Instructions for an Amish Knitting Board

The Amish are perhaps best-known for their quilting, but their knitting is beautiful as well. Amish looms or "knitting boards" provide a simple way for a person to knit even if he or she has limited or no knitting skills using needles. The boards are very simple to make and simple to use, too.

Sand all edges and surfaces of the boards to remove any rough spots. Rough patches will catch and snag yarn during knitting.

Place the 14-by-2-by-2-inch long piece of wood on a flat surface with the 14-inch side facing up. Measure in 1 inch from each end of the 14-inch-long part of the wood. Mark this measurement with a dot with your pencil or pen.

Drill a hole through the dot and all the way through the piece of wood. You will bolt the loom together through these holes.

Turn the wood so that the hole is on the side instead of the top, and the 14-inch-long side is still resting on the flat surface.

Measure in 2 inches on the surface now facing up from each end of the 14-inch long sides of the wood, and put a dot on top of each measurement with the pencil. Label one dot "A" and one dot "B."

Mark more dots in 1/2 inch increments from dot "A" to dot "B" along the top of the wood.

Repeat Steps 2 through 6 with the other 14-inch-long piece of wood.

Hammer a finishing nail into each of the dots, leaving at least 1 inch of the nail exposed above the wood. The nails function as the loom.

Turn the 2-by-1-by-2 inch wide pieces of wood so that a 2-inch surface is facing up.

Drill a hole through the center of each. You will drill down through the 1-inch width.

Run one of the bolts through the hole in one of the 14-inch pieces, the 2-inch piece, and the other 14-inch piece. Screw on the butterfly nut. Make sure that the exposed part of the nails are all facing up from the wood.

Repeat this procedure on the other side of the 14-inch pieces. Once the bolts are attached, you can start knitting.