Loom knitting is the creation of knitted fabric using a knitting loom instead of two needles. These knitting looms are easier on the hands than needle knitting. My favorite looms are the KISS adjustable looms which can be adjusted for gauge by the use of washers between the peg and pin boards. This means that fewer looms are needed to create various projects.
Don’t give up on knitting if you are handicapped. You can learn to create beautiful knitted fabrics and projects with a knitting loom.
Loom Knitting Stitches
Loom knitting creates the same stitches and those created by needle knitting. These are the knit and purl stitches. The knit stitch can be done in more than one way on the knitting loom. The techniques vary slightly for the True stitch, U-Wrap stitch, E-Wrap stitch, and the Flat stitch. My favorite tutorials can be found for these stitches and others can be found at LoomaHat.com and YouTube. Working the stitches across two rows of pegs creates a two-sided fabric with no backside. See YouTube for some good tutorials on double-knitting with a loom.
Knitting Looms
The knitting loom needed is dependent on the type of project to be done. These include rake looms, circular (round) looms, afghan loom, sock looms, and knitting board.
- Rake or straight looms have a single row of pegs and are used to create flat panel projects such as blankets or scarves. The gauge of these looms is determined by the distance between the pins.
- Circular (round) looms have no stopping point. These come in a variety of shapes and sizes that include circular, oval, square, triangular, and heart-shaped. These are used for creating hats, flowers, shawls, cowls, blankets, and things for the home.
- Afghan looms have a figure eight structure and are used for creating large panels of fabric that can be used to make afghans or blankets.
- Sock looms have an adjustable gauge for the easy creation of increases and decreases in order to knit socks in the sizes needed for the whole family.
- Knitting boards are two parallel rake looms that are connected to create double knit fabric. The knitting gauge is determined by the distance between the pegs and the distance between the rakes. These can be purchased as a knitting board or make your own in your preferred size with the Double Knit Kit which can be used with any of the KISS adjustable looms and F0 looms.