The best part about working hard at the salt mines and my other little side projects is that I get to shop! (My favorite hobby?!)
Today I got to have a little big of "me" time. I started out at Jo-Ann (the craft store) and check out this super cool Ergonmic Crochet Hook and Loom Knitting Tool set from Provo Craft. I was tending to bend the Loom Knitting Tool that comes with the Knifty Knitter looms and this is not only sturdier but also has a nice ergonomic grip and the choice of 2 different handle styles.
I then proceeded to the local Barnes and Noble where I bought a couple of books. I've been eying this 365 Stitches a Year Perpetual Calendar, and of course I had to have the new Amanda Quick (aka Jayne Ann Krentz) book The Third Circle, I also picked up a new paperback romance by Jo Beverly, who I really enjoy reading. Ok, its not great literature, but its better than not reading anything at all, right? Give a girl a break already - I gotta have my romance novels.
Now after this shopping extravaganza, and proceeded directly over to the Nail Spa and had a nice Manicure Pedicure. Ahhh... What could be better? Jin made Sloppy Joes for dinner and then we're making an early night of it.
The only thing left to do is to mention the really neat walk in tubs I found on the internet at AR Wholesale. Did you know that even if you are disabled or can't get in a regular tub due to your age or physical condition you can still take a totally immersed bath? They have these fantastic walk in tubs with doors - you can put them right in your current bathroom where the regualar tub is now. Some even have whirlpool and hydrotherapy features. Boy, I really could have used one of those when I hurt my back when I was pregnant with Adam! I went the whole 9 months plus without taking a bath because I thought I'd get stuck in there because of a back spasm. AR Wholesale even has a sepcial technology to make the tub drain faster so you can get out withiut waiting forever for the water to go out like with a traditional drain. Cool stuff.
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.
My latest insane hobby project - spending hours loom knitting a dishrag. Yeah, don't ask. Some things in life don't make sense and just never will.
Here's a picture of my beautiful handmade loomknit butterfly dishcloth. The pattern is made with knit and purl stitches. Its kind of like a tone on tone pattern. My co-worker said it was like an inkblot, depending on what you say it is I can tell you about your childhood.
I got the pattern from Loom Knit Circle magazine web site, but I don't think its up there anymore. Makes me wish I hadn't written all over it.
Have you ever heard of the "Yarn Harlot?" She's a super popular knitter, one of what I think of as the neo-crafter movement.
She's got a free hat pattern on her blog which is very attractive. Since its knit in the round, I think it could be done on a knitting loom with no need to convert the pattern. I link it here in case you are interested. I am putting it on my --- "looks cool, maybe give it a try" list.
Yarn Harlot Unoriginal Hat Knit in the Round - so no pattern conversion needed to convert to loom knitting. Its knit with a fairly chunky yarn and big needles so I think this could be done right on a knifty knitter if you could do the cables.
On Ravelry right now, the Loom-A-Long group is working on converting needle knitting patterns to loom knitting. This is really cool, because it opens up the whole word of patterns to the loom knitter. Circular knitting patterns actually don't need any conversion for loom knitting, its the same concept.
Loom Knit Designs including stitch instructions for all the stitches on the loom - from Isela.
Knitting Motifs - some really neat patterns like Peace sign, etc. I think the Peace sign would look great in knits and pearls as a spa cloth or dishcloth.
Knit on knifty knitter loom with Yarn Bee Icelandic Jewels yarn from Hobby Lobby. Yay for 99cent yarn with no wool!
I used the twisted knit (e-wrap) stitch on an off brand KK type loom. I
alternated the two colors of yarn every other row and then did a
thicker stripe of each. Then I used a zig-zag type of method to bind
off and sew it up straight. It came out looking pretty darn funny so I
figured it needed pom-poms.