# French Knitting



## Maywalk (Mar 31, 2012)

This brought back many memories because I used to do this when I was a little girl with a home made French Knitting tool made out of a cotton reel and four tacks banged into it as shown. That would be well over 70 years ago.

Anyone else remember doing this.????????????

http://thegreendragonfly.wordpress.com/2012/11/22/the-lost-art-of-french-knitting/


----------



## SLance (Dec 5, 2013)

Omg...been many. many years!


----------



## mrswyzard (Jul 13, 2011)

Oh yes I remember doing this. Lived in France as a little girl. I think the Sisters at the Catholic school where I attended taught ys how to do this! T hank you for a walk back to my youth. That was like 55 years ago.


----------



## beejay (May 27, 2011)

That really takes me back a long way.


----------



## baredwine (Jun 22, 2012)

yes, fun. I haven't thought of that in years!


----------



## dotolson11 (May 27, 2013)

..sure.. my mother would gently put nails in her empty spools of thread for me.. I'd sit on the stairs in the summer & make coils that she & I would later sew into various shapes. Had no idea that we were recycling yarns - she also made exquisite "crazy quilts" from clothing that had worn out, etc etc. I loved making my coils (started @ about age 5).


----------



## yanagi (Jul 7, 2013)

Oh, yes. My Grandmother had one, made in Ireland for her mother, and I knitted many a yard of cord for her. I remember one ran from the middle of her living room, down the front steps (all 21 of them) and out into the street.


----------



## Sherlock (Jul 19, 2011)

Seems like yesterday!


----------



## speni (Nov 9, 2012)

i made a rug last year in french knitting, the pic is on 1 of my posts on here


----------



## willi66 (Aug 30, 2012)

Seems to be making a comeback for making jewelry.


----------



## Mejarrett (May 3, 2013)

I used to spend hours doing this as a young child. Brings back pleasant memories of times I spent with my Grandmother.


----------



## ManyClouds (Sep 29, 2012)

Yes, my mum taught me how to do French knitting. I would have been about eight years old. I remember making them into round place mats, lol!


----------



## Sewbizgirl (May 11, 2011)

Now we all know how to make I cord much faster with a couple of dpns!


----------



## Zara (Oct 24, 2011)

Remember it well, we used to have Knitting Nancy back in the 1950s in England" LOVED IT!!!!! Made numerous coasters and dolls hats when I was about 5 yrs old. Ah, good times!


----------



## rujam (Aug 19, 2011)

Yes, my dad used to make them for me. Those were the days.


----------



## Patty Sutter (Apr 17, 2012)

Ours were made with a wooden thread spool (another old, extinct item) with finishing nails for the pegs.


----------



## Gladrags (Mar 18, 2012)

oh my,I remember my sister and myself doing this while listening to the radio,my mum would be knitting or sewing,she made ours the same as yours,cotton reel and four tacks...awww memories.


----------



## kyterp (Mar 3, 2011)

Oh, I do!! Thanks for the memory


----------



## alvadee (Nov 21, 2013)

I also remember. Here in the USA we called it a "HORSE RAIN" Can't for the life of me know why. Such wonderful times we had as kids.


----------



## grandmaof7 (Feb 6, 2011)

Yes I remember this. Now they are made of plastic and I have one in the craft room.


----------



## Hilda (Apr 23, 2011)

We called them "knitting knobbies" in the '50s. Easy way to make an I cord.


----------



## amuletmaker (Jan 21, 2013)

The name has changed, the idea is the same. I-cord is the knitters way of doing french knitting or spool knitting today. How things evoluve and names have changed thru the years.


----------



## sues4hrts (Apr 22, 2011)

Don't remember it being called French Knitting, but I remember spending many hours doing it....ahhhhhhhhhh the memories!


----------



## Lafemmefran (Jan 21, 2012)

Here is another "thread" regarding French Knitting. We generated a lot of comments. What fun and what memories.

http://www.knittingparadise.com/t-192815-1.html


----------



## eahite (Aug 26, 2013)

This was a fad with girls when I was in grade school. I'm 77 so it was a loooooooooong time ago. My father made my tool with a large size wooden spool from sewing thread and thin nails that he had. The girls would sit in a warm corner of the playground during recess , gossip, laugh and knit. I ended up with a long cord but don't remember if anything was ever made from it.


----------



## Nimchira (Mar 8, 2011)

I am 72 and I remember my grandmother teaching me this ... she ran a thin rope down the middle as she knit and when she had a basketful, she stitched it together to make throw rugs. I still do it.


----------



## Gundi (Dec 14, 2013)

Yes, we called it spool knitting. A little limiting, but every kid has to start somewhere.


----------



## jennybabe (Jul 3, 2012)

Yes we used to do it and I have tried teaching my grand children but their attention span isn't as good as ours used to be.


----------



## anotherknitter (Sep 8, 2013)

Thanks for the link. I hate doing I-cord (not very good at it). This looks like a much nicer way to do one.


----------



## cabbagehome (Dec 23, 2011)

I never saw it before.


----------



## Montana Gramma (Dec 19, 2012)

We called this spool knitting.


----------



## bettyirene (Apr 5, 2012)

I come from Tasmania, and I spent many happy hours knitting up mum's scraps, like this, to make tea-pot stands, and I still have a cotton reel that my nephew made for me, from a piece of wood.


----------



## nnyl (Oct 3, 2012)

We called it corking. Spent many a rainy day doing it. Lynn


----------



## seemyart (May 31, 2013)

I'm 64. my dad made them for me. I made a really long one, but when I coiled it (to make a rug), it only made a coaster sized thing!! I stopped after that! I was about 7 or 8.


----------



## Angelsmom1 (Jan 28, 2012)

Tried this a long time ago. Looks like more fun now. Have a newer version spool/loom that makes these.


----------



## Cassews (Apr 10, 2013)

Boy do I remember learning that one .. and its similar to the ones the kids do today but with crochet like hook and its round, or oblong and my daughter picked hers up from Jo-ann's


----------



## Junelouise (Apr 29, 2011)

nnyl said:


> We called it corking. Spent many a rainy day doing it. Lynn


Yep, we called it corking as well. Mom made me one with wooden spool and 4 finishing nails. I have a plastic one here for the daycare kids to use.

June


----------



## Tove (Oct 27, 2012)

Still doing it - I'm teaching the young grandchildren the art of enjoying yarn projects


----------



## aljellie (Mar 4, 2011)

Did it all the time as a child with a home-made knitting nancy. Never realized I was making I cord.


----------



## Dsynr (Jun 3, 2011)

Yep! Dad put brads into a wooden thread spool. When the kiddles were little, I had a hard time finding wooden spools to make the knitter for them---thread came on those styrofoam junk spools.


rujam said:


> Yes, my dad used to make them for me. Those were the days.


----------



## Angelsmom1 (Jan 28, 2012)

I was looking at Hobby Lobby's web site yesterday. They have all kinds of spool type looms now. Some have multiple sized heads to make diffrent size cords. They are plastic of course, but are very inexpensive. Looks like an old craft coming back.


----------

