More of Abby's Hats

Back in May I mentioned that Abby had also made two more hats but never got around to posting them. These were made with thicker yarn which seems to improve the appearance of the finished product.

Pattern: No pattern, just the basic hat instructions that came with the loom. She used the basic e-wrap, allowing the first to roll up and creating a basic brim for the other.

Dates: January 2007

Yarn: Bernat Softee Chunky (100% Acrylic)

Color: Carnival (40729)

Loom: Blue Knifty Knitter by Provocraft.

Finished size: About preemie sized

Modifications: none

Comments: These two hats look much better than her first attempt but only because of the choice of yarn. The previous yarn was too thin and laddered like crazy. This worked out much better. The hat is very warm but still very stretchy.

Abby's first knitting loom project

Some of you may have already seen this, but I was pretty proud of Abby so I'm including it here. She has since done two more which I expect to photograph next week. She plans to send one to the hospital where she was born. I have also made two that will travel along.
Pattern: No pattern, just the basic hat instructions that came with the loom. She used the basic e-wrap for a few rows, folded up the brim, continued on until it was long enough, and got help from me closing the top draw-string style.
Dates: December 15, 2006
Yarn: Bernat Baby Coordinates (75.2% Acrylic, 22.2% Rayon, 2.6% Nylon).
Color: Baby Pink (01008) (Chosen by Abby because its pink and slightly shiny!)
Loom: Blue Knifty Knitter by Provocraft.
Finished size: Fits her favorite baby. I suspect it would be about preemie sized.
Modifications: none
Comments: The yarn was obviously too thin for the gauge of this loom. There should have been two strands, if not three, in order to eliminate the "laddering" seen in the photo. The as-yet-unphotographed hats were made with a heavier yarn and look much better.

Loom knitted scarf

For those who don't know, peg knitting has been around for hundreds of years. I've learned a lot about it from the HistoricKnit group at Yahoo! that I had never realized before. It is not a new technique and nearly anything done on straight needles can be done on pegs including lace, cables, increases, and decreases. Really fine knitting can be created with nicer looms that the Knifty Knitters. The key is lots of pegs that are very close together (Decor Accents, Inc. has a wide range of very nice looms, among others).

Pattern: No pattern but I used the instructions from Knitting with the Knifty Knitter II: A New Experience in Knitting by ProvoCraft. I used the basic figure 8 style method until I ran out of yarn and method C for removing the knitting from the loom.
Dates: December 2006
Yarn: Probably Red Heart (100% Acrylic) but I can't be sure since it came out of my stash.
Color: One strand each of pink and white.
Loom: Small wooden knitting board with 11 pairs of pegs. Purchased at Hobby Lobby, but I have no idea of the brand.
Finished size: 4.75" x 24" (just barely long enough for Abby to wear). I made it as long as the yarn lasted.
Modifications: none.
Comments: This was really just a test piece to see what the loom could do. I think it has a cool texture, especially when worked with two strands. The figure 8 wrap produces twisted knit stitches which are further altered by the double strand. The bind off I used is a basic cast-off like in needle knitting, but done on pegs with a crochet hook (if that makes any sense). I think I'd like to see about a wider one to make baby blankets for the NICU. This is very thick and comparable to double knitting.