Review: Oval Loom Knit Collection

When I think of loom knitting, I usually think of hats and tube scarves, because to me that’s what looms are for. You’re supposed to use all the pegs all the time, right?

The truth is you can use just a few of the pegs, or all of them, work back and forth in rows or in the round, even knit and purl to make different textures on the surface of your knitting project, all with the same tool.

Oval Loom Knit Collection by Kathy Norris shows some of the great variety of projects that can be done with a loom, including a baby blanket, bib and booties, a cowl, armwarmers, a hat, a pillow and a throw.

Most of the projects are pretty easy for people who are new to loom knitting, but the few bigger or more challenging projects make this book a nice choice for people with a few simple projects under their belts as well. Instructions for the basic stitches are included in the back of the book.

Loom knitting is a great way to make a knit fabric that’s easier for some people than knitting with needles, and even if you can knit with needles it’s still fun sometimes to explore other options.

Have you ever used an oval loom? I’d love to know what you made.

About the book: 32 pages, paperback, 8 patterns (3 beginner, 1 easy, 2 easy+, 2 intermediate). Published November 2016 by Leisure Arts. Retail price $11.99.

Next Pattern:

I don’t even know what to say about this amazing knitting pattern. The Bestiary Scarf from Monstra & Mirabilia is so full of details it’s a little intimidating to talk about.

It features, as the designer describes it, an “artistic encyclopaedia of Western mythical creatures.”

The pattern includes a dragon, harpy, Medusa, chimaera, centauress, phoneix, kraken, mermaid, sew serpent, cyclops, wyvern, Pegasus, amphiptere and amphibaena. (It’s a good thing there’s a photo of the proejct with everything labelled because I definitely didn’t know the names for everything.) It’s also designed like a landscape, with water and land creatures toward the bottom ends and sky creatures toward the top.

The dragon is at the center and is worked sideways so it will show as upright when you wear it.

The scarf is worked in double knitting, so the colorwork appears in the opposite colors on the other side.

It’s worked in light fingering weight yarn (on size 0 US or 2mm knitting needles) and the colorwork is shown in charts. The pattern also includes some video tutorials and written instructions to help you along. The designer says the pattern is for intermediate knitters, and “advanced beginners may succeed with patience and the help of the video tutorials.”

When I was an advanced beginner this kind of a pattern would have brought me to tears, but if you love a challenge, and a project that you’ll wear and get tons of astonished reactions every time, this is the project for you. And of course if you have a few double knitting projects under your belt and are comfortable reading charts, this project shouldn’t be hard, but that doesn’t mean it’s fast. But lots of great things take time, and that’s never stopped us before, right?

You can get a copy of this pattern from Monstra & Mirabilia on Ravelry.

[Photo: Monstra & Mirabilia ]

Next Pattern:

Have you read?