Product recommendation, possible gift idea:
I saw the Klutz spool knit jewelry kit at Barnes & Noble one day and was reminded of the spool knitting I did as a young girl -- on a homemade gadget, a wooden thread spool with 4 nails in the top, and probably a borrowed crochet hook. The Klutz kit looks nice but is geared to making jewelry for young girls. I looked around locally for other knitting spool kits, and eventually bought one at Walmart -- the Knifty Knitter Spool Loom by Provo Craft. Their site at
http://www.provocraft.com shows their looms which are based on knitting spools in various sizes.
I like this particular “spool loom” a lot. It has 2 sizes in one -- 5 pegs on one end and 8 on the other. It is a comfortable size and shape to hold. Each peg has a vertical groove on the outside to make it easier to catch the looped yarn. The hook is a nice shape and with the yarn I’m using right now, easier to use than a crochet hook would be. I can conveniently use this at the computer, and with my dial-up service I can put in a row while a page loads or a few rows if the page includes photos. When I need to use the mouse or type, I can set the hook into the top of the spool and hold everything in one hand without dropping stitches, which was a big problem last year when I was trying to teach myself to knit with regular needles.
Right now I’m playing with 4-ply acrylic yarn to make a round cat mat. The tube with this yarn on 5 pegs is 3/4” diameter; I’ll have a cat mat in no time.
This craft has become popular with jewelry makers so there are lots of kits available commercially.
I saw a spool knitter at Michael’s by Clover, a company which makes good sewing gadgets so their spool is probably a good one, too. Their version has a similar shaped hook but only one set of pegs, on a rotating top so you don’t have to turn the spool as you work. I find, though, that with the grooved pegs and straight hook, I can work the spool from the top without rotating it and therefore the knitted tube doesn’t twist.
Google Image “knitting spool” shows lots of versions, including a homemade one from paper clips and a plastic ring from a tape dispenser.
Spoolknitter.blogspot.com shows off her collection of vintage and modern. She also has a list of various names for this type of knitting gadget, including Knitting spool, Knitting Nancy, Corking, French Knitting.
My online search came up with different instructions: casting on by looping counter-clockwise around the pegs, next row either looping around again or just setting the yarn around the outside of the pegs. Of course I don’t remember how I did it as a kid, but I’m finding it easier to control tension and knit at the computer by continuing the looping sequence. Seems as if it uses more yarn, though, and the version without so many twists might be easier with another type of yarn or jewelry wire.
I have some eyelash yarn to try to make a scarf on the larger end. Eventually I think I’ll probably try jewelry with beads, and maybe make spools in various sizes. I'll also play with creating flat panels as well as tubes.