This DIY Arm Knitting Tutorial Will Keep You Cozy

In arm knitting, you use your arms as knitting needles; you knit all the stitches from your right arm onto your left arm, and then from your left arm back to your right arm.  Each time you transfer the stitches from one arm to another, you make a new row in your blanket.

Ready to make something cozy? You will need four skeins of chunky yarn to get started. We used Red Heart Irresistible yarn in Tiramisu. 

Instructions:

Measure a length of yarn 3x the width of your blanket. This is your tail. We’re making a 50inch x 60inch throw blanket, so we’ll measure a tail of 150inch for our cast on.

Casting On:

1. Tie a slipknot and tighten it around your right wrist with the tail closest to you and working yarn (yarn still attached to your yarn ball) farther from you.
2. With your right hand, make a loop with the tail, leaving the tail hanging in front of the loop
3. Put your left hand through the loop and grab the working yarn, pulling it through the loop and letting go with your right hand.
4. Slide your new loop onto your right hand and tighten. Note: Don’t tighten it too much! Leave some wiggle room as the yarn will be moving from arm to arm.
5. Repeat this process for as many stitches you’d like to get the desired width of your blanket. We are making a 50inch wide blanket with Red Heart “Irresistible” yarn, so, we’ll be casting on 20 stitches.

Arm Knitting:

1. Since your right arm is holding your 20 stitches, it’s time to transfer the yarn to your left arm. Grab the working yarn with your right hand, and pull the stitch at the end of your arm (the last stitch you transferred from your left arm) over your right hand. This creates a loop with the working yarn you’re holding in your right hand.
2. Put that loop onto your left hand.
3. Repeat for as many rows as you’d like to get your desired blanket length. We completed 30 rows.

Casting Off:

1. Once the blanket is at your desired length, knit one stitch onto your free arm in the same way you did in Step 3.
2. Knit a second stitch onto your arm.
3. Pull the first stitch you made over your second stitch, over your hand, and tighten.
4. Knit another stitch onto your arm, and pull the existing stitch over the new stitch, over your hand, and tighten.
5. Repeat until all stitches are off your arms
6. Tuck in any pieces of stray yarn.
7. Cuddle up with a cup of tea under your new, cozy blanket!