Tag Archives: loom knitting

Another Finish – Checkered Tote Bag

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This ‘Checkered Tote Bag’ was one the unfinished projects that was in my ‘Sewing Project Bag’ because it needed a lining.
I originally started this tote-bag way back in 2019 when I first got my ‘KB All-In-One’ loom. I mentioned it in a post, 3-8-2019 ‘Random 5 For Friday‘
I finished the basic body pieces by the end of March 2019, but I didn’t join all of them together. I rolled them up with the yarn, put it in a bag and stored it in a drawer. I did that because, I wanted to put zipper pockets in it and at that time, zippers were not in my skill level. I’m so thankful I’m finally able to set zippers fairly well.
Like my other tote bags:
‘It has a zipper-pocket on each side inside. One side zipper-pocket is big enough for my 8-inch kindle fire and the other side pocket is big enough for a mobile phone and some other small stuff.’ (Yep, I cut and pasted that bit from my other post. 😀 )
I put a tasseled icord closure on it. I made the icord using 2 pegs on my KB Loom. I’m using button flowers at the moment to tether it to. The flowers don’t look too bad. I might keep them or I might change them when/if I find different buttons.

Wishing you all a pleasant rest of the week.

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Another finish – Bright Tote Bag Lining

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2013-brighttote
I’ve finished another project from my sewing project bag. I made a new liner for a tote bag that I made back in 2013. This Bright Tote Bag was the first big loom knit project I made. I used a Martha Stewart knitting loom. I single-crochet-chained every inch of yarn I used. It took a long while, but it was really enjoyable and worth the effort. Making this tote bag project helped me better my loom knitting skills.
The stitch pattern is what I call a ‘basket-weave’. I’ve heard it called a tile stitch and a cobblestone stitch. Doesn’t matter what it’s called, it was a fun stitch to do. I think it looks pretty good for my no-pattern first attempt at a loom knit project.
I’ve always liked the look and colors of this tote. I’m happy with the beads and oblong toggle button, both of which I sculpted out of polymer clay.
However, I never liked my open-pocket lining (lower left side of the collage-photo). Since I’ve figured out the method for setting zippers in the pockets in linings, I decided it was time to replace the lining in my old Bright Tote Bag.
It has a zipper-pocket on each side inside.
One side zipper-pocket is big enough for my 8-inch kindle fire and the other side pocket is big enough for a mobile phone and some other small stuff.
I’m ever so much happier with my old Bright Tote Bag now.

Wishing everyone a happy week of sunshine and smiles.

Crochet Cast On Loom Knitting

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Here’s my video tutorial of sorts of the method
I use to ‘crochet cast on’ on a knitting loom.
Hopefully it’ll help to show others how to
‘Crochet Cast On’ on a knitting loom.

It’s my first tutorial video for loom knitting,
so if I need to add or change anything,
leave me a comment and let me know.

Happy Crafting!

 

 

Loom knit and Needle Knit Dishcloths

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I was a teenager when I last knitted with needles. I made baby hats and booties that I sold in a thrift store. I liked knitting and wished I could have expanded my skill past a knit stitch. Knitting with needles took alot of coordination and talent to make really pretty stitch patterns and in my teen years I just wasn’t able to master it.
I took up crochet in the years that followed. Crochet was easier for me and I stuck with it. Then a few years ago I started loom knitting and that’s fun. Loom knitting doesn’t require the same amount of physical hand movement coordination. I’ve enjoyed using it to create many things.

There’s a project that I’ve been wanting to do for awhile; making 2 dishcloths, one by loom knitting and one by needle knitting and see how they compare. It took up until a couple weeks ago for me to get up the courage to try my hand at knitting with needles again. My Bff encouraged me and was convinced that I could do it.

I struggled to remember how to knit with needles. Then I went on that famous video site and refreshed my mind on the basics. I worked on my first knitting needle project attempt over and over, at least a dozen times. I’d knit and purl and miss a stitch or the yarn would slide off the rods or I’d drop the rods and then I’d unravel it, recast on and take off again. I did this for a couple of days. Then I finally got a bit better.
During my trial and error, I worked up a pattern for a dishcloth and finally needle knitted the dishcloth without missing a stitch.

I used size 7 knitting needles, they were the smallest size I have. I made up a pattern for a dishcloth for my Boye Sock Loom that is the same finished size as the needle-knitted one.
The stitch pattern I used for both needles and loom knit is what I call a ‘basket-weave’, I’ve heard it called a tile stitch, a cobblestone stitch  and I even heard it called a waffle stitch. I think, regardless of what you call it, as long as you’re enjoying creating with it, then that’s what matters most. 🙂

The dishcloths are not blocked.

I used a knit & purl pattern for the knitting needle basket weave. For the loom knit basket weave I used Ewrap & Purl pattern. (Truth is, I was halfway through the loom knitted dishcloth before it occurred to me that ‘ewrap stitch’ isn’t the ‘knit stitch’. :/ I decided it didn’t make enough difference to matter, so I continued on.)

The dishcloths are not blocked.

The Needle Knitted dishcloth is 6×6 squares. The Loom Knitted dishcloth is 7×7 squares. I had to make the loom knitted one a square more to get the two dishcloths to be close to the same size.
I used a ‘slip-stitch’ for the edges of the loom knitted dishcloth. It finishes off a project smoother and neater.
I’m not skilled enough at needle knitting to know a stitch to make a smooth edge, so I just carried the k,p pattern alternating out the 2 stitches for the edge. It’s not very neat and tidy, but it works-for-me. 😉

The dishcloths are not blocked.

Both of the dishcloths are handy for washing dishes. I know some folks might think them small, but for me they’re the most comfortable size.

The dishcloths are not blocked.

My comparison of needle knit and loom knit dishcloths turned out well. I think that both the needle knit and loom knit fiber-art forms are wonderful outlets for artistic expression for making fun, useful, beautiful or silly creations.

I’m happy that I relearned how to knit with needles. I may attempt to make another project in the future.

Wishing you all fun with whatever craft or project you’re doing or planning.

 

Random 5 For Friday

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I’ve a new knitting loom project in the works. I hope to get it finished soon. Here’s a sneak peak.

I bought a sunflower mat and butterfly flowers from the fundraiser my niece’s sorority was having. I wish it was warm enough to get these darlings growing, but that’ll be a couple months from now.

The freezing snap we had this past weekend bit our pear tree blossoms and made them start turning brown. The pear trees are usually so pretty with their dainty white blooms, but this year, they’re sad looking.

It’s warmed up a smidge here, it’s a dreary, rainy 42°. We’ve had so much rain that even the daffodils look sad.

 Earlier this week we had internet trouble. We bought a new router and thought that would fix the issues. Well, it did for about 24 hours then the issues returned worse than before.
I picked up our home phone to call internet support and was met with a shrill squelch and loud static. I checked our other house phone lines and they were dead.
I thanked the good Lord above for my handy-dandy mobile phone and then called the phone company and reported the issues.
They sent out a service guy and he discovered that our phone trouble was caused by line issues down-the-road-a-ways. It took 3 service people a few hours to fix the landline.
Our phone works great and the internet is faster than ever… Yep, you guessed it, we didn’t need a new router. However, since our other router was 4 years old, we decided to keep the new one. We’ll hang on to the old one for back-up.

I hope you all have a weekend free of cold and internet issues.

 

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