Knitting with looms is easy, much easier to learn than knitting with needles. If you don’t already know that you want to knit on a loom, read my article about how to learn to knit the easy way. Open it now in a new window and then come back here to learn all about the various knitting looms available to buy, and the differences between them.
Knifty Knitter Looms
For beginners to loom knitting, I recommend the Knifty Knitters. Knifty Knitter looms come in lots of sizes and two main types; there are “long looms” and “round looms.” I like Knifty Knitters for beginners because the sett, or gauge, is large. This means that the pegs are large, so your project can be completed easily and quickly. The Knifty Knitters are sturdy and virtually unbreakable, so they will last and can be passed around to be used by many knitters during their long lives. These looms are made of nylon, and handily packaged in affordable sets of different sizes.
I like the long loom series and use these much more often than the round looms. They make a thicker style of knitting, known sometimes as double knitting. I find many creative opportunities to use this knitting and I also find these looms to be the quickest for completing projects. If you buy just one loom to start, I suggest the purple long knifty knitter, also known as the unicorn loom. But I love having a set of four different length short and long looms.
There are also sets of these which include both long and round looms. This would be an excellent set to get started, because the round looms are nice, too. Although you can make a beanie style knit hat on the long looms, round looms will be essential to have if you want to make lots of knit hats. There are different size round looms for making different sized hats for different sized heads. The smallest, blue, round loom makes a preemie sized hat; there are also sizes for making infant, child, youth, and small and large adult hats.
You can also make thinner, single knit scarves, tube scarves, and other things using the round looms. The smaller round looms are also useful for making thick socks and slippers.
KK looms also makes a 4.5″ small round “flower loom.” These make flowers, although the flowers are made by looping rather than knitting. But you can knit with this flower loom as a regular round loom, and use this to knit precious baby socks. There are other styles of flower looms made by other brands that are different and not used for making baby socks. Provocraft, the company who makes knifty knitters, also makes a spool loom. A spool loom quickly and easily makes knitted “i-cord,” used for drawstrings, straps, and handles. A spool loom makes a wonderful introduction to knitting for a young child. The knifty knitter spool loom is neat because it has a small and a large end, for making different size projects.
Finer Sett Looms
Once you learn loom knitting, you will likely want a finer sett loom. This will make finer knitting, and is also desirable because the large sett on the KK looms usually necessitates using two strands of yarn (or more) as one. So, in theory, you could use half as much yarn by switching to a smaller gauge loom.
You can buy looms made entirely of wood, or of nylon, or with wooden frames and metal pegs. There are looms available in myriad sizes and many shapes, made by various manufacturers. Decor Accents, or DA looms, are a company I highly recommend. These are folks that really know how to make a loom and they care about making quality products. DA looms are well made, sturdy, comfortable, and beautiful. Decor Accents makes round and long looms, the Inspire loom, which can be used as both a round and a long loom, Infinity rakes for knitting large projects, and amazing sock looms.
Sock Looms
Sock looms are in a category to themselves. A sock loom was the first loom I bought after learning with the Knifty Knitters. I loved making thick slipper style socks on my long and round looms, but I wanted a smaller sett for making everyday socks. Like round looms for hats, round sock looms come in many sizes for many sizes of feet. But buying a lot of sock looms feels ridiculously impractical for my family, so for me, it was important to get an adjustable sock loom, that can be used for making all different sized socks, from baby to man. Decor Accents’ Wonder Sock Loom is a big item on my wish list. I tried to save money and purchased an inexpensive adjustable sock loom at Hobby Lobby. I found this loom to be a bit awkward and not sturdy. It was extremely inexpensive because of a sale and a coupon, and it came with a helpful video, as well as a much nicer loom tool than comes with the knifty knitter.
And it made my first pair of socks, which turned out beautifully, so the AKB adjustable sock loom was worth the money I spent on it. I know this company, Authentic Knitting Board, also makes some longer looms and has a selection to choose from.
Another company making knitting looms is KISS. The KISS looms are favored by many loom knitters. They are known for having adjustable sett on their looms, so that you can knit in a fine gauge or make thick double knitting on the same loom. They have adjustable looms and also modular looms, so that you do not have to purchase many individual sized looms, but can instead build your looms using modules which fit together in various ways.
Yahoo Groups
There are more makers of looms than these and lots to be learned about knitting on looms. A wonderful resource to help you in learning and loom knitting, are many yahoo groups. If you have a yahoo account, check out the yahoo groups and search under loom knitting. There are knifty knitter groups, loom knitting addicts, and many helpful lists where talented loom knitters share patterns and info. The archives and databases of many of these groups are a treasure trove of info on stitches, looms, patterns, and more.
Please visit my blog for more info on knitting looms, including loom knitting patterns.
