Have You Met the Traveling Loop?
Those of us at My Sister Knits love to help our customers and sometimes that means passing along some new information. I have just recently learned about a technique for knitting small circumferences that is a game changer! I hope I’m not the only one who didn’t know about this!
The Magic Loop technique that I use © Farm&Fiber Knits
My favorite way to knit a small circumference is the Magic Loop. At least up until now! Magic Loop is great but it does have some drawbacks. It can be complicated to both learn and teach. It can be fiddly to work. It has always been the only alternative I’ve known about to using DPNs which, to my way of thinking, are even more fiddly and complicated. I know there are DPN lovers out there and I am in awe of your abilities!
This is a good photo of the Traveling Loop © shifting stitches
However, there is another way! It’s called the Traveling Loop method and I am so excited to try it out! It’s so easy! I’ve found several tutorials online. Some of them have a bit of a different way of doing this. As I was watching them, I found myself wanting to remember certain things from each. One suggests that you put about 4 stitches on your right needle before you start knitting to keep the tension even. I like that idea, probably because that’s what I usually do with Magic Loop.
You can see the loop off to the right © KnitFreedom
So what exactly is the Traveling Loop method? Usually when you do Magic Loop, you pull out two loops of cable to enable you to knit a small circumference, rather like the way your stitches would sit on DPNs. I had them explained to me as ‘bunny ears’. This needs to be done more than once as you go around. Using the Traveling Loop, you only have one loop of cable and you can knit all the way around without having to pull out another loop! This is going to transform my hat and sleeve knitting! It’s going to be wonderful for sleeves! This also would save changing needles for the crown of a hat. You could start the hat with a 32” or 40” cable if you like and continue until the end!
And one last photo to get an idea of how it looks
Just as with Magic Loop, there seem to be a few ways to do the Traveling Loop. I encourage you to watch all of these videos and see what sounds best to you. The videos are from Knit Freedom, Roxanne Richardson, Made in Winchester, Jennifer Matlock, and LaVisch Designs. Here is a photo tutorial that adds some more information. They all have something a bit different to offer. One says that this won’t work for really small circumferences but I’d like to have a go at it and find out for myself!
Please let us know how you like it!
Happy Knitting,
