Circular Loom Knitting

When the weather turns cold, I always think of the people who don't have the cold weather essentials they need. That's when I get out my circular looms and do some hat knitting. Using a loom is not difficult. There are 2 important things to remember. 1: Keep your tension LOOSE! You will make your knitting very tight if you don't. That makes it difficult to manipulate the stitches. 2: Use the right size yarn for the loom you are using. If you use worsted or bulky yarn, you need the looms with fewer stitches per inch (just like when you knit with needles). I prefer to use smaller yarn, so I use the looms with more stitches per inch. I got this yarn at Hobby Lobby.

OK. So, first you have to cast on. Make a half-hitch loom & attach it to the post on the loom.

Now, bring the yarn up between the first 2 posts and wrap the yarn around the first post counter-clockwise.

Continue wrapping the yarn around all the posts, wrapping the yarn around counter-clockwise & proceed to the next post on the left. This is called "casting on". Once the yarn is wrapped around all the posts, I remove the half-hitched loop from the front post & tie it together with the "working yarn". You'll be working with 2 strands of yarn for a few stitches. That's ok. The tail end of the yarn is secured in the hat this way.

Now you are ready to start knitting. I use a little hook to manipulate the stitches. Keep your working yarn very slack. If you pull it tight, you won't be able to pass the stitches over the working yarn. And your hat will become VERY small when you have it finished. To make a knit stitch, hold the working yarn in front of the post and above the loop ON the post. Use your hook under the loop and pass it OVER the working yarn. Continue moving the loop up and off the post. Now the working yarn is secure to the front of the post.

. Continue working around the loom. The fabric you can see inside the loom is the inside of the hat. You'll need to knit several inches before you can see the front side of the hat beneath the loom.

After you knit several inches, you'll make the "band" of the hat. To do this, you'll be placing the cast on loops back onto the posts. Start at the knot you tied, and place each cast-on stitch back on the post. Work your way around, be sure you don't miss a stitch. Basically, you are now folding your knitting in half, forming a band for the hat.

Now, continue knitting your hat. You'll need to knit the hat much "longer" than you would think. Once you take the hat off the loom, it will draw in considerably. That's normal. Don't fret.

Knitting a hat on the circular loom isn't like knitting one on needles. For an adult hat, you need to knit about 14 inches of fabric. Now you need to get the stitches OFF the loom. Cut your working yarn, leaving about 12 inches to work with. Put a yarn needles on this "tail". Use the needle & pass the first stitch off the post and onto this "tail".

Once all the stitches are off the loom, you can put the loom aside. Now you need to close the top of the hat. I do this by pulling the "tail" tight.

Pull it all tight by stitching back and forth across the gap in the top. Really secure this tight, otherwise the hole will open up as the hat is worn. Tie off the tail and work it under a few stitches. Don't leave it free. It will tickle the top of your head if you do!

Congratulations! Your hat is done.