Arm Knitting

I tried something new and different this month - "Arm Knitting".  It uses no needles and goes a step past finger knitting.   While finger knitting is similar to loom knitting and limited to 4 stitches, "Arm Knitting" uses the arms as needles and allows many more stitches.   It should also be noted that the process is more like "real knitting".....and by "real knitting", I mean the standard way of knitting that uses two needles.

The stitches when doing "Arm Knitting" are quite large, so it makes for a very loosely knit item.   This is suitable for many things - scarves, cowls, blankets.....just about anything that's OK with larger stitches.

 












It took me a while to "get the hang" of this type of knitting.   I had a few false starts...and sometimes felt like I was in handcuffs.   I do have a few tips if you're wanting to try this yourself:

• Don't make the stitches too tight - you won't be able to get them over your wrist
• Don't make them too loose - it's hard to see the stitch definitiion and your stitches can easily cross over each other on your arm.
• Gently tug each stitch to adjust it after each knitting each stitch - it makes a much more even looking result.
• Don't use just two strands of worsted...it's a bit too thing and the resultant fabric looks like messy unraveled yarn.
• Use a bulky yarn with a bit of loft (like Snowflake yarn or a bulky chenille)

The first project I did with this process didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped.   The basic instructions for 'Arm Knitting" recommend a bulky yarn.   I tried putting two strands of worsted weight yarn together to form a rather bulky yarn, but I found it was still a bit too thin.   I may try this again, but with perhaps 4-5 strands of worsted weight yarn.

 

The second project cam out much better.  In this case, I used some very bulky yarn.   The stitches look much better than those made with the worsted weight yarn.  It looks more like a project than a jumbled "mess of yarn".

 

To form the cowls, I stitched the two ends of my completed knitting together to form a giant loop. It's then looped around a couple of times to create a cowl-like scarf.   This was an easy knit and can be used to create scarves or cowls in record time with no knitting needles!  

Here are some links to the instructions on how to "Arm Knit":

How to Arm Knit

Arm Knitting a Blanket and Scarf