons

2011-05-14T13:08:00.001-04:00

24-peg Baby Gran Hexagon Motif

Better late than never! Here are the Baby Gran Hexagon motifs that were originally offered in Yahoo's Loom Class Group about a year ago as a bonus pattern for those who completed the Baby Gran Squares. Of all the motifs I've designed, these are among my favorites. The hexagon shape is well suited to the simulated granny design and produce very symmetric motifs that fit together well.

As with the Baby Gran squares, the hexagons come in two sizes. The 24-peg Baby Gran Hexagon motif (pictured above) is made on the 24-peg Knifty Knitter round loom and measures approximately 5 inches at the widest point. The 12-peg Baby Gran Hexagon motif (pictured below) is made on the 12-peg Knifty Knitter flower loom and it is about 3.5 inches at the widest point.

12-peg Baby Gran Hexagon Motif

These little motifs are so versatile and portable, plus they are great stash busters. Here are a few examples of projects made with the hexagon motifs:

Pincushions
Floral Hexagon Bag
Tote Bag
Hexagon Baby Ball
Scarf
Afghan
Bag-Basket
Amigurumi Turtles: Taylor Turtle & Sea Turtle

I would love to see your Baby Gran Hex projects!

Baby Gran squares

2011-04-10T19:41:00.006-04:00

12-peg Baby Gran Square (3 inches)

Here's another type of granny squares that I designed for the Knifty Knitter Looms and taught in Yahoo's Loom Class Group almost a year ago. I call these little squares, "Baby Gran" squares, because they are smaller than standard granny squares. Please note that these squares are made totally different from the original Granny-On-The-Loom Squares (GOTL). The GOTL squares are actual crochet stitches that are produced using two pegs on the knitting loom instead of a crochet hook. The Baby Gran squares are made using knit stitches that simulate crochet and incorporate all the pegs on the loom.

24-peg Baby Gran Square (4.5 inches)

The Baby Gran squares include two designs, a Baby Gran Square12 and a Baby Grand Square24. The 12-peg square incorporates the Knifty Knitter 12-peg Flower Loom and produces a 3 inch square. The 24-peg square is made on the 24-peg Blue Knifty Knitter round loom, which produces a 4.5 inch square. These can be made in solids or muliti-colors and assembled into afghans, blankets, bags, shawls or incorporated as trim on other projects. This is a fun, portable project, plus a great stash buster!

I did approximately 60 of these little motifs when I was designing this project and every one of them looks different from the others, because I was constantly making changes in stitches, yarn or improving techniques used in creating them. I promise that the more you make, the better they look, so don't give up on your first few attempts.

Assorted Baby Gran Squares

My next blog post will feature the Baby Gran Hexagon motifs. So stay tuned!

Irish Washerwoman and other squares

2011-03-12T03:40:00.000-05:00

Since St. Patrick's Day is around the corner and in honor of my Celtic heritage, I decided to knit a square using Sugar 'n Cream Lime Stripes. The results is the Irish Washerwoman square, named after the traditional Irish jig. This is a fast-paced little melody that you will most likely recognize when you hear it played in the video below:

The Irish Washerwoman eight inch square was knit using two strands of yarn on eighteen pegs of the Knifty Knitter 24-peg blue loom and incorporating what I call the 2-peg stitch, which is a variation of the mock crochet stitch. Oddly enough, this square can be knit to the beat of its namesake, but I strongly advise a version with a little slower pace. The 2-peg stitch has become a favorite of mine over the past couple of years since it produces a nice stitch pattern with edges that don't roll. Since I use this stitch frequently, I also developed a special cast on and bind off that matches the stitch pattern. In addition to the Irish Washerwoman square, I used the same stitch pattern with one strand of Loops & Threads Charisma chunky yarn in Sunny Day. The square below is a 10 inch square made using all 24 pegs of the Knifty Knitter blue loom. This square will be part of my Caribbean Dreams afghan:

I had been on a "squares" kick for the past couple of weeks, prior to knitting the Irish Washerwoman cloth and the Caribbean Dreams square. This was triggered by Kelly Jones latest LoomClass offering, Andalusian Washcloth. Although this pattern was recommended for a fine gauge loom, I had decided to try it out on a larger gauge loom, mainly because fine gauge knitting tends to cause numbness in my hands. The Andalusian results are pictured below:

The smaller sherbet colored cloth on the left was made on the CindWood 1/2" gauge loom with one strand of Sugar'n Cream Over-the-Rainbow yarn. Using one strand on the regular gauge loom probably accounts for it's distorted hour-glass shape. The larger cloth was made using all the pegs on the Knifty Knitter 24-peg blue loom and two strands of Sugar "n Cream. I added a one inch garter stitch border to the beginning and end of the cloth. I actually meant to do a garter stitch border along the sides, but I didn't think of it until I had knit about 10 rows, so it only has a slip stitch border on the sides.

I've thought of another little project I would like to do for St. Patrick's Day, but as the old Irish saying goes:

“You'll never plow a field by turning it over in your mind!”

Pansies

2011-03-01T23:00:00.002-05:00

Pansies

~ Sarah Doudney (1843-1926), English Novelist ~

I send thee pansies while the year is young,
Yellow as sunshine, purple as the night;
Flowers of remembrance, ever fondly sung
By all the chiefest of the Sons of Light;
And if in recollection lives regret
For wasted days and dreams that were not true,
I tell thee that the "pansy freak'd with jet"
Is still the heart's ease that the poets knew
Take all the sweetness of a gift unsought,
And for the pansies send me back a thought.

I had intended on posting this pattern almost a year ago. However, I wrote the pattern for the pansies about the time I lost Shandy, my Maltese, and little did I know that would be one of several other personal loses during the year. I was so grieve-stricken that I didn't blog much until fall and that didn't seem like a good time to blog about pansies. So now, with spring just around the corner, I decided to do the "pansy" post.

These bright little flowers are made of five individual petals, two large and three small, all knitted as flat panels on the Knifty Knitter Spool Loom. They are a little fiddly to make, but the biggest obstacle to overcome is mastering the color changes which is explained in the Pansies pattern. Designing these colorful little flowers, also called Heartsease, has brought me much happiness through those who have enjoyed making them.

If you have an inquiring mind, you can learn a little pansy history from these sites:

I hope you enjoy making these as much as I have. Remember, comments are always welcome!

Spool Knitted Valentine

2011-02-14T11:28:00.001-05:00

Spool knitted Bunny Valentine

The Yahoo Spoolknitting Group recently had a Two-in-One competition in celebration of their fourth year as a group and Valentine's Day. To join the competition, group members had to create a group Anniversary/Valentine card that incorporated some type of spool knitting. I'm elated to announce that out of all the wonderful entries, my Bunny Valentine (pictured above) was the winning entry and this is what I won (isn't she gorgeous?):

Elodie Rouge French Knitter

Components of The Bunny Valentine were created by manipulating I-cords knitted on the Knifty Knitter Spool Loom and using fabric adhesive to attach them to decorative card stock. Here is a breakdown of the yarn and the number of pegs used for each component:

Celtic hearts border: sports weight yarn in rose knitted on four pegs.
Bunny: white bouclé yarn; body & head done on five pegs using combination e-wrap & flat knit; legs, arms & ears were done on two pegs. Eyes & heart were embroidered with a French Knot nose added.
Rose bud: red worsted weight knit as a flat panel on four pegs.
Rose leaves: green worsted weight wool knit as flat panel using four pegs & decreasing to one peg.
Rose stem & Violet stem: green worsted weight wool on two pegs.
Violets: worsted weight yarn in blue/purple done on three pegs, knitted for 3 inches, joined in a "doughnut" circle, gathered in the center of the circle and add a yellow French knot in the center.

I would like to take a moment to thank two special ladies who promote the art of spool knitting. First of all, a big "thank you" to Marion Clark (aka Maz), our fearless group leader, for organizing the competitions and maintaining the Yahoo Spoolknitting Group. Be sure and drop by Maz's blog, Spool Knitter for more information on spool knitting. Last, but definitely not least, I would like to thank Noreen Crone-Findlay, a renown fiber artist (Tottie Talks Crafts & Crone-Findlay Creations), and owner of the Yahoo Spoolknitting Group. Noreen, whose creativity is boundless, has been instrumental in reviving an interest in spool knitting over the years.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Now give someone you love a hug!

Love is in the air

2011-02-10T15:29:00.003-05:00

After having fun with the Lovebugs, here are a few more Double Hearts projects for Valentine's Day. The first super simple project (actually more of an idea than a project) features two of the medium-sized Double Hearts attached to an I-cord. Doing this allows you to use a Lark's Head Knot and attach them wherever you like. A full explanation of the the medium-sized Double Hearts, I-cord and Lark's Head Knot are included in a modified pattern call Heartstrings.

My good friend Althea Burger sent me two more Valentine projects that she created using the Double Hearts pattern, too. The first isn't a new pattern at all, but a modification of two previous patterns, the Double Hearts and Ghost Angel. Here the Valentine Angel is knitted in pink and features the matching pink Double Hearts for her wings and a red heart for the heart in her hands.

Althea's other creation using the Double hearts is called Love Birds. Below are pictures of two different versions of the Love Birds, along with Althea's directions for making them.

Lovebirds on the Loom

Materials:

Pink or red "Double Heart"
2 plastic eggs 2.35 inches
Knifty Knitter Flower Loom 12 pegs
Small amount of white 4 ply yarn (the yarn I used with silver thread though it does not stretch well on the loom and I don't recommend it, but it's pretty)
Small amount of gold or yellow 4 ply yarn for beak.
Small amount of black 4 ply yarn for eyes.
2 Styrofoam balls 1 inch (25 mm)
Yarn Needle

Body

Use flower loom and drawstring cast on. Knit for 10 rows and cinch the CO edge closed. Hide ends.
Knit for 18 more rows leave 12 inch tail. Use yarn needle to remove from loom and place the plastic egg and a Styrofoam ball inside piece before drawing up the end. The Styrofoam ball for the head should rest on top the larger end of the egg. Do not cut yarn.

Head

Use the tail of yarn from the body and yarn needle to thread yarn through piece, up and under ball and around it to make the neck. Draw it up tight and tie off.

Tail

Cut 15 inch piece of yarn (if using yarn with silver thread though it, remove silver strand first). Fold the yarn in half twice.
Use small amount of yarn to tie the folded pieces in the center.
Sew this to the smaller end of egg for the tail. Cut the loops.
Use needle to separate yarn strands to make them fluff. Trim to whatever length you want.
Do the same with a smaller piece of yarn for the top of the head. Fluff that too.

Beak

Use gold or yellow and just sew a few stitches on bird's face and then using same piece of yarn sew other bird's beak (so they are attached and look like they are kissing). Tie off.

Eyes

Use a small piece of black yarn, separate it into 2 ply strands and make French knots or you can leave the faces blank or even make eyes with a black marker. I found I can hide my yarn ends by pushing the yarn needle right through the Styrofoam ball and cut off excess yarn.

Heart

Make red or pink Double Heart from pattern and add to front of birds. You could attach it with yarn or glue it. It should also help the birds to stand up.

May your Valentine's Day be filled with lots of crafty love!

Lovebugs

2011-01-29T19:45:00.006-05:00

Sparky Lovebug

When a Valentine project was needed for Loom Class, I was asked to do the Double Hearts pattern. Originally, the Double Hearts pattern was intended to be a springboard for other projects, so I suggested some of the projects that incorporate the Double Hearts instead. One of these projects from my design book was a little amigurumi lovebug, "Sparky", pictured above. He is actually version 2 of his somewhat fatter cousin, "Lotsa", pictured below.

Lotsa Lovebug, front & back

"Sparky" Lovebug is four inches tall and the original "Lotsa" Lovebug (above) is just a bit taller at five inches. The main difference in the two is Lotsa's body was made as a continuation of the head on the 12-peg Knifty Knitter Flower Loom. Sparky's head is made identical to Lotsa's, but his smaller body was made on the 8-peg end of the Knifty Knitter Spool Loom and included an extra stripe. Both versions use the Double Heart pattern completed using 5 pairs of pegs on the Knifty Knitter Long Loom.

The Lovebugs pattern, which includes both versions, is located in the Pattern Box on the right or by clicking the link at the beginning of the sentence. Hope you can join us next week in Loom Class (Jan 31-Feb 5, 2011)!

Postcard from the loom

2011-01-16T23:08:00.000-05:00

Front of the postcard

Look what I got in the mail - a beautiful loom knitted postcard from my loomy friend, Vanessa Soto in Florida. Vanessa is one of those rare people that has the ability to see beyond the boundaries imposed by mainstream thinking and instead of asking "why", she proceeds with a "why not" attitude. This postcard is just one example of her creative fiber artwork.

The background of the postcard is knitted with a garter stitch using Michael's Loops & Threads Charisma yarn. The basic design is needle felted with worsted weight and textured yarns. Other related multimedia items are glued in place and chipboard is added to the reverse side to create a writing surface. Due to the dimensional nature of the postcard and the possibility of it being damaged in the mail, the card was mailed in a small brown envelope.

Currently, Vanessa is developing a tutorial for making loom knitted postcards. The tutorial will be offered through the Yahoo Loom Class Group in early spring. In the meantime, my lovely fiber postcard will reside in a special shadowbox for all to admire.

Back of the postcard

Cold facts

2010-12-30T00:09:00.003-05:00

The visiting snowmen face some cold facts...

"Where's the snow? Someone said there was snow in Georgia and we made this trip for nothing....."

Yes, sadly all the beautiful Christmas snow has melted!

(Snowmen & photo compliments of Amy & Joe Duffey;
pattern based on Althea Burger's Little Snowmen)

Snowflakes & peppermint

2010-12-25T18:45:00.005-05:00

Merry Christmas from LoomLore!

What a beautiful snowy Christmas Day, which gave me a chance to pop on my old Peppermint Twist hat and my new favorite Peppermint Candy Cane scarf for a little playtime in the snow.

The scarf, completed two days ago, is made with one strand each of Lion Brand Jiffy True Red & Crisp White on a 15 peg one-half inch gauge round CindDWood loom. Since the stripes are two stitches wide and the loom has an odd number of pegs, the diagonal stripes are formed by continually flat knitting knitting two pegs with a red strand of yarn and knitting the next two pegs with a white strand of yarn. Knitting two or more colors where the color changes occur within a few stitches of each other is referred to as color stranding and creates a double thick fabric. When using the color stranding method, it is imperative to keep the yarn from twisting, so as I knitted the two-stitch stripes, I kept the red strand on top and the white strand on bottom.

I couldn't decide if I wanted to add a tassel or pompom to each end of the scarf, so I never did either one. This was a fun project and I plan on making some more of these little color stranded tube scarves and perhaps explore new color patterns.

All my best to you during the Holiday Season!

It's still snowing!

Snowman TP Cozy

2010-12-15T18:03:00.001-05:00

Christmas is my favorite time to create new little loomed lovelies for the holiday; however, I've been hard at work on pattern revisions for publication, so I've not had much time to blog. In the meantime, my good friend Althea Burger sent me her latest creation for the Knifty Knitter Looms, a cute little snowman toilet paper cozy. This little loom knitted cutie was inspired from the crocheted versions from Mary Maxim, but I really like Althea's knitted version much better. The Snowman TP Cozy pattern is listed below or it is available as a PDF file in the Pattern Box on the right. Be sure to post a "thank you" to Althea for sharing this pattern in time for the holiday season!

Althea's Snowman TP Cozy

Size: About 10 inches high

Materials

Looms: 31 peg large gauge knitting loom for the snowman (red Knifty Knitter loom was used) and 8 peg spool loom for scarf
Yarn: worsted weight in white, burgundy and orange
Size E crochet hook
White craft thread & needle
3 large buttons for body
2 small buttons for eyes
Yarn needle
Large white pom pom
Fiberfill stuffing
Roll of toilet paper

DIRECTIONS

Body & Head
"E wrap" on the 31 peg loom with white yarn for 38 rows. Pull up loomed edge to hook the loops onto pegs and make a very long "brim". Continue to "E wrap" for the head for 16 more rows. Slightly stuff the head part and tie it off.

Hat
With burgundy yarn,"E wrap" on the 31 peg loom 10 rows, make a brim, then continue to knit 12 more rows. Tie off. Add pom pom.

Scarf
With burgundy yarn, on spool loom, drawstring cast on flat knit for about 25 inches (closing the CO after knitting about six rows). Do a gathered BO. Cut, tie & secure the yarn tails. Stretch it out a little to set the knit stitches.

Nose
Row 1: Using orange yarn and E crochet hook chain 2, sc in second ch from hook. Chain 1, turn.
Row 2: 2 sc in st, ch 1, turn (2)
Row 3: 2 sc in each st, ch 1, turn.(4)
Row 4: 2 sc in first st, sc in next two sts, 2 sc in last st. (6)

Finishing
Cut yarn leaving a tail. Fold piece lengthwise and use yarn needle to sew up the sides to make pointed carrot-like nose. Sew to center of face. Using craft thread and small needle sew large buttons on front of body and small buttons on face for eyes. Tie scarf around neck area. Place hat on head, stretch it a little if necessary.

Indian Corn

2010-11-05T23:45:00.002-04:00

Someone on Yahoo's Knifty Knitter Group recently asked if you could make Indian corn on the knitting looms similar to Alicia Kachmar's crocheted design that she describes in her blog post, "It's never too late for Indian corn." I had actually saved the link to Kachmar's Indian corn post over a year ago and had tried to work out a stitch pattern that would look acceptable on the knitting loom. At that time, things just didn't click and I moved on to the next project at hand. When the subject came up again, I decided to give this project another shot.

First, deciding on the stitch pattern was the key to making the corn look like corn. After searching several needle knitting sites, I settled on the wrong side of what's known as the "linen stitch." The next thing was to translate the stitch pattern to the looms and decide on which loom to use. Since this stitch required an odd number of pegs and I planned on working it in the round, the five-peg end of the Knifty Knitter Spool Loom became the loom of choice. After working out the translation, everything sort of fell into place. Here is an expanded explanation of the linen stitch for the 5-peg loom:

Linen Stitch

Rnd 1: Flat Knit peg-1, pass the yarn in front of peg-2 without knitting; flat knit peg-3, pass the yarn in front of peg-4 without knitting; flat knit peg-5.

Rnd 2: Pass the yarn in front of peg-1 without knitting which will leave two sets of yarn strands on this peg, flat knit peg-2; pass the yarn in front of peg-3, flat knit peg-4; end row by passing the yarn in front of the peg-5.

Repeat rounds 1 & 2 until you reach the desired length.

**Note: On pegs with 3 loops, knit 2 bottom loops over top loop.

Kachmar recommended using Lion Brand Homespun yarn for her crocheted corn. I tried the Homespun on several ears of knitted corn, but quickly discovered that I preferred Red Heart Classic or Red Heart Super Saver using one strand of solid with one strand of variegated yarn in autumn colors. Also, don't be tempted by the self-striping yarn, because it doesn't change colors quick enough to work properly with the little three to four inch ears of corn. You'll soon discover that trying different yarn color combinations is fun and addictive with this project. You really can't tell how the colors are going to work until the corn ear has been knitted and turned so the wrong side becomes the right side.

The Indian Corn pattern is available as a PDF file here, or in the Pattern Box on the right. It will also be offered as a class project on Yahoo's Loom Class during this upcoming week (November 7-13, 2010). Kudos to Alicia Kachmar for the inspiration for this project!

Specs, the amigurumi owl

2010-10-24T21:12:00.001-04:00

Guess whooooo's flying your way for an autumn loom-along at Yahoo's Loom Class? Meet Specs, the little amigurumi owl, who is made on the Knifty Knitter Flower & Spool looms. Specs, standing about four inches tall, was especially designed for this week's Loom Class (October 24-30, 2010).

I have also added the pattern to my Pattern Box on the right or you can download the pattern here. However, many times we cover topics and questions during class time that aren't always covered in the pattern instructions. So, come on over and join us while we make a parliament of owls!

My lil' punkin

2010-10-20T15:44:00.001-04:00

What would an autumn be without a pumpkin hat for the newest member of the family? When I first started loom knitting back in 2006, I made a very basic little pumpkin hat for Will & Kate, my now four year old twin grandchildren. In keeping with tradition, I wanted to design an updated version for their new brother, Luke (picture above).

The Lil' Punkin Hat features a one inch rolled brim and six sections divided by a line of purl stitches. This project was made on the Knifty Knitter long green loom using loom clips to create the 42 pegs used for the body of the hat. Using the loom clips to decrease created a smoother top and allowed the stem to be knitted directly into the hat.

To add some finishing touches, a leaf made on the Knifty Knitter Flower Loom and a curly tendril made on 18 pegs of the KK long loom were each knitted separately and stitched to the top of the hat to complete the little pumpkin. The pattern is listed in the Pattern Box on the right as Punpkin Hat with Leaf & Tendril.

Althea's trick-or-treat trio

2010-10-14T00:15:00.001-04:00

My good friend, Althea Burger, contacted me last week to show me all her new Halloween creations. She graciously sent me the patterns for the "Trick-or-Treat Trio" to share with the Loom Lore blog readers. I just finished formatting and uploading them so they would be available in time Halloween. The patterns are listed in the right sidebar Pattern Box, or you can click on the link included with this post as follows:

These are quick and easy projects that are made using either the Knifty Knitter Flower Loom or the Spool Loom. Thank you, Althea, for sharing your talent!

Luke has arrived!

2010-09-07T23:11:00.057-04:00

Our brand new grandson, Luke, arrived bright and early Monday morning, September 6, weighing 9 lb. 1.3 oz and 21 inches long.

"To the world you may be one person

But to us you are the world."

Happy Birthday, Luke!!! The world is your oyster!

Adjustable cast on

2010-08-22T13:53:00.007-04:00

One of the problems loom knitters inevitably encounter is mismatched cast on and bind off edges. On some projects (hats, toys, novelty items, etc.) having mismatched beginning and ending edges is not that important; however, on items where both edges show (scarves, wristers, squares, etc.) having matching edges is desired for a more polished look.

In the past I've tried various cast on and bind off methods in which I could either make the cast on edge a bit tighter and loosen up the bind off edge. With the exception of mitered squares, this resulted in edges that sort of matched on most projects. However, mitered squares are unique since they are created by knitting diagonally. Therefore, the cast on edge forms two sides of the square and the other two sides of the square are formed by the end of rows that continually decrease at the diagonal center of the square. To those who are not familiar with making mitered squares on the the loom, you might want to read Denise Layman's blog post, Mitered Square Magic. I've never written up directions for the method I use to create mitered squares, but except for the cast on and center decrease method my squares are similar to those described in Denise's post.

After pondering various possibilities, I decided to adapt my drawstring cast on that is used primarily for round knitting into a flat panel adjustable cast on. This is the results when used on a mitered square with the adjustable cast on featured along the dark brown edges (please pardon the Chihuahua hair) :

If you have ever made a mitered square on the loom, your square was probably more diamond shaped than square. The adjustable cast on allows you to "square up" the diamond and change it into a true square. Are you interested yet? Trust me, you're going to love it!

Adjustable cast on for flat panel loom knitting

(Working from left to right using one strand of Bernat Softee Chunky Yarn)

Step 1: Reach through the center of the loom and tie a slip knot on the anchor peg. DO NOT slip knot a peg that will be included in the knitted item, because this will not allow you to adjust the cast on edge later on.

Step 2: Use either the original method or the alternate method of the drawstring cast on to cast on the desired number of pegs (see Loom Knitting Techniques in the right sidebar). For simplicity, I'm using the alternate method. The first picture below shows where the working yarn has been cast onto an even number of pegs (10 pegs).

Step 1 and 2: Slip knot anchor peg and weave yarn onto pegs.

Step 3: After weaving the yarn in a zigzag fashion across the desired number of pegs, turn on the last peg and lay the working yarn across the pegs, knit off the odd pegs and do yarn over on the even pegs. The first set of pictures below illustrate what this looks like if you have cast on an even number of pegs and the second set of pictures feature a cast on using an odd number of pegs.

Step 3 illustrating even number of pegs

Step 3 illustrating odd number of pegs

Step 4: Continue knitting off the odd pegs and YO on even pegs until all pegs have been cast on.

Step 4 showing completed cast on

Step 5: Knit the required number of rows and work a basic flat panel bind off. The picture below shows the completed swatch with the adjustable cast on at the bottom and the bind off at the top.

Step 5 showing cast on at the bottom and bind off at the top

Step 6: Adjust the cast on edge by pulling on the beginning yarn tail until the cast on edge matches the bind off edge.

Step 6a, adjusting the cast on edge

Step 6b, adjust the cast on edge until it matches the bind off edge

Step 7: When the beginning and ending edges match, secure the beginning yarn tail by slip knotting it into place, trim the excess yarn tail and weave the remaining yarn tail into the fabric.

Step 7, securing the beginning yarn tail

Step 8 (number of perfection): Admire your perfectly matched edges.


Step 8, showing matched cast on and bind off edges

I've also added the Adjustable Cast On instructions to the Loom Knitting Techniques as a PDF file.

New loom knit book

2010-07-29T13:36:00.018-04:00

Back at the first of the year, I was contacted by a representative of Boye's division of Simplicity Creative Group to design, knit and write loom knitting patterns for a new book in Boye's "I taught myself to..." series. While very exciting, I discovered that I only had a few weeks to complete the task. However, this was such a wonderful opportunity that I couldn't past it up. So, I proceeded with the speed of the Tasmanian Devil and this is the results:

Since it is one in a series of books and Boye made other arrangements for the DVD and the instructional portion of the book, my name appears on the inside front cover as the projects designer:

Projects range from easy to intermediate and include: sachet bags, lacy scarf & matching hat, hooded scarf with tassels, sports bottle cozy, belt, leafy flower, basic hat in three brim styles (rolled, hemmed & ear flap), hot pads, seamless handbag, baby blanket, drop stitch shawl and a panda bear toy.

The book is slowly making it's way into the craft's section of Walmart stores across the country. If you don't find it the first time you visit your local store, please check back periodically. They just started stocking it in our Villa Rica, GA store yesterday and it's been a month since the book was released.

I hope you enjoy the projects as much as I enjoyed creating them. If you have questions, find errors, or run into problems, feel free to contact me using the email link in my blog profile page.

Update: This book is now available from the Boye/Simplicity Creative Group site.

Finishline

2010-04-16T16:05:00.002-04:00

Shandy (1994-2010)

My sweet Shandy went to eternal sleep in my arms this morning at 9:30 a.m.. I can't imagine life without him. My heart is breaking, but at least I know he is not suffering anymore.

Shrug for the princess

2010-04-13T00:29:00.001-04:00

Princess Katie modeling her Turtle-back Shrug

When I first saw the book, Easy Turtleback Jackets, I wanted to try the concept out on the knitting looms, so when Princess Katie, my granddaughter, needed a little something extra to go with her "Cinderella" Easter dress this gave me a chance to adapt the basic principles of the turtle-back shrug to the knitting loom. Of course, anytime you adapt patterns to the looms you have to test various yarns with different looms to determine what you think will work best. Since this was a springtime project, I didn't want to use double strands of yarn so I decided on using one strand of Bernat Softee Chucky. I test knitted approximately four different swatches using various looms and stitch patterns before settling on the 62 peg blue Knifty Knitter Long Loom and a modified version of the honeycomb or box stitch.

Shrug, front view

The basic guidelines for knitting a "turtle-back" are to knit a square based on chest measurements using some type of rib knit. Also, the first and last inch or so must be in a looser gauge than the main body of the square. To satisfy the design guidelines, I used the regular e-wrapped version of the box stitch for the beginning and ending inch and a flat knit version of the box stitch for the main body. If you look at the pictures above and below, you can see the larger gauge stitches along the collar and bottom edge.

Shrug, back view

I formed the sleeves openings by folding the 20 inch square in half and stitching from the bottom edges about half way up along both sides. Once the side stitches were complete, the shrug magically transformed into it's turtle-back shape. You can't imagine how happy I was at this point, because all the time I was knitting the square I simply couldn't imagine it would turn into a wearable shape. However, Princess Katie proves in the picture above that a square can live happily ever after!

Granny-on-the-loom

2010-03-24T22:57:00.007-04:00

Last June, I started exploring translating concentric crochet techniques on the knitting looms which resulted in several different coaster designs. The first attempt was Patriotic Coasters, followed by Watermelon Coasters, Sunflower Coasters, August Sun Coaster and finally Hexagonal Granny. All of these designs just mimicked crochet stitches, but each one took me a little closer to what I was trying to achieve - to translate actual crochet stitches on the knitting looms. At the time I had so many things going on that I didn't have time to just sit down and physically experiment with the looms, so I did a lot of mental knitting. It's a wonder that I didn't have a wreck, because I knitted in my mind while driving, in doctor's waiting rooms, in lines, at government buildings, on long weekend drives and laying in the bed at night. All this resulted in the Granny's Rose square and a new technique I fondly call "loomchet" was born.

When I first completed the Granny's Rose, which produced actual crochet stitches on the knitting looms, I had hoped the tutorial would be ready by last September. However, I'm a champion procrastinator and extremely absent-minded which is a recipe for disaster. It would probably be lost and forgotten had it not been for Kelly Jones from Kelly Knits, who stayed after me to complete the tutorial for the loomed granny squares. She also test knitted and proofread the tutorial for me. This is Kelly's granny square scarf she made for her husband's grandmother. (BTW - The loomed granny square scarf was Kelly's first experience with crochet of any kind.)

The Granny-on-the-Loom Tutorial is listed under Loom Knitting Techniques in the right sidebar. As stated in the tutorial:

This tutorial will show you how to make a simple granny square by incorporating two pegs on the Knifty Knitter Looms to produce crochet stitches. This technique is presented to you as an alternative way of crocheting for those who either never learned how to crochet or for those who experience pain when crocheting using conventional methods. It is also a handy technique for quick embellishments when loom knitting. Word of warning, like any new technique, the two peg stitch technique is a bit fiddly, but the results are well worth the effort.

For best results, gather your supplies and find a quiet spot, then work through it as you read the tutorial. It is not a difficult technique, but it does require a hands on approach. Hopefully, there will be a video demo before too long. In the meantime, be good to your granny!

Shamrocks

2010-03-15T01:52:00.010-04:00

Due to a number of requests on one of the loom knitting groups, I am posting this Shamrock Pattern. These shamrocks are made using one strand of worsted weight yarn on the 5 peg Knifty Knitter Spool Loom - love that spool loom! Make three little six row leaves and a two inch i-cord stem. Then stitch them all together and in less than 30 minutes you have a cute little two & one-half inch shamrock. I've seriously been toying with the idea of embroidering a face on the top middle leaf to create a little amigurumi shamrock. If I do, I'll update this post with a picture at the end.

This particular design has gone through several versions. One version was modified from the Double Heart pattern by Althea Burger and recently taught in Loom Class. Three hearts were made using green yarn following the Double Heart pattern and an i-cord stem was added. This makes a beautiful, but rather large shamrock. Here's Althea's shamrock:

An earlier version I designed was an I-cord clover. This one is also made on the 5 peg Knifty Knitter Spool Loom. It is made from the center out using a little two row loomer's magic circle (LMC) and 6 stitch i-cords worked into the bind off to form the leaves & stem. These work up quickly, since no stitching is involved; however, they just aren't as pretty as the shamrocks.

Please comment if you enjoy this project. Feedback from readers helps me determine if I should continue to write these patterns. I'll leave you with these Irish blessings for St. Patrick's Day:

For each petal on the shamrock
This brings a wish your way,
Good health, good luck, & happiness
For today and every day.

May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow
And may trouble avoid you wherever you go.

Itsy eggs & bitsy bunnies

2010-03-10T18:11:00.014-05:00

As promised in the previous post, I now present the Itsy Eggs & Bitsy Bunnies. If you made a Jellybean Basket, you might be interested in a few of these tiny little no-calorie knit treats to go into your little basket. These were designed just for the small basket, because I didn't have the usual candy decorations on hand when I made pictures of the revised Jellybean Basket. The little eggs are one inch tall and the bunnies are three inches tall. Both are quick & easy to make on the five peg end of the Knifty Knitter Spool Loom.

Contrary to what you might think, the little eggs required more trial & error knitting than many of the projects I've done. I had to crack quite a few eggs before I got it right. It is important that you knit one peg at a time to keep an even tension when knitting both projects, but especially the little eggs. Just so you know things don't always come out right the first time, here's a picture of "the good, the bad & the ugly" little eggs.

Trial & Error Egg Knitting: The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

The patterns have been test knitted and added to the Pattern Box on the right, or they can be accessed by clicking on Itsy Easter Eggs or Bitsy Bunnies.

Jellybean basket redux

2010-03-04T23:55:00.012-05:00

Remember the original Jellybean Basket? It was one of my earlier patterns that I designed three years ago. I had only been loom knitting for five months - just a "newbie loomer" wanting to do things that weren't suppose to be done on looms. Many have wanted to do this pattern, but found it difficult or confusing, which was most probably due to pattern errors and questionable techniques that I used when designing the little basket. Some worked around the impossibly tight stitches & faulty techniques; a few others used it as a springboard to design their own basket; and some just gave up. Too many people have had too many problems and I knew I needed to do something about it, but never seemed to find the right time.

Now three years later I still try to do things that aren't suppose to be done on the looms, but I've learned quite a few tricks since the original Jellybean Basket was created. So, when a nice lady named Monica, who wanted to make the baskets for her Sunday school class, contacted me recently with pattern questions, it was then that I decided to give the Jellybean Basket a complete overhaul. Thank you, Monica for being my impetus and test knitting the updated basket.

The new design is similar to the old one, but different techniques and stitches are used to accomplish what I was trying to do in the original basket: scalloped base & rim with a slight taper from the top to the bottom. The cup liner on the updated basket is a 3 ounce bathroom drinking cup, which fits perfectly without cutting the cup as you had to do in the original design. However, the double e-wrap knit stitches that are used on the basket sides are so dense that you may find the liner is not necessary. You also have two design options: the regular basket or the basket with the ribbon. The later has an additional e-wrap row to allow ease in weaving the ribbon through the stitches.

When I was making the pictures of the new baskets, I only had a few jellybeans on hand and didn't have any bunny Peeps to add to the basket for decoration, so I created some tiny little bunnies and eggs. Both are made on the five peg end of the Knifty Knitter Spool Loom. I'll talk more about those in the next blog post, so stay tuned.

Little snowmen and an angel finger puppet

2009-12-21T22:51:00.016-05:00

Althea Burger send this cute little snowman picture and instructions to me a month ago, but things got a little busy so it didn't get posted at that time. However, I wanted to make sure I shared this quickie design with my blog readers so you can have this little trio ready to sing Auld Lang Syne by New Year's Day.

Little Loomed Snowman

Materials:

12 peg KK flower loom
5 or 6 peg spool loom.
White 4 ply yarn,( and small amounts of red & green for hat)
7 Giant seed beads (4 black & 1 orange) for eyes,nose & buttons
Black pipe cleaner or chenille stem for arms
Yarn needle
Tiny pompom for hat (red, green or white)
Low temp glue & gun
White heavy hand quilting thread and bead needle
Craft or pillow stuffing
One 1" Styrofoam ball for head
7 clear glass beads, small stones, or Poly Pellets for weight

Directions

Head & Body: With the 12 peg flower loom and white yarn, starting at head and working down, do drawstring cast on; knit for 36 rows. Cinch the drawstring cast on edge closed. Insert 1" Styrofoam ball up inside for head. (Note: I used the ball for the head on all my snowmen even if I used stuffing for the rest of their bodies for a neater appearance.) Stuff the rest of the body lightly and add about 7 glass beads or poly pellets for weight before you close the bottom opening. Thread white yarn onto yarn needle and thread it thru neck area and cinch it up to form the neck. Do the same with waist area.

Face & other features: Thread bead needle with white hand quilting thread and sew giant seed beads on head for a face: black for eyes and orange for nose. I didn't do a mouth. Sew black beads on body for buttons down the front.

Arms: Bend a tiny part of black pipe cleaner to hook into yarn needle eye and push needle and pipe cleaner thru middle section & out the other side of snowman for arms. Adjust arms until they look even and bend ends to look like fingers.

Scarf: Green or red yarn on 2 peg spool loom. Make a 30 row I-Cord.Tie off. Wrap & tie around neck area.

Hat: Using green or red yarn on 5 or 6 peg spool loom (I used a self made 6 peg Ioom), work a drawstring cast on and knit for 6 rows. Bind off loosely to make it look like a hat (Note: One suggestion would be to chain a stitch between each bind off stitch). Glue pom pom on top. Sew to top of snowman's head.

OPTIONAL: Add string to create a snowman ornament for your tree.

Angel Finger Puppet

Robin McCoy, from Rockin' The Loom blog and several Yahoo loom knitting lists, recently emailed me about an angel finger puppet she made which was inspired by Althea's Ghost Angel pattern.
Here are her notes in case others would like to make one:

CO with drawstring cast on to the 8 peg end of the spool loom.
Knit approximately 6 rows; cinch the cast on edge closed; knit 14 more rows for a total of 20 rows.
BO with crochet bind off, chaining 3 stitches between each bind off stitch (Note: The ruffle look is cute for girl angels, but might just take it off with a loose gathered bind off and let it curl for boy angels).
Tear a tissue in half or use a small amount of fiberfill and form a ball, stuff this down into the tube, toward the cast on edge. Use a yarn needle and thread to cinch up the neck of the angel.
To make the wings, follow the same general instructions outlined for Althea's Ghost Angel, but use the 8 peg end of the spool loom and knit for the same 6 rows as the larger angel.

Robin states that she loves this little finger puppet and plans on making one for each child in her Sunday School class.

Thanks for sharing, Robin!

Snowman's Secret Towel Topper

2009-12-15T12:25:00.016-05:00

This little project was worked up at the request of my friend, Tina, who lives in St. Augustine, FL. She made the Ms. Santa Towel Topper and challenged me to make a snowman topper. If you know me, you know that I love a challenge! So, on our weekly trek to our Alabama cabin near Centre, I designed the Snowman Towel Topper pictured above. While the actual design and knitting took a little less than two hours while riding in the car, adding details and finishing up took another hour or so at home. Now that I've worked out the pattern, I'm thinking you could make the whole thing in about an hour or so.

Now, what secret is this little Snowman hiding? Most towel toppers are physically attached to the towel , or they feature a decorative motif at the top of an exposed hook. This little fellow's towel is interchangeable, but the towel holder is completely hid beneath the topper body so you can switch the towel when it needs to be washed - or when you want to change the look of the snowman.

Towel holder ring on the underside of the snowman's body

If time permits, I'll try to write the PDF pattern up in the next few days. However, here are the general steps I used to make Snowman's Secret Towel Topper:

This topper-holder was knitted from the bottom up using two strands of white and black worsted weight yarn and the Knifty Knitter Flower Loom.
With the white yarn, work a three stitch picot cast on, then e-wrap knit stitches for twelve rows for the body. The e-wrap creates a looser knit in order to accommodate the towel.
Flat knit fourteen more rows to form the head.
Change to black yarn and knit seven e-wrap rows.
Using the hang hem technique, reach down to the first black row and place those stitches on the corresponding pegs and knit off this row to form the hat brim.
Flat knit six rows for the body of the hat, plus one e-wrap row for a total of seven rows.
Purl one row, then using the hang hem technique again, reach down two rows below and pick up the stitches from the e-wrap row. Knit off to form the crown edge of the hat.
Flat knit three rows to finish the crown.
Decrease the twelve stitches to form pairs from pegs (1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12); lay the working yarn across the pegs & knit off two over one; and shift the finished six stitches so there are no empty pegs between stitches. Tighten working yarn to remove slack, then flat knit a row without decreasing.
Decrease again by placing three of remaining six stitches onto the corresponding adjacent stitch to form three pairs of two loops. Lay the working yarn across the top of the two combined stitches and knit two over one. Shift these three stitches to consecutive pegs so no empty pegs are in between.
Using the three pegs from the previous step, work a four inch I-cord and finish with a decreased bind off.
Loop the end of the I-cord back about half way on itself to form a buttonhole.
Finish the face & hat by sewing a button to the edge of the hat crown to form the hanging loop, and adding beads, buttons or embroidery for face decorations. Add a very small amount of stuffing to the hat to shape - if necessary. Also, after shaping the hat, use a yarn needle and close the inside opening at the base of the hat with a few tack stitches.
Push a white shower curtain ring (or a large cabone ring - I couldn't find these, but the shower curtains are readily available and sturdier to boot) inside the head to shape. Run a gathering stitch around the neckline, cinch and tie off to form the neck.
Make the body towel hanger by pushing a second white shower curtain ring inside the body and whip-stitch to the base of the neck.
For the arms, using two strands of white yarn as one work a drawstring cast on using the five peg end of the Knifty Knitter Spool Loom. Knit using all five pegs until the I-cord is approximately eight inches long and work a decreased bind off leaving six inch yarn tail. Use a crochet hook and pull the arms through the "shoulder area" stitches on the body. (I pulled my in front of the ring). Even up the arms and tie them together in front. If necessary, tack them in place on the lower body.
For the scarf, work an alternating red & white (or the colors of your choice) I-cord using one strand of yarn on four pegs of the Knifty Knitter Spool Loom. Tie and tack in place around the neckline.

All you need to do now, is hang your favorite holiday towel in the body ring and attach the hanging loop on a cabinet drawer pull. Your finished towel should look something like this:
Hopefully, I'll add the PDF file in a few days and send a message to Loom Lore readers through Notify (see upper right of sidebar) to let you know when it is available for download.

Silly Santa

2009-12-05T19:07:00.029-05:00

My friend, Althea Burger, has designed "Silly Santa", a decoration that she wanted to share with Loom Lore readers for a touch of holiday whimsy. Also, keep in mind when March rolls around, "Silly Santa" can become "Loony Leprechaun" for St. Patrick's Day by substituting green yarn for the red yarn and black for the bag transforms into a "pot o' gold". (Please note that this is for decorative purposes and not intended to be used with small children.) Here is her pattern, along with several Santa pics.

Silly Santa Claus Pattern

Materials:

12 peg Knifty Knitter Flower Loom
Knifty Knitter Spool Loom
Small amounts of 4 ply yarn in white, red, black, pink & green
White tiny buttons for coat
White and black craft foam or heavy felt
Bead needle and yarn needle
Crochet hook size E
Tiny white pom pom
Fiber fill stuffing
1 " Styrofoam ball
Giant seed beads in black and red for eyes & nose
Heavy thread in white
Something to weight the bottom of Santa and his bag (I used glass stones)
Low temp glue and gun
Stick on Velcro (optional)

Directions

Head: Using the 12-peg Knifty Knitter Flower Loom work a drawstring cast on with pink yarn and knit for 7 rows.

Body: Change to red and knit 9 rows. Change to black to form a belt and knit 4 rows. Change to back to red and knit 15 rows. Put Styrofoam ball up inside for head and stuff body lightly. Add weight to bottom and draw string bind off.

Neck: Thread pink yarn in yarn needle and go thru last row of pink (in and out) to form a gathering string. Pull up tight and tie off.

Waist : Follow the same procedure used for the neck with black yarn at the waist, but do not pull too tight since Santa is on the plump side. Tie off. If you want a "fuller figured" Santa, just omit the gathering string at the waist.

Collar: With crochet hook E and white yarn, slip stitch into last row of pink and chain 3.Half double crochet around neck.Slip stitch to top of ch 3, then fasten off. If you are not comfortable with crocheting, you can work a two peg I-cord long enough to reach around the neck and whip stitch it place.

Hat : With red yarn on either the 5 or 8 peg end of the Knifty Knitter Spool Loom (Note: a self-made 6 peg loom was used in the sample), work a drawstring cast on and knit for 7 rows. Close up beginning cast on. Stretch out bottom of hat and bind off very loosely leaving a long yarn tail (approximately 12 inches). Stitch hat to the top of Santa's head and slip stitch all around bottom of hat to make a brim. Glue or sew white pom pom to top of hat.

Beard: With white yarn and crochet hook size E, slip stitch into one side of face up high just under the hat, where an ear should be. Continue working 9 more slip stitches in an arch down to bottom of face and around face to other side where other ear should be for a total of 10 slip stitches (5 on either side of the face). Turn, skip the first sl st, and sc in second stitch, hdc in third st, dc in the fourth st, tr in fifth st. Continue to the other side of the face working the same stitches in reverse: tr in the sixth st, dc in the seventh st, hdc in the eight st, sc in the ninth st, and slip stitch in the last st. Chain 2, turn and work a sc (or 2 sc) in stitches 2-9 along the edge. Slip st. to the tenth st and fasten off. Once again, if you are not comfortable crocheting the beard, you could work a 2 or 3 peg I-cord for about ten to twelve rows and whip stitch it to Santa's face.

Face : With white thread and beading needle, sew black seed beads for the eyes and red bead for the nose to the face.

Arms & legs: Using either the large pegs on the Spool Loom or the Flower Loom, make two 2 peg I-cords in red yarn for 36 rows or about 10 inches, one will be the arms and the other will be the legs. Both the legs and arms are all one piece and can be pulled (gently) one direction or the other to position them. The length of the arms and legs can vary, depending on how silly or normal you want Santa to appear. Leave short yarn tails at both ends of the I-cords to attach the hands & feet. Pull the arms and legs through the corresponding locations on the body. Cut out hands and feet from craft foam or heavy felt as shown in the pictures below. For both the hands, thread yarn tails at the fold of the foam; and through the front for the feet.

Attaching hands to one end of I-cord arms

Attaching feet to one end of I-cord legs

Finish by gluing folded foam pieces together hiding thread ends inside. Optional: Glue tiny pieces of both sides of Velcro on hands (optional).This makes it easy to stick his hands on his hat, toy bag, etc...but it is hard on the yarn if you pull it off and on a lot.

Finishing: Sew buttons to front of body.

Santa's Toy Bag
Using the 12-peg Knifty Knitter Flower Loom and green yarn, work a drawstring cast on. Knit for 21 rows on 12 peg loom.Tie off beginning cast on and leave other end open. Bind off loosely and stretch out open end of bag.Stuff lightly with fiber fill (or chunks of stryofoam) and put weight in bottom of bag (optional). With a short length of green yarn,thread it thru the bag at about the 5th row from the open end . Pull tight and fasten off leaving tails for Santa to hold on to.

Silly Santa celebrating, because his PDF pattern can be download from here.

Ms. Santa Towel Topper

2009-11-28T23:14:00.009-05:00

Need a helper for the holidays? Ms. Santa Towel Topper is handy in the kitchen or she can just hang around and brighten your day. All you need is a 12-peg Knifty Knitter Flower Loom, 5-peg end of the Knifty Knitter Spool Loom, a small red towel, small amounts of yarn in red, white and flesh tone and about an hour (more or less).

This towel topper was designed about three years ago, but I never posted the pattern. Before she was forever lost, I decided to add the pattern to my Pattern Box on the right, or you can click here to download. Ms. Santa has always been a favorite with my grandchildren, so I hope she brings a little happiness to you, too.

Update: Here is a Ms. Santa Towel Topper knitted by Tina in St. Augustine, FL. I love the contrasting green towel.

Tiny Tim Turkey

2009-11-24T00:19:00.027-05:00

Althea Burger, who designed the Ghost Angel, has created "Tiny Tim Turkey" just in time for Thanksgiving. She also wanted to share the directions with other loom knitters who read my blog. Thank you, Althea, talking the time to write the instructions and send me pictures of your crafty projects. We will be seeing more of Althea's projects in the future.

Talking turkey (pattern instructions)
(PDF version here)

Materials

Spool loom or 2 pegs on any loom for I-cord
24 peg loom (KK blue loom)
12 peg loom(KK flower Loom)
Small amounts single strand 4 ply yarn (gold, dark brown, black, red and variegated fall colors for tail feathers)
1" Styrofoam ball for head
Low temp glue & gun
Google eyes
12" chenille stem (brown or black) for feet
Fiberfill stuffing
Size G crochet hook
Yarn Needle

Body

With the 12-peg flower loom and gold yarn do the drawstring cast on.
Knit in the round for 31 rows.
Draw up and close the cast on edge.
Work a gathered bind off on the last row; tie off and remove from loom leaving an 8” yarn tail at end.
Stuff and close up bottom end; thread yarn tail onto yarn needle and stitch up thru middle of body and back down several times. Pull tight to make indentation. Tie off.

Fan Tail

Using variegated fall colored yarn and the 24-peg large gauge loom work a drawstring cast on.
Knit for 12 rows.
Cinch the drawstring yarn tail to close the cast on edge and tie off.
After completing row 12, cut the working yarn leaving a yarn tail long enough to wrap around the loom plus about 4” extra. Bind off by threading a yarn needle with the long yarn tail then sewing up thru the loops and taking them off the pegs. Tie off very loosely.
After removing from the loom, stretch out other end (see the Ghost Angel wing directions) to make a flat circle shape; fold circle in half to make crescent shape; sew up open edges loosely and sew completed tail to back of body above the center bind off indention. Spread out like a fan.

Neck

Using the spool loom or two pegs of any loom and dark Brown yarn make an I-Cord for 8 rows.
Bind off and leave yarn tails at both ends.
Sew one end to center of body where indentation is and other end to top of body where the head will go.

Head

With the 12 peg loom and dark brown yarn work a drawstring cast on.
Knit for 6 rows.
Cinch the drawstring yarn tail from the cast on edge close and tie off.
Do a gathered bind off after finishing row 6 and leave a yarn tail at end. Remove from the loom, but do not close the bind off edge shut.
Insert 1" foam ball into the head and draw up the bind off yarn tail tight around the ball and sew whole thing to top of body at top of neck.

Legs
One 12" chenille stem. Fold a little bit of the stem so you can hook it to a big yarn needle and thread it thru the bottom of the body (with the needle) for the feet. Bend both the ends of the stem to look like toes (see photo below).

Beak
Using a crochet hook and the gold yarn, chain 3 and double crochet three times in third chain from hook. Slip stitch into top of chain three. Leave yarn tail and sew to front of head. (Note: If you cannot crochet, you can work a 3 row I-cord and shape it to make the beak.)

Waddle
With the crochet hook, chain 4 with red yarn. Sew to side of beak. Glue on eyes to each side of beak.

Wings
Make long loose stitches with YARN NEEDLE in dark brown yarn 6 or 7 times in same spot on either side of body. Spread stitches out to look like wings.

Beard
One short length of black yarn (about 5 1/2 " long) folded in half and sewed to front of neck.With yarn needle,separate the 4 ply stands of the yarn, fluff a little, and trim. Pull the beard into position in the center front of the turkey.

Finishing
Make a “back support stitch” with yarn needle and dark brown yarn several times at the bottom back of body to make ledge to support the body and keep it from tipping over. (Note: I use Poly Pellets, which is available at most craft stores where stuffing is sold, in the base when stuffing toys for added base weight.)

Ghost angel

2009-11-06T23:02:00.040-05:00

When my good friend Althea Burger wanted to make a little loom knitted angel, she decided to modify Boo-Ella, my little Halloween ghost, and I just love what she did. Pictured above is Althea's ghost and angel, which sort of looks like a knitted version of your good & bad conscience. Here's how Althea took the pattern from being "bad to good":

The angel is knit from the head down using the 12 peg KK flower loom and a single strand of 4 ply yarn. To begin, work a drawstring cast on and knit 28 rows; this forms the head and the body.

Close the cast on edge by cinching the beginning drawstring. Bring the yarn tails to the inside and tie off. When I made Boo-Ella, I did a picot bind off. However, Althea didn’t do anything fancy, just threaded a needle thru the loops, took them off the pegs, and tied it off very loosely.(Note: If you wanted to add a little more ruffle to the skirt edge, you could work a basic flat bind off and add one or two extra chain stitches to each peg by knitting off the same peg once or twice during the bind off procedure. )

After removing the angel from the loom, stretch the bottom to shape it into a flared skirt or let the edge curl up just a little; the effect you get here depends on the type bind off you used. If you did the needle thru the loops bind off, then the skirt will curl just a little. If you did extra stitches between the bind off stitches, the skirt will flare out just a bit.

The head is just a 1 "Styrofoam ball stuffed up inside and some yarn threaded thru the neckline on a yarn needle, which is pulled tight and tied off. Embroider eyes and mouth.

The wings are made in two pieces and stitched together. To make one wing, use the 12-peg flower loom and do a drawstring cast on. Knit for 6 rows; finish the cast on and bind off edge the same way you did the angel’s body. After removing from the loom, stretch out the open edge (step 1, pictured below), mash the bell shape flat to form two halves and sew the open edges together matching the stitches (step 2, pictured below). This completes one wing (step 3, pictured below). Make another wing and sew the two wings together where the cinched cast on edges meet. Sew the wings onto the back as one piece along the center-line. The halo is simply a plastic wedding ring used as a party decoration from Wal-Mart. It has a cut in it which allows you to spread it apart, attach it to the stitches of the head, and snap shut so it stays there.

The arms are knit as one piece using two pegs to create a 13 row I-cord. Use the drawstring cast on for it, too. Be sure to leave about a 3 inch yarn tail at both ends. Thread one tail in a yarn needle and push it thru the body below the head on one side and out the other side. Adjust the arms so they are both the same length and tie the tails so it looks like praying hands.

This is optional, but you can tie a jingle bell up inside the angel or make some angels in pastel colors, too.

Mr. Bee Happy

2009-10-27T13:10:00.005-04:00

Jennifer Coldren from the Yahoo Knifty Knitter Loom Knitting Group has created the cutest little bumble bee pattern for the Knifty Knitter 12 peg flower loom. Thank you, Jennifer for sharing your talent!

Now, here's all the info:

"Mr. Bee Happy" Knifty Knitter Flower Loom Pattern

The cutest miniature bee knit entirely on the Knifty Knitter Flower Loom. Easy to do, knit as one piece on the loom.
Read More

35th anniversary

2009-08-19T22:45:00.007-04:00

Today, my best friend and I celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary. This song says it best:

Granny's rose

2009-08-15T17:21:00.011-04:00

The recent Hexed Granny Motif was such a hit that the loom knitted granny square tutorial is in the works. This post is a quick glimpse of the upcoming tutorial. In an effort to keep the tutorial as simple as possible I thought it best to start with a basic generic granny square instead of the more complex hexagonal granny. While unable to physically knit over the past week, I've been mentally knitting the loomy granny motif. Today, I finally had a chance to sit down (if you don't count jumping up every three minutes to extract my granddaughter from countless "no-no's") and test knit the tutorial square. The result is the Granny Rose Square pictured above.

Colors: When selecting colors for these squares I've found that nature provides the best color combinations. The color scheme on the square above reminds me of a rose bud pattern woven into a beautiful bedspread that my Grandmother used on special days when I was a child - thus the name, Granny's Rose. By substituting a different floral color (coral, violet, yellow, blue), the square acquires a new look. By the way, my initial impression of granny squares was not a good one, mainly due to the hideous color combination in outlandish projects of the seventies (example). While this is a good stash buster project, please think before you randomly pick up the lavender, chartreuse and florescent orange yarn. For a visual treat in color planning, visit Attic24 and click on the Crochet Category in the left sidebar.

Size: Basic granny squares are typically six inch crocheted squares with five concentric rows. For the loom knitted version, I decided on a smaller three row square utilizing a super bulky weight yarn which resulted in a four & one-half inch square when knitted on the large gauge Knifty Knitter Looms. However, by using the basic granny square formula, it would be very easy to add two more rows if you want a larger square.

Yarn: By using the super bulky Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick only one strand of yarn was necessary to produce the desired look of the motif. You could substitute two strands of regular worsted weight yarn, but this technique requires picking up & placing stitches back on the pegs which makes it easier in the beginning if you are working with just one strand.

Looms: The red center of the motif above was made on the Knifty Knitter 12-peg Flower Loom. The remainder of the motif was knit using two pegs of a Hobby Lobby version of the Knifty Knitter 24-peg Round Loom. The Flower Loom could have been used for the entire project, but as the motif gets larger it is cumbersome to work through the small center of the Flower Loom. Since you are only using two pegs, any of the large gauge looms can be used for everything but the center.

Every time I use the crochet techniques on the loom, I make new discoveries and correct previous errors. Hopefully, this will make it better for others who decide to attempt this slightly fiddly technique. The two five & three year old grandchildren that live with us start to school Monday, so the tutorial should be ready in a few days.

Hair today, gone tonight

2009-08-12T23:03:00.017-04:00

Every have one of those days when you look in the mirror and just can't take it anymore? Husband's out of town; three year old is climbing everything in the house; five year old is running wide open with a barking Chihuahua in pursuit; house needs cleaning; knitting to be done; and a fifteen year old Maltese follows and watches my every move in case my lap becomes available. Oh, there's plenty more, but I'm sure you get the picture. Today was a day of drastic measures - the hair had to go before I pulled it out. I usually avoid cameras, but decided on a whim to snap a before and after picture so you could see the "lady behind the loom".

Noon today (before)

Tonight (after)

Also, I discovered two or three months ago that I have a severe gluten allergy, in addition to being diabetic. This has prompted another major lifestyle change in dietary habits since I not only have to limit sugar and carbohydrates, but I'm now eating a gluten free diet. However, this has all been for the better, because I have lost close to 4o pounds over the past few months; dropped from a 2X to a 16 in clothing so far (I had gotten much larger than I was in this picture here); and I've had to cut back more than half on the amount of insulin I was taking.

I'm feeling better and better every day! Now, I just need to work on the makeup & exercise. Getting older sure requires a lot of maintaince.

Hexed & perplexed

2009-08-07T19:35:00.016-04:00

More experimentation - this is becoming "The Blog of the Mad Loomer." However, I think I've totally slipped this time and blurred the indelible line between knitting and crocheting. Oops, I forgot some folks don't consider loom knitting as "real" knitting; oh well, I laugh in the face of restrictive labeling and enter forbidden territory with careless abandon....ha, ha!! With that I present to you Hexed, a loom knitted hexagonal granny square based on crochet instructions.

Now you might ask, "Why not just crochet this little motif?" The answer to that started about three years ago, when I gradually got to where the numbness, tingling, cramping and pain became unbearable every time I tried to crochet. It was at this time I discovered the knitting looms and a alternative instrument for crafting yarn became a new passion. Even though it was love at first stitch, the looms do have some limitations that must be overcome or worked around, which for me is half the fun.

Hexed is one of those designs that was born out of an attempt to overcome the limitations of the loom. It is not my original design, but my translation of a crochet pattern from Attic24: Hexagon How-to as applied to the knitting looms. Since it is not my original design, I will not go into specifics regarding how it was made on the knitting loom, but I will give you some general guidelines.

Hexed was made using one strand of worsted weight yarn throughout in four different colors (Red Heart Super Saver in Aran white & lt. gold; Lion Brand Vanna's Choice in brick; Red Heart Soft in tangerine). The loomer's magic circle (see Watermelon Tutorial Pattern) made on the KK 12-peg Flower Loom formed the center. The remainder of Hexed was knitted on two pegs of the DA Loom's Regular Gauge Set Sampler. I used this loom because of its compact size and ease of use. Also, the gauge was compatible, though smaller, than the large gauge KK Loom. However, two pegs of any of the KK looms could have been used. Most of the stitches were made very similar to those used in the August Sun motif, except all the stitches were made through the whole stitch instead of just the back loop. When knitting through the whole stitch, both the front and back part of the stitch has to be picked up and placed back on the peg. If you have not used a fairly loose tension, this will be the most difficult part of knitting this design. I came close to giving up at this point, but finally worked through it with a mental note to keep the stitches looser the next time.

In order to get a side-by-side comparison, I had to endure the numbness and agony to crochet the counterpart. Here's quick visual comparison of the loom knitted motif (left) and the crocheted motif (right) made using the same pattern:
The loom knitted version took just a little longer to make, but most of that was because I had to work through the stitch translation. The crocheted version at 4.5 inches across is a bit larger compared to the loom knitted version an even 4 inches. Finally, the crocheted design is more defined than the knitted version, but this may be due to my faulty translation.

As for being perplexed, I'm not really sure how you classify a technique that is made entirely on a loom using knit stitches translated from a crochet pattern. However, if you are interested in learning this technique, please comment. If there is enough interest, I'll work up a tutorial.

August sun motif

2009-08-03T19:40:00.023-04:00

My next blog post was going feature the brim I added to my short row hat, but things change. I had what's know as an epiphany regarding the edging techniques. This idea sort of grew out of several other edging experiments, but so far this one is my favorite. Most all the other techniques were based on I-cords in some variation or other; however, this one is not. In addition to the "shell stitch" petals, the center was revamped to form a more perfect circle.

To make this sun motif, I used two strands held as one of Red Heart Super Saver in Aran for the center and one strand in Gold for the petals. The twelve stitches of the LMC are doubled on the third row differently from the Watermelon Coaster. The Row 3 stitch sequence for each of the twelve stitches in the LMC are knitted as follows on two pegs of any large gauge Knifty Knitter Loom - I used the 48-peg Purple Hat Loom and worked in the back loops of the stitches:

Center

Rows 1 & 2: The Loomer's Magic Circle (LMC) as described in the Watermelon Coaster Tutorial forms the first two rows.
Row 3: Add the beginning loop to the right peg, wrap and knit off three times. This forms the beginning stitch.
Still working in the first base stitch, place this loop on the left peg, wrap and knit off three times. Work a lifted bind off stitch as described in the Watermelon Coaster Tutorial. You now have completed two stitches in the back loop of the first LMC stitch.
Lift the back loop of the next LMC stitch and place it on the left peg. *(Wrap and knit off three times; work the lifted bind off.) Place the same LMC stitch back on the left peg and repeat (*) once for a total of two stitches in the first LMC stitch.
Repeat Step 4 for the remaining ten LMC stitches. End by hooking the last loop through the back loop of the first stitch. You should have 24 stitches for this row.
Row 4: Work as for Row 3, but only increase every other stitch for a total of 36 ending stitches. End row as in Step 4 and tie off.

Petals

Form a slip knot with one strand of the gold yarn and attach it in the back loop anywhere along the white edge. Wrap and knit off once.
Lift the next back loop and place it on the left peg. (Note: The next five stitches will be worked in this same loop): *Wrap and knit off 3 times; work a lifted bind off. Repeat from * five times, but wrap and knit off 5 times on the third stitch - this forms the pointed petal.
(Lift the next back loop, wrap and knit off once) repeat once.
Repeat steps 2 & 3, ending with one single wrap stitch and tie off. There should be thirteen petals (lucky, lucky).

Just in case you're wondering what the backside looks like (we sometimes wonder about stuff like that), here you go:

Sunflower trio

2009-08-01T15:07:00.021-04:00

I love sunflowers! One of my first loom knitted flower projects was a sunflower. Since I've been on a coaster kick, I thought I would update the original sunflowers into coasters. Actually, these could be used not only as coasters, but also for decorative trim on other items as well. I intended to post these pictures a couple of weeks ago, but I just haven't found the time to blog lately. I've already moved on to several other projects, but I wanted to share my sunflowers with you. The center of these were made using the same technique I used for the first four rounds of the Watermelon Coasters. After that, I experimented with several different I-cord edgings for the yellow petals. The edging in all these were knitted directly on the edge of the brown center using two pegs on the Knifty Knitter Flower Loom; however, any large gauge loom could be used. Caron Simply Soft in yellow and brown were used on these three flowers.

Single edging
This is the first sunflower coaster with the simple single edging:

The first petal was created by using two strands of yellow yarn as one and attaching it to one of the back loops on the brown edge to create the first loop. I then picked up the back loop of the next brown stitch and attached it to the adjacent peg to create the second loop. Using these two loops, I worked a five stitch I-cord and ended the petal by wrapping the second peg, knit off, lift and place the this loop on the first peg and knit off. To complete this petal and start the second one, count the next three free stitches from the I-cord stitch, lift the back loop of the third stitch and place it on peg next to I-cord bind off stitch. Repeat the five stitch I-cord sequence for the next petal. If you counted correctly, you should end up with twelve yellow petals.

Ruffled edging
The second flower has an extra full ruffled edging:

Again I started with the first four rounds as used with the Watermelon Coasters. This will give you thirty-six chain stitches along the brown outer edge of the center. The petals were a variation of the previous sunflower, but much fuller. This was accomplished by using a three stitch I-cord, which makes a dense petal and attaching the petals on every second free stitch. If counted correctly you should end up with twenty-four petals - I have twenty-five and refused to frog it.

Double edging
This flower started the same way as the others, but has a double I-cord edging:

I started this flower by recreating the single edge flower as described above. The second I-cord edging was created exactly the same as for the single edging, but instead of a five stitch I-cord I did a seven stitch I-cord before the bind off stitch.

I've really been enjoying the two-peg knitting technique. As soon as I get a chance, I'll show you a variation of this technique as applied to the brim of my Autumn Skullcap. I just know that you're gonna love it!

Watermelon coaster

2009-07-08T16:13:00.014-04:00

This loom knitted coaster was inspired by the many crocheted watermelon coasters I've seen floating around the net. Also, this is the perfect summertime knitting project: small, fast and practical for those iced hot weather drinks. I completed the first of these coasters during a car trip on our weekly trek to the Marcus Institute in Atlanta. In case you're wondering, my husband was driving :-)

This felted coaster was made using the Knifty Knitter Flower Loom and two strands of medium weight Lion Brand Wool in rose, green, white & black. The completed coaster was hand felted on the stove top. This is the coaster before felting:

This coaster was made very similar to the Patriotic Coaster (see previous post), but dramatically updated. The picture above is my second watermelon coaster, since the first one had too much fullness. The increase method had to be modified so the coaster would lay flat. That is one reason I've not published the pattern yet, because I'm still refining and editing the pattern before making it available. However, it will be available shortly.

My next blog post will include a tutorial on the new technique I used to create these round coasters, so stay tuned.

Note: The tutorial pattern for the Watermelon Coaster has been added to the Pattern Box on the right, or the PDF file can be downloaded by clicking here.

Patriotic coasters

2009-06-28T11:38:00.010-04:00

Nighttime is the right time! It's that wonderful time when everyone in the household is in bed, except for me. It's a time when I can finally sit down, uninterrupted and test a project that I've been knitting in my head all day. Last night that project was the patriotic coaster pictured above. This coaster was actually a test of techniques that I had theorized about over a year ago, loom knitting edging directly onto a project and creating a perfect circle on the looms without using short rows or seaming. I'm pleased to say that these techniques are indeed possible.

The four inch diameter coaster was made on the Knifty Knitter 10" Long Loom using KK Loom Clips and Red Heart Super Saver yarn in White, Soft Navy and Cherry Red. Attaching the KK Loom Clips to the Long Loom, I knit the center of the coaster (white star & navy background) in the round using ten pegs. The last row of the navy background incorporated an I-cord bind off technique I developed to allow for increases. Once removed from the loom, the outer white & red borders were knitted directly onto the outer edge of the coaster using two pegs. Two strands of yarn held as one were used throughout the project, except for the red edging which used a single strand.

This pattern, along with many more, is part of a project on which I'm working, so it is currently unavailable, but hopefully will be in the future.

Contest winner announced

2009-04-25T17:13:00.006-04:00

WOW!! After reading all those wonderful comments, I'm feeling pretty special! Thank you for all the nice compliments and your continued support. Also, as promised, today we find out who won the book, Tiny Yarn Animals. The contest officially closed at midnight last night with a total of forty-five comments to Win this book! The comments were numbered in the order in which they were received as follows:

Jenni J
Mari
Scarlett a.k.a. kittyred
AngelaJ
Robin McCoy
Jen Spilker
kelly
Deeners
wellie
MARIA EUGENIA
Tiffany aka: mieljolie
Bethany @ Gettin' It Pegged
westie-mom
Stacie
guppygirl
jpirkle
Angelbeader a.k.a Mari
Just Me
LindaJ
Michele
Kelly Croasmum
Angel
Laura
Marlys
karmicraft
Renee
MELINDA
Nel
Rayann
KathrynJB
Helen J.
Anonymous
Andrea
sevenstars7
Karen
dlandlrd
keeper
Aurora
wormlynn
Laura
Dianne Carroll
Linda M
LoomLady June
nugatorytm
Elizabeth S.

After assigning numbers to each comment, I went to Randomizer.org and had it to select two numbers out of the 45 comments. The first number is the winner and the second number is the alternate. The following is a screen shot of the winning numbers showing the winner as number 15 and the alternate as number 17:

Congratulations number 15, guppygirl! You have until April 27, 2009 to claim your prize. If I do not hear from guppygirl by April 27th, the prize will go to number 17, Angelbeader aka Mari. Guppygirl, please contact me to claim your prize!

Win this book!

2009-04-14T22:32:00.011-04:00

The Loom Lore blog began it's journey on Thanksgiving, 2006, but I somehow never remembered to host a blogiversary. Since my birthday is April 15th, the day we Americans show our love by paying income tax (lovely day for a birthday, huh?), I decided to bring a little joy into this otherwise depressing day by having a little blog contest just to celebrate two and a half years of sporadic blogging.

Being a certified bibliophile who just happens to love loom knitting, I thought I would turn my recent mistake into my blog readers' good fortune. When I'm buying books, I sometimes forget that I already have one just like it at home and end up with duplicate copies of a title. That is just what I did when I ordered Tiny Yarn Animals by Tamie Snow (click on the title to read a description of the book from Amazon). All the best amigurumi patterns available seem to be crocheted; however, even though the patterns in Snow's book are crocheted, loom knitters can get plenty of inspiration from this book!

OK, this is how the contest works:

Leave a comment to this post telling me which projects from Loom Lore you have enjoyed the most and what types of projects you would like to see included in the future. This will count as an entry. Only one entry per person please. Also, if you are an Anonymous commenter, please include your name at the end of your comment so I'll know who you are in case you win.
At the end of the contest, each comment to the "Win this book" post will be assigned a number in the order they are received. One winner and an alternate will be selected using Randomizer.org based on the total number of comments listed to the contest post.
The contest begins on April 15, 2009 and ends on midnight April 24, 2009. The winner will be announced on April 25, 2009.
The winner will need to contact me with mailing information for their prize delivery at my email address located in the Loom Lore About Me page within 48 hours of the announcement notification. If I do not hear from the first winner by the April 27th deadline, the alternate will be declared the winner. The same procedure will be followed until we have a final winner.
The contest is open to all Loom Lore readers, both domestic and international.

Best of luck and thank you for putting up with me for the past two & a half years! Loom knitters rule!!

Fireman to the rescue

2009-04-09T11:27:00.014-04:00

My grandson is happy - I finally finished his fireman. He is so obsessed with firemen & firetrucks that the entrance to the library off from the living room has become a fire station. A table and a floor lamp with a brass pole near the library doorway is now the station house. Every night he places three little firemen face down (one on a tissue box, one on the DVD remote and the other on the TV satellite remote) so they can slide down the lamp pole and head for the firetrucks in case of an emergency. When he's not battling a blaze at his sister's dollhouse, he's watching his "Lights & Ladders" DVD. Sometimes I think if I hear that DVD one more time I'll scream.
As you might have guessed, when I started making the little loomy amigurumis, I immediately got a request for a fireman so I immediately started designing one for my very special customer. My loomy arigurumi fireman was made very similar to the leprechaun, but with a few modifications. The following looms were used for this project:

KK flower loom for the head
10" KK loom for the body/feet & hat body
KK spool loom for the arms & I-cord hat brim

Two strands of Red Heart Super Saver yarn were use for everything except Vanna's Choice in beige for the head. The fireman accidentally ended up a bit taller (6.5 inches) than the 4.5 inch leprechaun due to several yarn color changes. Also, I decided to put arms on this one. However, after he was finished my grandson immediately asked, "Where are his legs?" I tried to explain to him that he was made that way so he could stand in the firetruck bucket at the end of the ladder (see photo above). He replied that the fireman would have problems fighting fires, so I guess the next one will have to have legs. There's always a critic in every crowd.
The hat posed the greatest challenge on this little fellow, since the back of the brim is elongated from the rest of the hat. To meet this challenge, I cast a 4-stitch I-cord circle onto 18 pegs of the 10" Knifty Knitter long loom and used the Knifty Knitter loom clips to decrease along with a couple of short rows toward the back of the hat. After that, I finished the hat as usual on 14 pegs and ended with a gathered bind off at the top. You can see that the shaping on the back brim worked rather well in the above side view photo.

Other finishing details included button eyes, an embroidered mouth and felt trim on the hat and shirt collar. This is so habit forming that I can't wait to start on my next little project.

My first awards

2009-04-06T11:25:00.015-04:00

My first two awards have recently been presented to this blog, so I figure I better get crackin' and post them before they fall into the crevasses of time. The crevasses of my time are becoming pretty full with all things momentarily put aside or completely forgotten - a habit that I must break.
The first award, KreativBlogger Award, was presented to Loom Lore back in March for "Great Patterns for Loom Knitting" by Tiffany at Mini Mischief. (Tiffany shares my passion for all things small. ) Thank you, Tiffany, for this wonderful award.

The rules of this award are to list seven things I love and then pass it on to another seven KreativBloggers. OK, here are seven things I love:

Family & friends
My dogs
Home
Books
Yarn, looms, gourds & crafts
Travel
Quiet moments

The following seven blogs are among some of the most "creative bloggers" I know. They are innovative in many different ways and share their creative lives through their blogs. In doing this, they have made this world a brighter place to live. Here are my nominations for the KreativBlogger Award:

The second award is the PROXIMITY Award. Robin from Rockin' the Loom has graciously bestowed this award to Loom Lore. This is Robin's criteria for nominating Loom Lore for the PROXIMITY Award:
"Brenda is a very busy grandma! But she still has time to make the cutest quickie projects and her patterns are always very clear and easy to read. She developed the ‘drawstring cast on’ for the looms and it is a very useful technique that I have used a lot. Brenda may not have much time to blog like she used to, since her granddaughter moved in, but she still helps out others when she can. She’s pretty special!" Thank you Robin, I think you are pretty special, too.

The PROXIMITY Award is defined as follows:
“This blog invests and believes in PROXIMITY-nearness in space, time and relationships. These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement! Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers!” With this definition in mind, I am nominating the following eight blogs for the PROXIMITY Award:

Please check out all of the wonderful blogs that have been nominated for both awards. Thank you ladies for sharing your time and talent with everyone.

Knifty Leprechaun

2009-03-17T22:28:00.005-04:00

After sharing a picture of my little "loomy amigurumi leprechaun" made on the DA small gauge Mini-WonderLoom, several folks on one of the Yahoo loom knitting lists wanted to know if he could be made on the Knifty Knitter Looms. The answer is: "Yes, Virginia, there can be a Knifty Knitted leprechaun!" Since the Knifty Knitters are large gauge looms, I thought they might not be the best choice for knitting amigurumi. However, I'm very pleased with how well the KK leprechaun turned out. Of course, the KK version is about six inches tall - an inch or an inch & one-half taller that his four & one-half inch small gauge cousin, but much of that is due to the oversized top hat.

Modifications had to be made to the original pattern. The first thing was to use two strands of yarn held as one instead of the single strand that was used on the small gauge loom. Two different Knifty Knitter looms were incorporated for the KK leprechaun above. The 8-peg end of the spool loom was used for the body and the I-cord hat brim. The 12-peg flower loom was used to make the head and the main part of the hat. Also, I used some different stitch techniques to shape the bottom of the body and the top of the hat. This time around I remembered to use black when knitting the hat brim and added a yellow chain stitched buckle. As for the beard and hair, I used two strands of carrot colored Red Heart yarn instead of the copper colored fun fur and loosely crocheted an eight inch chain, which was whip stitched in place. I decided "fun fur" is an oxymoron, because it really isn't much fun to work with. To me, the fun fur is a bit too fussy for the amigurumi style. Another change was the use of buttons for the eyes. Of course, this would not be recommended for use with small children, but I just wanted to see what they would look like on this one.

At the rate I get things done these days, the pattern might be available in time for next St. Patrick's Day. In the meantime, I plan on making other amigurumi characters on the Knifty Knitter Looms since they are quick knits and such a hit with the kiddos.

Loomy Amigurumi

2009-03-12T22:13:00.016-04:00

Amigurumi is the art of knitting or crocheting little stuffed softies and it is quickly becoming one of my favorite pastimes. These little creations are so quick to do and children love them. Since I have limited time, four grandchildren under the age of four, and enjoy small creations on the knitting loom, amigurumi is perfect for me.

The little leprechaun pictured above was made during one of our Saturday day trips. Of course, I had to wait until I returned home to embroidery the face and stuff him. (That's the bad part about working on projects on the run, you always leave some of the stuff you need at home.) This little fellow is about four and one-half inches tall. He is made on the small gauge DA Mini-Wonderloom, which is the prefect loom for this type project. I used one strand of worsted weight Red Heart yarn and copper colored fun fur clipped short for the beard. He was worked in three separate parts (body, head & hat), then stitched together. I really liked the way the little hat turned out. I tried a new I-cord technique that worked really well on the hat brim, however, I forgot to change colors and add the hat band - oh well, maybe next time.

Since I used a specialty loom, instead of the Knifty Knitter, I won't be writing the pattern for this one. If you plan on getting into loomy amigurumi, I highly recommend using an adjustable small or fine gauge loom. If you decide to experiment with large gauge looms, I would recommend the Knifty Knitter Long Looms with loom clips and two strands of worsted weight yarn. However, the biggest problem I've found with doing stuffed toys on the Knifty Knitter looms is the stuffing shows through the stitches and this is easily corrected by using the small or fine gauge loom.

Now I'll leave you with an old Irish quote in time for St. Patrick's Day:

Leprechauns, castles, good luck and laughter
Lullabies, dreams, and love ever after.
Poems and songs with pipes and drums
A thousand welcomes when anyone comes.
~Author Unknown

Note: Since this post, I have written a general instruction sheet for making the Loomy Amigurumi Leprechaun. It has been added to the Pattern Box on the right, or by clicking here.

Tom-Tom the Leprechaun

2009-02-25T18:10:00.010-05:00

It seems Tommy Turkey has a new cousin, Tom-Tom the Leprechaun. This new creation is compliments of April Taylor, one of the creative members of the Yahoo Knifty Knitter Loom Knitting Group. April has morphed the turkey into a leprechaun in time for St. Patrick's Day.

Here are April's modifications (thanks April) to the original pattern in case you want to impress your Irish friends on March 17th:

Leprechaun Hat
by April Taylor

(Adapted from Tommy Turkey Hat by Brenda Myers which is available from Loom Lore at http://loomlady.blogspot.com).

Materials:

KK 48-peg Adult Hat Loom
Peach, cream or light tan yarn (for face)
Green yarn (for hat)
Black yarn (for hat band, nose, eyes & mouth)
Orange yarn (for beard)
Knitting tool
Plastic yarn needle
Crochet Hook

Instructions:
Using the Knifty Knitter purple adult hat loom, cast on using a peach or flesh colored yarn and knit 14 rows. Change yarn to paddy green (Redheart) and knit 12 rows. To form the leprechaun’s hat brim, bring the first row of green up to the pegs and knit that row off. Form the “hat band” by changing to the black yarn and knitting 8 rows. Change back to green and knit 14 rows. Work a gathered bind off.

Finishing:
Work a single crochet edge around the bottom to prevent it from rolling.

For the eyes, use black yarn and chain 2; work 6 single crochets in the 2nd chain from hook, and join to form a small circle. Make two of the circles and sew to the hat.

For the mouth, use black yarn and chained 14. Sew this chain on with a yarn needle into the smile shape.

For the buckle, using yellow chain 32 and sewed it into a square shape centering in the front over the black “hat band”. (If I would have had a yellow pipe cleaner I might have tried to figure out how to shape it into a buckle and sew it on.)

For the beard, I use a size F crochet hook and chain 50 in orange. Work a single crochet in the 2nd chain from hook and in each chain across. Chain 1 turn and work a loop stitch by wrapping the yarn around the index finger and complete a single crochet while holding the loop.

Christmas egg

2008-12-03T00:12:00.006-05:00

Are you looking for a way to be green, or environmentally correct, this season? How about recycling one holiday decoration for another? That's exactly what I decided to do when a friend of mine gave me a very large box of plastic Easter eggs in assorted colors and sizes. The picture above is an example of one of the large Easter eggs after it became a shiny new Christmas tree ornament. All you need is a little Needloff metallic cord, the Easter Egg pattern posted on this blog, and about 30 minutes. The egg is once again reborn (post 3-5-07)!!

From turkey to snowman

2008-11-30T18:50:00.010-05:00

Michelle's Frosty Snowman Hat

My Tommy Turkey Hat

Did you know that a turkey can become a snowman? Well, Michelle Thomas, a member of the hottest new Yahoo Group Knifty Knitter Loom Knitting Group, shows us how. She took my Tommy Turkey pattern and with some creative changes morphed him into a Frosty Snowman hat. I was so impressed that I got Michelle's permission to post the picture along with her changes on my blog. Thanks Michelle for sharing what is sure to be the hit of the season for all the loom knitters. Now, here are Michelle's instructions:

Frosty Hat
(original Tommy Turkey Pattern by Brenda Myers. Adaption to Frosty by Michelle Thomas)

Materials needed

Red or Green KK Loom
KK Spool Loom
White yarn (for face)
Black yarn (for hat)
Orange yarn (for nose)
Color of your choice (for "scarf" and stripe on hat)
Black buttons or beads (for eyes)
Knitting tool
Plastic yarn needle

Brim:

E-wrap cast on
E-wrap stitch 14 rows
Bring first row up and place loops back on pegs. Knit off.

Face:

Change to white
E-wrap stitch 9 rows

Hat:

Change to black
E-wrap stitch 1 row
Rib stitch (k1, p1, k1, p1 .... ) 8 rows
Bring the loops from the first BLACK row back up onto the pegs (like when doing brim) and knit off
Change to color that matches "scarf"
E-wrap stitch 4 rows
Change to black
E-wrap stitch 9 rows

Bind off:

Move loop on peg 1 to peg 2
Move loop 3 to peg 4
Move loop 5 to peg 6
Keep moving odd loops to even pegs until you have all of them like that. Knit off
E-wrap pegs with loops on them (go behind pegs without loops) Knit off
Thread needle with working yarn and do a gathered bind off.

Nose:

On small end of Spool Loom cast on in orange
Purl 2 rows
E-wrap stitch 4 rows
Gathered bind off
Pull yarn to inside of nose
Attach purled end to center of face with orange yarn.

Eyes:
With black thread tie on 2 black buttons or beads.

Short row snowflake

2008-11-30T00:46:00.005-05:00

Snowflakes were one of the things I really enjoyed making when I crocheted. However, I have neurological problems with my hands (mostly the left one) that has severely limited my ability to crochet. That is the primary reason that I started loom knitting about two years ago. Sadly, one of the first things I noticed is there is not a lot of knitted snowflake patterns available, so I thought I might as well create a few for the looms.

My first experiments with knitted snowflakes are outlined in a previous blog post, Snowflakes on the loom. Last year, I designed another snowflake pattern discussed in Loom knit snowflakes, a lesson in I-cord bind off. This year I decided (for now at least) to keep it simple with a little Short Row Snowflake.

The current snowflake is very basic, but it has many possibilities. The design can take on a whole new look just by relocating the points on the short rows, or by working a YO (yarn over) into the design to create a lacey look. The pattern is listed in my Pattern Box or by clicking here. If you decide to experiment with this basic pattern, be sure and let me see what you come up with.

It's time to make the ornaments!

2008-11-10T23:40:00.018-05:00

Belle Angel

In case you haven't noticed, I love knitting small items and what fits into this category better than holiday ornaments? They are sort of like the microcosm of the knitting world. You can experiment with new techniques without the fear of making huge mistakes. It's much less stressful to frog something that took only a couple of hours to knit as compared to an item that took weeks to knit. Another advantage to making these miniature wonders is that you can really spread the love by giving more of your friends something you made yourself. Who says happiness doesn't come in small packages?

This fall I've been showing others how to spread the love by teaching ornament classes on the Yahoo LoomClass Group and the Beginning-LoomKnitting Group. The classes taught for LoomClass include three ornaments in each class. Bell Ornaments Class, which was taught a couple of week ago, featured Knifty Christmas Bells, Bright Bells, and a new pattern called Belle Angel. I made the first Belle Angel two years ago and wrote about it in this December 2006 post, but had never written the pattern until recently. The new Belle Angel (pictured above) is a little more sophisticated that her predecessor, but the original Belle holds a special place in my heart.

I-cord Ornaments, the second LoomClass ornament class, is currently in session. Ornaments for this class include Candy Canes, Mini-Christmas Wreaths and another new pattern called Bright Star. The little star is designed specifically for the 5-peg end of the Knifty Knitter Spool Loom.

Bright Star Ornament

The Lace Ornaments class, coming up on 11/30-12/06, is the last of the ornament classes for LoomClass. The ornaments taught in this class will be the Victorian Lace Ornament, Lacey Snowflake and a Basic Shortrow Snowflake. The first two patterns are already available, but the Basic Snowflake pattern will be posted the day before the class begins. In the meantime, I'll include a picture in this post.

Basic Shortrow Snowflake

The class I am teaching for the Beginning-LoomKnitting Group (11/24-28) is a Snowflake Angel. I'm very proud of the way this particular angel is designed. Her wings and skirt are all one piece with her arms woven into a row of mock crochet stitches in the wings. The pattern is located here and in the Pattern Box to the right. Here's a picture of my Snowflake Angel:

Snowflake Angel

One thing that both angels have in common is what I call a "picot cast on" at the beginning edge of the skirt. This is an a technique I've created for the looms that allows you to make a picot edge. I use a similar technique when binding off the wings on the Snowflake Angel. I will talk more about the picot technique in upcoming blog posts.

My personality type

2008-05-17T19:22:00.003-04:00

You Are An INTP

The Thinker

You are analytical and logical - and on a quest to learn everything you can.

Smart and complex, you always love a new intellectual challenge.

Your biggest pet peeve is people who slow you down with trivial chit chat.

A quiet maverick, you tend to ignore rules and authority whenever you feel like it.

In love, you are an easy person to fall for. But not an easy person to stay in love with.

Although you are quite flexible, you often come off as aloof or argumentative.

At work, you are both a logical and creative thinker. You are great at solving problems.

You would make an excellent mathematician, programmer, or professor.

How you see yourself: Creative, fair, and tough-minded

When other people don't get you, they see you as: arrogant, cold, and robotic

What's Your Personality Type?

Here's my heart...

2008-02-03T21:15:00.003-05:00

Here's my heart....another loom knitted quickie! It took much longer to write up the pattern than designing and making the heart, which is why I'm a bit late with this blog post. I designed some little hearts last year that I called My Cheatin' Hearts, but the Double Heart is a vast improvement over the former. The new hearts are made in the round using seven pairs of pegs on any of the Knifty Knitter long looms. They can also be made larger or smaller by varying the number of pegs used; however, the best results are obtained when using an odd number of peg pairs.

Making the hearts in the round on the long loom has several advantages:

they don't curl
the front and back are made at the same time since they are made in the round
they hold their shape
the edges have a neat smooth chained look
they can be stuffed to make a puffy heart
plus, they are just really cute

I have two projects worked up that incorporate these hearts, but that is another story for another time. In the meantime, you can get creative by making your own. The basic Double Heart pattern is listed in my pattern box and can also be accessed here.

These are also really nice when made with wool yarn and felted. I made a little amigurumi heart similar to a needle knitted one pictured on the Mochimochi Blog. I love the hearts with the amigurumi look, and you will probably be seeing more amigurumi designs on my blog in the future.

Bright bells

2007-12-17T09:12:00.002-05:00

After making the Victorian Lace ornaments, I had some of the metallic colored Needloft Craft Cord left over. To me, the colors of the metallic cord are reminicent of the 40's vintage Shiny Brite ornaments. So with this in mind, I designed a little bell that is not only super quick to make, but has two different styles of rims. Last year I wrote a pattern for Knifty Christmas Bells, but this bell is even quicker, easier and more fun to make than the Knifty Bell.

Very similar in design to the little Halloween ghost, Boo-Ella, the Shiny Bright Bell is made from the top down using the drawstring cast on, nine rows of flat knit stitch, one row of e-wrap stitch, and your choice of two styles of rims.

The first style rim, the fastest of the two, is the garter stitch rim which is made by alternating the last three rows with purl & flat knit stitches, then finished with a basic flat panel bind off. You can also add a little variety by using a contrasting color cord to create a stripe. The gold bell pictured on the left has a red cord added on rows 6-8 for the stripe.

The second style rim uses the I-cord bind off to create a little flare. You can vary the number of stitches in the I-cord to suit your taste. The white bell pictured on the right was made using Needloft white/silver and a 3 stitch I-cord edge. This style is not only good for holiday ornaments, but when done in white it makes a very nice wedding decoration.

The free pattern is located here and in the Pattern Box on the right sidebar.

Poinsettia on the knitting loom

2007-12-07T23:59:00.002-05:00

The poinsettia, or flower of the Holy night, is based on a Mexican legend which you can read about here. While technically not a flower, its beauty rivals that of any flower I know. If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know of my love for creating flowers on the knitting looms and since it is the holiday season I just had to experiment with creating a poinsettia. I've not formally written the pattern, because I really don't know how much interest there is making these. Instead, I will give a description of how I made my poinsettia in this blog post.

The red leaf of the poinsettia began with a drawstring cast on (see Easter Egg pattern for drawstring cast on directions) on the little pink Knifty Knitter long loom using the first 12 pegs as a round loom.

Drawstring cast on: beginning and completed

After casting on, I knitted (flat knit stitch) for nine rows. The gap between the two rows of pegs creates a loose tension that constantly needs to be adjusted. When about seven rows have been completed, cinch the cast on edge shut.

Closing the cast on edge

Before beginning the tenth row, decrease the stitches at each corner by lifting the outer corner loop and placing it on the neighboring peg. You now have eight pegs with loops (four pegs on each side of the loom). The bottom loop on the four corner pegs is knitted over the decreased loop to give the illusion of a little spike edge on the leaf.

Decreasing at the corners and knitting the decreased peg

After the first decrease, knit five more rows and decrease as before. This will leave four pegs with stitches. Knit four more rounds on the four remaining pegs then do a gathered bind off. Be sure and adjust the tension on the loops prior to binding off. Cut the working yarn leaving an eight inch tail. Use a crochet hook to work the yarn tail around one side of the leaf all the way to the base. Tie a square knot using the yarn tail and the cast on tail, then trim the tails. The completed leaf should look similar to this:

Completed red leaf

When six red leaves have been completed, use a yarn needle, pinch the leaves at the bottom and join all six leaves at the base like this:

Completed leaves shaped and joined

The cyathium, or yellow center, is formed using one strand of yellow yarn and fifteen yellow beads. Thread the fifteen beads on the strand of yarn prior to knitting. Using the five peg end of the pink Knifty Knitter spool loom, do a drawstring cast on. Knit two rounds adding a bead to each stitch. Do a flat panel bind off, adding a bead to each bind off stitch. Cinch the cast on edge shut then whip stitch the cyathium where the red leaves are joined at the center of the flower.

Make six green leaves by increasing the rows from the red leaf instructions as follows:

Knit ten rows on twelve pegs; then decrease to six pegs
Knit eight rows on the six pegs; then decrease to four pegs
Knit six rows on the four pegs; then bind off.

The green leaves are joined by overlapping the edges instead of pinch pleating as you did with the red leaves. The joined green leaves should look similar to this:

Joined green leaves

Complete the poinsettia by placing the red leaves on top of the green leaves so the green leaves show between each pair of red leaves and whip stitch in place. The finished poinsettia is approximately eight inches in diameter.

Victorian lace ornament, a touch of elegance

2007-11-29T20:41:00.003-05:00

Although I could never afford to buy one, Faberge ornaments are the most beautiful of all holiday items. With that in mind, I decided to create a "little touch" of Faberge style on the Knifty Knitter Flower Loom. The result is what I call a Victorian Lace Ornament, similar in design to this Faberge Coronation Ornament that sells for about one hundred bucks.

Since my design is made with metallic cord from the craft department at Wal-Mart and shatterproof (translates as plastic) ornament balls, these will only set you back about fifty cents each plus your time. As with most of my projects, these make up very fast. Also, the lace ornaments would make a nice little extra gift for someone special and best of all, no one has to know how cheap you really are. The pattern is available here or in my Pattern Box on the right.

This project was also featured in Craftzine here.

Loom knit snowflakes, a lesson in I-cord bind off

2007-11-07T16:32:00.002-05:00

When I posted Boo-Ella I promised to follow up on the new technique I developed for the ruffled edge of her skirt which I call the I-cord bind off. It is really very easy to do and creates a nice picot edge that could be used on baby items or any place you want a little added decoration.

Since I've had a number of folks email me asking for the snowflake pattern, I decided to design a snowflake that incorporates the I-cord bind off on the outer edge. I knitted Snowflakes on the Loom last year, but this snowflake design is very different from those. They were made using short row shaping and the new one is made completely in the round on the 12 peg Knifty Knitter flower loom. I never posted the instructions for those snowflakes, because they were actually a translation of a needle knitted design from a book, Knitted Snowflakes. The new snowflake is not only my original design, it is much quicker and easier to make; plus you have a mini-lesson, free pattern and a finished project all rolled into one. The pattern is located here and is posted under Pattern Box in the right sidebar. Hopefully, you will enjoy making and displaying these as much as I did designing them for you.

Boo-Ella, Jacko & Tom Tildrum

2007-10-28T00:26:00.002-04:00

Just in time for Halloween, I give you Boo-Ella, Jacko and Tom Tildrum. After five months, I finally got to create a few little pieces on the Knifty Knitter Flower Loom. I'm giving a very general description as to how I made each these, since I simply do not have time to type up the detailed pattern.

Boo-Ella, the little ruffled ghost, was the first of the trio completed. She stands 3.5 inches tall and was made from the top down. Using two strands of white Red Heart Classic, I did my drawstring cast on (explained in The Easter egg reborn post) and then did a flat knit with varied tension (tighter at the top and looser at the bottom) for 18 rows. The ruffled edge was created using a three-stitch I-cord bind off on row 19. The I-cord bind off is a new technique I created just for this project, and it worked so well that I intend on using it on a baby bonnet pattern that I've had in mind. Duplicate stitch eyes were embroidered to create a sinister look.

Jacko, my little jack-o-lantern, is a wee little fellow measuring only 2 inches from the top of his stem to his flat little bottom. He was created from the top down using two strands of orange and green Red Heart Classic. Again I used my drawstring cast on and did 12 rows of knit one/purl one ribbing. In order to help shape the item, I cinched the cast on edge that forms the top closed after about five or six rows. I did a gathered bind off after completing the 12 rows, but left the bottom open until the pumpkin was stuffed. After closing the bottom, the yarn was run through to the center top and back to the bottom to get the "pumpkin" shape. The stem was done using one strand of green yarn on the 5-peg end of the Knifty Knitter Spool Loom for five or six row, then attached to the top of the pumpkin. Facial features were embroidered with a single strand of black yarn.

Tom Tildrum, named after a character from the story King o' the Cats, was the more complex of the three. His head and body were made using short row shaping, similar to making a sock. Starting at the nose with two strands of white yarn, I used the drawstring cast on and flat knit one row. Switching to two strands of black, I did four rows before beginning the short rows to shape the back of the head. After the short rows, I did 24 more rows for the body before stuffing and closing with a gathered bind off. The neck was formed by running a strand of yarn at the base of the head and cinching it to define the neck.

The white chest/belly was knitted as a separate flat panel piece and attached to the chest/belly area of the cat. It was made using 2 strands of yarn and 5 pegs on the Flower Loom. After doing a drawstring cast on, I completed 15 rows and did a flat panel bind off. The drawstring edge was cinched to taper the top of the panel, which will be centered and attached just beneath the neck area.

Tom's Ears were made using 3 pegs on 5 peg end of the Spool Loom and casting on one stitch on peg 2, then wrapping the yarn around pegs 1, 2 & 3. This will leave two strands on the middle peg and one strand on peg 1 & 3. Knit off the middle peg and continue flat knitting for 6 more rows before doing a flat panel binding off.

The legs and feet took several attempts before I was happy with them. They were made on the 5 peg end of the Knifty Knitter Spool Loom. Starting with the feet and 2 strands of white yarn, I did my drawstring cast on and knitted for 5 row. The drawstring edge was cinched closed, then changed to 2 strands of black yarn and knitted one more row on the 5 pegs. Next I decreased by knitting off pegs 1 & 2, moving the loop from peg 4 to peg 3 and knitting off, and then moved the loop on peg 3 to peg 2. Next I moved the loop on peg 5 to peg 1, which will leave two sets of loops on both pegs 1 & 2 and no loops on pegs 3, 4 & 5. At this point, the foot was stuffed through the small opening before continuing. The leg was completed by working an I-cord for 12 more rows using pegs 1 & 2 and knitting 1 over 2. The tail was also completed in the same manner as the legs for about 18 rows. The tension must be kept as loose as possible when making the legs and tail or else knitting off the pegs becomes extremely difficult.

The cat was finished by attaching the ears, legs and tail. The nose and mouth were embroidered with one strand of pink yarn. The eyes are diamond shaped light green felt, whipped into place using a black embroidering thread with a few stitches added in the middle to form the eye pupil. Three straight long stitches were added to the paws to define the toes.

There were a several more fall projects I wanted to do, but I'll just have to put those on the back burner for now for a later day. Right now that back burner is pretty full.

Candy corn, pumpkin, spider web & turkey hats

2007-10-08T22:19:00.004-04:00

Among some of my first loom knitted projects were the autumn hats for my grandchildren that I made last October. I posted information about these on several of the Yahoo groups, but at that time I didn't have a blog. I've decided to go ahead and add them to my blog since they are autumn projects.

The first of my autumn hats was the little pumpkin hats I made for my twin grandchildren who were born last September. They were just a few weeks old when the picture on the right was made. The Pumpkin Hat pattern is listed in my Pattern Box on the right.

My second autumn hat was the Candy Corn Hat I made for my granddaughter. She was only nine months old when the picture was made. This hat was made using Red Heart worsted weight yarn with 2 strands held as one. The yellow brim was made rather long in order to turn up on the outside using k2/p2 ribbing. Two or three rows of yellow and the remainder of the hat were made using the basic e-wrap knit stitch (double strand wraps knitted over double strand wraps). The yellow & orange part of the hat, along with 2 rows of the white, was made on the red KK loom. I decreased one peg every 3 or 4 pegs on the 31 peg red KK after doing about 18 or 19 rows of the orange to end up with loops on 24 pegs. These were transferred to the 24 peg blue KK and a couple more rows were knitted off. After that I decreased every other peg on the 24 peg blue loom to end up with 12 pegs with loops, which were transferred to the little peach colored 12 peg KK flower loom. A couple more rows were knitted off and then I decreased every other peg again to end up with six pegs. I ended by knitting off the 6 pegs using the existing loops on the pegs since they each had 2 wraps on them and used the gathered removal method to bind off. A white pompom was added to the top.

The third of the autumn hats was the spider web hat I made for my grandson, who was 2 years old when the picture was made. This hat was done on the green loom. The cuff is a k1/p1 ribbing with 3 rows of black, 3 rows of orange and 3 more rows of black. The body of the hat was done in orange using a regular e-wrap knit stitch for 18 rows. After that I used the same technique outlined in the Tommy Turkey Hat pattern, where you divide the hat into 4 sections, and decrease into a point. When you finish the 4 wedges, whip stitch them together. The web pattern was accomplished by marking off where I wanted the web to go, then holding a strand of black yarn on the inside of the hat and chain stitch it in place using a crochet hook through the knit stitches.

The last of the autumn hats was my Tommy Turkey Hat. This was one of those spur of the moment things that was just fun to do. The instructions for this pattern are also located in the Pattern Box on the right.

Knitting with Knifty Knitter III - booklet review

2007-10-08T16:31:00.002-04:00

Knitting with Knifty Knitter III (pictured on the right) is ProvoCraft's most recent full color booklet in it's little "Slim Jim" series. Most all of the patterns in this publication are written for the Knifty Knitter Long Looms. The Spool Loom and Flower Loom are used for various embellishments. Here is an outline of the booklet's contents:

Page 1, the cover, features four pictures of five different projects included in the booklet: Off-to-School Afghan, Felted Pack, Carnival Throw, and two Basic Scarves.
Pages 2-5 focuses on stitches and techniques. Along with the basics (e-wrap & various wrapping methods) instructions for creating ribbed knit and honeycomb knit using the long looms as knitting boards are included. Also covered are: increasing, decreasing, crochet bind off, basic crochet stitches and the mattress stitch.
Pages 6-15 contain the eleven projects.
Page 16, the back cover, has pictures of the Knifty Knitter looms and tools.

The Projects
Here is a rundown of the eleven projects included in the little booklet, along with the looms required for each one:

Basic Beanie is the standard basic Knifty Knitter (KK) hat made on the KK yellow long loom.
Basic Scarves includes two projects. The first one is the Honeycomb Scarf knitted on the KK pink long loom used as a knitting board. The second scarf is a Red Tube Scarf with pompoms on each end made on the KK flower loom.
Felted Pack, a backpack made on the blue long loom for the bag and the spool loom for the I-cord straps, includes powered punch dying and felting. The pack is pictured (see the cover picture above) with white rings of some sort attached to the bag which are used as a decoration or to hang items like sunglasses; however, there is no mention of these rings in the pattern instructions.
Felted Bag is a little navy bag with red & white stripes made on the KK yellow long loom for the bag with I-cord straps made on the spool loom. The project is pretty basic, but I liked the creative technique with the I-cords used to fashion a simple fastener for the bag.
Felted Flowers are simple little I-cord flowers made on the spool loom to be used as embellishments on other items.
Off to School Afghan is a colorful 60" X 60" afghan knitted in four separate squares on the KK blue long loom and stitched together. It is edged in four rows of double crochet to match the four main squares.
Off to School Pillow, a 13" X 13" throw pillow, compliments the Off to School Afghan. Instead of squares, four equilateral triangles, which are made on the KK blue long loom using increases and stitched together to form a square. Two of these squares are used to make the pillow.
Carnival Throw, a 50" X 80" afghan, is knitted in six long ribbed panels on the KK pink long loom and stitched together. What really makes this throw unique is that each panel has tapered ends, which are created using increases and decreases. The throw is pictured with tassels on the tapered ends (barely visible in the cover picture above), but no mention of making or adding the tassels is made in the project instructions.
Plastic Bag Holder & Scrubber completes the projects in this little booklet. The 9" X 20" Plastic Bag Holder is created on the KK green long loom with an I-cord handle from the spool loom added. The little Scrubbers, made from netting on the flower loom, are made to slip on two fingers when cleaning pots and pans.

The projects in this little booklet are very basic and edited to bare bones instructions, even occasionally omitting some steps. Still, it is pretty fair and well worth the ninety-seven cents I paid for it.

Lots of loomy resources

2007-09-27T15:49:00.038-04:00

Typically, my blog posts relate to projects I'm working on or projects I've finished. Unfortunately, that hasn't happened in several months due to changes that have taken place in my home. Two of my grandchildren (ages 3 years and 20 months - both in diapers) have been living with my husband and I since June, so knitting has not been a major priority in this household. When they were first placed with me, I was reminded as to why younger folks by nature are the ones meant to raise the young ones. The first few weeks almost did me in, but there is a quote by Freidrich Nietzsche that goes: "That which does not kill us makes us stronger." Things are gradually getting better each day and as the cooler weather approaches, I feel the call of the looms.

Even though I've not been able to work directly on projects, my idea book has expanded greatly. I do have a project on the loom and a Lion Suede moccasin slipper that needs it's mate, but for now I'll focus on areas in the right sidebar of my blog which were updated but may have gone unnoticed. The first area added is called Online Resources, which includes links to articles and online tools to assist in your knitting endeavors. The other area is a link list to Loom Knitting Books & DVD's. If you have an item that you feel should be included in either list, please let me know by posting a comment.

One other item I wanted to include is a list of links I have accumulated for making looms. So many people live in areas where looms are not always available to them or for one reason or the other ordering a loom is not an option. In this case, the best solution is to make a loom. I posted this list on the KniftyKnitterLooms Yahoo Group, but wanted to include it here so folks that were not members of that group could access it. As I find new sources, I will update this list. Here's the list in alphabetical order (updated March, 2011):

Hopefully, you will find the links I've added to this blog helpful. Since we are settling into a routine around here, perhaps my next blog post won't be four months coming. Thank you for sticking with me in my absence.

Wendy's Snood

2007-05-24T20:36:00.001-04:00

The topic for today is the snood. Now, for those of you who don't know what a snood is, it is a type of headgear straight out of the Middle Ages wore by fashionable ladies of the day. Women of the World War II era, the 70's, and SCA members during recent years have reclaimed a love affair with the snood. Believe it or not, there has even been a movie about the snood called, The Taming of the Snood, but it didn't get very good reviews (imagine that). If you are interested in more historical snood facts, check here.

For all you loom knitters that have longed for a snood pattern, the wait is over. Wendy Stevens, a very talented lady from the Yahoo loom knitting groups, has designed one for the Yellow Knifty Knitter Round Loom and is graciously sharing it with everyone. Since she doesn't have a blog, she sent me the pattern and pictures so I could post it on my blog to make it available for other loom knitters. Without further adieu, I give you Wendy's Snood. I have also listed it in the Pattern Box on the right sidebar.

Felted roses

2007-05-18T00:47:00.001-04:00

Loom knit felted roses
(The red rose on the right was done using two strands of yarn and didn't felt as well as the other three done with a single strand. of yarn)

After a week of babysitting the twins (my son's children), I finally finished the fourth rose (pictured on the loom in the previous post), worked out the pattern for the leaves, knitted eight leaves for the four roses (two for each rose), and felted all of them last night. I just had to snap one more picture of all four roses before felting so I could compare them with the felted roses. Also, I wanted to remember how they looked in case something went horribly wrong during the felting process.

Pre-felted roses

Finally, with reckless abandon I cast the four flowers into hot depths of the washing machine and waited for what seemed like an eternity while the metamorphosis took place. Upon retrieving them from their metal cocoon, I was totally awestruck at the transformation. This was my first voluntary experience with felting, but it definitely won't be my last. I have already started another rose-colored rose and as soon as I locate some yellow wool yarn, I'll make some yellow roses. These can be used for hat decorations, corsages, added to hair clasps, on handbags, gift bags, or room decorations.

The Felted Roses flower pattern has been added to My Pattern Box in the right sidebar. I have also been asked to teach this project for the LoomClass Yahoo Group.

A rose like no other

2007-05-12T23:54:00.002-04:00

Due to illness, it's been over a month since my last post. Most of April was spent battling some sort of upper respiratory infection that was the direct results of trimming dead and molded blooms from the shrubs surrounding my deck. Just when I was recovering, I brought took two of my grandchildren home with me for an extended visit only to discover they both had some sort of nasty viral infection which I promptly caught. This only lasted about four days, but most of that time was spent in bed and left me weak from the high fever and dehydration. My granddaughter continued to stay with me, since it took her even longer to recover.

The next project I had wanted to do prior to my month long illness, was a loom knitted rose. Occasionally, I would pick up the loom and try out an idea, but things just didn't seem to click. After a number of failed attempts (approximately six to be exact), I was curled up in the recliner and just happened to notice an experimental piece that I had made laying in the scrap heap. The little brown circular piece was made using short row shaping when I was trying to figure out a way to make a flat bottom for the Loomy-licious Cupcake, but was discarded mainly because I didn't like the way it curled around the outer edges. I noticed that when I twisted the little "C-shaped" disc into a cone that the curled edges closely resembled the "petals" of Nicky Epstein's needle knitted roses. Now all I had to do was the math (number of strands, stitches & increases) to polish the ugly little brown disc into a full blooming rose.

So far I've only used Patons Merino Wool Yarn since I want to felt the finished roses. The first short row rose was done with two strands of the red yarn using eleven pegs on the 24-peg round blue Knifty Knitter. The resulting rose (first on the left pictured above) seemed too bulky to suit me. The next two roses were done with a single strand of yarn using nine pegs on the 10 inch pink long Knifty Knitter long loom. Of these two roses, the white one (pictured in the middle above) has 14 wedges or sections formed by the short rows and the red one (pictured on the right above) has 18 wedges. These were closer to what I had in mind. The fourth rose, still on the loom (pictured below), is made similar to the second and third rose, but the sequence in the short row shaping was varied to create a fuller rose with a smaller base. When completed, it will have ten or twelve sections, but the sections will be wider on the outer edge. If you look closely at the picture, you can see the wedge shaped sections.
The next step will be to felt the roses. This shouldn't be too difficult since I'm experienced - I've felted several of mine and my husband's sweaters over the past years by accident when they went from an XL to a child's size 6. (I currently have one of his sweaters hid in the laundry room that is slated to become a handbag in it's next incarnation.) I will continue this post in a couple of days when the current rose is off the loom and all of the roses have been felted. At that time I will have a detailed pattern. Until then, "Happy Mother's Day" - these roses are my gift to you.

Blossom, the hip-hop flower bunny

2007-04-04T22:26:00.003-04:00

Stand me in the corner, because I'm a bad student. I was suppose to be working on Ann Bipes Easter Bunny for LoomClass this week, but I had already started my own bunny design on the Knifty Knitter blue loom a few days earlier. The blue loom was the loom needed for the LoomClass project so I knew I was in trouble. I only had a few rows of my own project completed on the loom and could have removed it to do the assigned project, but I had several new techniques that I wanted to experiment with and I was afraid if I didn't do it while it was still on my mind that I would completely forget. The results of my bad behavior is Blossom Bunny, a loom knitted bunny with a soft sculpted face.

As stated earlier, Blossom was made on the 24-peg blue Knifty Knitter. Starting at the tail end, I used a drawstring cast on (see the Easter egg pattern), worked six rows of flat knit stitch, plus two rows of u-wrap stitch and then closed the bottom area using the drawstring. The largest part of the body was completed with eighteen e-wrap rows. For the neck area, I decreased using the flat knit stitch by k2tog across the row. When I reached the end of the row, I cut the working yarn leaving a six inch yarn tail. Decreasing this much on a loom is usually a problem, but by working the decreases using a flat knit stitch the tension can be adjusted to accommodate the stationary pegs while knitting and later by using the cut yarn tail as a drawstring.

Leaving another six inch yarn tail in the new working yarn, I continued to flat knit the twelve pegs with loops and cast the working yarn on over the empty pegs. On the next two rows, I flat knit all twenty-four pegs to complete the neck area of the head. Continuing with the head, I worked twelve rows of u-wrap stitches, three rows of flat knit stitches in the nose area and ended with open gathered bind off.

The body is stuffed with fiberfill using a knee high stocking as a liner. The neck area is cinched from the inside to the desired size using the yarn tails and then tied off. Pull the stocking liner into the head area and continue stuffing. When the stuffing has been completed, the gathered bind off is cinched shut and tied off.

Other parts include the legs, ears, tail and face. The legs were knitted from feet up using the drawstring cast on and sixteen rows of flat knit stitches on the 8-peg end of the Knifty Knitter spool loom. The ears were worked as a flat panel on the blue loom starting with eight rows of six stitches, then increasing a stitch at the beginning and end of row nine and knitting a total of eight rows with eight stitches. The ear is completed by k2tog at the beginning of each row until only one stitch is left on the peg. The tail is a big white pompom stitched over the initial cast on spot. The face is soft sculpted, which really brings the bunny to life, with a pink embroidered nose and big brown wooden beads for eyes.

Now that Blossom has been completed, I'll do the Anne's Easter Bunny so Blossom will have a friend.

Looms in bloom: daffodils

2007-03-30T21:46:00.002-04:00

We returned from Argentina this past Saturday from a wonderful vacation to what has been a disastrous week at home. The terrible events of this past week are too numerous and unbelievable to list and even though I couldn't find the time to knit, I knitted in my mind while riding or driving from one place to another or laying in the bed as my prequel to sleep. Bright yellow daffodils, the fruit one of my mental knitting exercises, finally materialized in yarn form late last night. These little beauties were made on the eight peg end of the Knifty Knitter spool loom. The basic steps to making this flower, which is made from the top down, are as follows:

Using two strands of yarn as one, do a chain cast on using all eight pegs of the spool loom. The cast on edge forms the lacy lip of the "cup" on the daffodil.
Flat knit for eight rows.
For the petal, work an eight stitch I-cord between six of the pegs. (Instructions for the I-cord stitch technique are outlined in the jellybean basket pattern). Due to the narrow opening in the center of the spool loom, I had to pull the I-cord "petals" to the outside between the pegs as I completed each petal. The best loom for this project would be a regular gauge six peg spool loom with a standard opening in the center. I've not seen one with these specifications available anywhere, but Noreen Crone-Findlay's spoolies come close. Eventually, I may get brave and just make one, but for now the little pink KK spool loom was the loom of choice from what I had laying around.
Do a hang hem by lifting the ladders between the pegs from row eight of the flat knit row onto corresponding pegs. This step was difficult, because there is so much bulk in the small opening of the KK spool loom that it is hard to determine which strands of yarn you need to be lifting. Therefore, if you guess incorrectly, you will need to touch up your mistakes with the yarn needle at the end of the project.
Flat knit for one more row.
Do a gathered bind off. Cinch the yarn tail tightly and tie off leaving a 12-inch tail.
Thread one strand of the yarn tail on a yarn needle for doing touch ups.
Finishing touches include running a gathering strand at the base of the"cup" and tightening it to make it smaller at the bottom. Also, depending on how good your guess was on lifting the ladders when you did the hang hem, you may need to cinch the vertical space between the petals.

These are actually fairly easy to make. The biggest aggravation was the compromises that had to be made for the inadequacy of the loom. Now all I need to do is buy some emerald green yarn to make stems and leaves.

Looms in bloom: loom knitting flowers

2007-03-11T22:31:00.002-04:00

My desire to knit a flower has been germinating every since I first picked up the Knifty Knitter flower loom and last night the idea came into full bloom. When I went to bed and couldn't sleep, I tried counting sheep, but it only made me think of yarn. The next thing I knew I was playing with my flower loom. I had been toying with the idea of using the drawstring cast on to create the center of a flower after using it with the Easter egg pattern. Then when I used the I-cord stitch for the scalloped rim on the jellybean basket, I decided it looked a lot like flower petals, so I set to work to test my theory. The large sunflower above was the results of my runaway imagination. After completing the sunflower, I went to sleep dreaming of other possibilities and more flowers.

Today ended up being "car trip" day, which means time to loom knit. I tested various looms and changed the number of rows each time. The picture below shows the flowers I made during the car trip pictured with it's corresponding loom, along with the "bedtime" sunflower. The daisy & black-eyed Susan were made with the spool loom: the daisy on the eight peg end and the black-eyed Susan on the five peg end. The large daisy and the sunflower were made on the twelve peg flower loom.

I do not recommend the spool loom for your first flower. It's very cumbersome to work with, especially on the five peg end where the inside loom opening is very narrow. The twelve peg flower loom produced the best flowers, but they are also quite large having a four & one-half inch diameter.

How to grow sunflowers on the flower loom
Unfortunately, I'm pressed for time right now and will not be able to write a detailed pattern until I return from vacation at the end of the month. However, you will find the flowers quite easy to make if you are familiar with my drawstring cast on method (see the Easter egg pattern) and the scalloped I-cord stitch trim I used in the little jellybean basket. Do a drawstring cast on using the twelve peg flower loom and two strands of Red Heart worsted weight yarn in brown or your chosen color. Flat knit Rows 1-4 and on Row 5 do e-wrap knit stitches. Cinch the center opening shut by pulling on the initial yarn tail from the drawstring cast on. Pull the yarn tail to the inside and tie off. Change yarn colors to two strands of bright yellow. Row 6 consists of a nine stitch I-cord pattern. On Row 7, lift the ladders from Row 5 to do a hang-hem, then knit the bottom loops over the hang-hem loops. Row 8 is an e-wrap knit stitch row and Row 9 is the flat panel bind off row. End by tying off, securing and trimming all yarn tails.

Experiment on your own using various yarns and modified stitches. Be sure and share pictures of your accomplishments so we can all learn from them. The possibilities are endless.

A tisket, a tasket, a jellybean basket

2007-03-09T16:28:00.001-05:00

OK, I'm in panic mode. I have so many ideas and so little time to do them. We are getting ready to go on vacation to Argentina and Uruguay for ten day and since I've been playing with the looms I've let my laundry go to.....well, it's pretty bad. Anyhow, this will probably be my last blog post until I return. Of course, I'm taking a few looms and some yarn - you didn't think I could actually go that long without them, now did you?

Of all the little loomies I've make, I believe this one is my favorite. The little Jellybean Basket is made on the Knifty Knitter flower loom and the handles are done on the five-peg end of the Knifty Knitter spool loom. The completed basket is about 4.75 inches tall. Of course, the basket design wouldn't be possible if I hadn't made it's perquisite designs. The cupcake contributed the flat bottom and the Easter egg improved on the flat bottom by using the drawstring cast on method.

Also, my treetop angel, Anabelle, started me using the I-cord for a scalloped edge. The scallops are much more polished in this basket design, because it is integrated directly into one of the rows as a stitch pattern. I considered integrating the I-cord handle directly onto the basket, but decided not to push my luck this time.

I also tried different stitch patterns to create a type of basket stitch (see the two pilot baskets pictured to the right), but I decided to stay with a flat knit stitch in the end. Even though the stitch patterns didn't suit me, The flat bottoms looked pretty good. (see left).

The basket looked good without it, but to help keep its shape when adding goodies, I cut the bottom from an eight ounce plastic drinking cup and inserted it into the basket bottom. I used Easter grass, small jellybeans and a Peeps marshmallow bunny to decorate.

The pattern is listed in the right sidebar under My Pattern Box, or by clicking here. By using a larger loom and increasing the number of rows, this little basket could easily be made into a larger design. If I were making it larger, I would probably make 3 sets of I-cord for the handle and braid them for reinforcement. You would also need to find a small plastic bowl to insert into the bottom to help maintain the shape. However, I like the little basket just the way it is, because to me it's the small things in life that matter most.

The Easter egg reborn

2007-03-05T03:02:00.002-05:00

When you see Easter eggs, a symbol of fertility and rebirth, you know that spring is near. In an effort to hurry it along, I decided to loom knit some Easter eggs. I used a plastic egg for stuffing to maintain the "egg shape", but I soon discovered another problem in what would appear to be a fairly simple project. The problem was the appearance of the bottom of the egg when using traditional loom knitting cast on methods. All the traditional methods I tried produced surface stitches or bunching when the bottom opening was cinched shut.

After some experimenting, I created what I call the "drawstring" cast on. This cast on is created by anchoring the working yarn and then wrapping it completely around the loom once. The working yarn is then held across the top of the peg on the first or odd peg while the bottom strand of yarn is flat knitted OVER the working yarn. On the next peg or even peg, the the working yarn is laid across the peg, but the bottom strand of yarn is hooked UNDER the working yarn and lifted over the peg. To complete the cast on, continue lifting the bottom strands of yarn OVER the working yarn & peg on all the odd pegs, and UNDER the working yarn & over the peg on all the even pegs, until the last peg in the row has been reached. The beginning yarn tail forms a drawstring which can be cinched to completely close the bottom. This drawstring cast on would be good when making loom knitted toys or flowers.

The egg was made on the Knifty Knitter flower loom and completed by flat knitting 16 rows and doing a gathered bind off, leaving the top open so the egg can be inserted. Detailed instructions for this Easter egg can be accessed here, or in the pattern box on the right.

Loomed leghorn: an egg cozy

2007-02-27T23:48:00.001-05:00

It's official, I have spring fever! All I can think about are springtime looming projects. I've got patterns brewing for all types of baskets, bunnies, ducks, chicks and eggs. You could say that I'm "egg-cited" over all the possibilities.

Making an egg cozy
To start things off, I whipped up a little leghorn hen egg cozy that will fit nicely over an egg: both real and plastic. I just happened to have a bag of plastic Easter eggs that I bought on sale a few years ago stashed in my craft supplies, so that's what I used. The hen is loomed on the Knifty Knitter 12 peg flower loom. I did a chain cast on using a medium tension and two strands of worsted weight yarn and then with a flat knit stitch I worked K1/P1 rib stitch for 4 rounds.

The body & head
The body is done in alternating flat knit & purl stitches for 12 rows to form a garter stitch pattern, then I did a flat panel bind off on 6 pegs and continued with the garter stitch pattern for 6 more rows of flat panel work on the remaining 6 pegs to form the head. End by doing a flat panel bind off, remove the hen from the loom and whip the head & back opening shut.

Finishing
The beak, cone and tail trim are made using crochet chains in the corresponding colors and whip stitched in place. Small googly eyes were added for the eyes, but little black buttons or beads would work nicely. If the number of rows for the hen's body is reduced, the cozy could be used with a Cadbury Egg.

Note: A detailed pattern can be found by clicking the link for the Loomed Leghorn Egg Cozy in My Pattern Box on the right sidebar.

A couple cupcakes more

2007-02-14T12:17:00.002-05:00

Chocolate-coconut cupcake (left) and Strawberry-coconut cupcake (right)

I've loom knitted a couple more cupcakes just to tweak my pattern and experiment with some different things. Out of curiosity, I wanted to see what one would look like when using two strands of yarn. The first one (above left) was completed using two strands of worsted weight (4 ply) yarn in the cup and one strand of brown worsted weight yarn with one strand of white fun fur for the "coconut" topping to simulate chocolate-coconut. It was larger than the first one I made and turned out too chunky to suit me, so I won't be using two strands of worsted weight yarn any more - at least not for the cup part.

The third cupcake (above right) was the results of a trip to Hobby Lobby to buy some supplies for my next project. I saw this yummy candy-colored hot pink yarn on sale and thought it would be perfect for another cupcake. This time the cup was made using one strand of pale yellow worsted weight with one strand of sport weight in yellow twinkle, which is a pale yellow with pink and blue flecks. Also, the cup was make using a regular knit stitch, instead of the knit one purl one ribbing used in the other two cupcakes. The cake topping was made using one strand of medium pink worsted weight with one strand of the hot pink fun fur worked in the same garter stitch pattern as the first two. The third time was the charm for the flat bottom. I discovered quite by accident a way to finish the bottom off very flat and at the same time create a lovely star-burst pattern with a stitch border around the perimeter.

The Loomy-licious Cupcake has been add to my pattern box on the right. If you decide to make a cupcake following this pattern, please send me a link to a picture of your finished cupcake so I can post it here.

Other Loom Knitters' Cupcakes

Tribegal

Trudy

Westie-Mom

A knitted cupcake: loomed & luscious

2007-02-11T03:00:00.001-05:00

A topic of discussion on the Decoraccentsinc Yahoo group this week has been a knitted cupcake. One of the members said there was a pattern in the book, One Skein, that she had ordered, but hadn't received. Also, I searched and found a pattern online here. Of course, these were both needle knitted patterns and I never learned to needle knit. So, armed with determination I decided to design a pattern for a loom knitted cupcake.

For this project, I used one strand of worsted weight yarn flat knitted with a tight tension, which produces a gauge of 4 stitches X 8 rows = 1 inch. Three different looms were used: the 24 peg blue Knifty Knitter, the 12 peg Knifty Knitter flower loom and the 5 peg end of the Knifty Knitter spool loom. The visible part of the cup and most of the cake were knitted on the 24-peg blue loom. The cup was done in a flat knit using the K1/P1 rib pattern. The cake is garter stitch with a modified hang hem where the cup joins the cake. Near the top of the cake, I decreased and transferred to the 12 peg flower loom and continued with the garter stitch for several more rows before doing a gathered bind off. To make the bottom of the cup, I hung two of the twenty-four outer loops from the original cast on edge onto each peg of the 12 peg flower loom, then did four flat knit rounds. The yarn was cut and pulled through the 12 loops and left open so the stuffing could be added. Fiber fill was stuffed into the cake. To stuff the cup bottom, I cut the bottom from a clear plastic cup and added scraps of brown yarn and a rock. At this point I finished the gathered bind off to create the flat bottom. The cherry and stem were made on the spool loom and whipped stitched onto the top of the cupcake. The final touch was the addition of pearlized ball head pins to simulate candy sprinkles. So this cupcake actually has a practical function as a pin cushion.

The completed cupcake is 4 1/2 inches tall (including the cherry) and 3 inches wide. Since this was my pilot cupcake, there are a number of adjustments that need to be made before I write the pattern. However, I loved making this, so it shouldn't take too long to cook up another one and write the adjusted pattern.