Last night, I went to a Loom Knitting class that Tea and Crafting held at Craft Central, in London.
So we started with Tea, which is always a great bonus and were given our loom, wool and crochet hook. The loom we were using is good to make square or rectangle shapes - good to make your granny squares quickly for a blanket! You can also get circle looms to make hats, mittens or even socks! Using the loom means that the knitting you do is thicker than usual knitting and so whatever you make is even warmer! Good for those blankets I mentioned!
Anyway, to the process. To start with we had to make a slip knot to put over one of the pegs, we were not using the whole of the length of the loom for the workshop so that we could learn all of the skills in the lesson, or we may have been there all night! Once the knot is over a peg you put the knot and the tail down the middle of the loom and the start to do a zig zag across the pegs to make 'V' shapes to the desired length, then put over the top a length of different coloured wool - all will be revealed later! It's then back to the zig zags - which is a reoccurring theme in loom knitting! Once you have 2 stitches as such on each peg, you use the crochet hook to pull the bottom stitch over the top one on both sides of the loom and then you do the zig zags again and repeat the stitches part and that as they say is as simple as that!
When you have done quite a few of these rounds the knitting will start to come out through the middle and you will see that your different coloured wool is easy to see and is holding the end of the knitting together. You can then use your crochet hook to finish off the ends by pulling the stitches through, just like crochet.
The teacher Jane was really good, very patient and making sure that everyone knew the steps. She was very friendly and chatting to us about crafts and good places to look for wool and looms. There was plenty of tea and cakes to eat to keep us going and even if you don't know anything about knitting, the loom is a great way to be able to knit and not have to worry about dropping stitches or counting!
I think I am going to try and make lots of large squares and perhaps make a baby blanket for my new niece who is coming in March. I know its quick and easy, but I think I should get on with it! Otherwise It may be her baby's blanket! ha, ha.
So thanks go out to Tea and Crafting for teaching me a new skill and giving me a new obsession! Or maybe I should not thank them!!! ha, ha, ha.
Love it
