Fingerknitting on West Kickoff
Allison Grimstead
Last Wednesday, finger-knitting kicked off their first service event for the semester in Keeton House on West Campus. We are preparing to donate the finger-knitted scarves to the Catholic Charities of Tompkins & Tioga Counties. People who are currently homeless will use these scarves to bundle up during Ithaca’s coming winter. I enjoy volunteering for finger-knitting because I know that my work will make someone warmer in the winter.
APO chooses to finger knit scarves because the skill is useful and easy to learn. New volunteers at finger-knitting can learn how to create scarves in less than fifteen minutes. Kelly happily teaches people how to create scarves by weaving yarn around their fingers. During many finger knitting events, people weave the yarn around their fingers to create scarves about as wide as the four fingers on your hand. Once there are enough small scarves, people will weave the pieces together to create a thicker scarf that will keep people’s necks warm in the cold Ithaca winter.
Kelly had an abundance of beginning scarves from last semester, so we spent the hour weaving together the beginning of scarves to make the scarves thicker. We simply take pieces of scarves and a long piece of yarn. Then we tie a knot between one piece of scarf and the string, and weave the string through the holes of the scarf to tie the two pieces together to create a bigger scarf. Newcomers and veterans of finger knitting came, so we all got to teach and learn together. Teaching newcomers how to finger knit was a great way for veterans to refresh their skills. This was my first service event this semester and I had a great time catching up with brothers and meeting new brothers while weaving parts of scarves together.