Finger Knittin’ Good

Yarncraft
Finger Knittin’ Good

CRAFT Summer Camp
Finger Knittin’ Good
By Vickie Howell

Fingerknittingmain
In the past, I’ve had little luck getting my sons interested in learning to knit. Even when presented with jazz hands, in their eyes, my needles make much better swords than crafty tools. Alas. When summer vacation hits, however, a mom has to get creative in order to keep the kids busy. It’s time to approach the situation from a different angle: keep the knitting, but ditch the needles!
Finger knitting is a great way to keep little hands busy, while creating long cords in a flash! Kids dig it because it’s faster and less cumbersome than traditional knitting. Once knitted, the cords can be made into things like googly-eyed snakes, purse handles, gift ribbons, or my son Tanner’s favorite project du jour, the Twisty Scarf, which we’ll show you how to knit. Hey, don’t just sit there, let your fingers do the knitting!

Materials

Yarn
Your hands

Directions

Fingerknitting Step1
Step 1: Leaving about a 6″ tail, lay the yarn across your left-hand palm (reverse, if you’re a lefty).
Fingerknitting Step2
Step 2: Using your right hand, wrap yarn clockwise around your left-hand index finger.
Fingerknitting Step3
Fingerknitting Step4
Fingerknitting Step5
Steps 3: Continuing as in Step 2, wrap the yarn clockwise around your middle, ring, and pinky fingers. You’ll now have loops on all fingers, excluding the thumb.
Fingerknitting Step6
Step 4: Lay the yarn across your fingers, above the loops.
Fingerknitting Step7A-1
Fingerknitting Step7B
Step 5: Lift your pinky finger loop over the yarn, and let it drop off your finger.
Steps 6: Continuing as in Step 5, lift the loop over the yarn and let it drop off on the ring, middle, and pointer fingers. You’ve just completed your first row!
Fingerknitting Wip
Steps 7: Repeat Steps 4–6 until your finger-knitted cord is the desired length.
Keep in mind that at the end of each row, the yarn end will be on the opposite side of the palm. Simply lay the yarn across your palm, beginning from whichever direction the yarn is oriented.
To finish off, cut the yarn, leaving a 6″ tail. Weave the tail through loops, letting them fall off your fingers. Pull tight and knot. That’s all there is to it!

Twisty Scarf

Fingerknittingproject

Materials:

3 different colors of the same weight yarn
Tapestry needle (optional)
Tape

Directions

Step 1: Finger knit one 48″ cord in each of the 3 colors.
Step 2: Tape the ends of all 3 cords down to a table or the floor.
Step 3: Braid the cords together.
Step 4: Using a tapestry needle and a strand of yarn, sew an “X” at either end of the braid to tack the cord pieces together. Alternatively, you can skip the sewing and just knot the ends.
Step 5: Trim the yarn tails to about 1″–2″.
About the Author:
author_vickiehowell.jpg
Vickie Howell is a mother, designer, writer, and crafty spokesperson. She writes regular craft columns for Kiwi Magazine and ILovetoCreate.com, and is the of author several books including her latest, Pop Goes Crochet (Lark Books May ’09). Learn more about Vickie’s projects at www.vickiehowell.com.

8 thoughts on “Finger Knittin’ Good

  1. Susan says:

    My grandmother taught me to finger crochet when I was little, gave me a basis to learn crochet and knitting, but this is REALLY cool. I wish I had some kids to teach it to.
    definitely a thumbs up!

  2. Mama Clell says:

    My 10 year old step-daughter learned to finger crochet/knit during a summer visit about ten years ago. I thought it was neat at the time, but was too busy to learn/do it myself. Now, I have my own little one, and I think she would enjoy doing it, or at a minimum, we could make some affordable garland with which to decorate the house. Unfortunately, I’ve been searching for directions using the phrase “hand crochet” and had found nothing. The idea occurred to me to look up “finger crochet” and I hit the jackpot, including this article.
    Thank you so much. Not only were the directions clear and easy, but the pictures confirmed this is what I was looking for. Mahalo nui loa!

  3. nkm says:

    I have been trying to teach crochet to a little girl with motor planning issues in my Montessori class; not so much progress until today—I showed her your finger crochet and she made herself a belt and a necklace and a bracelet! In one day!! I was crying because it was such a proud accomplishment for a little girl who has always tried so hard, and before today, did not have anything she made all by herself! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

  4. Patricia Fraraccio says:

    Thank you, Vicki:
    I have just opened a small yarn shop and in the fall, I am looking to take knitting/crochet to the local Sparks group (smallest Girl Scouts). This will be a good starting point. I never learned this – just went straight to knitting when I was 4.

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