Converting Needle Knit Patterns to the Loom
A lot of this information, for example the stitch chart, is excerpted from the Loom Knitting Help website. I also gathered a lot of information from the Ravelry group Loom-A-Long, and the Yahoo group Looming Dishcloths Plus.
Convert? Why do we need to convert patterns? I just want to loom!
You do
not need to do any complicated pattern conversion to enjoy your Knifty Knitter
or other Knitting Loom. There are plenty
of wonderful patterns available specifically written for loom knitters. Check out Bev’s Country Cottage website
for a great list of Free Loom Knitting Patterns.
Why would
you want to go through the trouble to convert a needle knit pattern for the
loom? Well, if you are writing your own patterns, interested in stretching your
skills, wanting to learn to knit new stitch patterns, or are perhaps just a
little bit nerdy, you might want to know how to convert needle knit patterns
for the loom.
Background:
Needle knitters turn their work at the end of each row; loom knitters do not turn the loom. Therefore to use a needle knit pattern for the loom it must be converted. Needle knit patterns have every other row as a wrong side (WS) row. Usually the first row 1 is the Right Side, and the Even Rows 2 etc. are the Wrong side rows, however this is not a hard and fast rule. You may have to look hard at a picture of the item to see if even or odd are WS/RS.
Where a knitting stitch pattern denotes a stitch number such as 6+3, this means cast on 6 plus 3, and then knit 6. Loom knitters only need to cast on and knit 6 pegs and disregard the extra 3.
Tid-Bits from the Ravelry Group “Loom-A-Long” thread March Loom A Long, converting dishcloths.
Great Short Description of the Concepts from Ravelry user “KraftMama.”
If a purl stitch looks like a purl stitch on the front of the item it is a RS row.
If a purl stitch looks like a knit stitch on the front of the item it is a WS row.
We need to convert WS rows.
If a right slant decrease is on a WS row we change it to a left slant decrease.
If a right slant decrease is on a RS row we leave it as a right slant decrease.
Same with left slant decreases.
Best Direction for direction to
Cast on and Knit Row1 from Ravelry user Kathy Norris
Cast on Left To Right, then knit Row 1 Right to Left
Cast on left to right (counterclockwise). In the example below - each “1” represents a peg, the arrow represents the direction….
1 1 1 1 1 1 1
———–>
Then the first row of actual knitting is right to left (clockwise).
1 1 1 1 1 1 1
<———–
This way, the first row is actually knitted the same direction a needle knitter would work the first row of a needle pattern. It can make conversions a little easier.
Loom Knitting Help Website
Converting Needle Knit patterns to Loom Knit page on Loom Knitting Help website is a wonderful source of information on this subject as well as all about Looms and Knitting Boards. I used much of their information do not think this is all my work – I just put it together in one place.
WS RS Conversion
Even rows (assuming that in our pattern the even rows are the "wrong side" rows) need to have the stitches converted, AND be knitted in the opposite order.
Stitch Conversion Table
The following chart has been provided to help you convert the stitches. Note for you needle knitters out there: this chart also works for converting flat knitting to circular knitting.
Stitch
Equivalents Converting Needle to Loom Knitting |
|
|
(Also works for Converting Flat Knitting to Circular Knitting) |
|
|
Wrong-sided
Stitches |
Right-Sided
Equivalent |
|
Basic Stitches |
|
|
P (purl) |
K (knit) |
|
K (knit) |
P (purl) |
|
P tbl (purl in back) |
K tbl (knit in back) |
|
K tbl (purl in back) |
P tbl (knit in back) |
|
Sl wyif |
Sl wyib |
|
Sl wyib |
Sl wyif |
|
Cross / Twist Stitches |
|
|
Cross L, Knit |
Cross R, Purled |
|
Cross R, Purled |
Cross L, Knit |
|
Cross R, Knit |
Cross L, Purled |
|
Cross L, Purled |
Cross R, Knit |
|
Cable Stitches |
|
|
cX over Y left, knit* |
cY over X left, purl* |
|
cX over Y left, purl* |
cY over X left, knit* |
|
cX over Y right, knit* |
cY over X right, purl* |
|
cX over Y right, purl* |
cY over X right, knit* |
|
Decreases |
|
|
P2tog |
K2tog |
|
P2tog tbl |
Sl1 K1 psso or work ssk |
|
K2tog |
P2tog |
|
K2tog tbl |
P2tog tbl |
|
P3tog |
K3tog |
|
K3tog |
P3tog |
|
P2tog pnso |
Sl1 K2tog psso |
|
Sl1 K2tog psso |
P2tog pnso |
|
Increases |
|
|
P into back and front |
K into front and back |
|
P into front and back |
K into back and front |
|
K into back and front |
P into front and back |
|
K into front and back |
P into back and front |
|
*Where X and Y denotes stitch numbers and X and Y may or may not be equal to each other. |
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