Tag Archives: loom knitting

Martha Stewart Loom set

By

4-msloomMy blogging buddy Renee inspired this post. She mentioned that she didn’t know that Martha made looms.
It occurred to me that she may not be alone on that. I figure I should post some photos of my Martha Stewart loom set to show what I talk about so much in looming.

2-msloomHere’s all the pieces parts straight out of the case.

Pros:
You can weave or knit oodles of stuff in a lot of different sizes.

It’s fun to put together. (Brings back nostalgic memories of tinker toys. 😉 )

Lion Brand web site has info and patterns for the Martha Stewart looms.
Lion Brand – Martha Stewart  has a lots of videos on youtube on how to knit and weave with the looms.
The cast on and the bind off was tricky for me to learn at first, so I was thankful for the videos.

Aggrivations:

5-msloomsetThe Martha Stewart loom hook isn’t good quality and bends/breaks easily.
I do like the handle of the MS loom hook. I wish they’d put a little more time in the actual quality of the hook part.
Fortunately, I had ordered a Knifty Knitter loom hook and didn’t have to use the MS one for long. The MS hook wire was getting weak and would’ve broken in no time.
I now use a super sturdy loom hook that came with my Kb Afghan Loom, so I am good to go.

loomtapeSome of the pegs fit loose and I use painter’s tape to hold them in and some of the pegs fit so tight I carefully hammer them in.

3-msloomThere’s not a comfortable way to store the pegs in the plastic case of the loom set, oh I could put the pegs in bags and stuff them stuff in the back, but I don’t like that at all. So I bought a 6 pack of little waters that my Grandson happily helped empty. I soaked off the labels and use them to store my pegs in. The little bottles work like a charm.

1-msloomI must confess that all-in-all I really enjoy the loom set. In fact I enjoy it so much that I bought a second set. Well, it was on sale and I thought if I had a second set I could put the parts together with my first set and knit or weave some really big stuff. lol Also I can have more than one project going at once. I haven’t used my second set yet, but I have it if I ever take a hankering to use it. 😉

This is all for me at the moment.

I hope you all have a fabulous Friday
and a wonderful weekend.
🙂

3-spcbg

Loom Knit Kitchen Scrubbies

By

IMG_7454Last month my Bff called me to tell me a very helpful hint she discovered: use a scrubby to wash potatoes with.
I love this idea and have used it ever since.

IMG_8189Back in the winter my Bff gave me some nice size scrubbies. They’re bigger than the ones I make. So, she told how many pegs and which loom she used.
I’m so glad she helps me. We have so much fun discussing looming and sharing our projects and ideas with each other.

“Thanks so much my Dear Bff,
Your scrubbies are great and your idea to use them as vegetable scrubber is wonderful.
I’m happy to share your hints with my blogging buddies and readers.” 🙂

I thought I’d make a bit of a tutorial to show how I now make bigger scrubbies.
I use regular 4 ply acrylic yarn and tulle to make my kitchen scrubbies.

My terminology may be off. I can’t find the right words sometimes. 😉
Also, this tutorial doesn’t explain how to loom knit, but is written for folks who already know the basics of loom knitting.
If you’d like to take up loom knitting, here’s a link to a youtube.com search results for ‘How to Loom Knit’ It has oodles of videos of most anything you’d need to know to get started loom knitting.

And here we go…

Kitchen Scrubbies
knitting loom
knitting hook
Tulle (or some type netting)
Yarn (I use 2 strands of acrylic 4 ply yarn)
Large Darning Needle

Cut the netting in 1 1/2 inches wide strip about 12 to 15 yards long.
Wind the strip of tulle into a ball.

*Leave about a 12 inches yarn/netting strip to weave in to use as a drawstring when you’re finished.
Or use a drawstring cast-on.
Hold yarn and netting strip together and cast them on the loom in your favorite fashion.
*I use a regular e wrap cast on.

Using E wrap, knit 12 to 15 rows.
*I usually just knit until there’s about 12 inches of the yarn/netting strip left.

To bind off, thread a darning needle with the yarn/netting strip and feed it through the loops as you take them off the pegs. Continue until the scrubby is off the loom.

Pull the the yarn/netting strip drawstring tight and tie off

Weave the beginning 12 inch strip of yarn/netting strip in and out of the edge stitches making a drawstring.
Pull tight and tie off.

I generally thread the strip through the scrubby and tack it to the other side to secure it in place.

The 5 1/2 inch blue knifty knitter loom makes about a 4 inch scrubby.
scrubbet

IMG_8180
I make smaller scrubbies using a Martha Stwart square loom with 20 pegs.
mslm

A Scrubby is another handy item that can be made from left over yarn.

—–
Further Resources:
Here’s a link to a tutorial for Scrubbies.
There’s a few differences between it and mine. Go and check it out, it may be a more understandable and a better method for you if you’re interested in loom knitting a scrubby.

 

edited in 1-15-2019 – hopefully helpful info:
PVC Pipe Knitting Loom Stands

 

PVC Pipe Knitting Loom Stands – with lengths for various looms

 

 

 

Little Boye Tube Loom

By

IMG_7913The other day while I was looking through my old sewing box, I found this cool little Boye Tube Loom. I must of had it for 30 years, so I guess that makes it vintage. I had never used it and don’t remember where I got it. I have, however, used the metal knitting needle that came with it as an important part of my sculpting tools since I first began sculpting 9 or so years ago.

IMG_7908I knitted a short cord with it. It’s okay, but it’s major flaw is that Boye could’ve made the pegs an 1/8 of an inch longer and it would’ve been an awesome little tool.
Anyway, for cording I like my Beanpot looms and Knifty Knitter tube loom better.

I think it’s a bit ironic that sooo many years ago, I had this loom and thought nothing of it nor even ever planned to use it. Now it’s a fun novelty that is apart of the looming craft I do now.

Just goes to show that one never knows what little treasures they may own in one decade that would be useful or a connection to something later in life.

Have you ever found a neat little something that you didn’t ever use nor remember having and then realize it’s connected with something going on in your life now? (I hope that made sense. lol)

Here’s wishing all your crafting connections be fun ones.

🙂3-spcbg

A few clothes-pin hints for yarn & looming

By

IMG_7474My above photo is some of my left over yarn wrapped around clothespins. I did this to show that I think it’s a neat idea. This idea could be used for embroidery thread, yarn, ribbon, twine or most anything stringy to help keep them neat and tidy.
I searched and tried to find the original poster for this idea. Unfortunately that website is gone now, so here’s a link to the next to the oldest one I found: factorydirectcraft

IMG_7178My favorite stitch in loom knitting is the e-stitch or e-wrap stitch. It’s makes a rib type pattern and I like the look of the finished project.
The e-stitch is simple since it’s just wrapping the yarn around a peg. It can be used for cast on as well.

However, the most irritating and frustrating thing about using this simple stitch is if you let it loose for a nano second while wrapping the pegs , the yarn will spring to life and unravel like a joyous snake of rebellion.

I resolved the unraveling issue, sort of. After I wrap several pegs, I put a clothes pin on the yarn sort of between a couple of the wrapped pegs and then continue on wrapping. I move the clothes pin along as I get further around my loom.
If you use this method you may notice that the clothes pin overlaps the pegs on some looms.
clothespinhold
This next tip comes from an idea sparked by my Bff. I complained about when I was looming, if I had to leave my loom to do something else like housework, when I’d come back to looming, I couldn’t remember if I was going left or right. I ripped out more than one project because of this memory lapse.
My Bff shared with me that she had resolved this issue by using a pencil gripper to set down on a peg a dozen or so ahead of the way she was going. That way whenever she sat down to loom again she knew which direction she was headed.
I didn’t have any pencil grips, but I did have other things that would work just as well.
*Use something that can’t be knocked off the loom peg: stitch marker, clothespin, safety-pin or a pencil gripper
Place it on a peg several pegs in front of the direction you are going in, move the clothes pin along as you go further around your loom.
If you use this method you may notice that the clothes pin overlaps the pegs on some looms.
clothespinmarker

These are things that work for me, they may not be right for you, but I wanted to share them anyway.
I hope some of the tips maybe helpful in making your crafting adventures more enjoyable.

Wishing you all a sunshine filled week.
🙂
spcr1

misc thoughts & hints for yarnies & loomers

By

t6027t6028

This blog post is a few miscellaneous thoughts and hints for yarnies like me. I hope one of them  may help make your yarn crafting adventures more enjoyable.

The Knifty Knitter cord loom is a fun little gadget. It makes a nice cord with 5 pegs, but if you want a smaller cord you can use 3 pegs.
IMG_6994

Jute or grass twine makes a lovely cord for trivets or even little baskets.
IMG_7007

I find that alot of times my Martha Stewart loom pegs don’t want to stay put. It’s a major irritation.
I first tried yarn stuffed in the holes, then tried bits of paper, then masking tape, they worked but I wasn’t happy with them. Then I tried painter’s tape and I haven’t looked back.
I use a layer(or 2) of painter’s tape over the loom holes.
I use a toothpick to break the tape over the hole and then push the peg in.
This method works really well for me.
loomtape

I had My first experience at rolling a ball of yarn that wasn’t end fed like the 4 ply skeins I usually use.
t0473I got frustrated at first with the skein tumbling and capturing everything including the attention of (our dog) Sheli. He and I got into a bit of a kerfuffle for a few seconds.
I stuffed the skein into a plastic grocery bag and hung it on my arm. I quickly discovered that not only was it protected from Sheli, but it fed easy and rolled beautifully.
I do love accidental discoveries. 🙂
lbrolling

I bought my first couple skeins ever of bulky yarn. It’s Lion Brand Hometown USA
It’s a bulky yarn and is 81 yards long
I wanted to see how big a square made with 81 yards would be, so I crocheted a solid granny square. I used a size N crochet hook. The square came out to be about 12 inches x 12 inches
I decided to try a regular granny square and was amazed that it too came out to be about 12 inches x 12 inches… I would’ve thought that it would have been bigger. :/
lb81yardsAnyway, this was a pretty good experiment because now if I want to make an blanket of granny squares out of bulky yarn, I can better guess how much yarn I need.
I’m envisioning a big bulky blanket of 12 inch squares. I think it would be fun to try. I may make one sometime.

This is all my thoughts and hints for the moment.
I hope they’ll help make your yarn crafting more enjoyable.

You’re welcome to share your hints if you want too.

Here’s wishing you happy
adventures in crafting!
t6027t6028
🙂
spcr1