Well, it’s about 11C (52F) out right now, I’m in southern Ontario, and in ’77 we had 5 feet of snow, literally, this day. Yesterday I was walking around in a t-shirt, jeans and work boots. Welding, gotta wear the work boots.
So I’ve been making these tiny stockings on my 15 peg CinDwood 1/2″ loom (with purple pegs, to boot!). To the left, there is my first stocking and the loom in question. Click to view it large. I’ll add the measurements and whatnot for the Knifty Knitter flower loom, which has 12 pegs, and I believe, is set at 5/8″ spacing. They’re knit in the round, very easy. Both looms should have the same results, size-wise, but on the 12 peg loom, you’re going to need bulkier yarn, or hold 2 strands as 1.
Pattern Difficulty: Have you ever made a sock? If yes, you’ll have this done in 10 minutes. If no, I’ll show you a simple sock technique, which was the first and only way I learned to do socks, years ago, on the blue 24 peg Knifty Knitter loom. I don’t often make socks. I usually hate making them. Well, the second one. I do have a 44 peg 3/8″, 56 peg 1/4″ and Boye sock loom (70 something pegs, adjustable, 1/4″ spacing, but I broke a damn peg) See that? First time using it. Grr. To my fault, it had been in storage a while.
What you need:
- 15 peg 1/2″ round loom (as the pattern is worked in the round) I used the CinDwood 15 peg 1/2″ round loom. She got rid of all her odd-number-of-pegs looms, so here is the closest thing to it. It has 14 pegs.
- OR 12 peg 5/8″ round loom made by Knifty Knitter, here it is on Amazon.
- An adjustable loom like the Boye sock loom (shown above, broken) might be able to do it, but you’d be working in a pretty tight space. Try it. You can always add more pegs, as adjustable looms seem to be finer gauges. My Cottage 20″ Adjustable is 3/8″ (118 pegs with extenders) and the smallest I could do would be 12 pegs. It’d be tiny though.
What if you have both? I have both! Actually, all 3! Check your yarn, if its thinner, it’d work better on a smaller gauge (peg spacing) loom like the CinDwood 1/2″. This means from the centre of peg 1 to the centre of peg 2, there is 1/2″ between. If you have very bulky yarn (I find worsted yarn almost not bulky enough for the 1/2″ looms, but I’ve been stuck in 3/8″ mode for a while) try the Knifty Knitter loom. You can use bulky weight on the 1/2″ loom and to make your yarn more bulky, you can double it by holding two, or more, strands as one. Now, where were we…?
More Stuff You Need
- Yarn, of course. My mom gave me some festive coloured yarns for the season, so I used those. In the example below, I used baby yarn in white for the white parts, two strands held as one. The red is Red Heart Super Saver, and is worsted.
- Knitting Tool: For stitching, I use whichever one is closest. I love the new CinDwood ones, they’re sharp as razors, and I wrecked my left hand with the damn thing before grinding off the end at school, but it knit really well. It just got bloody.
- Tapestry (or other large) needle for casting off.
What You Need To Know
- E-wrap knit stitch. This is the most basic stitch, and looks great. You wrap the peg with the working yarn (which is attached to the skein) and then lift the existing loop up and over the peg. You can change knit stitches (there is also reverse purl/traditonal, flat, and u-wrap) but it will change the size of your finished stocking. It will be smaller.
- Purl: This is one of the best things to learn. If you can knit and purl on a loom, you can do pretty much every pattern out there. Here’s a tutorial I made up a while back. Check it out, video, stills, and text.
- Double e-wrap cast on: Pretty easy cast on, all it requires is yarn and the knitting tool, no crochet hook. A standard e-wrap cast on is just e-wrapping each peg in the round, and then starting. I find this leaves sloppy edges. For the double e-wrap cast on, you make a slipknot, put it on the first peg, take the working yarn and wrap the peg, then lift the original loop (the slipknit) over the peg. Tug to tighten a bit, but not too much, then wrap the next peg twice, lifting the bottom loop over the top, like you’re e-wrapping.
The sock heel: It uses short rows, decreases and colour changes, but it’s still really easy. I’ll explain in detail in the pattern.- Changing colours: If you’re using 2 different colours of yarn (or more!), which I recommend for the Christmas look, to change colours, you cut the working yarn on the loom (Colour A), then tie the next colour (Colour B) to Colour A, knot it a couple times, make sure it won’t slide. This is how I do it. You can also cut Colour A, make a slipknot with Color B, put Color B on the peg you’re starting from, and then start e-wrapping with that. Note: Always knit a row after colour change, or else the fabric will get reversed, and you’ll see stitches on the outside.
- Gather bind off: The pretty basic bind off to remove a sock or hat. You take the tapestry needle, pull it up the peg, through the loop, and pull the loop off. Repeat on next peg, tightening the yarn on the needle as you go, and then again at the end so it’s even. This was the first I learned.
Now, for the pattern …finally…
The first number is for the 12 peg Knifty Knitter Flower loom. The second number is for the 15 peg CinDwood loom. ie: Cast on 12 (15) pegs
Cast on 12 (15) pegs in the round using the double e-wrap cast on and join in the round.
Colour A: The colour for the brim, heel and toe of the sock, white in my example.
Colour B: The main colour of the sock, red in my example.
Cast on 12 (15) pegs in the round in Colour A using the double e-wrap cast on and join in the round.
* You are working in the round until otherwise stated. You begin with colour A, going from the brim down.
BRIM
Row 1: Knit all
Row 2: Purl all
Repeat rows 1&2 a total of 5 times, a total of 10 rows, ending in the purl row.
This is a very popular stitch called garter stitch.
BODY
Change to Colour B
Row 3: Knit all
Row 4: Purl all
Repeat rows 3&4 a total of 9 times, a total of 18 rows, ending in the purl row.
HEEL
Change to Colour A
You will be flat knitting now, not in the round.
This is where things get a little complicated, but I’ll explain it as best as I can.
Once you’ve changed to Colour A, knit 7 (9) pegs
This is starting a short row for the heel. You’ll be using pegs 1-7 (1-9)
After you’ve knit the first 7 (9) pegs, turn (no wrapping required) and purl 7 (9) pegs back to peg 1
Turn from peg 1 and knit the same 7 (9) pegs. You’ve completed the first part.
This is where its a bit tricky.
Take the loop from peg 1 (1) and move it to peg 2 (2) and knit the bottom loop over the top on peg 2
Peg 1 will be empty
Take the loop from peg 7 (9) and move it to peg 6 (8), knit the bottom loop over the top on peg 6 (8)
Peg 7 (8) will be empty.
Knit peg’s 2-6 (2-8)
Turn and purl peg’s 2 to 6 (8 to 2)
Turn and knit peg’s 2-6 (2-8)
Now, take the loop on peg 2, and move it to peg 3. Knit over.
Peg’s 1 and 2 will be empty.
Then take the loop on peg 6 (8) and move it to peg 5 (7). Knit over.
Peg’s 6&7 (8&9) will be empty.
Knit pegs 3-6 (3-7)
Turn and purl pegs 6 to 3 (7 to 3)
Turn and knit pegs 3-6 (3-7)
Cut yarn
Now, this may confuse you. You just made an oval-like thing, but it need’s to be attached to the rest of the sock.
Reach down with your knitting tool, and grab the closest stitches (they aren’t on the loom) and place them on peg 1,2 and 3.
Peg’s 1&2 will have one loop, peg 3 will have 2.
Now, again on the other side. Place 3 stitches on peg’s 5 6 and 7 (7 8 and 9)
Okay, the rest is easy.
Change to Colour B
Row 5: Knit all
Row 6: Purl all
Repeat rows 5&6 (in the round!) a total of 7 times, for 14 rows.
Change back to Color A, you have 4 rows left.
Row 7: Knit all
Row 8: Purl all
Do this twice, for a total of 4 rows
Cut the working yarn, thread it onto your needle, and cast off using the gather cast off method mentioned above.
Flip the sock inside out, tie up loose ends, and weave in ends.
This pattern is free, distribute to anyone, for free.