Do It Yourself......Hand-Knitted Coasters

 I don't know how many of you had one of these as kids... I know I did. The name is "knitting Nancy/Nathan"; it is also called French knitting, or spool knitting. My daughter got one last year, and it spurred me to look up mine from the olden days....so you are looking at real vintage "knitting dolly" ..taa daah!

This is at least 32 years old! 

Obviously, I didn't limit myself to just dusting it off.. I began knitting away, and several knitted strands or 'rope' lengths later, this was the result...

The following are simple step-by-step instructions of how to create these hand-knitted coasters (including how to use the knitting dolly)

1. Slip the tail of your wool down the middle of the dolly.

2. Start with a simple loop around any peg on the knitting dolly (this shall be the starter peg).

3. Move onto the next peg to the right winding the wool round the peg from back to front and back again.

4. Repeat this for all the remaining pegs; once you have looped wool around all four pegs, repeat the process so that each peg has two loops of wool wound around it.

5. Beginning at the starter peg, use your crochet hook to lift the lower loop up and over the upper loop and over the peg. Repeat this for all the pegs.

6. Keep repeating this process over and over until you achieve the desired length of your piece of knitting.

7. Once you have achieved the length you desire, close off the piece of knitting. (You will need approximately 30cm for this project.) Snip off the ball of wool with a few inches to spare. Beginning from the starter peg, simply thread the remaining bit of wool through the loop and lift it off the peg. Do this with all the pegs, until you have a finished 'rope' of knitting in your hands.

8. Starting from one end, begin curling the length of 'rope' on itself, stitching the ensuing circles together as you go along. Once you've stitched the whole length of your 'rope' you should have a flat circle...and that's your first coaster.

You might want to spray your coasters with some waterproof spray. This will make it possible to easily wipe off any small spillages, thus preventing staining. 

There are plenty of online video tutorials explaining how to use a knitting dolly, if you would prefer to see this being actually done, rather than read instructions. The link below is to one that I think is particularly good. Hopefully, I will also be uploading my own video tutorials soon.

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s537/nl/95775092/f555aa20-269a-4296-97ca-69b9479e6117

I hope you enjoyed this first post in the newer, revamped version of this blog..(more on that in next Friday's post). I intend to make these DIY posts a regular feature of this blog.
My apologies as this post was meant to have gone out yesterday, but technical issues got in the way..

Byee! Catch up with you on Friday!