Spool knitting is an old and ancient technique for weaving strong cording. The earliest known use of this technique dates back to the Vikings who uses a tool called a lancet. Lancets were made of wood or bone and had just two prongs.

Our parents and grandparents most likely used old wooden spools and nails to create their spools. The problem with using spools from sewing thread is that the size is fairly uniform and therefore limits the size and shape of the resulting cording. Wooden spools have also become a bit harder to obtain as most of the sewing thread today comes on plastic spools. Many toy stores now carry plastic knitting spools that are sold alone, as kits or in a graduated series of sizes.

Spool knitting is having something of its own renaissance and along with knitting in general has become very popular. The explosive growth of crafting has led to a more varied and exciting selection of yarns than ever before, making it more fun to craft with yarn. Spool knitters still make their own spools/looms but now they can also go to their nearby craft or hobby store and choose from a variety of spool knitting looms and even find some crank models that can crank out cording much faster than could ever be done by hand.

Through the years the spools/looms had quite a few different names: knitting nellies, knitting nancys, knitting knobbies/noddies, and knitting spools. Today’s spool knitting looms are often referred to as round looms.

This section of The Crafty Tipster includes a series of tutorials on how to spool knit, how to use a knitting spool to make flat webbing and several spool knitting projects.