Mother's Day and Finger Knitting Fun!

This mother's day I am so thankful for my two cheeky children and my own mother. I'm thankful for a loving family and the opportunity to be together.  I think of those who are experiencing pain and sorrow this mother's day and wish there was a way to ease this pain.

Being a mother has taught me so much.  It has also helped me to be a better occupational therapist (I hope).  Being a mum has taught me to be realistic with home programs and homework. I am more realistic about the demands on time for families. 

I also asked some of my fellow therapy bloggers what motherhood has taught them. 

Margaret Rice from Your Therapy Source says that being a mom has taught her "understanding how hectic home life can be.  Carry over activities have to be easy and part of the routine.  Don't judge. Parenting is the hardest job in the world!".

Tonya Murdoch Cooley from Therapy Fun Zone says that being a mom has taught her "to not judge a person's situation. Parenting is hard enough, but when you add a child with special needs it just increases the difficulty level, and everyone will be able to handle different amounts of input".

Sarah Lyons from OT Potential writes about her thoughts on OT and parenting here.

A few weeks ago I went into Miss 8's classroom to help with "finger knitting".  It sounded like fun!  They learnt from a you tube video and most of them enjoyed it.  Finger knitting is quite a complex skill involving bilateral coordination (using both hands in a coordinated way), finger isolation, manual dexterity, hand strength, visual motor planning skills not to mention some patience!  Some of the kids did need more help than others to break down the task into individual steps.  Overall, the class did a great job and some became experts very quickly.

Miss 8 loved it and decided she would love to knit some scarves for mother's day.

I have broken down the steps for you to learn for yourself or teach to your kids! Definitely most suited to kids 8 years and older.

Casting On

1. Place the yarn between your index finger and 3rd fingers with the short side behind your hand.
2. Wrap the yarn clockwise two times around your index finger.
3. Lift the bottom loop just above the top loop.
4. Lift the new bottom loop over the new top loop, then completely over your index finger. Pull the yarn to tighten the slip knot.

Knitting

1. Wrap the yarn around the third, fourth and fifth fingers.  Start behind the finger and wrap in a clockwise direction around each finger.
2. Push the yarn down.
3. Wrap yarn behind then anitclockwise around 4th, 3rd and 2nd finger. 
4. Push the yarn down.
5. Lift the bottom loops over the top loop and over the 2nd, third and fourth fingers.
6. Push the yarn down on each finger.

Repeat these steps until you have the length that you want.

Casting off

1. Cut the yarn when you have reached the length that you want.
2. Lift the loop on the index finger over to the 3rd finger.
3. Lift the bottom loop over the top loop and off the 3rd finger. 
4. Lift the loop on the 3rd finger over to the 4th finger.
5. Lift the bottom loop over the top loop and off the 4th finger.
6. Lift the loop on the 4th finger over to the 5th finger.
7. Lift the bottom loop over the top loop and off the 5th finger.
9. Lift the loop carefully over the 5th finger.
10.Use the end of the yarn to tie a knot through the last loop (that you just lifted off the 5th finger).  
11. Pull gently on both ends to tighten the knitting.

Knitting sizes will vary according to the size of your fingers. After a few failed attempts at producing a video, I have attached a you tube video produced by Fiber Flux.  Click on the title of this email to take you to a live webpage to view the video. 

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Miss 8 has been industriously making finger knitted scarves for her grandmothers, aunt, me and even her little brother. She also made a variation using just two fingers to knit.  We turned these into gorgeous hair ties by wrapping them around and securing the back with a hair tie.  You could add a contrasting colour in the centre and secure the centre with more yarn. They would also make gorgeous brooches or head bands. 

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Finger knitting is not as hard as it looks.  You and your children will pick it up within an hour and have knitted an easy scarf. There is just enough time to make some for mother's day!

Have you ever tried finger knitting before?

Wishing all the mothers reading this a very Happy Mother's Day!