I know what you’re thinking… “Arm knitting?? What is she on??” But trust me, it’s a real thing – you just use your arms instead of the knitting needles, and it creates big, beautiful, loopy stitches, which are just perfect for this super sized chunky infinity scarf.
Now here’s the part that blew my mind when I tried making this scarf for the first time. It literally took me 30 minutes (after I watched all of the videos and read the tutorials I could find) to make the entire thing. And it is so, so simple! You only need to learn two stitches – the “casting stitch” and the “knitting stitch”. The casting stitch is a little tricky to explain, but super easy to do. It may take you a few minutes to figure it out, only because its a bit hard to explain, but once you get it… seriously, it’s a breeze. I can’t emphasize that enough – I have no idea at all how to knit, so don’t think I’m some crafty genius. If you can tie a knot, you can make this scarf.
Arm Knitting an Infinity Scarf
To make your own, all you will need is two bundles of Super Bulky #6 wool (I used Lion Brand Wool Eaze in Gemstone – it’s a taupe color with a nice silver strand running through it), a pair of scissors, and your arms. Pretty simple so far? Trust me, it doesn’t get much harder at all!
To start…
(1) Find the ends of both bundles of yarn. Match them together and string them out to leave a tail that is about 8 feet long.
(2) Make a slipknot at the 8 foot mark, so that you have four strands of yarn hanging down from a loop.
(3) Make your loop big enough to slide onto the middle of your forearm. This will be one of your loops. You can make it as tight or as loose as you want, but just remember that this will be the size of the loops in your scarf, and they should be as consistent as possible. Also, don’t make them too tight that you can’t slide it up and down your arm.
(4) Now, for the casting stitch. This will likely take a few tries to get it, but trust me, it’s easy once you get it! Hold the four strands up in one hand, wrapping your last three fingers around all four strands. Place your thumb and pointer finger in between the two groups of yarn, so that they are between the bundled wool and tail wool, and bring the wool down over them so you create two loops. Then, go through the first loop by going from the outside in, and reach all the way over the next loop, and go through that loop too but from the outside in as well.
Sounds confusing, but it isn’t. I made a little video to show you how I do it. (Wahoo for my first video tutorial – not gonna lie – it was nerve wracking!)
You have cast your first stitch! Wahoo! That’s the beginning of your scarf!
(5) Now all you have to do is repeat this step to cast all of your stitches. I made my scarf 12 stitches long – that will determine the width, or height, of your scarf. If you are making it for someone younger, you may want to reduce the number of stitches to 10 or maybe even 8.
Once you have all of your stitches on your arm, it will look like this:
Doesn’t look like much right? Keep in mind that I try to keep my stitches in a straight line and consistently spaced, but it can be hard to do that AND take a picture. If you aren’t doing a photo tutorial, you shouldn’t have any problem 🙂
Now it’s time to start “knitting”. You are done with that little tail part now, so put it to the side so you don’t get it mixed up with the yarn coming from the bundles.
(6) Hold the bundled yarn in between your fingers and thumb with the the same hand that your stitches are on.
(7) Pull your first stitch over your hand (that is holding the bundled yarn) to create a new loop.
(8) Slide your other (empty hand) through this new loop, and pull on your bundled yarn to tighten.
(9) Your original stitch will be “knit” onto this new loop, so you can let it go. Then, repeat with the same process for all 12 stitches.
(10) When you finish that hand, simply repeat the process on the other hand. Once you have knit a few rows, it will start looking like this:
(11) Knit as many rows as you think you will need. I wrapped mine around my neck once it got long enough, and kept adding rows until I could double it up. I think it might have been around 25.
(12) When you have knit all of your rows, you will need to “cast off”, which is also really easy to do – don’t be afraid! Let’s pretend you end with all of your stitches on your left wrist. (If all of your stitches are on your right wrist, simply reverse this.) Repeat the same knitting process for TWO of the stitches – so you will have 10 stitches remaining on your left hand, and two on your right hand.
(13) Let go of your working yarn, and take your first stitch on your right hand (the stitch closest to your elbow this time), and pull it over the other stitch on your right hand. Now drop it. I know, that sounds scary – drop my stitch? But trust me, it’s okay!
(14) Now “knit” another stitch from your left hand onto your right hand. Repeat the process of pulling the stitch closest to your elbow over the other stitch, dropping it, and adding another from the left hand. When you get to one stitch left on your right hand, and nothing to pull int over, make a loop with the bundled yarn and pull your stitch over it, pulling very tightly. You will know have a neat, finished end that looks like the image.
(15) To bind the two ends together, cut your loop in half and tie tightly in a knot. Bring the two ends of the scarf together, and start weaving the tail around each of the stitches. Make sure to tuck in any ends, like the loop you just cut, so they get hid underneath the binding. Tie it off and tuck the ends into the binding you just wrapped.
And there you have it! A beautiful infinity scarf that you knit on your arms! Even it was your first one, I bet it took less than an hour, and they only get quicker as you make more. It’s a great way to keep your hands busy while you watch TV, and its also a great way to introduce kids to knitting. If they can do rainbow loom, they can do this, trust me!
P.S. If you are confused at all, I found this video as I was uploading my video to YouTube – it does such a great job of explaining the whole process! Seriously, check it out if you have any questions at all, or are more of a visual learner who likes to learn from videos – she takes you through the entire process. Thanks to Audra from the Kurtz Corner for her amazing video!
Jill says
I’ve always wanted to learn to knit… maybe this is a good place to start. My daughter would love the scarf too. Thanks for sharing the tutorial! I’ve pinned it and am inspired to try.
Ginnie says
This is so cute! I have a ton of yarn – this looks like a great way to use it up:)
Lynnette Staley says
So much easier the first time with the bulky yarn. Tried it with regular yarn and thought I couldn’t do it! Too cute!
Sarah says
Yes the chunky yarn is way better! What color did you use? I’m itching to try making it in more colors!
Kae says
I made this in regular yarn light blue and black for a friend. It looked pretty good.
Erin says
Great tutorial! I love the scarf I made! I was just wondering if you think children 7 to 10 years old could do this as a craft?
Sarah says
Hi there! I think they definitely could 🙂 Sorry I am replying so late – your comment just popped up on this end 🙂
Cheryl windham says
Love it! Gonna have to do this!