Connecting Knifty Knitter Knit

Knifty Knitter Knitting Looms

Two common methods for attaching pieces of knit made on the Knifty Knitter loom are the mattress seam and the hidden seam. Mattress seams produce a neat seam that is barely visible on either side of the knit. The mattress seam works well for projects where both sides of the finished work will be seen, such as blankets. Hidden seams create an obvious seam, but the seam is turned toward the inside, such as the seam of a sweater where the arm meets the bodice.

Connecting Knifty Knitter Panels with the Mattress Seam

The mattress seam is barely visible and is a perfect seam for attaching several Knifty Knitter panels into a blanket.

1. Place the pieces of knit to be connected on a flat surface. The side most often seen should be facing up. The panels should be laying side by side.
2. Weave a needle through the center of the stitch on one knit and across to the center of the stitch on the attaching knit. In the center of each stitch, there is a small post, the yarn should be weaved around this post. Weave the yarn back and forth between the two panels. After you have done this approximately 5 times. Pull the yarn tighter to fully connect the panels.
3. Work attaching the seams of the knifty knitter panels weaving, then tightening the weave, working down the seams.
4. When the end of the seams are reached, tie a square knot and snip the yarn, weaving the excess yarn into the knit.

Connecting Knifty Knitter Knit with a Hidden Seam

The hidden seam will create a ridge and the bulk of the seam should be on the wrong side of the fabric, similar to a sleeve seam.

1. When removing each of the knits to be attached from the Knifty Knitter loom, weave a yarn of a different color through the loops to keep them from unraveling. This yarn is temporary and it is not important that it doesn't match. In fact, choosing a contrasting color makes it easier to see and remove the yarn later.
2. Place the right sides of the knit together and using a crochet hook feed one loop through the loop opposite it on the other knit.
3. In an alternating pattern feed the loops through each other until the end of the row is reached.

How to Increase Stitch or Decrease Stitch on a Loom

Increase stitches add to the width of a finished knitting project by increasing the number of stitches in a row. Decrease stitches reduce with width of the knit by making fewer stitches in the row. In knitting, these techniques of increasing and decreasing stitches are used to change shape, such as adding arms to a sweater. Projects requiring increase and decrease stitches can be done on a Knifty Knitter knitting loom by following a few simple steps.

Increase Stitch on the Knifty Knitter Loom

Increase stitches are used to add width, or flare to any knit project.

1. Begin the project as close to the center of the loom as possible. This leaves room on both sides of the row to increase width equally.
2. When the end of the row is reached, rather than turning and knitting off back across the row, use the yarn to wrap an additional peg.
3. Continue wrapping until the row has been increased by the number of stitches desired.
4. Continue knitting off back across the row.

Decrease Stitch on the Knifty Knitter Loom

Decrease stitches may be used to taper a waste line of a sweater, or narrow the wrist of a knitted arm.

1. When arriving at the row that is to be decreased, take the loop on the last peg of the row and unhook it. Place it on the previous peg in the row.Adding it to the previous peg, rather than simply dropping the stitch, prevents the finished knit from unraveling.
2. Repeat the step above until all the stitches that need decreased in the row have been removed.
3. When knitting off, knit off all the additional loops that have been placed on the end peg of the row, as one loop.

When creating increase and decrease stitches, the knit will stay symmetrical, or the same on both sides, if the same number of stitches are added or removed from each end. For example, when decreasing a row by 6 stitches, 3 stitches should be taken from each end of the row to keep the work balanced.When working with an odd number that must be increased, or decreased, for a row of knitting stitches, try to alternate the end of the row that gets the most increases or decreases. For example, if you are decreasing 5 stitches from a Knifty Knitter row take 3 from the left and 2 from the right side of the row. In the next row, if more stitches need to be decreased, and the total number of stitches removed is an odd number, take the extra stitch from the right side rather than the left.

How to Purl Stitch on a Knifty Knitter Loom

Purl Stitch on the Knifty Knitter|Heather Schulte

The purl stitch is a type of knitting stitch. In regular knitting, the purl is the opposite of a knit stitch. If a panel of fabric is knitted one side will have tightly knit "V's," the other side will have a series of short lines. The side with the "Vs" is referred to as the knit side and the side with the short tight lines is the purl side.A purl stitch can be created on a Knifty Knitter loom, just like it is on a pair of knitting needles. As in regular knitting, this stitch on a Knifty Knitter loom creates a finished knit panel that has the appearance of tightly weaved "Vs" on the knit side and a series of short straight lines on the purl side. The ability to combine the knit and purl stitch creates an unlimited number of knitting possibilities on the Knifty Knitter loom.

Making the Purl Stitch

• Begin by tying a slip knot and securing the slip knot to the anchor peg on the Knifty Knitter Loom.
• Ewrap the Knifty Knitter loom one time around.
• Typically, the first loop on each peg of the Knifty Knitter loom is pushed down before knitting off the loom. This leaves room for the next loop to be placed on the peg. In the purl stitch, however, you will begin by pushing the loop to the top of the peg. The loop should be at center or higher.
• Pull the working yarn across the front of the first peg to purl stitch. The yarn should be under the loop that is on the peg. From the top, slide the Knifty Knitter hook under the loop on the peg and snag the working yarn with the hook. Pull the working yarn up through the loop on the peg. This made a new loop.
• Grasp the new loop between your fingers and use this to lift the old loop off the Knifty Knitter peg.
• With your fingers, replace the old loop on the peg with the new loop you just created.

Using the Purl Stitch

The purl stitch is ideal for creating closely ribbed, tight knit. The purl stitch can be used in making hats, scarves, purses and many other projects.

Knifty Knitter Fingerless Glove, Arm and Hand Warmer Patterns

Fingerless Glove and Mitten Patterns for the Knifty Knitter Looms

Fingerless gloves, mittens, arm warmers and hand warmers are very popular. The fingerless gloves usually have a partial finger, but are open at the end of each finger. The fingerless mittens don't have finger holes, instead they are open at the base of the fingers, but usually have a thumb hole. They are also called hand warmers, arm warmers and texting mitts. The longer variety that covers the forearm are called arm warmers.

The fingerless mittens seen in this photo are for sale at Art Fire.com

Child's FIngerless Gloves Pattern

This fingerless mitten pattern uses the flower loom.

Skill Level: Beginner

You will need:
* Knifty Knitter Flower Loom
* Yarn Needle
* Yarn: 2 skeins of yarn
* Knifty Knitter Hook


Knifty Knitter Fingerless Gloves Pattern

Wrist Warmers

Free Pattern for the Blue Round Knifty Knitter Loom

Rowena, at the Rositchery blog calls these wrist warmers. They are pretty quick to make taking only about an hour.

Skill Level: Beginner

You will need:
* Knifty Knitter Blue Round Loom
* Yarn Needle
* Sport Weight Yarn (Used in Photo)
* Knifty Knitter Hook

Wrist Warmers Pattern

Knitting a Flat Panel with the Knifty Knitter Loom

Knitting a Flat Panel with Knifty Knitter Long or Round Looms

When I began loom knitting, I assumed that long looms were for flat panels and round looms were for tube, or circular knit. I was wrong. You can knit tubes on long looms. You can also knit flat panels on round looms. This page is about making flat panels on round looms, so I'll show you how it's done below.

Single Knit on a Knifty Knitter Loom

Also known as a flat panel of knit

When knitting a flat panel with the Knifty Knitter loom, you stop and reverse direction at each end of the loom. This is indicated by the red arrows in the photo. Each time you reach the red arrow, you stop and knit back across the loom from the direction in which you just came. The result is a flat panel with a single layer of knit.

Circular Knit on a Knifty Knitter Loom

Also known as tube knit, like a sock

I placed a photo of circular knit here, to show you another possible method of knitting on the long looms. To knit a tube, or circular knit, you go continuously around the loom in the same direction, never reversing. You spiral until the knit reaches the desired length.

Knitting a Flat Panel with a Knifty Knitter Round Loom

Because the finished knit is determined by the method of knitting, not the shape of the loom, it is possible to knit a flat panel on a round loom. Knit around the loom until you reach the stop point. Then reverse direction and knit back across to the other stop point, instead of spiraling around in the same direction. Do this repeatedly stopping and reverse directions at the stop points. This creates a flat panel knit on the round loom.

Knitting a Double Thickness Flat Panel on the Knifty Knitter Long Loom

There is one more method of knitting a flat panel on the Knifty Knitter looms. It can be done only on the long looms. It creates a flat panel of knit with a double thickness, such as a heavy blanket, or a scarf. It is created by wrapping the loom up and down using both top and bottom, then knitting off in a back and forth motion across the loom. The figure 8 stitch, ribbed stitch, and honeycomb stitch are all types of double flat panel knit.