This is a 32-inch length tube knit on an eight-stick toilet paper roll knitter. Have we talked about binding off yet? For most of my previous projects, I’ve simply cut and then threaded my working yarn through each loop as I’ve pulled it off the craft sticks, finally pulling the yarn up tight once I put it through the last loop. Another method is to move your last knitted loop to the next stick (moving in the same direction as you were knitting – clockwise for me) and then pulling the lower loop up over that stitch and off the stick. Keep doing that same thing until only one loop remains on a stick. Then cut your yarn and thread your tail through that last remaining loop, pulling it up tight. Both of those methods will leave you with a closed tube end. To make the belt, I folded over one short end about 3/4″, encasing the straight side of two D-rings and stitching them in with the tail from my tube. Then I wove in both tube end tails as best I could (splitting yarns because the knit is so open) and the belt was finished. That was actually the first tube I ever knit with the toilet paper roll knitting nancy last summer. I brought it to the pool one day and my friend Jill said it would make a great belt. I think she was right. It’s nice to have “done” something with it. I shared it with the kids today at the Sticks & Strings knitting class I’m teaching with our school’s librarian.
I’m having way too much fun putting things together for this class. Can you believe we have 23 kids?! They are awesome – so enthusiastic, patient, focused. They loved starting out with the toilet paper roll knitters last week. I went out to yard duty on Monday and one of our kids had knit a really long tube that she wrapped around her head twice like a hairband with the long ends dangling. I must say it was very cute and she wore it to class again today. The spool knitting is such a great way to help a child feel successful at knitting early on. Today we started working with knitting needles and that was so much harder. But my cohort and I are so excited by these kids’ enthusiasm for learning to knit that we are determined to make ourselves available to help them do so. Have you ever taught children to knit? Our kids are 8, 9 and 10 years old. If you have any tips for us, please do share them. By the way, the yarn used for the belt is Lily Sugar ‘n Cream in the color Psychedelic. We also used it with our spool knitters in the class. I had to visit about four local Michael’s shops to find enough yarn balls, but it was worth it!
For additional information on knitting with a toilet paper roll knitting nancy, please use the following links:
Attack of the Knitting Nancys
Poly Cord Drawstring Bag, Part 2
Toilet Paper Roll Knitting Nancy Idea #1: Festive Garlands
My Material Life 
I hope the kids weren’t too frustrated today! I feel like I fried their little brains!
I know what you mean. I kept thinking man, that through the window part is really hard! How did we ever learn? I think they’ll be back though – remember they’re resilient!
I learned to knit as an eight-year-old when I lived in England MANY decades ago. I learned to knit using needles, but for playground fun we used wooden thread spools with nails hammered in, for finer projects.
I’ve seen those; I have some old wooden spools that a friend gave me. Maybe I’ll make one and add it to my collection. Do you remember needing some kind of hook to move the loops of yarn on the nails?
I don’t remember – honestly it was 50 years ago 😉 but I’m sure we must have used something, because even small fingers would have a hard time getting the loops over the nails.
I don’t know if this will help, but I’ve taught 7 and 8 year olds several times. I find that saying, “in, around, through, off” is the easiest way, because that’s what you are actually doing. {Instead of “rabbits, carrots, windows … that always confused me. lol.} I also have them do a “knit cast on” so that they are only adding one step when they start the actual knitting. Not sure if that’s helpful, but it’s exciting to see the fun projects you’re doing with the kids!! 🙂
Yes, we used the rhymes and I could never remember them, so I think those were the words I ended up using as well – great minds think alike. Good idea about the knit cast on too. Getting ready for a new class starting next week; going to rethink the cast on method based on your comment. Thanks for writing!