Finger knitting only needs some yarn or wool and a pair of hands so it’s a great activity for a long journey or to pass time in a waiting room. It’s much easier than regular knitting so it’s ideal for children. You can finger knit a wide range of yarn – try wool, string, ribbon or even long strips of material. You can produce a piece of knitting long enough to make a belt or hairband in very little time which makes it a very satisfying activity. Very young kids might enjoy helping a grown-up to knit on their little fingers to make a scarf together for a doll or teddy.
Fun Fact – Knitting is considered a mental exercise, which can help to lower the risk of dementia, according to the New England Journal of Medicine and the Mayo Clinic.
Finger Knitting Step by Step Tutorial
- Hold your left hand out, palm facing upwards.
- Lay the wool between your thumb and index finger.
- Weave over and under your fingers to the right until the thread is under your pinkie finger.
- Loop over your pinkie finger and weave under and over to the left until back up between thumb and index finger.
- Weave over and under again towards the pinkie finger.
- Loop over the pinkie finger and weave to the left then the right again until you have the string between your middle and ring finger. There should now be 2 loops on each finger.
- Starting at the pinkie finger, lift the bottom loop over the upper loop, taking the bottom loop right off the finger, leaving just the top loop on the finger.
- Repeat lifting the loops on the other fingers, moving to the left (ie pinkie, then ring finger, then middle finger, then index finger). The picture below shows all lower loops cast off learning one loop on each finger.
- Now repeat everything again, weaving in and out of fingers until you have 2 loops on each finger again.
- Rest when you have 2 loops on each finger with the thread coming forwards between middle and ring fingers. Then start lifting the lower loops off, always starting with pinkie finger working left.
- After a few rounds you will start to see the length of knitting grow on the reverse side of your hand.
- Keep going until you have made the length you want.
- To finish, just lift the knitting off your fingers, then pass the tail through the loops and pull tight.
Younger children might enjoy helping a grown up to do the knitting on their little fingers to make a scarf for a favourite toy.
You could try with other materials too. We tried with plastic string which gave a fun glossy finish, perfect for a hairband on belt.
