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TUTORIAL: FINGER KNITTED GARLANDS

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I have been obsessed with making these long finger-knitted ropes to decorate the house this winter. Did you used to do this when you were little? It's suuuuuper easy, but here are the steps in case you have never done it or you need a little refresher.
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To start, tie a loose knot on the end of your yarn.
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Loop the knot over your pointer finger.
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Starting at your pointer and ending at your pinkie, weave the yarn through your fingers.
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Loop the yarn around the front of your pinkie and weave it back to the beginning.
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Repeat the two previous steps so that each finger has two loops of yarn around it.
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Working from left to right, pull each of the bottom loops up and over the top loop and the top of your finger so that it ends up on the backside of your hand.
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Repeat! Weave from left to right and back again, then pull the bottom loop up and over.
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This is what it will look like from behind after two rows. Not cute yet, but it will be soon. I promise!
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Here it is after ten or so rows. Give the rope a little tug every now and again just to tighten up and even things out. Be sure to loosen the loops around your fingers afterward, or they will be tough to pull over the top.
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When your rope is as long as you want it and you are ready to tie it off, cut the yarn from the skein, leaving about six inches or so.
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Gently pull your fingers out of the loops, making sure to leave them in tact.
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Pull the end of the yarn through the middle of each loop
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and gently give it a little tug.
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Now loop it through again and secure everything with a couple of knots.
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Tuck the loose end into the middle of the rope and you're done!

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh Sure! make it look so easy! LOL.. I'm gonna have to work at this one...I'm all thumbs...
x

Jamie said...

EEEEEEK! I love this! Never done it before but I can't wait to try it! Seriously...tonite. I want a garland like this to hang on our headboard with little dangly things from it. Thanks for the awesome tutorial, Kat!!!! xoxo

Katherine said...

haha, laurie anne! as i was putting together the tutorial i was thinking, "geez, louise--i'm making this look way more complicated than it is!"

don't think about it too much and it will just "click." i promise!

jamie--i think some things hanging from it would be super cute. can't wait to see what you do!

Amy said...

I don't remember ever doing this as a child, though I can tell you I would have been obsessed with it if I had known about it! I'm going to try and teach this to my daughter tonight...

Jenn said...

thank you so much for this post. I'm definitely going to try this out!

RachelDenbow said...

Love it! Especially because your top one is pink. I think my walls will be draped with these in a few weeks.

tara - scoutie girl said...

love this! i have a special place in my heart for odd little garlands and this will be perfect for adding inexpensive pops of color to my pad for the holidays.

kindsey said...

i saw these on smile & wave and thought "that's so cute but i dont know how to knit!" hah i didn't realize its relatively simple! i'm super excited you shared this! thanks!!!

Unknown said...

oh i love this, thank you so much! never tried it but i will soon :) i was wondering if there's any way to change the colour of the yarn halfway? just tie the new colour to the end of the old yarn- would that work?

am also thinking of using these as light scarves to wrap around my neck :D thanks so much!

Katherine said...

sydney--tying on a new color should work fine! i would love to see some stripey ones!

AlliT said...

I am making one now... My 2 year old wrapped it around his neck so I have now deemed it his new scarf!! Thanks for the idea, it is so flippin' cute!!!

Do you have a tutorial on how to make the poms you have hanging off of your lamp?

THANKS!!!!

Katherine said...

Which poms are you talking about? the pink ones?

William Christopher said...

These are so great! I made a few with embroidery floss and wore them as bracelets. They look really cool, thanks!

metrochic said...

i'm not sure what i'm doing wrong but it keeps coming out wonky at the start. i'm going to keep trying though because it's adorable!

Abigail said...

This is adorable, I love the idea! So easy!

Jess @ Floralshowers Craft Blog said...

Super cute. I've already started one in red and I can't wait to decorate for Christmas with it!

Anzouya said...

Thank you so much for this tutorial. I gave it a try and I posted the results on my blog with credits to you. You can check it out. :-)

Unknown said...

Oh my, blast from the past...and how the heck did I forget about doing these?...My daughter and I are going to make some THIS weekend. Thanks for the reminder and yet still another micro moment to share with my girl.

Catherine said...

What a fun project! I've never knitted before in my life and decided to try your tutorial. I LOVE IT!!! I loved it so much I immediately blogged about it! :)
Thanks for sharing!

http://nowoodenspoons.blogspot.com/2009/12/finger-knitting.html

PS. I'm a follower now! Can't wait to see your other tutorials. Check out my blog!

xo
Cat

suzy said...

Thank you so much Kat for the tutorial and the memory.
I made these in school and I had forgotten all about them until I saw the garlands on Elsie's blog.
I just made mine and hung it up.
Merry Christmas to you.
x

Carly said...

This looks awesome! And kinda easy, like something I'd be able to handle :P
I can't wait to try it.

Alana M said...

Thanks for the third grade flashback!!

Jennifer said...

I haven't done this in years! Thanks for the super easy-to-follow tutorial to jog my memory. I just made a huge garland in 15 minutes! Now I have to find somewhere to put it. Now can you make regular knitting seem this simple too?

mamaabramo said...

Thank you, thank you!!! I not only mastered this but made a cool little scarf using 3 types of yarn! I am left handed and my mom completely gave up trying to teach me to knit.

The problem now is that I can't stop :)

Bekka said...

I've made about 30 feet of bright yellow garland over the last two days...this is so fantastic and easy! Thanks for the tutorial!

Kate said...

wow, I have not seen this since I was a wee girl - I used to make these when I was really young, but totally forgot about finger kitting altogether. thanks for triggering a long lost memory and for sharing such a gorgeous useful post!

Marion said...

Thanks so much for the tutorial. It's so fun. I even learned it to my boyfriend!
Please, if you have a minute,come take a look at my newborn blog
http://marionshandmades.blogspot.com/
Xo, Marion.