Classic Basket-weave Wash Cloth for Looms by Kathryn Doubrley-The Answer Lady

Classic Basket-weave Wash Cloth for Looms

Loom Knitting
February 2017
Aran (8 wpi) ?
3.3 stitches and 4 rows = 1 inch
in basket-weave
120 - 150 yards (110 - 137 m)
8" square-easily adjusted to taste
English
This pattern is available as a free Ravelry download

Basket-weave may look fancy but it’s just a combination of knit and purl stitches and is fully explained in the pattern.

YARN: any 100% cotton worsted weight #4 yarn. The yarn used in the sample is .75 softball cotton from Silk City yarns. It is a little bit softer and bulkier than the commonly available yarns such as Sugar & Cream. It is perfectly OK to use the others, though. You may simply want to adjust your loom for a slightly smaller stitch and expect a slightly smaller cloth.

GAUGE: after washing and drying the gauge will alter somewhat from the “as knitted’ gauge because cotton lofts and shrinks and the amount will vary with the specific yarn. Perfect gauge is not essential for this project but set up to knit a little loosely to allow for that shrinkage and for the fact that a looser fabric holds soap suds better. Gauge after washing is about 3.3 stitches/4 rows/inch. Select for a fabric you like rather than a perfect gauge. This is 13.32 stitches/16 rows per 10 cm.

SIZE: if gauge is matched perfectly the cloth will finish to 8” 20 cm square. If not, the size may be slightly different. You may add to the size of the cloth in increments of 5 stitches and 6 rows.

PEGS: 29

LOOM: Any loom that can knit the correct yarn and produce nice basket-weave fabric may be used as long as it has enough pegs. The Kiss small gauge loom with 2-4 washers or the Kiss regular gauge with 0-2 washers works well. The reason for the washer range is that, even with the same yarn and loom, each knitter has a unique style and personal tension.