Gift Idea for all -Loom Knitting

The holidays are upon us or other special occasion for gift giving to somebody dear to us. A gift idea to present to a person who enjoys crafts aka fiber artist, may enjoy a knitting loom. Do you know that not all looms are made equal?

The art of weaving is the use of threads or strips and forming it into a textile or fabric. Many items have been created with weaving such as thread into cloth, straw for hats, reeds for baskets. A weaver will require a loom to form fabric or set the base pattern.

The art of knitting falls near the same category of craft. The difference is that knitting is done by looping yarn or thread, by hand with the use of long needles or machine. These loops will interlock to form a article or fabric. Jersey is a knitted cloth. Loom knitting has been around since the middle ages and even found amongst Indigenous tribes of South and North America.

A knitting loom is easy and portable for people of all ages. No needles are required since a knitting loom is made from wood or high grade plastic and designed with pegs which serve as the ‘needles’ required to start formation of your intended project. Variances found on the loom will be distance of the pegs which will measure the gauge or fineness expressed as number of loops ; the higher the number of pegs = finer texture. Shapes can also be considered since they can provide for different projects altogether.

The types of knitting stitches available on a knitting loom can be the simple garter stitch but one can also learn twisted knit stitches, Purl and rib, to name a few. It’s been said that any stitch you can do with needles can be done on a loom. One can knit flat items such as a afghan or tubes depending on the versatility of the loom chosen.

Project patterns available can be socks, hats, dishcloth, scarves sweaters, ponchos and as mentioned earlier, a one piece afghan (Infinity loom) . A regular knitting pattern can be converted to a loom pattern. Reading pattern instructions can vary also depending on the manufacturer but most are similar.

One last note to consider also is that we can even make our own looms. One only needs to shape a frame and nails. Ensure the nail ends are filed to a round shape for easier stitch casting. Loom knitting can provide hours of constructive activity with a product at the end. With prices of our national economies fluctuating, wouldn’t it be nice to spend one season maybe making woolly socks for the upcoming winter?

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