What is punniken?
With punniken, you’re basically turning a strand of wool into a long knitted cord. You do this using a little loom—the simplest ones have four hooks, while more elaborate ones naturally have more. You can use the cord you end up with to do all sorts of things, like sprucing up baskets and making small craft projects. More on that later—first, let’s explain how to do punniken!
How do you do chain knitting?
So you turn your yarn into a long braided strand, but how does that work? You can do traditional punniken using a punnik doll. These are long dolls with a hole in the middle and a number of loops at the top. By crocheting your thread around the top in a sort of circular motion, you’ll eventually end up with a long braided strand at the bottom, which you can then use for all sorts of fun projects. A tip: If you need to measure your knitted-loop strand, make sure to include the doll or tube in your measurement! After all, the strand starts at the top of the tube.
You can also use a loom to make the whole process just a little bit easier. With a loom, you feed your yarn into it, and all you have to do is turn the handle!
What kind of wool do you use for knitting with the punni technique?
To get the perfect looping yarn, you’ll naturally need the right type of yarn. Are you using a chain-link loom? If so, choose a yarn with a thickness between 2 and 4.5 mm; the loom can work well with this without anything getting stuck. In any case, choose a yarn that’s tightly twisted or even mercerized. This will give you a nice, smooth result that you can use later to make other fun things.
We recommend the following yarns for knitting with the punni technique:
Yarn and Colors Must-have
A 100% mercerized cotton yarn available in no fewer than 125 colors! The yarn has a subtle sheen and feels very soft to the touch. Are you planning to make Amigurumi, home decor, or clothing? With so many shades to choose from, the possibilities for combining colors are endless—so you’re sure to find the perfect color (or combination)!
Pink Label Mixed-up
Meet Mixed Up! A yarn made of 60% Cotton and 40% Acrylic that lets you create the softest teddy bears, cuddly bunnies, and other characters with your needles. But it’s precisely this softness that makes Mixed Up ideal for clothing and home decor as well. So really, you can do just about anything with it!
BudgetYarn Cotton DK
A matte yarn made from 100% Cotton, available in 35 beautiful shades. The yarn has a thin, soft strand that feels supple and features a gorgeous color palette of matte shades. BudgetYarn Cotton DK is suitable for a variety of crafting techniques, such as crocheting and knitting. Create beautiful accessories, home decor, and Amigurumi.
What can you make with a knitted cord?
So now that you’ve made that long piece of crocheted string, what’s next? You can use it to make all sorts of fun crafts or to spruce things up. Take, for example, that boring wicker basket sitting somewhere in your house. It’s nothing special, and it could definitely use a makeover. Check out this blog to see how you can use crocheted string to transform your wicker baskets into a trendy accessory!
In addition to refurbishing baskets, you can also use crocheted yarn to make beautiful necklaces. Take, for example, this free pattern with instructions on how to make a cool necklace using crocheted yarn. You can also use it to make a beautiful wall hanging, garland, or other cool decorative item—fun little projects to brighten up your home bit by bit!
Tip: Looping is also a lot of fun to do with kids! You can make the cutest crafts with it, and it’s easy to learn, so the kids can have a blast too!
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