AKB Sock Loom

After many times of looking at the American Knitting Board Sock Loom at JoAnn's, I finally broke down and bought one. The pegs are pretty far apart for the sock yarn in the craft stores so I wasn't sure how it would work out. Surprisingly, it's okay and I love how easy the short row heels and toes are. My first project was a pair of baby socks. Now I'm working on a pair of footies. My plan is to get a second loom so I can work back and forth on them and have both footies done about the same time. That's the way I do my needle knit socks.



And still more hats

Playing with designs on this loomed hat.

I found this yarn last year and finally tried it on the green loom. The color is Peruvian Print by Red Heart. The yarn forms the patterns as it is knitted. Nan made a hat with it on the red loom that looks completely different.

Nan came up with this variation for the brim. It's done in garter stitch with 2 colors used in alternating rows.

This hat is needle-knit. The pattern is a variation of Candy Dots, found in the book Kids' Knitted Hats. I used size 9 needles and more stitches to make the hat larger.

And this pattern was found on Techknitting.com. The entry is called Gaugeless, guaranteed-to-fit MAGIC LOOP SKI HAT with a TKIO. My hat was done with size 11 circular needles and doubled yarn. It was fun to try something so different. Even though the hat folds flat, when it is on a head it looks like a regular round hat.

Still Looming Hats

At first my idea was to make some hats and use some of the cute beads in my stash. This one has jungle animals on it.

This one has fish.

Simple stripes can be so striking. Then I started getting ideas for designs using color.

This hat uses the same colors as the one above.

On this one I did a rolled brim, 3 rows of purl, some diagonal stripes and a couple of solid sections.

What a fun hat to make.

Hats Again

Another hat on the KK loom. This one is extra long, almost like a stocking cap. The center is a combination of Homespun and Red Heart. The top is shaped with short-rowed sections that were sewn together.




On this needle-knit hat I was using up scraps of yarn.

Puffy Brim Hats

I saw a hat on a stranger the other day and really liked it so, naturally, decided to try to make one like it.

This was knit on needles. The brim is K 1 row, P 3 rows, K 2 rows, P 3 rows, K 2 rows, P 3 rows and K 1 row. Then I changed to the variegated yarn and did a basic hat. The one I saw had slightly larger puffs, maybe 4 or 5 rows of purl, but I was pleased with this.

Then I wanted to make the same hat on the loom. On this hat the brim is K 1 row, P 6 rows, K 2 rows, P 6 rows, K 2 rows, P 6 rows, K 1 row. Then I switched yarn and finished the hat. This time the puffy brim was larger than I wanted but it still makes a nice variation.

Simple Loomed Mug Cozy

After looking at various mug cozies on Ravelry, I came up with my own version.

Simple Mug Cozy

Using the blue Knifty Knitter and 2 strands of worsted weight yarn, cast on 9 stitches. Purl the first row. After that, skip the first peg, knit the next 5, and purl the last 3. Continue until the cozy measures 10 inches when stretched slightly. Purl the last row and bind off loosely. Attach the top stitch from one end to the top stitch of the other end. Repeat with the bottom stitch on each end. Weave in ends.

Homespun Hats

I've been making hats with Homespun lately.

Both of these hats were made with Homespun Tudor and a solid green Red Heart.

These three hats were made with Homespun Sierra and a variety of solid yarns.

The last three hats were made from Homespun Barrington. In the first hat, the solid color is a purple. In the other two hats, the solid color is a softer lavendar.

Knick Knack Boxes

Isela posted this pattern on her blog. It is an incredibly easy project to loom. The basket in back is done in Red Heart yarn. The two in front are Lion Brand wool. They all started the same size but the wool baskets were felted. Mine ended up being 5-1/2 in by 3-1/2 in. This is a fun way to use up scraps of yarn and an easy project for those new to felting. Thanks, Isela!

Beehive Hat

While browsing through hat patterns on Ravelry, I came across this Beehive Hat. It seemed like a good way to use up leftover bits of yarn. Mine was done on the loom, but other than that I followed the pattern. Pretty easy to do and something different.

More Easy Projects

I'm still working up easy projects as ideas for my new-to-looming friends. Using Sugar and Cream yarn (doubled) and the blue KK round loom, I made this basic dishcloth. I was pleasantly surprised at how soft it is. It was begun by doing 3 rows of garter stitch. For the body I worked a row of 3 purl, knit across, and ending with 3 purl. The next row was straight knit. These two rows were alternated until the cloth was almost a square. It was finished with 3 rows of garter stitch.

The red round loom was used to make this little girl's purse. It's made in the round just like a hat. After removing it, the live stitches are seamed shut. Then a simple icord handle and a large button to keep it closed.

This little drawstring purse was made on the blue round loom. It has a flat bottom. When it seemed almost long enough, I moved every other stitch to the next peg and knit a row, making eyelets. Then I continued knitting all pegs for another couple of rows. An icord was strung through the eyelets before sewing the ends together.

And here is a scarf made on the purple loom with a matching hat. The scarf was made by following Isela's Bongo Blues pattern, but I used plain Red Heart yarn. The scarf is knit using a single strand of yarn but is very soft. The hat is a basic style with a roll-up brim. Fun Fur was knit into the brim.

Back to Loomed Hats

Recently a couple of friends learned to loom and made hats for their grandchildren for Christmas. In both cases, all recipients were impressed and their parents also expressed interest in receiving hats. I've dug out my looms and begun making hats again to give them some ideas for variations.
Here are some of the hats with explanations for anyone who is interested but not sure what to do. All of these hats were made with the green Knifty Knitter. My local Dollar Store has had a great selection of novelty yarns.

Fun Fur is an easy way to dress up a hat. When you're ready to use it, just add 2 strands of it to your regular yarn. Since the fibers tend to collect on the inside, I turned this hat inside out and added a pompom.

The type with bobbles never seems to go as far so this hat has a band. Try using a toothbrush to pull the fur through to the outside of the hat. Most of the bobbles will have to be pushed through individually. I kept a little of the fancy yarn to put in the pompom.




In this hat I alternated 3 rows of of the novelty yarn with 4 rows of the regular yarn. There was only enough for 2 sections of the novelty yarn with a little left over for the pompom.

This hat was removed (without decreasing stitches in the last row) on waste yarn. Then I laid it flat and seamed the top.






Instead of a brim, I knit 4 rows of garter stitch (k, p, k, p). The body of the hat is in the knit stitch. When long enough, it was removed on waste yarn and seamed closed. The corners were gathered to look like ears. I made the earflaps following Isela's directions in Loom Knitting Primer , added pompoms, and attached them last.

A simple way to dress up a hat is to put in a few rows of purl stitch. On this hat, I knit 4 rows, changed to white yarn and purled 2 rows, changed back to the colored yarn for 4 more rows of knit stitch, put in 2 more rows of purl using the white, and then finished off with the colored yarn in the knit stitch.





The basket-weave look shown here was done by knitting 3 stitches, purling 3 stitches, and repeating all the way around. When doing the purl stitches, I dropped one strand of my basic color and picked up a strand of a coordinating color to make the pattern stand out. After completing 4 rows, I reversed the pattern.



Here's my attempt at a cap with a bill. I started with the bill by wrapping 13 pegs back and forth until there were 3 wraps on each peg. The first row was done by pulling the bottom strand over the other 2. On the next row, I purled but pulled the yarn up through the 2 loops on each peg. Then I repeated the first two rows. The next step was to wrap all the way around the loom until each peg had 3 loops. Again, on the first row I pulled 1 loop over the 2 above it. After that it the regular knit stitch for 12 rows. The top was shaped by dividing it into 4 sections of 9 stitches. Each section was short-rowed and the top was sewn together.

Playing with Dishcloths

This cute little cabled owl dishcloth was on someone's blog (sorry, I was wandering on other people's links and have no idea where I first saw this). It has just enough cabling to be fun.

While playing around with Sugar'n Cream Stripes, I came up with these dishcloths. The first is just a rectangle. I can't remember now what stitch I used to make the diagonal lines. But the striping really looks nice.

Here is a simple mitered square with self-striping Sugar'n Cream.

Here is a simple basket weave with the same yarn.

And, finally, here is a hotpad made from an i-cord. I used the small end of the Knifty Knitter spool loom to make a cord from 2 strands of Sugar'n Cream yarn, and then I sewed it together.

Fingerless Mitts

This pattern is from Isela's book, Loom Knitting Primer. It is an extremely easy and quick pattern to do, and the mitts are soft and warm.

Loomed Hotpads

I wanted to loom a hotpad. Not a potholder, but the pad you put hot dishes on. I was thinking about something similar to the crocheted origami hotpad but I wanted to make it on a Knifty Knitter.

On my first attempt, I didn't cast on enough stitches. After knitting a flat panel square, I removed it from the loom and crocheted around the edges until it was 12 inches on each side. Then I folded all four corners to the center and stitched the edges together. Here's how it looks on each side.













On the second attempt, I cast on 24 stitches and knit until it was 12 inches on each side. This time I did one row of single crochet around it just to make the seaming easier. Then I finished it the same way as before.














Both hotpads are soft and thick.