I first heard about the concept through Anne Bipes blog, when she detailed how to give your loom pegs double duty use, in order to actually increase the number of stitches in your row while looming a flat panel.
Isela Phelps has detailed this adaptable technique in her tutorial video, showing how to create a little button flap on a hat brim! How cute! 🙂
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I’d like to share with you that you can do this same concept in the round!
See the band going around the bottom edge of the hat?
This was 104 stitches to make the complete circle…I was knitting this on a 44 peg FG sock loom by Decor Accents!!!
That’s a big difference, huh? 😉
I’ll share my secret with you now: If you use a circular knitting needle…I used a size 3 for the fine gauge loom (you’d want your needle to match the gauge you’re using on the loom)…and a 16″ needle in length (of course this would need to be adjusted for how many extra stitches you intended on having).
I was so engrossed in looming this hat, that I forgot to take pictures while I was using this technique, but I’ll try to explain carefully…I’ll have to make pics, or a video soon. 🙂
When I picked up the stitches for the brim, I used about 40 at a time on the actual loom, and the rest of the stitches were placed on the circular needle. I knitted the stitches on the pegs as needed in the pattern, and then slipped about 30 of them onto one end of the circular needle. Then I slid 30 of the stitches being held on the circular off of the other end, and onto the pegs on the loom. They were then knit in the pattern needed.
This process continued until every stitch was knit for the row. I knitted 6 rows in this way, and then bound off, while using the circular. It was a rather tedious process, but the results were fantastic! It did exactly what I needed it to do (which was create the edging in the same gauge as the pinwheel top part) and really worked like a charm! This is a great way to improvise if you just have to get that project done, and your new loom hasn’t arrived yet, lol!
PS: more about my weekend later…I wasn’t able to get my pics downloaded yet…soon…I promise! 😉 Have a fantabulous Monday!
Bethany~
I’ve used this technique and love it! I’ve even borrowed the use of pegs temporarily while leaving the original stitches on the peg and only knitting off the top loop (the loop borrowing the use of the peg) while leaving the bottom loops alone. Then when those stitches are knit off, I transferred the top stitches to a stitch holder. This works as long as I do it in one sitting and don’t set me work down and forget where I was at.
Is it possible to transfer all the stitches to a bigger round loom in order to make increases? I want to make a dog sweater starting from the neck in rib and then I want to change to knit stitches and increase around for the chest. My dog is a dachshund with thin neck and wide chest, so I wonder if after the neck knit in a small loom I could make increases and transfer to a bigger loom for the body?
Hi Claudia! 🙂
Yes, it would be possible to switch looms, but honestly, the more convenient way to go would be to use an adjustable loom like the All-n-One loom by Authentic Knitting Board, or something similar. These types of looms make decreasing/increasing so much easier. 😉
But, if you would like to try the way you mentioned, you might find it easier to start the doggie sweater from the back end and work your way up to the neck. At this point, you could double up your stitches until you have the number of stitches you’d like to use on the smaller loom, then transfer *down*. This would be preferrable to stretching too few stitches to fit a larger loom.
Hope this helps!
Bethany~
Thank you Bethany,
I think you are right. I’ll try starting from the back end and finish in the neck.