The Great Big Monster Blanket that Took Me Months to Loom - DONE!

This blanket was a gift for one of my boys that is a KU fan. I knitted each of the super long panels in the photo above using the fashion stitch on the blue long loom. This is how I did it:

1. Cast on to the blue long loom with the 8 wrap holding 2 medium weight strands of yarn as one. Below is a photo of the eight wrap. It is not the blue loom you are currently using, but it is an example of how to do the cast on.
   
2. Knit 400 rows per panel using the fashion stitch. Below is my video of the fashion stitch.
3. Crochet cast off leaving a long tail of working yarn to sew the panels together. Tie the working yarns in a square knot to secure them where the knit ends, but leave them about 10 feet long. Below is my video of the cast off:
    
4. Thread the working yarn through a yarn needle and mattress stitch the panels together. Below is my video of the mattress stitch, it is for a different blanket, but the method is the same. Look for the 2 small bars inside each stitch and sew through them: 
5. Use your favorite ribbon to decorate the blanket.

One-Over-One Stitch on a Loom

One of the first stitches made by new loom knitters is the one-over-one. You simply wrap the loom twice, then use the loom hook to pull the bottom loop over the top loop and off the peg. Wrap the loom again and repeat, always pulling ONE bottom loop over ONE top loop on the peg. Hence the name, "one-over-one." This stitch is also called the ewrap and twisted stockinette stitch.

iPad App for Counting Knitting Rows

"Knit" app for Counting Knifty Knitter Rows

I recently downloaded this iPad app called "Knit." It's technically for the iPhone, but it works on iPad too and best of all it's free. After you download the free app, you get a screen like the one below upon opening.

Obviously, you can select "start" or "how to use." The "how to use" button takes you to a Safari page with a video of the app. If you select "start," it takes you to the screen below.

Setting up the Project

If you select the plus button in the upper right hand corner, it allows you to add your first project. You can have several projects going. Each of them have the option to title it as you wish and select a picture. They have several pictures to choose from in the app, like the ball of yarn I used for blanket. There's also a picture for socks, a sweater, etc. You have the option to take your own picture of your project.

I set up my first project blanket. To get to the main screen that counts your rows, you simply tap on the title.

You can use the app to count stitches, but I wanted it primarily to count rows. To set it up, you tap the "completion row" box in the upper left corner. Type in the total number of rows you'll be knitting in your project. Then go over to the right just below the camera icon and choose "row." Choose the "1" under it.

Start knitting! Each time you finish a row, you tap the cute kitten in the lower right corner. It turns red and advances the progress bar. If you make a mistake and advance too many times, you can use the minus button to remove a row from the progress bar.

When you've knitted your last row, and tapped the kitten for the last time, the completion box pops up. Hooray! Time to celebrate.

Visit the "Knit" app page in iTunes