One-handed finger weaving
Jordan came home from school last week with a long knitted clump. It didn’t have much of a purpose but it was pretty. I asked her where it came from and she told me she did it herself. A friend had shown her how to finger weave. I’ve mentioned in the past how I’m not very crafty so I was completely floored by this development. I can’t knit. I didn’t even know finger weaving was a thing.
It’s basically a process of weaving the yarn in and out of her fingers. Then she flips the lower loops around her fingers and starts the weaving process again and again. It’s tedious but it was really cool to see her do it. If you even want to call Jordan one-armed, she proves how that little arm is just as important as her hand. She is most definitely two-armed.
I caught a little video of Jordan finger weaving. She’s very proud:
Jen….
Wow. Just wow. Jordan is–if you do not mind me saying it–an inspiration!! 😉
–Raelyn
Thanks, Raelyn. I am inspired by Jordan’s ability to figure even the most obviously two-handed task and make it a one-hand+one-arm task.
Love seeing Jordan do these things. My 4.5 month old daughter Ruby was born with a similar limb difference and it always helps alleviate my “hidden” fears!
I’m so glad, Nikki. When Jordan was 4.5 months old, I craved hearing stories and knowing about older kids and adults with limb differences. You and Ruby and many other limb difference families are why we keep telling our story.
If Jordan is ever interested in learning to knit, there are ways someone with 1 hand could easily knit. A good, local yarn store should be able to connect you to a teacher (just google “LYS” and your city to find one). But there’s a style of knitting often affectionately called “armpit knitting” that uses longer needles than normal. Instead of holding a needle in each hand, one needle is held in the dominate hand and one is put under the arm of the non-dominate side. Also, if she finds tensioning the yarn in her hand that’s also holding the needle to be cumbersome (many knitters do), you can tension yarn by letting it loop behind the neck and come forward down the non-dominate side. It’s a more common technique in parts of Europe than here in the Americas but it’s becoming more and more widespread.
I had no idea, Cassie! Thanks so much. I’ll certainly tell Jordan about this.