Book Review: Fun and Easy Finger Knitting for Beginners

I don’t know if this happens at every school, but at my daughter’s school in late elementary, finger knitting became a Thing. I guess they probably learned it in their tinkering class but it seemed like kids were finger knitting all the time, which of course I loved because any kind of fiber art is great for kids and adults alike.

If you or your kiddo wants to go beyond knitting up endless snakes of finger knitting, Vickie Howell’s Fun and Easy Finger Knitting for Beginners will show you what to do with all those stitches.

It opens with an overview of finger knitting over four, three or two fingers, as well as how to change colors as you knit, how to fasten off your knitting and how to finish it in different projects (such as using mattress stitch or whip stitch).

Projects are divided into wearables and accessories, and use a skill rating of one to three. You’ll start with a basic strand looped and sewn into a necklace, but there are lots of other options including bracelets knit with leather cord, a hat made of a finger knit tube stacked and sewn on itself, a flower for a headband and a twisted scarf, to name a few.

Accessories include ideas like a garland for a tree house, a bag made out of homemade T-shirt yarn, snakes (of course!), an animal pillow (the one in the book is a panda, but you could make it any animal you like), a bath mat, a jump rope and a planter cozy made out of jute rope.

It should be noted this is a republication of an older book of Vickie’s, Finger Knitting Fun, so some of the yarns used in the projects have been discontinued in the meantime. (You can see all the patterns from the original book on Ravelry.) It’s still a great source for ideas of what to do with all that finger knitting if your kid is already obsessed with making it, or a low-key entry point into yarn crafting for kiddos in late elementary and middle school.

About the book: 80 pages, paperback, 27 patterns. Published 2004 (adaptation of a 2015 release) by Quarry Books. Suggested retail price $14.99.

Got Kids Who Love Finger Knitting? Try Making a Hat

Tutorial – Finger Knitting

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I’ve been toying with the idea of making a yarn cozy or yarn ball holder on the circular knitting machine, but I haven’t gotten to it yet. In the meantime, here are some yarn cozy knitting patterns you can make with knitting needles. Use yarn to hold you yarn!

In its simplest form, a yarn cozy is just a sleeve or a little basket that holds your yarn when you’re working with a center-pull ball so it doesn’t fall apart when you knit. The easiest ones I could find are from Love in Stitches KN, which has a regular size and a mini size. They’re worked with sock yarn and there are options for making them with ribbing, faux cables and with self-striping yarn.

For bigger cakes there’s a project called We call it the “bail holder” from Nicole LeBlanc. This pattern is available on Ravelry and you can use any yarn and make it any size you like. It features an I-cord edging that has a loop in it so you can thread they yarn through the loop to keep it extra contained as you knit.

Another large one that has a slightly fancier pattern is this one by Mareike Meye. You can use any yarn and any gauge, and slip stitch pattern worked in different colors on the sides makes it a little more fun and uses a bit more stash. A strap buttons across the top to hold the ball in place and you can add a buttonhole to the middle of the strap to thread the yarn through. Check this one out on Ravelry.

Adding lace to a yarn cozy makes it fit a wider variety of balls and expand or shrink a bit as needed. Jennifer Sugarman’s Ball Sack uses sock yarn and is made to hold sock yarn. It has the option of making I-cord or using ribbon or cord you already have to make a drawstring at the top. You can find this pattern on Ravelry.

Another lacy option is the yarn ball holder from Frugal Knitting Haus. This one uses worsted weight yarn and has an easy mesh lace pattern and an I-cord drawstring that’s sewn together at the ends so you could loop it over your wrist while you knit if you like. This pattern is also on Ravelry.

Speaking of wrist yarn holders, I also found this one form Knituition. This one uses sport weight yarn and has a spiral rib pattern on the body. The strap is attached to the bag with D-rings, or you could make it a little longer and just sew it into the bag.

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