At the school, where I work, there are currently two pass-times which particularly draw in the kids, skipping and finger-knitting. The school has a skipping team and both the girls and the boys are really enthusiastic about it. The kids have also been doing a lot of finger-knitting lately and we are beginning to have very long, thin chains of knitting hanging around the place. The question is, what to do with it? I was chatting to Roy about this, and he remembered that I had mentioned the kids love of skipping and asked if I thought you could finger-knit a skipping rope. I wasn't sure if you could make a piece thick and strong enough for the punishment the kids put their ropes through but after a bit of trial and error, Roy and I think we have perfected it. Now we are ready to teach you!
You Will Need:
- 1 100 gram ball of cheap 'wool' - Roy decided to use a ball which had lots of different colours in it, but you could choose whatever colour you like! Roy bought his ball, an acrylic wool, at a discount shop for $2
- A pen with a clip - Roy discovered this was a great way of storing your knitting while you weren't using it.
Method:
- Tie a loop in the end of your wool. This loop should fit comfortably around your index finger (the one next to your thumb). Turn the knot so that it is under your finger and the tail of your wool is heading towards your little finger.
- Wrap the wool around your index finger once, in front of the original loop.
- Lift the back loop (the original one) over the front one and off your finger.
- Wrap the wool around your index finger once, in front of the loop left on your finger.
- Lift the back loop over the front one, as you did before.
- Continue this process until you have finger-knitted the whole ball of wool. You might like to roll your finger knitting into a ball as you go or you will get tangled up.
- When you get to the end of the ball of wool, pull the end through the last loop and pull it tight to stop it from unraveling.
- Now, you are going to finger-knit your finger-knitting again. Tie a loop of the finger-knitting which will fit over your index finger and start finger-knitting just as you did before. When you get to the end, finish the finger-knitting the same way you finished the first time, by pulling the end through the last loop.
- Again, now you reknit your finger-knitting. Take your finger-knitting and tie a loop at the end to fit over your index finger. Start finger-knitting just as you did the last two times. It will be a bit more difficult because it is becoming like a rope, but it isn't too hard! Again, when you get to the end, pull the tail through the last loop and tighten it.
- Now, you have a skipping rope ready to use!
- Having tried out his skipping rope, Roy decided skipping just wasn't his thing, so he looked for something else to do with the finger-knitting. He sewed the rope into a coil which he can now use as a pot stand to put hot pots or trays on. Choose the end with the smallest tail left and begin to coil the rope around. Using doubled over sewing thread, weave stitches between the coil as you go to secure it. When you reach the end, use the tail to complete the circle. You don't have to triple knit the rope if you are making a potstand, it is up to you!
- If you wanted you could keep finger-knitting longer and longer pieces until you could coil them into a rug for your floor, but you would need a lot more finger-knitting!
Hints:
- If you want to take a break, pull the loop on your finger loose and slip it over the pen. Slide it under the clip of the pen and pull the loop taught. When you want to start again, simply put the loop back on your finger!
- Don't loop the wool too tightly around your finger or you might cut off the circulation!