The knifty knitters are the ones that you see in Michaels, AC Moore, Walmart, etc. They are not expensive, depending if you get one of the coupons from Michaels, A C Moore or Joannes (they are on line usually 40%)you can get them really cheap. I started with those in November and made 2 hat & scarf sets and starting doing research. Came across the "In The Attic Looms" which I absolutely love! The pegs are much softer to work with and am working on a magic scarf right now. Wanted something that I could use with a "closer" stich and found some excellent looms on markmanfarms-her looms are unfinished so they are cheaper than the decor accents handmade looms.
I tried hand knitting and my hands do not want to do the 2 needle dance, I've tried so much I got frustrated so I crocheted. What I found out about these looms is you can get the work done so much faster! (thinking about getting a prayer shawl loom, but can manage without one) I do have a fine guage 144 peg rake that I got from markman that I will make my hubby's camo afghan on. (BTW the hat and scarf I made for my hubby and me maybe took 3 hours tops)
You can do flat panels on the round looms also, you really don't need the rake. If you wanted something really thick , the double rake looms are cool for that.
Here are some links (i don't have all my links here, I'm at work)
http://www.markmanfarm.com/
http://www.cindwoodcrafts.com/catalog.php?type=0
http://knittinglooms.com/index.html
http://www.loomroom.com/
These are just a few, there are tons of yahoo groups out there too.
Have fun in your research!