Showing posts with label Martha Stewart Loom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Martha Stewart Loom. Show all posts

Monday, November 14, 2011

I Love...

Obviously I love when I finish a project and I am happy with the way it turns out.  The other thing I love is when I finish a skein of yarn.  There is just something satisfying about finishing the whole skein without any left-overs.  

Over the weekend I worked on finishing up the headband/neck warmer that I was working on with needles.  I used Vanna's Choice yarn in Beige.  I doubled up my yarn, so mine is definitely more like a neck warmer.  I like the way it turned out.  I think I am going to have to block it though and I have never blocked anything before, so this will be a first.  I need to add a button and then take a picture of it.

I also started working on a Red Ridged Lace Hat for my cousin.  The pattern can be found in the book "I Can't Believe I'm Loom Knitting ".  This is one of my favorite patterns, but I always end up with very sore fingers.  I had enough yarn left over and wanted to finish up the skein.  I decided to work on an infinity scarf.  I used the stockinette stitch using the diagonal wrap method.  You can see more info on it here at this site.  I just kept knitting until I used all the yarn. Then finished the ends like I do on the reversible headbands.  I am really pleased with the way it turned out.  I used Simply Soft Caron brand yarn in Autumn Red.  I need to get pictures of this too.  


In other news, the hat that is on my Martha Stewart Loom has turned into a problem.  :(  I was concerned when I started the hat that it would be hard to finish the hat with there being so many pegs.  When I finally got to the end of the hat, I figured I could just decrease by half and then decrease by half again.  Unfortunately, this did not work.  I got the hat off and not only was the hat too small, but the top where I gathered it was a wreck.  I had to figure out a way to get it back on the loom and this also turned into a problem. I was having a hard time finding all the stitches to put back on the pegs and then sometimes would drop the stitch before I could get it back on.  After about 45 minutes, I did manage to get the hat back on the loom, but had to frog a bunch to get it ready to be worked on again.  I am a little discouraged.   Should I just gather the top with 80 stitches?  That seems like it would be way to bulky!  Is there a way to decrease and have a nice finished top like I do when I use the round purple Knifty Knitter ?  Any advice would be appreciated. 
 

Monday, October 31, 2011

My First Thoughts on the Martha Stewart Loom

On Friday I was finally able pull all the pieces out and check out my new looms.  I love how many different ways I am going to be able to use the Martha Stewart Looms.  I have been very anxious to try out a hat using a fine gauge and with my new looms this is finally going to be possible.  

As of right now my loom is set up with 2 semi-circle pieces and 2 of the straight 12 piece parts.  This is a total of 80 pegs.  I am using Lion brand Jiffy yarn in Caffe and only using one strand to do a knit 2, purl 2 for two rows and then switching to purl 2, knit 2 for the next two rounds.  I have only knit 24 rounds (2 inches) so far, but I am loving the look of this stitch.  

When I first started it was a little intimidating at first.  I have been using the Knifty Knitter Looms for so long and have gotten very comfortable and pretty fast on these looms, so switching to a new loom that is more of an oval shape and so many pegs took a little getting used too.  I noticed that I was having an easy time with the knit stitches, but the purl stitches every now and then were a little difficult.  When I was pulling the loop up it would get "stuck" on the next peg over, so I was having to pick up the stitch again to move it.   I used the stop watch on my phone to see how long it was taking me to complete a round.  On my second round it took me 7 minutes and 24 seconds!  Last night I could tell that I had picked up the pace and was able to complete a round in 5 minutes and 13 seconds.  Not too bad.

I would love to buy a second set of these looms, so that I can have more projects going at once.  I feel like I could get burnt out easily with the fine gauge, so it would be nice to change things up with working on another project.  That way I could just go back and forth between the two looms.  

I am very happy with my purchase and would definitely recommend the Martha Stewart Looms .  I hope to have pictures to post soon and will try to post a picture of my work in progress.  


Happy Halloween!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Finally!!

I have been waiting for weeks now after seeing all the reviews for the Martha Stewart Loom .  I have been checking my local Jo-Ann's and have not had luck finding it.  I knew I could order it on-line, but prices were a little high for me.  

This Sunday I found a Micheal's coupon for 40% off a regular priced item.  I crossed my fingers before heading in to the store today.  At first I didn't see them, but after looking at all the yarn I finally spotted them on an end aisle.  $39.99 and they were not on sale!  Woo-hoo! I was then able to use my 40% off coupon which brought the cost down to $23.99I am very happy with my purchase and can't wait to try them out.  I will be posting soon with finished projects made with the Martha Loom and let you know how I like it.