Finger Knitting with Tie Dye Shirt Yarn

Happy let's play with our fingers day! I just came back from teaching on a pretty amazing craft cruise and while on the cruise one of my classes was finger knitting. I was quite surprised at how many people did not know how to do this. It was exciting to show them and now I am excited to show you! To add a little "punch" to this tutorial I decided to tie dye a t-shirt and use that instead of yarn! OH! Did I mention we are making yarn also? Yipee!

Let's get started...

You will need:

*White T-Shirt

*Tulip One Step Tie Dye

Step ONE: Lay your shirt flat and twist directly in the center. Once you are done twisting use the rubber bands that came in the box to secure the shirt.

Step TWO: Dip your shirt into water then ring it out.

Step THREE: Start squirting your die onto the shirt. I am using primary colors so I can create tons of other shades with them. When you are done with the shirt, let it sit over night. The next day take off rubber bands and give it a wash. Either air dry or use a dryer. 

Yellow + Red = Orange

Blue + Yellow = Green

Green + Yello = Lime Green

Red + Blue = Purple

The great thing about this dye is if you don't use all of it you can pop the cap back on and save it for a rainy day or a sunny one!

Step FOUR: Now that our shirt is clean it's time to cut it up to create our t-shirt yarn. 

Step FIVE: Cut the bottom off of the shirt

Step SIX: Cut under the sleeve from one side to the other, completely. 

Step SEVEN: You will have a tube like below. 

Step EIGHT: Cut slits from one end to the next without completely cutting off of the shirt. We will still have a tube shape but it now has slits in it. 

Step NINE: Pull the shirt onto your arm, it's time to start making our yarn. The first cut will be from the first left slit off of the shirt. This will "start" our yarn. 

Step TEN: Next we will cut from slit to slit until you are finished with the shirt. 

Step ELEVEN: When you get to the end you will cut off of the right side of shirt to the last slit. 

Step TWELVE: Give the yarn a good tug from beginning to end. This will make the yarn super long. How cool right!

Time to start making the shirt. I figured I would attach pictures for each and every step thinking it might be easier for you. I will still put basic instructions below. Let me mention using cotton yarn works a lot better than other yarn, and the thicker your slits the better the kitting will come out.

(The steps are from left to right on each row)

To start hang the end of yarn over your pointer finger.

You will loop over and under on each finger until you have two pieces on each finger.

Next you will pull the bottom piece of yarn completely over your finger so it lands behind your finger (see image 9). Once you do this to each finger you will now have ONE piece of yarn on your finer. This is called a stitch.

Take the long piece of yarn hanging and repeat all of the steps until there is no yarn left. 

Here is an example of what it will start to look like. Don't worry if the beginning looks wonky, once you are done it will change completely. I promise. 

Once you get to the end this is how long it will be. This is a using a medium tshirt. I truly enjoy doing this with an extra large shirt! 

Now it's time to secure the end that is left on our fingers. 

Take the one loop on your pointer finger and bring it over to your middle finger. You have TWO loops on your middle finger, make a stitch like we have been doing. (Pulling bottom one over the top one)

Repeat until you end u with one left on your pinky finger. Pull the loop off pinky and take that excess string right next to it and tie a knot. I tie about 3 just to secure it good.

When you are done doing this to both ends you want to tie them both together with the string hanging!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and if you have ANY questions feel free to leave them in the comment section below! Big hugs! 

  Huge glittery hugs, JADERBOMB

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