Things You'll Need
1 ball of worsted-weight acrylic yarn in red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple
Scissors
Tapestry needle
Finger knitting is similar to loom knitting, which is done on a long board with pegs. In finger knitting, the fingers of one hand are the pegs and your hand is the board. This process will allow you to make long tubes of knitting, similar to I-cord and these cords may be lined up and stitched together to make a blanket or scarf. This project is kid suitable and travels well. Give each child a ball of yarn to make the cords for a blanket to be used in the family room, and sew their cords together. The tools required are simple. You need yarn, two hands, scissors and a tapestry needle.
Getting Started
Step 1
You have five fingers: the thumb, pointer finger, middle finger, ring finger and pinky finger. Grab the tail of the yarn between your thumb and pointer finger of your nondominant hand with the tip of the tail on the back of your hand. For example, if you are right-handed you will finger knit around your left hand. The line of knitting will develop and proceed off of the back of your fingers. A line of finger knitting using worsted-weight acrylic will measure approximately 1 inch in diameter. Knit each line as long as you want the blanket to be and add the number of cords you desire to get the width; a blanket measuring 3 feet by 5 feet will require 36 lines of finger knitting, each 5 feet in length.
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Step 2
Start by making a slipknot. Place your thumb into it. Tighten up the knot to secure the yarn to your hand. Weave the yarn over the pointer, under the middle, over the ring and around the pinky.
Step 3
Once you wrap around the pinky, you go under the ring, over the middle and under the pointer -- the opposite of what you did in Step 2. By the time you complete this step, your fingers will have yarn completely woven around the front and back of them.
Step 4
Bring the yarn over the pointer, under the middle, over the pointer and around the pinky. Then repeat Step 3.
Step 5
You should now have two "loops" on each finger. With your dominant hand, take the bottom loop and lift it up and over the top loop, to the back of the hand. Repeat this step with each finger.
Step 6
Repeat Steps 4 and 5 until you have the desired length of cord. When completed, cut the yarn from the ball, leaving a 6-inch tail. Thread the tapestry needle with the tail and thread it through loops on each finger. Remove loops from fingers and and pull the tail taught.
Step 7
Once you have the desired length and enough for the width, give each line of finger knitting a light tug to tighten up the stitches. Lay the lines up side by side. Tie the tails together to hold the lines snug. Cut a length of yarn to match one of the stripes and proceed to stitch them together in a crisscross fashion similar to sneaker laces. This may done by children, but it does take a bit more time. Children may become bored by the process where as they tend to be happy finger knitting until they've made enough to wrap around your house.
Step 8
These instructions work for making a blanket or scarf as well.
Tip
One ball of worsted-weight acrylic yarn (170 yards of yarn) will finger knit at least 10 yards of cord. Stitch the blanket using a coordinating color or a contrasting color if easier for you to see. Have fun and work dark to light for an ombré effect or use the rainbow for inspiration. For extra fun add white pom-poms for clouds at the ends to your rainbow.
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