Knifty Knitter Circular Loom Socks 01

I bought a set of Knifty Knitter Circular Knitting Looms yesterday, on sale at JoAnn's Fabric and Craft Stores for $14.99 (25% off). Four looms, a needle, a plastic tapestry needle, and an instruction book for making a hat were included in the set.



On Sunday evening, 2010-03-07, I started working on the Chunky Ribbed Socks in Isela Phelps' book, Loom Knitting Primer. They are knitted on the Blue, 24-peg loom. They feature a Short Row Heel and Toe.

In the above photo, I've just finished working the Short Row Heel, and am starting the Foot.

The yarn is Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick (Super Bulky Weight), 80% Acrylic / 20% Wool, in the 132 Lemongrass color (Lot #62492). I got two 170 gram, 108 yard skeins from Michaels for $3.99 each. Now I know why they were so cheap. The first skein I opened did not pull cleanly from the center, so I wound it, by hand, into center-pull balls. Not only was there a knot, but the yarn was cut in the middle (they didn't even bother to knot it). I bought this yarn in order to learn loom knitting, and was more concerned with the low price than with quality.




Loom Knitting Primer:
A Beginner's Guide to Knitting on a Loom, with over 30 Fun Projects.
Isela Phelps.
St. Martin's Griffin, 2007.
ISBN: 978-0312366612




The first sock off the Blue 24-peg Knifty Knitter Loom. This is my first ever loom-knitted sock. It fits my foot! It was also an excellent introduction to the Short Row Heel and Toe technique.

The second sock was finished on Thursday, 20010-03-11.

I ran across an interesting little thing in this Chunky Ribbed Socks pattern.

On the first sock I made a small modification on one side of the heel, and worked the pattern as is, on the other side of the heel. With the modification, there’s no hole, and without the modification, there’s a hole. In the second sock’s heel, I worked my modification into the pattern, and there’s no hole on either side of the heel. That’s gratifying.

The modification is very simple. Knitting the leg is pretty straightforward. Then comes Working the Short Row Heel, which is worked on half the pegs as a flat panel. I followed all the Row steps until I got to Row 15 and Row 16. I made my modifications here. Actually, you can see that there will be a hole at these places, as you are knitting on the loom. Here’s what I did to eliminate the hole:

Row 15: K11 (from peg 2-12). Knit 2 over 1 on peg 12.
Modification: W&T peg 13

Row 16: K12 (from peg 12-1). Knit 2 over 1 on peg 1.
Modification: W&T peg 24 (one peg past peg 1 )

Then, when you work the Sock Foot, on the first round, you’ll simply knit 2 over 1 on pegs 13 and 24, and keep on going. No hole! That’s my experience, anyway.

I tried different ways of binding off the toe, which is why the toes look different in the picture on my Projects page. I’m still learning, and I experiment whenever I can.

Here are some pix of the finished socks.




This heavy pair of socks weights just under seven ounces. I have about five ounces of this yarn leftover.


The socks, after being washed on Cold/Cold in the washing machine, in a nylon bag, and air-dried on the socks rack. Model: Cathy. This picture is featured on Ravelry for the Chunky Ribbed Socks.