Knitting Without Needles: A Stylish Introduction to Finger and Arm Knitting

by Anne Weil

Who knew you could actually knit without needles?

Put down those complicated knitting projects that take forever to finish. Knitting Without Needles brings cool home, gifts, and clothing accessories--cowls, totes, rugs, poufs, scarves, and more--within arm’s reach. An all-in-one resource for a new kind of craft, this book shows you how to loop yarn with your fingers or your forearms with thirty patterns that are simple to follow and produce stylish results. Best of all, many of them knit up fast—in less than an hour!

Even if you’ve never picked up knitting needles, you can easily master the techniques to make fun knits with kids and for kids (a princess crown, baby booties) and even last-minute gifts (a statement necklace for your fashionista friend). With stunning photography, plenty of step-by-step photos, and a detailed resource section, Knitting Without Needles is your go-to for a new way to knit.

Genres: Crafts, Knitting, Nonfiction

380 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 4, 2015

About the author

Clean and simple design thrills me. I make things for home, for play, for gifts or for fun. More than that, I love showing others how to make them, too! I find peace and happiness in making, but understand the challenges of finding the time as a busy mother of three. Wanting happy-making in my life inspired me to start writing this blog and then, to leave my life in investment banking behind. Stay a while and let me bring a little of my happy handmade life to you!

Reviews

[Eliana Peach · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good and informative! Great step by step instructions with detailed pics! The projects are super simple but very sophisticated and modern looking when finished, I definitely recommend!! 🧶

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

it's a decent book of patterns. i think it can be a bit vague in spots but it can be quite difficult to even do a decent search on ravelry for patterns of this nature as human body parts as tools are not available as choice options. also the search terms for arm or finger typically get you things you wear on your arms or fingers as opposed to things to knit with them. considering the different size of human arms or fingers making gauge might be awkward, and yarn usage estimates also might fluctuate greatly. it would require a lot of guesswork or trial and error to either match the patterns as shown with a different body let alone using yarn subs, so the patterns are definitely guidelines. however i did see new techniques i haven't attempted with arm knitting before, like cabling.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

You know, I can live without this book. Arm knitting is interesting, but I really wouldnever wear or use any of this stuff. I still have MILES of fingerknitted yarn that my daughter would knit. Give her a ball of yarn and a video and she would be happy in the back of the car for HOURS! Was that abuse?!?!

[layla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved It!

Great book. One I will go back to time & time again. The projects are practical which is a plus & ones that I would use myself or gift. That was the main reason for choosing the book in the first place. Very pleased with my purchase.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the photography. Cool tuffet/pouf pattern that uses a king sized comforter for stuffing, a bunch of hat styles that are possibilities, nice rope rug. Extra star just for good comparison illustrations of swatches using different yarn sizes.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

a book that I want to come back to when I have more time to devote to the projects. I love the concept of this. I will have to come back to it and see how the practice works out.

[Mckinley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting by not my thing.

[lk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not for me; book was well laid out and we'll photographed.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun book about knitting without needles - finger and arm knitting
Lots of blankets and rugs, hats and scarfs.
I love the grand pouf and baby booties.

[JJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I used some of the patterns and ideas from this book for my Elementary level knitting class. The kids loved it and so did I! Hope this author comes out with more for us to try!

[Katra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun ideas.

p-n, s-n, v-n, a-n

[Josée · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let it be known that I have never knitted anything before! But I managed to make both a small cowl and a necklace.

As it turns out though, arm knitting is quite fun. I rather liked it, and once I got into the rhythm, the project was done quickly too. Finger knitting though, while different and stylish, was a little irritating since I needed to adjust the material often.

Learning to knit with this book was both difficult and easy at the same time. I found small, but important information was missing in certain steps. When I was doing arm knitting, the yarn preparation section was not clear about the length and amount needed. The illustrations on how to do the work however, were very useful. For finger knitting it was the opposite.

All in all though, the book has a nice variety of projects, and I liked the presentation of it. With each project there was a quick guide showing its difficulty, the techniques needed (annotated), and project type. As a beginner myself, I would recommend it to others but perhaps not as a stand alone. For someone familiar with knitting though, I would recommend it them.

[Charla Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great introduction to arm knitting. This was my first introduction to the concept of arm knitting and I was trying to find a way to use up some of my yarn stash quickly. I think this is the perfect way to do that, however, I have not actually attempted this yet. The directions are very clear and there are several patterns that I would like to try. The way that this concept was explained made it a very easy to understand concept. There were plenty of photos so you can see clearly what the written instructions are explaining. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the craft of knitting.

[Gloria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was intrigued by this book by the Grand Pouf project (which would look great in somebody's room!) and borrowed it from the library. Not much in the way of clothing that I would make from this book, but lots of fun stuff that I might have made if I had small children…

The instructions are quite good.

[Kathy Henson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Confusing set up

The way this book jumps back and forth is frustrating and confusing and the supposed different super bulky yarn makes no sense sorry I spent the$$ even though love how the projects look

[Katthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some decent projects, but some of them look super weird.

[Vi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish the basic instructions came first.

[AlmieMeg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute projects. Great pics. Easy to follow.

[Ligaya · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read the entire book and although very nicely photographed, I can't trust that many of the projects, in actuality, hold up very well! Being an experienced knitter, I cringed when I calculated the cost of supplies just to make one thick cowl and wondered how ginormous (not to mention uncomfortable) that SEAM must be at the back of those cowls and hats. 24 skeins of Blue Sky Alpaca Bulky (24 x $14 = $336) for the 40" x 50" Cabled Blanket! Beware knitters, bulky yarns that are softly spun DO NOT WEAR WELL and require gentle care! Maybe the Linen Baskets or the Rope Rug would be successful?