Loom Knitting Socks

One of the reasons I am loving loom knitting is that I can do this on the couch next to Mr. Green while he watches TV, or in the rocking chair in the family room while my children are playing, as I sit in the car line waiting to pick Tall Sprout up from school, and even in bed before going to sleep.  I love my sewing room, but my work in there is much more of a solitary pursuit.

I told you all about how easy it was for me to finally learn to knit using the Knifty Knitter looms.  I knew I wanted to try to make socks, but I wanted a finer gauge (also known as sett) loom than the knifty knitters for this.  I had heard good things about Decor Accents looms, and have had my eye on their Wonder Sock loom, which is adjustable, meaning the same loom can be used for making socks for anyone from a baby to an adult man.

However, I had to go to Hobby Lobby recently, searching for an odd sized sketch book that was on Tall Sprout's school supply list.  I decided to just look and see whether they carried looms, and I found the Authentic Knitting Board Adjustable Sock Loom.  The regular price of this loom was less than half of the one I have had my eye on, AND it happened to be 50% off on the day I was there. So I was able to pick up this sock loom at an incredible, affordable bargain.

I have had Isela Phelps' book, Loom Knitting Socks for a little while now (it was one of several great gifts to me from Mr. Green and our boys for Mother's Day this year), and so I was excited to finally try out one of her patterns.
Of course, a smaller sock will knit quicker, so I started using some stashed wool yarn using the toddler cuff down pattern.  I love the cuff!

I wanted to show it to ya'll on his fat foot, but I chased him around with the camera for a long while and could not get him to sit still.  This baby loves to play chase and is always in motion; I am not psychic but can totally see him with a pigskin under his arm as a running back. ( LOL....I have gotten him a football since I wrote that and he has learned to say "TutsDOWN!" and he does a touchdown dance when he says it, too!  I didn't publish this post sooner because the pix aren't good, but I stopped by here today and thought I should put this up while I am here since it has been so long since I have made any posts).

Anyway,  here is the clearest photo I snapped of the sock on his foot:

But I wanted to tell you about Isela Phelps' Loom Knitting Socks book.

This book is subtitled "a beginner's guide to knitting socks using a loom."  And while it certainly is true that here is everything a beginner needs to know, there is also so much more.  I think it could have more accurately been called the COMPLETE guide to knitting socks using a loom.  There are 50 different sock patterns in this book, and while there are plenty to choose from for your first pair of socks, I don't think you will ever need any other book on the subject!  There are simple socks as well as socks with cables, colorwork, lace, all kinds of designs, including butterflies and hearts and a beautiful trellis design, even complete instructions for making gorgeous beaded socks.  I know this book could keep me and my sock loom busy for many years!   And after working the diversity of patterns found here, and because the author has provided so much detailed information- including the magic formula to know to make socks to fit anyone, I know that I will be able to devise my own sock patterns.  So, as I said, this is surely the only book you will ever need on this subject!

The Best Dish Scrubbers You Can Make

UPDATE: I called mine the best, but it's the nylon yarn that makes these scrubbers the best for scrubbing.  I just found another pattern, at Rostitchery, for a nice compact round scrubber.  I am off to make one of these now; it might be better than mine. 

If you don't think that dish scrubbers make a good gift idea, I encourage you to look next to your friends and family members' sinks.  I have been so surprised to see that people who wash their hands, brush their teeth, and vacuum their floors often have a nasty, yucky, gross, old sponge on their sink ledge for washing dishes.  This is disgusting, people!  I care about my friends and family and I want to save them from the billions of germs that live in such sponges, so I think a pair of these makes an excellent gift.  These dish scrubbers can go in the washing machine and dryer, so with one to use and one to wash, your loved ones can always have something fresh and clean for scrubbing dishes.

This was the first design I came up with for the Knifty Knitter long looms.  All you need to make one of these handy dandy little scrubbers is the pink short loom, 2 skeins of nylon yarn, and an hour.

You can make these with one skein of nylon yarn and one ball of cotton, but cotton tends to stay damp longer.  Using nylon yarn gives these scrubbers their scrubbing ability and it dries out fast.

Wrap your loom as directed, using both strands of yarn.  Knit the piece until it has reached 5 inches, and then loom off, leaving tails approximately 7" long.

Then, take the short ends and bring them together.  Use one of your yarn tails to sew these edges together, behind the first row, creating a ridge, which will be your handle.  Then, center the handle in the middle, on the top layer of the scrubber.  Then use your other yarn tails to sew this top layer down to the bottom layer, keeping the handle ridge centered, and closing the open edges.

 
And here is what one looks like when you are done.  These are the best things I have found for scrubbing dishes; they are strong and scrub well.  The handle is handy and being able to wash these makes them sanitary and clean.  A pair of these makes a nice gift, especially when coupled with handmade dish scrubbing soap.  There are various ways to make liquid soap, but the easiest is to start with liquid castile soap.  I use Dr. Bronner's lavender.  Squeeze this into a pretty bottle, add warm water, a little glycerine, and some lavender essential oil, and you're done.

This is my original design; do not make these for sale.  But have fun making these for yourself and as gifts.

UPDATE: Now, after I made and posted this, I have seen another scrubber, designed Rowena at Rostitchery, that looks even neater than mine, as it is round.  I think it is a good bit smaller, though, and haven't tried her way yet.  I am going to make one her way now, but I wanted to post this and apologize to Rowena for proclaiming my scrubber the "best!"  Here again, is the link to the neat round scrubber at Rostitchery.

Update:  I have had a lot of folks asking where to find the nylon yarn for making these.  I like using the "Bonnie" brand the best, and they do carry it at Amazon.  Here are some links
There are other colors available, too.

Have you tried and failed at knitting? Try loom knitting instead

Have you tried and failed at knitting with needles?

I did, many times. I don't know if it was my left handedness or what that made me completely unable to learn knitting by looking at photos or drawings in books or on websites.  I tried at least a dozen times, using as many different books and sets of instructions as I could, but I never succeeded in making anything but a mess.

My travels through fabric stores always included a wistful look at the yarns accompanied with a big sigh. It was very disheartening to want to work with yarn but to not be able to teach myself to use it.

Then the beautiful day dawned when I found out about Knifty Knitter looms.



I wondered if this might be a way for me to finally learn to knit. I thought about it too long (as I am prone to do), and finally decided it had to be easier to wrap those pegs than it was for me to understand what to do with the needles and yarn. I knew I could return them if I couldn't work them, but I had to give it a try.

Well, Glory Day it was when my new looms arrived, because that was the day I became a knitter. Knitting on these looms is so easy that a child could do it as play. I call them hand knitting machines, because your project feeds through the bottom, evenly and quickly, like something professionally made.

The day after I first put my hands on my knifty knitters, I had already worked through three gorgeous skeins of yarn and made myself a roomy new purse.

It's certainly not perfect, and I have since learned a better way to sew on straps.  But it is a functional bag which is now my favorite purse.  I get compliments on this almost every time I stand in line.  I knit it in the first day of having my knifty knitter looms and have since then conceived, created, and completed many more knit projects.  Anyone could; knifty knitters are a great way to finally learn knitting.

Knifty knitters come in long looms and round looms.  I like the long looms and how they are able to make "double knitting," which was used on that purse.  This knitting is thick enough to use for making rugs.  You can also do single knitting and knitting in the round on the long looms.  The round style are useful for hats, but you can not produce the thicker, double knitting on the round looms.


SO, if you have always wanted to knit, NOW you can.  Order some knifty knitters from Amazon (and while you are there, check out their yarns), and soon you will be knitting too.  Be sure to check back here, as I will be sharing tutorials and patterns, including the best little dish scrubber you could make.

I think I should also tell ya'll that after using the looms for a little while, I was able to understand knitting enough to also figure out how to use needles.  However, loom knitting goes MUCH faster and I will be using needles only for small projects that need a tight gauge.  I really can't imagine using needles to knit something like a baby blanket, which could be finished in a few days on the looms.