Loom Knitting Glossary

Used in knitting board knitting. A piece of yarn that is three-to-four times the length of the knitted project placed over the cast-on stitches of the project and is not connected to the project. To keep the anchor yarn from dangling, it is recommended that you tie it below the knitting. There are two reasons why you use an anchor yarn on the knitting board:

• To assist in pulling down the first few rows of knitting
  
  
• To keep the cast-on stitches secure until you finish the edge after binding-off

The anchor peg, or holding peg, is the peg or tack on the side of the round loom, rake or knitting board. Use this peg to anchor your yarn when you cast-on or after wrapping a row.

Binding off means to knot or stitch off by looping. Binding off is the act of looping the entire project or several stitches off of the loom. Binding off is sometimes called casting off. There are several different methods for binding off depending on project. These include:

• Round Loom & Rake
  • Flat
  • Flat Closed
  • Flat Piece
  • Gather
  • Knit
  • Open
  • Purl
  • Sewn
  • Single Chain
  • Tube
  
  
  
• Knitting Board
  • Knit
  • Purl
  • Single Chain

See Binding Off.

Casting means to make a knot or stitch by looping. Casting on is the act of initially looping the yarn onto the loom. There are several different methods for casting on depending on the project. These include:

• Round Loom & Rake
  • Cable
  • Chain
  • E-wrap
  • Long Tail
  • Ski
  
  
  
• Knitting Board
  • E-wrap stockinette
  • Long tail
  • Lucet
  • Stockinette
  • Twisted

Circular Knitting is a method of knitting in a circle around a round loom. The types of items that you would knit this way include hats, bags, purses, balls, mittens and socks.

E-wrap is a way to wrap each peg so that it forms an upside down cursive "e" when looking straight down on the loom. It is also known as the twisted knit stitch or knit through the back loop stitch. The e-wrap stitch is the most common stitch in loom knitting unlike needle knitting where the most common stitch is the knit stitch.

Felting is the process of making a project made of at least 80% wool yarn and shrinking it so that it becomes a matted material that is firmer, stronger and warmer than the original project. Knitting a simple purse and felting it is a great way to get started in knitting: if you make a knitting mistake, it won't show in the final project!

Flat Knit, not to be confused with the flat stitch, is a method of knitting a flat piece on a loom such as a blanket, scarf, afghan, purse, etc. It is also known as Flat Panel knitting.

Flat Panel is a method of knitting a flat piece on a loom such as a blanket, scarf, afghan, purse, etc. It is also known as Flat Knit knitting.

Frogging is unraveling the knitting that you have done. And easy way to remember this term is to think about the sound a frog makes (rib-bit rib-bit for rip-it rip-it). The actual etymology of the word is unclear. There are two possibilities for its origin:

• The croak of a frog
  
  
• The resemblance to frogging (looped ornamental braid) to the loops of yarn of the unraveled garment

The holding peg, or anchor peg, is the peg or tack on the side of the round loom, rake or knitting board. Use this peg to anchor your yarn after wrapping a row.

Knitting off refers to a single stitch (as opposed to binding off which can refer to an entire project). Knitting off moves a loop either over or behind the loom peg. For example, in an e-wrap stitch, you knit off by moving the bottom loop over the top loop. For the purl stitch, you knit off by moving the top stitch behind the peg when you place the newly formed loop onto the peg. Please see each stitch for complete instructions.

A knitting tool is a pick you use to knit off the yarn on a loom. Knitting tools can be made by loom companies, dental tools, nut picks, O-ring tools, etc. Find the tool that works best for you and use it!

A slip knot is a knot that creates an adjustable loop. Normally, the first wrap placed on the peg on the loom will be a slip knot. The following diagram shows how to create one.


Picture from Loom Knitting Glossary

As with everything in knitting, there are many different ways to make a slip knot. The directions below are the way that Vogue Knitting suggests. If you have problems making a slip knot, you can't miss with these directions!

1. Hold the tail end of your yarn in the palm of your hand with your thumb. Leave at least 3-inches of tail from the point of your thumb.
2. Wrap the yarn around your index and middle fingers (the two next to the thumb) so there is a complete wrap.
3. Pull the yarn attached to the skein through the loop between your fingers making a new loop.
4. Place the new loop on the first peg of the cast-on. Make sure to leave at least a 3-inch tail.

A stitch that is not knitted. On a round loom or rake, this is a peg that is only wrapped once and the yarn for the second wrap is put straight across the back (slip wyib) or across the front (slip wyif) and the next peg is wrapped. That peg is not knit off until the following row.

Merriam Webster defines a stitch as:

4. A single loop of thread or yarn around an implement (as a knitting needle or crochet hook).
5. A stitch or series of stitches formed in a particular way.

On the loom, the "loop" is not a stitch but a possible stitch. It does not become a stitch until it is knit off. On this site, we refer to that "loop" as a wrap. Names of some series of stitches that you may be familiar with are stockinette, garter, and seed.

The current strand (or strands when knitting with multiple yarns at once) of yarn that is being used in the knitting coming from the skein. When working with colors, you may have several working yarns in use.