Today I want to share a different sort of craft project with you. I have often looked at the loop yarn in the stores and have loved how soft they feel. But never did get around to actually purchasing some and trying it out. I recently went thrifting with a friend and found a pack of three balls of Red Heart Loop-It yarn in variegated colors. So I decided now was the time to try this beginner finger knitting idea out.
What is Finger Knitting?
Finger knitting is the craft of knitting without using needles. So just the yarn and one’s fingers. I decided that a good beginner finger knitting idea would be to make a small knee rug. The benefits of finger knitting are that it is easy to learn and there is no need to have any specific tools to complete the project. One just needs the wool of choice, a pair of scissors and a tapestry needle for darning in ends. There are lots of tutorials on YouTube on how to finger knit with loop yarn.
Supplementing my wool
Since the three balls of wool that I found at the thrift store were not enough for my small knee rug, I went to look at Hobby Lobby for something coordinating. They do keep the Lion Brand Off the Hook wool and they also had one in the same color scheme. However, since this was a different brand, the exact shades were different. I opted to work the balls of wool in stripes.
How I did it?
I wanted to create the blanket with a five loop pattern. The first block loops the wool from the back and then next one loops the wool from the front. So this gives a nice variation in design between a stocking stitch and a garter stitch look. I am able to knit conventionally with needles. This helped in understanding the concept of how the yarn needed to run in relation to the current stitches.
The small knee rug is 55 loops long and this is divisible by 5, so it made 11 blocks across the blanket. The completed rug ended up being 36 inches/+-90 cm square. I started out with one of the balls of wool from the thrift store. When it was used up, I joined in one of the balls from the Hobby Lobby. This then gave me stripes of the two different shades, starting and ending with the same shade.
Once completed, I just had to darn in the ends at the joins and at the start and finish and my knee rug was completed. Another beginner finger knitting idea would be to make a scarf. My initial three balls of wool was more than needed for a scarf and I am not really a scarf person, so that is why I opted to go with a knee rug.
My thoughts on finger knitting
The simplicity of the craft makes it a great project for beginners and even children. It is not necessary to add a pattern, it is possible to work it just very simply. However, for the adventurous among us, it is possible to create intricate patterns, including cables and lacey stitches. But I believe that would be beyond a beginner finger knitting idea.
I did find that looping the rows on a flat surface, like sitting at a table, is easier to work with than sitting in an easy chair and working on one’s lap. This results in less twisting of the loops and also reduces the chance to missing a loop on the current row.
I do have an idea for a future project and I will share that with you when I am able to complete it.
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Monica
Well, well, well. This is now something else again. Interesting project. I had never heard of this before, thank you for sharing.