If the word "loom" conjures up images of a large piece of furniture then think again, as these little plastic looms can easily fit inside your knitting bag. They can be used to make a tubular form that is ideal for socks, and here is a whole sock drawer full of them.

I like the way this book starts off by telling you how to use it! You can learn how to read the charts and all about the looms as well as what else you need very quickly. There is also a section on decoding ball bands, and on caring for your socks so they will last longer. This is the kind of detail I love about Search Press books. There is a large section devoted to how to do stitching on a loom, including working out the tension, color changes, and even the anatomy of a sock. After reading all this, and having a bit of a go, there are quite a few patterns to work through for a considerable range of sock types. Graded according to difficulty, the first show how to knit a range of socks in plain yarns with varying patterns, then adding more than one color, and then branching out into a veritable galaxy of styles. They include snowflakes, flowers, stripes, cable, lace, and finally variations on the basic sock shape, such as footsies and other toeless or heelless types and of course socks for children. At the back is a useful page showing all the abbreviations and another page of websites and suppliers for those living in the US and UK. This is a useful primer for those venturing for probably the first time into knitting with a loom, and the end result is some very practical socks for self and anybody else—and if you lose any odd ones while doing the laundry, you can always make some more!