Snowman TP Cozy

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.

Little snowmen and an angel finger puppet

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

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

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

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.

Christmas egg

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

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

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!

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.

Bright bells

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

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

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

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.

Snowflakes on the loom

It’s "Christmas in Dixie, there’s snowflakes on the loom” (apologies to the singing group, Alabama). Well, after much frustration, many froggings, pattern re-writings, and two failed attempts, I have mastered the loom knitted snowflake. The basic snowflake is made using only six pegs of any knitting loom, rake or board. I used the “short row shaping” method and one strand of yarn to create a circular piece. After figuring out the basic pattern and using different looms, I incorporated lace, loops, flat knit and twisted knit stitches to give the snowflakes an individual look. Large gauge looms give a lacy look, but with fine gauge looms you can vary stitches for more visual variety. The snowflakes work up pretty fast, requiring about 30 minutes each to complete. The most time consuming part of making them, is waiting on the fabric stiffener to dry.

Picture Descriptions
The picture at the top features my first three successful snowflakes, which are approximately 4 inches in diameter. The top snowflake was completed using 6 pegs of the blue Knifty Knitter and a flat knit stitch. The two bottom snowflakes were done on 6 pegs of a 3/8” gauge loom. Stitches were varied, along with blocking techniques to create unique looks for each snowflake. The picture below shows my first two trial-and-error attempts. However, all is not lost, because the snowflake on the left has the potential to become a flower in future incarnations. Sorry, I can’t say the same for the one on the left. Many times I knit while half-watching TV. This didn’t work well while doing this particular snowflake (notice the oversized petal at the top). This is due to the constant changes in stitches, decreases, and increases with every row which require your undivided attention. I like to refer to the mutant snowflake on the right as my “pirate snowflake” because I was watching “Pirates of the Caribbean: Deadman’s Chest” when I lost count and made the terrible blunder. Oh well, the third time was a charm -- as long as you aren’t counting all the frogged attempts.

Annabelle, my treetop angel

As promised, Belle, my little ornament angel, now has a very big sister. Annabelle, a 10 inch tall treetop angel, took a couple of days to complete, mostly because I was creating, frogging and re-creating her as I went. I've always loved the crocheted angels and decided I wanted to loom knit something similar. Never mind that there was no pattern to be found for a knitted angel for neither the looms nor needles, or at least not one like I wanted so I decided to create one. My angel is made of the following separate components and then joined together: halo/head/body piece, arms, 2 joined wings, a skirt and skirt ruffle. Three different Knifty Knitter looms were used: 5 & 8 peg spool loom, 12 peg flower loom & 24 peg blue round loom. This is a brief summary of what I did:
The halo/head/body piece was done on the KK 8 peg spool loom. A combination of twisted knit, purl and flat knit stitches were used to shape and give the illusion of a face, hair and halo. The neck was formed by stuffing a cotton ball in the head and tying a strand of yarn around the neck area. The arms are I-cord made on 4 pegs of the KK spool loom and pulled from the inside through stitches in the “shoulder” area of the body. The skirt, done on three different looms, was the most complex of all the pieces. The bottom ruffle was done first by making a very long piece of I-cord prepared on the KK spool loom using 3 pegs, then attaching it to the blue KK loom by pulling the stitches onto the pegs as a cast on edge. Two types of lace stitches were used in the main part of the skirt then switching to flat knit and decreasing to 12 pegs, the skirt was transferred to the 12 peg flower loom. Once on the 12 peg loom, the waist of the skirt was finished by using a combination of twisted knit, flat knit and decrease stitches. Finally, the wings were completed in decreasing rows of lace stitches and attached at the corners to make a unified set. The various pieces were then joined. Fabric stiffener was added while the piece was blocked on a large plastic soft drink cup and then left to dry over night.
This was a challenging project, but I absolutely love doing things like this. I’m currently working on loom knitted snowflakes, which are also a bit of a challenge, but they are coming along nicely. I’ll post the results as soon as I’m finished.

This picture shows the size difference between the two angels. Annabelle (right) has a wing span of 7 inches and is 10 inches tall. Belle (left) is only 2½ inches tall.

Stockings & KK spool loom ornaments

The twins two Large Christmas Stockings done on the Knifty Knitter 31 peg red loom were completed a week ago, but I've just now got around to adding their names. Embroidering on knit, also called Swiss embroidery or duplicate stitch, is not my favorite thing to do. Hopefully, I’ll improve with practice. I adapted my own pattern for the stockings, because my daughter-in-law wanted plain stockings with only the children's names added. I really wanted to something fancy, but I contained myself and did the plain design. Now that those are out of the way, I'm going to do one that will look like it fell out of a Dr. Seuss Christmas nightmare just to appease my inner child. The detailed pattern I used for these stockings is available here, but here's a brief description of what I did:

For the cuff I did 29 rows of alternating knit & purl stitches to form a garter stitch pattern, then did a hang-hemmed like making the brim on a hat. The leg part of the stocking which varies from 32-36 rows is knit stitched. Short rows are worked starting on 15 pegs of the loom, decreasing to 5 pegs and increasing back to 15 to form the heel. The foot is 18 rows or approximately 6 inches and the toe is 2.5-3 inches: 3 rows of regular knit stitch and 6 rows of flat knit stitch then do a gathered bind-off.

In addition to the large stockings, I’ve been busy making little ornaments and/or pins using the Knifty Knitter spool loom. I just love doing what I fondly refer to as the “little quickies” on the spool loom.

Mini & micro stockings: These are a good example of results you get using the same loom and yarn, but different types of stitches and varying the strands of yarn. The first three stockings were made on the 8-peg end of the Knifty Knitter spool loom: the first was e-wrapped using two strands; the second was e-wrapped using one strand; and the third was flat knit stitched using one strand. The tiny micro stocking, which is about 2¼ inches tall, was completed using one strand of yarn. The cuff is garter stitched and the stocking is flat knit stitched.Wreaths: Here is a picture of three out of five of my little wreaths that survived- I threw away two of them. The two casualties were made using a twisted flat I-cord on one and a braided I-cord on the other and had possibilities, but I just didn’t like the design. The three survivors were made using either a different number of strands or pegs, and varying lengths of I-cord. My favorite of the three is the one on the right, which I will be adding to my pattern box on the right side bar.

Candy Canes: I’m addicted to making candy canes. The ones pictured are only a sample of what I’ve made and were grouped to show what they look like by changing a few details. All were made on the 5-peg end of the KK spool loom. The first one on the left was made using one strand of red and one strand of white yarn then alternating the colors on each row. A pipe cleaner was added to hold for shaping. The center one was made by doing two rows of white and one row of red; always start with white and end with white. Fabric stiffener was used for shaping. The one on the right was done like the first one, but using two strands of yarn. My favorite is the one in the middle.
Instructions for the candy canes are available in my Pattern Box on the right.

"Each time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings"

The title of this blog entry is from the all time classic Christmas movie, It's a Wonderful Life. In the case of my loom knitted angel, a bell became an angel. One of the challenges of loom knitting is creating multi-dimensional shapes on what is basically fixed pegs. Belle, my little angel ornament, is the result of an experiment in overcoming the shaping restrictions on looms. Her skirt, which is based on my Knifty Christmas Bells pattern, is very full and flared at the bottom, but tapers gradually to the waist without bulky gathers. With the exception of her halo & wings, this little 3 inch Christmas tree ornament is made entirely on the pink Knifty Knitter spool loom using white worsted weight yarn. She is made in three pieces: the bell-shaped skirt, and two 4½ inch lengths of I-cord which form the head/body and arms. The skirt is knitted on the 6-peg end of the spool loom using two strands held as one. The I-cord is knitted on the 5-peg end of the spool loom using one strand of the same yarn. All 5 pegs were used when creating the I-cord for the head/body section, but only 3-pegs were used for the I-cord arms. After the three main pieces are joined to form the angel, a small piece of silver pipe cleaner is shaped into a halo and attached to her head. Finally, Belle "gets her wings," which were made from 2½ inch wide sheer wired wedding ribbon. The 3½ inch piece of wired ribbon is pinched together in the middle and tied to her back using the gathering yarn from her waist. This is a very general description of how Belle is made. I am putting the finishing touches on the pattern and will be adding it to my Pattern Box on the right side bar over the weekend.

Also, I have completed several other Christmas tree ornaments: mini & micro stockings, candy canes, I-cord wreaths, and a mini snowman, but I just had to post an entry for Belle first. I am currently working on a loomed snowflake, poinsettia and a large angel made on the blue Knifty Knitter which can be used either as a tree topper or a decorative centerpiece. In addition to the little stuff, I have two large Christmas stockings waiting to have names embroidered on them and several Christmas hats in the works. So much to do, so little time.

Wonderloom meets Boo-Boo Bear

Wonderloom….the name rings of fantastic endeavors in loom knitting: magnificent afghans, unique sweaters, designer hats and scarves. So, what’s the first thing I wanted to create on this magnificent Cadillac of looms? Well, I have a dark secret that I’ve never told anyone. Ever since I first saw some tiny little knitted finger puppets in a basket near the check out counter of a local book store many years ago, a flame was lit inside me to learn to knit just so I could unravel the mystery of these tiny creations. However, the gauge of the Knifty Knitter looms was much too large for producing finger puppets, therefore, when I received the Wonderloom with a 3/8 inch gauge, I figured I would give it a shot. I even located a needle knitting pattern, called Finger Puppers, which I could easily transfer to the looms. Casting all sensibilities aside I bravely went were no knitter should go – I knitted without creating a gauge swatch (GASP). When I finished the body of my first finger puppet using 14 pegs on the Wonderloom, I immediately christened him, “Boo-Boo” Bear, the accidental test swatch. Poor Boo-Boo, the only person’s finger that he would ever stay on would have been a giant with a finger the diameter of two of my fingers and at 5 ft. 10 in. I’m not a small person. So, it was back to the knitting board, where I adjusted the Wonderloom down to 12 pegs (you have got to love the versatility of this loom) and knitted finger puppet number two. This time the finger puppet fit much better and looked more like the picture in the Finger Pupper instructions.
My only dilemma now was what to do with poor Boo-Boo: should I toss him in the garbage or do a make-over? Being raised not to waste anything, I opted for the make-over. I took the Knifty Knitter spool loom and created arms & legs; crocheted two ears and a muzzle; cut a knee-high hose to a shorter length, stuffed it with fiberfill and inserted inside Boo-Boo’s knitted body; finally all this was put together and stitched in place. His nose was embroidered and his white button eyes had black sequins glued to them. A yarn bow and hat which was made on the spool loom were added. Voilà, Boo-Boo Bear went from plain finger puppet to dazzling Christmas tree ornament, instant trash to treasure!

The story of three little bells...

Once upon a time there were three little bells: Papa Bell, Mama Bell and wee little Baby Bell. A couple of weeks ago I knitted some bells using the Knifty Knitter flower loom. Recently, Kansas, another loomer, posted some mini bells on her Canadian Crafter blog that she created using her 8-peg thumb loom. Someone on the Knifty Knitter Yahoo Group asked where they could get a thumb loom like the one Kansas used to create her mini bells, so I decided to see if the Knifty Knitter spool loom would work for this project since I had one on hand.

The Knifty Knitter spool loom is a dual loom. On one end there are 8 regular sized pegs spaced ¾ inch from center to center of each peg. The other end features 5 small pegs spaced at approximately ⅝ inch from center to center of each peg. Since I was testing the 8-peg end of the spooler, I decided to try the 5-peg end, too. Here’s what I did:

• Papa Bell The “Papa Bell” was made on the 12-peg KK flower loom following the directions in My Pattern Box on the right for Knifty Christmas Bells.
• Mama BellThe “Mama Bell” was made similar to Kansas’s mini bell with a little variation at the top of the bell. Using 2 strands held as one on the 8-peg end of the KK spool loom, I did e-wraps and knit for 8 rows. On row 9 I did a flat knit stitch. On row 10 I decreased every other peg by combining the loops on pegs 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 & 7-8 (this leaves double sets of loops on pegs 2,4,6 & 8); and then did a flat knit stitch on the remaining 4 pegs. I did a gather bind off and finished the bell using the same method outlined in the instructions for the Knifty Christmas Bells.
• Baby Bell
• “Baby Bell” was done on the 5-peg end of the KK spool loom using one strand of yarn, e-wrap and knit for 6 rows. Rows 7 & 8 were done in a flat knit stitch. Finally, I decreased the pegs by placing the loop from peg one onto peg 2, then placing the loop from peg 3 onto peg 4 and leaving peg 5 as is. I used a gather bind off and finished similar to the instructions for the Knifty Christmas Bells, except I was working with only one strand of yarn instead of two.

The picture of the three bells shows the outcome and comparison in size of the bells. Height measurements are approximately as follows: Papa Bell – 3 inches, Mama Bell – 2¼ inches, and Baby Bell – 1¼ inches.