Finger knitting
Posted on Oct 6, 2009 in knit, knitting
My new knitting friend and colleague, Antonia, mentioned finger knitting the other day and since I was subbing a second grade for a few days, I decided to try teaching it to the students. Needless to say the results were mixed. Many of the students groaned at the thought of knitting saying it was for “old ladies”. Why does this stereotype persist well into the 21st century? I mean a lot of really cool people of all ages, races and genders knit. But I digress.
I barely knew how to finger knit myself but luckily there are a lot of good video tutorials out there so I decided to give it a whirl.
The results are like open mesh but vary a lot depending on the type of yarn used. This hairy pink yarn was later used as the ball for our game of “silent” ball.
I don’t know why A. grimaced here. She did surprising well.
I am such a sucker for a toothless smile.
For the students who manage to stick with it, results are fast and an entire scarf can be knit rather quickly – in an hour or less.
D. got the hang of it really quick and he produced a lovely purple scarf for J. who looks on.
I had a lot of fun teaching these kids to knit and also increased my patience in the process. It was like having a lot of little Alices at my disposal. 
Funny because I have always thought of myself as more at home with high school students but spending time with second graders has been more fun, but also more exhausting, than I expected.
Oh my goodness. Aren’t they adorable? My first time with “string art” was in first grade when a playground monitor taught us how to finger crochet (sorry Chris, it wasn’t you at Close Knit last October – though you were my first knitting teacher that wasn’t on YouTube!). I would imagine teaching kids to knit or crochet would require the patience of 10 zen monks. Kudos to you!
Emily H. | Oct 6, 2009 | Reply
Looks like they had a lot of fun! And boy are they cute!
Susie | Oct 7, 2009 | Reply
Cute kids!!!!
Alice | Oct 7, 2009 | Reply
What a GREAT idea!! and project for kids… Good Job! funny how kids will pretend they don’t like something when in reality they really do. have fun with it…. can hardly wait to see the pics of the BIG kids when you take this project to them (kidding, the big kids would insist on knitting needles) smiles
liz | Oct 8, 2009 | Reply
I enjoyed this post and especially the photos! I was subbing in a middle school special ed classroom this week and when I happened to pick up my knitting, the kids (all boys who like to hunt and fish) wanted to learn. They told me that they could crochet, but wanted to learn knitting. So, I promised to bring extra needles and yarn the next time I am there. Ya never know! Between you and me, Chris, maybe we can spread the love of knitting to the public school kids in East Bay, CA and Western OR!
Elizabeth | Oct 10, 2009 | Reply