Zippy Loom Corners & Christmas Tree Centerpiece Pattern

Exciting news!!  Knitting Board now has CORNERS for the Zippy looms!

Not only can a project be worked in the round now, the loom can made larger without it being straight. 

I love the new corners!  They open up a whole new Zippy world.  Even if working a flat panel, the loom will no longer be sticking out the window while working on a large project.

The new corners can be bought from Knitting Board or they can be found in stores soon.


To celebrate Zippy corners and celebrate the most wonderful time of year, I present a new pattern.

This Christmas Tree Centerpiece is worked in the round to start then worked in wedges that are seamed.

Embellish with beads or other other colors to fit any decor.  I have included instructions for the garland and the star.

Christmas Tree Centerpiece

Original design 

by Renita Harvey

Christmas Tree

Loom:  Zippy Loom, 6 straight looms and 4 corners for 28 pegs

Yarn:  Jumbo 7 weight yarn, Bernat Mega Bulky used in sample

• ·         Color A:  Brown - 1 ball
• ·         Color B:  Green - 2 balls

Notions:  Stuffing, 9“ diameter cardboard circle, loom pick, tapestry needle, fabric glue

Finished size:  approximately 17" x 9"

Abbreviations:

K:  Knit

P:  Purl

R:  Round

Rep:  Repeat

CO:  Cast On

BO:  Bind Off

CA:  Color A

CB:  Color B

Pattern notes:

Tree is worked in the round then worked in flat panel wedges that are seamed together.

Instructions:

With CA and using 2 strands together as 1, e-wrap CO all 28 pegs and prepare to work in the round

R1 – 5:  *K1, P1, rep from * around

End CA.  Join 1 strand of CB.

R6 – 10:  K all

Bring the first stitch of CB round onto the pegs like a hat brim and knit the bottom loop over the top.

Find first loop of new color

  

Pull loop up to peg.

Place loop onto peg.

Once there are 2 loops on each peg, bring the bottom loop over the top loop to knit off.

R11 – 13:  K all

Divide the loom knit 4 sets of 7 pegs.   Prepare to work wedges in flat panels.

Wedge 1

R1 – 2:  K7 – 7 stitches

R3:  K5, K2tog – 6 stitches

R4 – 5:  K all

R6:  K4, SSK – 5 stitches

R7 – 10:  K all

R11:  K3, K2tog – 4 stitches

R12 – 13:  K all

R14:  K2, SSK – 3 stitches

R15 – 18:  K all

R19:  K1, K2tog – 2 stitches

R20 – 21:  K all

R22: SSK - 1 stitch

R23:  K1

Cut working yarn, leaving a 12” tail for seaming.  BO by pulling yarn tail through last loop,

Join CB and repeat Wedge 1 three more times for a total of 4 wedges.

Using the long tails, seam the wedges together.

Weave in all ends except for cast on end.

Stuff the tree with stuffing.

Place the cardboard circle under the stuffing at the bottom of the tree.

Tighten the e-wrap cast on so that the cast on is “gathered” under the cardboard.

Secure ends.

Garland

Loom:  1 Zippy loom

Yarn:  metallic eyelash yarn, 1 ball Yarn Bee Gilt Eyelash in Star Ruby used in sample

Instructions:

Using only 2 pegs, make an i-cord approximately 84” long.

Attach 1 end at the bottom of the green. 

Wrap around the tree until the other end is at the top.

Secure the ends.

Star

Yarn:  metallic eyelash yarn, 1 ball Yarn Bee Gilt Eyelash in Sunspark used in sample

Using whatever method preferred, make a pom pom.

Attach on top with glue.


Looking for more Zippy patterns?

Loom Knit with Isela Phelps

Gettin' It Pegged!  with Bethany Daily

Knit Chat with Denise Layman

Knitting Board Blog





While items made from this pattern may be sold, this pattern is protected by copyright and may not copied, republished, or distributed without express permission of the designer.

Apologies!

First of all I would like to apologize for ignoring my blog most of last year.

While I have been doing lots of things, I have failed to keep the blog updated.  I will try to do better this year.  And I will start by posting everything I did last year.  Not all in one day though...  So as time permits, I will add posts on all I did last year.  And everything I do this year will be posted as well.

So here is to 2015 not only being more productive but also being more blog-worthy as well!  Hope all of you have a very productive and healthy year!

Loom Knit Corkscrews

I have been thinking on corkscrews for some time.  There are a few other tutorials online loom knit corkscrews.  But I have been wanting tight spirals similar to crochet corkscrews that are not limited to the number of pegs on the loom for the length or using lots of decreases.

The other day while looking at a picture of an i-cord, it hit me.  A 2 peg modified i-cord.  Got out a loom and proceeded.  Got it on my second try.  First try, the yarn was not bulky enough for the loom gauge.  Found a heavier weight yarn, and it worked!  Oh happy day!

Had some trouble with my borrowed video camera though.  There is audio static.  Not happy at all...  But it does get better after 10 seconds or so.  I will try to remake the video whenever I can acquire a different camera.

But the video is recorded.  The tutorial is written.  And it's all uploaded to Ravelry in one nice downloadable file here.

Or find the video here.

Enjoy!

Zoe MacLean's Loom Knit Mermaid Tail with the Raised Paving Stitch

How exciting!  Zoe MacLean is very talented!  And she created a new loom knit pattern with the raised paving stitch that I converted for loom knit for a photo prop baby mermaid tail.  Isn't it incredible??

This is knit on the 36 peg round loom so the stitch has been modified just a little to accommodate the peg count of the loom.  She uses 2 strands of DK yarn held together as one.  DK is a 3 weight yarn equivalent to sports or baby weight yarn.

You can find her awesome pattern here.

Fringe (without Joshua Jackson as Peter Bishop ...)

So I was a on tear with my Addi King knitting machine the past 2 days.  Among the 12 hats, I made a tube scarf and added fringe.  Which lead to a small quick impromptu video on how I make and attach fringe.

Here is the video!  I hope it helps.  

My newest creation for the humiliation of the children...

Back in the fall while waiting for the bus with my kids, I got the bright idea for a hat.  Took me this long to get it done.

I know.  Classy...  not my best work but this was  fly by the seat of my pants project.  It can be done with knit (needles, loom, machine) or crochet.  It's quite simple.  I made this hat on my Addi King knitting machine.

Make a tight fitting beanie hat in the "hair" color of your choice. Cut long strands of the yarn and add it to the hat like fringe.  I cut my yarn about a yard long then cut it half.  Hooked it on so there were 2 strands per fringe.  Roll the fringe on sponge rollers.  I used 2 pieces of fringe about 1" apart per roller to hold them steady and 16 sponge rollers.  Use however many suits your fancy though.

Viola!

The perfect hat to wear with a housecoat while holding a cup of coffee when waiting for the bus.  You might want to do it in the afternoon when they least expect it.  Or makes a nice hat to wear to Wal-mart.

Update:

Here is a loom knit pattern for the hat including detailed instructions on how to attach "hair".

Curlers Wig Hat

Yarn Usage for Different Loom Knit Stitches

I have a new friend on Facebook!  Hard to believe but true nonetheless...  Say hello to Katie of the Crafty Misu Co.  You can find her at:  Facebook.com/craftymisuco

Well Katie has taken the trouble to work up some swatches to see how much yarn different stitches use.

Here is what she has found out.  Take it away, Katie!

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Alright so for everyone like me who knits on a budget, yarn usage is an important consideration before taking on a new project. Because I wanted to see which stitches have the best ratio between yard efficiency and knitting speed, I tested six stitches to see how much yarn they use (I already know how long they take me to knit, on average):

Measurements are for 5 rounds of knitting on a 12 peg (3/4" gauge) flower loom, counting from the end of the slip knot to the end of the tail of the working yarn:

E-wrap Knit - 136 1/4"
Flat Knit - 97 5/8"
U-Wrap Knit (U-Knit) - 102 7/16"
Basic Purl - 100 1/2"
Figure Eight (All-In-One-Round) - 221 7/16"
Diamond Lace - 225 1/2"

41" of each measurement was the cast-on length, that brings the per-stitch/per-peg measurements as follows:

E-wrap Knit - 2 1/4" ps
Flat Knit - 1 9/16" ps
U-Wrap Knit - 1 5/8" ps
Basic Purl - 1 1/2" ps
*Figure Eight (AIOR) - 3 5/8" ps
*Diamond Lace - 3 11/16" ps

*I will post pictures of the differences between these two stitches as well.

So long story short, you won't see a big difference in the amount of yarn used when you are making small projects with a low number of rows. However, the more rows you knit, the more you will notice that certain stitches use more yarn than others. The flat knit stitch uses the smallest yardage of yarn, and the diamond lace stitch uses the most.

Now for some pictures...

• Shows the 2" tail.
  

• E-wrap cast on - pulled taut but not stretched.

• Figure 8 (all in one round) - You wrap in a figure eight, until there are three loops on every peg, then knit over.

• Diamond lace stitch - You wrap in a figure eight, and knit over those two pegs before continuing. Each peg technically gets TWO stitches per round.

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Thank you, Katie, for all  your hard work and pictures!

Now I would like to add a few of things.  While the flat knit uses the least amount of yarn, it is also the shortest of the knit stitches.  The e-wrap knit stitch is the tallest of the knit stitches.  And the u-wrap knit stitch is in between the 2.  So you will need to keep in mind that it will take more rows using the flat knit stitch to get the same length as with the e-wrap or u-wrap knit stitches.  A post detailing the differences in the different knit stitches is on my list of things to do this year along with learning how to post pictures on here where they all line up properly...