Round or Long Knifty Knitter Looms - Which is Better?

I'll admit, I am partial to the round looms. Why? Knitting on them flows better. When working a circular piece of knit, you never have to stop and work back the other way across the loom. You just continue knitting in a counter-clockwise motion until it's finished. No awkward edges to work around as with the long looms.

If you are working a flat piece of knit, you can still use a round loom. Just leave an opening between two pegs and work back and forth. The knitting will still be smoother than knitting with a long loom, because you don't have to work around the corners of the loom.

Knifty Knitter Stitches

If you are new to loom knitting you will want to be sure to check out
How to Make Knifty Knitter Stitches

It explains all the stitches that can be made from a knifty knitter loom, including the purl stitch. It also gives step by step instructions for how to make the stitches.

You can make anything with a simple purl stitch, however, some other stitches are often incorporated into large projects, like a blanket, because they help them go faster and add a little variation.

The knit and purl on the knifty knitter loom

When I began knitting on a knifty knitter, I had no instructions, so I sat down and made up what I called the "No wrap stitch." It is basically the purl stitch, as done on the Knifty Knitter loom. But, I didn't know that at the time. There are really two methods to making the purl stitch on the Knifty Knitter. One involves pulling the yarn up through the existing loop on the loom. You can see that method here: "How to Purl Stitch on the Knifty Knitter Loom." The second method involves lifting the loop over the loose yarn, so it doesn't need to be pulled through the existing loop. See "How to Make No Wrap Stitches," for instructions on using this method to purl stitch on the Knifty Knitter loom.

Knifty Knitter Techniques - Making a Lacy Appearance in Knit

If you are skilled at E-wrapping the knifty knitter loom and knitting off, you can create a bit of a variation to the knit with this technique. (For those that need more information about E-Wrapping the Knifty Knitter loom, visit E-Wrapping a Knifty Knitter.)

1. Ewrap and knit off from the loom. (Lift the bottom loop over the top loop with the Knifty Knitter tool.) Do this 3 times.

2. On the 4th row, do not wrap. Remove the loop from peg 1 and place it on peg 2. This leaves peg 1 open and peg 2 with 2 loops. Continue to do this around the Knifty Knitter loom. When you have made it all the way around the loom. Begin knitting off on the pegs that have loops. When finished every other peg should have one loop as shown in the photo.

3. E-Wrap the Knifty Knitter loom again. Now some pegs have one loop, some pegs have two loops. Knit off the pegs that have 2 loops. When finished, all the pegs will have 1 loop.

4. Keep repeating steps 1 through 4 until the knit reaches the desired length.

This is the hat I created using this "lacy pattern." The full pattern for the hat is (here).

Tube or Panel Knit

When knitting from a Knifty Knitter loom, you can create tube knit or panel knit. Both are possible with any loom. To create a panel, which is like a sheet of fabric or a blanket, you knit back and forth on the loom with a starting and stopping point. To tube knit, like a sock or a booty, you make continuous rounds until your knit reaches the desired length. For more detailed instructions including how to do each and what types of project to make with each type of knit, see: Tube or Panel Knitting on the Knifty Knitter. The scarf in the photo is tube knitted.

Get Started with Knitting Looms

If you have purchased a knitting loom and you need some basic instructions to get started, for example, what is the anchor peg?
how to your wrap it?
what is knitting off?
what is the knifty knitter tool for?
All of these basic questions about how to get started with loom knitting are answered here in my recent Knifty Knitter article: Knifty Knitter Loom Instructions

Knifty Knitter Basics

The basics of how to use a knifty knitter loom are not well spelled out when a kit is purchased. There are no instructions included with the loom on how to wrap the loom, how to knit off the loom, or how to remove the project from the loom once it is finished.

When I was new to the knifty knitter this confused me honestly. The secret is that you can use instructions for any loom knitting on the knifty knitter. For those of you that are completely new to loom knitting, I have prepared several articles explaining "How to Use a Knifty Knitter Loom," "How to Wrap the Loom," and "How to Knit Off the Loom." I hope you find these helpful.

If you prefer, Googling the words "knitting" and "loom" with any other words you have questions about will give you basic instructions for loom knitting that can be used with the knifty knitter.