A Loom Mystery

Just off my loom, the first photo shows an unblocked pink Hydrangea Petal Lace Shawl.  This version was made from a fingering weight yarn, using only 50 pegs on a 1/2 inch gauge loom.  The second photo is my loom mystery. The pegs and loom piece are from the new Martha Stewart loom. The mystery is what size and gauge is this loom?  There are two peg sizes. The pegs come separately from the loom, and fit firmly into the peg slots. I've lined them up in the photos with my tactile measuring tape to give you a general idea of how the pegs measure in different configurations.

Starting from the left side: Two large pegs next to each other have a very narrow opening for yarn. A fingering weight will fit between them, but the pegs are very large, so I'm not sure what kind of fabric this combination will make.The next combination is two large pegs with an empty peg slot between them. This appears to be larger than the yellow Knifty Knitter, about 7/8 inch gauge.  One large and one small peg have about a 3/8 inch spacing, but the peg sizes are different enough that the fabric made will be uneven. Two small pegs with one empty peg space between them are 3/4 inch space, and are pretty close in size to the pegs on the old long Knifty Knitters. Last, the two small pegs have about a 3/8 inch space, similar to the "small" gauge.

For comparison, I've lined up the Martha pegs with my Markman Adjustable looms. The Markman large gauge (3/4 inch) is smaller than the large pegs on the Martha.

The Markman 1/2 inch gauge is larger than the two small Martha pegs. There is no 1/2 inch equivalent on the Martha loom, which disappoints me, as this is my favorite gauge.

The Markman small gauge is similar to the Martha loom with two small pegs next to each other. So, is our mystery solved? Maybe. Martha's loom appears to have a 7/8 gauge, a 3/4 gauge,  and a 3/8 gauge (extra large, large and small). The Martha loom is "semi-adjustable", allowing for you to make a fixed loom in many different configurations. It is not an adjustable loom - it will not let you change the number of pegs you are using while you are working on a project. But it does give you a greater number of pegs and options. Hopefully there will be a few more configurations and peg sizes coming to fill in the gaps between the peg sizes. Overall, I'm pleased to have this loom, and look forward to trying some of the lace pieces I've been working on in the 3/8 inch gauge on the Martha loom.

Copyright 2011 by Invisible Loom and Craft, Renee Van Hoy. All Rights Reserved.