Loom knitting for the hat and cowl set with gradient colors

There are many reasons to loom knit. It is a simple technique without a long learning curve. Even kids can learn quickly and start making a hat or scarf. Hand knitting takes more practice to avoid mistakes, but loom knitting always looks neat. Just pick the right size of the loom and start knitting. Don’t need to worry about swatch and size.

Basics of the loom knitting

For a beginner, you need to know different types of looms. There are circular, square, long, and S shape loops. Hats and cowls are usually knitted on the circular shape. It also comes in different sizes for baby, kids, adult, and large adult.

You can also knit a flat piece on a circular loom. The S looms are usually for bigger blankets. There area also long and narrow looms for scarf. You can make double layer fabric from that.

The other thing is the gauge of the knitting, meaning the distance between 2 pegs. The popular ones have wider spacing between pegs and are suitable for chunky weight yarns or double strands of the medium worsted weight yarn. If you use medium-thick yarn on the chunky loom, there will be holes showing.

The next size has smaller-spacing pegs than chunky, and the standard worsted weight yarn will work nicely. Because the spacing is closer, you will need more stitches to knit the same size hat. It is not a bad thing, it just takes longer to finish a project.

And there is the small gauge loom with pegs that are very closely next to each other. There are usually for knitting socks. Often the loom is adjustable so you can loom knit different sizes of socks. I find the socks loom too small to manipulate stitches comfortably.

Watch our video for loom knitting hat and cowl

My daughter made the hat on a chunky loom. I made the cowl on a medium gauge loom to match. She also made the pompom. She actually made several pompoms to give out to her friends. There are pompom makers in the market if you want to make precise shape pompoms, but I like the simple homemade ones and trim to the ball shape.

Tips for loom knitting

1. If you tie up a knot on the beginning peg (some loom has that extra peg below, some don’t), remember to untie it after the first few rows.

2. Keep the tension even. Not too loose or too tight. If you pull too tight, it is very difficult to knit.

3. If you don’t like the rolled edge, you can knit longer and turn it over. Sew up with a yarn or thread on the back side of the knitting. Another way is to knit the ribbing (alternating 1 knit, 1 purl stitches). You can find a lot tutorials on you tube to make a purl stitches on the loom.

4. If your yarn contains some natural fiber such as cotton or wool, you can block it with a steaming iron and make the stitches even and neat.

5. Avoid pure cotton yarns when you are starting out. Pure cotton is not stretchy or flexible enough and harder to work with. If it is mixed with other fiber such as polyester or wool, it is easier to work with.

That’s all tips I have for beginners. Go pick up some pretty yarns and start loom knitting. The simplicity makes it very relaxing, especially on a cold winter night with a cup of hot tea.