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Learn the Art of French Knitting
French knitting is great fun. It is how I started knitting as a kid. Children like it because they can learn this new skill quickly and will soon be able to produce friendship bracelets for each other.
To get started you need some yarn and a knitting dolly or spool. (In my day, I used old wooden cotton reels. These are not made any longer so I think I am showing my age!). 1. You begin by threading the end of the yarn down through the top of the dolly, so that approximately 10cm hangs out of the bottom.
2. Wind the yarn twice, anti-clockwise around one of the spikes. Remember not to pull the yarn too tight otherwise you won't be able to knit. 
3. Using a crochet hook or small cable needle, hook the bottom loop over the top loop and drop it over the spike into the center of the dolly. 
4. Turn the french dolly anti-clockwise so that an empty spike is towards you. Then, wind the yarn twice around this spike anti-clockwise. (This sounds harder than it is - the picture below shows you what your work will look like after winding the yarn around once). 
5. Using a crochet hook lift the bottom loop over the top loop, into the center of the dolly. 
6. As with step 4, turn the french dolly anti-clockwise so that an empty spike is towards you. Then, wind the yarn twice around this spike anti-clockwise. 
7. As in Step 5, using a crochet hook lift the bottom loop over the top loop, into the center of the dolly. 8. Then, turn the french dolly anti-clockwise so that the fourth and final empty spike is towards you. 9. Wind the yarn once only around the spike in an anti-clockwise direction.
10. Using the crochet hook lift the bottom loop over the top loop into the center of the dolly. 11. Pull the end of the yarn that hangs out of the bottom of the dolly to tighten your work 12. Repeat steps 9 and 10 until the knitting is the desired length. Tip: When considering the length of the yarn don't forget to take into account the length inside the dolly It will take a little while for your knitting to appear out of the bottom of the dolly, but when it does it will look something like this:
When you are ready to cast off, cut the yarn leaving about 10cm to spare. Thread this end through the four loops and pull it tight to fasten off. Now you have learnt the art of french knitting on a knitting dolly (otherwise called a Knitting Nancy, Bizzy Lizzy, knitting mushroom, knitting spool, french knitter, peg knitter, knitting noddy or knitting knobby!) Do you have any French Knitting Tips?Help out newbie knitters by sharing your tips and patterns for french knitting here! Return from French Knitting to Knitting for Kids
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