Getting Knotted!

Hi Everyone,

My workroom is out of action again this week until after Christmas, so I've been trying out some portable crafty stuff. I found this little set in our local supermarket (affectionately known as Uncle Roy's) for less than a couple of quid ...


Remember these?! We used to call it "French knitting" for some reason. Here's what was inside the box ...


... and here's my first effort at French Knitting in over 40 years ...


There are lots of ideas on Pinterest and YouTube for things to make with the resulting long, thin tube of knitted material. Here's a brilliant tutorial for a heart-shaped knot by J D Lenzen which caught my eye - check out his channel Tying It All Together for lots more fun ideas. Here's how it turned out ...


There were lots of people on YouTube making their own french knitting "looms", so I thought I'd have a go at that as well. I started with an empty cardboard tube, some stirring sticks from a well-known coffee shop and some of my favourite washi tapes ...


... broke the sticks in half and arranged them around the tube, spacing them as evenly as possible and using a couple of rubber bands to hold them in place ...


... whilst I added the washi tape ...


Pretty!! It was a bit more fiddly to use than the ready-made one, but I got the hang of it eventually - the main thing is to keep the knots loose. This is how it the resulting knitted tube looks ...


My son suggested trying paper clips instead of the sticks - which would be a bit more like the ready-made version and would probably make it easier to pick up the loops, so I'll be having a go at that soon ...

Amazing what you can do with a cardboard tube and some lolly sticks isn't it?! :o)

Thanks for visiting my blog today, see you again soon.

Annie xxx

Comments

Helen Wallace said…
How cute...I used to love making miles of skinny knitting with an old cotton reel. Yours looks very upmarket :)
Helen Wallace said…
How cute...I used to love making miles of skinny knitting with an old cotton reel. Yours looks very upmarket :)
Lizzy Hill said…
Yup! French knitting it was!!! Talk about a blast from the past!!!! Hope you survive your scrappy withdrawals....& enjoy ur Christmas :):)
Val-Belle said…
Yip we also called it french knitting and if I remember rightly make one with like an old fashioned spool and some headless nails... Can't remember though - I will have to think about it. I cant even remember what we did with the finished piece... Wow! Blast from the past. <3 Merry Christmas Annie. xox