Tin-Can Knitting

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Total Time Needed:: 2-3 Hours

Recommended by FamilyFun contributing crafter Nicole Blum and daughter, Ava, age 10

Working with bright, fuzzy yarn is the perfect antidote to gray, blustery weather, as Ava and I found out when we delved into the world of tin can knitting one stay-inside morning. First, we assembled simple, homemade versions of the Knitting Nancy, or spool knitter, I'd used as a kid, then we put them to use with some pretty yarn, looping the strands around the nails.

Tin-Can Knitting Mouse Ava enjoyed experimenting with different techniques. At first, she completed each knit stitch by easing the finished loop off of the nail using a bamboo skewer, but then she decided to try using her fingers instead. When we'd knitted tubes that were about 6 or 8 inches long, we started dreaming up things to make with them. Wrist warmers, cat toys, doll hats ... we came up with a long list of warm and woolly possibilities to keep us knitting all winter long. Click here to see how to make sweet little mice.

Our Tips

You can use a tin can of just about any size (a larger can produces a wider tube and looser stitches), but make sure it has identical top and bottom lips — the type that can be cut smoothly with a can opener.

Try using bulky-weight yarn, which is easier and quicker for kids to work with. When Ava knitted with a fairly thin yarn, her progress was a bit slow.

When we used very fuzzy yarn, a few strands sometimes lingered on the nail after the yarn was looped over. I just snipped these stragglers with a pair of scissors, no harm done.

Materials

Can opener
Clean 15-ounce can
Duct tape

12 (8d 2 1/2-inch) finish nails
Permanent marker

Instructions

Use the can opener to remove the can's top and bottom.
With a strip of duct tape, secure a nail to the outside of the can so that its head is 1 1/2 inches above the top rim. Tape a second nail directly opposite the first, then evenly space ten more nails around the rim.
Apply small strips of tape between each nail to cover the top rim, then fold a strip over the bottom rim.
With permanent marker, number the nails 1 to 12.

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