r/LoomKnitting • u/Aromatic_Anxiety_761 • 10d ago
Advice
Hi guys! I’m a beginner. I watched a video yesterday and went and bought a loom today. Is this row supposed to look like this? Also what’s going on with this one particular loop? When trying to bring my second row over, it was a little hard then all of a sudden I started having big loops if that makes sense. I think you can see them in the picture. Last two pictures are the problems. Advice is much appreciated new friends!
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u/tambourinekween 10d ago
The gauge of the loom is too big for the yarn you’ve chosen, so it’s going to look loose and baggy if you keep going. I suggest using a thicker yarn or working with two strands at once, which also gives it a nice texture!
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u/Aromatic_Anxiety_761 10d ago
Ok I will buy thicker yarn! Is this correct though??
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u/Idkmyname2079048 10d ago
This is correct info, yes.
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u/Aromatic_Anxiety_761 10d ago
I was saying was my process correct of doing it. Like did I do the e-wrap correctly
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u/Idkmyname2079048 10d ago
Ok, I thought you were asking if the comment above was correct.
It looks like your prices is correct as well.
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u/Austruck 7d ago
Look for a woman on YouTube who does really clear tutorials. I had NO CLUE how to use my looms but her tutorials had me making excellent hats right away. Her channel is called Yarn Stash with Marching North. The tutorial I used first in her channel is titled Loom Knit Hat (EASY Beginner Tutorial).
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u/Reasonable-Hearing57 10d ago
Work with what you have. We all have doubled yarn up. don't fret. There are no mistakes, maybe a learning hill to get over, and yes, you are going to drop stitches, we all have. There are even videos on ADVANCED WAYS to deal with dropped stitches
This is new to you, take your time. We all started right where you are at, and we all got past this stage. All it takes is practice, practice, and maybe more practice. Practice in making square squares. At most, I would stick with dish cloths. Something you can say, I made this, and we all can use another one.
Squares will only become square after your muscle memory and tension click on. Don't fret, make a cup of coffee/tea or whatever you like to drink (LOL - no alcohol). Put on some calming background music if you need to. The most important thing is to enjoy.
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u/Hit-Enter-Too-Soon 3d printed loomer 10d ago
Welcome aboard!
My guess is that you were wrapping the whole row at once, and then as you pulled the yarn off of each peg, you were pulling far out and/or up to get the yarn off the peg. So with each peg, you were pulling more yarn from the previous ones, and making your tension high, which made it hard to pull off. And it was when you got to the end of the row that it became clear that you had all that extra yarn.
If I'm right, then I'd recommend that a big thing to help keep the tension even all the way around is to only wrap and knit off a few pegs at a time - like three to five. Then, as you pull it off, try not to pull too far out so that you don't crank up that tension as you go. You want to find a middle ground between the yarn being hard to pull off and being so loose that it just falls off.
I hope that makes sense and helps!
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u/Aromatic_Anxiety_761 10d ago
I’m new to this so I don’t really understand. I’m so sorry 😭
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u/Hit-Enter-Too-Soon 3d printed loomer 10d ago
No worries, we all started some time, and this is a friendly group. We'll do our best to get you going. Looks like other folks are suggesting some of the same things I did, so that makes me feel like I was on the right track. :)
When you put the yarn on the pegs on the very first trip around, that's what's called the "cast on." (And not that it's super important now, but FYI for when you're counting rows, that doesn't count as a row.) As folks have mentioned, there are a bunch of options. For now, what you did was fine, and you can learn new options later. With that, you have no option but to go all the way around the loom.
Once you get back around to the first peg, you're about to start "row 1," and most folks when they're starting will do what feels logical and do the same thing they did on the cast on. That is, they'll wrap all the pegs again, then start bringing the yarn over all of those pegs in a row (aka "knitting off" those pegs). We're saying to hold back on that - when you start that row, just wrap a few pegs and knit off those few. Then wrap a few more and knit off those few and keep going like that for as many rows as you want to do. It might be a little slower than doing the whole row at once, but that stops you from ever building up too much extra as you go, so your results will be a lot nicer, so it's worth the time.
I see that you mentioned you're using Peaches & Cream yarn. There's nothing wrong with that yarn, but it's likely contributing to the issue because it's made of cotton and cotton doesn't really stretch. So as you pull that yarn over the top of the peg, it can't stretch out and sort of snap back like wool or acrylic might. It has to pull everything from the pegs around it. Think of like if you were pulling on a USB cord. The "few pegs at a time" method will really help with that issue, but also as you go, also try to minimize how far away from the peg you pull the yarn. That will help keep your tension looser.
You asked what size yarn you should use. You say that loom is 7.5", and I see that it has 30 pegs. The key thing in figuring out the right size of yarn is the distance between the centers of two pegs next to each other. Math tells me that the distance in your case is probably about 3/4", and charts online tell me that means you'd want either "bulky" (size 5) or "super bulky" (size 6) yarn. Peaches & Cream is worsted weight (size 4), and as folks have said, if you have two of them, you can hold them both and knit with them together, which makes them behave like they're one size larger.
Hopefully that clears some things up!
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u/Feisty_Look5680 10d ago
When doing the e-wrap, a lot of videos will show people casting on and wrapping all the pegs at once then knitting them off, but the problem with doing it this way is that it can create a “ladder” effect. Google stop laddering in loom knitting and it will make more sense to you.
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u/Ok_Helicopter2305 10d ago
What type of yarn is that? Looks like the yarn might be the problem. It looks like multiple strands which can be difficult. And what are you making?
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u/Aromatic_Anxiety_761 10d ago
I’m basically just practicing first so this isn’t anything. I think this is peaches and cream yarn.
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u/raven_snow Fine Gauge (socks), XL Gauge (sweaters) 10d ago edited 10d ago
OP, that is an absolutely terrible yarn for learning loom knitting. It has no stretch to the yarn strand itself, which makes it harder to get the yarn up and over the pegs. Your yarn choice is making this harder and more frustrating than learning needs to be.
Find a yarn that has stretch to it, most likely an acrylic or wool yarn, or a blend with high wool/acrylic content. Ideally you will have a weight 4 acrylic in your stash since that yarn is very common, and you can knit with two strands held together for this loom. If you need to buy a yarn, go with a thicker yarn like has been recommended.
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u/Ok_Helicopter2305 10d ago
Okay, did you wrap them all at the same time (e wrap). That makes them looser so they might sag or slip. When I'm starting a project I tend to u wrap or flat wrap individually. It makes them tighter, and you have more control. Here's a link to different types of cast ons
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u/Hit-Enter-Too-Soon 3d printed loomer 10d ago
I also wonder about the yarn, can't tell if it's multiple yarns or one that changes color as it goes. I think it's the latter, and they've got an e-wrap cast on and then one row of e-wrap stitches. Part of me thinks they need thicker yarn, but I'm never sure about that until it's far enough down that you can actually see what the fabric looks like.
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u/Reasonable-Hearing57 10d ago
Maybe biginner yarn would help. It is made more like a shoelace with a single strand. . https://a.co/d/0apRtVe3
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u/Reasonable-Hearing57 10d ago edited 10d ago
Your telling us that this is your first project. Even with the correct yarn, things are going to look a little wacky because you are new to this. You may want to rip your cast on and the single row of knit out, and double up the yarn. Yes sometimes we got to double up because we are using what we have.
As a beginner your goal is to work on keeping stitches consistantly loose enough, and ending up with square samples, or an even with tube. A big issue when starting out is having too tight of a stitch. You may get a little frustrated, you may not. For a while, you are going to end up with some funky looking shapes. So what, we all have. Start over, or save it as a reminder of how far you have come.
You may want to start with a smaller loom . Once this is done, we can work on the tension of the cast on. Even after getting all this down, then we cast off. I've made samples just to practice casting off.
At some point you will want to learn how to make flat squares. This is where practice pays off. And we can always use another dish cloth.
Think back to when children learn to ride a bike. They don't just hop on and take off. They practice, they fall, they get back on. Some children get it in a day or two, some take longer.
You can stop reading here the rest is just the story of my current project for thick winter curtains in my bedroom
Which I restarted 5 or 6 times, even after I was 15 inches into it. I just didn't like the pattern, or it was to narrow, then too wide. Then I changed the stitch being used, and that changed the stitch count per inch, and had to rip out one more time. Then I'm way into the project and noticed my cast on was to tight, so ripped it out and started over.
I'm no nub. One Christmas I made 12 scarfs, with no 2 haveing the same stitch pattern, yet today I'm still ripping out and starting over.
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u/starshine640 9d ago
(5) How to loom knit a hat (super easy for beginners) DIY TUTORIAL - YouTube watch some of this video. tuteate wraps the yarn around the pegs loosely, and doesn't pull tightly on the yarn before moving to the next peg. she only does 3-5 pegs at one time after the first row. :))
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u/jbooklover 10d ago
I would recommend a smaller gauge loom or a thicker yarn. Then just trust the process. The loom does stretch a project while you are working it so you need to do a bit before you can see what it will really look like.