Finger Knitting (Yes, Really!)

No one is as surprised as I am to say this: I love finger knitting! I remember as a kid that I picked it up somewhere, and would sit at recess with my friends finger knitting yards and yards of the cords. I don't remember ever doing anything with those miles of yarn, and eventually grew out spending spare time making the stuff (that may have been when we became stationers, creating our own hand decorated note paper- for passing notes in class, of course...). I've recently rediscovered it, and have been so pleased to have relearned how to finger knit!

One of the many activities I'm involved in is teaching kids classes at our local yarn and boutique store, Warm Hearts Yarn. Last fall I taught finger knitting, and the class was popular enough I taught it again in January. Then, my 1st grade son's teacher asked me to teach it to the class– her own kids had been in the class in the fall, and her daughter apparently outfitted their extended family with finger knitted scarves for Christmas! After teaching one class of 1st graders, they partnered with the other class of 1st graders to teach them... and now there's a regular finger knitting revolution going on at the local elementary school.

The thing is, I work twice a month at the yarn store, so I have easy access to fantastic yarns. I can no longer crochet or knit because the tendonitis in my wrists flares up so easily, and have taken up loom-knitting, with mixed results. But being surrounded by beautiful yarns of all textures and colors and weights has encouraged me to try elevating finger knitting from a simple kids' craft to a more sophisticated, um, art. I've been honestly surprised at how great a finger knit scarf can look!

I'd like to add a crocheted flower (I think I can managed just that much without bothering my wrists) to the grey scarf necklace I made this afternoon. After a length of about 20 to 25 feet is finger knit, I daisy-chain it together to give it a little more bulk and texture.

This colorful scarf necklace is my absolute favorite right now! It was finger knit with a yarn that blends beautifully from color to color, and then daisy-chained so that the colors stay together. I got no less than 3 complements on this very scarf today, and a remark that "for some reason, finger knitting is very popular right now" at the elementary school, which was pretty cool to hear. It's so nice to have a way to continue to work with gorgeous yarns, too.

Now my only problem is that over the years everyone I know (who doesn't knit or crochet and therefore make their own) has already gotten a handmade scarf from me. And my mom and mother-in-law have gotten more than one. I can certainly wear quite a number of these with my wardrobe, but what do I do with the yards and yards of finger knitting I might keep making?

When looking for a tutorial to post here, I discovered there are actually many ways to finger knit. The link below shows how to finger knit with 2, 3, and 4 fingers, and out of jersey, no less. The only thing I'd do differently is recycle t-shirts, instead of buying new fabric. BTW, I have knit all of my scarf necklaces using 4 fingers, with the method shown below.



As a note, I found this image in many places (first on pinterest), but in the interest of attributing good work to the originator, please follow the link below to what I'm pretty sure is the original post.
http://www.vanessachristenson.com/2011/03/v-and-co-how-to-jersey-knit-bracelet.html

Happy finger knitting!