I bought some at Thanksgiving and it started my obsession with knitting b/c it taught me a lot of basic concepts about knitting that I couldn’t grasp just from doing it with needles. Plus, one can make a hat in about 45 minutes flat!
If anyone has patterns they would like to share, I would love to see them!
I just noticed those in the store for the first time a couple of weeks ago. If they’ve turned you into a knitter, then there must be something to them! 
I’m curious about them. They work like a knitting spool, right? Where you just wrap the working yarn around the outside, then hook the existing stitch over the new yarn?
How do you do a hat? Do you actually decrease for the top, using the different size frames? (I can see how this would work, but it seems like it would be a bit tricky to maneuver.) Or do you just knit a cylinder and bunch it in at the top?
It seems like it would be possible to do knit-purl ribbing on such a contraption (if it has the right number of stitches), but not a row of all purling (not easily that is).
I could see them being fun to use for some projects, but I could never use them, because their fixed number of stitches, and gauge limitations, would drive me nuts! LOL! I like using my double pointed needles, where I can increase and decrease on a whim, and easily switch from knit to purl, and cast-on any number of stitches I need, etc.! But I can see how these frames would be less intimidating, and exciting for a new knitter. I’m curious to see some of the things that have been knit on these, and what they are capable of!
Amy
How do you do a hat? Do you actually decrease for the top, using the different size frames? (I can see how this would work, but it seems like it would be a bit tricky to maneuver.) Or do you just knit a cylinder and bunch it in at the top?
You knit a cylinder and cinch it at the top. Not the most refined look but it works.
It seems like it would be possible to do knit-purl ribbing on such a contraption (if it has the right number of stitches), but not a row of all purling (not easily that is).
It is possible to purl but I don’t like to on the loom. Takes too long. You can do double thickness stitches very easily, though-it makes for a nice, thick layer.
There are a few websites and Yahoo! GROUPS DEDICATED TO LOOM KNITTING. (oops-capslock) And apparently these things come in a ton of sizes…all the way down to infant sock-size. You can make a flat piece with the round loom-you just go back and forth instead of around and around. Check out www.provocraft.com for some ideas or try a google search. Very fun!