When I first saw a knitting loom all I thought was "what a waste of time". Later I bought one for my granddaughter and she began to make hats on it. This was all well and good for a child but I saw no use for it as an adult.

I already knew how to knit by hand and machine, also I crocheted so this just looked like a toy to me. My sisters bought some looms and were busy making hats for the shelters. I paid little attention to them until they seemed to be having so much fun. I than bought a cheap set of looms just so I could join them in their fun. I soon realized that a hat could be completed in a fraction of the time it took me to hand knit one. Yes I could knit it on the machine faster but you don't haul a knitting machine to your sisters when the gals are just getting together for a bit.

Still I thought ok this is fine for knitting hats but that was all I saw them doing. So naturally I had to start fooling around and to see what I could make up besides hats and scarves.

I was pleasantly surprised with what could be done on these very basic looms. But the cost of buying a rake or board loo is out of the reach for a lot of people. So I sat down with my son in law and we got talking about how to make a loom.

With a smoothly sanded board and some cotter pins you could make a knitting loom any size or gauge you decide you want. The fine gauge looms are more expensive than the regular gauge so it is beneficial to make your own. You need to space the pins at ¾ inch for a regular loom. With this loom you need to use two strands of yarn. Place the pegs ½ inch apart and you can knit a nice baby blanket with one strand of 4-ply yarn.

That is when we came up with the Po' Folks loom. It can be made in any size, round or straight. The most important things to remember about a knitting loom or rake knitting is that the wood needs to be smooth and the pegs at equal distance whether large gauge or small.

So even if you are using a homemade knitting loom you can make beautiful hats, scarves, slippers, afghans, sweaters, booties and so much more. Do not limit yourself as I did, try them and find out just how much fun they can be.