Basics

What you need

First, let's go over the tools you'll need.

Loom: Looms come in different shapes and sizes like round looms, rectangular looms, and specialty looms for specific projects. The loom you choose will be based on the yarn you're working with and the project you're doing.
Loom Hook: This helps you lift the yarn over the pegs. Most loom kits come with a loom hook, but the best one for you will depend on how you stitch.
Yarn: Yarns vary in size from the smallest to jumbo. The size you need should correspond with the loom you're using. A large gauge loom works best with bulky or super bulky yarn, while a small gauge loom works best with light weight or worsted/medium weight yarn. If you only have a large gauge loom and thinner yarn, you can use multiple strands of yarn to make a bulkier weight yarn.
Scissors: You'll need these to cut the yarn at the end of your project.
Yarn Needle: For weaving in ends.
Stitch Markers: As needed to mark your starting peg.

The project you’re working on will determine which loom you’ll need. Single knitting uses a single row of pegs while double knitting uses both sides of a rectangular or long loom to create a thicker end product

You can work in the round to create circular projects like hats or create a flat panel for flat projects like scarves and blankets.

Setting up

To begin, we'll start with a cast on. A cast on row secures your yarn to the loom.

For the cast on, starting by making a slipknot. To make a slipknot, wrap the yarn twice around your index finger, with the loose end starting the loop at the base of your finger and the second loop above the first, closer to the tip of your finger. Pull the first loop over the second loop. Pull the second loop from underneath the first, and this will become your slipknot. Place this loop over your starting peg, and pull the loose end until it tightens snugly around the peg. Place your slipknot on the anchor peg (the peg separate from the others outside of the loom). If you don’t have an anchor peg, you can place your slipknot on any peg, but I recommend marking your starting peg with a peg marker or a sharpie

Ewrap Cast On:
- Wrap the yarn behind and around the next pegs. Continue wrapping around each peg until you've wrapped the total number of pegs needed for your project.
- Use the loom hook to pull the bottom loop up and over the peg to form an Ewrap stitch on each peg.

You can work either from left to right (counter-clockwise) or left to right (clockwise) based on what is more comfortable for you.

I am right-handed and prefer to work right to left. However, you'll need to be aware of which direction you'll be going for your pattern. If you’re working in the round, you’ll continue around the loom in the same direction.

If you’re working a flat panel, you’ll start in the other direction after finishing your cast on. So if you placed your slipknot on your first peg and worked left to right, you'd then start your first row going right to left.

Purl and true knit stitches are trickier, so I plan my pattern so I can make the purl and true knit stitches in my preferred direction. For example, if a pattern alternates rows of e-wraps and purls, I’d want the e-wraps on the rows going left to right, and purls going right to left. To do this, I’d start the e-wrap cast on from the right and finish to the left, so I can start my e-wraps from left to right and make the purls from right to left.

Basic stitches

Once you have your cast on row, you'll then either continue around the loom if you're working in the round, or start stitching in the opposite direction for a flat panel. The yarn you continue working with to create new stitches is referred to as your working yarn.

Below are basic stitches commonly used in patterns:

Knit (Classic Knit, U Stitch):
- Knit can be used to refer to the Classic Knit stitch or a U stitch.
- Classic Knit Stitch: Bring the working yarn above the existing loop, use the loom hook to lift up the yarn on the peg and pull the the working yarn down through the loop to create a new loop, and then pull the loop and existing yarn off the peg and place the new loop onto the peg.
- U Stitch: Bring your working yarn in front of the next peg (half wrap) and lift the bottom loop over the top of the peg. This is the tightest stitch as the working yarn is only half wrapped around the peg.
Ewrap:
- Bring your working yarn behind and around the next peg (full wrap) and lift the bottom loop over the top of the peg. This is a looser stitch as the working yarn is fully wrapped around the peg.
Purl:
- Bring the working yarn below the existing loop, use the loom hook to lift up the yarn on the peg and pull the working yarn up through the loop to create a new loop, and then pull the loop and existing yarn off the peg and place the new loop onto the peg. The stitch is tighter than the Ewrap.

As you create your stitches, be careful not to pull too tightly on the working yarn. Especially if you are making tighter stitches like the U Stitch, pulling too tightly can make it very difficult to continue stitching. Hold even tension without stretching the yarn.

I highly recommend swatching, which is trying the pattern for a few pegs and rows to see how the final product will look.

For a swatch, work 6-10 pegs for at least 10 rows, and ideally until the stitches can be seen outside of the loom. The "right" side of your pattern is typically on the outside of the loom, so what you see while knitting is often different than the expected result.

Knitting a swatch also can help you determine the size of the final project. Especially when using tighter stitches such as a purl, the swatch and final product will be narrower than width of the stitched pegs as they're no longer stretched across the loom.

When finished with your swatch, you can remove it from the loom and tug on the working yarn to undo the stitches and the slipknot. Undoing your stitches is also called frogging. Swatching allows you to experiment so you can prevent frogging an entire project!

Finishing your project

You'll finish your project with binding off to remove the stitches from the pegs.

Basic Bind Off (Flat Panel)

Ewrap the second peg.
Move the loop on the second peg to the first peg.
Wrap the bottom loop on the first peg over the new top loop.
Bring the loop on the first peg to the second peg.
Repeat 1-4 until one loop remains on the last peg.
Cut the yarn, leaving a tail. Lift the final loop off the last peg, and thread the remaining yarn through the loop using your finger or a yarn needle.
Pull the tightly. Weave the loose thread through a few adjacent stitches with a yarn needle to secure.

Remember, practice makes perfect, so don't be discouraged if it takes a few tries to get the hang of it. Swatching is a great tool to experiment with different stitches and yarns.

Learning resources

Authentic Knitting Board

Authentic Knitting Board has a ton of useful resources, including loom knitting basics, double knitting, stitchology, and patterns..

Tuteate

Tuteate offers a variety of loom knitting tutorials on their YouTube channel, and even has an app!

Loom a Hat

Denise of LoomaHat.com has a ton of pattern videos on her YouTube channel and website. Her videos are super detailed and helpful.

Good Knit Kisses