I think Arm Knitting was probably mentioned in the office about a year ago, and I'm pretty sure I screwed up into a big raisiny face at the time.
Arm knitting? What bollocks! Surely no knitter would admit out loud that they have ditched their needles and gone for the gimmick. Surely not.
Previously pooh-poohing the notion to be another social media flash-in-the-pan technique that would come and go, that it would never be taken seriously in the knititng community, I'm now starting to realise I was probably wrong about that.
It came up again recently and I felt it was high time I had a go, even if it didn't go anywhere. If nothing more, I ought to at least learn how to do it. Another string to my bow and soforth.
Playing with it at my desk with my headphones on (bare in mind I work around a lot of journalists who are not knitters), as soon as I built up some speed, I realised I'd attracted a crowd of spectators. They were fascinated!
It was just so massive and so quick, and SO fun. Everyone wanted to see what I was doing.
Having worked out how to do the arm knitting, it's surprisingly easy! Essentially using your arms as needles (well, duh!) and 'knitting' a regular row before working a row in reverse. Arms are big needles, so the thing grows super-quick!
...perfect for HUGE things.
It's all very me anyway, because I knit backwards instead of working purl rows in stocking stitch, something strange which just happenned to me when Learning to knit as a child. Works for me though.
I found the most AMAZING yarn - Premier Yarns in America do this great [and sparkly] stuff called Couture Jazz. I have a secret weakness for anything sparkly. Tinsel included. But this is, y'know, tasteful.
Obviously, anything super-thick will work. There are plenty of these scarfy yarns around that will be fine - someone on Facebook said earlier that Tiger have started selling something you could use.
So without further stalling, allow me to introduce me introducing the concept of Arm Knitting. Below is a little taster and then the full video is here (it's free, I just can't embed it here!). I warn you now, my hair is doing something almost as crazy as my coffee-fuelled excited self, but enjoy nonetheless!!
Unbelievable! Make this cosy throw in a few minutes - no previous knitting knowledge needed (yes, really!) See the full how-to video here http://ow.ly/Za7Kr
Posted by Knitting Network on Monday, 7 March 2016
In this video I'll show you how to knit a blanket with no knitting experience, in 15 minutes. You should know I did it in 10, but when you do things deliberately on film in a way that's clear to see, it often takes a bit longer. We didn't want to lie, so we said 15. But you could totally do it in 10.
If you've seen the video and fancy having a go, join me and Vicki Walker to Arm Knit your very own snood at the Sewing For Pleasure show at Birmingham NEC from the 17th - 20th March. Anyone can do it and you should leave with a snood to boot! Just what you need in this chilly weather.
I guarantee you'll catch the bug, I sure did!
