β˜… Knifty Knitter Instructions β˜…

The Knifty Knitter round looms come with a set of instructions. If you are looking for the originals you can get that .pdf file here:

Knifty Knitter Round Loom Instructions PDF


Knifty Knitter Round Loom Set Instructions
The round loom instructions assume that you will making a hat with the round looms. They begin by stating that the blue loom is for babies, the red for young children, the green for young adults and the yellow for larger adults. Do not make the mistake of believing this! You will never make a hat that fits a baby with the smallest round loom (blue). It is generally used in patterns for making socks and mittens. I made a hat with it once and it was barely big enough to fit my child's smallest doll (much smaller than most baby's heads.)

The instructions show you how to do the basic ewrap stitch to make the hat. In traditional knitting the ewrap is called the twisted stockinette stitch. It is one of the most common stitches used in loom knitting and can be done on the round, rectangle or long looms.

Knifty Knitter Instructions for a Round Loom Scarf
Although most people think of the round looms for hats, you can also use them for scarves and other projects. In fact, if you leave a peg open as you knit and simply knit back and forth (clockwise, then counter-clockwise), instead of continuously around the loom, you will make flat panels of knit. So, you can knit flat panels on a round loom, rather than just tube knitting socks and hats.

Although we usually think of long looms for scarves, you can also knit scarves on the round looms. Here is the pattern for a round loom scarf:

Instructions for a Tube Knit Scarf on the Round Loom

The Knifty Knitter instructions PDF link for the original manufacturer instructions that come with the long Knifty Knitter loom set are HERE.

The long loom instructions begin by explaining how to make a figure 8 wrap scarf. You can also find those instructions here with photos:
"How to Make a Figure 8 Wrap Scarf on a Knifty Knitter Loom."

The stitch used to make the scarf is called a "cross ribbing stitch" in traditional needle knitting. The Knifty Knitter instructions assume that after you've completed your first scarf project that you will understand a few things about loom knitting: That is:

1. Every project begins by wrapping the loom with yarn. This is called "casting on." The most basic cast-on is the e-wrap. (Ewrap)
2. Every loom knitting project uses the yarn wrapped on the loom and the working yarn to "knit off." This creates the knit. There are many ways to knit off, you can knit off one loop over one, one over two, etc. Changing the method of knitting off changes the finished look of the project.
3. Every loom knitting project ends with removing the knit from the loom. This is called "binding off."

To learn more about the basic, "cast on," "knit-off," "cast off," steps visit:
How to Use the Knifty Knitter Looms

After explaining how to make a scarf, the instructions that come with the long looms explain that there are three types of knit that can be made:

1. Single - Knitting a panel back and forth across only one side of the loom
2. Double - Wrapping back and forth across pegs on the top and bottom of the loom to knit a double thickness panel
3. Circular - Knitting continuously around the loom in a circular motion to form tube knit.

The photos below should help visualize the different ways the loom can be used to make single, double and circular knit. Also, in the photos below is a close-up shot of a scarf knitting using the "figure 8 wrap" that comes with the Knifty Knitter instructions.

Here is the link to the manufacturers Knifty Knitter Instruction PDF for the rectangle looms:

Rectangle Loom Instructions PDF

As with the long loom instructions, these are truly instructions to make a figure 8 wrap scarf on the rectangle loom. The instructions do explain that you can knit by wrapping the loom with 2 strands of worsted weight yarn as if it were only 1 strand of yarn. It says it is "best" to do this when loom knitting. Using 2 yarns as one will yield a heavier knit. I knit winter garments with 2 strands of yarn and spring or fall garments with only one strand. It is a lighter weight knit, that is practical when the weather is cool, but not cold.

Finally, the rectangle loom instructions show that you can only knit 1 or 2 layer panels on the rectangle loom. In other words, rectangle looms aren't for making circular tube knit. Why? If you look at the long looms (not the rectangle loom), you can see that there is a peg at each end spaced in a way that allows you to use it to continue to knit around the loom without having too much space between stitches. The rectangle looms do not have these end pegs and you cannot knit around the side of the loom without skewing that stitch in the finished knit. So, rectangle looms are for flat panel knitting only. You cannot create tube knit on a rectangle loom.

Generally, the round looms are used to make hats. Theoretically, it can be done on a long loom, but the round looms simplify the process. From the set of four round looms the largest loom (yellow) is used for making adult hats, the second largest (green) for childrens hats, the medium round loom (red) is used for making baby or doll hats. The smallest (blue) round loom, is typically used for socks and mittens. In addition to knitting hats with the largest three looms that come in the round loom set, Knifty Knitter also sells a "hat loom," specifically for making adult hats.

General instructions to make a hat on the Knifty Knitter Looms