[Nfb-krafters-korner] Excerpts and commentary on loom knitting books from bookshare (long)

[Deborah Armstrong]

This is from a beginner's perspective. I have been trying to learn using 
just the books. My Knifty Knitter arrived Sunday and I've spent a few 
minutes at the end of each work day reading through the beginner 
directions in all of the books.


Several people offered to help me, and when I start my vacation next 
week, I'll probably take them up on it; meanwhile I wanted to see how 
far I could get with the books.


By far, the best descriptions are in

"Loom Knitting Primmer" by

ISELA PHELPS.


I'm going to paste in the descriptions from all the books for getting 
started; they might help other beginners, and give you a sense of the 
differences between descriptions of what obstensibly is supposed to be a 
simple method. I'll start with the worst ones first. Note that there are 
no actual photos, just indications of such.


Beginner Directions From Bookshare Loom Knitting Books

from "Knitting With The Nifty Knitter"

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS Circle
Let's Begin! Most of the projects are made with two strands of yarn. 
Treat them as if it is only one strand. When the instructions refer to 
the yarn or the loops this means both strands together as if it was just 
one

bulky strand.

See Illustration to the right.

1. Wrap yarn around the peg on the edge of the ring.

2. Pull the yarn to the inside of the ring between the first and last peg.

3. Wrap the yarn to the far last peg

side of the first peg going completely around it and crossing in the 
back. Repeat with second peg. Keep the yarn loose. Continue around until 
all the pegs are wrapped.

4. Slide the yarn on each peg toward the bottom of the pegs.

5. Continue around wrapping pegs until you have two rows of yarn.

6. To hold your loose yarn in place, (See pictures) wrap it around the 
outside peg using a half-hitch. (Picture 1) To make a half-hitch, use 
your thumb and pointer finger to make a loop in the yarn, (Picture 2) 
turn the loop so the yarn coming from loom is in the front and the tail 
of the yarn is against the loom, (Picture 3) pull the loop tight 
(Picture 4). This will hold it in place but is easily removed when you 
need to continue wrapping yarn. If it slips use two half hitches.

7. Using the hook, lift the bottom row of yarn over the top row of yarn 
and over the top of the peg. Continue with each peg. You have finished 
one row of knitting.

8. Wrap the pegs again , then repeat step 7.

9. Continue in this manner until your knitting is the length you desire.

Gather Stitch to Remove from Loom Gathered tight top

1. Knit your circle to the length suggested in the individual instructions.

2. Starting with the first peg run a needle and 12 " of yarn through the 
loop on each peg, (Picture 10) then lift the loops over and off the pegs 
(Picture 11).

3. Pull the thread tight (Picture 12) and tie off in a square knot 
(Picture 13). Weave in the ends.


 From "Learn To Knit On Circle Looms"

Techniques

Casting On

1. Tie a slip knot at the end of your yarn (check the pattern for the 
number of strands to be wrapped), leaving a 3-inch tail. Place this knot 
on the holding peg, and pull gently to tighten, Photo 1.

Note: After knitting two rows, the slip knot should be removed from the 
holding peg.

[Photo 1]

2. With your working yarn held in your left hand on the inside of the 
loom, wrap each peg in a counterclockwise direction starting on the 
first peg to the left of the holding     peg. Work your way around the 
loom, going in a clockwise direction until there is one loop on each 
peg. Don't wrap too tightly, Photo 2.

3. Work your way around the loom sliding each loop halfway down each peg.

Continue to wrap your working yarn around the loom a second time until 
there are two loops on each peg.

* * *

Basic Stitches

Knit Stitch

1. Cast on and wrap two loops on number of pegs as directed in the pattern.

2. Start with the first peg to the left of your holding peg. Use your 
knitting tool to take the bottom loop and pull it up and over the top 
loop and over the top of the peg, Photo 3.

[Photo 3]

3. Continue in this manner, working in a clockwise direction around the 
loom until all pegs only have one loop remaining on them. This is one round.

* * *

Purl Stitch

1. Wrap one loop on number of pegs as directed in the pattern.

2. Lay your working yarn across the front of the pegs, just below the 
first wrapped loop, Photo 4.

[Photo 4]

3. Using your knitting tool, reach down through the wrapped loop on the 
first peg and pull the working yarn up through the loop, forming another 
loop, Photo 5.

4. Pull the original wrapped loop off the peg, Photo 6, and place the 
newly formed loop on the peg. Tug gently on the working yarn to secure 
the loop on the peg.

[Photo 6]

5. Move to the next peg and repeat stitch as called for in the pattern.

Knitting a Flat Piece

1. Working around the loom clockwise, cast on the amount of stitches as 
directed in the pattern.

2. Wrap the last peg twice counter clockwise and bring your working yarn 
behind the next peg to the right. Wrap the yarn clockwise around the 
peg, Photo 7.

[Photo 7]

3. Continue to wrap the yarn around each peg clockwise working back 
toward the holding peg.

4. Starting with the last peg wrapped, knit off all pegs. The working 
yarn will be on the right end of the row.

Note: The stitch on the last peg that was double wrapped will be loose.

5. The working yarn will be behind the first peg on the right. Bring the 
yarn around to the front of the first peg wrapping in a counterclockwise 
direction.

6. Continue wrapping all pegs, working in a clockwise direction on the 
loom and knit off, again starting with the last peg that was wrapped.

7. Continue in this manner wrapping the pegs back and forth on the loom 
as directed in the pattern.

Note: Remember each peg will be wrapped clockwise as you move from left 
to right. Then they will be wrapped counterclockwise as you move right 
to left on the piece.

Purling on a Flat Piece

1. Cast on and wrap as many pegs as directed in pattern working in a 
clockwise direction.

2. Wrap the last peg and bring the working yarn around the left side of 
the last peg and in front of the peg just below the first loop.

3. Using your knitting tool, reach down through the wrapped loop on the 
first peg, and pull the working yarn up and through the loop, forming 
another loop.

4. Pull the original wrapped loop off the peg, and place the newly 
formed loop on the peg. Tug gently on the working yarn to secure the 
loop on the peg.

5. Continue to purl to the end of the row or as directed in the pattern.

* * *

Bind Off

There are four ways to bind off your finished piece: gather method, flat 
piece method, tube method and flat closed method. The gather method can 
be used to close up items like the tops of hats where the piece is a 
tube and then one end is gathered to close it. The flat piece method is 
used when making flat pieces such as scarves or afghan panels. The tube 
method can be used for items such as sleeves, where a circular piece is 
desired and both ends need to be left open. Flat closed method is used 
when knitting a piece in the round and a straight bottom is desired such 
as for a bag or pouch.

Note: It is helpful to have a crochet hook for some bind off methods; 
otherwise the knitting tool can be used.

* * *

Gather Method

1. Once the piece reaches the desired length, wrap your working yarn 
around the loom one and a half times; cut the yarn.

2. Using a yarn needle, thread the working yarn through each loop on the 
loom. Start with the loop to the left of the holding peg and work in a 
clockwise direction all the way around the loom, Photo 8.

3. Thread the working yarn through the loop to the left of the holding 
peg a second time.

4. Remove the loops from the loom and gently tug on the yarn tail until 
the piece gathers tightly together, Photo 9. Using the needle, secure 
the working yarn on the inside of the piece.

[Photo 9]

5. Turn the piece inside out and weave in the ends.

* * *

Flat Piece Method

1. Work piece until desired length as directed in pattern, ending with 
your working yarn at the right next to the holding peg. Cut the working 
yarn leaving a 3-inch tail.

2. Starting at the side of the piece with your working yarn, take the 
last loop from its peg and place it on the knitting tool or crochet hook.

3. Take the working yarn and wrap it once around the knitting tool or 
crochet hook in a clockwise direction. Pull this loop through the loop 
already on the crochet hook.

4. Remove the loop from the next peg to the right and place it on the 
hook, Photo 10.

[Photo 10]

5. Pull the second loop through the first and slide the first loop off 
the hook.

6. Repeat from step 3 and continue until all loops are removed from the 
loom.

7. After removing the last loop from the loom, use your hook to pull the 
tail of working yarn through it. Weave in ends with yarn needle.



 From "Loom Knitting Primer"

*The E Wrap Cast On (CO)*

This cast on is called the e-wrap because if you look at it from an 
aerial view it resembles a cursive e. It is the easiest method to learn.

Use the E-Wrap Cast On method when the first row needs to be picked up 
for a brim or seam or the cast-on row needs to be extremely flexible.

1 Place a stitch marker on any of the pegs on the knitting loom. The peg 
with the stitch marker will be your starting peg. Make a slip knot, and 
place it on the peg with the stitch marker.

2 Hold the loom in front of you with the working yarn in your left hand, 
work around the knitting loom in a clockwise direction thus: Pull the 
working yarn towards the inside of the loom, wrap around the peg 
directly to the left, in a counterclockwise direction around the peg. * 
Repeat from * to * with each of the pegs. Continue wrapping each peg in 
a counterclockwise direction, until you complete one round (each peg 
should have 1 loop).

Notice how the yarn crosses over itself on the inside of the knitting loom.

3 Wrap each peg a second time in the same method. Each peg should have 2 
loops on it. Hold the working yarn in place so the wraps do not unravel.

4 With knitting tool/pick, insert the tip of the tool into the 
bottommost loop on the last peg wrapped. Lift the loop up and off the 
peg and allow the loop to fall towards the inside of the knitting loom. 
The process of lifting the loops off the pegs is known as knitting over, 
abbreviated as KO. Go to the peg directly to the left and repeat Step 4, 
knitting over. Repeat all around the loom until each peg has only one wrap.

Steps 1-4 constitute the casting on set-up. The knitting loom is now ready.

Using the anchor peg

Some loom knitters prefer to use the anchor peg on their knitting loom 
to anchor their slip knot. This is a small peg that appears at the side 
of the loom. If there isn't one you can use a thumbtack to secure the 
slip knot. To use the anchor peg when casting on, make a slip knot 
leaving a 5-inch (12.5 cm) tail. Place the slip knot on the anchor peg 
on the side of your knitting loom. Perform steps 2-5 as before then 
remove the slip knot from the anchor peg.


First Stitches

Your foundation row is set up. Now we need to learn a few basic stitches 
to begin knitting on our loom. Luckily the E-wrap method we used for the 
cast-on can also be used to create stitches on the knitting loom.

*Single Stitch (ss)*

To create the single stitch, just e-wrap around the peg, and 'knit over' 
by lifting the bottom loop up and off the peg.

The single stitch creates what is known in the knitting world as a 
twisted knit stitch.

Wrapping the entire loom and then knitting over may be quicker, but can 
create a ladder effect between the first and last peg knitted. In 
addition, since you are knitting in the round, if you wrap all the pegs 
then knit them over, your item will have a tendency to twist and you 
will see your vertical lines of stitches spiral around the item. 
Instead, try e-wrapping and knitting over one peg at time.

WRAPPING THE LOOM

Although, it is easier to wrap the entire loom two times with the e-wrap 
method, then lift the bottom loop on all the pegs. I would advise you to 
do otherwise.

Bonuses in knitting one peg at a time:

1 Will help eliminate the laddering effect betweenthe first and last peg.

2 Help in lessening the spiral effect of the stitches around the item.

3 Less chance of the dreaded "boing" effect!

4 The stitches won't get too tight.

*Basic Bind-Off (BO)*

It creates a firm, crochet-like edge. It is a good overall bind-off 
method for flat panels.

Knit two stitches (pegs 1 and 2).

Move the loop from the second peg over to the first peg. Knit over.

Move the loop on the first peg over to the peg just emptied.

Knit the next peg. Repeat steps 2-4 until you have bound off the 
required number of stitches. A stitch will remain on the last peg. Cut 
the working yarn leaving a 5-inch (12.5 cm) tail. E-wrap the peg and 
knit over-pull the tail end through the stitch.

34

Yarn Over Bind Off

The yarn over bind-off provides a stretchy border, like magic scarves, 
ruffles, leggings, or the perfect for items that require a flexible 
opening neckline of children's sweaters.

Knit the first stitch (Peg 1).

Wrap the peg in a clockwise direction.

/Knit over and knit the next stitch (Peg 2)./

/Move the loop from the second peg to the first. Knit over. Repeat 2-4. 
When one stitch remains, cut the yarn leaving a tail. E-wrap the peg, 
knit over, and pull the tail end through./


--Debee