Have you ever dreamed of knitting a cozy, chunky blanket but felt personally victimized by knitting needles? Do your attempts at hand-knitting end up looking like a cat got tangled in a ball of yarn and then ran through a wind tunnel? Friend, it’s time to level up—with your very own beginner’s knitting loom!
Yes, you heard me right. You can DIY a chunky knitting loom and be on your way to knitting oversized, squishy, Instagram-worthy blankets without the stress of dropped stitches and questionable tension. Even better? This loom-building project is so easy, even those of us who struggle with “assembly required” furniture can do it.
Why a beginner’s knitting loom?
You’ve seen the brilliant artisans that hand knit chunky blankets on their coffee tables; whipping out coziness like they invented it. But if you haven’t hand knit before (like me) then you should know that there is a bit of skill to it.
Take this for instance: both of these are made up from the same size yarn ball. The itty-bitty-tiny one is much more dense because the stitches are really tight (no loom). Sure it would likely be warmer, but also a LOT more expensive because you’d have to buy at least double the number of skeins of yarn to complete a baby blanket.
The blanket on the loom is also just 1 skein of yarn, but the stitches are evenly spaced so that you are maximizing your yarn and creating a more aesthetically pleasing (aka even) pattern.
What You’ll Need:
- A wooden board (aim for something around 24″ x 36″—big enough for chunky projects but not so big it doubles as a surfboard). I used some scrap ¾” plywood ripped to 1 ½” wide by 36″ long.
- Wooden pegs or dowels (about 1 ½ inches tall)
- A drill with a spade bit corresponding to the size of your dowels
- Wood glue (or an attitude of confidence if you’re just hammering pegs in)
- A tape measure (for that one time in life when precision actually matters)
- Sandpaper (so you don’t get splinters—knitting is supposed to be relaxing, not a test of pain tolerance)
- extra-chunky chenille yarn (I found this funky pattern on Temu)
Step 1: Cut your dowels
You can buy larger dowels at home improvement stores, or you can go super-fancy and do what I did, which is cut down an old broom handle to 1 ½” pieces. The easiest way to do this, is to mark your mitre saw with a small pencil line, then feed the broom handle/dowel to that point and cut.
All of your pegs will be the same size.
Step 2: Mark Your Peg Placements
After you’ve ripped down whatever piece of scrap wood you’re using to 1 ½” wide by (in my case) 36″ long, mark a centre line along the length of the board. Using your ruler, mark where your pegs will go. Keep them about 1 ½” inch apart for a looser, chunky knit or closer together for a denser weave. If you like to live dangerously, eyeball it—but don’t say I didn’t warn you when your blanket starts looking like modern art.
Step 3: Drill (or Hammer) Away!
Time to channel your inner power tool enthusiast! Drill holes where you marked your peg placements; on the centre line and at 1 ½” apart. My broom-handle dowels were ¾” thick, so I used a ¾” spade bit on my drill press. You don’t need a drill press to do this though – a regular drill will work just as well, just make sure to drill straight up and down.
It doesn’t matter if you drill all the way through the board, or if you have a stop to leave you a thin backing; the dowels are cut long enough that they will protrude enough either way.
Step 4: Secure Those Pegs
Test for fit and sand the dowels slightly if needed. Add a dab of wood glue before inserting them into the holes. Give them a little tap to make sure they’re nice and sturdy. This is the point where you stand back and admire your beginner’s knitting loom craftsmanship, possibly while sipping a victory tea.
Step 5: Smooth It All Out
Once the wood has dried, grab your sandpaper and give the board and pegs a quick once-over. Nobody likes yarn snagging on rogue wood splinters, and you certainly don’t need to add “bleeding fingers” to your list of knitting challenges.
Step 6: Get Knitting!
You did it! You’ve officially built your very own beginner’s knitting loom. Now it’s time to grab some chunky yarn, loop it around those pegs, and start creating! Before you know it, you’ll be wrapped in a blanket so cozy, you may never leave your couch again.
The added perk of the loom is that you can easily mark out patterns. Add pencil marks to the tops of the dowels to show where you want to flip the stitches.
This blanket is my “learning” blanket, so I played with a couple of patterns; the regular stitch on the right, then alternating stitches on the left half. This simple beginner’s knitting loom kept all of my stitches even, with equal tension, so that switching things up didn’t mean a completely warped blanket.
Did I mention that this is my first attempt at hand knitting EVER? So you can TOTALLY do this! Head over to @WildlyWoven on Instagram to check out her easy tutorials and gorgeous patterns!
So go forth, my crafty friend! Build that chunky knitting loom, knit your heart out, and remember—if all else fails, there’s always online shopping.
Happy knitting!