Increases Mini-Series: knit 1 front and back (k1f&b)

Knit 1 front and back (k1f&b)

It is one of the most commonly used increases. It is a visible increase as it creates a horizontal bar wherever you create the increase.  Also known as the bar increase because of the horizontal bar it creates.  To create this increase, you will need an empty peg to the right of the peg where you want the increase. Name the pegs as follows: Peg A (peg with loop on it) and Peg B (empty peg).

Step 1: Knit the stitch as usual on Peg A. Instead of popping the loop off the peg as you normally would when creating a knit stitch, place the newly formed loop on the adjacent empty peg (Peg B), leaving the original loop on Peg A and the new loop on Peg B.

Step 2: Wrap Peg A counterclockwise. Lift the bottom loop off the peg, leaving one loop on the peg.

Continue working the row.

Here is a visual for your convenience.

2 Comments

• Ro July 18, 2012 at 5:30 am

  Hi Isela,

  Could you tell me, on what type of project would this be used ? What purpose does this have? thx
  Congrats on joining the Knitting Board site.! :)
• Lisa July 19, 2012 at 1:28 pm

  I have looked at looms and plan on purchasing one this weekend,is it as easy as you make it seem? I knitted years ago when in school,but that is all,I needle tatt and sew and always looking at new ways to make items.I have MS and want to keep going by making beautiful items as a type of therapy,any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

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Felted Slippers Q&A

Question: How do you do the k2tog?

Answer:

There are various ways that you can do this, my preferred method and in my  head the easiest.

Step 1: Take all the stitches off the loom and transfer them to a piece of scrap yarn.

Step 2: Put the loops back on the pegs as follows: 2 loops per peg, except for in the second decrease, you will have the last peg with only 1 loop.

Now, go ahead and knit the pegs.

Hope this helps.

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Felted Slippers

Loom: AllnOne Loom
Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Bulky in Sable. (2 skeins).
Notions: Tapestry needle, knitting tool, safety pin to mark row.
Other: 2 buttons, size 1 3/8″ (34mm). Puff paint or fabric glue to make the bottom of the slippers less slippery

Gauge: 8 sts x 11 rows= 2 inches in e-wrap knit.

Stitches used: E-wrap knit

Size: 6-7 (8-9, 9-10). Sample shown 6-7 US Women

Abbreviations:

k=E=wrap knit
CO=Cast On
BBO= Basic Bind Off
GBO=Gather Bind Off Method
sts=stitches

DIRECTIONS

CO 36 (38, 40) sts, leaving a 10 inch tail.
Next:  k until piece measures: 8 (8.5, 9) inches from CO edge.  (Place marker on row)
Next two rows: CO 3 sts at beg of row and k to end of row (42, 44, 46  sts total).
Next : knit 3 (3.5, 4) inches from increase point.
Next row: *k2tog; rep from * to the end of row. (21, 22, 23 sts total)
Next row: k
Next row: Size 6-7: *k2tog; rep from * to the last st, k1. Size 8-9: *k2tog, rep from * to the end. Size 9-10: *k2tog; rep from * to last st, k1.
GBO leaving a 15 inch yarn tail. Use tail to mattress stitch seam up the center in the toe area (Red to Blue). Weave tails in.
At the CO edge, mattress stitch the Heel area (Red to Blue)

Strap
(make 2)

CO 8 sts.
Next: k until piece measures 4.5 (5, 5.5) inches from CO edge.
BBO.

FELTING INSTRUCTIONS

Items needed:

Top Load Washer
Zippered pillow case
1 tsp of Eucalan Wool Wash or baby shampoo
Pair of jeans
2 towels

How to:
Insert felted pieces inside zippered pillow case. Set Washer to: Hot and Small cycle. Place 1 tsp of Eucalan Wool Wash or Baby Shampoo in the wash. Place the pair of jeans in the wash. Place the zippered pillow case in the wash. Allow the wash to start its cycle. Pause the wash before it goes into the Rinse cycle. Take out the zippered pillow case and check the felting process of the slippers. The slippers need to shrink to the desired size. If the slippers are not the desired size, repeat the wash cycle from the start. Make sure to remove the felted fabric before the Spin cycle. Leaving it in the spin cycle will create wrinkles. When item has reached desired size, remove items from the zippered pillow case, place them in between both towels and squeeze out as much water as you can.

To mold the slippers, have the recipient wear them for a few minutes. Once they have the foot shape, allow them to dry completely, away from the sun.

When slippers are completely dry, sew the buttons to both straps, one button on each strap. Sew the strap to the toe area of the slippers.

Puff Paint or glue: place small dots on the bottom of the sole to make the slippers less slippery.
Enjoy :).

1 Comment

• olivia September 13, 2012 at 12:17 am

  do you by any chance have a similar crochet pattern? I do not know how to knit but may have to learn just to make these slippers

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Increases Mini-Series: Yarn Over (YO)

Yarn Over, abbreviated as YO. In needle knit patterns, it can also be referred as yarn around needle (YRN), yarn forward (YF), and wool around/over needle  (YON). This type of increase creates a small hole in the knitting, within the row where you create the increase.

To create the YO, simply e-wrap the peg counterclockwise.

Working with YOs: When a pattern calls for a YO within the knitted fabric, we are going to need to move the stitches outwards to create an empty peg where we want the YO located. In the video shown, I demonstrate how to increase within the fabric. There are two methods: First method: move the stitches out to create the empty space then knit the stitches and e-wrap the empty peg. Second method and my preferred method when only increasing one stitch is to knit the stitches and move them to their new peg after I have knitted them (as shown in the video). When the pattern calls for a YO at the beginning of a row, it is quite simple, just e-wrap the next adjacent empty peg to the first/last peg of the fabric.

3 Comments

• Marilyn Gruber July 7, 2012 at 12:22 pm

  Hello,
  I am going to try making making my first pair of socks on the sock loom. I would appreciate help with understanding “Join to form a round”. Do I connect the stitches on the pegs with a special stitch or how do I do so? Thank you for help from a new loom knitter.
• Isela July 18, 2012 at 4:19 am

  Marilyn, you connect them in various forms, the easiest method is to simply interchange the loop from the last peg with the loop from the first peg.
• Isela September 4, 2012 at 2:57 pm

  To join in the round is a simple way to say that we will be knitting around the knitting loom and not a flat panel. One easy way to join in the round is to take the yarn coming from the last peg to the front of the first peg and continue wrapping the loom around and around. Another method is to interchange the last loop on the last peg with the loop from the first peg. Hope this helps.

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Mini-Series on Increases:

In the next couple of weeks, we are going to learn some new increases and how to create them on our knitting looms. We will be tackling the following: YO, M1, M1L, M1R, LLI, RLI, K1F&B, P1F&B, KRB.

Inc: Increase–what is it? It is a way to add stitches to your knitting either on a row or in the round. While adding stitches on a row in simple, adding stitches in the round is a little bit more tricky for us loom knitters are most of our looms have a set peg number and we cannot “add” pegs to our loom. However, with our AllnOne loom, we can add in the round! Yay for us!

Swing by later this week and we will go over a YO and how to create it on our loom.

2 Comments

• Yarnitect (Dana) June 20, 2012 at 10:25 pm

  Can’t wait to see it!
• Pat H. June 28, 2012 at 7:53 pm

  So looking forward to this–I try to ignore patterns that make be do anything other than the basics so will enjoy learning more about increasing.

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A Quick Father’s Day Knit

A hole-in-one type of gift for the special Papa in your life! Knit him one or two or twenty golf club headcovers in his favorite team colors and send him down the fairway in style.

Loom: AllnOne Loom.

Yarn: Martha Stewart Extra Soft Wool Blend in Winter Sky (MC), Lemon Chiffon (CC), and Buttermilk (SCC) (approx: 140 yds).

Notions: Knitting tool, tapestry needle, piece of contrasting color yarn, row counter (optional).

Gauge: 9sts x 13 rows= 2 inches in stockinette.

Tips:

• When increasing, I recommend to remove the stitches off the knitting loom to a piece of scrap yarn, reposition the knitting loom to the new peg number and then place the stitches back on the loom, skipping the pegs where you need to increase.
• When decreasing, I recommend to remove the stitches off the knitting loom to a piece of scrap yarn, reposition the knitting loom to the new peg number and then place the stitches back on the loom, putting 2 stitches (or more as needed) on each of the pegs).

Pattern notes:

MC: Main color, sample uses Winter Sky.
CC: Contrasting color, sample uses Lemon Chiffon.
SCC: Second contrasting color, sample uses Buttermilk.

DIRECTIONS

Using MC, CO 32 sts, join to work in the rnd.

Rnd 1-10: *k1, p1; rep from * to the end of rnd.

Rnd 11-12: Join SCC (do not cut MC), *k1, p1; rep from * to the end of rnd.

Rnd 13: Join CC (do not cut MC nor SCC), *k1, p1; rep from * to the end of rnd.

Rnd 14-15: PU SCC (cut CC, leaving a 6 inch tail), *k1, p1; rep from * to the end of rnd.

Rnd 16-37: PU MC (cut SCC, leaving a 6 inch tail), *k1, p1; rep from * to the end of rnd.

Rnds 38-39: k to the end of rnd.

Rnd 40: *k1, m1; rep from * to the end of rnd.  (64 sts).

Rnds 41-54: k to the end of rnd.

Rnds 55-57: Join CC (do not cut MC), k to the end of rnd.

Rnd 58: PU MC (do not cut CC), k to the end of rnd.

Rnds 59-61: PU CC (do not cut MC), k to the end of rnd.

Rnds 62-73: PU MC (cut CC, leaving a 6 inch tail), k to the end of rnd.

Rnd 74: *k2tog; rep from * to the end of rnd.

Rnd 75: k to the end of rnd.

BO with Gather Removal Method.

Pom Pom

Using MC and CC, make a small pom pom. Attach pom pom to top of cover.

Weave ends in. Block lightly.

~Gift to Papa

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