Learning how to Finger knit

Local News on Guess what?? Finger Knitting!!

It's wacky Wednesday at Monkton Elementary School-- a day to be weird and celebrate the last week of school. But it's not just about dressing up; it's also about stepping up. Students are trying to roll out a Guinness World Record.
"At my house with Emily we were finger knitting and we got the idea of breaking the world record," said Sierra Petrocelli, a second-grader.
"We thought it would be fun," said Emily Larock, a second-grader.
But Sierra and Emily needed help to make it in the record books, so they brought their finger knitting effort to school.
"It started with maybe five or six kids and next thing you know everyone wants to finger knit," Teacher Barbara Yerrick said.
It's knitting that pays off and adds up-- the first- and second-graders made a 45-pound yarn ball.
"You wrap it around your fingers and keep flipping it over them," Emily explained. "Just your fingers."
"There were some naysayers in the beginning but I said wow, these are little kids with big dreams and why shouldn't we support them and encourage them? And here we are!" Yerrick said.
It all led up to this-- as students unraveled their goal of beating the record of 3.85 miles from Austria. Monkton students planned to beat that with over 5 miles.
"In math class we figured out how much we'd need to finger knit to beat the world record and how much we'd have to knit each week," Yerrick explained.
The kids knit all year to put their school on the map, keeping busy hands during read aloud and choice time in the school day.
Reporter Gina Bullard: Did you ever think it would be this big?
Emily Larock: No! (laughs)
"One of our students said it best; she said we're a tiny, little town in a tiny, little state and we're doing this really big thing and it's exciting," Yerrick said.
A big dream built on little strings as students push their way into the record books.
The kids did beat the record with a 5.6 mile finger-knitted chain. The ball is rolled back up now and will be put on display at the Bristol farmers market. And after that the kids want to turn the yarn into blankets for charity.

Gina Bullard - WCAX News VERMONT
http://www.wcax.com/story/14870996/monkton-students-try-for-a-finger-knitting-title?redirected=true

A great Collection of Waldorf Verses Part 3

Handwork verses


May our hands complete our task with patience,
May our work be done with care,
May our fingers work as friends together,
Then may we our handwork share.
Our hands have completed the task with patience,
We have done our work with care,
Our fingers have worked as friends together,
And we have our friendship shared.

May our fingers be nimble,
And our hearts be glad,
In every task we do.

From as far as the stars,
To here where I stand,
I come to use my right and left hand...
To card, to fluff, to wind, to knit,
For work so fine my hands are fit.




***************************************


Yarn in my hand
Mind on my work
a task to be complete






Additional Handwork Verses
Down in a cottage lives Weaver John
And a happy old John is he.
Maud is the name of his dear old dame
And a blessed old dame is she.

Whickity, whickity, click and clack,
How the shuttles do dance and sing,
Here they go, there they go, forth and back,
And a whackity song they sing.

Mommy has scissors, snip, snip, snip;
Mommy has cotton, stitch, stitch, stitch.
Mommy has buttons, one, two, three;
She's making a dress,
Just for me.

We are great big fans of finger knitting and putting this page together for you is a joy!

How To Finger Knit

Tie the yarn at the beginning of your ball around your index finger. Face your palm up and let the tail (the short end of the yarn) fall into your palm. Wrap the working yarn (the yarn coming from the ball) in a circle so that you have a strand of yarn wrapped above the tied yarn on your index finger. The working yarn should now be close to where it started. With the fingers of your other hand, lift the bottom loop over the top loop and drop it off the back of your finger. Repeat steps one and two several times. You will see that a knitted chain is quickly forming. Continue until the chain is as long as you want it to be. To finish, cut the working yarn a few inches from the end of the chain. Push the end of the yarn through the last loop and pull tightly.
(from the book: Kids Knitting by Melanie Falick)

Finger Knitting Story: The Shepherd and His Sheep 

 

The first part of the story is to demonstrate the technique on the floor i.e. without the loop on your finger. The second half then shows the children how to do the knitting with the loop on your finger. It is best to have a length of yarn handy while telling the story, and demonstrate as you tell it.)

There was once an old shepherd, who had a large, energetic flock of sheep. Every morning he would take the flock of sheep up the mountain to a beautiful green meadow where the sheep would eat the delicious grass. But each day, when it came time to make the journey up the mountainside, the old shepherd would struggle to keep the whole flock of young, energetic sheep together. Some would run away to nibble grass, some to play under the trees, and others would wander off among the mountain flowers.

The poor shepherd wanted to keep them together for their safety, but he was too old to chase after them. And so he thought and thought about what he could do to keep all the sheep together so that they could get to the meadow safely. At last, he had an idea. And so, the old shepherd carefully built a little gate [make a slip knot in the yarn at this point in the story]. And the next morning, he showed each sheep how to go through the gate one at a time [draw a loop of yarn through the slip knot 'gate' for each sheep as he guides them, and pull tight], and when each sheep got to the other side, the old shepherd was delighted to see that they all were happy to stand one behind the other. [show the children how the 'sheep' line up on the other side].

And so, for a few days, that was how the shepherd went up the mountain with his sheep to get to the green meadow. After a few days, though, the shepherd noticed that it took a long time for each sheep to walk through the gate one at a time. And so he thought and thought about what he could do. [Put loop on index finger of left hand now]. Then the shepherd had an idea. He told each sheep to stand ready, and then, with the gate in front of them [at this point, place the long 'tail' of yarn over the same index finger, in front of the first loop], he showed the sheep how to jump over the gate [take back loop, pull it over the front piece of yarn and right off the finger, and then draw tight - not too tight though!].

As each sheep jumped over the gate, the shepherd was delighted to see that once again, the sheep were all happy to stand one behind the other. In this way, the sheep were gathered for their journey much more quickly. And so, from that day forward, the old shepherd never had to worry about his sheep again and they all went easily and happy to the green meadow together every day.

(story copyright 1998, K. Manchip, all rights reserved)

Finger Knitting Verses

In the woods goes the hunter,
Round the tree goes the dog,
Out pops the rabbit,
And off they run.

Use your little pinchers...
Go into the cave...
Grab the little snake...
My, but you are brave!
Pull it back through..
So two of you can play...
Close up the hole...
So he can't get away.

In through the front door,
Run around the back,
Peek through the window,
and off jumps Jack.

Help me wind my ball of wool,
Hold it gently, do not pull.
Wind the wool and wind the wool,
Around, around, around.