Finger Knitting

Finger Knitting was one of my favourite things to do as a child because it was quick, easy and I could do all sorts of things with it once I was finished.

I'm now working with children every day in an After School Care Program, and they have been finger knitting, since our supply of wool was replenished over the summer holidays (thanks to a friend who generously donated her spare wool).

Some of the girls had never done it before and wanted to learn, while others, who had been at the centre last year grabbed some wool and sat down to do it. However, there were a couple of methods being used.

As a child, I used the very simple method of  a single loop being made into a chain. Some of these girls were using a method involving all fingers, which looked more like knitting. I had never heard of this, so I got the girls to teach each other.

Then I remembered that once I had used 2 strands of wool at the same time and it looked beautiful and made a stronger cord. I looked for some instructions, but our internet search at work is restricted, so it has taken me until now, to find some simple intructions. Once again YouTube has come to the rescue. Have a look at this video.

Crochet Rug - The First Ball

Well this is the progress on my crochet rug.

I've finished the 1st ball of wool (plus the start of the 2nd).

The first ball made just over 19 and a half rounds.

I've worked out my pattern, of sorts.

I have 3 colours: Navy, Purple and Maroon.

So the plan is for 2 balls of Navy, followed by one round of Maroon, then 1 ball of Purple, followed by a round of Maroon ...

I have 10 balls of Navy, 5 of Purple and 3 of Maroon, so I'm hoping this will be enough.

Actually, I can't get any more of the same brand wool, so it will have to be. The blocks of colour will decrease as the rug gets bigger because more wool will be needed for each round.

I'll do another update after the second ball of Navy.

And for those wondering, this much has only taken 2 and a half weeks!!

A New Challenge - Crochet!

Ok, so this week I've been teaching myself to crochet using a DVD. I'm actually making a rug, which is very ambitious for a first project, but I want to really learn the stitch.

So I'm starting with a Granny Square and just going around and around, getting bigger each round until I will end up with this massive Granny Square as a rug.

The only thing the DVD didn't teach me was how to change colour or at new wool when my ball ran out.

My friend, Jenny, does crochet, but when I asked her how she did it, she said she just tied a knot and kept going. So I decided to look on YouTube and this is what I found.


It's such a great video, and I think I may try this method since it shows both changing colour and securing the tail of the new colour. The only thing is that she finished off the previous round first. Hmm ... I'll have to think about that.