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.

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.