Nadina’s Free online knitting patterns

When I first started loom knitting I often had too loose stitches, even like a “net”, when using only one strand of worsted weight (like regular Red Heart) yarn on the medium to large gauge knitting looms and knitting boards. So I just want to share this tip with you to help your loom knitting go well: (more…)

I thought that I would share my method with you and I find that it is much simpler for me
and also much faster (ideal for a knifty knitter beginner as well):

- After wrapping all your pegs, hold the anchor yarn from your skein in your right hand
and bring it down towards your side anchor peg. Then take your left thumb
and place it over the yarn thus holding it against the side of your loom.
Now you can begin to remove your loops – but here is the important part
- instead of lifting the loops over the peg of the first peg wrapped,
lift the loops on the LAST peg you wrapped.
Now you can remove your thumb on the anchor yarn and Voila! your anchor yarn is secured.
Now go to the first peg wrapped and do your stitches like you usually do.
When you get to the last peg, pick up your anchor yarn and repeat the process.
No half-hitch to get loose, no clips in your way – just smooth looming. I have used
this method with the 1 over 1, 2 over 2, and 1 over three stitches and it will work with all of them.

L@@K what I found:

“Product Description
Finally a knitting loom patterns ebook for the loom knitter with easy patterns for more than just hats.

This knitting loom patterns ebook is filled with patterns for sweaters for the baby, toddler and small dog. There are adorable booties, super warm slippers, popular doll clothes and more.

All items are made on the easy to find inexpensive, Knifty Knitter Looms.
Loom projects
Loom knitting eliminates the needles and makes knitting quick as a breeze. No machine needed, the looms are very portable and handy for just about anyplace you want to take them.

Knit loom projects don’t have to be expensive

You can buy expensive looms or make one yourself. If your pegs are spaced correctly you will be able to use any pattern in this book. The price or make of the loom makes no difference in the patterns.

“Looney for Looms” these patterns will all work on any loom with pegs spaced at 3/4 inch

You will find patterns for Christmas gifts, baby showers and just to say I love you. My family loves the slippers, my dogs are toasty warm in the sweaters and the granddaughters love the doll clothes. There are baby booties, slippers for toddlers, hats for friends and lets not forget Dads cold feet.

Adult Slippers, completely lined and knit in one piece. These slippers are thick and warm with a complete lining. This is just one of the many patterns you will enjoy in “Looney for Looms” ”

What kind of slippers do you like to knit? Tube style or with heels?
I am going to make the slippers the way I make my bath mitts on the little blue loom, using Red Heart Grande yarn, which is very chunky. I use the blue loom and do a flat piece for 20 rows, then switch to the whole loom doing a tube for
20 rows and gather like a hat. I sew up the back of the flat piece and I have a slipper:) The number of rows will vary with the
size that I need (I play by the ear). Then, I crochet around the edges to make them look better
or knit. What ever I want to do…

I find Kathy Norris’ book I Can’t Believe I’m Loom Knitting (Leisure Arts #5250) a great source for patterns for any knifty knitter loom

I LOVE my Circular Solution needle cases…one for DPs and one for circulars…you can get them from most of the vendors online. They have the sizes marked on the pockets so it is easy to see which sizes I need to buy more of… Actually I was lucky enough to get one (from the creator) that did not have the sizes marked…so I could arrange it just the way I wanted to…
The best, I’ve found, have compartments to organize the needles and a zipper around the perimeter to keep them closed.
Others roll up and have a tie around the middle, also with organizing compartments. The big drawback, I’ve found, is the expense–they are usually FAR more expensive than I want/can afford to pay. My solution is to scour flea markets, sidewalk sales, resale shops, etc., and also E-Bay!
Give it a try– you’ve got nothing to lose, and might get a great “find” for your trouble! (By the way, if one can sew on a fair-to-middling basis, the roll-up kind wouldn’t seem too hard to make on your own!)

There is nothing wrong with knit casting onto the needles. It is the way I have cast on for many years. When you do, try this, it makes for a neater cast. Put the loop on your left needle, start by knitting into that loop and pull yarn through, then up over left needle (2 loops on left needle). From that point on, instead of going directly to the loop (as you would when knitting), place right needle BETWEEN loops on left needle, yarn over, draw through, and place loop over left needle. Going between the loops on the hook makes the edge much neater.

Pulling a loop THROUGH the stitch to cast-on a stitch is called the Knitted Cast-On and pulling a loop BETWEEN two stitches to
cast-on a stitch is called the Cable Cast-On. You can read about A LOT of ways of knitting in Montse Stanley’s Knitter’s Handbook

So here’s my $.02 on the idiot’s guide…

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Knitting & Crocheting, by Gail Diven & Cindy
Kitchel

Very good instructions & pictures of how to do cast on, knit, purl, increase, decrease, bind off. It also goes into knitting in the
round, fair isle, intarsia. Other sections on how to fix boo-boos such as dropped or twisted stitches, guage, and a discussion of different yarns & needles. 3 projects are included to use the skills as you learn them: a knitted dishcloth (increase/decrease), a scarf (knit/purl/counting stitches), and a hat (knitting in the round).

I would recommend this book to someone just learning how to knit—in fact I just used it to learn how to crochet, and it was clear & entertaining. I lent it to another woman who wanted to learn how to crochet, and she’s doing very well with it, too. But using it as a reference for either knit or crochet? I honestly cannot see myself ever opening it again, now that the
basics have been learned. A wonderful book to get someone started, but it’s a book that could be outgrown rather quickly.

I can tell you it’s not so easy to sew on buttons, especially with some of the interesting buttons you can get today!
You dont want the buttons you sew on a cardigan to look loose and dangly…Sometimes the chosen buttons can be too heavy for the knitted fabric. (This is fairly common with heavy pewter or other relatively heavy metal buttons.) The easiest way I’ve found around it is to sew on a smaller “backing button” along with the main button, but on the back of the buttonband. This goes a long way to stabilize the flopping button, and also keeps the knitted fabric more stable. The backing button can be an inexpensive plastic button that matches the buttonband color as closely as possible.

SO: Reinforcing with a clear plastic button (on the buttonband’s wrong side) will help prevent your knitting from stretching out when you wear your sweater buttoned.

This is especially helpful with soft, less stretchy yarns like cashmere and alpaca.